# Donald Trump's 2016 General Election Campaign
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901
**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:** 311
### Author:  [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2016, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6203 "2016-09-10T09:26:59Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#):
>
> I suppose what I’m really suggesting is that every so-called journalist who hears Trump claim he has A Secret Plan, and then fails to call him on it, should be ashamed.
I had a conversation on this the other day, and the person unironically in support of Trump talked about Nixon’s secret plan to end the Vietnam war. I had to remind this person that Nixon never actually _had_ a secret plan to end the Vietnam war.
> [@Little\_Pig](#):
>
> [Trump: Iranian soldiers who harass U.S. Navy ‘will be shot out of the water’.](http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/trailguide/la-na-trailguide-updates-trump-iranian-soldiers-who-harass-u-s-1473472852-htmlstory.html)
What. Even. The fuck. A candidate for president of the united states just said we should respond to taunts and harassment with an act of war. No, really, that is what he just said. _What the flying fuck?!_
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### Author:  [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2016, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6204 "2016-09-10T09:50:08Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#):
>
> I had a conversation on this the other day, and the person unironically in support of Trump talked about Nixon’s secret plan to end the Vietnam war. I had to remind this person that Nixon never actually _had_ a secret plan to end the Vietnam war.
To be fair, he did have a secret plan to prolong the war.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2016, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6205 "2016-09-10T09:50:25Z")
nm
---
### Author:  [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2016, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6206 "2016-09-10T12:04:31Z")
[Clinton explains who Trump’s supporters are - half are in “the basket of deplorables”:](http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/09/politics/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-basket-of-deplorables/)
> [@](#):
>
> “To just be grossly generalistic, you can put half of Trump supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables,” Clinton said. “Right? Racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic, you name it.”
> She added, “And unfortunately, there are people like that and he has lifted them up. He has given voice to their websites that used to only have 11,000 people, now have 11 million. He tweets and retweets offensive, hateful, mean-spirited rhetoric.”
> Clinton went on to say that some of these people were “irredeemable” and “not America.”
> …
>
> “That other basket of people are people who feel that government has let them down, the economy has let them down, nobody cares about them, nobody worries about what happens to their lives and their futures. They are just desperate for change. Doesn’t really even matter where it comes from.”
> She continued, “They won’t wake up and see their jobs disappear, lose a kid to heroin, feel like they’re in a dead end. Those are people who we have to understand and empathize with as well.”
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### Author:  [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2016, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6207 "2016-09-10T12:41:54Z")
🅱
That’s supposed to have become a “thumbs-up” smilie… wrong board, I guess. 😉
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### Author:  [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2016, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6208 "2016-09-10T12:53:13Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#):
>
> Haven’t some Republicans had a crush on Putin for a while? Trump’s thing about Putin being a better leader than Obama isn’t something he just made up. There have been other Republican politicians saying that for years. [Ah, it was Rudy.](http://www.salon.com/2014/03/04/rudy_giuliani_unlike_obama_putin_is_%E2%80%9Cwhat_you_call_a_leader%E2%80%9D/) [And also Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh and Pat Buchanan.](http://articles.latimes.com/2014/mar/07/nation/la-na-tt-conservatives-admiration-for-putin-20140306)
And now, too. [Washington Post:](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-moves-praise-for-putin-closer-to-the-mainstream-of-the-gop/2016/09/09/ccf2853c-7693-11e6-8149-b8d05321db62_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_putinright-815pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory)
> [@](#):
>
> After Donald Trump proclaimed this week that Russian President Vladimir Putin was a “stronger leader” than President Obama, many Republicans quickly condemned or distanced themselves from the remarks.
>
> But by Friday it became clear that a significant number of Republicans agreed with him. Not for the first time, Trump has pulled an idea from the political fringes into the mainstream…
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### Author:  [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2016, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6209 "2016-09-10T12:57:15Z")
I’m beginning to have serious concerns about Donald Trump’s health.
He has visibly put on at least 35lbs since this all began, he is 70yo, in debt up to his eyeballs, doing a brand new job which puts fantastic demands of stress and energy on his already-overtaxed heart, and the fact that he is doing it so badly, with over 1/2 of America hating him… the florid coloration, the antsy way in which he moves, his inability to put together a cohesive sentence…
Really, if health of the candidate is a big concern, one cannot make a case that DJT is capable of handling the pressure for.much longer.
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### Author:  [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2016, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6210 "2016-09-10T13:01:44Z")
> [@pathrunner](#):
>
> I am far more concerned about what Hillary has done compared to what Trump has said.
Seriously? What has Clinton done that’s worst than threatening to start a war because someone gives you the finger? (Real things please, not the made up nonsense about Vince Foster, etc.)
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### Author:  [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2016, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6211 "2016-09-10T13:33:11Z")
> [@JohnT](#):
>
> I’m beginning to have serious concerns about Donald Trump’s health.
>
> He has visibly put on at least 35lbs since this all began, he is 70yo, in debt up to his eyeballs, doing a brand new job which puts fantastic demands of stress and energy on his already-overtaxed heart, and the fact that he is doing it so badly, with over 1/2 of America hating him… the florid coloration, the antsy way in which he moves, his inability to put together a cohesive sentence…
>
> Really, if health of the candidate is a big concern, one cannot make a case that DJT is capable of handling the pressure for.much longer.
Wonder why they’ve been so desperate to turn a microscope on Hillary’s “failing health.”
