How Don Jr. became Trump's most useful idiot

The eldest son's frequently inept escapades actually serve an important purpose for the president

Donald Trump Jr.
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So there was Donald Trump, Jr., at Berkeley, getting screamed at by a crowd of 20-something protesters, albeit ones from a right-wing youth group angry about his unwillingness to take questions. If it wasn't clear that things were getting out of hand when the chant shifted from "U.S.A.! U.S.A.!" to "Q&A! Q&A!" it certainly was when Trump's girlfriend, the former Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle, not so politely suggested that her audience was largely made up of members of a particularly reviled internet subculture.

This is not how it was supposed to go down. The president's son and namesake was in California doing what right-wingers always do when they want to generate headlines, get attention on social media, and sell books — going to a college campus in the hope of deliberately pissing off excitable young people. Instead of being applauded for his commitment to the cause, he was heckled off the stage by the people who ought to be his closest allies. Now everyone is making fun of him.

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Matthew Walther

Matthew Walther is a national correspondent at The Week. His work has also appeared in First Things, The Spectator of London, The Catholic Herald, National Review, and other publications. He is currently writing a biography of the Rev. Montague Summers. He is also a Robert Novak Journalism Fellow.