# 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:** 218
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4343 "2016-08-16T14:16:17Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > 1. That’s not even getting into how goddamn hard it practically is to fix elections. I don’t think Adams is fully aware of the fact that a Presidential election is actually 51 separate elections, every one run different from the last by totally different people. And… as the recent court setbacks of Republican controlled states (most of them) that wanted to limit the votes of minorities showed, there is more evidence that the Republicans are more prone to abuse their capabilities as lawmakers to make that cheating even legal. ---
**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 16, 2016, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4344 "2016-08-16T14:54:58Z")
I posted this in another thread: > [@Corey Lewandowski tweets the NYT story about the Manafort/Russia connection](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corey-lewandowski-tweets-the-nyt-story-about-the-manafort-russia-connection/762904/3): > > This is becoming the most fascinating dumpster fire in American history. I can’t wait for the books. I hope the HBO movie is a 12-parter so they capture every juicy behind-the-scenes detail. But the more I think about it, I’ve seen these movies already. I’m pretty sure there’s a Sith lord behind the Trump candidacy, and everything that’s happening is all part of his master plan. Nothing else can explain it. But the question is: Who is the master? Mitt Romney? Paul Manafort? Paul Ryan? Sheldon Adelson? Let me ask you this: Which Republican politico could you most clearly picture shooting Cory Booker with force lightning while screaming “Unlimited power!” There is only one possible answer, and that’s Ted Cruz. Search your feelings. You know it to be true. For the past three years, since his election to the Senate, Cruz has been setting the stage for the 2016 presidential election-- including his own eventual defeat in the primary. He has used his force powers to catapult Trump-- the only only possible candidate more loathsome and repulsive than Cruz himself-- into the GOP nomination, tearing the party to shreds in the process. To the public, Cruz is just an annoying senator from Texas, but secretly he’s controlling the strings of the Trump campaign-- and the very fate of our Republic-- as the dark lord, Darth Repugnus. Repugnus’ first apprentice Carly Fiorina, also known as Darth Face, was sacrificed early, but like her Star Wars counterpart Darth Maul, will rise again, soon stepping into the role of RNC Chair. And like Maul, Face will harbor deep resentment for Repugnus’ early abandonment of her. Repugnus’ second apprentice Donald Trump, also known as Darth Orangeuos, will take the fall on November 8, but is already plotting with his dark master to lead the GOP separatists against Cruz’s Clone Army for the next four years for control of the Republican Party. By 2020, Repugnus will have recruited his final and most powerful apprentice yet, luring him from the light to the dark side of the Force, where he will unveil him as his running mate, and the two of them will rule the galaxy. Who will this final apprentice be? The Dark Side clouds everything. Impossible to see, the future is. Luckily for us, this apprentice will have a son… ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4345 "2016-08-16T15:07:22Z")
He says that he can’t release his tax returns because he is being audited. Has this been confirmed by anyone? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4346 "2016-08-16T15:10:39Z")
IRS has confirmed he can release returns whenever he wants. They have not confirmed he is currently being audited, not to my knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4347 "2016-08-16T15:12:15Z")
simulpost ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4348 "2016-08-16T15:48:25Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > “Extreme vetting”. I imagine that’s a bit like “enhanced vetting”. Waterboard them until you’re sure they accept our values. > > I note that Trump criticized Obama for leaving power vacuums that allowed militants to thrive. Trump said he’d destroy Islamic terrorism and ISIS and that the era of nation building would come to an end. So… We’ll destroy our enemies and not rebuild in the aftermath. Wouldn’t that leave…a…power…vacuum? The fact that Trump spent the day reading off a teleprompter and presenting something that resembles a Plan, should stop the bleeding for a while. At least until he goes off-message again and starts ranting about Lizard People in the Obama administration. I’m sure the anti-terrorism plan definition discussion went something like: "OK, religious screening is getting a lot of blowback. How about we screen on “values”? “Sounds good…we can tie every recent attack inside the US to some immigrant who doesn’t share our values.” “Hold on…the Orlando shooter was born here.” “Damn. OK…uh…we’ll make sure that people who plan to have children share our values…or something.” ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4349 "2016-08-16T15:55:42Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > IRS has confirmed he can release returns whenever he wants. > > They have not confirmed he is currently being audited, not to my knowledge. [From last February](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/donald-trump-irs-audit-experts-219889): > [@](#): > > IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said Friday that it would be unlikely for a taxpayer to be audited for multiple years in a row, a day after Donald Trump maintained the agency had audited him a dozen years running. > > Koskinen, in an interview with C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers,” stressed repeatedly that he couldn’t comment directly on Trump’s personal tax situation. But the IRS chief also strongly suggested that the scenario Trump laid out in Thursday’s GOP debate was improbable… > > Trump said during Thursday’s debate that he couldn’t release his tax returns because he was being audited, and that “I’ve been audited every year. Twelve years or something like that.” Following the debate, Trump added in a CNN interview that the IRS might be auditing him because he’s a "strong Christian.” [More recently, from _Newsweek_:](http://www.newsweek.com/where-trump-irs-tax-audit-letter-488904) > [@](#): > > To back up the contention that he is being audited, Trump’s campaign earlier this year released a letter from his tax lawyers stating that he was under audit. That leaves the public having to take the word of Trump’s paid legal advocates. There’s a more definitive option: The real estate developer could very easily produce documentation from the Internal Revenue Service stating that he is under audit. > > When the IRS audits a person or a business, it’s standard procedure for the federal tax-collecting agency to send an audit letter that informs the subject that returns are being scrutinized. So, the IRS will not say whether or not Trump is being audited–which sounds correct to me. However, Trump \*will \*have “audit letters” from the government to prove his claims. (Well, not the claim about his strong Christianity.) ---
**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 16, 2016, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4350 "2016-08-16T16:07:22Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > [From last February](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/donald-trump-irs-audit-experts-219889): > > [More recently, from _Newsweek_:](http://www.newsweek.com/where-trump-irs-tax-audit-letter-488904) > > So, the IRS will not say whether or not Trump is being audited–which sounds correct to me. However, Trump \*will \*have “audit letters” from the government to prove his claims. (Well, not the claim about his strong Christianity.) It’s like the letter from his doctor that says how GREAT! Trump’s health is. Letter looks very much like it was written by Trump himself - it uses the classic Trump language; Trump is not just healthy, he’s in THE BEST HEALTH EVER! Classic Trump over-exaggeration. His doctor likely just signed it in exchange for a large cash payment. ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4351 "2016-08-16T16:15:30Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > He says that he can’t release his tax returns because he is being audited. Has this been confirmed by anyone? The really stupid past is, even if he is being audited, there is no reason not to release his returns. The IRS already has everything in them, he would just be giving everyone else information they have. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4352 "2016-08-16T16:24:34Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’m assuming Giuliani has seen how well crazy statements have worked for Trump and he’s taking the opening steps towards a 2020 run. Is it too late for him to say he was just being sarcastic? ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4353 "2016-08-16T16:32:39Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Mr. Noun Verb 9/11 is gone. He sacrificed his whole shtick to Donald Trump, and he will never be back. > > He just renounced any shred of legitimacy he ever had. Not that it made much of a pile on the altar of Trumpismo, but he ignited it just the same. It’s so rare to see politicians stripped; to see them for the abject, amoral scum most of them are. He’s not doing this in the service of his nation or whatever bogus bullshit people allowed themselves to be convinced of in order to participate in waterboarding or other torture - he’s sucking Trump’s cock because he is utterly desperate to be relevant. ---
**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 16, 2016, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4354 "2016-08-16T16:44:56Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > But