# Donald Trump is now a birther **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 17, 2011, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-is-now-a-birther/575044 "2011-03-17T17:38:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-is-now-a-birther/575044/41 "2011-03-18T08:38:59Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > As most serious candidates usually do not toss their hat into the presidential contest when there is an incumbent in the white house, we are bound to see many joke candidates. I realise now what he needs. A hat. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-is-now-a-birther/575044/42 "2011-03-18T08:56:10Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > A lot worse. Trump’s smart as hell… At first I read this and thought, "Yeah, okay, he’s a smart guy. Not anywhere near as smart as he insists on telling everyone he is nonstop, but sure, I’ll give him smart. > [@](#): > > hires smart and talented people, deals effectively with bureaucracies, is a great negotiator, plays a mean game of hardball when needed, and can generally be counted on to outsmart his opponents. Then I thought, true, but this is also true of half the sales guys/bankers I know. > [@](#): > > I’d love to see that guy in the White House… Then I stopped to see who wrote this and LOL’d. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-is-now-a-birther/575044/43 "2011-03-18T09:11:15Z")
Well, people often complain that the country is going bankrupt, and no person is more familiar with Bankruptcy Court then Donald Trump, so I guess he’d be a good President in that he could walk us through the process. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-is-now-a-birther/575044/44 "2011-03-18T09:43:36Z")
Yeah, Trump got into trouble during a financial downturn and went bankrupt 20 or so years ago. But he stayed in business, fought back and came back bigger than ever - many times over. So I guess he’d be a good President in that he could walk us through the process. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-is-now-a-birther/575044/45 "2011-03-18T09:59:36Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Then I thought, true, but this is also true of half the sales guys/bankers I know. I doubt that you’ve ever known a single person in your life who operates on Trump’s level, at the negotiating table or otherwise. Look, a lot of people don’t like Trump. I know it and he knows it (although he says that most of the people who don’t like him are people who’ve never met him, and I’d be willing to bet he’s right). But there is no denying, if a person knows what they are talking about, that his accomplishments and abilities are extraordinary. And I would imagine most of the sales guys/bankers who deal with him would tell you the same. ETA: I should probably add that I don’t think Trump is serious about running for president even though he’s been making larger noises about it than in the past. I think he loves what he does too much, and that he’d chafe under the restrictions of White House life. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-is-now-a-birther/575044/46 "2011-03-18T10:09:38Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Yeah, Trump got into trouble during a financial downturn and went bankrupt 20 or so years ago. But he stayed in business, fought back While that is an imaginative and challenging interpretation of Trump’s career so far, you really, really might want to check out some of Trump’s various failures and scandals before suggesting he’d make a great president. Perhaps I’m missing something, but not many people would feel a man whose leadership has seen numerous companies into bankruptcy as a good President. And that’s before you even think about all the junk bond issues of the past. Trump Treasury bonds may get a rather dubious response from financials markets. It’s also worth considering the sheer vision that sees him currently trying to build a golf resort in a particularly rain prone stretch of the north east cost of Scotland that is famous for the haar, a particularly thick coastal fog that during the summer months reduces visibility down to about 20 feet, often for several hours per day. He believes that this makes it ideal for what he claims will be the worlds finest golf resort. I’m not much of a golfer, but my understanding is that for most players it’s a good idea to see where the flag is. And finally. That wig. Seriously, you want a CiC with what appears to be a giant hairball flattened to the top of his head? Honestly, all the cool countries will point and laugh at you. And whoever’s running Italy or France at the time will end up boffing his wife on the side. You just don’t want that. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-is-now-a-birther/575044/47 "2011-03-18T10:22:39Z")
Sorry, I’ve just taken my nightly Ambien and will be incoherent soon. (Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know…) Anyway, I haven’t followed Trump’s dealings all that closely over the last couple of decades, but the companies I’m aware of that went bankrupt, such as the casinos in New Jersey and so forth, were companies in which Trump had minority stock holdings of only 5% or less. They bore his name but were not owned or managed by him. I’m inclined to think his hair is real. The color is always a perfect match for the rest of his hair and it’s been graying and thinning just like a person would expect as he’s grown older. He denies that that it’s a wig and even pulled it up over his forehead once on Larry King’s show to prove it, but still the meme persists. I think he just wears it that way because that’s how he likes it and he doesn’t care whether other people like it or not. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-is-now-a-birther/575044/48 "2011-03-18T10:34:52Z")
