Trump's Political Irrationality At Work

On Tuesday night, watching the presidential debate, it didn't take long for me to notice that neither candidate had a lot of interest in being fully transparent about their platforms. In particular, there was a moment when President Trump was asked if he was willing to condemn white supremacy, and his response was "Sure, I’m prepared to do it. I would say- I would say, almost everything I see is from the left-wing, not from the right wing... I'm willing to do anything I want to see peace." When pressed further to condemn white supremacists, he said "Proud Boys, stand back and stand by. But I'll tell you what, I'll tell you what, somebody's got to do something about antifa and the left because this is not a right-wing problem. This is a left-wing problem." 

Trump did not say "I condemn white supremacy in all its forms" or anything like that. He knew he would alienate his most right-wing voters whose support he relies on to hope to win the election this year. He intentionally obscured his true beliefs by neither condemning white supremacy nor standing against the idea of condemning white supremacy altogether. That way, he can keep his right-wing support and still have a chance to capture voters in the middle. He further demonstrates his desire to capture those middle voters by responding to a question about white supremacy with "This is a left-wing problem", trying to use his platform to keep people from voting for his opponent. 

If Trump knows his voter base as well as I expect he does, it seems that this seemingly failed answer accomplished just what he wanted it to. He has applied Downs' idea that ambiguity in a political platform allows it to appeal to a broader number of voters, and he probably hasn't alienated anyone who didn't already disapprove of him. The New York Times even acknowledged that "there was no sign of a full Republican retreat from Mr. Trump" despite titling that very article "G.O.P. Alarmed by Trump’s Comments on Extremist Group, Fearing a Drag on the Party". The New York Times may be voicing some wishful thinking if they really think Trump didn't get away with another blatant display of racism.