Words mean things....except when they don't

After all, what's the worst that could happen?

It was so much easier when we could stick to "He was just joking!"

“I know what you meant. You meant that he created the vacuum, he lost the peace,” Hewitt attempted to guide Trump.

“No, I meant he’s the founder of ISIS. I do,” Trump stated flatly, standing firm.

“But he’s not sympathetic to them. He hates them. He’s trying to kill them,” a shocked Hewitt said, left defending the President.

“I don’t care. He was the founder,” Trump insisted.

“They screwed everything up,” Hewitt allowed, “But by using the term founder, they’re hitting with you on this again.”

“Mistake?” Hewitt tried again.

“No, it’s no mistake,” Trump refused. “Everyone’s liking it. I think they’re liking it,” he assured the host.

“I give him the most valuable player award. And I give it to him, and I give it to, I gave the co-founder to Hillary. I don’t know if you heard that,” he added, repeating a line he has been saying since January.

“I know what you’re arguing,” Hewitt tirelessly continued.

“Do you not like that?” Trump shot back.

“I don’t. I think I would say they created, they lost the peace. They created the Libyan vacuum, they created the vacuum into which ISIS came, but they didn’t create ISIS. That’s what I would say,” Hewitt finally offered Trump.

“Well, I disagree.”

This morning, we find out this entire exchange was apparently an exercise in sarcasm:

Ratings challenged @CNN reports so seriously that I call President Obama (and Clinton) "the founder" of ISIS, & MVP. THEY DON'T GET SARCASM?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 12, 2016

So when he isn't joking, he's just being sarcastic?  As TPM points out, Trump made the claim four times (including the Hewitt interview), so I guess the conclusion is Trump's entire campaign is a prolonged act of sarcasm.