# The Trump Campaign Promise Walk-Back Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 12, 2016, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-campaign-promise-walk-back-thread/771556 "2016-11-12T00:14:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-campaign-promise-walk-back-thread/771556/181 "2016-11-21T21:20:39Z")
> [@](#): > > Oy vey! Oh, OK. One time. Give you the benefit of the doubt, assume you’re sincere. Seem to be an irritable sort of fellow, so maybe… Its a commonplace of human interaction, the more strenuously someone says something, the more they believe it. Or the more they want to convince us that they do. For our purposes, six of one… Now, take the rap that Trump supported the Iraq War. Boiled down, its an offhand remark he made on the Howard Stern show, asked if he supported it, was, “Yeah, sure”. One can fairly say that he didn’t say no, hell no. But he didn’t say “Yahoo! Bomb them rag-heads, kill for peace!”. That was “Yeah, sure, I guess” not “Yes, Hell yes and right now!” So, he “supported”, sorta kinda. Any more than that is an exaggeration. Me, I call that fair. Now, when Trump says he’s gonna jump on something right away, first day in office…is it not reasonable to assume that this is intentional hyperbole? Not _dishonest_ hyperbole, but emphasis intended to _underscore_ the _intensity_ of his conviction! Not, I will do this, but I **WILL** do this! Now, is this won’t get it for you, hoss, we are just flat out at the end of the road. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-campaign-promise-walk-back-thread/771556/182 "2016-11-22T03:50:49Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Get out of here with that fair-minded crap. I choose to think that Trump settled because he’s guilty as sin and was willing to write a check to make it go away… I think that is by far the most probable thing. But I just don’t think it’s a certainty. ---
**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:** [November 22, 2016, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-campaign-promise-walk-back-thread/771556/183 "2016-11-22T13:56:38Z")
[“Lock her up! Lock her up!” changes to “No, I lied! No, I lied!”](http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/22/politics/conway-no-clinton-charges-donald-trump/index.html) ---
**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:** [November 22, 2016, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-campaign-promise-walk-back-thread/771556/184 "2016-11-22T14:09:08Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > [“Lock her up! Lock her up!” changes to “No, I lied! No, I lied!”](http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/22/politics/conway-no-clinton-charges-donald-trump/index.html) [Conway: Trump wants to help Hillary Clinton ‘heal’](http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/conway-trump-wants-to-help-hillary-clinton-heal/article/2607982) > [@](#): > > President-elect Trump’s campaign manager Kellyanne Conway indicated Tuesday that Trump will not try to prosecute Hillary Clinton once he takes office in January, in an effort to help Clinton “heal.” I tend to think he meant ‘heel’. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-campaign-promise-walk-back-thread/771556/185 "2016-11-22T14:13:29Z")
So Trump released a video yesterday outlining his priorities for the first 100 days in office. Things like pulling out of TPP, expanding energy production by loosening restrictions, and “taking a hard look” at the visa program. What did he not mention as priorities for his first 100 days? Building a wall. Repealing Obamacare. Prosecuting Hillary Clinton (which Kellyann Conway has now said there are no plans for). Hope Trump voters weren’t expecting those! I’m shocked, shocked! that we can’t count on him to keep his word. He’s so _honest_ and _says what he thinks_. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-campaign-promise-walk-back-thread/771556/186 "2016-11-22T14:19:16Z")
I’m sure every participant in this thread knows that every Presidential candidate, once elected, breaks campaign promises. [Politifact](http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/rulings/promise-broken/) has 7 pages - well over 100 - promises that Mr. Obama broke. That listing does not even include the category “Compromised”, just straight out “Broken”. I’m not trashing Obama nor elevating Trump, just inserting some facts into the rantfest. It’s what I do. ---
**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:** [November 22, 2016, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-campaign-promise-walk-back-thread/771556/187 "2016-11-22T14:58:53Z")
True, but it now can be argued that Trump ran for the Presidency [so he could pardon himself for all his crimes](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-foundation-apparently-admits-to-violating-ban-on-self-dealing-new-filing-to-irs-shows/2016/11/22/893f6508-b0a9-11e6-8616-52b15787add0_story.html?pushid=breaking-news_1479829695&tid=notifi_push_breaking-news). 🙂 ---