Oh, yeah, and I can’t help but think that Trump knows what he’s doing with the golf course. I’m sure he knows things about it that you don’t. People don’t get where he is by making such stupid, obvious mistakes on the fundamentals. My guess is that he has decided for whatever reason the resort will do enough business during playable time and through other attractions that it will be profitable despite down time due to the fog. I mean, really, how many duffers can be on a course at one time anyway? Surely a golf resort makes most of it’s money in ways other than through greens fees. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-is-now-a-birther/575044/49 "2011-03-18T11:08:04Z")
I for one am sick of uber rich people running the country. We may “know” them, but it doesn’t necesarily follow that we should like them. And Trump is such a caricature of himself that I’d be embarrassed for him even during the primary run. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-is-now-a-birther/575044/50 "2011-03-18T11:21:21Z")
> [@fluiddruid](#): > > I’m pretty sure that if you interviewed every member of my kindergarten class, all or most of them wouldn’t be able to attest that I was in their class. Hell, I barely remember kindergarten at all; I don’t even remember my teacher’s name, let alone those of other students (I did have a couple of neighbor kids my age at my school, but they weren’t in my class, and I switched schools after 1st grade anyway). > > Apparently that means I’m a Muslim. Or something. That. Come on, Donald, so you were committed to being the absolute center of attention since kindergarten? And anyone with a succesful adult career should have been the center of attention their whole life? Or it’s about that you must have been one of the popular kids? I only ^%$# remember ONE of my KG classmates (was my best friend all of elementary school). Hell, I barely remember anyone from my childhood not an actual family member. And regarding the hair: I am convinced that IS his hair, he just has a world-scale teased combover. I don’t think he’ll eventually really run, and though he has the skills to be a great negotiator or a [fill-in-the-blank] “czar” to handle some crisis, the whole thing with everything being all about his ego would get in the way. ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-is-now-a-birther/575044/51 "2011-03-18T11:31:03Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > And regarding the hair: I am convinced that IS his hair, he just has a world-scale teased combover. Exactly. I’ve seen him do the “I’m tugging on part of my ridiculous hair and it doesn’t come off so it much be real” schtick. See [this Youtube video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rc2972HNwc)where he says he doesn’t have a “hairpiece”. The only thing it convinced me of is he has the world’s stupidest combover. I’ve seen men with a bald spot in the middle on top of the head but with hair growing from the front. It would be easy to grow out the front/sides and comb it over the top, which is what it looks like Trump is doing. Either he has a combover or the world’s worst haircut which is designed to look like a combover. Regardless of his hair, he’d be a terrible President. I saw the clips of him talking about the birthers and saying that he’s not saying he agrees with the birthers, but how come people don’t remember Obama as a kid??? Which is retarded, because we have Obama’s birth announcement in Hawaii, pictures of him as a kid, interviews with his elementary school teachers, pictures of his basketball team, etc, etc, etc… Trump is stupid and/or pandering. I would guess both. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-is-now-a-birther/575044/52 "2011-03-18T11:44:49Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Sorry, I’ve just taken my nightly Ambien and will be incoherent soon. (Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know…) Anyway, I haven’t followed Trump’s dealings all that closely over the last couple of decades, but the companies I’m aware of that went bankrupt, such as the casinos in New Jersey and so forth, were companies in which Trump had minority stock holdings of only 5% or less. They bore his name but were not owned or managed by him. > > I’m inclined to think his hair is real. The color is always a perfect match for the rest of his hair and it’s been graying and thinning just like a person would expect as he’s grown older. He denies that that it’s a wig and even pulled it up over his forehead once on Larry King’s show to prove it, but still the meme persists. I think he just wears it that way because that’s how he likes it and he doesn’t care whether other people like it or not. I think that might be why he started wearing it that way, but now it’s a trademark. Everything that guy does is about making money. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-is-now-a-birther/575044/53 "2011-03-18T12:04:42Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Sorry, I’ve just taken my nightly Ambien and will be incoherent soon. (Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know…) Anyway, I haven’t followed Trump’s dealings all that closely over the last couple of decades, but the companies I’m aware of that went bankrupt, such as the casinos in New Jersey and so forth, were companies in which Trump had minority stock holdings of only 5% or less. They bore his name but were not owned or managed by him. Taj Mahal casino, Trump Plaza Hotel, Trump Shuttle, Trump Hotel & Casino Resorts…he has an extensive track record of direct management of, and major stakeholdings in companies that go Chapter 11. Still, that could be an exciting new direction for the president of the USA. Declare the country to be bankrupt, and then announce you’re going chapter 11. I don’t think China will be thrilled, but that’s one way to sort out the national debt. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-is-now-a-birther/575044/54 "2011-03-18T12:09:35Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > And regarding the hair: I am convinced that IS his hair, he just has a world-scale teased combover. Wig or combover, Sarkozy would still be playing hide the baguette with Melania before President Donald’s done his first state of the union. Seriously, think of the political fallout. The UN would collapse into just a bunch of arguing factions getting nothing done. ---
