Hey, have you heard? Donald Trump is “lying low.” Donald Trump is staying out of the spotlight, kicking back, going low-key, “skirting controversy.” What? Since when? Since like Wednesday, of course! Isn’t that basically an eternity in the goldfish memory of our news cycle?
In kind of a weird story Monday, CNN noted that Donald Trump is layin’ low:
In his only public outing between his Wednesday and Sunday rallies in New York, Trump hopped into his motorcade and went to the World Trade Center, where he visited the 9/11 museum. Despite a pack of reporters who trailed him to the site, Trump — who can rarely resist the glare of trailing cameras — let his actions, which included a $100,000 donation to the museum, speak louder than his words, silently returning to Trump Tower.
And Trump on Sunday — for the first time in more than four months — did not appear on or call into any news program, leaving a vacuum that allowed the political narrative to shift from that of a campaign in disarray to one getting its act together.
“Lying low for a few days might play to his advantage to get his campaign organized and focused,” Republican strategist Ron Bonjean said.
Of course, Trump spent last week making and then walking back outrageous statements about abortion. He spent the weeks before that mocking Heidi Cruz, saying hideous things about Muslims, saying hideous things about immigrants, and defending his campaign manager after he allegedly physically assaulted a female reporter. It’s gotten to the point where it’s news when Donald Trump spends like three days cleaning out his email inbox instead of going on the Sunday shows or verbally committing another crime against humanity.
CNN even claims Trump’s purported “lying low” strategy extends to Twitter:
Even Trump’s tweets struck a less inflammatory tone over the weekend. While the real estate mogul expressed frustration with Colorado’s delegate awarding system, his message seemed more measured in comparison to the reactions from his Twitter feed during the rest of the campaign cycle.
“Measured” here meaning Trump literally accused Colorado and “phony politicians” of massive voter fraud:
After a busy morning of whining about the New York Times and alleging that the Cruz campaign is bribing people:
This is it. This is Donald Trump “lying low.”
Trump blows a kiss, February 2016. Photo via AP