Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 06:54 pm
At a rally in Pittsburgh, PA, Donald Trump asked how former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno is doing, and promised to bring him back. The problem is that Joe Paterno died in 2012.
Video:
https://youtu.be/ggVfaHKiLaw?t=47m48s
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While bragging about how well he knows Pennsylvania, Donald Trump said, “We love the place. Just so you understand, I went to school in this state. Right? We know that, right? So I know a lot about Pennsylvania, and it’s great. How’s Joe Paterno? We are going to bring that back. Right? How about that whole deal.”
Trump knows Pennsylvania so well that he apparently doesn’t know that Joe Paterno died in 2012. When Trump asked how Paterno was doing, the answer was the same as it has been for the last four years. Coach Paterno is dead. Trump promised to bring that back, and in this case, the that was a dead man.
The other problem with Trump bringing up Paterno was that his rally was in Pittsburgh. Joe Paterno coached the rival Penn State Nittany Lions. I suspect that Pitt fans don’t want Paterno to be brought back in either zombie or human form. The football teams are set to renew their bitter rivalry in 2016, and the return of Paterno would most certainly freak everybody out, and possibly put a crimp in those plans.
Donald Trump is rightly criticized for knowing nothing policy, but his arrogant ignorance also extends to life in general. Pittsburgh is not anywhere near Penn State. Asking about the dead football coach of a hated rival in the present tense does not display a the kind of grasp on basic events that the nation requires from a president.
Trump’s lack of preparation is only matched by his ignorance. Even if Paterno was alive, mentioning him in Pittsburgh would have been an amateur politician’s rookie mistake. Mentioning people who are dead, and then promising to bring them back is a complete disaster of a gaffe for the Republican frontrunner.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
