# 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:** 350
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6983 "2016-09-21T06:03:20Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > … > > Effectively your argument boils down to "We should not let any refugees in because it’s possible that some of them may turn out to be bad people and commit murders. " > > … > > Why does this argument even exist? It is based on the fear of “other”. That’s all. I don’t think this argument does exist. I don’t think Trump is saying “We should not let ANY (emphasis mine) refugees in …”, and it CERTAINLY isn’t MY argument. Let’s try to take this in a more productive direction. I’ll describe five groups of people, and you tell me which ones you think we should let in: 1. Brits looking for a vacation 2. Japanese engineering students 3. Mexican day-laborers 4. Syrian / Iraqi refugees fleeing ISIS (or the Syrian government, or the Shiite militias) 5. ISIS fighters that have pledged allegiance to Al-Baghdadi ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6984 "2016-09-21T06:04:21Z")
Let’s see: a totally un-Christian\* and un-American overreaction to a minuscule (at best) threat supposedly posed by refugees, who by the way have darker skin on average, and follow a different religion. Groups with lighter skin are not similarly overreacted to, not by a long shot. What’s this called? I feel like there’s a word for this sort of thing. (\*Leviticus 19:34, Exodus 22:21, Mark 12:31, for starters.) ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6985 "2016-09-21T06:28:55Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > 1. Syrian / Iraqi refugees fleeing ISIS (or the Syrian government, or the Shiite militias) > 2. ISIS fighters that have pledged allegiance to Al-Baghdadi What real proposal has Trump put forth that will tell these two groups apart? His defacto proposal is to stop all refugees until a magical and impossible perfect screening can be put in place, a screening that does not and can not exist. He’s selling fear, and you’re buying it and then rationalising your purchase as hard as you can. ETA: Hell, how is Trump going to perfect screening that prevents group 4 from using the access to the country offered to groups 1-3? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6986 "2016-09-21T06:42:17Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Absolutely correct, **davidm**. In fact, terrorists h[ave in the past hoped and prayed that we in the west would treat Muslims terribly.](http://news.nationalpost.com/news/world/an-al-qaida-martyrs-enduring-pitch-the-west-will-eventually-turn-against-its-muslim-citizens) They have promoted this. They have wanted “The West to eventually turn against its Muslim citizens” so that they could enlist more people to their cause. The same would be true if the west treated refugees terribly, just because they were Muslim. > > Trump and his supporters are doing the work of ISIS for them. See? Trump is already creating more jobs. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6987 "2016-09-21T06:52:58Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I don’t think this argument does exist. I don’t think Trump is saying “We should not let ANY (emphasis mine) refugees in …”, and it CERTAINLY isn’t MY argument. He’s absolutely saying that about syrian refugees. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6988 "2016-09-21T06:54:03Z")
> [@naita](#): > > … a screening that does not and can not exist. This is quite a different line than the Obama administration has been running with. > **[How We're Welcoming Syrian Refugees While Ensuring Our Safety](https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2015/11/17/how-were-welcoming-syrian-refugees)** > > Get the details on how the United States is responding to the Syrian refugee crisis. > [@](#): > > … > The President’s number one priority – and my focus every day – is the safety and security of the American people. > … > That’s why, once **it was concluded that we can do it safely** , the President announced a plan to resettle at least 10,000 Syrian refugees in the United States next year. We remain steadfastly committed to that plan because it is consistent with our values and our national security. > … > The **Administration rejects the flawed view that we can’t ensure our own safety** while also welcoming refugees desperately seeking their own safety. The truth is: America can and must do both. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6989 "2016-09-21T06:56:53Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > He’s absolutely saying that about syrian refugees. Yup, but 10,000 Syrian refugees are only a subset of “refugees” that we let into this country on any given year. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6990 "2016-09-21T07:13:53Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > This is quite a different line than the Obama administration has been running with. > > [How We're Welcoming Syrian Refugees While Ensuring Our Safety | whitehouse.gov](https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/11/17/how-were-welcoming-syrian-refugees) Way to divert the question you posed yourself. If you accept that the Obama government has already perfected vetting refugees, why vote for Trump? ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6991 "2016-09-21T07:16:43Z")
