Keller @ Large: Did Trump Go Too Far?
BOSTON (CBS) - Another big crowd turned out in Fort Dodge, Iowa Thursday night to see the undisputed ratings king of the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump. But when Trump's 95-minute stream-of-consciousness performance was over, even some of the Trump fans in attendance were clearly wondering if their man has jumped the shark.
At first, every Trumpian quip - his promise to "bring back Christmas," for instance - evoked smiles and applause. But many in the crowd were visibly and audibly less enthused when Trump veered off into alien cultural references and narcissism, such as this ode to one of his side-businesses: "See these cufflinks? From Macys. Some people think they're Harry Winston or Tiffany's, its actually Macy's. They're good, Trump cufflinks!"
Another reference to his wealth met with silence: "Fifth Avenue real estate, it's amazing, right?"
Trump drew cheers for his plan to combat ISIS: "I would bomb the (expletive) out of them." But another barnyard epithet drew blank stares from the people onstage behind him: "[John] Kasich, oh, the guy's (expletive) terrible."
As the speech droned on well into its second hour, people fled into their smartphones. And smiles were hard to find as Trump mocked Ben Carson's stories of youthful violence, concluding with this admonition to the audience to doubt Carson's childhood memories:
"How stupid are the people of Iowa? How stupid are the people of the country to believe this crap?"
Past insults - including his memorable smear of military prisoners of war - haven't seemed to slow the Trump express. Will this time be different?