Sane
people
on
the
right
say
that
critics
of
Donald
Trump
should
calm
down.
Trump
says
some
crazy
stuff,
they
concede,
but
he’s
just
kidding. Look
at
what
he
does,
not
what
he
says.
Here’s
my
question: How
do
we
know
when
Trump’s
kidding?
If
a
Trump
supporter
can
tell
me,
at
the
time
Trump
speaks
the
words,
that
certain
words
are
a
joke,
then
that
supporter
might
have
a
point. But
the
supporter
can
never
do
that. The
supporter
has
to
wait
for
weeks,
or
months,
or
for
some
unspecified
future
date
to
know
whether
Trump
was
kidding
or
not.
I
never
had
that
problem
with
Robin
Williams.
Consider
these
examples.
In
2016,
Trump
said
that
he’d
build
a
wall
between
the
United
States
and
Mexico. Sane
Republicans
said
Trump
was
speaking
metaphorically;
he
meant
only
that
we’d
be
tougher
on
border
enforcement.
But
then
he
built
the
thing!
It
wasn’t
a
joke,
I
guess.
Trump
also
said
that
Mexico
would
pay
for
the
wall.
But
Mexico
didn’t!
I
guess
he
was
kidding. What
a
stitch!
Did
you
know
which
was
the
joke,
and
which
was
not? When
did
you
decide
—
before
or
after
construction
began?
During
the
2016
campaign,
Trump
said
that
Russia,
if
it
was
listening,
should
release
Hillary
Clinton’s
emails.
Ha! What
a
riot!
And
then
Russia
did.
Was
that
a
joke?
Trump
said
that
only
Ted
Cruz’s
fraud
had
permitted
Cruz
to
win
the
2016
Iowa
caucuses. The
result
of
the
caucuses,
according
to
Trump,
should
have
been
nullified.
Joke,
or
no?
When
Trump
says
the
same
thing
about
the
result
of
the
2020
election,
is
he
again
kidding?
That
man
is
such
a
master
of
deadpan
humor.
Did
Trump
talk
about
immigrants
from
“shithole
countries”
during
his
first
term? Trump
denied
speaking
those
words
at
the
time. He
now
seemingly
admits
that
it
was
true.
Which
was
the
joke?
Trump
said
the
he’d
negotiate
peace
in
Ukraine
on
his
first
day
in
office. Of
course
he
was
exaggerating.
But
was
he
joking? Did
he
believe
he
could
negotiate
peace
in
a
few
weeks? A
few
months? At
any
time
during
his
second
term? With
Trump’s
steadfast
support
for
the
Russian
position
in
the
war,
is
he
even
trying
to
negotiate
a
peace
that
would
be
acceptable
to
the
west?
Or
is
he
joking?
But
you
can’t
wait. Tell
me
now,
before
Trump’s
second
term
expires.
Trump
said
that
he
was
going
to
build
a
new
White
House
ballroom
without
costing
us
a
taxpayer
dollar. Republicans
in
Congress
may
now
authorize
a
billion
taxpayer
dollars
to
build
the
ballroom.
Was
Trump
joking
when
he
said
that
he’d
build
the
ballroom
at
no
taxpayer
expense? Or
is
he
joking
now?
Or
was
Trump
misinformed,
or
exaggerating,
or
lying,
or
insane?
If
you
don’t
know
whether
it’s
a
joke,
how
can
you
be
sure
of
your
defense
of
Trump? Or
do
you
just
plan
to
see
how
things
play
out,
and
then
insist
that
Trump
was
brilliant,
no
matter
what
he
does?
How
about
Trump’s
“Gold
Card”
program
that,
in
February
2025,
was
going
to
offer
a
pathway
to
U.S.
citizenship
in
return
for
a
payment
of
$5
million?
It
must
have
been
a
joke,
because
Trump
reduced
the
price
to
$1
million
in
his
September
2025
executive
order.
That
Trump! He’s
a
riot! What
will
he
think
of
next?
As
of
late
April,
apparently
one
applicant
had
been
approved
for
the
Gold
Card
program.
What
a
scream!
When
Trump
threatens
to
bomb
Iran
back
into
the
Stone
Age,
is
it
a
joke?
But
tell
me
now
—
before
the
renewed
bombing
starts
or
a
peace
deal
is
negotiated. If
Trump’s
joking,
you
must
know
that
he’s
joking,
right?
Along
the
same
lines,
did
the
United
States
“obliterate”
Iran’s
nuclear
weapons
program
with
its
strikes
last
June? Trump
insisted
that
we
did,
and
he
roped
other
administration
officials
into
repeating
that
quip. Should
I
be
laughing?
Because
we
had
to
bomb
Iran
again
not
eight
months
later
when
Iran
was
on
the
verge
of
getting
a
nuclear
weapon.
Was
that
real?
Or
is
that
another
joke?
A
joke
is
a
pretty
serious
thing.
Is
the
war
in
Iran
going
to
be
over
two
weeks
after
it
started
in
February? Or
was
that
a
joke? Has
the
United
States
won
that
war
(and
won
that
war,
and
won
that
war),
as
Trump
says? Or
is
that
more
hilarity?
I’m
ready
to
concede
that
a
person
is
a
comedian
if
the
person
tells
a
joke
and
someone
—
anyone
—
knows
that
the
words
were
spoken
in
jest. But
if
the
joke
leaves
a
roomful
of
listeners
unable
to
identify
the
joke
until
waiting
for
later
events
to
pass,
that
isn’t
a
joke
at
all.
When
Trump
says
that
he’ll
run
for
president
again
in
2028,
is
that a
joke?
Should
America
treat
it
as
a
joke?
Or
must
we
wait
until
November
2028
to
know?
I
think
the
joke’s
on
us.
Mark Herrmann spent
17
years
as
a
partner
at
a
leading
international
law
firm
and
later
oversaw
litigation,
compliance
and
employment
matters
at
a
large
international
company.
He
is
the
author
of The
Curmudgeon’s
Guide
to
Practicing
Law and Drug
and
Device
Product
Liability
Litigation
Strategy (affiliate
links).
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected].