A fellow I know has sought to determine who among his social media network actually thought “Mexico was going to pay for the wall.”

Here’s my answer: No one in their right mind could possibly have thought such a thing. Then again, it can be argued that Donald Trump’s signature campaign promise appealed directly to those who, um, aren’t in their “right mind.”

So I guess the weird among us could have believed that Mexico would foot the bill for a 2,000-mile-long barrier between the United States and Mexico.

This is the so-called “magic” of Trump’s successful campaign for the presidency. He made the pledge repeatedly while running for the only office he ever has sought. The cheers the promise elicited egged him on. He absorbed all that love and adoration as an endorsement of his dubious belief that Mexico would write us a check for billions of bucks to build a barrier.

There was this little problem that those “base” supporters of Trump didn’t factor into their notion. The federal government’s price would escalate dramatically because of that darned Fifth Amendment provision that says the government cannot seize private property without providing adequate compensation to the landowners for the land it would take.

Trump has blamed Mexico for its own lax border security. He has said that “Mexico is sending” criminals into this country, suggesting that the government somehow should be held responsible for those who seek entry into the United States illegally.

Oh, and how in the world does the United States plan to build that wall along the Rio Grande River, which comprises virtually the entire border between Mexico and Texas? How, too, does the United States bill Mexico for a wall that would have to be built along the U.S. side of the river?

Trump made a promise he couldn’t keep. He cannot possibly force another sovereign country to do his bidding.

This individual doesn’t know what he’s talking about. What’s more, nor do those who cast their votes for him based primarily on that phony promise.