When Donald Trump called Hillary Clinton the devil and
threatened to jail her it was not the first time I had heard such talk, though
not in recent years in America
It reminded me of political contests in the Third World, and
often the incumbent made good this threats to jail opponents. Sometimes they
were never seen again.
This was over the top even for a potty mouth. We don’t
threaten opponents on debate stages.
"If I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general
to get a special prosecutor to look into your (missing email) situation,"
Trump said, "because there has never been so many lies, so much
deception."
Trump's threat -- which he has
made before on the campaign trail -- is extraordinary even by
the standard of the vitriolic 2016 campaign.
Clinton responded first by calling Trump's comments about
her emails false, then said, "It's just awfully good that someone with the
temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country."
Trump, as if continuing her sentence, added: "Because
you'd be in jail."
It was very Nixonian, said former Attorney General Eric
Holder, a Democrat. He recalled Nixon’s attorney general quit when ordered to
fire the Watergate special prosecutor.
But Republicans were shocked as well.
“Former White House, said,
"Winning candidates don't threaten to put opponents in
jail," he tweeted. "Presidents don't threaten prosecution of individuals.
Trump is wrong on this."
There was a certain irony as Trump stalked Hillary on the
stage, to use the verb chosen by several pundits, to talk about jailing her. He
is the one facing trial three weeks after the election or running a phony
university. And he will face trial in more than one state for ripping off
students. Trump’s Foundation has been ordered to cease and desist taking
donations because it is not registered.
In our living room, and many others from what I heard on
several stations, people wondered by the taller Trump kept creeping up behind
Clinton when it was her turn to speak. It seemed like something from a
Frankenstein movie.
In the past such bizarre behavior has worked for Trump.
Appparently not Sunday night.
Nearly as scary as the jail threat was his total lack of
knowledge of Russia’s role in Syria. It reminded some viewers of Libertarian
Gary Johnson’s comment “What is Aleppo.”
The two polls taken right the even showed Hillary the
winner.
Before the debate many Republicans had abandoned him, others
said they would look for a strong performance to get him back in the race as
his poll numbers tumble.
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