# Trump's Republican primary campaign **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 3, 2015, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828 "2015-09-03T18:00:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 110
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2185 "2016-03-01T00:47:42Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > I wonder: suppose Trump tones down his rhetoric and moves to the center during the general election, as establishment candidates probably would. Would this still not bother his fervent supporters, or would this be the one thing that DOES bother them because of the reasons they started supporting him to begin with? He could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue, but God forbid he move to the center. Honestly, I think a lot of his supporters would just assume he’s saying what he needs to say to get elected, and continue to support him with a wink, assuming that he’ll build that wall and ban all Muslims, etc., once he’s in office. Trump’s base are in it for the long haul. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2186 "2016-03-01T01:11:47Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Nothing Trump has said about illegal immigrants or Hispanics in general is racist. That’s a fact. No, that’s an opinion, and seemingly a minority one. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2187 "2016-03-01T01:20:43Z")
A couple more videos of the Secret Service guy slamming the reporter down by his neck. The USSS confirms the guy is their agent. > **[Security at Trump Rally Chokes, Slams Photojournalist to Ground](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/security-trump-rally-chokes-slams-photojournalist-ground-n528546)** > > A Donald Trump rally in Virginia on Monday was punctuated by protests and a shockingly violent incident between security and a journalist. The SS guy looks kind of offended and confused when the reporter kicks and grabs him. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2188 "2016-03-01T01:21:52Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > McConnell is preparing for the [worst](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/us/politics/donald-trump-republican-party.html?_r=0), and assuming Trump is the nominee might be willing to just let the presidency go for 2016. His hope would be to not have Trump drag down the Senators who are running in 2016 as well. To do this, he will allow them to basically run negative ads against Trump, and disavow him. . . . TV time costs a lot of money. Why would any candidate running for any office other than the presidency spend it on an anti-Trump ad? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2189 "2016-03-01T01:23:40Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > A couple more videos of the Secret Service guy slamming the reporter down by his neck. The USSS confirms the guy is their agent. > > [Security at Trump Rally Chokes, Slams Photojournalist to Ground](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/security-trump-rally-chokes-slams-photojournalist-ground-n528546) > > The SS guy looks kind of offended and confused when the reporter kicks and grabs him. Well, that explains why the reporter was led away in cuffs. You don’t get to fight back against a LEO, regardless of whether he was in the wrong to touch you in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![emcee2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emcee2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emcee2k)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2190 "2016-03-01T01:55:57Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > I wonder: suppose Trump tones down his rhetoric and moves to the center during the general election, as establishment candidates probably would. Would this still not bother his fervent supporters, or would this be the one thing that DOES bother them because of the reasons they started supporting him to begin with? Well, supposedly Trump supporters love the fact that he tells it like it is, and doesn’t use weaselly double-talk like a politician. And yet here we’re discussing him doing just that, and they have no trouble pulling off the mental gymnastics necessary to be convinced that it actually proves just how much of an “alpha” he is. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2191 "2016-03-01T02:02:57Z")
He’s not even really an immigration hawk and it doesn’t bother them. I actually talked to some Trump supporters Sunday morning at a rally being held in his support in downtown Coral Springs. First off, I’ve never seen a rally in downtown Coral Springs, so that lone was remarkable. But the main thing seems to be that he’ll “Make America Great Again”, and he comes off as a very strong leader. The specifics of his views don’t seem to matter much to his supporters. Under Trump, America will not take crap from anyone, and that’s the attraction for a lot of his supporters. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2192 "2016-03-01T02:25:26Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > He’s not even really an immigration hawk and it doesn’t bother them. He wants to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants. He wants to build a great wall spanning the 1700 mile border. He wants to get rid of birthright citizenship. What more would he have to advocate to be considered an “immigration hawk”? ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2193 "2016-03-01T02:31:15Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > I’m liking her more now. 🆒 > > Arizonan here. Volunteer! ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2194 "2016-03-01T02:33:26Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > He wants to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants. He wants to build a great wall spanning the 1700 mile border. He wants to get rid of birthright citizenship. > > What more would he have to advocate to be considered an “immigration hawk”? What to do with illegals here now and border control is only one part of the issue. He does not actually favor reduced legal immigration, he wants more legal immigration. He also doesn’t mind importing a ton of cheap labor and using it himself. Cruz actually has a much more consistent record. He wants to do most of what Trump wants to do, plus reduce legal immigration and work visas. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2195 "2016-03-01T02:36:29Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Volunteer! Too late for that advice, I reported in another thread 2 days ago that I’m doing that. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2196 "2016-03-01T02:44:33Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > What to do with illegals here now and border control is only one part of the issue. He does not actually favor reduced legal immigration, he wants more legal immigration. He also doesn’t mind importing a ton of cheap labor and using it himself. > > Cruz actually has a much more consistent record. He wants to do most of what Trump wants to do, plus reduce legal immigration and work visas. Nope, in reality Trump is very inconsistent regarding his immigration plans. > **[The horrible contradiction at the heart of Donald Trump's immigration plan](https://www.vox.com/2015/8/16/9162049/trump-deport-citizens)** > > Vox is a general interest news site for the 21st century. Its mission: to help everyone understand our complicated world, so that we can all help shape it. In text, video and audio, our reporters explain politics, policy, world affairs, technology,... > [@](#): > > Donald Trump wants all unauthorized immigrants out of the country. He’s said it before, and he said it again on Sunday to Chuck Todd of Meet the Press: “They have