# What the hell is Trump? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 30, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581 "2015-07-30T15:21:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**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:** [August 27, 2015, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/301 "2015-08-27T04:36:02Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > I must say it’s been a real revelation to learn what a high opinion Dopers actually have of most Republicans’ intelligence, taste and integrity. Trump truly is a transformational candidate! Maybe he will finally reach the last level as his hair and finalize his transformation into an over-fed beaver. Once again, trying to give to Trump the chance to transform the nation into a place that is safe for deniers of science like the anti-vaccination people is not my idea of progress. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/302 "2015-08-27T04:38:01Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > GIGObuster’s use of, “another thing coming,” is just fine. _Native_ English speaker here. Just the ongoing dumbing down of English language use. You probably also say “I could care less”. > **[If you’ve got ‘another thing coming’, you’ve got another think coming | Mind...](https://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2014/nov/18/mind-your-language-another-think)** > > David Marsh: I don’t want to make a big thing about it, but I do think ‘think’ makes more sense when using this phrase [http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/05/04/the\_think\_thing/?page=full](http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/05/04/the_think_thing/?page=full) ---
**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:** [August 27, 2015, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/303 "2015-08-27T04:48:57Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Just the ongoing dumbing down of English language use. You probably also say “I could care less”. > > [If you’ve got ‘another thing coming’, you’ve got another think coming | David Marsh | The Guardian](http://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2014/nov/18/mind-your-language-another-think) > > [http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/05/04/the\_think\_thing/?page=full](http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/05/04/the_think_thing/?page=full) And indeed one of the links you posted is also of that mindset, about not caring much what you decide to use as many understand the meaning. > [@](#): > > The Grammarist blog agrees that “another think coming” was the original expression, arising in the US, but says “another thing coming” is now more common; more contentiously, it argues that this version of the phrase “usually makes literal sense”, which I don’t get at all. I do agree with this comment below the line: “‘Another think coming’ seems a rather jocular, witty way to say someone is mistaken. ‘Another thing coming’ usually suggests to me that the author desires the ‘other thing’ coming to be a fist in an idiot’s face.” \* > > So even if I’m outnumbered, I am sticking with “think”. But whichever version you prefer – and in spoken English they sound much the same – the phrase has, in the century or so of its existence, lent itself to some colourful and evocative language - Indeed, just what Trump can metaphorically expect of the Latinos that he claims will support him, something very different is coming his way. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/304 "2015-08-27T04:50:14Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > I think a lot of otherwise Republican voters will decide that Trump lacks taste, class, and honor. And this will make them decide to stay home or vote Democrat, thereby allowing a Democrat president who will continue to shrink the military, allow illegal immigrants to continue flooding into the country, and make Supreme Court appointments? All because Trump has a hot wife, some junk bond gambler/investors lost some money, and he’s “tacky” (i.e., doesn’t follow the Hollywood practice of showing up for events next to his beautifully gowned and bejewelled wife looking like he’s on his way to get groceries at the food bank)? I don’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/305 "2015-08-27T13:28:07Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Just the ongoing dumbing down of English language use. You probably also say “I could care less”. > > [If you’ve got ‘another thing coming’, you’ve got another think coming | David Marsh | The Guardian](http://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2014/nov/18/mind-your-language-another-think) > > [http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/05/04/the\_think\_thing/?page=full](http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/05/04/the_think_thing/?page=full) Yes, the very idea that language can change is only a foolish daydream invented by people who believe, in their heart of hearts, that English does _not_ have grammatical gender separate from natural gender, strong verbs such as ‘bēodan’ as opposed to such nonsense non-words as ‘sing’, or negative concord! They instead believe that double negatives are wrong, or even _self-negating_, as opposed to intensifying! Truly, “thaet heo nanne aefter hyre ne forlete” (“that she should not leave none behind her”) must never be misinterpreted or thought to be improper English, lest the person who invokes such vile calumnies be outed as a mere knave, an ignorant and swinish varlet, from whom no grammatical advice must be suffered to issue. By Jove and his favored heifer, I can only conclude that Trump is such a jackanape. He has surely lost my support. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/306 "2015-08-27T22:01:42Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > And this will make them decide to stay home or vote Democrat, thereby allowing a Democrat president who will continue to shrink the military, allow illegal immigrants to continue flooding into the country, and make Supreme Court appointments? All because Trump has a hot wife, some junk bond gambler/investors lost some money, and he’s “tacky” (i.e., doesn’t follow the Hollywood practice of showing up for events next to his beautifully gowned and bejewelled wife looking like he’s on his way to get groceries at the food bank)? > > I don’t think so. I know at least one person personally who voted for Barack Obama against Mitt Romney because of Mitt Romney’s religion. There’s a reason that politicians pretend to be pious members of “respectable” sects, are conservative of dress and grooming, and so forth. As gratified as I am to see Trump break out of that mold, it can work against him. