All of this political back and forth is absurd. No one rational thinks Trump could ever be charged with treason for his sarcastic statements. Almost everyone rational also understands Trump is given to bloviating egotistical and impulsive statements, so the general understanding should be to take this into account when deciding to vote for him. Some will look past it, others cannot - I get it - political leanings are often very personal and emotional.
The real story here - and why the back and forth is inane, is the nature of the populace's discontent with our political elites. This dis-satisfaction crosses parties, and from somewhat unique personal experience, I can confirm that the except for a few hot button issues (e.g., abortion) and their own personal views as to why they are superior to the masses, Democratic elites and Republican elites are remarkably alike. And there is a perception, likely backed by some objective evidence, that the elites have not been very effective in governing.
I was a poor kid, from a single alcoholic mother home. Lots of destitution. Track and field helped immensely, as I attended one of the best schools in the country with track and field - it could never have happened otherwise. It was my first experience with the upper class and elites, and thankfully, I could compete academically (although certainly not socially). I went on to graduate education, and became the Law Review editor at one of the so-called top 10 law schools. My conservative friends would all whisper, and say look, how can you stand all of the liberals on the Law Review (most were progressive types), and my liberal friends would say there is something different about you, as I would not ascribe to the party line on almost anything. I never really saw the culture at this elitist level as conservative vs, liberal. The people were almost all upper middle class or higher (yes, even the minorities, hardly a surprise to those who have lived it), and they were all imbued with a sense of moral superiority, just in different flavors. The conservatives generally thought they had better values, and work ethic, and so on, so they deserved what they had. And the liberals generally thought they were superior because they had far nobler intentions, and acted accordingly. I used to laugh at both sides, as they made comments about unions and working class people with absolutely no idea or experience with them. (I was a Teamster in a major urban area at a factory and worked in a slaughterhouse for the United Food and Commercial Workers, operating a brisket saw on the "kill side"). The level of condescension about people they never knew or had any experience with was comical. Yet they "knew" everything - intelligence is overrated - wisdom is not. By the way, you see the schism I am pointing to play out every week in discussions of education reform. The conservative elitists think that if the kids just worked harder, or were taught by brilliant teachers, and got the unions out of the way, they would learn more, and the liberals think, if we could just fix those social conditions and spend more money, everyone can perform like the 125 IQ kids (and we need to drive home the point that there is nothing wrong with a 95-100 IQ and there's lots of meaningful and productive things people can do with that kind of cognitive ability - I know, they were my Union peers were my biggest supporters in terms of improving myself and getting an education, far more supportive than the elitists in my life, who, after all, were not really comfortable with someone like me without social graces being a success).
Which brings me to today. The story is not about Trump's snarky comments, or about Hilary's experience as a lifelong wonkucrat. No, the story is that there are great commonalities between Bernie Sanders supporters and Trump supporters. Both are appalled by the elitists running our government institutions, and I appreciate them both. Why? Not because they have the right wonky solutions (they likely don't in many cases). But they are bringing to the fore that the modern administrative state is expensive, and frankly doesn't work very well - it is simply not all that competent any longer. And the elitists are so entrenched that they rarely hear any interruption to their internal narrative than they are right and know what is good for everyone else.
So it comes to this. I am not sure that Trump is capable of running on competence and effectiveness, merely because it is all about himself. And I am not sure Hilary is either, because she has so much darn self inflicted baggage (although by disposition I believe she could dedicate herself to competence if not so beholden to the elites who support her).
Food for thought.