**Author:** ![wmfellows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c2a13f/32.png) [@wmfellows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wmfellows)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-is-now-a-birther/575044/55 "2011-03-18T12:59:30Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > …People don’t get where he is by making such stupid, obvious mistakes on the fundamentals. … Actually, from his track record, if you’re the son of a nepotistic New York property developer, and are a relentless self-promoter, you do. His serial management failures are legendary. However, you have confirmed yourself, once again, as an empty-headed, boot-licking, no-standards partisan. > [@](#): > > Surely a golf resort makes most of it’s money in ways other than through greens fees. I forgot to add a gullible idiot… (his target audience for this sodding golf course one has to suppose). However, you’'re a dream to market to, that’s clear. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-is-now-a-birther/575044/56 "2011-03-18T14:03:06Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > I don’t think Trump could be elected dogcatcher in the Republican party. This is all about Trump’s own ego, and has nothing to do with Republicans. I didn’t even know he \*was[/'i] a Republican. He comes across as a joke candidate. He’s going to have to show a lot of brilliance to convince people otherwise, and starting out with a wink and a nod to birthers is not the way to do that. > > I think this could be a publicity ploy or just raw ego in action. Or maybe there’s a hidden camera crew and he’s trying to punk the country. This. A rich New York douchebag who pals around with Hollywood celebrities will never gain any traction with the Tea Party. Granted, not that being a rich douchebag has ever kept anyone from succeeding in politics. But most politicians do a halfway decent job of projecting an everyman image and convincing the little people that they’re just a regular Joe Sixpack, whereas Trump has pretty much spent his entire career acting like and based his entire public image on being the rich douchebag that he is. ---
**Author:** ![OtisCampbellWasRight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d78d45/32.png) [@OtisCampbellWasRight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtisCampbellWasRight)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-is-now-a-birther/575044/57 "2011-03-18T14:04:29Z")
Trump couldn’t make it on the campaign trail. He is a serious germophobe and rarely shakes hands. He would never be able to press the flesh and kiss the babies the way conventional candidates have. On the other hand, there’s no line this Trump guy won’t cross, so who the hell knows? Less likely (and qualified) people have landed jobs in the oval office… ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-is-now-a-birther/575044/58 "2011-03-18T14:13:52Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Yeah, Trump got into trouble during a financial downturn and went bankrupt 20 or so years ago. But he stayed in business, fought back and came back bigger than ever - many times over. I understand that he’s currently defaulting on a $20 Million loan. The man is not nearly as rich as he like to pretend. He sues anyone who tries to figure out his net worth. There is no way in hell that he is seriously considering a run at the White House, because that would mean financial disclosure forms. The day Donald Trump fills out a financial disclosure form that is subject to a public records search, is the day I cheer for UNC. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-is-now-a-birther/575044/59 "2011-03-18T14:16:54Z")
I don’t think he has a snowflake’s chance in hell of the nom, fortunately. If the GOP thinks they have that little a chance to win the White House, they might as well run Palin and be done with it. Besides, I thought that _first_ you ran for public office, _then_ you got the reality show. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![fjs1fs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@fjs1fs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fjs1fs)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-is-now-a-birther/575044/60 "2011-03-18T15:17:07Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > I just looked up Donald Trump’s educational background. He did his undergrad at Fordham University and his MBA at UPenn. While those are certainly excellent universities, that he refers to having gone to the best school in the country, with no qualifiers, is a bit…odd. When thinking of “the best school in the country”, Fordham doesn’t _immediately_ spring to mind. Many will argue that Wharton (Penn) where he got his MBA is the best school in the country–at least the best business school (you’ll often hear similar arguments about Harvard, Stanford and a few others). He’s referring to Wharton, not Fordham. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-is-now-a-birther/575044.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-is-now-a-birther/575044.md?page=4)