Donald Trump is melting down before our eyes. His campaign is in shambles, and “might actually implode.” GOP lawmakers are ripping out their hair. Some believe that an intervention needs to be staged. The poll numbers are ghastly for Trump: the latest poll has Hillary Clinton leading Trump by 10 points, 49% to Trump’s 39%. Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight site gives Clinton a 73.2% chance at winning, and their electoral map seems amazing – Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida are all polling blue right now. So, obviously, everyone is in panic mode.
Turmoil in the Republican Party escalated Wednesday as party leaders, strategists and donors voiced increased alarm about the flailing state of Donald Trump’s candidacy and fears that the presidential nominee was damaging the party with an extraordinary week of self-inflicted mistakes, gratuitous attacks and missed opportunities.
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus was described as “very frustrated” with and deeply disturbed by Trump’s behavior over the past week, having run out of excuses to make on the nominee’s behalf to donors and other party leaders, according to multiple people familiar with the events.
Meanwhile, Trump’s top campaign advisers are struggling once again to instill discipline in their candidate, who has spent recent days lurching from one controversy to another while seemingly skipping chances to go on the offensive against his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.
“A new level of panic hit the street,” said longtime operative Scott Reed, chief strategist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “It’s time for a serious reset.”
Trump allies on Wednesday publicly urged the candidate to reboot, furious that he has allowed his confrontation with the Muslim parents of dead Army Capt. Humayun Khan to continue for nearly a week. They also are angry with Trump because of his refusal in an interview with The Washington Post on Tuesday to endorse two of the GOP’s top elected officials — House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.) and Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) — ahead of their coming primary elections.
Trump’s advisors and managers have been urging him to STFU for days, with literally nothing changing – Trump was still doing and saying crazy sh-t all day yesterday as the headlines grew worse and worse. Oh, and he might have already disclosed classified information from one of his security briefings too – that story is being lost in the stories of the shambolic campaign.
Some GOP lawmakers and strategists have begun to openly wonder if they could somehow force Trump out of the nomination, or convince him to quit. While it’s clear that Trump has zero interest in becoming president – he doesn’t even understand what the presidency entails – he’s not going to quit. Even if he did, the Republican Party would destroy itself before they ever agreed on a replacement candidate.
I heard one Republican strategist say that they were thankful for the Olympics starting this Friday, because it would mean two weeks of everyone paying attention to the games rather than the election. But here’s my point: Donald Trump couldn’t even stay quiet for TWO DAYS during the Democratic National Convention. He’s a child who thrives on attention, good or bad. So what do you think he will do when everyone is trying to watch the Olympics? Will he just campaign quietly and not make any news? Or will he get even crazier so that people go back to paying attention to him?
PS… If you want to have nightmares from here to election day, watch this.
Watch: What are some major concerns about Trump's handling of national security? Hayden and #morningjoe weigh in. https://t.co/FyFoSmJlJI
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) August 3, 2016
Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN.
Finally, some Donald Trump news that actually make sense. 😀
Yes, but sadly his supporters haven’t waivered. Anything can happen to give him a lead…. it is going to be a very long 96 days until the election – I really, really cannot cope with him as POTUS.
One of the main reasons we need to shorten the campaign season to July 4-Thanksgiving weekend.
Another breaking news is The Washington post found out the nude Melanie pics were taken in 1995 but she did not have a work Visa unti 1996. The Trump campaign says she took the pics for free to get her name out there. However they refused to say if you had a visitor’s visa at that time and her housing was being paid for by her 1996 Visa sponsor which can be viewed as payment. The campaign has clamped down on answering any more questions.
Also the computer security gals and guys are now Team Hillary since Trump invited Putin to hack into US databases. They are having a fundraiser for her today. They have never done that before for any candidates!
Terrifying
Original T.C. – have any of them thought to say “Hey! Why outsource? American hackers not good enough for you?!?” 🙂
His ignorant CULT-Like fans are devoted to him, “not matter what”.
All we can hope for , is that it’s impossible for him to grow his base.
All we can pray for ( and vote for), is that the majority of our country will not allow this Narcissistic Personality Disordered boy-man to become POTUS.
This is the most crucial election of our lifetime.
Do not stay home. Madame President needs you.
That is frightening stuff, this is no joke anymore, this is really serious, Hillary may be this and that in some peoples mind, but at least she is trusted not to start a nuclear war. I just hope he continues to self implode, because he is a dangerous man.
“Do not stay home.”
This!!!
If you are a person that doesn’t want Trump be President, then it is so important to get involved. I am so overloaded at work, I really have no energy to spare….YET, I know that I have to volunteer for Hillary. I have to.
If Trump wins and I didn’t volunteer, the guilt would be overwhelming. Our democracy is so very, very, very important. We can’t take our civil responsibilities lightly. The stakes are so high this year.
Yes to all of this. While I have only 8 ‘friends’ on Facebook who are Trump supporters, their unwillingness to akmowledge that he’s getting crazier by the minute is truly terrifying. One of them is a college ex and my vagina is so embarrassed. VOTE VOTE VOTE!
Ita Bubbles, his supporters are the worst!
Yay!!!!! Found this article inline about a decline in foot traffic, particularly amongst women, to Trump’s hotels and casinos. Yay!!!
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/04/trump-hotels-and-casino-traffic-has-taken-a-huge-hit-since-trump-started-running-for-president-commentary.html
I really struggle to see why anyone would vote for a person like this to lead our country. Regardless of ones thoughts on Hillary, this man is a hateful bigot. He has zero political experience. It’s honestly frightening people take him seriously!
Have you seen the video going around of comments made by his supporters at his rallies. His campaign is just showing how racist so many of his followers are. ONE man said that Trump would restore the “world he grew up in”.. He was probably in his 70’s.. you know what that world looked like. What he and many of Trumps supporters don’t seem to understand is that the world they want restored doesn’t exist any more.
that video is disturbing. so much hate and ignorance. I don’t want to share the planet with those people.
Ever heard of a “yellow dog Democrat”? Same thing is happening with Trump. For many voters, party loyalty trumps (pun intended) the individual candidate, no matter how vile he may be.
