# 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:** 84
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1661 "2016-06-21T16:33:59Z")
According to his FEC filing, [Trump’s campaign paid $30,000 for “web advertising” to a company called “Draper Sterling”](http://www.mediaite.com/election-2016/donald-trump-campaign-appears-to-be-paying-a-fictional-ad-agency/) - i.e., the fictional company from _Mad Men_. Not only does there appear to be no registered company by that name, the street address provided for it is [a two-story house in suburban New Hampshire.](https://www.google.com/maps/@42.8494604,-71.3666964,3a,64.7y,40.32h,83.44t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sf-IpjCyAYl_WloVG1enzrw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656) Either someone in Trump’s campaign is stealing from him, or Trump is using the campaign to pay off someone he doesn’t want people to know he has a business relationship with. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1662 "2016-06-21T16:35:14Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > Who? > > Here are all the republicans I could find at [HuffPost Pollster](http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/pollster) with measured favorability. Joe Biden? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1663 "2016-06-21T16:35:46Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > “This very serious threat came, a very serious threat, the most serious threat. The Secret Service said it was the biggest threat any candidate had ever received. I said it doesn’t matter how serious the threat, look, I’m not going to be scared, but it wasn’t a threat against me, it was against my beautiful wife, my beautiful wife who is the most beautiful and would be the most beautiful First Lady in the world she’s so beautiful, and this threat was the biggest threat against her…” > > Not saying “everyone would buy” that, but some would. And she probably does receive horrific threats. Substitute daughter for wife, and you have [Ross Perot, all over again.](http://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/26/us/1992-campaign-overview-perot-says-he-quit-july-thwart-gop-dirty-tricks.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm) ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1664 "2016-06-21T16:40:01Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Either someone in Trump’s campaign is stealing from him, or Trump is using the campaign to pay off someone he doesn’t want people to know he has a business relationship with. Your cite suggests it’s Corey Lewandowski. ---
**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 21, 2016, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1665 "2016-06-21T16:40:55Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > According to his FEC filing, [Trump’s campaign paid $30,000 for “web advertising” to a company called “Draper Sterling”](http://www.mediaite.com/election-2016/donald-trump-campaign-appears-to-be-paying-a-fictional-ad-agency/) - i.e., the fictional company from _Mad Men_. > > Not only does there appear to be no registered company by that name, the street address provided for it is [a two-story house in suburban New Hampshire.](https://www.google.com/maps/@42.8494604,-71.3666964,3a,64.7y,40.32h,83.44t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sf-IpjCyAYl_WloVG1enzrw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656) > > Either someone in Trump’s campaign is stealing from him, or Trump is using the campaign to pay off someone he doesn’t want people to know he has a business relationship with. The house is in Londonberry, NH, to be exact. The [town right next to Windham, NH](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Londonderry,+NH/@42.8574635,-71.4207123,12z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x89e24d5a8829b229:0xf3dbd3292395a9b9!8m2!3d42.8651298!4d-71.3739272)– where Corey Lewandowski hangs his hat. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1666 "2016-06-21T17:02:05Z")
[It gets weirder](http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/06/21/3790715/weird-story-behind-trump-campaigns-35000-payment-draper-sterling-advertising/). “Draper Sterling” is the subject of an FEC complaint about a potentially illegal payment made to it by a PAC (run by the brother of one of the two men living in the house in Londonderry) that shares its address with a “coffee shop” (the street address of which is a vacant lot) also owned by one of those two men, and when their phone number was called the PAC head answered despite supposedly living in Virginia. This whole thing sounds like a front for some kind of mob activity. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1667 "2016-06-21T17:11:37Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > [This whole thing sounds like a front for some kind of mob activity. Trump is just a humble New York real estate developer. I’m sure he has never had any dealings with organized crime.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1668 "2016-06-21T17:14:06Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > The house is in Londonberry _Don’t you mean Londonderry‽_ Gonna give someone a stroke one of these days… 😉 This might be the first campaign to collapse in a criminal investigation before the election. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1669 "2016-06-21T17:14:16Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Either someone in Trump’s campaign is stealing from him, or Trump is using the campaign to pay off someone he doesn’t want people to know he has a business relationship with. I know everyone likes to question Trump’s intelligence and net worth but using the campaign to pay $30k to someone he doesn’t want people to know about is impossibly stupid. There’s about a zillion other ways that don’t require an FEC filing. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1670 "2016-06-21T17:16:59Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > I know everyone likes to question Trump’s intelligence and net worth but using the campaign to pay $30k to someone he doesn’t want people to know about is impossibly stupid. Right up Trump’s alley, in other words. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1671 "2016-06-21T17:25:39Z")
