# Donald Trump's big Obama announcement **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 24, 2012, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-big-obama-announcement/638686 "2012-10-24T01:41:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![AlohaBear32](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47774/32.png) [@AlohaBear32](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlohaBear32)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-big-obama-announcement/638686/121 "2012-10-24T20:04:55Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Somebody invented something five years ago that could retroactively turn him white? And…boom goes the dynamite 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-big-obama-announcement/638686/122 "2012-10-24T20:09:02Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > Really? I’ve found his claims of earth-shattering election game-changing news underwhelming every time he digs up the same shit over and over. > > It’s ALWAYS the birther crap with him. There wasn’t a chance in hell it was anything different. I thought it was hilarious that people were suggesting stuff like cocaine dealing or divorce papers. Trump WISHES he was that creative. I just didn’t think he could get under the low bar I had set for him. I thought it would be _something_, even if something ridiculously stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-big-obama-announcement/638686/123 "2012-10-24T20:09:38Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > I’d like to point out that just recently the Republican party considered this very same Donald Trump as a serious contender for their nomination for POTUS. Yes, cooler heads prevailed, which gives me hope, but still, nobody saw the crazy a couple of months ago? Don’t you recall the other candidates? Michele Bachman, Rick Santorum… Trump wasn’t crazy _enough_. I even recall one candidate who was the bishop in some cult that baptized dead people of other faiths and thinks God was born a human on the planet Kobol! Whatever happened to that guy… ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-big-obama-announcement/638686/124 "2012-10-24T20:11:34Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Is it just me, or is The Onion actually becoming the best news organization in America? Becoming? > [@jsgoddess](#): > > I wouldn’t be surprised if he had intended to talk about something like the divorce rumors but decided (or got leaned on) that it would backfire and benefit Obama. That is my guess, because, even by The Donald’s standards(?), this is ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-big-obama-announcement/638686/125 "2012-10-24T20:11:42Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > I’d like to point out that just recently the Republican party considered this very same Donald Trump as a serious contender for their nomination for POTUS. Yes, cooler heads prevailed, which gives me hope, but still, nobody saw the crazy a couple of months ago? Of course people saw the crazy. Trump was never a ‘serious contender’. He didn’t even make it as far as Herman Cain in the process. Trump has a big mouth, a big wallet, and therefore he’s somewhat of a useful idiot as long as you don’t get too much of his crazy spoor on you while you use what he can offer. What he was for a while, was something of a ‘kingmaker’, albeit self-appointed. For some reason, various candidates felt like they should have a public meeting with him. I don’t know why they did that. Publicity? Because he promised campaign funds? Or because they were scared of what the loudmouth would do if they snubbed him? Whatever the reason, I can assure you that very few people on either the left or the right take Trump all that seriously, other than perhaps as a money man. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-big-obama-announcement/638686/126 "2012-10-24T20:17:34Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > I’d like to point out that just recently the Republican party considered this very same Donald Trump as a serious contender for their nomination for POTUS. Yes, cooler heads prevailed, which gives me hope, but still, nobody saw the crazy a couple of months ago? The crazy is not a bug, it’s a feature. As is the ability to say stupid stuff about rape. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-big-obama-announcement/638686/127 "2012-10-24T20:41:29Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’m actually on Obama’s side on this issue. I’m convinced his records are in good order. He can make this issue go away so easily. > > Is it intrusive? Yes. Welcome to the Information Age. Modern politicians are expected to release more and more private information. Don’t like it? Stay the heck out of politics. It’s only going to get worse. The public wants information. The more transparent a candidate is the better. But he can’t make it go away. As other posters have said, Trump is the sole judge of “completeness”. Missed Obama’s 1st grade second semester score - no money! Why should the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES do anything for a rich attention whore? Other than for campaign contributions like the rest of the polititions, but I digress. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-big-obama-announcement/638686/128 "2012-10-24T20:47:02Z")
Trump has got to be one of the largest pieces of self-absorbed dog shit on the planet. He has about as much class as all that Jersey-modern glitz he surrounds himself with. He imagines himself a kingmaker, and isn’t happy unless somebody is paying attention to him. At this point in his life, NOBODY wants his endoresement unless they have a political death wish. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-big-obama-announcement/638686/129 "2012-10-24T20:55:29Z")
