Since declaring himself for the presidency 13 months ago, Republican presidential candidateDonald Trump has shown himself to be adept at two things: getting millions of dollars in free publicity from the media, and reversing himself on almost any position he has ever held about anything.
Name almost any issue, and you will find that Trump has been for it, against it, and declared the matter in need of more study during his 30 years in the public eye.
The scary thing is that as the campaign intensifies, the reversals are coming even faster than normal. It’s not always about Trump repudiating what he said 10 or 20 years ago, he doesn’t seem to remember what he saidlast week.
Example: America’s space program. Last November, Trump told a 10-year old space enthusiast that America had more serious issues than sending astronauts to Mars.
“You know, in the old days, it was great. Right now, we have bigger problems — you understand that? We’ve got to fix our potholes. You know, we don’t exactly have a lot of money,” Trump said, likely crushing any dreams the young boy had for setting foot on the Red Planet one day.
However, Trump had kinder words for the nation’s space program last week during an Ask Me Anything session onReddit.
“Honestly I think NASA is wonderful! America has always led the world in space exploration,” Trump wrote.
At an appearance in Florida today, Trump was back to dumping on NASA, comparing it to something you might find in Haiti, Guatemala or his favorite nation to the south, Mexico.
“By the way, look at your space program, look at what’s going on there,” he said. “Somebody just asked me backstage, ‘Mr. Trump, will you get involved in the space program?’ Look what’s happened with youremployment. Look what’s happened with our whole history of space and leadership. Look what’s going on, folks. We’re like a third world nation.”
Trump quickly segued into a discussion of the nation’s rising crime rate, so he provided no specifics about what he would do as president to return NASA to first-world status.
Look, I know that politicians are not exactly paragons of consistency. And they all say dumb things on a regular basis. But, Trump seems to be in a class by himself — and not in a good way.
I don’t know if I would expect much clarity from either Trump or Hillary Clinton in the months ahead. Space is not a major campaign issue; it tends to be something president elects sort out during the transition period and after they take office.
Both parties have mentioned space in their party platforms. Both mentions are fairly vague, and party platforms are not necessarily a guide to what a president will do once in office.
