Hillary Clinton Won Because Donald Trump Is a Sham

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Hillary Clinton Won Because Donald Trump Is a Sham

And he couldn't be bothered to prepare for the biggest test of his life.


By Charles P. Pierce Sep 27, 2016

I learned quite early in this campaign year that I live in a completely different ecosystem from most people, and from practically all of the people who boosted Donald Trump to a most improbable Republican presidential nomination.

But how anyone could have watched the proceedings at Hofstra on Monday night and not seen a complete bloodbath is beyond me.

There were two presidents on that stage. One was Hillary Rodham Clinton and the other one was Lester Holt. There also was a curiosity—a walking YouTube comment thread who knew nothing, cared less, and didn't even notice when he was setting his own feet on fire.



This was true 21st century Know-Nothingism. He plainly had not done even the most rudimentary preparation for the most important political night of his life.

He spent the whole night drunk on the applause he's had from his frothing, adoring public over the past 18 months. His entire appearance was an insult to his supporters, to the audience, to everyone watching at home, and to the entire concept of democratic governance going back to Pericles.

He is running for president as a guy who doesn't care enough to do the real work.

And, whatever you may think about HRC, she gave you all the respect of actually preparing for the debate. The examples are numerous and almost beyond belief.

TRUMP: Wait a minute. I was against the war in Iraq. Just so you put it out.
HOLT: The record shows otherwise, but why—why was...
TRUMP: The record does not show that.
HOLT: Why was—is your judgment any...

TRUMP: The record shows that I'm right. When I did an interview with Howard Stern, very lightly, first time anyone's asked me that, I said, very lightly, I don't know, maybe, who knows? Essentially. I then did an interview with Neil Cavuto. We talked about the economy is more important.

I then spoke to Sean Hannity, which everybody refuses to call Sean Hannity. I had numerous conversations with Sean Hannity at Fox. And Sean Hannity said—and he called me the other day—and I spoke to him about it—he said you were totally against the war, because he was for the war.

HOLT: Why is your judgment better than...

TRUMP: And when he—excuse me. And that was before the war started. Sean Hannity said very strongly to me and other people—he's willing to say it, but nobody wants to call him. I was against the war.

He said, you used to have fights with me, because Sean was in favor of the war. And I understand that side, also, not very much, because we should have never been there. But nobody called Sean Hannity.

In all honesty, there were points at which HRC was allowed to wave her hand at genuine questions beyond her e-mail. Her actions as Secretary of State as regards Syria and Libya certainly would be grist for a competent opponent, as would her earlier defense of some of the Clinton-era policies that even she admits have led to some of the problems she would like us to elect her now to solve, particularly in the area of criminal justice reform.

But Donald Trump is so damned proud of how he doesn't really know dick about anything, and so damned convinced that not knowing dick about anything actually makes him smarter than the rest of us mortals, that he was utterly incapable of raising any of these points in a coherent fashion.

There were two presidents on that stage on Monday night and he wasn't one of them.

Hell, I wouldn't let him park my car.

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