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Trump's Liberal Talking Points on Bush and 9/11 Won't Hurt Him a Bit
PJ Media ^ | 2-15-2016 | Rick Moran

Posted on 02/15/2016 12:52:41 PM PST by smoothsailing

February 15, 2016

Trump's Liberal Talking Points on Bush and 9/11 Won't Hurt Him a Bit

by Rick Moran

Donald Trump is far ahead in South Carolina, holding a double digit lead over Ted Cruz. So last night's debate wasn't as important to him as it was for other candidates.

All Trump had to do was lay low and absorb the insults and attacks of others, while steering clear of controversial topics. He would emerge bruised but still in great shape to win the vote next Saturday.

But Donald Trump is not one to play it safe, nor allow a criticism to go unanswered. Once again, The Donald defied conventional political wisdom and will probably be stronger for it.

Trump landed on the third rail of Republican politics when he criticized George Bush for 9/11.

Politico:

"The World Trade Center came down during your brother's reign. Remember that," Trump said to the former Florida governor.

Trump went back to the line of attack moments later, after Marco Rubio also defended George W. Bush's record, saying he was grateful it was not Al Gore in the White House on 9/11.

"The World Trade Center came down during the reign of George Bush. He kept us safe? That is not safe. That is not safe, Marco. That is not safe," he continued. "The world Trade Center came down because Bill Clinton [didn't] kill Osama bin Laden when he had the chance to kill him. And George Bush - by the way, George Bush had the chance, also, and he didn't listen to the advice of his C.I.A."

"How did he keep us safe when the World Trade Center...excuse me, I lost hundreds of friends!" Trump said as the crowd booed loudly.

Jeb Bush, who is slated to campaign with his brother on Monday in South Carolina, shot back earlier in the conversation that he was "sick and tired of [Trump] going after my family."

"While Donald Trump was building a reality TV show, my brother was building a security apparatus to keep us safe," he said. "I’m proud of what he did."

Trump interrupted with the 9-11-related attack, and the room booed.

For more than a decade, it has been de rigueur for Republicans to defend President Bush from the kind of attack Trump launched. A Republican couldn't even hint that Bush was responsible for 9/11 without being accused of parroting the sort of attacks that Moveon.org and Code Pink launched against the former president.

But then Trump took the attack one step farther:

"Obviously, the war in Iraq was a big, fat mistake, all right?" Trump said. "We spent $2 trillion, thousands of lives, we don't even have it. Iran has taken over Iraq with the second-largest oil reserves in the world."

"George Bush made a mistake," Trump continued. "We can make mistakes. But that one was a beauty. We should have never been in Iraq. We have destabilized the Middle East."

And finally: "They lied," Trump said of the Bush administration. "They said there were weapons of mass destruction, there were none. And they knew there were none. There were no weapons of mass destruction."

It's not the first time Trump has said such things. But he was taking a risk, calculated or not, on saying them in South Carolina. George W. Bush remains popular among state Republicans. Perhaps that does not mean everything Bush did remains equally popular, but slamming the Republican former president so hard is a significant gamble for Trump.

For the record, two separate investigative bodies - the 9/11 Commission and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence - both concluded that the Bush administration did not lie about WMD in Iraq. They were wrong, but they didn't mislead anyone deliberately.

Other than that, calling the Iraq War a "mistake" seems a reasonable conclusion in hindsight -- something unavailable to American policy makers before we invaded. But what about the war "destabilizing" the Middle East? I hardly think the so-called "Arab Spring" was inspired by our invasion of Iraq, and given the chaos that has been the fallout of the insurrections in most Middle Eastern countries, it's faintly ridiculous to blame our invasion for destabilizing what was already a chaotic region of the world anyway.

Totally rejecting Republican talking points on Iraq and President Bush may seem like political suicide. But with Trump, such criticisms play directly to his strengths: independent, unafraid to offend anyone, and a pugnacious personality.

I don't think those observations will hurt Trump one bit with his core constituency.



TOPICS: Politics
KEYWORDS: 911conspiracy; bushlied; trump
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1 posted on 02/15/2016 12:52:41 PM PST by smoothsailing
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To: smoothsailing

2 posted on 02/15/2016 12:54:52 PM PST by jennychase
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To: smoothsailing

We’ll see.


