# 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:** 23
**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:** [September 6, 2015, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/441 "2015-09-06T18:52:01Z")
Good points, **JRDelirious**. ---
**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:** [September 6, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/442 "2015-09-06T19:00:59Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Does Trump even know the Yazidi exist? “Of course I know what Yazidi is, it’s that sauce the Arab guy puts on my falafel. You should try it, it’s fantastic. The Arabs love me by the way, believe me.” ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/443 "2015-09-06T19:15:42Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Are you familiar with the word, hype? I believe the word is [_trumpery_](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/trumpery?s=t). [INDENT][INDENT]noun (pl) -eries 1. foolish talk or actions 2. a useless or worthless article; trinket adjective 3. useless or worthless Word Origin C15: from Old French tromperie deceit, from tromper to cheat Word Origin and History for trumpery n. mid-15c., “deceit, trickery,” from Middle French tromperie (14c.), from tromper “to deceive,” of uncertain origin. Spelling influenced by trump (v.). Meaning “ **showy but worthless finery** ” is first recorded c.1600. [/INDENT][/INDENT] > [@JRDelirious](#): > > One thing on which I will agree with **SA** : Trump is an outstanding hype man. I can see him walk into a business meeting proclaiming “Have I got a DEAL, man!” and bluff and bluster and badger the others at the table into signing on or else he’ll walk out and badmouth them as Weak Losers. For which he takes full advantage of his celebpreneur status: the mass media WILL report that he called the other dude a Weak Loser, the other side’s explanations that the deal was bad will be in a lower corner of page 24 of a trade publication. I would guess this has never happened. Trump changed his business model after he drove his company into the ground in the early 1990s. Now it’s mostly about licensing the name and collecting royalty checks. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2015, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/444 "2015-09-07T03:45:59Z")
Did Trump ever have any consistent lessons on “The Apprentice”? The only one I observed was to call up all your friends and supporters and beg them for donations. They actually had challenges that were not measured by the success of the restaurant, how good they were at drawing in people of the street or how attractive the arrow, etc. The sole measure was how much donor money was brought in. I suupose that’s his plan for the budget? Beg for money? ---
**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:** [September 7, 2015, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/445 "2015-09-07T15:09:10Z")
Trump currently has 25% support of black voters in general election. [http://www.theamericanmirror.com/shock-poll-trump-receives-25-of-black-vote-in-general-election-matchup/](http://www.theamericanmirror.com/shock-poll-trump-receives-25-of-black-vote-in-general-election-matchup/) The Trump phenomenon continues to amaze. I’d wager he’s doing pretty well among rank and file Hispanics too. ---
**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:** [September 7, 2015, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/446 "2015-09-07T16:51:44Z")
Actually those values among minorities are one of the reasons why many are going :dubious: regarding that poll. ---
**Author:** ![inscrutable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a88e4f/32.png) [@inscrutable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inscrutable)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2015, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/447 "2015-09-07T19:22:01Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Actually those values among minorities are one of the reasons why many are going :dubious: regarding that poll. You would find it surprising that 25% of Black American voters don’t want their Country invaded by hoards of Hispanics? ---
**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:** [September 7, 2015, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/448 "2015-09-07T19:28:46Z")
> [@inscrutable](#): > > You would find it surprising that 25% of Black American voters don’t want their Country invaded by hoards of Hispanics? I would, because I give them more credit for distinguishing fact from fiction. ---
**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:** [September 7, 2015, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/449 "2015-09-07T19:36:02Z")
> [@inscrutable](#): > > You would find it surprising that 25% of Black American voters don’t want their Country invaded by hoards of Hispanics? Because even with the same argument being trotted in past elections (going all the way to Bush) the Republicans always got in the end less than 11% of the black vote. In this front I do think a lot of the alleged support Trump is getting will evaporate once the scrutiny begins against the possible front runner now. (No, the scrutiny right now is just a joke, very little about the problems Trump has have been discussed in depth.) ---