the more I think about it, I’ve seen these movies already. > > I’m pretty sure there’s a Sith lord behind the Trump candidacy, and everything that’s happening is all part of his master plan. Nothing else can explain it. > > But the question is: Who is the master? Mitt Romney? Paul Manafort? Paul Ryan? Sheldon Adelson? > > Let me ask you this: Which Republican politico could you most clearly picture shooting Cory Booker with force lightning while screaming “Unlimited power!” There is only one possible answer, and that’s Ted Cruz. Thing is, Lyin’ Ted Cruz looks like the guy who lost to Donald Trump, and Paul Ryan is the guy who keeps showing how much more he’ll put up with, as if he has to take it. And both Manafort and Adelson are openly backing Trump like Ryan is, and that’s a lingering stench that doesn’t just go away. But if you look at Trump, and then you look back at Romney, you think, _sonofabitch, that guy was presidential. What was it that Obama said, about how it would’ve been if Romney had gotten elected – versus how it’ll be if Trump gets elected? Man, I was just thinking the same thing! Romney was businesslike and polished, knowledgeable and measured; he got Trump to endorse him, but he’s not going to return the favor, because, hey, country over party, right?_ ---
**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 16, 2016, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4355 "2016-08-16T16:46:22Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > … [Rudy’s] not doing this in the service of his nation or whatever bogus bullshit people allowed themselves to be convinced of in order to participate in waterboarding or other torture - he’s sucking Trump’s cock because he is utterly desperate to be relevant. Maybe he’s trying to elbow aside Chris Christie to be Attorney General in the please-God-never-to-be-formed Trump Cabinet. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4356 "2016-08-16T17:01:22Z")
If you’ve got some time to kill and a high tolerance for insanity, check out the [video that God chose Trump to save America.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqwFWD_Htfo) I made it about 10 minutes. It turns out that the Triple Crown horse races were the key to understanding it all! ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4357 "2016-08-16T17:33:54Z")
Can’t do it. ---
**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 16, 2016, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4358 "2016-08-16T17:46:09Z")
I’d rather look at another funny anti-Trump billboard: [https://localtvwjw.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/billboard.jpeg?quality=85&strip=all&strip=all](https://localtvwjw.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/billboard.jpeg?quality=85&strip=all&strip=all) ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4359 "2016-08-16T17:52:00Z")
Allegedly Trump has hired FOX’s fomer head Roger Ailes as an advisor. An interesting choice, if true. [Donald Trump campaign hires disgraced ex-Fox News boss Roger Ailes as adviser: report – New York Daily News](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/trump-campaign-hires-ex-fox-news-boss-ailes-adviser-report-article-1.2753548) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4360 "2016-08-16T17:53:33Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Allegedly Trump has hired FOX’s fomer head Roger Ailes as an advisor. An interesting choice, if true. [Donald Trump campaign hires disgraced ex-Fox News boss Roger Ailes as adviser: report – New York Daily News](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/trump-campaign-hires-ex-fox-news-boss-ailes-adviser-report-article-1.2753548) New York Times is giving the same report. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4361 "2016-08-16T17:55:27Z")
Well, he’s already lost the women-who-bleed-out-of-their-whatecer’s vote, so why not the sexual-harassment-victim vote? Also, if true (and the Trump Camp is vehemently denying this), this will further create divisions among Fox News employees with their open support of Trump. Nothing wrong with that! And, don’t forget, the Donald Trump rape case starts pretrial hearings September 9th. Buy your tickets soon before they run out! ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4362 "2016-08-16T18:04:27Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Allegedly Trump has hired FOX’s fomer head Roger Ailes as an advisor. An interesting choice, if true. [Donald Trump campaign hires disgraced ex-Fox News boss Roger Ailes as adviser: report – New York Daily News](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/trump-campaign-hires-ex-fox-news-boss-ailes-adviser-report-article-1.2753548) I’m not sure what Ailes brings to the table. Seems like he knows how to reach the voters that are already in Trump’s pocket, does he know how to sway the moderates? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=217) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=219)