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Which Trump will emerge as president?

RUTH MARCUS on

On these, the evidence, post-election, is unnervingly mixed. Trump struck the right tone in his victory speech and his White House visit. He spoke of the need to "bind the wounds of division." He pledged "to every citizen of our land that I will be president for all Americans."

And then there was Thursday night's ominous tweet, characteristically thin-skinned and dismissive of free speech. "Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!"

Trump -- or a grown-up with access to his Twitter account and some understanding of the constitution -- cleaned things up early Friday morning. "Love the fact that the small groups of protesters last night have passion for our great country."

The cynical way to understand this about-face is that Thursday Night Trump is the real, unexpurgated Trump; and Friday Morning Trump is the spin-doctored version. That this is almost certainly accurate -- no one thinks Trump woke up and thought better of his intemperate words on his own -- does not answer the more salient question: Which Trump will emerge as president?

And will he assemble a Team of Inciters that inflames his worst instincts or a Team of Naysayers that tempers them? Trump Wednesday morning spoke not of the Hillary Clinton who should be behind bars but the one who is owed "a major debt of gratitude for her service to the country."

Then Thursday morning, Rudy Giuliani, a potential attorney general, popped off on "the very close question" of whether to prosecute Clinton.

 

"It's been a tradition in our politics to put things behind us," Giuliani told CNN. Still, he said, "suppose somebody comes along a year from now and is alleged to have stolen $50,000 from a charity -- and she was never investigated for hundreds of millions." This is Giuliani deranged, not for the first time this election. No one has suggested Clinton stole anything from the foundation.

A clean shave -- sure. But it can only last so long, and the shadow looms.

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Ruth Marcus' email address is ruthmarcus@washpost.com.

(c) 2016, Washington Post Writers Group


Copyright 2016 Washington Post Writers Group

 

 

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