Donald Trump

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Donald Trump is a businessman running for President in the November 2016 Election.

While accusations of racism don't seem to be well founded, mostly revolving around his immigration policy and tendency to offend the interests of foreign countries, Donald Trump has failed to demonstrate any understanding of the U. S. Constitution, and has voiced support and admiration for tyrants.[1][2] Combine this with his personal style of lying, bullying, bombasting, and intimidating, and a Donald Trump presidency, sounds like a scary thing, even in spite of his promotion of some positive agenda items.

He has chosen Mike Pence as his running mate.[3]

Unendorsements

One thing that oddly sticks out about Donald Trump, is the very public way in which major party players struggle to endorse him, fail to endorse him, or unendorse him.[4]

One of the most famous episodes in the Republican primary was Mitt Romney's plea for Republicans to vote for somebody else, anybody else.[5] Trump responded to a slice of that criticism by infamously trotting out a table full of mostly Trump branded products that you mostly can't get ahold of outside of his hotels (if even there), including a pile of vacuum-sealed steaks with a Bush Brothers logo on them.[6][7] In 2014, Trump told a reporter that Romeny had lost his 2012 bid for the white house because his unusual religion didn't sit well with people.[8]

During the Republican National Convention, Ted Cruz, gave a speech to thunderous boos for failing to heed the call to endorse Trump.[9] Trump initially reacted by saying this lack of endorsement was no big deal and that he had seen the speech two hours earlier.[10][11] Cruz defended his position by saying that he wasn't in the habit of endorsing candidates who attacked his wife and father, following which Trump went before the press to give a speech which focused on attacking Cruz in a very personal and vindictive way, maligning his intelligence, asserting that he changed his speech from the one that he had submitted, returning to imply that Cruz's father was linked to the assassination of JFK, and saying "I think Heidi Cruz is a great person. I think she’s the best thing he’s got going, (that) and his kids." He asserted that he thought Cruz would eventual offer to endorse him, but that he would refuse, and that if Cruz ever sought higher office again, he would set up his own Super PAC to attack him.[12][13]

John Kasich refused to attend the convention, explianing "If I weren't prepared to get up there and endorse the nominee, I thought it was inappropriate to go." Although he has so far refused to offer an endorsement, he has maintained that it is possible.[14][15]

Senator Mike Lee of Utah has refused to endorse Trump, and even helped lead a failed push to change party rules so that delegates would be free to choose someone else.[16][17] This led to one Utah delegate being threatened by Trump supporters in the bathroom.[18][19]

Rep. Mia B. Love, also from Utah was notably absent from the convention as well, initially announcing a plan to join Rep. Jason Chaffetz in Israel to learn more about fighting terorism, but then changing plans to spend that time campaigning in Utah.[20] Regarding her decision to not attend the convention, she stated "I don’t see any upsides to it. I don’t see how this benefits the state."[21] Trump is so unpopular in Utah that his nomination threatens Mia Love's reelection bid this November.[22]

Paul Ryan took his time endorsing Trump, at one point stating "To be perfectly candid, I'm not ready to do that right now". Even now his support has been notably tepid.[23][24] He has specifically repudiated Trump's trade platform.[25]Donald Trump has declined to endorse Paul Ryan, stating "I like Paul, but these are horrible times for our country. We need very strong leadership. We need very, very strong leadership. And I'm just not quite there yet. I'm not quite there yet."[26] Ryan responded that "He’s had a pretty strange run since the convention. You would think that we want to be focusing on Hillary Clinton, on all of her deficiencies. She is such a weak candidate that one would think that we would be on offense against Hillary Clinton, and it is distressing that that’s not what we’re talking about these days."[27]

Gov. Gary R. Herbert of Utah has expressed support for the Trump-Pence ticket as being for the sake of Pence.[28] His Lieutenant Governor, Spencer J. Cox has declared that without major changes, he will not be voting for Trump, stating further that "if there were some major changes to Trump, I think there's a way many of us could support him, but he hasn't shown any inclination toward those changes or doing things differently, so I think it's a long shot that he will change". He has expressed that he is considering Gary Johnson, Evan McMullin, or a write-in.[29]

