Republican Election 2016 - Donald Trump Megathread [OFFICIAL]

[Breccia]

Donald Trump recently apologized for saying "the wrong thing".

Of course, he did not in any way specify which thing he said that was wrong.

And he immediately ruined the whole thing by promising to always tell the truth. Which...yeah.

During the same speech, he then asked African-Americans, who he acknowledged were disproportionately affected by poverty, "What do you have to lose by trying something new?" By which I assume he means his trickle-down economics, which would not only not be new, but they have tried it, and it didn't work.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/18/politi...ing/index.html

[cubby]

Do you think Hillary gets less people at her speeches because she doesn't wan't a huge audience or just no one is interested in going?

Again, hate Hillary for whatever lame reasons you want, but don't abandon logic and reason while doing so.

[Ghostpanther]

Donald Trump recently apologized for saying "the wrong thing".

Of course, he did not in any way specify which thing he said that was wrong.

And he immediately ruined the whole thing by promising to always tell the truth. Which...yeah.

During the same speech, he then asked African-Americans, who he acknowledged were disproportionately affected by poverty, "What do you have to lose by trying something new?" By which I assume he means his trickle-down economics, which would not only not be new, but they have tried it, and it didn't work.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/18/politi...ing/index.html

He said today he regrets saying anything which were personally painful to anyone. Not just the wrong thing. Of course to those who hate Trump, this will be hand waved away.

And the poverty, number on food stamps and unemployment rate among young African Americans is far too high. So obviously what is in the system now and for the past 7 years is not been working well for them ether.

[Merkava]

that you are okay with casually making fun of the families of fallen soldiers, as long as it helps discredit them and their political message against your candidate on social media.

No. That's not what I said. I said that people who thrust themselves into the national spotlight are fair game for being the subject of comments on social media if allegations regarding their ridiculous sexual lifestyle are proven to be true.

That's regardless of their political message and who your candidate is.

But at least you didn't imply that I'm racist, so I guess this discussion is progressing. Thanks.

[Orbitus]

Just watched Anderson Cooper 360 tonight, and one of Trump's surrogates said that Republicans have always been at the forefront of civil rights movements, and every panelist on the Democratic side collectively facepalmed. Thought that was hilarious, lol.

Yeah, right. The last one they claimed they did was the minority civil rights act of 1964 and that Republicans were behind freeing the slaves. Guess they failed American History the day they taught the Southern Strategy, IF they were taught it at all.

[Merkava]

and we didn't even come close to the level of insults and insensitivity that trump/alt-right media has unloaded on the Kahn family.

Now I'm being conscripted to renounce other, unrelated things that supporters of a candidate that I don't support may have said? Is that where this discussion is going now?

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Just watched Anderson Cooper 360 tonight, and one of Trump's surrogates said that Republicans have always been at the forefront of civil rights movements, and every panelist on the Democratic side collectively facepalmed. Thought that was hilarious, lol.

Which one was that? I'm guessing Pierson?

[lockedout]

Again, hate Hillary for whatever lame reasons you want, but don't abandon logic and reason while doing so.

You're right you would never rent out a stadium when you know you can barely fill a gymnasium.

[cubby]

You're right you would never rent out a stadium when you know you can barely fill a gymnasium.

Unless you rented out the gymnasium and filled it. She filled the venue she chose. Not complicated. You're just doing your thing again because of your blind hatred for Hillary. Keep banging your dead horse (yes, bang not beat) - it's fun to watch.

[Ghostpanther]

Just watched Anderson Cooper 360 tonight, and one of Trump's surrogates said that Republicans have always been at the forefront of civil rights movements, and every panelist on the Democratic side collectively facepalmed. Thought that was hilarious, lol.

Historically it is true. Here is some informational facts for you to consider;

Omitted from discussions today are significant facts about the struggle to pass the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act. The law guaranteed equal access to public facilities and banned racial discrimination by any entity receiving federal government financing. The law was an update of Republican Charles Sumner's 1875 Civil Rights Act which had been stuck down by the Democrat-controlled US Supreme Court in 1883.

The chief opponents of the 1964 Civil Rights Act were Democrat Senators Sam Ervin, Albert Gore, Sr. and Robert Byrd. Senator Byrd, a former member of the Ku Klux Klan, filibustered against the bill for 14 straight hours before the final vote. Former presidential candidate Richard Nixon lobbied hard for the passage of the bill. When the bill finally came up for a vote, the House of Representatives passed the bill by 289 to 124. 80% of Republicans in the House of Representatives voted yes, and only 63% of Democrats voted yes. The Senate vote was 73 to 27, with 21 Democrats in the Senate voting no, and only 6 Republicans voting no.

