For an anti-politician, Donald Trump is a furious spinner when he’s in a tight spot. This morning on This Week, he said, among other things, that he called John McCain a hero four times in his instantly notorious remarks and that he really just wanted to give credit to all the war heroes who were never captured by the enemy.
Trump did indeed say McCain is a war hero, but with the caveat that it was only because he was captured. The closest he came to acknowledging McCain’s heroism was to say he is “perhaps” a war hero. Here’s the transcript:
Trump: “(McCain) insulted me and he insulted everybody in that room. And I said somebody should run against John McCain, who has been, in my opinion, not so hot. And I supported him for president. I raised $1 million for him. That’s a lot of money. I supported him, he lost, he let us down. But he lost and I never liked him much after that ’cause I don’t like losers. But, but — Frank, Frank, let me get to it.”
Luntz: “He’s a war hero. He’s a war hero . . . ”
Trump: “He’s not a war hero . . . ”
Luntz: “He’s war hero.”
Trump: “He is a war hero . . . ”
Luntz: “Five and half years in a Vietnamese prison camp . . . ”
Trump: “He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured. So he’s a war hero . . . ”
Luntz: “Do you agree with that?”
Trump: “He’s a war hero, because he was captured, okay? I believe, perhaps, he’s a war hero. But right now he said some very bad things about a lot of people. So what I said is John McCain, I disagree with him that these people aren’t crazy.”
The media is now writing that Trump is toast because of this episode. Trump will eventually be toast (the witless bravado will lose its charm over time), but it will almost certainly take more than this because 1) it’s John McCain, who is anathema to Tea Party voters for some very good reasons; and 2) Trump was responding to McCain’s provocation of calling conservatives in his state who responded to Trump’s immigration message “crazies.” All that gives Trump a little cushion in this instance, but there will be more where this came from.