# 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:** 63
**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:** [June 13, 2016, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1241 "2016-06-13T22:09:27Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > You mean aside from calling the judge ‘Mexican?’ And then alleging bias SOLELY because of his race? No, not SOLELY because of his race. Because he is of a (so-called) race that Trump has been widely accused of insulting. Trump hasn’t alleged that the judge’s heritage makes him unfit to serve in all cases, just the one that involves him. Are you truly unable to make this distinction? ---
**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:** [June 13, 2016, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1242 "2016-06-13T22:12:42Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > It would be like referring to Trump as a German- nobody fucking does that. Plenty of times Arnold Schwarzenegger has been referred to as Austrian without any blowback whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1243 "2016-06-13T22:13:34Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > No, not SOLELY because of his race. Because he is of a (so-called) race that Trump has been widely accused of insulting. Trump hasn’t alleged that the judge’s heritage makes him unfit to serve in all cases, just the one that involves him. Are you truly unable to make this distinction? It is a distinction without a difference. Trump says the only reason the judge is unfit to decide his case is because he is a Mexican. It is racist on its face; are you truly unable to understand this? ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1244 "2016-06-13T22:13:41Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > No, not SOLELY because of his race. Because he is of a (so-called) race that Trump has been widely accused of insulting. Trump hasn’t alleged that the judge’s heritage makes him unfit to serve in all cases, just the one that involves him. Are you truly unable to make this distinction? So, because Trump is known for being racist against Mexicans, he isn’t racist against Mexicans in this case. Solid. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1245 "2016-06-13T22:13:48Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > No, not SOLELY because of his race. Because he is of a (so-called) race that Trump has been widely accused of insulting. Trump hasn’t alleged that the judge’s heritage makes him unfit to serve in all cases, just the one that involves him. Are you truly unable to make this distinction? I get it. Trump isn’t saying that the judge is a Mexican, therefore he’s stupid; he’s saying that the judge is so consumed by his Mexican heritage that he will sell his integrity and corrupt the judicial process. That’s much better. Glad he’s not a racist, and merely a lying sack of shit. ---
**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:** [June 13, 2016, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1246 "2016-06-13T22:26:03Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > It is a distinction without a difference. Trump says the only reason the judge is unfit to decide his case is because he is a Mexican. It is racist on its face; are you truly unable to understand this? Most certainly I am. But of course I hew to the conservative view, which is that racism means racism. > [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > So, because Trump is known for being racist against Mexicans, he isn’t racist against Mexicans in this case. Solid. Trump is only known as being racist because his allegations about illegal immigrants have been broad-brushed by the left to include all Mexicans (and by implication, all Hispanics). > [@jsc1953](#): > > I get it. Trump isn’t saying that the judge is a Mexican, therefore he’s stupid; he’s saying that the judge is so consumed by his Mexican heritage that he will sell his integrity and corrupt the judicial process. I don’t know that one would necessarily have to be consumed by one’s heritage to have hard feelings against someone widely portrayed as antagonistic toward that heritage. And remember, Trump’s accusations came after the judge made certain rulings that Trump felt deliberately put him at a disadvantage in the lawsuit. So right or wrong, he had certain grounds to feel he was being treated unfairly because of his having been portrayed as racist against Mexicans. ---
**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:** [June 13, 2016, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1247 "2016-06-13T22:27:48Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > No, not SOLELY because of his race. Because he is of a (so-called) race that Trump has been widely accused of insulting. Trump hasn’t alleged that the judge’s heritage makes him unfit to serve in all cases, just the one that involves him. Are you truly unable to make this distinction? It doesn’t matter if it’s solely or partially – saying that his ethnic heritage has _anything whatsoever_ to do with his fitness to be judge, for this case or any other, is (like Paul Ryan says) the very textbook definition of racism. Try these on for size – ‘I don’t think Dr. Johnson will be a good surgeon – he graduated 13th in his class, and he’s black’; ‘Attorney O’Brien probably won’t be a good lawyer to defend me – he lost his last case, and he’s Irish’… these are racist sentiments. ---
**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:** [June 13, 2016, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1248 "2016-06-13T22:34:10Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Most certainly I am. But of course I hew to the conservative view, which is that racism means racism. Indeed. [http://thehill.com/homenews/house/282463-ryan-trump-comments-textbook-racism](http://thehill.com/homenews/house/282463-ryan-trump-comments-textbook-racism) > [@](#): > > Donald Trump’s criticism of a judge because of his ethnicity are “the textbook definition of racist comments,” Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Tuesday during an event on poverty in Washington D.C. > > “I regret these comments that he made,” Ryan said. “I think that should be absolutely disavowed.” > [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Trump is only known as being racist because his allegations about illegal immigrants have been broad-brushed by the left to include all Mexicans (and by implication, all Hispanics). I guess speaker Ryan became a leftist a few days ago. And then we have Romney too, he did tell us already that a Trump presidency will lead us into “Trickle-down racism”. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1249 "2016-06-13T22:35:34Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Trump is only known as being racist because his allegations about illegal immigrants have been broad-brushed by the left to include all Mexicans (and by implication, all Hispanics). This controversy about the judge is not based on Trump’s animus toward undocumented immigrants. He is a racist because he stated a judge could not be impartial toward Trump because he is a Mexican. As you said, racism is racism. > [@](#): > > I don’t know that one would necessarily have to be consumed by one’s heritage to have hard feelings against someone widely portrayed as antagonistic toward that heritage. And this is the nut of the racism; judges are expected to be exactly that; suspending personal feelings to render justice. That you cannot comprehend those ethics says more about your politics than it does about the judge. ---
**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:** [June 13, 2016, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1250 "2016-06-13T22:38:17Z")
For what possible non racist justification would a judge with Mexican ancestry be less likely to be unbiased than a white judge? ---
**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:** [June 13, 2016, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1251 "2016-06-13T22:48:46Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > It doesn’t matter if it’s solely or partially – saying that his ethnic heritage has _anything whatsoever_ to do with his fitness to be judge, for this case or any other, is (like Paul Ryan says) the very textbook definition of racism. > > Try these on for size – ‘I don’t think Dr. Johnson will be a good surgeon – he graduated 13th in his class, and he’s black’; ‘Attorney O’Brien probably won’t be a good lawyer to defend me – he lost his last case, and he’s Irish’… these are racist sentiments. The only problem is that Trump didn’t say “I don’t think Judge Curiel can make a very good judge because he’s Mexican”. And he didn’t say “Judge Curiel has been inclined to make bad decisions in past rulings because after all he’s a Mexican”. He’s saying that in this one particular case, the judge’s heritage appears to account for what Trump feels are biased rulings which unfairly put him at a disadvantage. It’s really not much different than suspecting that a female judge who’s been a rape victim would be unfairly biased in a rape case. It doesn’t mean she can’t function effectively as a judge or because being a woman makes her incapable of it. It just means that there are personal factors involved when it comes to rape cases that might very well bias her in ways where she wouldn’t be biased otherwise. This stuff is dog simple. It really is. ---
**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:** [June 13, 2016, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1252 "2016-06-13T22:50:14Z")
SA, you must be commended for your mental gymnastics to justify Trump’s horseshit. Actually blaming the media for Trump’s racist reputation? I suppose the fact they reported it means it’s their fault people know he’s a racist? ---
**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:** [June 13, 2016, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1253 "2016-06-13T22:57:26Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > The only problem is that Trump didn’t say “I don’t think Judge Curiel can make a very good judge because he’s Mexican”. And he didn’t say “Judge Curiel has been inclined to make bad decisions in past rulings because after all he’s a Mexican”. He’s saying that in this one particular case, the judge’s heritage appears to account for what Trump feels are biased rulings which unfairly put him at a disadvantage. It’s really not much different than suspecting that a female judge who’s been a rape victim would be unfairly biased in a rape case. It doesn’t mean she can’t function effectively as a judge or because being a woman makes her incapable of it. It just means that there are personal factors involved when it comes to rape cases that might very well bias her in ways where she wouldn’t be biased otherwise. > > This stuff is dog simple. It really is. Except this case has absolutely nothing to do with Mexico, Latinos, etc. This is merely an asshole bully playing the victim card because he’s an asshole fraud too. A person can’t be an all-around asshole and then expect the world to just lay down in front of him because he demands it. Honestly, it’s stunning how Trump is actually using his \*own \*asshole-ishness \*against \*this judge. He’s poisoning the well with everyone except white people. If he says enough offensive things, he somehow thinks he won’t have to deal with anyone different from himself ever again because he now can whine about how Muslims/women/Latinos/Arabs/disabled people won’t be fair to him because of the things he’s said about them. That’s not a leader. He’s the epitome of a weakling. A road apple. ---
**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:** [June 13, 2016, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1254 "2016-06-13T23:07:23Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > SA, you must be commended for your mental gymnastics to justify Trump’s horseshit. Actually blaming the media for Trump’s racist reputation? I suppose the fact they reported it means it’s their fault people know he’s a racist? Worse than that, SA is deftly avoiding that many conservatives do agree that what Trump did was racism, plain and simple. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2016, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1255 "2016-06-13T23:10:06Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > … It’s really not much different than suspecting that a female judge who’s been a rape victim would be unfairly biased in a rape case… This is really dog simple so it is very surprising you are having such a tough time of it. To stick in the realm of your analogy this is more like saying that a woman judge must recuse herself in a rape case because she is a woman. Or that a Jewish judge should recuse him or herself in the gun possession case of a biker from a gang with a questionable reputation for White Supremacy and anti-Semitism. This case is even odder though as Trump claims “the Hispanics love me” and that a Hispanic judge is by his ethnicity going to not be able to judge him fairly. Really almost as twisted of a thought process as your posts on the subject are! ---
**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:** [June 13, 2016, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1256 "2016-06-13T23:14:50Z")
Even as prepared text, [his speech was horrific, scary, and full of lies](http://www.marketwatch.com/story/prepared-text-of-donald-trumps-speech-on-orlando-shooting-and-national-security-2016-06-13). My God, just on style terms alone, it is the speech of a person running for President in a high school mock election. ---
**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:** [June 13, 2016, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1257 "2016-06-13T23:15:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by bobot View Post > It would be like referring to Trump as a German- nobody fucking does that. > [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Plenty of times Arnold Schwarzenegger has been referred to as Austrian without any blowback whatsoever. Schwarzenegger was actually born in Austria. The judge in Trump’s California fraud case was not born in Mexico. Trump himself was not born in Germany. Therefore it is not accurate to call the judge “Mexican” or Trump “German,” while it is accurate to call Schwarzenegger “Austrian” (though it would be more informative to call him “Austrian-American”). ---
**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:** [June 13, 2016, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1258 "2016-06-13T23:17:59Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > The only problem is that Trump didn’t say “I don’t think Judge Curiel can make a very good judge because he’s Mexican”. And he didn’t say “Judge Curiel has been inclined to make bad decisions in past rulings because after all he’s a Mexican”. He’s saying that in this one particular case, the judge’s heritage appears to account for what Trump feels are biased rulings which unfairly put him at a disadvantage. It’s really not much different than suspecting that a female judge who’s been a rape victim would be unfairly biased in a rape case. It doesn’t mean she can’t function effectively as a judge or because being a woman makes her incapable of it. It just means that there are personal factors involved when it comes to rape cases that might very well bias her in ways where she wouldn’t be biased otherwise. > > This stuff is dog simple. It really is. No, it’s not like a woman who is a rape victim being a judge – it’s like saying a woman couldn’t be unbiased as a judge for a rape case _because she’s a woman_. He didn’t say that Curiel couldn’t judge this case because of some experience he’s had, but because of his innate ethnic heritage. Do you see the difference? Rape victim is an experience (and I’d certainly quibble that such a woman couldn’t be unbiased, but that’s different than saying that because she’s a woman she couldn’t be unbiased); Mexican heritage is not an experience, but an innate part of who the person is and has been since birth. ---
**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:** [June 13, 2016, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1259 "2016-06-13T23:32:02Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > The only problem is that Trump didn’t say “I don’t think Judge Curiel can make a very good judge because he’s Mexican”. And he didn’t say “Judge Curiel has been inclined to make bad decisions in past rulings because after all he’s a Mexican”. He’s saying that in this one particular case, the judge’s heritage appears to account for what Trump feels are biased rulings which unfairly put him at a disadvantage. It’s really not much different than suspecting that a female judge who’s been a rape victim would be unfairly biased in a rape case. It doesn’t mean she can’t function effectively as a judge or because being a woman makes her incapable of it. It just means that there are personal factors involved when it comes to rape cases that might very well bias her in ways where she wouldn’t be biased otherwise. > > This stuff is dog simple. It really is. So what you’re saying is that really this was just Trump calling out _Judge Curiel_’s racism? ---
**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:** [June 13, 2016, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1260 "2016-06-13T23:38:44Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > No, it’s not like a woman who is a rape victim being a judge – it’s like saying a woman couldn’t be unbiased as a judge for a rape case _because she’s a woman_. He didn’t say that Curiel couldn’t judge this case because of some experience he’s had, but because of his innate ethnic heritage. > > Do you see the difference? Rape victim is an experience (and I’d certainly quibble that such a woman couldn’t be unbiased, but that’s different than saying that because she’s a woman she couldn’t be unbiased); Mexican heritage is not an experience, but an innate part of who the person is and has been since birth. Seriously. The only way this would be comparable to a rape-victim judge presiding over a rape case would be if Judge Curiel had paid a boatload of money to attend Trump University. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=62) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=64)