# How is trump still a viable candidate for president? Really, how? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [May 12, 2023, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949 "2023-05-12T14:28:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 23
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/444 "2023-08-18T01:57:17Z")
Help him in his campaign to win the Republican nomination, the article says. Whether it’ll help him in the general election is much iffier. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/445 "2023-08-18T02:28:54Z")
I saw some bad numbers for Trump today at the Lidl. Multi-grain bread $1.79. Dozen large eggs $1.02. These are big price drops. And neither was a promotional price. ---
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/446 "2023-08-18T13:03:11Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > using the word “conservative” where the word “reactionary” applies. I spell that word “racist.” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/447 "2023-08-18T21:45:34Z")
That too. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/448 "2023-08-18T23:22:25Z")
Big surprise. Trump says he is skipping debate to do soft Carlson interview instead. He is probably right the debate will not help him. No doubt the party has become used to such things, but it doesn’t make anyone look great. Is he talking about his (BEST EVER) Record or RECORD? **(See below for link. Excerpt:)** _Former President Donald J. Trump plans to upstage the first Republican primary debate on Wednesday by sitting for an online interview with the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, according to multiple people briefed on the matter._ _In the past 24 hours, Mr. Trump has told people close to him that he has made up his mind and will skip the debate in Milwaukee, according to two of the people briefed on the matter._ _Mr. Trump is notoriously mercurial, and left himself something of an out to change his mind with an ambiguous post on his website, Truth Social, on Thursday. He wrote that he’s polling well ahead of his rivals and added, “Reagan didn’t do it, and neither did others. People know my Record, one of the BEST EVER, so why would I Debate?”_ [https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/18/us/politics/trump-debate-tucker-carlson.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/18/us/politics/trump-debate-tucker-carlson.html) ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/449 "2023-08-18T23:29:44Z")
He won’t debate a bunch of people who are afraid to hit him (excepting Christie) because they are all running to be his VP choice. The Republican party is a fucking joke. I mean, this isn’t what put them there, but facts is facts. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/450 "2023-08-18T23:30:15Z")
So Loser Carlson will be interviewing Loser Trump on some Loser channel that isn’t Faux. Snore. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/451 "2023-08-19T00:10:40Z")
Here’s another answer, out today at Politico, to the thread title question: [‘Pathetic’: Voters of color slam Biden’s performance on the economy](https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/18/bidens-reelection-economy-voters-of-color-00111730) > [@](#): > > There’s mounting evidence the rosy outlook Biden is promoting is not resonating with the American public. A survey from [Quinnipiac University on Wednesday](https://poll.qu.edu/images/polling/us/us08162023_usos65.pdf) found nearly six in ten Americans — 58 percent — disapprove of his handling of the economy. Biden is above water with Black voters on the economy, but 35 percent of Black voters still say they disapprove — a far cry from how he performed with this group in 2020. His marks with Hispanic voters are even worse, with 50 percent disapproving of his handling of the economy. I am not endorsing what the focus groupers said, either about the current U.S. economy, or whether it has anything to do with how Joe Biden does his job. And I’m not convinced my link is correct to see this Biden weakness as particularly connected with minorities. But I think the fact that a lot of voters perceive bad Biden economic performance goes a good way towards explaining why Trump is, today, a viable candidate for president. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/452 "2023-08-19T00:16:11Z")
Especially when you consider how well those Black voters were doing under the Trump administration, versus how they’re doing under the Biden administration! ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/453 "2023-08-19T03:50:29Z")
You’re being sarcastic, right? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/454 "2023-08-19T08:34:06Z")
Certainly. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/455 "2023-08-19T14:38:45Z")
> **[The Constitution Prohibits Trump From Ever Being President Again](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/08/donald-trump-constitutionally-prohibited-presidency/675048/)** > > The only question is whether American citizens today can uphold that commitment. He isn’t a viable candidate and it is up to election officials to keep him off the ballot. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/456 "2023-08-19T14:56:54Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Especially when you consider how well those Black voters were doing under the Trump administration, versus how they’re doing under the Biden administration! It’s not just those Black voters. It’s Democrats in general. Democrats seem a lot more likely than Republican to have short memories and to blame their elected leaders for things that aren’t their fault. We’d have to go back to 1992, and 1960 before that, to find examples of Republicans doing what Democrats did in 1994, 2000, 2010, and 2016. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/457 "2023-08-19T15:03:18Z")
I don’t think the way to move past an unhealthily populist candidate is to have officials, knowing better than the people, remove him from the ballot. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/458 "2023-08-19T15:07:23Z")
He disqualified and removed himself by his own actions. Also, the people did vote him out. They chose someone else. Why should we have to do it again? ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/459 "2023-08-19T15:59:41Z")
> [@rocking\_chair](#): > > Why should we have to do it again? Because he’s a big girly-man loser who can’t admit he lost and his followers think he walks on water. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/460 "2023-08-19T16:59:09Z")
Because, apparently, we do: tens of millions of people still support this lunatic. I’d rather have him keep losing elections than take him off the ballot through a technicality. I’m trying to think beyond Trump. Father Time will take care of him. What I _don’t_ want is to establish a precedent where candidates we don’t like get removed from the ballot, because there’s a certain major political party that will take advantage of that. I also don’t want to give his insane followers an excuse to remember how well-armed they are. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/461 "2023-08-19T17:15:54Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > I also don’t want to give his insane followers an excuse to remember how well-armed they are. Why not set up a spot where people can easily be gunned down, and patiently explain that anyone who’s both well-armed and looking for a fight could sure go there and start breaking laws — and then, with a shrug, gun down folks who show up and accept? ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/462 "2023-08-19T17:24:32Z")
Is there a collective general name for Trump supporters? I’m thinking something equivalent to _juggalos_ for fans of Insane Clown Posse or “dittoheads” for Limbaugh… ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/463 "2023-08-19T17:24:57Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > What I _don’t_ want is to establish a precedent where candidates we don’t like get removed from the ballot, because there’s a certain major political party that will take advantage of that. You’re a couple of hundred years too late. The Constitution already has conditions where a candidate is made ineligible to run. And that has already been weaponized, or have you forgotten the Birther Movement? (Pushed by Trump himself, ironically.) Your fears are groundless. It’s unreasonable to worry about enforcing the rules in the Constitution because they might be misused, that already happens. Trump isn’t a special person who needs to be handled with kid gloves, don’t treat him as if he is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949.md?page=22) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949.md?page=24)