Yes, Trump was joking about Russian hacking. That's kind of the problem.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

The Russian state trying to hack into an American political party's servers in order to throw the election to the other side is a big deal. It really shouldn't be something that America will tolerate.

The only acceptable response from Trump would have been "This is unacceptable. The Russians need to understand that, even if they do succeed in helping me win in this way, there will still be diplomatic repercussions".

By not merely not condemning it but jokingly encouraging it, Trump has given the Russians the go-ahead to continue. He's made it clear that, provided they succeed, they won't have to worry about the consequences.

[Whiskeytide]

1. He wasn't joking. He was...

... thinking like Trump. It only became sarcasm after it drew criticism.

[Wounded Bear]

2. This ^ ^ ^

That's pretty much his MO.

[unblock]

3. the need to divine intent is a common trap. usually it's an unnecessary distraction

intent is of vital importance in many criminal trials, but otherwise it has far less significance.

if someone's words or actions are bad, send bad signals, have bad consequences, etc., then others need to condemn them, they need to be apologized for, or other corrective actions need to be taken.

i've known many women stuck in relationships while they try to figure out if their s.o. actually intends to be mean to them or if it's just accident/bad habit/etc. it's a trap. if the guy's a disaster, just get out.

same goes for people stuck working for bad bosses, and the list goes on.


in trump's case, i think he's a sociopath who just says things to get media attention and a rise out of people. he doesn't give much thought to whether or not he's telling the truth or actual policy or anything because he's singularly focused on his own popularity.

so did he mean it as a joke? trump himself probably doesn't know, doesn't care. he intended it as a provocative statement that would get him news coverage and didn't give any thought to the consequences.

[lame54]

4. No joke - that was a real request