Rep. Richard Hanna, a Republican congressman From New York has declared that he will be voting for Hillary Clinton.[30]

Large conservative donors like Meg Whitman, and the Koch Brothers have decided to sit this race out, or even fund Hillary, rather than support Donald Trump.[31]

Evan McMullin, a former CIA operative and former chief policy director for the House Republican Conference has announced an anti-Trump run for the Whitehouse.[32][33]

Conservative media has hammered Trump pretty hard and a pole of anonymous GOP insiders finds that most want Trump to drop out.[34][35]

A group of 50 former security officials have issued a letter rebuking Trump and declaring their intention to not vote for him.[36][37] One of these officials, John Negroponte, has endorsed Hillary Clinton.[38]

A group of former lawmakers and former party staffers have issued a letter urging the GOP to divert all financial support from the Trump campaign to legislative campaigns in order to maintain the majorities that might be useful for countering a Hillary Clinton presidency.[39]

Rape Allegations

Donald Trump is connected to the same Jeffrey Epstein, pedophile to the stars, that has been suggestively linked to Bill Clinton. However, while Clinton's connection is merely scandalous by suggestion (although, we take that suggestion seriously, given his history), Trump was recently sued for raping and threatening a 13-year-old girl named Katie Johnson at a party where she was said to have been held captive by Mr. Epstein. There's even an eyewitness.[40][41] Although, the supporters of Katie Johnson's lawsuit are reported to have had a falling out.[42]

Epstein is alleged to have molested underage girls and procured underage girls for his powerful friends to enjoy. He was given a plea deal in 2008, without input from his victims, which got him 13 months in prison and home detention, with key evidence being left sealed. It is suspected that he may have been aided in receiving this light sentencing by some of his powerful friends seeking to keep their own crimes out from under the public spotlight.[43][44][45][46]

Edwards, a lawyer for one of Epstein's victims, Virginia Roberts, estimate that Trump was not involved in any of Epsteins illegal shenanigans. Trump has denied having any kind of a relationship with Epstein, but there is plenty of evidence to show that this is a false assertion.[47] Regarding Epstein, Trump is reported to have stated: "I've known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy. He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it -- Jeffrey enjoys his social life."[48]

In addition, Trump has been accused of raping his ex-wife Ivana Trump, and attempting to rape one Jill Harth. Regarding the allegation that Trump raped his ex-wife, one of his lawyers defended him, claiming “It is true, you cannot rape your spouse. And there’s very clear case law.”[49][50][51]

First Amendment

"One of the things I'm going to do if I win, and I hope we do and we're certainly leading. I'm going to open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money. We're going to open up those libel laws. So when The New York Times writes a hit piece which is a total disgrace or when The Washington Post, which is there for other reasons, writes a hit piece, we can sue them and win money instead of having no chance of winning because they're totally protected"[52]

Second Amendment

His official campaign website has Trump defending our second amendment rights. He proposes that concealed carry permits should be made valid across state lines, just like drivers licenses. He also proposes streamlining of background checks and elimination of rules preventing soldiers from carrying weapons on bases and at recruitment centers. In order to reduce the incidents of criminal gun violence he proposes better enforcement of existing laws, and improving our mental health system to get dangerous individuals off the streets.

Trump University

Donald Trump is dealing with a lawsuit in San Diego where Trump University, which he is the principle owner of, has been accused of swindling students out of up to $35,000. Trump has attacked the Judge's character publicly, calling him a "Trump hater" on account of his Mexican heritage. His attacks on the judge's character have been construed as intimidation, and sufficient that he could be found in contempt of court.[53][54] One former sales manager testified, “I believe that Trump University was a fraudulent scheme, and that it preyed upon the elderly and uneducated to separate them from their money.”[55]

The Wall

Trump has proposed building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico in order to help control the problem of Mexican gangs freely expanding into the United States. He has proposed to get Mexico to effectively pay for the wall using a combination of tariffs, increased visa fees, and by threatening to block the money transfers of illegal aliens.

