Trump's unhinged shark story should've been major news – The Arizona Republic
I do not understand what people in my business are so afraid of.
The mainstream media failed to adequately report the most important Donald Trump story of the weekend.
Again.
Trump’s ability to sic his MAGA followers on anyone who crosses him makes it understandable (if not honorable) to see why every single Republican politician in America is afraid of being honestly critical of him.
But the mainstream media is also afraid of Trump. That, I do not get.
Too many respectable journalists and respectable journalistic institutions have allowed the fear of appearing biased to prevent them from being honest.
From pointing out serious areas of concern about Trump’s grasp of reality, as evidenced by an off-the-rails diatribe involve sharks and water and a “tremendously powerful battery.”
I’m not talking about gaffes.
I’m not overly troubled when Trump mispronounces a word or bungles the name of a foreign leader or mixes up the dates of events in the past. Joe Biden does the same thing, with about the same regularity.
But there are rambling screeds that Trump goes on during his speeches that should be genuinely concerning.
It’s the kind of thing that would be worrisome if done by an elderly member of your family. It’s the kind of disquieting recognition you have when you pass a ranting homeless guy on a street corner.
During his speech in Las Vegas over the weekend, for example, Trump suddenly veered into a bizarre fantasy involving sharks and boats and batteries and MIT.
I am not making this up.
This is a candidate looking to be elected president of the United States.
It is not unreasonable for reasonable people in the media to ask if anyone — ANYONE — could explain what Trump was talking about when he wandered off the path of reality and babbled:
“So I said, let me ask you a question, and he said, nobody ever asked this question and it must be because of MIT, my relationship to MIT. Very smart.
“He goes, I say, what would happen if the boat sank from its weight? And you’re in the boat and you have this tremendously powerful battery and the battery is now underwater and there’s a shark that’s approximately 10 yards over there, by the way, a lot of shark attacks lately, do you notice that a lot of shark?
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“I watched some guys justifying it today. Well, they weren’t really that angry. They bit off the young lady’s leg because of the fact that they were, they were not hungry, but they misunderstood what who she was? These people are.
“He said there’s no problem with sharks. They just didn’t really understand a young woman swimming now. It really got decimated and other people do a lot of shark attacks.
“So I said, so there’s a shark 10 yards away from the boat, 10 yards or here, do I get electrocuted if the boat is sinking? Water goes over the battery, the boat is sinking. Do I stay on top of the boat and get electrocuted or do I jump over by the shark and not get electrocuted?
“Because I will tell you he didn’t know the answer. He said, you know, nobody’s ever asked me that question. I said, I think it’s a good question. I think there’s a lot of electric current coming through that water. But you know what I’d do if there was a shark or you get electrocuted, I’ll take electrocution every single time.”
Anyone?
In what way is expressing concern about a presidential candidate who says such a thing bias? Is there a person anywhere who could explain how any of that fits into a campaign speech for the presidency?
Or how it fits … period?
Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.
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