Why is Trump breaking election vows?

[Ghostpanther]

I heard him say this during one of those debates myself... like literally out of his mouth? Well I looked it up in the debate scripts just to be sure and here it is:

"If I win I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation"

Now he asks for a applause for the Clintons and scrapped that idea. That IS going back on words is it not?

He did say that. But you see, it is not one of the reasons he was elected and if he sticks to what he ran on, which effects each American, that is what matters, not some political campaign rhetoric.

[Lady Dragonheart]

He's not obligated to keep his promises... This actually happens quite often in the US, and I'm not even joking about it...

This is why I believe that people should be given a right to vote on specific laws and government actions instead of people to impose these things with no standard in place to make them do as they promised.

[Saft]

What entered my mind when I read the title was "like every other politician on earth then". This applies doubly to populists because they always promise too much to look attractive next to the establishment and get votes from anyone else but the dumbest or the biggest haters of the establishment.

I doubt a lot of people will be surprised if Trump hardly gets anything done, my only hope is that the opposite side learns something from this election.

[Machismo]

He did say that. But you see, it is not one of the reasons he was elected and if he sticks to what he ran on, which effects each American, that is what matters, not some political campaign rhetoric.

But he's already balking on the things he ran on. The last time I checked, he's not asking Mexico to pay for that wall.

He said he would release his tax returns, multiple times... and yet backed out on that one, as well.

he said he would drain the swamp, but going by most of his cabinet picks, it doesn't seem like he really has.

[Mekh]

Well keep in mine to be impeached requires more than just being disgusted with the President. He has to actually break the law and you have to prove he did. :P

Going by his campaign rethoric, Clinton is a treasonour criminal and a danger to national security. You'd think taking her to court and then to prison should get top billing on his agenda.

Unless of course he knows he doesn't have a case.

[Katchii]

I don't like Trump, but maybe his breaking vows has something to do with him making promises about shit before he knew wtf he was talking about. Now that he's in office and likely has a much better understanding of how things work, it's possible he's changed his mind.

Pretty sure there's all kinds of shit the President gains access to once sworn in that changes the game they had planned. He honestly doesn't strike me as a man who would promise something and then not do it, or do the total opposite without a good reason. I mean he does own a successful business, so he should be used to information gathering and then deciding which way to go with it...but knowing him, he's likely already made some claim or vow and then now that he has all the info he's like... "oh right, shouldn't do that because of XYZ."

[Azadina]

Well, for one thing, most Republican voters would vote Republican nearly regardless of who's running. Even if you were to resurrect Hitler or Stalin, and have them run as Republican candidate. That's the mentality of voting for party, not a person. The only exception I see that might scare a few Republican voters, is if you put Gay, Trans or Muslim as the Republican candidate.

[Deleted]

Soo are these things (promises he broke) being reported in the States (cnn, fox, abc.. etc) or are they ignored?

[Alfador]

Can't imagine him lasting long, will probably get impeached within the year.

This is the most absurd, unrealistic, wishful thinking nonsense I've seen about trump and yet somehow I see it constantly.

For the record I'm not a Trump supporter, voted against him and utterly lament him being in office, but let's get real here.

Impeachment itself does not remove anyone from office. So, ignoring everything else, it wouldn't do much to make him not last long even if it happened. Just to impeach him (functionally the equivalent of an indictment), 50% of the republican controlled house would have to vote to do so, effectively agreeing that they believe he violated his oath. The Democrats probably won't even be unanimous in that, and they certainly won't get enough Republicans to close the gap. Even if he openly defies them, they're smart enough to know that it's party suicide to do it. For some reason the party still carries credibility with a large portion of America. If they attack their own president so directly, they will lose that and they know it.

Of course, even if they actually get the 50% in the house required to impeach, that doesn't functionally remove him from office or even restrict him. The house then has to basically play prosecutor, send people to argue before the senate, in what is effectively a trial, that he violated his oath (ostebsibly by committing a provable crime). The Senate then, also republican controlled mind you so all the same caveats about willingness to torpedo their own party apply, have to then vote with a two thirds majority to remove him from office. I've got a better chance of Stealing Giselle from Tom Brady than Trump has of getting removed from office via impeachment.