One Mexican newspaper has suggested that Mexico should consider building a Trump-style along Mexico's southern border.[56]

Religion

Regarding religion, is is noteworthy that Trump stated, in 2014, that Romeny lost his 2012 bid for the white house because his unusual religion didn't sit well with Americans. In 2015, his spokesperson asserted that the feds had shut down Mormon and Seventh Day Adventist churches, which would serve as precedent for Trump to shut down mosques.[57][58] Trump has principally attacked the rights of Muslims.

Women

In 2011, it has been reported that when an opposing attorney, Elizabeth Beck, requested a break to pump breast milk, that Donald Trump reacted by screaming "You're disgusting, you're disgusting" and running out of the room. It is claimed that Trump had decided that he wanted to skip a pre-planned lunch break, precipitating Beck's Request. Trump, for his part, asserts that Beck had attempted to pump breast milk right in the middle of a deposition.[59]

Donald trump had a notable feud with Megyn Kelly. After a debate in 2015, Donald, upset about a line of questioning, told CNN "you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes; blood coming out of her wherever."[60]

In 2015, Donald Trump famously criticized his rival, Carly Fiorina, by saying "Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president."[61]

Miscellaneous

In November 2015, Donald Trump made headlines by mocking the condition of a disabled reporter.[62]

He has proposed raising the federal minimum wage to $10/hour.[63]

Opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact.[64]

On Jul 18 2015, Donald Trump gave an interview in which he impugned John McCain's war record, asserting "he's not a war hero", and then later, "He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured." This was in response to a statement that McCain had made regarding Trump, that "this performance with our friend out in Phoenix is very hurtful to me, because what he did was he fired up the crazies." McCain spent years in North Korea as a prisoner of war being tortured, having his bones broken and rebroken, wasting away on the poor rations afforded him, because he refused to capitulate to the demands of his captors. Rather than apologize, Trump has alternately defended his remarks and deny them.[65][66][67][68][69][70][71]

List of issues to Cover

There are many issues to cover with respect to Donald Trump. The list below is to serve as a stub for future documentation.

  • Praise for Tyrants
  • Expand on treatment of Megyn Kelly
  • Expand on view of Muslims.
  • Killing families of terrorists.

