Trump's new abortion comment is insane. I mean that literally.

[cali]

It's incredibly incoherent to begin with, a heaping bowl of word salad. It clarifies nothing.

<snip>

But after becoming the Republican presumptive nominee this week, MSNBC’s Willie Geist asked Trump if he still believed that to be true.

No, he was asking me a theoretical, or just a question in theory, and I talked about it only from that standpoint. Of course not. And that was done, he said, you know, I guess it was theoretically, but he was asking a rhetorical question, and I gave an answer. And by the way, people thought from an academic standpoint, and, asked rhetorically, people said that answer was an unbelievable academic answer! But of course not, and I said that afterwards.

As Slate’s Ben Mathis-Lilley observed, the word salad response from the candidate “is one of the most garbled sacks of nonsense verbiage that has been emitted in the history of human civilization.”

“At no point in this rambling, incoherent response was Donald Trump even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone who clicked the video above is now dumber for having listened to it.”

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/05/trumps-80-word-explanation-about-punishing-women-for-abortion-will-make-you-instantly-dumber/

[Vinca]

1. When I was in my early 20's I worked in a psychiatric facility.

There were a couple of wards where you routinely heard this kind of thing. Trump would fit in there nicely.

[teamster633]

51. Wernake's Aphasia would be one possible explanation.

Apologies for possible missspelling.

[mac56]

53. "Word salad," we used to call it.

Or as Robin Williams put it, a "vowel movement."

[Agnosticsherbet]

2. I've read this twice. I fear for my sanity.

[Hortensis]

11. Oh, come on, guys, it's standard obfuscation technique.

The guy has a serious clinical mental condition, but this is the usual political "restyling" and befogging of an unfortunate statement on abortion come back to bite. Consistent all the way through, and acceptably competent, too.

Btw, I heard someone on TV say engaging Trump is like dueling with a chimpanzee with a machine gun. You have no idea what might happen. Lol. In this case, though, he was in totally predictable politician mode.

[Agnosticsherbet]

15. I was trying to be funny.

His comment was typical politi-speak, a garble of words that mean nothing. It was poorly constructed politi-speak because it is blatant in its complete lack of coherence.

I think Trump doesn't try that hard because those who support him will accept what he says on an emotional level.

[Hortensis]

19. Sorry, I didn't mean to drop this under your name

and post specifically. I was just reacting to the general reaction. We don't really have to take this buffoon seriously, of course. Others are doing that for us.

[PatSeg]

56. I think you nailed it

He was speaking to his followers, who don't really care what he is saying.

Also I think he discovered a new big word, "rhetorical" and wanted to try it out.

[Maru Kitteh]

67. And "acedemic." Also, ALL of his interviews feature unverifiable person or persons praising him

for some trait or act or performance.


"all the polls said I was the best by far in that debate" - (turns out to be one online poll on his website)

"you know experts came to me and said I did it even way better than they could, they wanted to know how I did it"

"I got calls from people saying Mr. Trump, you were unbelievable how you handled that"

And on this one we get "people said that answer was an unbelievable academic answer!"


It's a feature of every, single, interview.

[PatSeg]

70. Oh yes

AND "academic"!!! If he can say "academic" than people will believe he is schooled.

It IS funny how "people" are always telling him things, but rarely do these people have names or credentials. Must be those voices in his head.

[Jeebo]

18. Which one of you has the machine gun?

Which one of you has the machine gun? You or the chimpanzee? And what weapon does the other one have? -- Ron

[Hortensis]

22. Lol. I gotta explain a joke, Jeebo?

Okay, absolutely anyone can be the duelist, armed with a rapier or perhaps just his or her own shining virtue. Trump is the, actually, I think it may have a guerrilla, armed with a machine gun.

I believe the assumption should be that the guerrilla doesn't actually know how to operate the gun, but that it is live, and could be more interested in playing with your earrings than hitting you over the head with a chair, but who knows? And that's the point.

It actually struck me as fairly apt.

[CincyDem]

30. You say guerrilla, I say gorilla. Freudian slip ? :-)

With all due respect and no intention of being a grammar hall monitor, did you mean gorilla ?

I ask with the assumption that you did and your implication of Trump being a guerrilla makes it more truthful.

[Hortensis]

31. Yes, definitely gorilla. Sorry. The idea of any issue being important

enough to Trump that he would allow his hair to be mussed (as in guerrilla warfare) is a joke in itself.

I watched him once say, at excessive length and detail of course, that he almost never went outside, hated to be outdoors. Campaigning must be a real trial for him.

[CincyDem]

68. Haha. No need for sorry. I thought it was a pretty funny work slip.

Not sure if this is a malapropism or something like that were someone uses the wrong word that makes the statement even more true or funnier than intended.

