# Donald Trump's 2016 General Election Campaign **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 4, 2016, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901 "2016-05-04T02:37:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 183
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3643 "2016-08-04T18:59:45Z")
> [@crucible](#): > > …Anyway, Newt is a pretty smart guy. If he were a Dem, I might even admire some of his proposals. Every once in awhile Newt does the right thing, but then he comes to his senses: [Newt Gingrich Supported an Individual Mandate as Recently as May 2009 - The Atlantic](http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/01/newt-gingrich-supported-an-individual-mandate-as-recently-as-may-2009/252233/) > [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Yes, if possible the wall should have some kind of filter to allow hot Slavic models to pass through it. In the spirit of public service, I will volunteer to serve as an immigration screening officer on that wall. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3644 "2016-08-04T19:09:01Z")
[He truly is delusional](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/donald-trump-polling-226649): > [@](#): > > Donald Trump said he’s puzzled as to why he’s not leading Hillary Clinton by large margins at a rally Wednesday night, making no mention of the controversies that have mired his campaign all week. > > Speaking to a large crowd at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena in Florida, Trump boasted about the turnout at his events, citing it as an indicator of his support. > > \ > > “I hear we’re leading Florida by a bit,” he said. “I don’t know why we’re not leading by a lot. Maybe crowds don’t make the difference.” > > \ > > According to POLITICO’s Battleground States polling average, Clinton leads him 43.5 percent to 39.1 percent in an average of polls in 11 swing states. In Florida, she leads more narrowly in the average of recent state polls, 43.6 percent to 41.8 percent. I imagine anytime he says that he hears he’s doing well in the polls, it’s just the voices in his head (which all sound like him) saying that he’s doing well. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3645 "2016-08-04T19:09:39Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Perhaps a “heart” is not precisely the correct organ to symbolize her sacrifice? “Melania, notice that this soldier has a purple heart on.” “Oh, I’d gotten used to an orange one.” ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3646 "2016-08-04T19:14:50Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Please, please, be Hillary Clinton. That would be cool, but she’s probably Lana Kane. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3647 "2016-08-04T19:15:41Z")
It’s a quarter past three EST and I have not heard of anything Trump has said today that was despicable, appalling, or risible. He still has time, but maybe he’ll pull off a gaffeless day. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3648 "2016-08-04T19:17:42Z")
> [@](#): > > …“Melania, notice that this soldier has a purple heart on.” > “Oh, I’d gotten used to an orange one.”… A properly brought up young lady would not even look! Just grit her teeth and think of Slovenia! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3649 "2016-08-04T19:20:33Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > It’s a quarter past three EST and I have not heard of anything Trump has said today that was despicable, appalling, or risible. He still has time, but maybe he’ll pull off a gaffeless day. Maybe he’s bound and gagged in a car trunk. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3650 "2016-08-04T19:20:39Z")
[This](http://www.nytimes.com/video/us/politics/100000004533191/unfiltered-voices-from-donald-trumps-crowds.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news) is a very sobering video ( **NSFW because of cursing and hate speech** ). It should give any sensible person pause for thought, regardless of which side of the aisle you stand on. A candidate who attracts these sorts of people has much to answer for. The violence, hate, and outright racism expressed by these folks is downright scary. The fact that they exclusively congregate at Trump rallies (and somewhat at McCain rallies back when) should give Republican voters some serious doubts at the polls. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3651 "2016-08-04T19:22:15Z")
> [@](#): > > …“I hear we’re leading Florida by a bit,” he said. “I don’t know why we’re not leading by a lot. Maybe crowds don’t make the difference.”… This may be a telling point. It is clear that Trump feeds on his pep rallies, he needs them, he craves them. No doubt it has been pointed out to him that gatherings of True Believers doesn’t mean very much, they are classic examples of the self-selecting sample. But he stands before his enthusiastic crowds and he thinks that means he is winning! ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3652 "2016-08-04T19:40:15Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > That would be cool, but she’s probably Lana Kane. Lana? LANA!!! ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3653 "2016-08-04T19:56:16Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > This may be a telling point. It is clear that Trump feeds on his pep rallies, he needs them, he craves them. No doubt it has been pointed out to him that gatherings of True Believers doesn’t mean very much, they are classic examples of the self-selecting sample. > > But he stands before his enthusiastic crowds and he thinks that means he is winning! I agree, and I think it’s a symptom of Trump’s incredibly concrete thinking. For example, if someone attacks me, I attack them back. Well, what if those people are a Gold Star family? For example, he sees big crowds, therefore he is very popular. For example, Omarosa whatshername works for the Trump Corporation, therefore Trump is very popular with African-Americans. For example, we can drop a one-ton bomb on ISIL, so it would be 1,000 times better to drop a one megaton bomb on ISIL. We’re dealing with the intellect that has the abstract reasoning skills typically seen in two year olds. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3654 "2016-08-04T19:59:05Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > It’s a quarter past three EST and I have not heard of anything Trump has said today that was despicable, appalling, or risible. He still has time, but maybe he’ll pull off a gaffeless day. I don’t think today counts; he loudly declared yesterday that he’d seen top-secret video footage of people taking money off a plane in Iran – and the clarification came out today that he was in fact referring to completely different video footage, which wasn’t at all secret, of a plane full of people landing in Switzerland. So he said it Wednesday, but it didn’t get revealed as risible until Thursday. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3655 "2016-08-04T20:03:01Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > “Hillary Clinton says she has foreign policy experience, but Bill Clinton runs a corrupt NGO.” Give me a break, the sins of a spouse ought to stay with the spouse. Seriously? I’m actually not attacking Melania. I’m attacking her fucking hypocrite of a husband. I couldn’t care less how she came to this country. But Fat Don made immigration, especially immigrants coming here and working here illegally, the linchpin of his campaign. If a person knows nothing about where he stands on ANY other issue, chances are they know he’s against immigrants being in our country “illegally.” Oh, but wait, turns out that shit doesn’t matter when it comes to beautiful models he wants to fuck. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3656 "2016-08-04T20:11:50Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I don’t think today counts; he loudly declared yesterday that he’d seen top-secret video footage of people taking money off a plane in Iran – and the clarification came out today that he was in fact referring to completely different video footage, which wasn’t at all secret, of a plane full of people landing in Switzerland. > > So he said it Wednesday, but it didn’t get revealed as risible until Thursday. Silly me. I thought maybe you were exaggerating a tiny bit. [But no.](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fact-check-donald-trump-see-money-pouring-off-a-plane-in-iran/) > [@](#): > > (Trump says) “Now here’s the amazing thing. Over there where that plane landed, top secret, they don’t have a lot of paparazzi, you know the paparazzi doesn’t do so well over there, right, and they have a perfect tape done by obviously a government camera, and the tape is of the people taking the money off the plane, right,” Trump continued. “That means in order to embarrass us further Iran sent us the tapes, right. It’s a military tape. It’s a tape that was a perfect angle, nice and steady. Nobody getting nervous because they are going to be shot, because they are shooting a picture of money pouring off of plane.” > > And then, Trump said, that Iran had released the tape “so that we will be embarrassed.” > [@](#): > > The video, from Geneva, Switzerland, was shot on Jan. 17, and it shows Americans who had been held in Iran stepping off a Swiss plane after being freed. They were flown from Tehran to Geneva before continuing on to Germany and eventually to the U.S. This is Associated Press footage recorded in Switzerland. > > The footage does not show pallets of cash. Nor is it the work of Iranian state TV shot in Tehran, as Trump claimed. This would sink the candidate in any normal campaign. It shows that Trump does not even understand simple moving pictures on the TV Box. But in this case, we’ve been so overwhelmed with Trump nonsense, that this latest idiocy barely registers. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3657 "2016-08-04T20:16:58Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > [http://www.weeklystandard.com/trump-...rticle/2003655](http://www.weeklystandard.com/trump-...rticle/2003655) > > Quote: > > He then took on an advertisement that showed him mocking a disabled reporter and said that the coverage was unfair, considering his financial track record of supporting the disabled. > > “Nobody’s better to people with disabilities than me. I spend millions and millions of dollars on buildings taking care of people with disabilities,” he said. “I spend millions of dollars on ramps.” > > :sigh: So I suppose it’s safe to assume that under _his_ Administration, laws mandating accessibility-ramps will be overturned. What a shining moment in American history that will be! (Do you suppose ANY of his fans have even an _instant_ of amazement at how martyred and abused Trump obviously feels at having to follow the law by installing ramps…?) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3658 "2016-08-04T20:18:31Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Silly me. I thought maybe you were exaggerating a tiny bit. > > [But no.](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fact-check-donald-trump-see-money-pouring-off-a-plane-in-iran/) > > This would sink the candidate in any normal campaign. It shows that Trump does not even understand simple moving pictures on the TV Box. But in this case, we’ve been so overwhelmed with Trump nonsense, that this latest idiocy barely registers. Amusing bit at the bottom of the article. > [@](#): > > This article was updated throughout after a Trump campaign spokeswoman contradicted Trump’s account. _snerk_ ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3659 "2016-08-04T20:31:52Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Seriously? I’m actually not attacking Melania. No, you’re using the possible wrongdoing of a spouse to attack a candidate. I’m saying that this is bullshit. Trump’s stance on immigration is wrong and racist. That stands on its own. These petty charges of hypocrisy on who Donald may want to get married to, and how they arrived in the country, do literally nothing to inform or improve any American’s decision on who should lead this country. It’s a cheap shot and the worst kind of mudslinging politics to go after family members in order to damage a candidate. In fact, it’s Donald Trump’s level of gutter politics. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3660 "2016-08-04T20:54:52Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Silly me. I thought maybe you were exaggerating a tiny bit. > > [But no.](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fact-check-donald-trump-see-money-pouring-off-a-plane-in-iran/) > > This would sink the candidate in any normal campaign. It shows that Trump does not even understand simple moving pictures on the TV Box. But in this case, we’ve been so overwhelmed with Trump nonsense, that this latest idiocy barely registers. The really funny thing about this story is the fact that it was simply a bald faced lie was actually the best case scenario for Trump. The alternative was that he saw a classified video due to his newfound security briefings and immediately talked about it at a press rally. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3661 "2016-08-04T20:58:01Z")
Was it on Fox News? Well, that’s his private server. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3662 "2016-08-04T20:59:53Z")
So, at this point would Trump be better served if he simply went on vacation or into seclusion, AND SIMPLY STOPPED SAYING ANYTHING INFROM TO CAMERAS?MICROPHONES? That way, his fans could keep the faith, and other suckers could potentially be lured in. As opposed to day after day of jawdropping inanity (and worse). Of course, he isn’t capable of existing without microphones and cameras, so that might be problematic… Cannot imagine how he will be able to get through a debate without at least one amazing boner. Those things are nothing other than opportunities to fail. Hillary - DON’T YOU FUCK THIS UP! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=182) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=184)