Equally important was the 1965 Voting Rights Act that authorized the federal government to abolish literacy tests and other means used to prevent blacks from exercising their constitutional right to vote that was granted by the 15th Amendment to the Constitution. With images of violence against civil rights protestors led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. shaping the national debate, Democrats in Congress finally decided not to filibuster the Voting Rights Act of 1965. When the bill came up for a vote, both houses of Congress passed the bill. In the House of Representatives, 85% of Republicans and 80% of Democrats voted for the bill. In the Senate, 17 Democrats voted no, and only one Republican voted no.

[Ripster42]

Historically it is true. Here is some informational facts for you to consider;

]

Always means all the way 'til today.

[Sky High]

so IDK if this has been posted but, it turns out Trumpy boy knows a thing or two about political corruption.
http://www.ibtimes.com/political-cap...ino-settlement

so Trump owes 30 million in taxes, but of course gets 25M knocked off after he donates to Chris Christie. not all that shocking a move by the governor.

[Bollocks]

In this graph of can see the ideological shift of republicansand democrats.

[Breccia]

He said today he regrets saying anything which were personally painful to anyone. Not just the wrong thing. Of course to those who hate Trump, this will be hand waved away.

No, what he said was "Sometimes, in the heat of debate and speaking on a multitude of issues, you don't choose the right words or you say the wrong thing. I have done that. And believe it or not, I regret it. And I do regret it, particularly where it may have caused personal pain. Too much is at stake for us to be consumed with these issues. But one thing I can promise you is this: I will always tell you the truth."
a) the "particularly where" negates what you said.
b) he was 100% nonspecific. Not just that quote, but the rest of his speech.
c) he ended with a call for everyone to let it go, again without being specific about what.
d) and he still said he'd always tell the truth, with the direct implication that what he's saying that causes pain, was true. Was it the wrong thing because it caused pain, but was true? Or because it wasn't true? Be specific, see point b) goddammit.
e) and lying about being honest. Dozens upon dozens of times.
Basically, he just asked for everyone to let go all the stupid shit he said, without even admitting he knew what part of what he said was wrong, or how it was wrong, or...fuck, this is the kind of blatantly forced apology you expect form a small child.

And the poverty, number on food stamps and unemployment rate among young African Americans is far too high. So obviously what is in the system now and for the past 7 years is not been working well for them ether.

First of all, the rates of such are roughly constant since 2008. (Poverty spending in constant dollars is also roughly constant in that time). Some factors (child poverty) are better than others (unemployment), but they're not dramatically different either way.
https://www.census.gov/content/dam/C...mo/p70-141.pdf

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank...-see-declines/
http://federalsafetynet.com/poverty-...the-years.html
http://www.epi.org/publication/black...econd-quarter/

Secondly, a Harvard study spanning 12 countries for 1900-2000 found no correlation between increased top 10% earning, and economic growth. And, even when such growth happened, it benefitted the top 10% for 13 years before those at the bottom saw beneficial results.

Thirdly, the IMF looked at 150 different countries and concluded that trickle-down actually works in reverse.

And finally, the average wage/hourly wage, adjusted for inflation, didn't budge much in the span of 1980 to 1992. Unemployment rates were pretty variable but didn't change much from 1981 to 1993...then dropped 1993-2001, increased 2001-2009, and have dropped 2009 to now.

Maybe you can point to some of these data points and say what's happened since 2008 isn't helping much. And I'd be tempted to agree. Congress hasn't done a whole hell of a lot, I don't expect ANYTHING to improve much under such circumstances. But the fact remains: we tried trickle-down. It flat-out failed. Trying it even harder to hope it helps, is just as stupid as doubling down on lies you've already made, and refuse to apologize for. Maybe something new is called for such as, I dunno, sending every American to college or a trade school for a couple years.

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Omitted from discussions today are significant facts about the struggle to pass the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act.

And then the Southern Strategy happened. Kind of a lot happened in the last 50 years.

[Shalcker]

Washington Post: Why these diehard Democrats are rooting for Trump

WEIRTON, W.Va. — The Ohio Valley is filled with registered Democrats, the kind that hung portraits of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman and John F. Kennedy on their living room walls. It is made of coal and steel towns and union workers, and stretches from the Pittsburgh exurbs across West Virginia’s panhandle into Ohio.

But here in Weirton — where Weirton Steel Company employed 12,000 people and now only 900 — many say they will cast their ballots for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. They talk about him over beers at local taverns and at church socials. For many of those in the unions, he’s the first Republican for whom they’ll vote — even as national unions, including the United Steelworkers and the AFL-CIO, have endorsed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

“When the steel industry was going good and the coal was good, it was blue,” said George Psaros, 76, a retired Weirton Steel engineer who voted for President Obama in 2008 and 2012 and is undecided in this contest. “Well, the world has changed.”