Bridget: I can’t speak for everyone but I think people regard it as such a fundamental difference of opinion, that they couldn’t find common ground with anyone who doesn’t agree on that issue. But as I said, all the die hard pro-lifers I know are genuinely conflicted. I can’t say whether the Republican party has lost me permanently, but Donald Trump comes across profoundly anti-Christian, specifically in regards to immigration, gun control, and environmental issues.
I don’t believe for one minute that Donald Trump is pro-life.
@Jennifer: I totally get what you’re saying, but I’m just trying to point out that pro-choice/pro-life has very little with actually running our country. Not to mention, the Catholic Church’s renewed focus on social justice! I come from a Jesuit education and they’re certainly on the more liberal end of Catholicism, but I personally am very uncomfortable with the fact that anti-abortion (most politicians don’t seem particularly pro-life, just against abortion) politics never discuss the contributing factors with these unwanted pregnancies – access to birth control (which we can’t regulate on a religious basis), poverty, education, etc. Which is why I once again go back to it not being my foundational issue. I hope this makes sense! By the way, I appreciate that you’re willing to discuss this.
And as a reminder, even former First Lady Barbara Bush has publicly SMH’d him: “I don’t know how women can vote for Trump”
I actually know at least 3 people very close to me who have said they will vote for trump! I try to really to avoid political discussions with my friends/family. But knowing they agree with ANY of his views makes me question their sane judgment. My mother is 63, also grew up in the 70’s & she said she is truly afraid if this man wins this election.
I have always voted for Republicans, as have most of my friends and family. I don’t know a single person who supports him. I can’t figure out how this happened.
Me too- come from a republican family and area, and no one supports him. We have one crazy relative who is all about him, but is always up for the craziest candidate. I honestly can’t figure out where the votes are coming from. Everyone keeps talking about Gary Johnson being an option, and this is a super conservative crowd.
I guess I don’t get why a more normal candidate hasn’t thrown their hat in the ring. It seems like most thinking people aren’t interested in either candidate, so another candidate would have a chance.
@kitten. Sorry about your “3” and hoping there are more like your mom out there.
I’m remembering the public reaction to the manner in which Anita Hill was treated during the Clarence Thomas hearings:
Hill’s treatment by the all male Senate Judiciary Committee also said to be a contributing factor to the large number of women elected to Congress in 1992, “women clearly went to the polls with the notion in mind that you had to have more women in Congress”
FYI, on my local news feed: Atlantic City’s Trump Taj Mahal to Close Amid Month-long Strike
16 years of increasingly rigid “us vs them” politics. This has happened because we let it. When the GOP became the party of Karl Rove, Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich, and became about fear and hate, it left the door open for Donald Trump. While there are plenty of normal, sane Republicans, at a national level the party has been a mess for a long time.
@ Lille
I don’t think there are any “normal” candidates left in the GOP. They’ve pushed tan increasingly hardline agenda for the last 30+ years, and anyone moderate is either independent or a centrist democrat. I heard my husband’s boss, who’s an RNC member, say that they’re having a terrible time recruiting young GOP politicians because all the reasonable ones are independents and don’t want to associate with the GOP. If the GOP is going to save itself from the mess it’s created, they need to drop the social issues immediately (abortion, gay marriage, etc). The problem is that even the young republicans who don’t agree with those issues, know they’ve lost in the court of popular opinion and so aren’t willing to keep pushing those agendas as campaign cornerstones. (Like they don’t believe in gay marriage, but they know that fight is over and aren’t willing to revisit it.) But those are the only issues the older republicans want to talk about. They don’t want to move on to other stuff, they want to keep suing the government until the ACA is struck down.
@Jennifer and Lille – I’m curious about what republicans who do not support Trump will do come November. Will you not vote at all or consider voting for a democrat? I’m honestly curious as a non-American, but understand if either don’t feel comfortable with the question.
Cee: I have no idea what I’m going to do. I’m Catholic and we tend to vote for Republicans based on the abortion issue, but imo, that’s the only draw at this point and I honestly don’t think Trump is pro-life. I’ve imagined myself waking up that Wednesday and I’d feel a lot better with President Clinton. I lean left on almost every other issue and Trump is terrifying.
@Jennifer – I’m Catholic as well, so while I get where you’re coming from, should that really be the deciding factor in who runs our country? There is SO much more at stake, whether or not someone is pro-choice or pro-life is the least of my worries. Look at the last pro-life president: George Bush. He may have been against abortion, but he had no problem cavalierly sending soldiers to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Bridget – sorry, replied upthread somewhere. Thanks for a civil discussion on a divisive issue.
@Jennifer – thank you for answering my question.
@Algernon – I swear that it’s because no one wants to have to deal with Rove and Limbaugh, the self-proclaimed kingmakers of the GOP. Rove reportedly has such a huge hand in fundraising that it’s impossible to make it far without dealing with that a-hole. Things got twisted along the way, with the idea that no GOP candidate can make it without pandering to the far right crowd, with the fear that if a candidate isn’t conservative enough that they’ll just leave en masse. Look at the way they pushed both McCain and Romney further right, essentially torpedoing both candidacies (it’s no shock that both ended up with lame-o, terrible VP picks). The GOP knows what it needs to do to improve, but simply doesn’t want to do it. As long as we the American people accept this, we’re going to run into this again and again and again.
Bridget, good points. It always stumped me how the Republican party seemed so often to claim a “pro-life” position, while it applies that stance only to unborn babies. Meanwhile, the death penalty, hawkish candidates, proliferation of guns of all kinds are all peachy-keen, along with Bush’s wars (justified BTW by people “bearing false witness.) But care of the underprivileged, policies that deal with factors contributing to unwanted pregnancies, services for women with babies (ya know, ones who may have heeded the ‘pro-life’ message) , support for refugees, care of the environment (and dealing with climate change) so that life on the entire planet can continue, all those things get nothing but scorn in the traditional “Republican Party”.
A close friend of mine who is older than me and lives in Nevada is a huge supporter of Trump. I’m questioning how I can continue to be friends with him, even after putting the brakes on any political discussions with him from here on out. My MIL is also a die-hard Republican and she will vote that ticket regardless of who is running. There are other reasons for me not to like her, but this is just the icing on the cake.
