So I’ve been looking at the news today about The Donald (nobody calls him that anymore), and I notice that he’s being roundly criticized by damned near everyone on account of his recent outbursts about Muslims. The Republican establishment doesn’t like what he’s saying, and would certainly like him out of the way so that canonization of an acceptable candidate can take place. His opponents among the other candidates have stopped imitating him and trying to out-do him, and are taking him to task. The folks on the Left have never liked him, except as a possible front-runner they;'re sure that Hillary could beat (but I suspect many are terrified that he might actually win). Aside from his rabid followers with “Trump – Make America Great Again” posters on their front lawn, no one seems to like the guy. He’s like the victim in the opening chapters of an Agatha Christie novel – if he were killed, you couldn’t point the finger at any one suspect, because so many people have motives.
There’s precedent for assassination attempts on presidential candidates. They tried to kill Teddy Roosevelt when he ran as a candidate in his Progressive (Bull Moose) party. There was an aborted attempt on John F. Kennedy when he was still running. Trump is getting Secret Service protection, but that just makes it harder, not impossible. Some people would view it as a challenge.
I could see some worried Democrat or some fed-up Republican official wanting to Rid Us of this Troublesome Blowhard. It would be like Howard Beale* in reverse – he wouldn’t be the first man shot because he got Low Ratings, but because they were high.
Whaddaya think?
I was thinking that I wouldn’t be surprised if someone took a shot at him for any number of reasons. But I wouldn’t expect it from within either party - more likely, it would be someone from one of the many groups he’s gone out of his way to offend.
He’s offended a lot of people, but I think the ones with the most to lost are the GOP themselves. If anyone would take aim, it would be one of those open carry guys who love Trump, but love their healthcare more.
Given the title and comments, it wouldn’t surprise me if this thread popped up on SS/Homeland Security systems…think about that, all y’all. :eek:
That said, any political figure is subject to threats, but given that President Obama is completing nearly seven years in office and not a single shot being taken at him, I think that either security has vastly improved over time or people just don’t bother shooting politicians all than much anymore.
I think by posting this thread that you almost certainly gained the attention of some government software, if not an actual government employee. I think, by participating in the thread, I have too.
Whattsamatta, you don’t like attention?
We’re certainly not advocating any action, by statement or implication. I just couldn’t help noticing how Trump seems to be beset on all sides now.
After the software gets done scanning our respective posting histories, I’m sure we’ll be on nothing worse than a “people of possible interest” list and won’t receive further attention unless something actually happens to Trump.
Everyone seems to hate him… except for thirtysomething percent of the Republican primary electorate. Something weird is certainly going on here, but I can’t pretend I have any idea what.
We might finally get that race war the white supremacists have wanted for so long. A bunch of previously quiet, law abiding citizens turning violently on their neighbors, with the encouragement of political leaders and media figures. That sounds familiar. In Rwanda, the military had to gear up for the genocide over the course of a few months by providing the populace with machetes and training. We can skip that step. We all have guns already. When Rush Limbaugh starts barking out “do your work” and “cut the tall trees”, our well-regulated militias will be ready to answer the call.
Nah, you’re not implying anything. :rolleyes: I believe your error is assuming that Trump is actually being roundly criticized by damned near everyone.
Who told you that? The media outlets? The media outlets seem to be pretty busy trying to influence the outcome of the upcoming elections. The polls still indicate that Trump has plenty of supporters. I guess “everyone” doesn’t include Trump supporters???
This. If some nutball did shoot him, the conspiracy theories would fly thick and fast. The political effects would be similar to the use of blatant dirty tricks to sabotage his campaign, only worse.
His supporters appear to be (depending on the poll) something like 1/3 of “likely Republican voters”, or the like. I’ll note that those are in polls taken before the past 72 hours, though, frankly, the folks who have stayed on the Trump bandwagon until now aren’t likely to jump off based on this news. It doesn’t appear that he’s gaining many supporters over the past months, but each new outrageous pronouncement fires up his current base even more.
He may have “plenty of supporters” in the absolute (i.e., in the millions), but they are almost undoubtedly in the serious minority as a proportion of the total U.S. population.
We haven’t assassinated people for saying outrageous things, we just haven’t nominated them. If somehow he wins the nomination, he’ll be fine. The Secret Service does a good job despite some noted incidents.
If you’re not seei8ng the newspaper headlines over the past two days, then go out and look. He’s being criticized heavily by the other candidates, GOP leaders, and Democratic leaders.
The New York daily News isn’t exactly a bastion of liberals:
New York’s de Blasio has come out against his pronouncements:
Jeb Bush called him “unhinged”, Kasich called him “unsuited for the presidency” and “divisive”. Ted Cruz won’t criticize him outright (although he claims “everybody is tellin g him to” but disagrees with his plan
His brother Bobby was killed while campaigning in 1968, of course, and George Wallace was wounded and crippled but not killed while campaigning four years later.
Which is why a Trump-led conspiracy would make the most sense.
Donald gets a trusted ally to assassinate him, leaving a trail of contrived evidence in order to arrive at some crazy endpoint. Years later it is discovered that the dead Trump was a body double/clone and the real Trump is living in a castle high in the mountains working on a hair restoration serum.