I was convinced many months ago that, at some point, Donald Trump would have his “Damn right I ordered the Code Red” moment. Maybe that moment will come Monday night.
We all know the scene, from the 1992 courtroom drama “A Few Good Men,” when Col. Jessup, the egomaniacal military commander played by Jack Nicholson, his blood boiling, begins to realize that his series of lies are coming unraveled under questioning. He blurts out that he gave the orders that led to the death of a Marine, not grasping the consequences of his sudden collision with the truth.
Trump is past overdue for such an implosion.
Maybe he would reveal the details of his many business failures. Maybe he would provide graphic proof that he has virtually no knowledge of, or interest in, foreign policy. Perhaps he might expose why he’s keeping his tax returns under wraps.
At that moment, Trump would look in wonderment at the stunned, silent audience around him as they comprehend the enormity of the verbal stumble he had suffered.
Hillary Clinton certainly has her share of baggage but it’s nearly impossible to imagine the former secretary of state, if cornered by the moderator on Monday, exploding in fury as Nicholson/Jessup did in that iconic scene (written by the incomparable Aaron Sorkin).
But Trump, wound tight with all his narcissism and bravado, is a Jessup-like character to the core.
We await the drama on stage at Hoffstra University to see how it plays out.