OH man, my MOM supports Trump. It’s terrible. I can’t even. I just have to pretend like it’s not true and completely ignore the subject of politics since we worked so hard for the good relationship we have now. He’s not going to chill. He has no chill. Mark my words. He will get crazier and crazier. Hell hath no fury like a narcissist unmasked.
I am having this problem, too. My family is very conservative, and they’ll all vote for Trump regardless of how crazy he gets, because they would never imagine not voting for a republican. (It’s clear the party can’t control him, so I don’t know what they think is going to happen if he’s in office.) I’m really worried I won’t be able to talk to my parents after this election. I just try to tune it out and not got involved in political discussions, but they get mad at *me* because I won’t vote for Trump. I’ve never voted republican in my life! I don’t know why they think I would start now.
Yep, living in NJ close to PA and this entire area is LOVING this guy. Signs everywhere – this whole election is like a really bad the Twilight Zone.
My mom is voting for Trump, too. 🙁 She really detests him, but after nearly 25 straight years of hearing the most vile anti-Hillary propaganda being spewed from Limbaugh and Fox News, there’s not a chance she’d ever consider voting for her. It’s really frustrating.
Yep, both of my parents and my sister & her husband will prob vote Trump. My mom def will but then she also has NPD and is a bigot. True story: my parents came up for Christmas at my sister’s house one year along with my sister’s in-laws who they’ve known for many years (fathers used to work together). Sister & I live in Minneapolis/St. Paul, and both sets of parents live in NE Kansas. The in-laws went to midnight Mass and the next day my mom asked them: “Were there Muslims out harassing people? Were there lots of Muslims out of the streets?”. The in-laws weren’t as horrified as I was (of course their daughter said “leave it to a Puerto Rican to misspell ‘Michael'” the same day, so…). Yes, Mom, Mpls/StP has one of the largest Muslim populations in the country, and no, they don’t congregate on Christian or secular holidays or harass Christians.
There’s no reasoning with these types of people. They’re bigots who believe they are entitled to have the world exactly as they want it b/c they’re white, upper-middle class Christians. All the privileges they have are theirs because they’re better than other people. I learned as a child — do the opposite of whatever my parents say and I’ll be alright. Hasn’t failed me yet.
@vava you would end a close friendship over trump? Shrugs shoulders<
@Dlo, I would end the friendship if my friend doesn’t stop harping on me about Trump. He apparently can’t ‘help himself’ and I’m getting sick of it. He has exposed himself as a gun toting racist/sexist and that is a core reason why I may indeed distance myself from him. You can’t choose your family, but you can choose your friends.
The United States is not an Island that is closed off to the rest of the world. the internet has made the world a much smaller place. I have not doubt that other foreign leaders are being made aware of these kinds of statements. What do people think will happen. If this disgusting creature is elected we are going to have World War 3.. It will happen. He is a child and has no ability to let anything go. He will be taunted and as we have seen he can be baited with a tweet. He can’t stand to not be thought of as the greatest. If they think he will be quiet during the Olympic they obviously misjudge his need for attention. He won’t be quiet. He can’t. And every time he responds to the tiniest attack.. he creates anther story.
It’s true that foreign leaders are aware of the statements made by Trump. But unfortunately not in a good way. In Belgium (where I live) papers call it the trumpification of politics. By which they mean that our politicians (mostly the more right wing ones) are actually inspired by the way Trump talks and reacts to things. Resulting in politicians tweeting/talking/… the most stupid offensive things just to get reactions and to get the reputation of a no-nonsense person, who isn’t afraid to speak the truth. It’s actually terrifying that they feel inspired by him.
In Argentina he is considered an idiot and a laughing stock, but a deranged one, and we really want him to lose. Whatever the US does, it affects us too. We don’t want him in charge of our future.
As the highest authority on shambles, I have to agree that this campaign is in shambles.
If Trump wasn’t so scary and disgusting, it would be hilarious to watch the extreme right freak the f*ck out over a mess that they 100% created themselves.
Funny!
Lol. I am realizing once again what a great word– and name — it is.
I would be enjoying this more if I wasn’t now afraid that the GOP might somehow replace Trump with a more viable candidate, like Paul Ryan, who might actually give Hillary a run for her money.
Doubt it. For kicks I checked out Paul Ryan’s FB page (won’t make that mistake again) and most of the grief he was getting was from Trump supporters enraged that he wouldn’t support Trump. Ryan is hated by the Republican base as much as Hillary.
I don’t know what the Trump supporters would do if the GOP got rid of him.
I would be relieved if they replaced Trump, and I’m pretty f’in liberal. I would love to get back to having disagreements about policy. America would be ok if Paul Ryan or Hillary Clinton were president for 4 years. America can not allow Donald Trump in the White House under any circumstance.
I’m glad that you could make me laugh. Thanks for stepping in as the authority.
I’ve been saying since the primaries, and someone smarter than me said that Trump is the Republican party’s Frankenstein. They created this monster – whose platform seems to be based solely on racism and isolationism – and now they’re letting it roam the streets unchecked. It would be funny (and it IS exactly what they all deserve) except he could become president. And even if he doesn’t the country has to face how real racism and hatred still is (even amongst our own family members we previously thought were “nice”!)
The GOP has been pandering to hate and the lowest common denominator for years. This thing is their creation. Hope they are proud of themselves…
Yeah this morning I was watching the news and I couldn’t help but laugh at the GOP scrambling to find a way to flush this turd of a candidate.
At the same time, I think it says SO much about the Republican party and their incredibly outdated and disaffected political platform that they’re left to promote this clown’s candidacy.
@shambles did you see where someone started a petition to question his sanity? I believe it was a congree or senate person. I think this is an excellent idea
And I thought the “Sarah Palin for VP” trainwreck was about as bad as things could get. She might be mean-spirited, narrow-minded and dumb as a box of rocks, but she was nowhere near the S***show that is the Trump campaign.
I’m embarrassed, frustrated, angry and completely fed up with this incompetent a**hole and the spineless Republicans that support him. This is the party that supposedly loves America? GMAFB. I so hope that Hillary wins, because that will be 12 years that they have lost the presidency. Wake up, Republicans. Your party is dumpster fire.