**Author:** ![inscrutable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a88e4f/32.png) [@inscrutable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inscrutable)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2015, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/450 "2015-09-07T20:23:29Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I would, because I give them more credit for distinguishing fact from fiction. Where’s ‘OMG A Black Conservative’ when we need him? ---
**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:** [September 7, 2015, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/451 "2015-09-07T20:25:08Z")
> [@inscrutable](#): > > Where’s ‘OMG A Black Conservative’ when we need him? In the place of a minority of a minority. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/452 "2015-09-07T20:30:13Z")
I am not a big fan of semantic quibbles, but that word “need”… ---
**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:** [September 7, 2015, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/453 "2015-09-07T20:50:00Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I would, because I give them more credit for distinguishing fact from fiction. What fact? What fiction? ---
**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:** [September 7, 2015, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/454 "2015-09-07T21:05:43Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > What fact? What fiction? The fiction that “hoards” of Mexicans are “invading”. [The fact that they are not](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/flow-of-illegal-immigration-slows-as-us-mexico-border-dynamics-evolve/2015/05/27/c5caf02c-006b-11e5-833c-a2de05b6b2a4_story.html): > [@](#): > > As the Department of Homeland Security continues to pour money into border security, evidence is emerging that illegal immigration flows have fallen to their lowest level in at least two decades. The nation’s population of illegal immigrants, which more than tripled, to 12.2 million, between 1990 and 2007, has dropped by about 1 million, according to demographers at the Pew Research Center. ---
**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:** [September 7, 2015, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/455 "2015-09-07T22:26:03Z")
Ah, so the hoardes are already here so there’s nothing to be unhappy about? Kind of like how it doesn’t matter that crime skyrocketed starting in the late sixties (and remains twice what it was before) because it’s been going down the last decade or so? You guys have a strange idea of what makes a problem no longer a problem. ---
**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:** [September 7, 2015, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/456 "2015-09-07T22:28:30Z")
One thing that Trump is doing is bringing a loud and exciting “outsider” narrative to the GOP side of the aisle. Rand Paul and Ted Cruz are “outsiders,” but I don’t think they were going grab the media’s attention the same way. Trump has changed the conversation by exploiting the bafflement of news media. It’s conceivable that without Trump, there would end up being three clear factions next year: GOP, Clinton, and Sanders, with the battle for the direction of the Democratic Party being the interesting one. Trump has brought part of the outsider vote Sanders is playing for into the GOP conversation. Does that help some right-leaning populists stay engaged? Presumably. Does that keep them in the GOP tent (for a while), and away from Sanders? Some of them, sure. Could Trump be a gateway drug out of GOP orthodoxy for some? Of course! That’s what he’s here for. I don’t know if Trump is really stealing Bernie’s thunder, or strengthening its power by echoing bits of it. ---
**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:** [September 7, 2015, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/457 "2015-09-07T22:35:41Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > You guys have a strange idea of what makes a problem no longer a problem. I’m betting much of the 21st century seems strange to you. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2015, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/458 "2015-09-07T22:47:38Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > You guys have a strange idea of what makes a problem no longer a problem. A problem is not a problem when it is actually a benefit, like the 11 million mexicans living here. ---
**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:** [September 7, 2015, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/459 "2015-09-07T22:56:10Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Ah, so the hoardes are already here so there’s nothing to be unhappy about? > > Kind of like how it doesn’t matter that crime skyrocketed starting in the late sixties (and remains twice what it was before) because it’s been going down the last decade or so? > > You guys have a strange idea of what makes a problem no longer a problem. Crime has been going down steadily since the late 90s and the murder rate is now lower than it was in the 60s. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2015, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581/460 "2015-09-07T22:58:28Z")
He said “a decade or so”. Could be ten years and a month, twelve years, or two hundred, depending on which point he wants to support. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581.md?page=22) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-trump/726581.md?page=24)