'Nervous' Trump insiders forced to put out fires after his 'lethal' comments: analyst

The two top officials heading up Donald Trump's third campaign for the presidency are being placed in the unenviable position of having to issue statements clarifying his planned policies because he can't stop talking about being a "dictator," according to a columnist Monday.

What started as comments by some of the ex-president's former aides about plans to use the power of the presidency to go after his perceived enemies in Congress and in the press has taken on a life of its own, wrote Salon columnist Heather Digby Parton.

That, in turn, became a full-fledged firestorm after Fox News host Sean Hannity asked Trump for assurances he wouldn't abuse power or seek retribution once he was back in the Oval Office, to which Trump replied, "Except for day one. I want to close the border, and I want to drill, drill, drill.”

Parton wrote that the Trump campaign is growing increasingly nervous that his dictator talk is sticking — particularly because he keeps riffing on it in speeches, including in New York City on Saturday night.

She noted that senior Trump campaign advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita were forced to issue a statement proclaiming, "Any personnel lists, policy agendas, or government plans published anywhere are merely suggestions," after the dictator talk started getting traction in the press.

According to Parton, "You might have thought that Trump would press pause on all the dictator talk considering that his campaign is obviously getting very nervous about it. But no. He appeared before the New York Young Republicans over the weekend and repeated his 'dictator on day one' line, making even less sense than before."

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According to the columnist, that kind of talk can cripple the Trump campaign before it even gets through the primaries and Wiles and LaCivita know it.

"The few professionals in the Trump campaign understand that it's lethal for Trump's chances in the general election if the public is actually informed of what he plans to do," Parton wrote before adding, "Now that the press is no longer under the illusion that ignoring what he says is the best way to cover him, those pros are starting to realize that they can't control Trump or the people around him.

"They aren't the first to have that rude awakening. It would be a big relief if they were the last."

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