I was watching him at one of his rally’s in Florida last night on CNN, and he just rambled the whole time about nothing, then he started bringing up the Meghan Kelly thing and something else about the reporter he made fun of etc, just crazy stuff, that makes no sense, and his followers behind were laughing at him as if he is so great, it just makes no sense. He won the primarys with 13 million votes I think and Hillary I beleive got 2 million more, so as far as I know you have to get 65 million votes to win the Whitehouse, now there is no way he is going to get that amount of votes, he just cant have that many followers.
Have you seen the WaPo article from a day or two ago, which is just a transcript of a reporter attempting to ask a few questions (nothing hard hitting). It’s just rambling words and complete inattention. They were smart to just post the transcript and let readers figure it out, instead of trying to craft an article.
That transcript is beyond scary, terrifying, (looking up for other adjectives…) frightening, chilling, blood-curling, hair-rising…
Trump is a terribly rude human being. He needs to learn some manners and self control. I was horrified to see the way he behaved towards the mother with the crying baby at his rally the other day (add this to the list of other awful things he has said). It’s even more horrifying to think that he might have access to one of the world’s largest nuclear arsenals.
I, for one, am delighted that he cannot control himself and has no manners. If he had control and manners we would not be nearly as aware of who he really is. He is showing us his true self…believe him. And, be afraid!
“It’s even more horrifying to think that he might have access to one of the world’s largest nuclear arsenals.”
and, he has allegedly asked during a security briefing about using nukes. THREE TIMES. as in, ‘we have them, why can’t we use them?”
with him at the helm, we’d be closer to nuclear war than we ever were with Reagan in the 80s.
Oh, we were quite close to WWIII with Reagan. Like Trump, he did not understand that once ballistic missiles are launched, they cannot be recalled. Like Trump, nearly every time Reagan opened his mouth a lie came out – lies that actually killed people since he was the President. Reagan was just more cheerful so many people didn’t realize how dangerous he was, except the people directly affected by his policies and wars by proxy and invasions and occupations.
I talked with my senator’s chief aide about the dangers of Ronald Reagan having the power to launch the missiles. The aide did not disagree, but felt that if the orders were given – they would not be obeyed. But the people who were sitting by the missiles with the keys to launch were selected for their willingness to obey orders. We know how easy it is for humans to obey horrible orders. Even suicidal orders such as launching nuclear weapons today. Even without retaliation, we will suffer the consequences of fallout and atmospheric dust from our own weapons. We were probably saved by Reagan’s easy distractability. He didn’t spend much time working, thank goodness.
Trump is even more dangerous, though, because he is so impulsive and easily hurt by criticism. I don’t see how they can get rid of him unless he quits, which is probably unlikely. There must be a protocol in case a candidate dies or is incapacitated, but Trump is really just being Trump. He was the same obnoxious ignoramus all through the primaries and he got the most votes. The time for the Republicans to stop him was before he was nominated.
If they do manage to remove Trump, I would assume they would instate Mike Pence as the Presidential candidate. Which is very bad news indeed, although I don’t think Pence would be a nuclear risk. I hope. But he will cause a lot of damage, especially to women, if he gets Presidential power directly or indirectly (as delegated by President Trump). In other words, we’re all screwed one way or another unless Hillary wins.
This is why you are seeing many sane Republicans coming out for Hillary. One column I read said a Trump supporter was trying to convince them to vote for Trump by saying, “You’re in a room with only two doors. Behind one is a man-eating tiger and behind the other you may find a beautiful woman (Trump sexism) or a man-eating tiger — which do you choose?”
The columnist went on to explain that for many sane GOP voters it’s not like that. It’s more like, “You’re in a room with two doors. One has a man-eating tiger and the other could hold a relatively harmless bear or an atomic bomb. I’ll take my chances with the tiger.”
What I really don’t get are the Trump supporters who say, “He’s the PEOPLE’S CHOICE!”
He didn’t even get a majority of the GOP vote, much less the general electorate, yet he’s “the people’s choice?
It infuriates me that GOP strategists are trying to quiet him down in order to keep his campaign afloat. They still want him to win, as if he would be any different as President than he is now. He won’t be. He’ll be dangerous both home and abroad. They care more about their party keeping control than they do about this nation or the lives within it.
Yes-I wish they would look at the bigger picture here. If this is how he is during campaigning, he’s going to be even worse while in control of the White House. With nuclear weapons at his disposal.
I think it is more that they want to show they are still employable. This campaign is a career killer and they are trying to save themselves. You campaign core is always looked at.
He’s all id and no ego or super-ego.
We cannot elect this man. He has no idea what’s going on and even less knowledge of the requirements to lead the country.
Everyone watch that video until the very last word spoken. I said “Oh F*%$!!!” out loud and scared my dogs.
Everyone in America needs to watch that video before they vote. Trump scares the sh!t out of me. I miss the days where Democrats and Republicans just had policy differences, and no one was wondering why they can’t create a nuclear winter (3 times in 1 hour…jesus).
Interventions are all about trying to end problems. Donald’s problem is his campaign. If only there was a way to (susp)end that problem…
The problem is not the campaign, it’s the candidate. If it was the campaign, you’d hear about people being fired or new people being brought in. That isn’t happening.
He has fired several of his campaign people and others have resigned.
That was immediately after the primaries, thats somewhat normal when gearing up for the general.
Donald is his campaign. He’s only been selling himself this whole campaign, that’s what I meant by “his campaign.” Sorry if that wasn’t clear.
“If we have nuclear weapons, why can’t we use them?” … “No, seriously, why?” … “Come on, pleeeease.” – The Republican presidential nominee.
I almost feel sorry for the more sensible Republicans who are watching their party implode. But at the same time, what did they expect after the GOP had been pandering to bigots for so long?
I bet they are wishing Jeb Bush got the nomination now, at least he was sane!
Yeah, why the Republicans didn’t seriously go after Trump in the primaries is a mystery to me. Someone in that clown car should have been able to challenge him and expose what a complete tool he is.
