Trump has turned words winto weapons. And he's winning the linguistic war

[malthaussen]

5. I harp on this a lot.

Don't dignify nonsense with a response, it only validates it.

The problem is, Mr Trump is not just some anonymous Internet clown spewing toxic wastes. His statements are ipso facto declarations by the US Head of State and Head of Government. No matter how "illegitimate" we think he is, no matter how strongly we pound the table and scream "he's not my President!" -- he is, and therefore anything he says is automatically news, and important. Which he laps up, of course, it's his wildest dream come true. But unlike our embarrassing Uncle Fred, we can't lock him up in the attic and let him drool all over himself -- and with no unanimity from the Press, we can't muster a solid chorus of sense to drown out his nonsense.

-- Mal