Donald Trump Just Crossed a New Line in American Politics

So this just happened…


Hours before voters go to the polls in New Hampshire, Donald Trump turned to the topic of waterboarding at a rally in Manchester. As he began to recount how Ted Cruz had squeamishly addressed the issue during Saturday’s debate, a shout came from the audience. Trump froze with a slight grin. And then this happened.

“She just said a terrible thing, you know what she said? Shout it out because I don’t want to say,” Trump said, clearly amused. As the woman repeated it, Trump pretended to be offended. “Psshh…you’re not allowed to say that, and I never expect to hear that from you again.” And then:

His exact quote: “You’re not allowed to say, and I never expect to hear that from you again, she said, ‘He’s a pussy,’ that’s terrible.”

As chants of “Trump! Trump! Trump!” broke out, the real estate mogul returned to the podium.

“What kind of people do I have here?” he said, to laughter, and then recalled getting flak for not condemning supporters who said offensive things about President Barack Obama. “The press got very angry because I didn’t defend the president, and I didn’t reprimand the person who said it. So, I just want to tell you, ma’am, you’re reprimanded, okay?”

So, that’s part of the political conversation now.

DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And we need your support like never before, to fight back against the existential threats American democracy faces. Fundraising for nonprofit media is always a challenge, and we need all hands on deck right now. We have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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