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/307 "2015-08-28T00:19:56Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > I don’t think so. Think again. I, and a number of the Republicans I know, are horrified of the concept of a Trump Presidency. The idea of that dishonorable, loud mouthed, braggart representing us to the world… _Shudder_. It only takes a small move of normal Republican voters to turn an uphill electoral college map into a crushing Democratic victory. Trump can probably only dream of getting even the 27% of Hispanic voters Romney got. Start throwing in even small swings in non-Hispanic demographics, like me, and he’s going to get curb stomped. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/308 "2015-08-28T00:33:18Z")
“What the hell is Trump?” The guy currently leading the polls by a wide margin. So the answer is just this: Trump is living proof that, no matter how hard you try, you simply cannot underestimate the stupidity of the contemporary Republican voter. It can’t be done. Just when you think they’ve hit rock bottom with a Texas village idiot and the clone of Darth Vader as a sidekick, or an Alaskan hillbilly moose, they double down on the stupid. Nothing would surprise me any more. Perhaps the top contender next time will be Peewee Herman, or one of the Kardashians. Or maybe the desiccated corpse of Saint Reagan (blessed be His name) who they will believe is being guided from heaven by his spiritual remains. I’m certain that any of the Kardashians would do marvelously well in the Republican fold if they were obnoxious enough to make sensationally offensive headlines. They’d just have to be blunt about what they really think, via the handful of misfiring neurons in their tiny pea brains, the way Trump does. They could even say completely contradictory things on different days, because the base they cater to doesn’t actually remember anything from one day to another. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/309 "2015-08-28T03:43:28Z")
I’ve always been impressed by the way Trump grew up with money but is the perfect example of the boorish, _nouveau riche_ lout – the “ugly American” who confuses money with success and who thinks one can buy class (and who almost always thinks that “bigger is better”). ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/310 "2015-08-28T04:07:42Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Yes, [Ivana](http://www.mediaite.com/online/ivana-trump-defends-donald-amidst-marital-rape-uproar/). > > "I have recently read some comments attributed to me from nearly 30 years ago at a time of very high tension during my divorce from Donald. The story is totally without merit,” Ivana Trump told CNN in a statement Tuesday. “Donald and I are the best of friends and together have raised three children that we love and are very proud of. I have nothing but fondness for Donald and wish him the best of luck on his campaign. Incidentally, I think he would make an incredible president.” Oh, you mean the part where she accused him of physical adult and rape, but later recanted. Yeah, she totally took that back. Doesn’t matter, his attitude is on full display by his public actions and words. Ivana’s opinion on if he would make a good President is irrelevant. But thank you for clarifying. ---
**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:** [August 28, 2015, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/311 "2015-08-28T04:17:48Z")
> [@DinoR](#): > > Think again. > > I, and a number of the Republicans I know, are horrified of the concept of a Trump Presidency. The idea of that dishonorable, loud mouthed, braggart representing us to the world… _Shudder_. It only takes a small move of normal Republican voters to turn an uphill electoral college map into a crushing Democratic victory. Trump can probably only dream of getting even the 27% of Hispanic voters Romney got. Start throwing in even small swings in non-Hispanic demographics, like me, and he’s going to get curb stomped. Careful there, people like SA does not think that Republicans like you exist. 🙂 As for what Trump is, I see him as the candidate with the richest target environment, as in having lots of very dumb ideas and controversies that will come up in the general election (but I would like to see that). One gets the impression that the media is really letting a lot of those targets alone until the presidential race starts. One big target that even the media had put their feet over the coals recently were the anti-vaxxers; I do not know about his politics, but one should read what **Mr. Miskatonic** had to say today in a different thread about people that still insist that vaccines are evil: > [@Vaccines, autism and big pharma](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-autism-and-big-pharma/727046/113): > > We tried being nice. The antivaxxers called us shills > > We tried giving the facts, plainly and calmly. The anitvaxxers accused us of crippling their children. > > We tried using statistics and data. The antivaxxers photshopped images of prominent pro-vaccines people eating babies > > We started giving examples of children injured or lost due to antivaccine fears. The antivaxxers accused us of using emotional appeals as they bemoaned and wailed about the odd fates of their children they ‘knew’ were damaged by vaccines > > Then we started seeing outbreaks, and we were done doing this the polite way. **We do have to be very unpolite to Trump indeed**. Because Trump is an anti-vaxxer. And Republicans who look at reason (and Independents and Democrats too) are indeed not going to support a guy that can order the Centers of Disease Control or other offices around regarding vaccines, nor to risk giving Trump the most powerful bully pulpit to disparage one of the biggest health triumphs in history. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/312 "2015-08-28T04:37:01Z")
Here is the link I promised. > **[Donald Trump’s Gross History of Misogyny: From Rosie O’Donnell to Megyn Kelly](https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trumps-gross-history-of-misogyny-from-rosie-odonnell-to-megyn-kelly)** > > The GOP presidential frontrunner has come under fire for a series of sexist comments he’s made towards Fox News host Megyn Kelly. But Trump’s women-bashing goes back decades. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/313 "2015-08-28T13:55:18Z")
