So, 16 months before the 2016 elections and we have one candidate doxxing another on live television, and another posting YouTube videos of himself setting things on Fire.
Can we have a do-over?
Seriously, is it too late to just stop the entire Republican presidential primary process, have everybody take a couple of months off, and then start again? Because the road the GOP is going down is getting really, really weird.
Related: The 2016 Presidential Election Is Already a Dumpster Fire
On Tuesday, the single most qualified person to throw his hat in the ring, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, announced his candidacy, and was essentially drowned out by a playground spat between real estate mogul Donald Trump and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, which began with name-calling and escalated to the point of Trump giving out Graham’s personal cell phone number to the public and encouraging people to call him.
Graham on Monday had gone after Trump for comments Trump made over the weekend questioning the heroism of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who endured five years of beatings and torture as a prisoner of war, and declined early release so that others could be freed before him.
Saying that he was angry with Trump for attacking McCain, Graham added, “He's becoming a jackass at a time when we need to have a serious debate about the future of the party and the country.”
Related: Trump Surges in New Poll While GOP Splits Over His McCain Attack
Trump responded Tuesday at a rally in Graham’s home state, calling the senator an “idiot” and a “lightweight” before taking out a piece of paper with a phone number on it, and reading the digits out loud before urging listeners to try calling it.
After giving out the number, which was, in fact, Graham’s cell phone, the abuse continued. “I see your senator – what a stiff, Lindsey Graham, by the way, he’s registered zero in the polls, and he’s on television all the time.”
Probably getting a new phone. iPhone or Android?
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) July 21, 2015
Meanwhile, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who has been lagging in the polls, released a new video that shows him “killing” the federal tax code. Clad in jeans and a t-shirt that reads “Detroit Republican,” the clip shows Paul using a chainsaw to attack a pile of paper that he identifies as the tax code.
He also feeds it into a woodchipper. And sets it on fire. The musical accompaniment appears to be someone imitating Jimi Hendrix’s famous rendition of the Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock.
Shut it down. Everybody take August off and go to the beach or something. Come back in September. After all, there will still be 14 months to the election, even then.
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