External Resources

References

  1. ↑ "Trump defends Putin on journo deaths, asks media to 'prove it'", Yahoo News, 20 Dec 2015
  2. ↑ Donald J. Trump, 4:31 AM - 25 Jul 2016, Twitter
  3. ↑ Donald J. Trump, 7:50 AM - 15 Jul 2016, Twitter, 15 Jul 2016
  4. ↑ Howard Kurtz, "Trump talks taxes, but media mesmerized by GOP defections", Fox News, 10 Aug 2016
  5. ↑ "Mitt Romney’s Full Speech Against Donald Trump", New York Times, 3 Mar 2016
  6. ↑ Tim Carman, "Trump Steaks are so rare, we can’t even find one", Washington Post, 23 Mar 2016
  7. ↑ Mike Opelka, "Fact Check: Can You Buy Trump Steaks, Trump Water, Trump Wine and Trump Magazine?", The Blaze, 9 Mar 2016
  8. ↑ "What Trump Told One Reporter What He Thought About Mormons", LDS Living, 19 Jan 2016
  9. ↑ Ryan Grim, "Here’s The Full Text Of The Ted Cruz Speech At The RNC", Huffington Post, 20 Jul 2016
  10. ↑ "Trump calls Cruz non-endorsement 'no big deal,' senator defends decision", Fox News, 21 Jul 2016
  11. ↑ Donald J. Trump, 8:45 PM - 20 Jul 2016, Twitter
  12. ↑ "Trump buries bitter rival Cruz in farewell to Cleveland", Fox News, 22 Jul 2016
  13. ↑ Heather Haddon, "Donald Trump Says ‘Dishonorable’ Speech Could Ruin Ted Cruz’s Career", Wall Street Journal, 22 Jul 2016
  14. ↑ "Trump campaign calls Kasich convention absence 'embarrassing'", Fox News, 18 Jul 2016
  15. ↑ "Kasich leaves door open to Trump endorsement, says Ohio victory 'really difficult'", Fox News, 8 Aug 2016
  16. ↑ Max Roth, "Senator Mike Lee tells Fox 13 what it would take for him to endorse Trump", Fox , 20 Jul 2016
  17. ↑ Lisa Riley Roche, "Utah's 40 GOP delegate votes go to Trump, not Cruz", KSL, 19 jul 2016
  18. ↑ "Utah delegate says she was threatened in bathroom after anti-Trump push", Fox News, 19 Jul 2016
  19. ↑ Louis Nelson, "Sen. Mike Lee goes on epic rant about Donald Trump", Politico, 30 Jun 2016
  20. ↑ Brett T., "Is Mia Love really snubbing Donald Trump by skipping the GOP convention?", Twitchy, 25 Jun 2016
  21. ↑ Matt Canham, "Utah’s Rep. Mia Love will skip Republican National Convention", Salt Lake Tribune, 24 Jun 2016
  22. ↑ Theodoric Meyer, "Utah GOP plots to save Mia Love from Trump backlash", Politico, 24 Mar 2016
  23. ↑ Eric Bradner and Deirdre Walsh, "Paul Ryan endorses Donald Trump", CNN, 2 Jun 2016
  24. ↑ Barton Swaim, "Op-Ed Best RNC speech so far? Paul Ryan's.", Los Angeles Times, 20 Jul 2016
  25. ↑ Julia Hahn, "Paul Ryan Gets Standing Ovation at Koch Donors Retreat After Repudiating Trump’s Trade Policies", Breitbart, 1 Aug 2016
  26. ↑ Gabby Morongiello, "Donald Trump declines to endorse Ryan, McCain", Fox News, 3 Aug 2016
  27. ↑ "Ryan says Trump has had 'a pretty strange run' since convention", Fox News, 5 Aug 2016
  28. ↑ Lisa Riley Roche, "Utah delegates finally stand and cheer for Donald Trump", KSL, 21 Jul 2016
  29. ↑ Robert Gehrke, "Utah’s lieutenant governor says, barring huge changes, he won’t vote for Donald Trump", Salt Lake Tribune, 13 Aug 2016
  30. ↑ "Rep. Hanna becomes first GOP member of Congress to support Clinton", Fox News, 2 Aug 2016
  31. ↑ Tori Richards, "Battle of the Billionaires: Clinton’s uber-rich backers pour money into Trump fight", Fox News, 4 Aug 2016
  32. ↑ "Anti-Trump candidate Evan McMullin to launch independent White House bid", Fox News, 8 Aug 2016
  33. ↑ Dennis Romboy, "BYU grad launches last-minute campaign for president", KSL, 8 Aug 2016
  34. ↑ Howard Kurtz, "Revolt on the right: Commentators bash Trump in psychiatric terms", Fox News, 8 Aug 2016
  35. ↑ Steven Shepard, "Insiders to Trump: Drop out", Politico, 5 Aug 2016
  36. ↑ "50 security officials from GOP administrations say they won't vote for Trump", Fox News, 9 Aug 2016
  37. ↑ "Trump fends off GOP defectors, as more cracks show", Fox News, 9 Aug 2016