There is going to be so much material for comedians this year. I just hope to god he's peaked and it's all downhill from here for him.

[Hortensis]

69. Amen. Sad to say, he's too smart to debate Hillary,

so that's a favorite fantasy unlikely to come true.

[CincyDem]

71. You really think he's get through this with any debates ? n/t

[Hortensis]

72. I really hope circumstances will force him, but yes,

because going up against her would almost certainly be absolutely disastrous for him. He did terribly even in those GOP mud-fights that rewarded his kind of behavior instead of intelligent answers, and he's already proved he can say no. Maybe he'll negotiate an extremely controlled fake "town hall" with questions submitted ahead of time, or some such thing.

[unblock]

3. it was an amazing clarification of his theoretical rhetorical academic answer

you know, i guess it was a theoretical clarification of his answer.
or an answer of his rhetorical clarification.
or maybe a rhetorical answer to his clarification.
whatever you call it, it was amazing.
truly amazing.
probably the best answer to a theoretical academic rhetorical clarification in the history of politics.
whatever you call it, it was a winning answer.
because i'm a winner and winners give winning answers.

[ScreamingMeemie]

5. ...and it's so nice. So perfect.

[redwitch]

4. If by some awful snowball's chance in Hell he gets elected

I pity his speechwriter!

[sarge43]

14. If and if, his State of the Union address

Sweet Jesus on a trampoline

[PatSeg]

59. Oh my god

I hadn't thought of that! Trump as president would make a hilarious movie, too bad we are dealing with reality. If Trump were elected, life would be one long redundant SNL sketch.

[sarge43]

60. Yup. Bush was just the warm up act.

It'd be appropriate for Trump to have the walls (both boarders) confirming the US has become the world's largest mad house.

[Agnosticsherbet]

16. Don't kid yourself, when it is important he will read from a teleprompter.

Most of the time, he doesn't give a shit, and that is what comes out.

[Fresh_Start]

6. Palin was more coherent than Trump

looking at this statement.

[cali]

8. No. They're equally incoherent

[Fresh_Start]

9. The fact that Trump can't admit he's wrong or doesn't know

means that he's a good candidate to be made a complete fool of

[Herman4747]

54. Palin for Donald's running mate!!! nt

[NCTraveler]

7. He clarifies things like no one before.

He is great at clarifying. Brilliant at it. The best clarifier in history. You should see his butter.

[auntpurl]

12. Serve him a lobster! He's ready!

[rtracey]

10. But

But think about his supporters. His supporters are a bunch of rambling incoherent spooges

[Wednesdays]

13. Take away some of the longer words

and it sounds just like Sarah Palin.

[prayin4rain]

48. Hahaha n/t

[Fumesucker]

17. Standard political obfuscation with a special Trump twist

Now that the brains of our compatriots have been turned to grey tapioca by the M$M anyone can get away with saying anything.

That's one of the things that's kind of shocking about Bernie, he makes actual declarative statements that don't require exquisite parsing.

[fasttense]

20. For a man who was born to so much privilege and wealth, his vocabulary is very stilted.

He sounds like a 1970s mobster from the northeast. Unlike Bernie who has a huge vocabulary and the northeast accent.

Trump's pattern of speech was very common in New Jersey, New York and Maryland in the 1970s. I lived there during that time and he sounds just like the thugs in the area. Of course he doesn't use their slang or swear like they do. But his speech patterns in general is kind of like the cleaned up language of a 1970s northeastern mobster.

It's as if he grew up around mobsters and developed their speech patterns. You can take the man out of the mob but you can't take the mob out of the man.

[cali]

25. I can't get over that

[beveeheart]

32. Maryland? Really?

[fasttense]

66. Well, some of them traveled to the Maryland Eastern Shore

Since I traveled in the area, I got a chance to recognize out of town accents. I guess I could of added DC, and Philadelphia too. I've heard that accent there too. But you're probably right it didn't originate in Maryland, Philadelphia or DC.

[LiberalArkie]

44. I doubt he ever took any public speaking classes and never has had to give

unprepared speeches before. His speeches are just the random thoughts through his head. I personally think he has a terminal disease and as an egomaniac he is going out with a bang.

[wordpix]

57. His vocab is also limited to terrific, terrible, disaster and great

The latter reserved only for Himself

[PatSeg]

61. I've found it rather peculiar as well

Obviously one can be privileged and not too bright, but Trump talks like he was raised on the streets. You'd think his expensive private education would have rubbed off on him.

