Trump Backs Down, But What Does that Reveal?

This from David Frum, political commentator, speechwriter for President George W. Bush.

What he said here is true, of course; it’s very unusual for Trump not to double down on whatever stand he’s made, regardless of how unsupportable.

This time, however, it seems an adviser he trusts must have said something like:

Donald, if you go through with this, it will be the last nail in the 2020 coffin. You will have shown voters that your core campaign tactic is to further divide the country until the whole nation is in flames, and it will appear that you’re deliberately tearing the country apart so that you can be re-elected.  Only hardcore white supremacists will appreciate this, and there simply aren’t enough of them to carry you here.

You will also lose the support of the GOP in congress, because they too will go down in flames if they continue to support what appears to be blatant, hyper-incendiary racism.  They’ve stood up for you so far, but now it will mean the end of their careers, and these jellyfish are not going to let that happen.