Speaking in New Hampshire on Monday night, Trump berated Ted Cruz for being only half-hearted in support of waterboarding. This provoked a woman in the audience to yell out that Cruz is a “pussy.” Trump lit up in delight when he heard that, and delivered a faux-lecture in order to make sure the rest of the audience knew what she said. “She just said a terrible thing,” Trump said with mirth. “You know what she said? Shout it out because I don’t want to say it. (Laughs). You’re not allowed to say—and I never expect to hear that from you again. She said—I never expect to hear that from you again—she said, ‘He’s a pussy.’” The crowd erupted in cheers.
The incident was a reminder that the best way to understand Trump is not politically, but culturally. He’s turning the Republican primary into a Quentin Tarantino movie. All the ingredients are there: ethnic slurs, profuse swearing, toxic masculinity with men berating each other for supposed effeminacy, and a large cast of characters who hate each other.
The only way this primary can end is in a bloodbath. And the only question is, in the inevitable Tarantino-style “Mexican stand-off” that brings the action to a violent conclusion, who will be the one to try and kill Trump: Jeb Bush or Ted Cruz?