So first it’s not apparently a registered company, now it’s registered to a guy who has done political work in the past. But oh wait, they’ve had an FEC complaint filed by some economics professor. Maybe we should wait until some real reporters look into it instead of jumping to the conclusions the amateur brigade is leading us? ---
**Author:** ![Pashnish\_Ewing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8797f3/32.png) [@Pashnish\_Ewing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pashnish_Ewing)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1672 "2016-06-21T17:35:52Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > If I recall correctly, his doctor (or at least _a_ doctor willing to write on campaign letterhead) has said that he would, in fact, be the healthiest president ever elected in the history of the United States. Was that Dr. John Barron or was it Dr. John Miller? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1673 "2016-06-21T17:43:57Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Maybe we should wait until some real reporters look into it instead of jumping to the conclusions the amateur brigade is leading us? [Is CBS real enough for you?](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/is-donald-trump-paying-a-fictional-ad-agency/) ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1674 "2016-06-21T17:57:25Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > [Is CBS real enough for you?](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/is-donald-trump-paying-a-fictional-ad-agency/) Not really as that story is basically reporting on the thinkprogress story rather than doing any of their own research. Think I’ll wait before I assume Trump is paying off the mob through his campaign funds. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1675 "2016-06-21T18:02:45Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > [Is CBS real enough for you?](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/is-donald-trump-paying-a-fictional-ad-agency/) Next media outlet to be denied press credentials… ---
**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:** [June 21, 2016, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1676 "2016-06-21T18:05:05Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Not really as that story is basically reporting on the thinkprogress story rather than doing any of their own research. Think I’ll wait before I assume Trump is paying off the mob through his campaign funds. Did you even read the ThinkProgress story? Did you notice the copies of FEC records? Or that a website in question has been taken down? And all that’s left is a password protected page? ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1677 "2016-06-21T18:05:17Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > True, but they also won’t have been attacked by the other side yet. > > It’s almost like replacing one of the fighters in a boxing match in the 9th round. Clinton’s bloodied, with historically awful disapproval ratings. Trump is worse, but what if we pulled him for someone with positive approval ratings with the general electorate? Any potential Republican candidate has been attacked by the other side for a long time. ---
**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 21, 2016, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1678 "2016-06-21T18:10:26Z")
I am not a fan of conspiracy theories, but there are also times in which I just don’t believe in coincidences. Lewandoski fired, then FEC irregularities in his town next door appear just one day later? He got canned for skimming, no doubt about it. Hope he enjoys the court system! ---
**Author:** ![Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disgruntled_Penguin)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2016, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1679 "2016-06-21T18:10:41Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > “You know, I got into this race for one reason: to defend our borders. Our borders need defending, okay? I was talking about this when nobody else was talking about this. It’s why I beat all of those other candidates, and I beat them _bad_. Now, I’d probably beat Hillary – I would _love_ to beat Hillary – but there’s a small, a very small chance that she wins, and then who knows about the borders? And the Republicans, they want me to step aside, they want someone else to run instead. So I say: you know what? I say, if both candidates will pledge to build the wall, to build a _great_ wall, along our border with Mexico; and to stop all immigration by Muslims, I’ll drop out of the race right now.” > > If they go for it, can he declare victory while saying he was right all along? This doesn’t sound like Trump. He says everything three times not twice. ---
**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 21, 2016, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/1680 "2016-06-21T18:15:35Z")
Looks like Trump got his cell phone back and has gone on an epic anti-Hillary rant that’s a thing of beauty. > “Hillary defrauded America as Secy of State. She used it as a personal hedge fund to get herself rich! Corrupt, dangerous, dishonest.” And that’s just the latest. 😃 "I am "the king of debt.“That has been great for me as a businessman, but is bad for the country. I made a fortune off of debt, will fix U.S.” “Hillary Clinton surged the trade deficit with China 40% as Secretary of State, costing Americans millions of jobs.” “How can Hillary run the economy when she can’t even send emails without putting entire nation at risk?” That last one was pretty good and valuable in the “not-insane” part of his strategy, but whew! Keep 'em coming, Donald, we’ve missed you! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=83) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=85)