# What Effect Will Trump's Concentration Camps have on his reelection campaign? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 19, 2019, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738 "2019-06-19T12:15:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 20
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/381 "2019-06-26T07:13:02Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > I hadn’t realized that being outraged at the abuse of children was solely the province of the left… And solely when a Republican is President. When a Dem is doing it, they’re quiet as church mice about it. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/382 "2019-06-26T07:17:06Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > And solely when a Republican is President. When a Dem is doing it, they’re quiet as church mice about it. Look! Over there! ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/383 "2019-06-26T07:23:00Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Those kids are being used by the Left to score political points. By the way, I don’t think I’ve ever before met anyone who, upon learning that helpless innocent children were being horrendously abused, was more outraged that it was his political opponents who were pointing it out than by the ongoing horrendous abuse of helpless innocent children. “We could stop the horrendous abuse of these poor innocent children, but only if it benefited my political party” is not a sentence I could ever see myself saying. Protip: I suspect that Jesus himself might also strongly disapprove of that stance, which might be important to those people who are interested in not burning in hell for all eternity. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/384 "2019-06-26T07:26:05Z")
Can you guess how little I value your suspicions about what Jesus might disapprove of? Again, your side didn’t think it was “horrendous abuse” until it was President Trump in the White House. Prior to that, when it was Obama, it was just ho-hum business as usual. Now the left can’t get enough of their pearl-clutching. _shrug_ ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/385 "2019-06-26T07:26:43Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > And solely when a Republican is President. When a Dem is doing it, they’re quiet as church mice about it. Unlike your fine self, who is vigorously arguing…[checks notes]…that we should ignore the ongoing horrendous abuse of helpless infants because a Republican is doing it? What an odd position to take as the moral high ground. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/386 "2019-06-26T07:28:43Z")
I’m mostly arguing that you should be less hyperbolic about the situation if you want to be seen as credible. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/387 "2019-06-26T07:32:48Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Can you guess how little I value your suspicions about what Jesus might disapprove of? No need to rely on my suspicions–there’s a whole book listing the things he disapproved of. You could read it. > [@](#): > > Now the left can’t get enough of their pearl-clutching. _shrug_ Yes, those awful left, upset that innocent infants are being horrendously abused. Luckily you’re here now, so the abuse will [checks notes]…continue unchecked while you argue in support of the abusers? That can’t be right? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/388 "2019-06-26T07:36:08Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I’m mostly arguing that you should be less hyperbolic about the situation if you want to be seen as credible. Yes, the real problem here isn’t the actual ongoing horrendous abuse of innocent children and infants, it’s that we’re talking about it. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/389 "2019-06-26T08:25:26Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > I’m going to ignore your incorrect use of terminology, since it’s not important to this discussion. My use of terminology is correct and you picking at it is just another snarky diversion. > [@](#): > > Do those refugees who applied for asylum outside the US get a loan to pay for transportation to the US before or after they are awarded asylum? I answered your question. Go back and re-read my post for comprehension this time. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/390 "2019-06-26T08:27:06Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > One of the reports last week of the conditions in one of these places came from the [Associated Press](https://www.apnews.com/46da2dbe04f54adbb875cfbc06bbc615), which interviewed a team of lawyers who visited a facility near El Paso. The lawyers interviewed 60 children, and had a few more than a couple of anecdotes. > > Do you think the AP is not credible? Or maybe the team of lawyers is not credible? > > Perhaps you have a cite that can refute the claims made by the team of lawyers and reported by the Associated Press? Of course he doesn’t. I asked previously: “could we please not treat this as an idea worth taking seriously?” I’d appreciate it if we did collectively did that. I’m trying to keep a certain seriousness of tone here. **Ditka** , I’d really appreciate it if you stopped posting in this thread. Your opinion (“It’s all FAKE NEWS!!1 Also ha ha brown kids are suffering!”) is noted, thank you. It’s also sick, disgusting, and hateful, and I’m astonished that it’s considered okay on this forum. If you really want to say things like that, I welcome you to find another thread, and please give this one a pass. I encourage everyone else to **not feed this line of argumentation**. It