Obama should do it, then demand that all the money go to the soup kitchen that Paul Ryan screwed over. ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-big-obama-announcement/638686/130 "2012-10-24T21:13:25Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > The big reveal? [Trump will donate $5 million to a charity](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgOq9pBkY0I&feature=youtu.be&hd=1)of the President’s choice if he releases college records, passport application, etc. > > Wow is that incredibly weak. A good bet is that some liberal millionaire will match the gift if he _doesn’t_ release anything. Do people really keep copies of a passport application? I remember going to the Cook County offices to get a certified copy of my birth certificate, but if I kept anything beyond that it is long gone. Ditto for any college records. I’m sure my diplomas are around here somewhere, but I’d have to look. Anything else is gone. Of course if I needed a transcript or something I guess maybe the university could provide me one for a fee. But I’d be a bit surprised if after all these years (I first got a passport more than 20 years ago) the State Department still had a copy of my application. And I’m pretty sure the University of Illinois wouldn’t be able to provide a copy of my application either. So maybe Trump thinks this is a no-lose proposition. Even if in some alternate universe Obama wanted to provide the documents, he might not be able to. And no matter why he doesn’t provide the docs, Trump will proclaim that his failure to provide them means he must be hiding something. Speaking of hiding something, maybe a liberal multi-millionaire will pledge $5 million to charity if Romney releases his 2000 to 2009 tax returns. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-big-obama-announcement/638686/131 "2012-10-24T21:44:30Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > Obama should do it, then demand that all the money go to the soup kitchen that Paul Ryan screwed over. Or Planned Parenthood. The best thing Obama can do (and as far as I know, what he seems to be doing) is ignore it. I’m a little gratified that other news outlets seem to be taking the same tack. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-big-obama-announcement/638686/132 "2012-10-24T22:56:10Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > It’s not like the public at large is clamoring for Obama’s grades. A few Republicans are demanding he release them to disprove their opinion that he benefited in some way - admission to Harvard or honors there - because of affirmative action. He graduated with honors, and even if his grades are outstanding, they’re likely to stick to their guns. Since this is costing him no votes and the few people who say they care won’t be convinced by the evidence anyway, there’s no point in playing this game. And I am not one to care about this kind of thing, but I have to agree that responding to something like this is beneath Obama’s office. It’d look really undignified for the president to start releasing records on a dare. Yeah, this is total nonsense and Obama should just ignore it. The “conspiracy theory” I heard from some RW nuts is not so much what his grades were, but the classes he took. Mainly as an undergrad. You, know, like “Marxist Ideology 101” or something. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-big-obama-announcement/638686/133 "2012-10-24T23:54:18Z")
In other news, Donald Trump was fired today as the manager for Trump Place. The condominium board replaced his firm with a different luxury apartment management service. The VP of the board said they’d been unhappy with Trump’s management team for a while so they looked at other services. Presumably they want a team that’s actually interested in real estate management, not a game show host. > **[Trump Place FIRES Trump](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-donald-fired-from-trump-tower-no-longer-manger-new-york-high-rise_n_2006368?utm_hp_ref=business)** > > Trump Place FIRES Trump ---
