Category: Donald Trump

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Domestic Policies Donald Trump Donald Trump News Politics

The Last Quiet Week

You do realize that this will be the last week that food stores will be listing summer fruits, vegetables and other items in their sales flyers, right? After Labor Day it will suddenly be soup, oatmeal and cold/flu medicine time even though it’s likely to be near 80 degrees where most of us live. Such are the vagaries of the seasons and the need to sell stuff.

But it also means that the political races will turn for home as people return to work after a vacation, if they can afford it, and politicians return to their capitals for a fleeting moment of relevance before spending full time campaigning. For all the talk about how this year was going to see a different campaign with different rules, it has been a remarkably stable presidential race, and the Senate is coming down to a few important races to see if the Democrats can take control of the chamber. Donald Trump has changed the tenor of the campaign somewhat, but most of what he’s done has not helped him and I can’t see future races taking serious notes from his playbook.

At this point, the polling for the presidential race shows that Hillary Clinton has a solid lead that hasn’t really changed much since the Democratic Convention in July. According to the RealClearPolitics national average, she has a 6 point lead as of today and is ahead in enough states to garner 272 electoral votes if the election was held today. Which it is not. Other state polling sites like electoral-vote.com,  the Princeton Election Consortium, and Electionprojection.com show Hillary with a bigger lead.

Most polling shows Trump with about 42% of the national vote, and that has been his ceiling since July. If anything, this is his biggest problem. He will somehow need to expand his appeal significantly if he is to seriously challenge Hillary over the next month, before the first debate on September 26. This will likely be his last chance to help himself since most research says that the first debate is the most important for possibly changing people’s minds.

Of course, this all presupposes that Trump’s potential pivot on immigration doesn’t cause him to lose support from his base, or that something overly consequential is lurking in Clinton’s email server or that we are attacked at home or abroad. Enjoy the last quiet week of August. Next week the real show begins

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest

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Donald Trump Politics Rev AL Sharpton

Trump Supporter Pastor Burns, Cannot Explain Any Trump Policy – Video

The day after Donald Trump and a bunch of black pastors met, one of those pastors joined Morning Joe on MSNBC to talk about the meeting they had with Trump and the policies they discussed.

Host Mika Brzezinski began the interview by asking the pastor if Donald Trump has anything to do with the deplorable race relations in America. She asked him about Trump’s recent fight with a Federal Judge of Mexican descent, and asked the pastor if he thought Trump’s claims about the judge was racist.

The pastor apparently took offense to this question and he looked visible annoyed when he answered that he knows all about racism because he is “a black man from the deep south.” An answer that had nothing to do with Mika’s question about Trump, but… okay!

Then Rev. Al Sharpton took the banton from Mika, informing the pastor that, “we lose the moral imperative if we start saying that something that is green, is red.” Rev. Al went on to ask the pastor, “what is the policy” of Mr. Trump that will help blacks and other minorities if he becomes president?

For the next 11 minutes, the interview rambled on with other members of the panel asking for Trump’s policies, but getting nothing from Pastor Burns, an avid and outspoken Trump supporter.

Watch

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Donald Trump Politics

Donald Trump and Barbra Streisand Sing – ‘Anything You Can Do’ – Video

Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show has done it again! Using some of Donald Trump’s favorite adjectives and the biglyness of a make-up team, Fallon transformed himself into the Republican presidential candidate. Joined by superstar Barbra Streisand, the two joined in a rendition of Anything You Can Do.

Must see video, and must see how accurate the eye makeup is for the donald!

Video

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Donald Trump Politics

Watch Hillary Clinton’s Full Speech Against Donald Trump – Video

Donald Trump called her a bigot, among other things. But when Clinton addressed Trump’s racism today, Trump and his followers cried foul! Apparently, what’s good for the goose is not good for the gander.

Video

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Donald Trump Immigration Politics

Republican Con-man Donald Flip-Flops on Immigration – Video

If there was one policy you thought Donald Trump wiuld be consistent with, it was his stance on immigration.

