# 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:** 93
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1845 "2016-02-08T21:28:05Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [“Terror management theory” explains The Donald’s appeal to AWM.](http://www.salon.com/2016/02/06/secrets_of_donald_trumps_cult_this_is_why_the_angriest_white_voters_will_not_leave_his_side/) > [@](#): > > For example, CNN recently conducted a series of interviews at Donald Trump rallies where his supporters explained their attraction to him: > > > [@](#): > > > > “Islam is traced patrilineally. I am a Muslim if my father is Muslim. In that sense, it is undeniable that Barack Obama was born a Muslim,” Michael Rooney said at a Trump event in Worcester, Massachusetts It’s kind of funny when those that Salon condescendingly quotes seem to be more knowledgeable than the author of the Salon piece. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1846 "2016-02-08T22:56:31Z")
[Roosh “Make Rape Legal” V. likes Trump.](http://www.salon.com/2016/02/08/yet_another_chump_for_trump_the_make_rape_legal_guy_says_trump_comes_the_closest_to_what_i_think_is_true/) Not an endorsement, but, “Donald Trump comes the closest to what I think is true.” I predict this costs Trump no votes – not in the primary campaign, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1847 "2016-02-08T22:57:59Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > It’s kind of funny when those that Salon condescendingly quotes seem to be more knowledgeable than the author of the Salon piece. Not funny the way you seem to think, it ain’t. It’s this Rooney who’s the point-and-laugh material. ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1848 "2016-02-08T23:04:40Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Not funny the way you seem to think, it ain’t. It’s this Rooney who’s the point-and-laugh material. Maybe for those who know nothing about Islam, and think pointing and laughing adds credibility to nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1849 "2016-02-08T23:06:35Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > Maybe for those who know nothing about Islam, and think pointing and laughing adds credibility to nonsense. Look, does any Muslim in the world think Obama should be put to death for apostasy, because his father was a Muslim and he ain’t? ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1850 "2016-02-08T23:31:17Z")
A much more pertinent question would be if any Muslims consider children to be Muslim due to their father being Muslim. Which, yes they do, as anyone the slightest bit familiar with the world at large will know. A slight bit of familiarity with the world around them is a threshold that some Trump supporters sometimes reach, and one that some Salon writers and message board posters sometimes do not, apparently. ---
**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:** [February 8, 2016, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1851 "2016-02-08T23:41:22Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > A much more pertinent question would be if any Muslims consider children to be Muslim due to their father being Muslim. Which, yes they do, as anyone the slightest bit familiar with the world at large will know. Why is that significant? Obama never considered himself Islamic. If anything, that makes him a target of Islamist terrorists for apostasy. ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1852 "2016-02-09T00:05:43Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Why is that significant? Obama never considered himself Islamic. If anything, that makes him a target of Islamist terrorists for apostasy. Salon quoted a Trump supporter as if it was quoting an ignorant statement, when it was a basic fact, and it was the Salon author’s ignorance that was all that was shown. That’s what I am pointing out. I don’t personally think the degree that Obama could be said to be “born Muslim” is terribly relevant to much, except for public relations and propaganda purposes. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1853 "2016-02-09T00:42:25Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > Salon quoted a Trump supporter as if it was quoting an ignorant statement, when it was a basic fact . . . But Rooney showed his ignorance in assuming its **relevance.** It has none, to anything. He’s just reaching, desperate to find some disqualifying factor in Obama’s personal history. Not that a Muslim is disqualified from the presidency, but one is to this lot. ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1854 "2016-02-09T01:28:10Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > But Rooney showed his ignorance in assuming its **relevance.** It has none, to anything. He’s just reaching, desperate to find some disqualifying factor in Obama’s personal history. Not that a Muslim is disqualified from the presidency, but one is to this lot. His personal history is relevant to some degree. The relevance of this part of it isn’t a settled fact, it is an opinion. ---
**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:** [February 9, 2016, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1855 "2016-02-09T01:33:27Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > His personal history is relevant to some degree. The relevance of this part of it isn’t a settled fact, it is an opinion. And don’t forget his middle name: Barack HUSSAIN Obama. That is relevant to about the same degree. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1856 "2016-02-09T01:37:51Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > His personal history is relevant to some degree. The relevance of this part of it isn’t a settled fact, it is an opinion. It is settled fact that Obama’s father (who, I believe, became an atheist himself later in life) separated from his mother before Barack was a year old and played no part in his son’s life after that. It is settled fact that Obama, though exposed to Muslim culture by a Muslim stepfather and by living for a time in Indonesia, was not raised in that faith and has never embraced it. What relevance has his father’s faith to any of that? ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1857 "2016-02-09T01:49:38Z")
His background and his parents background are part of his story, part of what makes him who he is. That’s relevant. ---
**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:** [February 9, 2016, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1858 "2016-02-09T01:51:32Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > His background and his parents background are part of his story, part of what makes him who he is. That’s relevant. So explain how it’s been relevant. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1859 "2016-02-09T02:16:39Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > His background and his parents background are part of his story, part of what makes him who he is. That’s relevant. But the fact, if it is a fact, that Muslims consider any Muslim father’s son to be a Muslim is **not** relevant. ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1860 "2016-02-09T02:22:21Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > So explain how it’s been relevant. It’s relevant in how he is perceived, which has both positive and negative potential consequences. Has it made him more or less sympathetic to the plight of Muslims? Hard to know for sure. He has been more willing to interface with Islamist/Muslim Brotherhood connected groups than some of the GOP candidates advocate (but about the same as Bush JR), but I explain that more as a result of pragmatism than anything duplicitous. Not everyone sees it that way though, and it’s not a question with a settled, factual answer. ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1861 "2016-02-09T02:24:13Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > But the fact, if it is a fact, that Muslims consider any Muslim father’s son to be a Muslim is **not** relevant. Not relevant to _you_. It’s meaningful to many people, for a myriad of reasons. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1862 "2016-02-09T02:25:35Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > Not relevant to _you_. It’s meaningful to many people, for a myriad of reasons. Such as? I don’t think it’s relevant to Muslims; they’ve never tried to claim him. To whom is it relevant, and why? ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1863 "2016-02-09T02:52:16Z")
Of course it’s relevant. Which it’s why it’s in his book. People’s backgrounds are relevant to who they are, that’s the way the world works. ---
**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:** [February 9, 2016, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/1864 "2016-02-09T02:57:30Z")
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