> [@DinoR](#): > > Think again. > > I, and a number of the Republicans I know, are horrified of the concept of a Trump Presidency. The idea of that dishonorable, loud mouthed, braggart representing us to the world… _Shudder_. It only takes a small move of normal Republican voters to turn an uphill electoral college map into a crushing Democratic victory. Trump can probably only dream of getting even the 27% of Hispanic voters Romney got. Start throwing in even small swings in non-Hispanic demographics, like me, and he’s going to get curb stomped. [http://www.wsj.com/articles/america-is-so-in-play-1440715262](http://www.wsj.com/articles/america-is-so-in-play-1440715262) I’ve written before about an acquaintance—late 60s, northern Georgia, lives on Social Security, voted Obama in ’08, not partisan, watches Fox News, hates Wall Street and “the GOP establishment.” She continues to be so ardent for Mr. Trump that she not only watched his speech in Mobile, Ala., on live TV, she watched while excitedly texting with family members—middle-class, white, independent-minded—who were in the audience cheering. Is that “the Republican base”? I guess maybe it is, because she texted me Wednesday to say she’d just registered Republican. I asked if she’d ever been one before. Reply: “No, never!!!” Anecdote for anecdote. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/314 "2015-08-28T14:04:10Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > [http://www.wsj.com/articles/america-is-so-in-play-1440715262](http://www.wsj.com/articles/america-is-so-in-play-1440715262) > > I’ve written before about an acquaintance—late 60s, northern Georgia, lives on Social Security, voted Obama in ’08, not partisan, watches Fox News, hates Wall Street and “the GOP establishment.” She continues to be so ardent for Mr. Trump that she not only watched his speech in Mobile, Ala., on live TV, she watched while excitedly texting with family members—middle-class, white, independent-minded—who were in the audience cheering. Is that “the Republican base”? I guess maybe it is, because she texted me Wednesday to say she’d just registered Republican. I asked if she’d ever been one before. Reply: “No, never!!!” > > Anecdote for anecdote. There may be some of those, but I would wager that there are more people horrified by the ominous specter of a potential Trump presidency that they will tear up their Republican registrations and switch to the side of the angels. By the way: Peggy Fucking Noonan? ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/315 "2015-08-28T14:05:20Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > There may be some of those, but I would wager that there are more people horrified by the ominous specter of a potential Trump presidency that they will tear up their Republican registrations and switch to the side of the angels. And I would wager exactly the opposite. How can we verify the wagers? ---
**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:** [August 28, 2015, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/316 "2015-08-28T14:21:50Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > And I would wager exactly the opposite. How can we verify the wagers? November 9, 2016. I think it will be quite apparent. ---
**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:** [August 28, 2015, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/317 "2015-08-28T14:37:40Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > I think a lot of otherwise Republican voters will decide that Trump lacks taste, class, and honor. And of course, you mean he lacks even _more_ taste, class and honor than they do. So much so that they actually notice. I see trump has claimed massive black support, but [a poll disputes that](http://us.cnn.com/2015/08/27/politics/donald-trump-african-american-polls/index.html): > [@](#): > > \*\*The poll found: > > ``` > When asked "Would you say that Donald Trump cares about the needs and problems of people like you or not?" 92% of black people said no. > > ``` > > - 52% of black people said Trump does not have strong leadership qualities. > > - 73% of black people said Trump is not strong or trustworthy. > > - 79% of black people said they have an unfavorable view of Trump. > > When asked “If the election for President were being held today, and the candidates were Hillary Clinton the Democrat and Donald Trump the Republican, for whom would you vote?” 3% percent said they’d vote for Trump. > > When asked “If the election for President were being held today, and the candidates were Hillary Clinton the Democrat, Jeb Bush the Republican, and Donald Trump running as an independent, for whom would you vote?” 5% of black people said they’d vote for Trump. > > When asked “If the election for President were being held today, and the candidates were Joe Biden the Democrat and Donald Trump the Republican, for whom would you vote?” 2% said they’d vote for Trump.\*\* ---
**Author:** ![Andiethewestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Andiethewestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andiethewestie)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/318 "2015-08-28T15:37:23Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Here is the link I promised. > > [http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/08/08/donald-trump-s-gross-history-of-misogyny-from-rosie-o-donnell-to-megyn-kelly.html](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/08/08/donald-trump-s-gross-history-of-misogyny-from-rosie-o-donnell-to-megyn-kelly.html) Neanderthal in chief. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/319 "2015-08-28T15:38:23Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > November 9, 2016. I think it will be quite apparent. Not the specific wager that was in the post, no. ---
**Author:** ![Andiethewestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Andiethewestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andiethewestie)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/320 "2015-08-28T15:39:41Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > And of course, you mean he lacks even _more_ taste, class and honor than they do. So much so that they actually notice. > > I see trump has claimed massive black support, but [a poll disputes that](http://us.cnn.com/2015/08/27/politics/donald-trump-african-american-polls/index.html): Trump claims everyone loves him, except they don’t. His ADHD grunts and rants has made sure the black and latino vote goes to the democrats. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581.md?page=17)