Mostly I blame Jeb Bush for sleepwalking through the primaries…if he wasn’t going to actually show up and act like he wanted to win, he should have just stood down and let someone else step up . (I always got the impression that some mainstream Republicans saw it as “Jeb’s turn” to run, so if he was going for the Presidency, they’d sit this one out. Well guess what, guys, things get run by those who show up, and they didn’t show up)
Liberals don’t get why people would vote for Trump. It’s not because they take him seriously. It’s really because people are just tired of the establishment. Trump is the embodiment of a comment section come to life. He’s the ultimate troll. He’s a big FU to both the left and the right.
I still don’t get it. A FU to the left and the rigth? That’s why people want to vote for someone who has no idea how to actual be a president? Trump has no plan, no experience – the only thing he has is a terrible temper.
Voting for someone so unfit as a president is a FU to your own life and those around you. It’s not a FU to the left or the right, it is stupidity.
While I agree with you, from what I understand the whole FU syndrome comes from a place of hurt and desperation. For decades, politicians have said one thing to these voters while doing another, and many aren’t seeing their problems solved while experiencing a declining quality of life. Now much of this can be attributed to these voters voting against their self-interests in favor of “morals and values” platforms 99% of the time, but their stupidity and the resulting actions do bring up a valid point in American politics. Politicians rep the people not their careers. It’s why I think we need term limits, reversal of Citizens United, and a huge reform on lobbying, but that’s a convo for a different day.
Yes. It’s basically self destruction. But since we’re heading that way anyway, speeding the process won’t matter.
@Lynnie
Exactly. I’d also argue the Republican Party did this to themselves. They used targeting Obama, just as they are now doing with Hilary, as a way to use fear to goad their supporters. They made promises they KNEW they couldn’t keep because just like Trump they knew their voters were easilly led and would go right if they said, “Boo!” from the right.
As a result they have a party of disaffected people that are still uninformed and angry but now don’t trust their leaders. The mainstream Republicans knows some things can’t be done, that other things that Obama did were actually good but they spent 8 years turning him into a cartoon villain and now their supporters see a world purely in terms of G.I. JOE cartoons.
@ESE Yup, yup, yup. Sad that we’ve gotten to this point.
We’re heading towards self-destruction anyway???!??? No, we are not. As a population, we in Western industrialised countries are safer than we have ever been. We are better fed than we have ever been. We are healthier than we have ever been. Yes, climate change is going to wreak havoc on the world, but electing Trump will do nothing to help that and will in fact make it worse. Voting for Trump is the very definition of cutting your nose off to spite your face.
This actually makes me understand his appeal a bit more.
However, it’s not just liberals who don’t understand hom, far from it.
This liberal understands why people would vote for Trump. Just like people voted for Hitler. They appeal to the lowest among us.
And saying that he appeals to the “lowest” among us would just make them vote for him more.
I’ve just started asking people what they actually like about Trump, and if they can actually name what’s on his platform. Which they never can. When it’s “he says what he wants” I usually just reply with “so it’s the not liking brown people and women thing”. These minds won’t be changed until they’re ready, but I’m at least calling a spade a spade.
My family and I were driving through northern Washington State and saw numerous Trump for President signs. Almost all of the signs stood in front of trailers and small farms. I couldn’t help but think Donald Trump doesn’t care for those people. He would look down on their way of life and yet they still support him.
Once you get out of the Seattle area, the rest of Washington is notoriously conservative, and they HATE that the Puget Sound area has enough voters to sway the election.
Why the hell would anyone want someone with the intelligence and personality of the average 4chan commenter to lead a country? Particularly a country with nuclear capabilities?
I get why people might like him as an amusing TV personality, but as POTUS?
Pikaboo@ Donald Trump is the etablishment.
Oh I get that, loud and clear. But as greenmonster said so well — “Voting for someone so unfit as a president is a FU to your own life and those around you. It’s not a FU to the left or the right, it is stupidity.”
Yeah I think that portion of greenmonster’s comment was a really succinct way of saying that the people voting for Trump are people who are voting for a personality, not for political competence.
(hello, Esmom BTW *waves*)
Hi Kitten, Been meaning to tell you that I loved my trip to LT, so much family history brought to life. And while it’s not an ideal place I’m not gonna lie…I was in no hurry to come back to this Trump s%^&show.
Great. So give a big FU to the left and the right by electing a racist, sexist monster that will burn the earth to the ground with his wreckless ways. Awesome!! 🙄
This is why there should be a basic intelligence test before someone gets the right to vote.
“This is why there should be a basic intelligence test before someone gets the right to vote.”
How about one for those running for President?
Trump as president would be disastrous, but I think he’s les likely to start a war than Hillary.
Let Trump burn America. Then maybe both left and right can get their acts together, they’ve lost their ways. Though i hope everyone just becomes libertarians). It’s not like you can’t impeach Trump after a year of office.
But IS he less likely to start a war? The way he talks, the way he incites hate – he throws temper tantrums like a child. Someone who is that emotionally immature – to me at least- is more likely to act without thinking. And even if he gets that part under control – the way he talks about other people, and whole nations of people – he’s more likely to mouth off enough to cause an attack on US soil.
Trump has been roundly criticized by people that know him as having absolutely no impulse control, and people have expressed worry that he’s going to pull us into 4 years of pointless war. Not to mention, this was the man who asked 3 TIMES about when he gets to use the nuclear weapons.
And we’d be giving him a supreme court justice pick.
How about instead of declaring everything destroyed, folks start being interested in the system even when it’s not a Presidential year? The system isn’t beyond fixing, but that means we the American people have to get off our butts.
1. The man asked about nukes during a security briefing.’
2. “Let Trump burn America” and whose children would you walk into that fire? How many lives would you acknowledge would be lost and how many are you willing to accept?
3. After a ‘war’ things don’t magically reset like in a video game. The South STILL declares they won the Civil War. The Confederate flag STILL flies in some parts of the country. They will not work together. They have never worked together. There has been a winner and a loser and a trail of dead bodies for the stubborness and selfishness of man.
@ PikaBoo
I would rather not “burn America,” thanks.
If he was impeached that bible thumping crash test dummy would be president. That is not a better option.
