Trump takes fire from right, left and center

• Washington Post: Column: Trumpkins criticize their candidate — on the record

“One does sense that the bottom is about to drop out for Trump.”

• Washington Post: Opinion: There is something very wrong with Donald Trump

“He will bring himself down, and he will bring the Republican Party and its leaders down with him. This would be a tragedy were it not that the party and its leaders, who chose him as their nominee and who now cover and shill for this troubled man, so richly deserve their fate.”

• The Resurgent: Donald Trump Can Go to Hell and If You Defend His Statement, So Can You.

“Donald Trump can go to hell and perhaps you will do the rest of us a favor and follow him there. Shame on you all. Shame on you.”

• Wall Street Journal Editorial: The Trumpian Purge

“Mr. Trump lashed out because the trio refused to abide his criticisms of Khizr Khan despite a memo to Capitol Hill from the Trump campaign. Mr. Trump is too self-involved to let any criticism go unanswered, no matter how grounded in principle. He’d rather brawl with his critics than serve his own political interests, and he’s increasing the incentives for Republicans to defect or repudiate him….The same applies if Mr. Trump loses as badly as the polls say he might, or as badly as his current conduct deserves.”

• The Washington Post: Column: Trump’s shallowness runs deep

“The nation, however, is not immune to the lasting damage that is being done to it by Trump’s success in normalizing post-factual politics. It is being poisoned by the injection into its bloodstream of the cynicism required of those Republicans who persist in pretending that although Trump lies constantly and knows nothing, these blemishes do not disqualify him from being president.”

• Syracuse.com: Rep. Richard Hanna letter: We should all be done with Donald Trump

“If I compare the life stories of both candidates I find Trump deeply flawed in endless ways. A self-involved man who is worth billions yet is comfortable — almost gleefully — using bankruptcy laws to avoid the consequences of his own choices. A man of character would not defend his actions but rather display shame and or at least regret. He is unrepentant in all things. Think about those average people who paid for his choices.”

• Washington Post: Column: Dear Republican leaders: It’s not too late to dump Trump

“Those who support Trump are setting the Republican Party at odds with the American story told by Lincoln and King: a nationalism defined by striving toward unifying ideals of freedom and human dignity. Is this what the speaker of the House, the Senate majority leader, the chairman of the Republican Party and so many other good people intended when they entered politics? Is this how they define their soul’s high purpose?”

• Houston Chronicle: Editorial: These are unsettling times that require a steady hand: That’s not Donald Trump.

“Any one of Trump’s less-than-sterling qualities – his erratic temperament, his dodgy business practices, his racism, his Putin-like strongman inclinations and faux-populist demagoguery, his contempt for the rule of law, his ignorance – is enough to be disqualifying. His convention-speech comment, ‘I alone can fix it,’ should make every American shudder. He is, we believe, a danger to the Republic.”

• Washington Post: Opinion: Ghazala Khan: Trump criticized my silence. He knows nothing about true sacrifice.

“When Donald Trump is talking about Islam, he is ignorant. If he studied the real Islam and Koran, all the ideas he gets from terrorists would change, because terrorism is a different religion. Donald Trump said he has made a lot of sacrifices. He doesn’t know what the word sacrifice means.”

• Des Moines Register: Editorial: Trump Represents a Test of Character for Iowa GOP

“Trump’s comments displayed more than the profound ignorance we’ve all come to expect from him. They demonstrated a callous disregard for a military family’s grief and displayed a disturbing, narcissistic view of the world… Let’s be clear about this: The presidential campaign of Donald Trump is a test of character for our Republican leaders. Are they willing to speak out and stand up for the principles and ideals on which this nation was founded, or will they cower in silence while the leader of their party sullies the flag and trashes the Constitution? In his written statement, McCain said Trump’s remarks ‘do not represent the views of our Republican Party, its officers, or candidates.’ If only that were true.”

• Bloomberg View: So What About Trump’s Bromance With Putin and Russia?

“In years of covering him, I’ve yet to see him demonstrate the discipline needed to engineer a sophisticated, consistent, long-term strategy.”

• Huffington Post: Donald Trump Hired Me As An Attorney. Please Don’t Support Him For President.

“Donald Trump was then, as he is now, larger than life, particularly in his own eyes, and at the same time frighteningly small ― with very little moral grounding.”

New York Times: Opinion: Intervening Donald

• “No, I’m just worried that he’s preparing his excuse for when he loses. You do not want this to end with Donald Trump telling his supporters — many of whom appear to have a minimum of 20 guns in the basement — that he was robbed. In the Florida speech he did warn the audience to beware of ‘people voting 10 times.’ O.K., that’s scaring me.”

The Washington Post: Editorial: Donald Trump is spinning a loaded electoral conspiracy theory

• “Mr. Trump has upended political decorum in so many ways this election year that it is sobering to imagine what he can do if he keeps inflating his election-rigging myth. He has already given the nation a sense of the dangerous places he might go.”

• Washington Post: Column: Is this the beginning of the end for Donald Trump?

“The error was Trump’s belief that, in a free society, you can ban news organizations from public events. It’s welcome to see Republicans, conservatives and even some Trump supporters tiring of his assaults on democracy and decency.”

• New York Times: Opinion: Stop Indulging Trump

“John McCain, Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and the rest of you: It’s time to stop suggesting that Donald Trump doesn’t represent you, because he does represent you. He’s your party’s nominee, with your endorsements. Until you withdraw those, he has your blessing. Your permission.”

• New York Times: Editorial: Mr. Trump and Spineless Republicans

“Just when it seems that Donald Trump could not display more ignorance and bad judgment or less of a moral compass, he comes up with another ignominy or two.”

• Washington Post: Editorial Board: Is the GOP turning on Mr. Trump?

“Mr. McCain stopped short of withdrawing his endorsement of Mr. Trump, but the length and eloquence of his statement made clear just how appalling Mr. Trump’s actions are. Where Mr. McCain got it wrong was in challenging Mr. Trump ‘to set the example for what our country can and should represent.’ As he should know by now, Mr. Trump doesn’t have a clue how to do that.”

• New York Times: Editorial: Donald Trump Ducks Tax Disclosure

“The voters deserve to know what Mr. Trump is hiding, particularly considering his history of bankruptcies, the government investigations of Trump University and other dodgy parts of his branded universe. As the campaign rolls toward the fall, pressure will grow on Mr. Trump to be far more transparent than he has been. Responding with another pithy tweet won’t do.”