**Author:** ![Algorithm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/algorithm/32/12204_2.png) [@Algorithm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algorithm)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-big-obama-announcement/638686/134 "2012-10-24T23:57:39Z")
We’ve been going over this bullshit for more than 4 years now. No amount of information or documentation will ever be sufficient to satisfy the birthers - they claim the documents that have been released are forgeries, while simultaneously demanding release of other, unrelated personal information. Not a chance in hell does that check get written or delivered no matter what Obama releases. Trump would complain it’s incomplete, or double down on some further demand, saying it was never really about the applications/transcripts/dental records but it’s instead about the president’s body fat percentage or penis girth. And when Obama wisely chooses not to acquiesce to the demands of an egomaniac, the bluster about “non transparency” will resume. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-big-obama-announcement/638686/135 "2012-10-25T00:56:10Z")
Geez, ratings must be down. This is so damn lame. BUT OTOH as a previous poster pointed out it \*\*did \*\*get a lot of people here talking about worst case scenarios for much of the morning, so now there will be a larger number of Google Search results about those subjects… The POTUS is under no compunction to pay any damn attention to Trump. Not President Obama, not President Romney, not President Lex Luthor (though HE would know how to shut Donald up for good…). Nothing will ever satisfy the accursed birthers -\*\*\* nothing\*\*\*. EVERY document will be declared a forgery. EVERY record that has been discarded because the law says “retain for 10 years then dispose of at will” will be said to be deliberately hidden. EVERY achievement in Obama’s resumé or transcript will be decreed to be an affirmative action handout or otherwise suspect. Why bother. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-big-obama-announcement/638686/136 "2012-10-25T01:44:35Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Don’t you recall the other candidates? Michele Bachman, Rick Santorum… Trump wasn’t crazy _enough_. > > I even recall one candidate who was the bishop in some cult that baptized dead people of other faiths and thinks God was born a human on the planet Kobol! Whatever happened to that guy… Even more amazing, there was a guy running for the Republican nomination who all the voters agreed was more liberal than anyone (including of course Obama), who had the same first and last names as the guy they eventually picked to save the world for conservatism. Willard something? ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-big-obama-announcement/638686/137 "2012-10-25T02:05:54Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > You think it’s embarrassing to support giving 5 million to charity? Can you imagine the good that money can do for homeless shelters and food programs? Are… you… serious? The embarassment is all Trump’s. He has $5 million (ALLEGEDLY) to bet Obama… so he has the means to help homeless shelters and food programs and he’s not doing it, over a fucking bet? I don’t think this playing out the way you (or Trump) intended it to. > [@](#): > > I’m actually on Obama’s side on this issue. I’m convinced his records are in good order. He can make this issue go away so easily. No, you’re not. If you were convinced, you don’t need “proof.” Mitt Romney is an American citizen, married to Ann Romney, graduate of BYU and Harvard Business School. I am convinced of all these things. I do not need to see evidence of these things. There’s no fucking precedent for any political figure to release birth certificates, college transcripts, and the like. Can you stop acting like this is normal run-of-the-mill political gamesmanship? Especially when Romney has actually bucked the long-running trend of sharing tax records that his g\*ddamn dad started? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-big-obama-announcement/638686/138 "2012-10-25T02:06:47Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > EVERY achievement in Obama’s resumé or transcript will be decreed to be an affirmative action handout or otherwise suspect. Why bother. Yeah, I imagine that if his grades were shown to be quite high, they’d demand all of his test scores and term papers to make sure it wasn’t scored artificially high due to Affirmative Action. And even if they are quite good papers (and of course it’s partly subjective so they would never agree to that,) then they’d drop the AA line and wonder if he had help cheating on the tests and if he really wrote the papers. ---
**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:** [October 25, 2012, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-big-obama-announcement/638686/139 "2012-10-25T03:01:06Z")
Even if Trump were acting in good faith (which I doubt he is), it is below the dignity of the office of the President to acquiesce to the whims of a self-important reality show host who holds no public office. ---
**Author:** ![panaccione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@panaccione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panaccione)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-big-obama-announcement/638686/140 "2012-10-25T03:03:24Z")
like, you’ve gotta be kidding me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-big-obama-announcement/638686.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-big-obama-announcement/638686.md?page=8)