Editorial: Trump's 'very dangerous' comments represent a new low

Fifteen months into the circus act that is Donald Trump's campaign for the presidency, both Democrats and Republicans are showing symptoms of advanced outrage fatigue.

Over the past year and a half, Trump has behaved so recklessly, so often, that the public can no longer absorb, let alone assess, each individual offense. Voters of all political stripes are thoroughly desensitized to Trump’s special brand of lunacy.

With Trump, bizarre utterances that would bring any other candidate’s bid for office to a screeching halt are not so much tolerated or forgiven as they are ignored. At this point, they have roughly the same effect that rainfall has on fish in a pond.

Trump is keenly aware of this. Even in January, he marveled at his supporters’ willingness to follow him blindly, regardless of what he says or does. "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters, OK? It’s, like, incredible,” he said.

What’s most frightening about that comment is that it wasn’t made quietly in a smoke-filled backroom and later disavowed, but was announced at a televised campaign rally in Sioux Center, Ia. His supporters, clearly not realizing they had just been insulted in the most flippant and demeaning way possible, cheered just as they always do, some of them shouting, “We love you!”

So it should come as no surprise that even when Trump stoops so low as to suggest that his political opponent be put in harm’s way, his words cause barely a ripple of protest.

At a rally in Miami over the weekend, Trump said of Hillary Clinton: “I think that her bodyguards should drop all weapons. They should disarm, right?” As the crowd roared its approval, he continued: “I think they should disarm. Immediately. What do you think? Yes? Yes? Take their guns away! She doesn’t want guns. Let’s see what happens to her. Take their guns away. OK? It’ll be very dangerous.”

It’s tempting to say those remarks are without precedent in American presidential politics, but it was only last month that Trump told supporters in North Carolina, “If (Clinton) gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people — maybe there is, I don’t know.”

The media is partly to blame for Trump’s ascension and for the Teflon nature of his campaign. By focusing on, and capitalizing on, Trump’s celebrity rather than his qualifications for office, newspapers and broadcasters legitimized the candidacy of a man who from the very start made clear that he was not merely unprepared to hold public office, but was undeserving of the public’s trust.

In the process, they provided Trump with $2 billion worth of no-cost coverage. According to mediaQuant, Trump was awarded $400 million worth of free media in April 2016 alone, which is roughly what John McCain spent on his entire 2008 presidential campaign.

Only now are some news organizations recognizing that Trump has played them for fools — taking full advantage of their willingness to cover his every move, no matter how devoid of substance it might be. Just last week, Trump successfully duped the cable-news networks into broadcasting live what was essentially a bait-and-switch campaign event. "We got played," fumed John King of CNN. “We all got ‘Rick rolled,’ ” said his colleague, Jake Tapper.

The public has been conned, too. The latest polls show Trump is locked in a tight race with Clinton and is gaining ground in key battleground states. That means the next time Donald Trump raises the specter of his political opponents being assassinated, it may be from the Oval Office where the president has the full command of America’s military arsenal and intelligence agencies.

That's a scenario that should deeply concern every American, regardless of party.