to go.” But Trump also says he doesn’t want to split up unauthorized immigrants from their families. That is a real contradiction: Many of the estimated 11 million unauthorized immigrants in this country have children who are US citizens. > > Todd pressed Trump on this, asking him if his plan required deporting, alongside unauthorized immigrants, the children of those immigrants, even if those children are US citizens. Trump responded, “Chuck. No. No. We’re going to keep the families together, we have to keep the families together. But they have to go.” > [@](#): > > It’s important to stress that Trump has not explicitly called for deporting the children of unauthorized immigrants, even if those children are US citizens, en masse. But that’s the logical conclusion of his plan to deport all unauthorized immigrants while also “keep[ing] the families together.” That’s why Todd asked about it: It’s the only way the pieces of Trump’s plan fit together. > > Trump didn’t say this was his plan, but he wouldn’t quite deny it either. There are several ways to read this. Maybe Trump simply doesn’t understand that this is the inevitable conclusion of his plan. Maybe President Trump would reconcile the contradiction by declining to deport unauthorized immigrants whose children are citizens. Maybe “we’re going to keep the families together” is just a lie, and his plan is to deport unauthorized immigrants without their children. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2197 "2016-03-01T02:57:47Z")
Just looked over the [transcript](http://www.politicususa.com/2016/02/29/transcript-shows-donald-trumps-bad-earpiece-excuse-kkk-support-lie.html) of Trump’s earpiece thing. Despite the headline of that article, I don’t see this as the checkmate others are suggesting. I think he does just enough, and Tapper backs off too early, that it’s conceivably true that this is just a couple questions not clearly heard + being unaware of who david duke is. I’m not saying that’s the case, just that from the transcript it’s conceivable. So this attack may well help him. The racists will see it as a veiled welcome of their support. And the more moderate trump supporters (I’m told they exist) will see it as the media trying so desperately to find a gotcha. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2198 "2016-03-01T03:16:48Z")
Trump has referred to Duke in the past, he certainly knows who he is. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2199 "2016-03-01T03:20:35Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > What to do with illegals here now and border control is only one part of the issue. He does not actually favor reduced legal immigration, he wants more legal immigration. He also doesn’t mind importing a ton of cheap labor and using it himself. > > Cruz actually has a much more consistent record. He wants to do most of what Trump wants to do, plus reduce legal immigration and work visas. Couldn’t Republicans end illegal immigration pretty quickly if they just suggested fining and criminally prosecuting the people who employ them? I mean, if they actually cared about the issue, rather than the sound bite. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2200 "2016-03-01T03:28:26Z")
It’s not all about jobs, although now I notice that Democrats aren’t even interested in going after employers anymore. Not that such a policy made any sense. If you believe people should be allowed to live here, then it doesn’t make sense to deny them the right to work. But yes, going after employers should be part of enforcement, as should picking up illegals whose location we know. Not all, or even most illegals, are undocumented. They are just visa overstayers and they can be located and booted pretty easily. When the President decided to deport recent Central American immigrants over the holiday weekend, it wasn’t hard to find them. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2201 "2016-03-01T05:13:47Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > No, that’s an opinion, and seemingly a minority one. It’s a fact that it’s **Starving Artist** ’s opinion. ---
**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:** [March 1, 2016, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2202 "2016-03-01T05:14:08Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > This stuff is stupid when it’s “BARRY HUSSAIN Obama!” or “RAFAEL Cruz!” or “WILLARD Romney!” or whatever. And at least those are their actual names, not some version from umpteen generations ago. Not when this person criticized John Stewart for being “ashamed of his real name.” ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2203 "2016-03-01T05:25:15Z")
Wasn’t that more about daddy issues than the name itself? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/2204 "2016-03-01T05:57:56Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Wasn’t that more about daddy issues than the name itself? Was the father’s name Schicklgruber? 😛 [In reality Hitler never had that name, it was originally used by the father of Hitler, but before Hitler was born his grandmother had changed the name to Hitler.](http://history1900s.about.com/od/hitleradolf/ss/Hitlers-Family.htm) Joking aside, I think the reference is pertinent as Trump is on the record of wanting to do war crimes. > **[Geneva Conventions bar Donald Trump's idea of killing terrorists' families,...](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2015/dec/17/rand-paul/rand-pauls-right-geneva-conventions-bar-donald-tru/)** > > Donald Trump says the United States should kill the family members of terrorists, and not to do so is just being "politi > [@](#): > > “The other thing with the terrorists is you have to take out their families, when you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families,” Trump said on Fox and Friends on Dec. 2, 2015. “They care about their lives, don’t kid yourself. When they say they don’t care about their lives, you have to take out their families.” > > Trump got a challenge on this at the CNN presidential debate in Las Vegas. CNN aired a pre-recorded question from Josh Jacob, a student at Georgia Tech: “Recently Donald Trump mentioned we must kill the families of ISIS members. However, this violates the principle of distinction between civilians and combatants in international law.” > > Trump doubled down on his position: “I would be very, very firm with families” and repeating his sentiment that even though people think “they may not care much about their lives … they do care, believe it or not, about their families’ lives.” > [@](#): > > The provisions in the Additional Protocols “prohibit acts of violence the primary purpose of which is to spread terror in a civilian population,” said David P. Fidler, a law professor at Indiana University. “Trump’s proposal to have U.S. military forces deliberately kill families, including women and children, in order to deter ISIS fighters is a proposal to use acts of violence to spread terror among civilians. Or Trump wants to fight terror with terror, something abhorrent to America’s warriors and unconscionable as a suggestion from someone who wants to be commander in chief.” > > Our ruling > > Paul said, “If you are going to kill the families of terrorists, realize that there’s something called the Geneva Convention we’re going to have to pull out of.” > > A range of experts in international law agreed that at least two elements of the Geneva Convention would contravene a policy of killing family members of terrorists, and that the United States has demonstrated a commitment to adhering to both provisions. > > We rate Paul’s statement True. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828.md?page=109) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828.md?page=111)