WASHINGTON ― Donald Trump’s campaign manager went on television Monday morning to declare that her boss’ scandal-laden debate with Hillary Clinton on Sunday was a “good night for democracy.”
Voters “interested in issues” got to see a “contrast,” Kellyanne Conway said.
She skipped over Trump dismissing a video-taped description of assaulting women as just “locker room talk.” She didn’t mention he admitted he didn’t pay taxes.
Instead, she focused on what amounted to the condensed right-wing conspiracy freakout that Trump brought to the forum in St. Louis, as he tried to get beyond that astounding recording of him saying he likes to grab women “by the pussy.”
Facing a mass defection by Republican leaders, Trump used the debate to haul out just about every feverish claim against Clinton that many GOP voters love.
Obamacare? It was a lie and a conspiracy. “Jonathan Gruber, the architect of Obamacare, he said it was a great lie, a big lie,” Trump said.
Trump denied sending tweets at 3 a.m. that alleged a former Miss Universe had a “sex tape,” and then turned the conversation to Benghazi.
“No, it wasn’t ‘check out a sex tape,’” Trump told moderators about his tweet, which did say that. “It was just take a look at the person... by the way, just so you understand, when [Clinton] said 3 in the morning, take a look at Benghazi!”
Trump, in his rambling way, was referring to an ad Clinton cut in 2008 that suggested she was the person Americans would want answering an emergency in the dead of night. His point was that Clinton didn’t save Ambassador Chris Stevens from being killed in the Benghazi attacks, although nine separate investigations have absolved her of wrongdoing.
“The only one she talked to was Sidney Blumenthal, who’s her friend and not a good guy, by the way,” Trump said.
He also hauled out Blumenthal’s name to remake the debunked charge that Clinton was responsible for Trump being a birther. “He’s the one that got this started,” Trump said, bringing up a Jewish-sounding name again.
Indeed, some observers did not find it coincidental that while Trump was trying to shore of the conservative base, he kept mentioning Jewish people as examples.
There was plenty more for the fever-dream set.
The campaign trotted out women who have accused former President Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct, and seated them in the debate hall. Conway said on NBC’s “Today” show that those women were there because Hillary, as Bill’s wife, had been complicit in mistreating them.
Perhaps the biggest bone Trump tossed to the hard-right base, though, was the promise that Clinton would be in jail if he won ― a thoroughly unsubtle nod to his most fervent supporters who like to chant “lock her up!” at rallies.
First he promised to direct a special prosecutor to look into Clinton. But he went further when she chided him later for essentially being an erratic bully.
“It’s just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country,” Clinton said.
“Because you would be in jail,” Trump shot back, going from prosecutor to jury in about a heartbeat ― and ignoring the fact the FBI director has repeatedly said there’s no there there. (And Director James Comey’s term runs until 2023.)
Conway made clear the debate message was the one the campaign wanted.
“I think it was a good night for democracy,” she said on “Today” when asked if the display was good for American politics.
“They really have a contrast. They really have a choice in two candidates this year, in this election cycle, next month,” Conway insisted.
“For those interested in issues, which we talk about every day, there was plenty to hear about in those 90 minutes,” Conway added. She also went back over the emails and the oft-investigated Benghazi.
So yes, there was a contrast. And while it probably will do little for moderates and independents, at least the message should torture Republican leaders who desperately want to dump Trump, even as their voters are eating up his words.
This article has been updated throughout.
Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.