Ha! You’re right, of course, it is a double-standard. But how else should we process his remarks? We have two choices as I see it: Take him at his word, literally, and assume from that he actually thinks Obama founded ISIS. Or, work with what we already know to be his style: Over-the-top bombast and hyperbole designed to produce maximum dog-whistle impact. With this approach, we can only surmise that he used the words to pin responsibility for ISIS’s emergence on the President.

But just because these are the only two choices, doesn’t mean we have to dignify either — they are both ludicrous. But only one has the benefit of being an accurate assessment of what he meant.