**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:** [November 22, 2016, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-campaign-promise-walk-back-thread/771556/188 "2016-11-22T15:06:07Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > True, but it now can be argued that Trump ran for the Presidency [so he could pardon himself for all his crimes](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-foundation-apparently-admits-to-violating-ban-on-self-dealing-new-filing-to-irs-shows/2016/11/22/893f6508-b0a9-11e6-8616-52b15787add0_story.html?pushid=breaking-news_1479829695&tid=notifi_push_breaking-news). 🙂 From your article: > [@](#): > > Such violations can carry penalties including excise taxes, and the charity leaders can be required to repay money that the charity spent on their behalf. Scary stuff. Break out the pardon paperwork. :rolleyes: ---
**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:** [November 22, 2016, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-campaign-promise-walk-back-thread/771556/189 "2016-11-22T15:14:58Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > [“Lock her up! Lock her up!” changes to “No, I lied! No, I lied!”](http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/22/politics/conway-no-clinton-charges-donald-trump/index.html) From the link: > [@](#): > > “I’m going to think about it,” he told “60 Minutes.” “I feel I want to focus on jobs. I want to focus on healthcare, I want to focus on the border and immigration and doing a really great immigration bill. And I want to focus on – all of these other things that we’ve been talking about.” He told the program she “did some bad things” but added the Clintons are “good people.” > And Trump told the Wall Street Journal that “ **it’s not something I’ve given a lot of thought** , because I want to solve health care, jobs, border control, tax reform.” And people say Mr. Trump doesn’t act presidential! Harumpf![ > [@President George W. Bush](#): > > Who knows if he’s hiding in some cave or not. We haven’t heard from him in a long time. The idea of focusing on one person really indicates to me people don’t understand the scope of the mission. Terror is bigger than one person. He’s just a person who’s been marginalized. … I don’t know where he is. I really just don’t spend that much time on him, to be honest with you. ]([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PGmnz5Ow-o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PGmnz5Ow-o)) ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-campaign-promise-walk-back-thread/771556/190 "2016-11-22T15:49:01Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > I’m not trashing Obama nor elevating Trump, just inserting some facts into the rantfest. It’s what I do. Right, because no Doper had ever considered the possibility that any politician except Trump might break a campaign promise. :rolleyes: ISTM that there might be at least three types of “campaign promises” that Trump will break: 1. Straightforward “I said I will take this action, and then I do something different” things. That would include campaigning that he will lock up Clinton (or at least appoint a special prosecutor), then failing to do so once he has the authority to follow through. 2. Attempts to do what was promised that fail, due to stupidity, bad luck, or a combination. This would include things like taking steps genuinely intended to increase jobs or reduce the deficit, that fail simply because they were bad ideas and/or because fate had other plans. 3. Things that are asides, like the Trump University suit. I’m with **CarnalK** on that one. Yeah, Trump blustered about how he’d never settle, and then he settled. Okay sure, we can read all sorts of unflattering interpretations into that, but the fact is, it wasn’t a promise to the American people along the lines of, “I won’t settle the Trump U case because to do so would be bad for the American people!” No, from a public policy perspective, the only thing that matters now about that case is whether it sucks time and energy away from Trump being a good president. If settling is a better choice because it frees up Trump to concentrate on other things, so be it. Personally I think he is guilty as hell, but moving on to larger issues of national importance is indeed the correct thing to do right now. I have little doubt but what we’ll eventually have a long list of yyuugge Trump failures to fulfill campaign promises, in all three categories. Of course, as **Doctor Jackson** reminds us, we know that other politicians have lists too, but true to the Trump persona, I am sure _his_ list will be the most bigly. ---
**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:** [November 22, 2016, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-campaign-promise-walk-back-thread/771556/191 "2016-11-22T15:57:37Z")
Well he did make some splashy campaign promises so it stands to reason some of his walk backs/failures will be more stark compared to many former presidents. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-campaign-promise-walk-back-thread/771556/192 "2016-11-22T16:12:23Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Well he did make some splashy campaign promises so it stands to reason some of his walk backs/failures will be more stark compared to many former presidents. Nice! I like “splashy.” To some of us, it probably means “lied through his teeth,” while to others, it probably means “cut through the BS and told it like it is.” Either way, it works. ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-campaign-promise-walk-back-thread/771556/193 "2016-11-23T06:23:14Z")