Ever since Democrats like Bill Clinton embraced free trade, West Virginia has voted for the Republican presidential nominee in greater margins. West Virginians sided with Democrat Michael Dukakis instead of George H. W. Bush in 1988, only one of 10 states to vote blue. But by 2000, George W. Bush won the state by 6 percent of the vote, and in 2012, Mitt Romney won by more than 20 percent.

Now even one of the most reliably Democratic groups — union members — may be turning red, drawn by Trump’s free-trade bashing and resentful of Clinton’s past support for certain international trade agreements.

“I don’t know what Trump would do if he’s elected,” said Mark Glyptis, president of the United Steelworkers Local 2911 and a Trump supporter, who voted for Obama in the past two elections. “But I know what Hillary would do.”

If Trump wants to flip the electoral map and win in November, this may be his most promising strategy. His critique of trade deals may not only help him win Weirton and the rest of West Virginia, but also other, more critical industrial belt states such as Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Nationally, union households have increasingly voted for conservative candidates, data show. In 1996, only 30 percent of union households voted for Republican candidates. In 2012, that increased to 40 percent, and political analysts expect that rise this election cycle.

Trump appears to be accelerating that schism between unions and Democrats, especially in pockets of the country where blue-collar manufacturing jobs once drove local economies.

“What we’re seeing is not surprising, but what is surprising is that we’re seeing Trump accelerating that rift,” said Robert Rupp, professor of history and political science at West Virginia Wesleyan College. “As we’re watching Trump disintegrate, [union members] are the one solid group that will stick by him until November because his economic and populist message resonated. And it’s not just in West Virginia and it’s thought the industrial states.”

And increasingly, these distressed workers are associating free trade with the Democrats. In Glyptis’s office hangs a poster that says “Free Traders are Traitors.” To many this election season, that means Democrats.

“If you’re working in a state with a tangible part of its economy in manufacturing, you’re going to be pretty concerned about Hillary Clinton and especially a Democratic Senate,” said Joel Kotkin, a presidential fellow at Chapman University in Southern California.

Trump this month in Detroit reinforced his bid to win over blue-collar voters by proclaiming: “Americanism, not globalism, will be our new credo.”

“American steel will send new skyscrapers soaring,” he said in an economic address in Detroit. “We will put new American metal into the spine of this nation. It will be American hands that rebuild this country, and it will be American energy — mined from American sources — that powers this country. It will be American workers who are hired to do the job.”

Some people in this part of West Virginia said in interviews they are angry about their community’s condition and blame the Democratic Party, which for generations has called itself “of the working class.” At the heart of that discontent is economic disillusionment and a feeling that Washington Democrats have sacrificed their well-being to push through more international agreements.

Take the end of Weirton’s Main Street.

It has been swallowed up over the years by tires weighed down by coils of tin and beams of steel. The road is undriveable, not that anyone drives this part of town anymore. Brown water fills potholes in the street, and when it rains, water pours down the side of ruffled roofs into hollowed-out blast furnaces.

Workers here — Democratic, union-dues-paying workers — are tired of that economic stagnancy, and many say Trump will do something about it. He’ll revitalize their towns throughout the valley and Appalachia, he’ll bring back coal and steel, he’ll return jobs lost over decades of globalization and modernization.

“You have to get a decent-paying job, that’s the first step of anything,” said John Balzano, 78, and the Local 2911 benefits coordinator, who said he is undecided about for whom to vote. He has worked at the mill since age 21. “And it branches out, whether you’re going to be a good family man, whether you’re going to get a divorce, whether you’re going to live in the community, whether you’re going to become a good, community-minded person, the job will dictate that. We don’t have them around here.”

Six or seven workers at one point manned each blast furnace in Weirton. Residents brag that those fires produced the world’s best steel. Separate machines poured the molten metal into square molds, while still others took those molds and flattened them into sheets.

The advent of the basic oxygen steel plant, a gargantuan green building across the street that locals call the “B.O.P,” meant five people could do the same work. And a flood of imports from Mexico and China over the past two decades meant that Weirton didn’t need to make as much steel. Mill owners downsized slowly at first, then rapidly to keep up with international competition.

In its heyday, the plant filled with 12,000 workers and its employees from three states — West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania — ran the community center and plowed snow from the streets.

Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel had mills in Steubenville, Ohio, directly across the Ohio River, and Mingo Junction, Ohio, four miles west. Both have shuttered.