Literally the only way that's even remotely plausible that trump leaves office without getting beaten in reelection is if he decides it's not as fun as he was hoping and he doesn't run.

[Katchii]

Going by his campaign rethoric, Clinton is a treasonour criminal and a danger to national security. You'd think taking her to court and then to prison should get top billing on his agenda.

Unless of course he knows he doesn't have a case.

He'd have to prove the two investigations she already went through were bullshit first. He doesn't have a case since the case was already closed. Whether the investigation was appropriate is apparently a matter of debate.

[Dug]

Because he dude lies all the time and his supporters are okay with it cause emails and Mr. Ben Ghazi

[Jeezy911]

First you will not get a straight answer here, this forum is a lefty stronghold. Certainly, not many of the working class Americans who voted for him are hanging out in here. But as far as promises go, he is keeping the important ones. Nobody really cares about about his tax return or if he goes after Clinton. Jobs, Obamacare, Trade, and immigration are the areas he will certainly follow through. The rest is just politics.

[Ghostpanther]

Going by his campaign rethoric, Clinton is a treasonour criminal and a danger to national security. You'd think taking her to court and then to prison should get top billing on his agenda.

Unless of course he knows he doesn't have a case.

Well as one who voted for him, I did not disagree with him on his opinion of her, but it was not the major considerations on why I voted for him. Actually I would have voted against Hillary even if she did not have the email scandal and other crap overshadowing her. I disagreed with her direction she wants for the country.

[Alfador]

The question that should be asked is, why did people even choose that guy knowing what a self-centered, arrogant jerk he was?

I'd vote for a self-centered, arrogant jerk in an instant if I thought that they were actually the person we needed. I promise you plenty of people who voted for him don't even like him. Some were even rather directly put off by him, but they put that aside because something else was more important to them. I didn't, because I don't believe his shit in a second, but I'd vote for someone I absolutely hate, someone who actively offends me, in an instant if I actually thought their plan was the best course of action.

[paralleluniverse]

When do politicians keep any of their pre-election vows? And Trump doesn't seem like the most trustworthy fellow even before he went into politics.


Politics are a game where you spew as much bullshit as the public likes to hear to get them vote for you. After you have won, you can pretty much do whatever you please.

Most politicians in fact do what they promise or at least try to.

[Machismo]

Going by his campaign rethoric, Clinton is a treasonour criminal and a danger to national security. You'd think taking her to court and then to prison should get top billing on his agenda.

Unless of course he knows he doesn't have a case.

Of course, going by his campaign rhetoric, his pick for National Security Advisor also qualifies as all of those things.

[paralleluniverse]

Well as one who voted for him, I did not disagree with him on his opinion of her, but it was not the major considerations on why I voted for him. Actually I would have voted against Hillary even if she did not have the email scandal and other crap overshadowing her. I disagreed with her direction she wants for the country.

No, actually it seems the reason you voted for him is because you were dumb enough to be duped into believing the lie that you can improve health insurance without an individual mandate.

[zorkuus]

And he did remove a lot of the swamp shit when he took office.

The denial is strong in this one. You do realize he replaced the swamp with another? Ofc you don't.

[Krigaren]

While "every politician lies", Trump engages in excessive hyperbole. It's a sales tactic that he knows very well, because he's a salesman. Like, used car style salesman, who makes promises based on what he thinks his audience wants to hear and gets them hyped up the most. Usually those promises are completely fabricated, overly exaggerated, or outright impossible.

That's the difference between Trump and "every other politician". His promises were primarily intended to get votes, and that's it.

An example of his hyperbole, here's a list of all the things Trump promised to do on day 1.

Here's another list of all the day one "promises" that he's broken.

Now, does it matter that he does any or all of them? No. Does it especially matter that he does them day 1 like he promised? Not really no.

What does matter is that he's played his audience. What does matter is that he makes grandiose claims that he has a long track record of reneging on, and promises to do things he either knows he can't do, or doesn't care that he can't do so long as he gets your vote. While "all politicians make promises they can't keep" or "all politicians lie", Trump does it at a level that's unheard of and "unpresidented" in certainly our modern times, and that's extremely concerning.

[Zandalariprelate]

Do you expect he would do any of those things he promise in 3 days? Presidents are not gods btw