Oh Neelyo, right on. Not a better option at all.
@Eternal: let’s call a spade a spade. It doesn’t matter how many facts we present, or how much common sense we spout. It all boils down to “I don’t want to” or “I FEEL that I’m correct, and that’s the same as facts”.
“Let Trump burn America.”
You realize that in the “burning” of America, millions of lives would be destroyed. But I am guessing that someone who is comfortable with the idea of “America” burning thinks that it won’t be themselves that gets torched. “Let Trump burn America” really means “Let Trump destroy others so I may benefit from the reconstruction”.
Just think about the reality of your words for a moment. I am not trying to be condescending or judgmental, but your words seem cavalier and frivolous. Think about the actual reality on the ground if that were to come true.
Sorry, but I am so sick of hearing this tripe-this is just the laziest sort of argument. Trump isn’t a FU to anything other than common sense.
Trump is popular because he panders to absolute worst possible segment of society-racist, nationalist, sexist xenophobes who contribute nothing to rational discourse. He is truly America’s candidate-no substance and every argument can be shouted down or have a flag waved at it. A lazy, stupid, selfish candidate with a bloated ego-the perfect person for people who want to go back to a fantasy time of women being nothing but housewives (that you could beat if they crossed you), POC being lynched (or at least excluded from everything important) and gay people being invisible. Who want America to be “great” again, but plan to do absolutely no work towards that end because of the ridiculous sense of entitlement they have. Honestly-Trump supporters should have a big picnic with all the people talking about how they’re “voting with their conscience” because they are doing the same amount of harm.
Very well said.
Well, those people are idiots then. The office of president of the US is not a comment section. This is not “America’s Got Talent” or ” So You Think You Can Dance”. This is actually serious, they are voting for a person to have a lot of power and control and who will effect change within their own lives in one way or another. If people aren’t adult enough to realize that, they need to stay home come election day.
Was talking to a couple people about this election the other day. First one was saying that the Republicans expect to spend $4billion on the campaign and the Dems a mere $2million – unbelievable. They also commented that people are voting for those who aren’t politicians because they want any one but politicians in charge. So, The Donald is not a politician and that’s reason enough for some people to vote for him – not saying that is a reason to vote for someone.
Isn’t there a cap on the amount of money that can be spent on a campaign? For some reason, I thought there were limits.
@Lady D: There are limits on campaign contributions for individuals and corporations but not for PACs.
I agree. He couldn’t care less about ‘left’ or ‘right’- it’s about HIM, and his ego. It’s business to him. And he hits a nerve with a lot of frustrated, disappointed, fed-up people. And as usual, there’s no plan, or idea behind it, it’s a pure anti-movement. However, to NOT take that seriously is a huge mistake. There’s a lot of potential in frustration.
Then why not a FU by voting Libertarian or Green?
Let’s get real. It doesn’t matter what kind of facts and miles of evidence you’re presented with. It boils down to “I’m not going to change my mind because I don’t want to”. Best of luck to you there.
Plenty of liberals (and conservatives, for that matter) get it. They just find it terrifying that of all the ways you’d go about undermining the system, they pick this guy.
That clip was terrifying. The worst thing is, even if he’s not elected and it doesn’t get to that point, his nomination and campaign has already done a lot damage.
The fact that all of the people in that interview were stunned into horrified silence tells you everything. I’m sure that newscasters play things up for the cameras but that seemed genuine to me.
‘Would you let a man like that have access to the nuclear codes’ has been said by a lot of people when they’re discrediting Trump, but the real possibility that he would be willing to use them didn’t hit me until I watched that clip.
I remember studying the Cold War in school, and wondering if people genuinely believed that nukes would be used, then I was reassured by thinking that atleast something like that wouldn’t happen again. Sixteen year old me had it good.
@KJA. I lived through the Cold War(born in ’44)and in October 1962 we truly believed we were on the brink of Armaggedon. We were very lucky to have the cool, pragmatic JFK at the helm at that time. If a Trump had been in charge I doubt we’d still be here.
@SusanneToo – My father and mother were just a couple of years older than you, and they conveyed how on edge everyone was during those days. My father vividly described being at work on evening shift and being convinced war was hours away.
I remember a grade school teacher pointing out that where we lived might be a prime spot for an attack, because of proximity to two to three very key strategic sites. So heartwarming to hear as a 1970s child!
He’s already laying down the groundwork for arguing that everyone cheated him. “the poll numbers showing i’m losing are fake”, the “debates are rigged against me”, “Hilary’s cheating with this election” Even if he loses (I’d prefer to say when but I can’t sadly) he’s going to never go away and he and his followers are going to complain the next 4 years about how he was robbed.
He’s like Sarah Palin 2.0 except way more annoying.
“He’s like Sarah Palin 2.0 except way more annoying.”
And way more terrifying. I never really worried too much about Palin because the GOP clearly kept her on a tight leash. But Trump is a very dangerous loose cannon in a way that makes Palin seem almost quaint.
Yeah I feel like Palin’s been out-rogue’d by this asshat.
Palin’s new medal earning son-in-law tweeted yesterday that Trump needed to apologize to the Khan family. Dead silence from the rest of the Palin’s.
Ok, but does it annoy the hell out of anyone else that Republicans are suddenly so offended by Trump being disrespectful and rude towards a Gold Star family? Did they really not see that this guys has no limits or boundaries whatsoever in terms of who he’ll go after publicly?
Disrespecting Women: Cool
Disrespecting Muslims: Cool
Disrespecting PoC: Cool
Disrespecting the LGBT Community: Cool
But disrespecting a veteran’s family is the tipping point for these people? Don’t get me wrong: Trump was his usual garbage self to the Khans, who are clearly wonderful, loving and BRAVE people and I’m not excusing his behavior, but the fact that the GOP largely turned a blind eye to Trump as he insulted, berated, and harassed the aforementioned groups isn’t lost on me. They didn’t seem to care until it was a military family that he attacked.
@Kitten, quite a few of them are supporting his abuse of the Kahn family, claiming they started it – as if his months of screaming hatred against Muslims didn’t happen – and launching into long dissertations about needing to vet people coming in because of terrorism, as if the Constitution did not prohibit a religious test and as if we didn’t already vet immigrants.