Weirton Mayor Harold E. “Bubba” Miller ran for office a year ago on a campaign of economic diversification. He worked in the mill for 33 years before retiring and soon after saw his pension sliced in half and his benefits evaporate. He owns a hall in town where he sells buffalo wings on weeknights and rents the space out for weddings and other gatherings on weekends.

During his election bid, he felt the same anger voters are taking out now on Clinton. They feel spurned by trade deals, he said as he sipped coffee at the union hall.

“We didn’t see a damn thing in return,” he said of the North American Free Trade Agreement. China’s 2000 admission to the World Trade Organization and the 2004 Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement inundated U.S. markets with cheap foreign metal.

Voters here, many of them union members and nearly all with personal ties to Local 2911, see the valley’s economic straits as a social issue that requires Trump’s “Make America Great Again” ethos.

Unemployment in the valley reached 15 percent in 2010 and did not get 10 percent for three years, according to federal data. The region is still struggling to add jobs.

In nearby Ohio, blocks on end in downtown Steubenville are without ground-level shops. Mingo Junction has two viable businesses on its Main Street.

The largest building in the commercial district burned to the ground in mid-July, but local officials said not enough people routinely visit the place — which sits across the street from city hall — to gather witnesses to investigate the blaze.

It’s just as well, firefighters said. The building had been vacant for three years.

Weirton and the valley are economically transitioning, and there are signs of success here, economic development officials point out. Weirton is buying up abandoned mill sites and pitching them to other businesses.

Follansbee, W.Va., two exits south on Route 22, has a plant still running. It makes coke, a carbon-rich fuel used to melt down raw iron. Officials in Mingo Junction are optimistic about placing a factory on the town’s old mill site.

And the local organized labor community has embraced “business friendly” regulations, and protectionist trade policies, to speed up that transition.

Although Trump’s rhetoric has been divisive and egotistical, residents prefer his economic approach, even as it lacks detail.

“I’ve never been a fan of his,” said Miller, Weirton’s mayor, “but he’ll look at the economy a little different and jobs a little differently than Hillary, because he’s put together deals that have worked."

[Hooked]

Trump is going to win in a landslide. The rallys dont lie, get ready for defcon 1 in the urban areas of large cities though before november, the globalist cronies are in panic mode because of trump. Trump is going to spank hillary like a child in the debates.

[Cthulhu 2020]

LU-fucking lol

Just when I think the Trumples have run out of ways to reassure themselves that Trump is going to snatch victory from the jaws of humiliating defeat, they present me with all new lows.

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If I was them I'd be shitting my pants right now, though this would probably be at least the 50th time I would have shat my pants at this point. The potential for longterm damage to the Republican party image and the fallout in down ballot elections this year alone, not to mention subsequent elections, is massive.

If the past has taught us anything, it's that the alt right does not learn, it does not shit its pants when faced with the reality of their completely abhorrent and unrealistic stances. They just double down, make excuses, and start firing up conspiracy theories.

[MasterHamster]

TIL that polls are hypotheses.
Lol

Do you think Hillary gets less people at her speeches because she doesn't wan't a huge audience or just no one is interested in going?

And yet he's still trailing behind
How embarrassing

Trump-propaganda somehow always stops at overly simplistic exaggerations, but I guess that is the limit.

[Slant]

No, you have it exactly backwards. I wasn't trying to nail Wells to anything. My point was that if the story is true, then Khan is fair game. Wells was trying to paint me merely asking if it was true as me giving credence to the article. Nowhere in any of my posts did I give any credence to the article at all. In fact I was skeptical of the article and I said so. Which of course you would have seen if you had actually read the thread, instead of being guilty of what you accused me of. But thanks for the insult.

You have a very odd way of "not trying to nail him" when you say this:

Again, I'm asking if it's true. And you keep replying to me with things that don't really relate to my query. I get it, the guys unreliable. That's fine. But sometimes even unreliable sources get it right. That's all I'm saying.

Guess I can't read English properly. That thing went back and forth for a few posts, I may have gotten the wrong impression and you pressing him is totally innocent. Given this forum, however, I doubt that.

[Kyriani]

Trump is going to win in a landslide. The rallys dont lie, get ready for defcon 1 in the urban areas of large cities though before november, the globalist cronies are in panic mode because of trump. Trump is going to spank hillary like a child in the debates.

The last time the Republican candidate was going to "win in a landslide" he got buried in it instead. I see no reason why this time will be any different.

[Hooked]

TIL that polls are hypotheses.
Lol




And yet he's still trailing behind
How embarrassing

Trump-propaganda somehow always stops at overly simplistic exaggerations, but I guess that is the limit.

We shall see, even though they are polling 20% more democrats in the latest polls after the democrat convention. The latest polls are hardly accurate.