  38. ↑ "Former top Bush official Negroponte endorses Clinton", Fox News, 10 Aug 2016
  39. ↑ "Ex-GOP lawmakers, party staffers urge Priebus to cut off Trump funding", Fox News, 12 Aug 2016
  40. ↑ JusticeForKatie.com
  41. ↑ Jury Trial Demand with Affidavits
  42. ↑ Brandy Zadrozny, "Trump Rape Accusers Turn On Each Other", The Daily Beast, 21 Jul 2016
  43. ↑ Malia Zimmerman, "Lawsuit seeks to expose, unravel plea deal for billionaire sex offender", Fox News, 18 Jul 2016
  44. ↑ Elura Nanos, "Why Isn’t Anyone Paying Attention to the Sexual Assault Lawsuit Against Trump?", Law Newz, 4 Jul 2016
  45. ↑ Rachel Cruise, "Donald Trump Rape Lawsuit: Did He Abuse 13-Year-Old Girl? Facts To Know About The Child Rape Case", Parent Herald, 5 Jul 2016
  46. ↑ Brandy Zadrozny, "The Billionaire Pedophile Who Could Bring Down Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton", The Daily Beast, 29 Jun 2016
  47. ↑ Ken Silverstein, "The Salacious Ammo Even Donald Trump Won't Use in a Fight Against Hillary Clinton", Vice, 29 Jan 2016
  48. ↑ Landon Thomas, Jr., "Jeffrey Epstein: International Moneyman of Mystery", The New Yorker, 28 Feb 2002
  49. ↑ Rachel Stockman, "Exclusive: Inside The $125 Million Donald Trump Sexual Assault Lawsuit", Law Newz, 23 Feb 2016
  50. ↑ Tim Mak and Brandy Zadrozny, "Ex-Wife: Donald Trump Made Me Feel ‘Violated’ During Sex", The Daily Beast, 27 Jul 2015
  51. ↑ Samuel Osborne, "Donald Trump's ex-wife's claim he 'raped' her resurfaces in new documentary", Independent, 27 Jan 2016
  52. ↑ Hadas Gold, "Donald Trump: We're going to 'open up' libel laws", Politico, 26 Feb 2016
  53. ↑ "Judge Orders Documents Unsealed in Trump University Lawsuit", New York Times, 30 May 2016
  54. ↑ Trump University - Wikipedia
  55. ↑ Michael Barbaro and Steve Eder, "Former Trump University Workers Call the School a ‘Lie’ and a ‘Scheme’ in Testimony", New York Times, 31 May 2016
  56. ↑ Ildefonso Ortiz, "Mexican Newspaper: Build a Trump-Style Wall with Central America", Breitbart, 25 Jul 2016
  57. ↑ "What Trump Told One Reporter What He Thought About Mormons", LDS Living, 19 Jan 2016
  58. ↑ Thomas Burr, "Did Trump spokeswoman misspeak? She says feds shut down ‘Mormon churches’", Salt Lake Tribune, 19 Nov 2015
  59. ↑ David, "Donald Trump Defends Calling Nursing Mom 'Disgusting'", Crooks and Liars, 29 Jul 2015
  60. ↑ Holly Yan, "Donald Trump's 'blood' comment about Megyn Kelly draws outrage", CNN, 8 Aug 2015
  61. ↑ Brian Stelter, "Trump insults Fiorina in Rolling Stone: 'Look at that face!'", CNN Money, 10 Sep 2015
  62. ↑ "Donald Trump under fire for mocking disabled reporter", BBC, 26 Nov 2015
  63. ↑ Susan Wright, "Trump Abandons Last Vestiges Of Conservatism, Promises A Considerable Hike In Minimum Wage", Red State, 26 Jul 2016
  64. ↑ "Clinton, Kaine face flip-flop questions after nomination", Fox News, 27 Jul 2016
  65. ↑ Neelesh Moorthy, "Hillary Clinton attacks Donald Trump over his 'war hero' dig at John McCain", Politifact, 3 Jun 2016
  66. ↑ Shoshanna Weissman, "Trump Falsely Claims He 'Never' Said McCain Wasn't a Hero", The Weekly Standard, 13 Mar 2016
  67. ↑ Marc Ambinder, "Donald Trump did get one thing right about John McCain", The Week, 23 Jul 2016
  68. ↑ Michael E. Miller and Fred Barbash, "What Donald Trump was up to while John McCain was a prisoner of war", Washington Post, 20 Jul 2015
  69. ↑ Linda Qiu, "Trump: I called McCain a 'hero' four times", Politifcat, 19 Jul 2015
  70. ↑ Ben Schreckinger, "Trump attacks McCain: 'I like people who weren't captured'", Politico, 18 Jul 2015
  71. ↑ Rebecca Kaplan, "Trump: McCain only a war hero because he was captured", CBS News, 18 Jul 2015
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