I want to hold him to every single campaign promise he made for as long as he manages to hang onto the office. I want to see footage of him talking about the wall on a constant loop for the next two years. I want Hillary Clinton to tell a reporter at least once a week that she’s “looking forward to [her] day in court,” taunting him to appoint that prosecutor. And I will actually be disappointed if I don’t get the chance to register as a Muslim in his database of bad people. Is that wrong? ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-campaign-promise-walk-back-thread/771556/194 "2016-11-23T13:56:52Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Right, because no Doper had ever considered the possibility that any politician except Trump might break a campaign promise. :rolleyes: Not sure what the rolleyes is for, since I specifically said “every participant in this thread knows that every Presidential candidate, once elected, breaks campaign promises.” The whole gist of this thread is “TRUMP LIED!!!”. There has been precious little mention of any other President breaking campaign promises, and no citations of such. I provided those for context. But if you don’t want reality intruding in the bitch session, please continue with the snark. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-campaign-promise-walk-back-thread/771556/195 "2016-11-23T14:01:34Z")
Trump isn’t a typical politician. He’s worse. He’s gone way beyond breaking campaign promises and is now just remaking himself as a totally different President than how he campaigned. On the good side, he’s remaking himself for the better, but this is not a good way to combat cynicism and make people hopeful. He basically is keeping the one promise that counts: to run as a Republican becuase Republican voters are morons. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-campaign-promise-walk-back-thread/771556/196 "2016-11-23T14:23:57Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > But if you don’t want reality intruding in the bitch session, please continue with the snark. Sorry, should have said “context” instead of “reality”. In reality Trump will break campaign promises. In context, every President does. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-campaign-promise-walk-back-thread/771556/197 "2016-11-23T14:58:27Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > The whole gist of this thread is “TRUMP LIED!!!”. There has been precious little mention of any other President breaking campaign promises, and no citations of such. I provided those for context. I believe the whole gist of the thread is “Let’s catalogue the ways in which Trump lied”, which is to say that your citations of other presidents, and their behavior, is irrelevant. ---
**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:** [November 23, 2016, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-campaign-promise-walk-back-thread/771556/198 "2016-11-23T15:03:28Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > Sorry, should have said “context” instead of “reality”. In reality Trump will break campaign promises. In context, every President does. Most of them wait until after taking office and make an effort to follow through on their promises. I can’t think of one who tries to break _every_ promise before the inauguration. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-campaign-promise-walk-back-thread/771556/199 "2016-11-23T21:38:50Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > I believe the whole gist of the thread is “Let’s catalogue the ways in which Trump lied”, which is to say that your citations of other presidents, and their behavior, is irrelevant. And to do so out of context is little more than living in the same bubble that cost HRC the election, but ramble on. > [@running\_coach](#): > > Most of them wait until after taking office and make an effort to follow through on their promises. > > I can’t think of one who tries to break _every_ promise before the inauguration. If you’re interested in actual history, campaign walk backs generally start the day after the opponent’s concession speech - either by the candidate, the party or both. Like it or not, what it takes to win a presidential election in the USofA and what it takes to govern a country are wo different things. But I’ll exit this thread, as emotions are still seem too raw for real discussion. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2016, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-campaign-promise-walk-back-thread/771556/200 "2016-11-24T02:51:55Z")
1. When was the last time he mentioned Building The Wall? 2. When was the last time he mentioned deporting millions of illegal immigrants? 3. When was the last time he mentioned blocking Muslims from entering the country? He seems to have flipped on a number of issues; I’m trying to figure out who is actually in charge and forcing him to be a grown up. I suspect that this might end in a shouting match; so, Mods move it as needed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-campaign-promise-walk-back-thread/771556.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-campaign-promise-walk-back-thread/771556.md?page=11)