I wish this is what were making headlines instead of the usual “Trump offends people” narrative. THIS is what’s truly frightening.
I’ve lost hope that Trump’s core supporters will see reason when it comes to him. I truly do hope that more moderate conservatives see that he’s dangerously incompetent and, really, just dangerous. And that they vote for HRC. I hope that’s not too much of a long shot.
Trump is increasingly foundering and is in this over his head. The sooner he implodes the better it will be for all of us. The man is a complete danger to world stability. It’s bad enough at the moment.
And now the asshole is down in Florida disregarding the importance of zika prevention, and the importance for congress to get their shit together for once and get some money where it needs to be to prevent a larger outbreak and work on the vaccine. There’s a tight timeline, they really need the money to get this vaccine off the ground in the next year.
This is what our government is FOR – to protect us and to act when there is a danger to us. But these neglectful buffoons are too busy on the campaign trail to see how serious this is. They don’t care about the people. Trump doesn’t give a shit about babies who will be born with serious disorders, he doesn’t even sound like he knows what Zika is and how it’s impacting South America right now.
I’m so mad. As usual. Every fu**ing day lately…
They don’t care about Zika because right now the appearance is that it’s dangerous to women and the only real “cost” is birth defects. The republicans don’t care about anything they think is a “woman’s problem.”
I thought you were kidding but that video really is terrifying.
I wasn’t going to watch it but … yeah. Holy shit.
Actually got a chill this morning
The republicans waited until that rabid, orange, radio-active horse bolted and now are trying to shut a broken stable door. Good luck to them
There is no time to become complacent because of his self destructiveness, though. I truly believe he could have chosen David Duke as his running mate and the true believers and Hillary haters would have no problem with it.
No one needs to bother with an intervention. A delusional sick twist like Trump couldn’t comprehend that he’s doing anything wrong. He’s a winner, y’all! He’s not going to be a loser! Losers are…..everyone who isn’t just like him.
Let him go down in flames, say I. 🔥
And when he loses (thinking positive!) he’ll say it was because the election was rigged! In fact, he has already started saying it. He’ll act like the biggest victim in history. ” I tried, I tried so hard, but the fix was in. I spent a kajillion dollars of my own money trying to become your emperor, uh president. But I have been treated very badly by the Republican Party, and the media. Trust no one. Except me.”
Yes. He’s already laying the groundwork for him (knock wood) losing the election.
Orange has been crying “Election is rigged”!! His ego simply can’t stand the fact that his opponent is who the majority will vote for.
And while I am pretty confident, at this point, that HRC will win , I am still concerned about the aftermath.
Imagine his base of devotee’s, after he whines & behaves like a victim & martyr of voter fraud?? It won’t be pretty. They’ll elevate him to sainthood &viciously attack the ‘establishment.
NO. NO. NO. NO INTERVENTION!
I don’t want them to dump Trump and find a viable nominee.
Hillary’s chances get better every day with this moron’s rants. I don’t want an “acceptable, respectable” Republican opponent…or, worse, Pence.
I said the same thing above. Agree completely.
Great minds think alike….. and use the same words. 🙂
I agree completely. This is when I get happy that he is so litigious. Just imagine the lawsuit he’ll bring if they try to dump him!
Agreed. And there is no viable Republican nominee. Trump truly represents the political party base they built, sans dog whistles.
“And there is no viable Republican nominee. Trump truly represents the political party base they built, sans dog whistles.”
ALL the others are viable. It’s not about values; it’s about rhetoric.
The party is a mess. If anything good comes out of this, it might be that the GOP is forced to take the hard look at itself that it should’ve done after 2012.
Yup! I do not want Ryan or Pence to sweep in and “Oh Shucks” their way through people forgetting they willingly rolled over for Trump and would have done everything in their power to get him elected.
i just saw this. I didn’t realize there was a discussion higher up on the thread. I just posted about this.
I agree the more crazy and unhinged he acts, the better for HC, lets hope he keeps going this way till November.
They cannot dump him. The only way they can replace him is if he withdraws or dies. And then, they have to vote for another nominee. They might be able to withhold some of the party money and operational support but he might be able to challenge that in court.
One way to (sadly) stop Trump is to have Obama come out to tell Republicans to vote for Trump and openly canoodle with him and his clan. Cos Trump supporters logic is they’re not gonna listen to whatever Obama is saying or endorsing. Cos logic!
Should I use endorsing or enforcing? Lol
Yep!
And the President has the highest approval ratings since B. Clinton! DT has to be turning at least two shades of red-orange (or orange-red) from the 64-crayon box by now.
Aside from his huge need for attention, I am wondering whether he has early onset dementia or Alzheimer’s? Are we seeing the first symptoms? He’s the right age. That crying baby rant the other day. Like a senile angry patient in a nursing home. And I wonder what his Christian fan base thinks of the naked pix of foreign-born wife #3?
Wow, that video is really scary……
The thing is right now, Trump needs the Republican party. This is him on his best behavior, he’s pandering to the voters and to the party to the best of his ability. Whatever chance they have of controlling him is right now. If he wins , then he no longer needs the Republicans, he can do what he likes without having to pander to anybody. They need to realise that. They’re still supporting him because they think they’ll have a say in Supreme Court appointees, but they won’t. He’ll do what he wants.
More likely he’ll do what Mike Pence wants with the judges, since he intends to put Pence in charge of all the work. You will not like the result.
He needs the party’s organization: the voter database, the Mass mailings and Twitter and email broadcasting the party supplies in addition to his own, the phone banks, the rides to the polls, the Get Out the Vote organization, all the grassroots stuff. Third party candidates never succeed because they lack this support.
Right now, they’re in free fall. Polls released today show him trailing by 15 in NH and he is dragging the ethically challenged Kelly Ayotte down with him. The party cannot afford to lose her Senate seat, especially considering she is McConnell’s puppet
Did anyone see Paul Manafort on CBS this morning? He had a delightful Freudian slip, in which he professed his support for PAUL RYAN as President! Boy, the panel really jumped on that! What a mess this whole thing is.