is not worth taking seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/391 "2019-06-26T08:30:24Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I’m aware of some of the reports of conditions in the “camps”. I don’t generally find those sources terribly credible. I think they, like you, have an agenda they’re propagandizing for and pushing, and they’ll pick a couple of anecdotes and try to pretend / imply that those exceptions represent conditions generally. > [@Slash1972](#): > > You realize that the Administration argued that toothpaste, soap, and blankets are not required at these facilities? Argued for that in _open court_ - **HurricaneDitka** are you saying the Administration’s own lawyer’s aren’t credible? Or do consider a LACK of soap and toothpaste to be part of “safe and sanitary”? Stay in denial, **HurricaneDitka** , so later on down the lie you can claim you “didn’t know” and no one told you (though, really, we did) when the true extent of this Administration’s crimes are revealed. After all, it’s so much more comfortable to live in denial and ignorance than face the ugliness of reality. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/392 "2019-06-26T08:42:34Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > The team of lawyers appear to be partisan activists, so I’m probably taking a more skeptical view of what they’re claiming than I would if they didn’t have a history of activism, but that’s what my experiences with the words of partisan activists has led me to. :rolleyes: Yes, we know anyone who disagrees with your viewpoint is “partisan” and “not credible”. It’s a pattern with you, not just in thread on this topic but about really anything. > [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Look, I’m sure there have been some people, minors and adults, detained in less than ideal circumstances. That’s what happens when their requested funding increase becomes [the source of partisan bickering](https://www.thedailybeast.com/progressive-democrats-to-shutdown-negotiators-not-another-dollar-in-dhs-funding) and illegal border crossings surge 619% in one year, as they have in the El Paso Sector. CBP has probably made mistakes (they’re part of the government and the government is rife with mistakes, after all). …and now it becomes all the fault of the Democrats. Nothing bad is ever, ever the fault of the Republicans, they never do anything wrong, Trump is the bestest president ever. :rolleyes: > [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I’m curious what you’d prefer they do. Do you wish that progressive Dems had not fought so hard against the funding increase? Do you want them to stop apprehending people crossing the border illegally altogether? Something else? I prefer they stop separating families. Full stop. Before I start this list I’m just going to say we manage to provide all of the following to people convicted of felonies. The conditions these people - who have been convicted of no crime - are held in are worse than prison: I prefer they provide something soft to sleep on. I prefer they turn the lights off at night so people can sleep better. I prefer that soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, showers, and towels be provided. I prefer that clean changes of clothing be provided. I prefer that three meals a day are provided. That’s assuming we need to lock people up at all - which I’m not entirely convinced is necessary. But those we do decide to lock up - and how the hell it was determined that _small children_ needed to be lock up I can’t fathom - should be kept in humane conditions. Which includes modern sanitary products like soap and toothpaste. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/393 "2019-06-26T08:50:40Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Great! Then let’s drop the “concentration camp” inflammatory rhetoric. Nope. Not going to. Because they are concentration camps. Are you butt-hurt that your side in this discussion is in the wrong? I don’t find the term “inflammatory”, I find it accurate. The discussion of proper terminology is a distraction from the real issues here, which are people being held in inhumane conditions and the destruction of families. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/394 "2019-06-26T08:54:03Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Those kids are being used by the Left to score political points. If the Right is so damn superior then it can STOP the abuse and neglect and show those goddamned Lefties how it’s done, right? But the Right never fixes anything, they just blame someone else for everything. Because they’re helpless and oppressed rather than neglectful and a bunch of jerks. Everyone on the Right is “doing a fine job” right up until they day they resign or are fired and then they were horrible incompetents all along, and if they’re women ugly, too. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/395 "2019-06-26T09:00:05Z")