When he announced his candidacy over a year ago, shipping immigrants back to their country was Trump’s number one talking point, and he rode that talking point all the way to his party’s nomination. He would balk at his supporters at rallies telling of his deport all immigrants plan and his supporters would happily applaud in anticipation of finally getting their country back.

But all things come to an end apparently and Trump has jumped off his gravy train choosing instead to flip-flop on his most sacred issue.

Clearly motivated by his sagging poll numbers in the general election, Trump tried to con voters his way during an interview with Fox’s Sean Hannity, by softening his immigration stance. The Republican businessman/politician told his followers that his plan to ship people out if the country was basically illegal, and that he would now “follow the laws” instead.

Video

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Domestic Policies Donald Trump Donald Trump News Politics

I Will Always Tell You the Truth… And Other Lies…

Republican presidential candidate, businessman Donald Trump speaks during a rally at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio, Monday, Nov. 23, 2015. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
AP Photo/Paul Vernon

Which, of course, is an absolute lie, no matter who says it. But the fact that it was Donald Trump, all-of-a-sudden apologizing and blabbering on about how in the heat of a campaign he might have said some nasty things about, oh, African-Americans, women, Hispanics, judges, pollsters, Bush, Republicans etc., makes it doubly ironic and self-defeating.

This is the Trump Pivot; the moment in the campaign where he gets serious and presidential and wants to be judged by what he says from this point forward and for us lowly voters to forget what got him the Republican nomination in the first place. That would be hate, accusation, blame, xenophobia, denial, sexism and blaming the victim. The only thing that would make his standing worse in the eyes of many Americans is if he publicly insulted the family of a fallen United States soldier because of some ethnic slur or ignorant remark.

Oh, wait.

And then the first issue he publicized was Hillary Clinton’s health. Which turns out to be rather fine, thank you very much. And that came straight from her doctor. But I guess if you’re going to deny climate change, you might as well double down and dismiss all scientific inquiry. So go ahead and smoke, right?

There will be no Trump Pivot. His new Breitbart-led campaign will be the height of cynicism and chock full of the right’s 1990 greatest hits list, which includes the Clintons murdering Vincent Foster, trying to manipulate the money supply and all of the other untruths that the fringe has been dying to run on since 1994. Dump in a heavy dose of Benghazi and e-mails, and you pretty much have the Trump campaign’s tactics right in front of you. It’s the campaign the far right has wanted to run since the Reagan era began, but the party kept nominating politicians who actually had ideas. Not good ones, but actual governing experience. With Trump, they have their perfect front man–a huckster who only cares about spreading his name and enough ignorance to just say stuff and hope that it leads the news cycle.

The truth will unfortunately have to wait its turn, if it comes at all.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest

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Donald Trump Featured Jews Politics

Trump Adviser – “I fired the Jews!”

These are the types of people advising Donald Trump… although… Trump had previously stated in an interviews that does not rely on advisers, he watches television for advise and advises himself… 

Joseph Schmitz, named as one of five advisers by the Trump campaign in March, is accused of bragging when he was Defense Department inspector general a decade ago that he pushed out Jewish employees.

The revelations feed two themes that his opponent Hillary Clinton has used to erode Trump’s credibility: That he is a foreign policy neophyte, and that his campaign, at times, has offended Jews and other minorities.

Schmitz, who is a lawyer in private practice in Washington, says the allegations against him are lies. All three people who have cited the remarks, including one who testified under oath about them, have pending employment grievances with the federal government.

Daniel Meyer, a senior official within the intelligence community, described Schmitz’s remarks in his complaint file.

“His summary of his tenure’s achievement reported as ‘…I fired the Jews,’ ” wrote Meyer, a former official in the Pentagon inspector general’s office whose grievance was obtained by McClatchy.

Meyer, who declined to comment about the matter, cited in his complaint another former top Pentagon official, John Crane, as the source and witness to the remarks. Crane worked with Schmitz, who served as inspector general between April 2002 and September 2005.

