Donald Trump admitted that he brings up the implausible idea of building an even bigger "wall" between the United States and Mexico than the one that already exists just to get applause from a sleepy audience.
The GOP front runner, real estate tycoon and television reality star told the New York Times' editorial board he uses the line to wake up an audience that starts looking a little bored. The Times slammed Trump in a Saturday editorial that called Trump and his main rival, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, "objectionable for different reasons."
“You know,” he told the Times writers, “if it gets a little boring, if I see people starting to sort of, maybe thinking about leaving, I can sort of tell the audience, I just say, ‘We will build the wall!’ and they go nuts.”
Trump's candid admission is yet another in which he seems to allude that his supporters are, at best, uncritical.
Last week, Trump said he could murder someone in cold blood and not lose any of his loyal followers.
“They say I have the most loyal people,” Trump at a rally in Iowa, “Where I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters, okay? It’s like incredible.”
While the Times notes that Trump's supporters don't care what he says, "[w]hat they may not know is how deliberately he is currying their favor."
This week, Trump supporter Karen Bruno said that she is so angry with politics in this country that no matter what Trump says, she will support him.
“I think the more he riles up the establishment, the better I like it. So, He really can’t say anything wrong. Because every time he makes them upset, the more I like it, because I’m so angry,” she told KING 5 outside Trump Tower in New York earlier this week. “I think the establishment is in cahoots to bring this country down…I don’t know what they’re doing…they’re not making it better.”
Whether or not Trump can deliver on the promises he's been making or only succeed in getting applause is another question. The Washington Post compiled 76 outlandish promises Trump has made, which include the border wall -- which he expects Mexico to pay for and doing away with Obamacare to replace it with something "terrific."