> [@naita](#): > > Way to divert the question you posed yourself. If you accept that the Obama government has already perfected vetting refugees, why vote for Trump? Oh, I think Obama is lying through his teeth on this point, don’t you? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6992 "2016-09-21T07:17:47Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Oh, I think Obama is lying through his teeth on this point, don’t you? Refugees don’t get a free pass. They pass through a years-long vetting. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6993 "2016-09-21T07:25:04Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Refugees don’t get a free pass. They pass through a years-long vetting. Not long enough to make them White, so it’s a free pass. Crystal Gayle had [a relevant song](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_It_Make_My_Brown_Eyes_Blue) for the process the Trumplings want… ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6994 "2016-09-21T07:27:01Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Refugees don’t get a free pass. They pass through a years-long vetting. I don’t think anyone ever said they “get a free pass”. At least, I’m quite certain that I didn’t. As for “years-long”, not so much. More like 3 months. [http://bigstory.ap.org/article/7541e848938d43f0b2051cc215426b3a/first-syrians-leave-us-under-surge-resettlement-program](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/7541e848938d43f0b2051cc215426b3a/first-syrians-leave-us-under-surge-resettlement-program) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6995 "2016-09-21T07:28:43Z")
> [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](#): > > I mean how many people were killed in the Florida nightclub alone. More than 100. We don’t have 360,000,000,000 people in this country (or even in this world). Those stats sound fishy. The Florida shooter wasn’t a refugee, he was the child of refugees. Same as Gonzalo Curiel is from Indiana, not Mexico. ---
**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:** [September 21, 2016, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6996 "2016-09-21T08:43:11Z")
So, the Cato Institute is suspiciously pro-Democratic. News to me… ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6997 "2016-09-21T09:25:06Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Oh, I think Obama is lying through his teeth on this point, don’t you? No, I think he’s dealing with the very low risk in a sensible way. I think it’s a much better option than just blocking all Syrian refugees. Terrorists will find a different way, the refugees will stay in hell. But if you’re just gonna go off on tangents I see no reason to interact with you. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6998 "2016-09-21T10:27:43Z")
More fun with regard to Skittlesgate: 1. Mars, which makes Skittles, has issued a rather pointed statement on the matter: > [@Mars](#): > > Skittles are candy; refugees are people. It’s an inappropriate analogy. We respectfully refrain from further comment, as that could be misinterpreted as marketing 1. The Skittles image used by Donald Jr in his tweet was used without permission. 2. The photographer of said picture, David Kittos, is a refugee. So that’s working out well for Donnie. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6999 "2016-09-21T11:36:29Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Sure, there’s lots of other reasons that I hope Trump beats Clinton. Specifically: taxes and border security come to mind at the moment. Taxes? :smack: Please pick one: [ul][li] I, Hurricane, am in the 1%. Of course I want to keep more. Repeal of the death tax, repeal of the alternate minimum tax, lower top rates — what’s not to love?[/li][li] I, Hurricane, believe that the Trump middle-class tax cuts will be adopted, and the Golden Genius will find billions of dollars in offsetting cuts (or maybe renege on debt to China). Sure, most of the savings go to the super-rich, but they’re the most deserving. The estimates that federal deficit will balloon by an extra $1 trillion per year (and rising!) if the Trump joke-plan is adopted are exaggerated. Increase in the annual deficit? $900 billion, tops.[/li][li] I, Hurricane, don’t bother actually reading magazines or newspapers. I just know Hillary is a witch out to castrate me personally, while the Golden Genius has my best interests in mind.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/7000 "2016-09-21T12:46:04Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Yes, the report says that. The report is wrong (you seem to think critiquing the report is changing the subject. I don’t). Refugees have committed at least one additional murder (it happened to be the first one I checked) and committed maybe 10 other terrorist attacks since “enhanced screening” went into effect. Just because their attacks haven’t been fatal isn’t a testament to the effectiveness of our enhanced screening, so much as a streak of (mostly) good luck. Wait a second… the report you cited is wrong? Well then I think it is wrong when they classified that guy as a refugee. So now you’re wrong that there have been more than 3 deaths attributable to refugees. Damn; that was easy. Oh, and the person you cited arrived in the country before any “enhanced screening” so you have that wrong too. And no, you still haven’t answered why you wrote what you wrote. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/7001 "2016-09-21T12:48:58Z")
duplicate post ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/7002 "2016-09-21T13:37:08Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > That’s fine, but I can’t find the anti-bee-sting candidate this year. Remind me which one is running on the no-more-brain-eating-amoeba platform. > > The risk posed by terrorist refugees, I’ll grant you is small, just like almost all fatal risks (I’m likely to die of a heart attack or cancer in a few decades, pretty much anything else would just be very bad luck), but it is 100X more risk than letting in another tourist, and 800X more risk than letting in someone from a VWP country (disclaimer: it’s late, my math may be off). And it seems to be completely unnecessary. What’s wrong with building them a nice refugee camp on the border of Jordan or Turkey and hiring some UN peacekeepers to keep them safe? Not good enough for our poor downtrodden Syrian brethren? Sidebar: May I ask what your opinions are on gun control? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=349) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=351)