Just FYI, it’s completely false to say that the “toothbrush” issue was about an Obama policy. The lawsuit that ended up with an agreement requiring “safe and sanitary” conditions for holding children dates back to the 80s, and the conditions have been challenged in court multiple times including in the Obama administration, but no one has suggested that the Obama administration didn’t provide toothbrushes and basic hygiene supplies, and only a Trump administration lawyer has argued that they aren’t necessary for “safe and sanitary” conditions. Further, the Trump administration is on record that they are in favor of harming migrant children for deterrent purposes. > **[Why a Government Lawyer Argued Against Giving Immigrant Kids Toothbrushes](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/06/why-sarah-fabian-argued-against-giving-kids-toothbrushes/592366/)** > > The sheer effrontery of the government’s argument may be explained, but not excused, by its long backstory. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/396 "2019-06-26T09:06:04Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > If the Right is so damn superior then it can STOP the abuse and neglect and show those goddamned Lefties how it’s done, right? > > But the Right never fixes anything, they just blame someone else for everything. Because they’re helpless and oppressed rather than neglectful and a bunch of jerks. Everyone on the Right is “doing a fine job” right up until they day they resign or are fired and then they were horrible incompetents all along, and if they’re women ugly, too. Also, as I’ve repeatedly pointed out throughout the thread, the argument makes just no fucking sense. It’s not the democrats who are saying, “These are concentration camps.” Pelosi basically told AOC to shut up, and most dems have been completely silent on the issue. This is coming entirely from historians, human rights activists, and journalists, while most of the democratic party has been shamefully silent on the issue. Notable exceptions: AOC, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Elizabeth Warren. We’re rehashing bad, off-topic arguments here, and I’d appreciate it if we stayed focused on the topic of the thread. Speaking of which: Utah’s largest newspaper, the Salt Lake Tribune, [recently came out in defense of AOC](https://thehill.com/homenews/media/449920-top-utah-newspaper-says-trump-migrant-detention-centers-are-concentration). The Salt Lake Tribune’s editorial board on Saturday came to the defense of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), arguing it’s correct to call the Trump administration’s migrant detention facilities “concentration camps.” “They are not work camps. They are not death camps. At least, not on purpose,” the board wrote. “Our government is not building massive gas chambers and industrial crematoria. It is not conducting sick medical experiments on members of an unfavored class.” “But that does not mean that the places into which we are herding tens of thousands of migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers are not properly called concentration camps. Because that is precisely what they are,” the board added. Utah is pretty red. This is making traction even there. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/397 "2019-06-26T09:13:49Z")
The Trump administration is on record as in favor of harming migrant children for deterrent purposes. Either Trump supporters are unaware of this, or they don’t really care. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/398 "2019-06-26T11:10:34Z")
> [@XT](#): > > So, with that out of the way, I disagree. Funding IS the issue. That and just poor planning, as well as political fuckupery on both sides. You can disagree that the earth is round, but that doesn’t suddenly make it flat. There is a deliberate policy of not providing basic hygiene supplies like soap and toothpaste ACCORDING TO THE LAWYERS DEFENDING THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS. That is not caused by funding, or poor planning. That is deliberately evil planning. And it’s not being done by ‘both sides’. Your ‘disagreement’ is simply you putting your fingers in your ears and pretending that reality isn’t happening. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/399 "2019-06-26T11:53:04Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > The Trump administration is on record as in favor of harming migrant children for deterrent purposes. Either Trump supporters are unaware of this, or they don’t really care. It’s mot that they don’t care, it’s that they support the policy. To understand their positions, you have to view the world through a white nationalist lens: their goal is to cleanse America of its racial contamination. If some children have to die in the process, they are ok with that price. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738/400 "2019-06-26T12:03:42Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > President Trump DID ask for “billions to increase CBP staff and build new and upgrade existing facilities so as to improve the process of handling ever-increasing numbers of people”. [Here is the summary of their FY2019 request](https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/FY19-Budget-Fact-Sheet_Border-Security.pdf): > > And how did the Democrats respond (hint: we’ve been over this one already)? > > [The Daily Beast - Progressive Dems: ‘Not Another Dollar’ More in DHS Funding](https://www.thedailybeast.com/progressive-democrats-to-shutdown-negotiators-not-another-dollar-in-dhs-funding) Although I blame Trump for inciting racially-charged nativist animus, the progressives aren’t entirely blameless either. The question in the thread title is what effect will Trump’s camps have on his reelection and I think that’s pretty much it in a nutshell: Trump wants to polarize people so that Democrats will fight each other over who’s a real humanitarian and who’s coward, who’s a real progressive and who’s not. Memo to the Dems: Trump wants you outraged so that you will be angry at people who aren’t ‘outraged enough.’ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738.md?page=19) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-will-trumps-concentration-camps-have-on-his-reelection-campaign/835738.md?page=21)