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2016, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6212 "2016-09-10T13:40:36Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#):
>
> [Clinton explains who Trump’s supporters are - half are in “the basket of deplorables”:](http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/09/politics/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-basket-of-deplorables/)
[Clinton:](http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/trailguide/la-na-trailguide-updates-hillary-clinton-offers-strong-critique-1473474019-htmlstory.html)
> [@](#):
>
> During brief remarks at the LGBT for Hillary Gala in lower Manhattan, Clinton called “half” of those supporting the Republican nominee a “basket of deplorables.”
>
> “Right?” she said to laughter from attendees, which included entertainer Barbra Streisand. “The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic – you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up.”
[Trump Twitter response:](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/774590070355529728)
> [@](#):
>
> Wow, Hillary Clinton was SO INSULTING to my supporters, millions of amazing, hard working people. I think it will cost her at the Polls!
Wow! It’s going to lose her Trump supporters. Brilliant reasoning! :smack:
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### Author:  [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2016, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6213 "2016-09-10T13:56:43Z")
It’s the next stage in the “How DARE you express prejudice toward us bigots!” argument that the Right has been trying out for the past several years.
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### Author:  [@Sterling\_Archer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterling_Archer)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2016, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6214 "2016-09-10T14:15:02Z")
I’ve noticed Trump uses this phrase a lot, but I am not sure what he means by it:
“I have a lot of respect for…”
He used it in his example of what he’d do with Obama’s metal stairs controversy, but in a self-contradictory way. He said he’d tell the Chinese “I respect you a lot, but let’s get out of here.”
He has also used it in regard to the FL AG and the Pope. I suspect it’s similar to saying “I don’t mean to sound racist, but…”
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### Author:  [@DonLogan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DonLogan)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2016, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6215 "2016-09-10T14:31:08Z")
> [@Sterling\_Archer](#):
>
> I’ve noticed Trump uses this phrase a lot, but I am not sure what he means by it:
>
> “I have a lot of respect for…”
>
> He used it in his example of what he’d do with Obama’s metal stairs controversy, but in a self-contradictory way. He said he’d tell the Chinese “I respect you a lot, but let’s get out of here.”
>
> He has also used it in regard to the FL AG and the Pope. I suspect it’s similar to saying “I don’t mean to sound racist, but…”
It doesn’t mean shit. As you say, it’s self-contradictory.
“Now about the Muslims, great people, love the beards, Melania, she loves hummus. But they gotta go.”
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### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2016, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6216 "2016-09-10T14:47:01Z")
I can’t eat Middle Eastern food, it makes me feel awful.
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2016, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6217 "2016-09-10T14:54:57Z")
> [@elucidator](#):
>
> I can’t eat Middle Eastern food, it makes me feel awful.
Smacks **'luci** with a stale pita.
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### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2016, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6218 "2016-09-10T15:47:38Z")
Last night, [Hillary Clinton had a fundraiser where she said:
> [@Hillary Clinton](#):
>
> To just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic - you name it.
>
> And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up. He has given voice to their websites that used to only have 11,000 people - now how 11 million. He tweets and retweets their offensive hateful mean-spirited rhetoric. Now, some of those folks - they are irredeemable, but thankfully they are not America.
]([http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US\_CAMPAIGN\_2016\_BAOL-?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-09-10-11-05-11](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CAMPAIGN_2016_BAOL-?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-09-10-11-05-11))
Mr. Trump read about this or heard about this and later remarked on Twitter:
> [@Donald Trump](#):
>
> Wow, Hillary Clinton was SO INSULTING to my supporters, millions of amazing, hard working people. I think it will cost her at the Polls!
:dubious:
Who exactly does Mr. Trump think this will turn away from Mrs. Clinton?
I don’t think he understands how this whole voting thing works.
I also posted this in the SRIOTD thread in the Pit.
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### Author:  [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2016, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6219 "2016-09-10T18:26:31Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#):
>
> [Clinton explains who Trump’s supporters are - half are in “the basket of deplorables”:](http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/09/politics/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-basket-of-deplorables/)
And the right wing is outraged. Even ABC News thinks it was a horrible thing to say:
> **[Clinton's 'Deplorables' Comment Show Disdain for Working People, Trump Camp Says](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/hillary-clinton-half-donald-trumps-supporters-basket-deplorables/story?id=41993204)**
>
> Clinton's comment shows disdain for working people, Trump campaign says.
[http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2016/09/10/pence-responds-to-clintons-basket-of-deplorables-remark-they-are-americans-and-they-deserve-your-respect/](http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2016/09/10/pence-responds-to-clintons-basket-of-deplorables-remark-they-are-americans-and-they-deserve-your-respect/)
[http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/hillary-clinton-basket-deplorables-227988](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/hillary-clinton-basket-deplorables-227988)
And the Washington Post calls out the outrage:
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/09/10/spare-me-the-phony-outrage-over-clintons-basket-of-deplorables-remark/?utm\_term=.6942b1216df8](https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/09/10/spare-me-the-phony-outrage-over-clintons-basket-of-deplorables-remark/?utm_term=.6942b1216df8)
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### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2016, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6220 "2016-09-10T18:27:28Z")
A tisket, a tasket
Yelling Redneck basket!
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2016, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6221 "2016-09-10T18:45:50Z")
She could certainly have expressed herself better. It might (although I doubt it) lose her some support among the still-undecided.
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### Author:  [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2016, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6222 "2016-09-10T18:50:22Z")
She should have said something more vague than “half”, other than that i don’t see the problem.
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