Campaign in a shambles?? What did they expect?? This is a racist, misogynist fascist who insulted the parents of a fallen soldier and wants to know why he can’t use nuclear weapons. And they expected no trouble from this man?? Those who run the Republican establishment need to examine their life choices. This.is.ridiculous.
He can’t take the heat, and he’s not even close to the stove yet.
I think he’s near exhausted (this is the closest to full time work he’s probably ever done) and is ramping up due to being challenged nonstop now (narcissist-argumentative egotism). How it ever got to this point is the question.
Wouldn’t a narcissist enjoy a non-stop challenge though? I don’t know much about the disorder, but I thought narcissists live to prove they are right.
I think to a certain extent, but when he’s in this far over his head, as others have pointed out, it’s gotta be super stressful and exhausting.
That’s probably what keeps him going. It is amazing how many gaffes and utterly offensive things he’s done, just in the past 72 hours.
He is his worst enemy (and the Dems’ best commercial content). This week, I’ve seen a HC commercial of children silently watching his rant-filled clips. The closing words are that “our children are watching”. It’s impactful, using his own words.
I personally think that anybody who is voting, or thinking of voting for Trump is missing some brain cells. Hillary might not be that great either, but anybody is better than Trump! Our country is going to h*ll in a hand basket with him as president.
While I don’t support this man, it’s naive to think the problem is solved by Trump losing the election. This election has revealed the enormity of the divide between different social and economic groups in America and the general unease people have with their government. That frustration and anger isn’t going anywhere in the next four years. Both the GOP and Dems have a lot of work to do repairing the cracks in their support base.
Edit: holy shit that video. Terrifying. The sobering pause after he makes the point about the nukes says everything.
@Veronica: Completely agree with your assessment. I don’t know if you read this, but he recently said that if he loses, it’s because the election was rigged. He’s already laying the groundwork for his supporters to rise in anger and blame ‘the establishment’ after the election.
Yep. He knew exactly what he was doing when he made that statement.
He’s literally the mad king from Game of Thrones. Someone needs to step up and be the Jaime Lannister.
Trump’s real goal at this point is to gracefully lose the election without losing face and save his floundering business empire. According other news sources his built on sand empire’s revenues have fallen precipitously. Being President of the United States terrifies him, as well it should. In addition having to sit 4 years in the Oval Office under intense scrutiny would prevent him from wheeling and dealing and running his ongoing business schemes. His kids would likewise be constrained by conflict of interest law and rules. I commented on this yesterday “Donald Trump’s Pre-Packaged Political Suicide”
http://deyanbrashich.squarespace.com/home/2016/8/3/donald-trumps-pre-packaged-political-suicide.html
thanks for this link. very interesting read!
I too firmly believe that’s his agenda. All he intended to do was to give himself some political credibility in light of his disastrous business fails, but it got away from him. Sort of reminds me of the Monty Python movie “Life of Brian” where Brian becomes the unwitting Messiah followed by the ignorant masses.
Hey Donald…”Always Look on the Bright Side of Life!!”
Very interesting read!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
His campaign raised 80 million in donations last month. Trump is by no means finished, which is unfortunate.
“Onerous says:
August 4, 2016 at 9:35 am
Did anyone see Paul Manafort on CBS this morning? He had a delightful Freudian slip, in which he professed his support for PAUL RYAN as President! Boy, the panel really jumped on that! What a mess this whole thing is.”
I’m freaking out about that slip. I don’t want Trump to bail and Ryan replacing him.. Hillary will win against Trump because he has self-imploded.
But, honestly, if they force him to quit, it won’t be pretty, even if he quits on his own. The revolt by his substantial amount of supporters will be massive. The Republican Party is in turmoil like I never could have believed if it wasn’t happening before my very eyes.
Trump is getting all of his supporters riled up. You should see their posts against their own party, the ones not supporting Trump or the ones coming out against something he said. They are turning on all of them. Trump is their saviour. And Trump is now getting them all riled up about the election being rigged on behalf of Hillary.
I have developed this fear for Hillary’s life. I am not exaggerating. And it will be on Trump’s head because of his rhetoric towards Hillary in his speeches and tweets which incites hate to the point of violence regarding their feelings towards her. He is whipping them into a frenzy. Who knows what an unbalanced supporter might do?.
I hope she doubles up on her security detail during the election and if she wins.
You’re not wrong. Jo Cox was murdered because she dared to fight against the Brexit. All it takes is one determined individual. Now, I imagine that Hillary gets a ton of security – former First Lady, former Senator, former Secretary of State, hopefully President – I do not doubt that she gets a ton of security. But you’re right. Trump isn’t simply having polite disagreements with the opposition. He’s creating a cult of personality, leading his supporters to believe that the country is dying and he is the only one who can prevent it. That is going to lead to some nasty consequences. It already has! Trump supporters were arrested for attacking a homeless Latino man several months ago, and Trump just blathered about how “passionate” his supporters are. He genuinely does not care if violence occurs.
Yes, I agree, I hope Hillary has good security, because it only takes one crazy to do something and he is the ring leader calling her the devil, she started ISIS etc, he is stoking the flame every chance he get, he is a scumball in every way.
So Trump is like mad king Aerys. “Burn them all”, except this is real life and not a fictional kingdom. Scary as hell.
You know, Obama managed to reverse a lot of the anti-US sentiment in the rest of the world after George W and the Iraq War – even though we’re still living with the consequences of that era (ISIS, refugee crisis etc.)
But this…? A candidate for president musing out loud about why shouldn’t America use it’s nuclear arsenal and encourage other countries to develop nukes??
WTF?
This is incredibly damaging for the perception of America in the eyes of the world.
I can tell you this much: a Trump presidency would not only be likely to usher in WWIII, but Britain, Australia, NZ, Canada, Japan, Korea and western/central Europe would be DONE with the strategic alliance. The minute Trump became president, we would probably exit the ANZUS alliance.
The ridiculous thing is that Trump’s core voter base (white, working class men) have been screwed over by Republicans for 40 years (trade deals, minimum wage, anti-union legislation) and yet continue to vote against their own economic interests (ala Thomas Frank’s book “What the Matter with Kansas?”).
Insanity.