Reihan Salam: ‘People Have Very Deep Suspicions About Donald Trump for a Good Reason’

EXCERPT:

SALAM: "This weekend the president praised counter-protesters in Boston for protesting against various neo-Nazi, white supremacist groups, et cetera. And that`s something that lots of folks who wanted him to condemn neo-Nazis earlier on more strongly, they hear and they think, well, this is just a throw away. This doesn`t mean anything. It doesn`t actually confirm their preexisting story about him. When he turns around and equivocates, as Jeffrey just said, then it confirms a very powerful narrative for people. So this means that there`s an asymmetry at work. And that asymmetry is there for a good reason, by the way. People have very deep suspicions `doubt Donald Trump for a good reason. But if he`s going to counter those suspicions, he has to take very strong and clear action to convey that, no, I am, in fact, very sincere when I say that I`m on the side of those who are protesting against white nationalists, neo-Nazi, the Ku Klux Klan and all the rest."