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Donald Trump Politics

Trump’s Campaign Chair Resigns Amidst his Russian Ties

Remember a few days ago when Donald Trump stood on stage and swore up and down that all was well in his campaign? That the campaign is the happiest it’s ever been? Well that too, was a lie.

Just hours after Donald Trump shook up his campaign leadership, installing the leader of a conservative blog site to run his campaign operations, Paul Manafort – the man who was responsible for turning Trump from a primary candidate to a general election candidate – sent in his resignation. 

Trump issued a statement on Manafort’s resignation in which he said he was “very appreciative for his great work in helping us get to where we are today.” Trump in particular praised Manafort for getting Trump’s campaign through the “delegate and nomination process.”

Manafort, who saw his role as campaign boss diminished this week when Trump appointed Breitbart News boss Stephen Bannon as his new campaign CEO, has been taking fire after multiple reports have revealed his connections to a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine.

Earlier this week, a leaked memo revealed that Ukrainian authorities have accused Manafort of organizing protests against a NATO military exercise in Ukraine on behalf of the pro-Russian Party of Regions. One American soldier who was in Ukraine at the time revealed that protesters organized by Manafort threw rocks at NATO troops en route to the training exercise.

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Donald Trump Politics

Former Bush Official – Hillary Clinton “would be a far better President” than Trump “could ever be”

Former Bush official and former U.S Treasurer, Rosario Martin, said on Wednesday that although she is a Republican and worked in a Republican White House under George Bush, she will not be voting for the Republican candidate in 2016, but will instead vote for Hillary Clinton.

“I have disagreed with and criticized Hillary Clinton’s positions, but I have come to the conclusion that she would be a far better president than the Republican candidate could ever be,” Rosario Marin said.

“She understands that words spoken from the White House have consequences, that sarcasm is not a strategy when dealing with delicate world situations, that our friends and foes listen to every word spoken by our president and react accordingly,” Marin added.

“There is too much at stake both domestically and abroad to have a thoughtless individual at the helm of the most important economy in the world. My party and its standard-bearer leave me no choice; on November 8, I will vote for Hillary Clinton.”

Marin, who is Hispanic, said she could not tolerate GOP nominee Donald Trump’s rhetoric on immigration and the Hispanics.

“I have come to the devastatingly painful realization that my party right now doesn’t want my vote nor that of my community,” she said. “Evidently it is not important, or not as important as some other voting bloc. So, for me to consider the unthinkable — to vote for a Democrat — has been a profound soul-searching process.

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Donald Trump Politics

Donald Trump Admits – His Campaign is in Deep DoDo

In a rare show of humility by the boastful billionaire, Donald Trump is acknowledging his presidential campaign faces challenges and could ultimately fall short, Yahoo News reports.

The Republican presidential nominee is straying from his signature bravado as he campaigns in the battleground state of Florida, even telling a gathering of evangelical ministers Thursday he’s “having a tremendous problem in Utah.” The same day, the reality show star acknowledged his lack of political correctness could cost him the election if Americans reject his blunt approach.

“We’re having a problem,” Trump told the ministers, adding the next president could get to nominate up to five high-court justices. “It could cost us the Supreme Court.”

Trump’s campaign planned to sit down with RNC officials in Orlando on Friday. But both Republican Party officials and Trump’s campaign said the meeting was focused on Florida campaign operations, and not tensions between the campaign and the GOP. The officials weren’t authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity.

After trouncing 16 challengers in the Republican primary, Trump is encountering worrying signs as his campaign moves into the general election. Democrat Hillary Clinton’s lead over Trump in national polls has widened in recent days, while a growing number of fellow Republicans have declared they won’t support their own party’s nominee.

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Donald Trump Politics

145 CEOs Slam Donald Trump in Open Letter

One hundred and forty-five CEO’s and leaders in the tech industry wrote and signed a letter condemning Donald Trump for his irresponsible rhetoric and the disasters his policies would cause if he is elected president in November.