[NeoGreen]

21. To anyone who has played DnD...

“At no point in this rambling, incoherent response was Donald Trump even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone who clicked the video above is now dumber for having listened to it.”

(apologies if it's not funny. I am sometimes easily amused by obscure associations)

[bigbrother05]

23. The problem for the media is how to avoid being dismissive without lending any weight

It will be hard to find that fine line between derision and a serious dissection of his statements. If taken as an actual answer, it lends him a sheen of validity. If waved off as a buffoon, his followers will see him as a "man of the people" a la W.

Follow up questioning will be critical to exposing what he's really proposing.

[cali]

26. Brilliant comment

Should be expanded and posted as an op

[PatSeg]

63. Agreed

though in fairness Trump is a master at deflecting follow up questions. He is a classic bully.

[Botany]

24. D. Trump channels Ms. Palin

[Moostache]

27. But he has the "best words"...(n/t)

[dembotoz]

28. still adjusting his verbage to agree with the vile zealot evangelical gop freaks

[CRH]

29. I think Trump will one up W for incoherent use of the english language, ...

That might be far too conservative, … read that paragraph again. He makes W seem like an orator.

[Saviolo]

33. The first time...

The first time he gets into an actual debate with Clinton or Sanders, he'll come across as the buffoon he really is. He is completely incapable of giving a straight answer to anything. The democratic debates have been strong on policy and the Republican debates have been strong on name-calling, evasions, and buzz words. Also dick jokes.

Ugh, really? That was the GOP field? Really? The political right in the USA has collectively lost their minds.

[secondwind]

34. I'm sure Sarah Palin understood this!

[wheniwasincongress]

37. Nice!

[malthaussen]

35. By the way, welcome back.

While I don't discount the possibility that Mr Trump does, in sober fact, have a mental disease, I've been thinking that some of his actions lately represent fatigue more than insanity. I'd be reluctant to make a clinical diagnosis based on press releases. Whether he has a deeper problem than his obvious narcissism and megalomania is a question on which I don't feel competent to pronounce.

-- Mal

[Botany]

45. Narcissistic personality disorder

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/narcissistic-personality-disorder/basics/definition/con-20025568

Definition
By Mayo Clinic Staff
Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental disorder in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for admiration and a lack of empathy for others. But behind this mask of ultraconfidence lies a fragile self-esteem that's vulnerable to the slightest criticism.

malthaussen

[malthaussen]

49. Yes, as I say, I take that as given.

Whether or not he has a deeper problem, like paranoid schizophrenia, I can't assert with any certainty.

-- Mal

[Botany]

52. I talked to an old friend about Trump a few months ago and he ....

... has worked in the mental health field for 30 years and he said Trump is a classic
N.P.D. case.

[PatSeg]

64. He was probably up all night

on Twitter, wired and incoherent.

[bullwinkle428]

36. Extra K&R points for the "Billy Madison" reference!!

[IamMab]

42. +1! In this case, it was perfectly deployed. nt

[lonestarnot]

38. Fucking A. Is he on drugs?

[GeorgeGist]

39. Baffle 'em with bullshit ...

the ignorants will follow.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

40. I think he was trying to say what he "should have said" mixing it with "what

he did say" to explain the stupidity of what he said.

Bet, as soon as it was over, someone said to him "Nooooooooooo...you should have said that's a rhetorical question"

The man obviously can not ever admit he is wrong and is good at spinning an excuse - but in this case - it was impossible to spin - hence, the batshit crazy response.

[NoMoreRepugs]

41. what's the big deal?? GEORGE BUSH was re-elected POTUS ......

and that's after America had a chance to listen to him and observe his actions for four years.

I've said it before and will say it again - lots of people here at DU underestimate how ignorant a huge number of their fellow citizens are.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

43. The art of saying a lot but not much of anything

Leaving the interpretation of the text to the viewer

[wordpix]

58. Just like my high school students who didn't do homework but

have to write about what they didnt read last night.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

62. But more malicious and manipulative

My college kids do that too

[zentrum]

46. You do realize that

…….at night when he takes off his wig and his mask that he's Sarah Palin----don't you?

[Festivito]

47. To instantly dumb down a GOP voter is good for him. He's not speaking to us -- yet. eom

[spanone]

50. i think trump is insane.

[wordpix]

55. Donald keeps writing ads for dem candidates

thanks drumpf !

[sulphurdunn]

65. Sara Palin

reads like Shakespeare compared to this guy.

[AllyCat]

73. The next time someone says he "speaks his mind", I will repeat this and say

That's the problem.

[panader0]

74. From a theoretical, rhetorical academic standpoint, you know,

my answer, of course afterwards was done. No, in theory, people said unbelievable answers.