“We believe in an inclusive country that fosters opportunity, creativity and a level playing field. Donald Trump does not. He campaigns on anger, bigotry, fear of new ideas and new people, and a fundamental belief that America is weak and in decline.”

Here is a small sample of the letter, published on Huffington Post.

We are inventors, entrepreneurs, engineers, investors, researchers, and business leaders working in the technology sector. We are proud that American innovation is the envy of the world, a source of widely-shared prosperity, and a hallmark of our global leadership.

We believe in an inclusive country that fosters opportunity, creativity and a level playing field. Donald Trump does not. He campaigns on anger, bigotry, fear of new ideas and new people, and a fundamental belief that America is weak and in decline.  We have listened to Donald Trump over the past year and we have concluded: Trump would be a disaster for innovation.  His vision stands against the open exchange of ideas, free movement of people, and productive engagement with the outside world that is critical to our economy—and that provide the foundation for innovation and growth.

Let’s start with the human talent that drives innovation forward.  We believe that America’s diversity is our strength.  Great ideas come from all parts of society, and we should champion that broad-based creative potential.  We also believe that progressive immigration policies help us attract and retain some of the brightest minds on earth—scientists, entrepreneurs, and creators.  In fact, 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children.  Donald Trump, meanwhile, traffics in ethnic and racial stereotypes, repeatedly insults women, and is openly hostile to immigration.  He has promised a wall, mass deportations, and profiling.

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bridgegate Domestic Policies Donald Trump News Politics

Lock Him Up

Don’t you just love politics and politicians? Here’s a group of people who seemingly do not ever consider that what they say about their opponents will even happen to them. And yet…
This week’s ridiculousness comes, not surprisingly, from the Trump-Christie branch of what used to be one of America’s great political parties; the GOP. These days it’s difficult to see how they were able to elect George W. Bush, much less get through a week without one of their candidates self-destructing.

The once-and-never-again national candidate, Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey is on even thinner ice (consider that image) concerning the traffic jam at the George Washington Bridge that not only killed his presidential chances, but is also resulting in crater-like approval numbers across the state. Now we have some evidence that Christie “flat-out lied” when he said that his political team knew nothing of the bridge closure. He’s denying it of course, and I can’t see that this would lead his leash holder, Donald Trump, to dump him as his transition boss since at this point it looks like Trump’s transition might be to a different floor on Trump Tower, as opposed to a move-in at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The bigger issue, though, is that it was a during Christie’s speech at the Republican Convention that  the crowd chanted that Hillary Clinton should be locked up for, well, unspecified crimes against, um, someone. Now Christie has leapt the queue and is looking more likely to be the one facing an actual indictment. Not that I expect one, but still. Christie has no one to blame but himself after endorsing Trump and tying his political future to a man who, at best, will lose the presidency for himself and the Senate for his party. Christie’s fall is a monumental one, and after November he will be the lamest duck in the land as the Democrats jostle to pick someone to replace him.

In the meantime, the road projects are still stalled, NJ Transit still has one train track in and out of Manhattan, the public employee pension system is still massively underfunded, property taxes are sky high, and social services are lagging. Yet Christie still finds time to campaign for a candidate who accused Christie of knowing about the bridge closure and who Christie hopes will save him from a life of retired bliss in…Mendham. A nice town, to be sure, but certainly not where Chris thought he should be.

Outside the state, Donald Trump is mystifying the political press with his antics, which include saying that president Obama and Hillary Clinton founded ISIS, then saying, as most ignorant people do, that he was just being sarcastic, questioning the need to get his supporters out to vote in November, saying again that the only way Clinton can win, this time in Pennsylvania, is by cheating, and by traveling to those hotbed competitive states, Maine and Connecticut  instead of, say, Ohio or Florida where Trump absolutely must win in order to be elected (shudder).

If anything, these two gentlemen deserve each other, and it looks like they’ll destroy each other in the process.

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