3 posted on 02/15/2016 12:55:12 PM PST by TBP (0bama lies, Granny dies.)
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To: smoothsailing

Of course it won’t. At this point it doesn’t matter what he says and it’s embarrassing.


4 posted on 02/15/2016 12:56:54 PM PST by Durbin
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To: jennychase
Donald Trump's support of aborted baby part selling Planned Parenthood will have to affect as well.

Jim Jones would be jealous of Donald Trump.

Keep drinking the Kook-Aid.

5 posted on 02/15/2016 12:58:14 PM PST by TexasCajun (#BlackViolenceMatters)
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To: smoothsailing

The blood of the neo-cons and their toadies, is reaching the boiling point. They’ve hated Trump from day one, but his speaking the truth about the Iraq war is just too much for them.

If Trump wins the nomination in spite of their opposition, they may all have strokes. If he wins the general, they may all leap out of windows.


6 posted on 02/15/2016 12:58:18 PM PST by euram
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To: smoothsailing

Neither do I.
His two pressers today were outstanding!


7 posted on 02/15/2016 12:58:27 PM PST by Guenevere (If.the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do....)
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To: jennychase

I agree it won’t hurt him. His supporters are dumbasses.


8 posted on 02/15/2016 12:58:47 PM PST by dinoparty
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To: smoothsailing

I hope Trump keeps up this behavior so that more voters can see what a poor choice he would be for President.


9 posted on 02/15/2016 12:59:13 PM PST by JohnT416
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To: smoothsailing

In re: G. HW. Bush— Trump is correct. THAT is when it should have been DONE.

Schwartzkopf could tell you about that... if he was still alive. About the perpetuating Bush legacy that did not need to be.

Anymore than the Clinton ignoring of AlQaida in Oklahoma, or in 1993 in the WTC attack.... prior to GW Bush.

It was “beach time” according to Admiral Woolsey of CIA— a good read from this patriot.


10 posted on 02/15/2016 1:00:47 PM PST by John S Mosby (Sic Semper Tyrannis)
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To: dinoparty
because Cruz is a liar, nasty and creepy.
11 posted on 02/15/2016 1:01:06 PM PST by jennychase
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To: Guenevere

I watched them too. Trump was at the top of his game. I hope he does some town halls.


12 posted on 02/15/2016 1:01:27 PM PST by smoothsailing
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To: dinoparty

Have you seen Cruz bots IQ, its zero.


13 posted on 02/15/2016 1:02:08 PM PST by jennychase
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To: dinoparty

The word that comes to my mind that best describes many Trump backers is obtuse.


14 posted on 02/15/2016 1:02:33 PM PST by traderrob6
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To: smoothsailing
Trump took it off the table for Sanders or Hillary...but leaves a few more openings...

Bubba turned down Osama. Bubba was the first to call for regime change in Iraq...and Hiilary said it....and said it boldly on a Russert show....after we went in....that it was her party that came up with regime change..

15 posted on 02/15/2016 1:03:00 PM PST by Sacajaweau
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To: smoothsailing

Rush today saying Trump had gone after a “revered” figure in the GOP.

I liked W. I thought the concept of princering Iran was good. The execution obviously was flawed, particularly the wimpiness toward Muslims andd the political correctness.

But “revered??” W was “revered so the next two Republican GOP candidates ran awY from him and Dems are STILL running against him? Does Rush not realize that a large number of GOP/conservatives date our decline from Rove’s disastrous 2006 electoral strategy? Or that millions of people got soaked by the crash and thought the bank bailout was a sop to the rich?

No, by going after Bush this isn’t even right/left. This is an exorcism of what many, many have wanted over the last 8-10 years. Bush was in the high 20s when he left office. That isn’t “revered.”


16 posted on 02/15/2016 1:03:05 PM PST by LS ("Castles Made of Sand, Fall in the Sea . . . Eventually" (Hendrix))
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To: TexasCajun

Jim Jones told you that? How long has he been talking to you?


17 posted on 02/15/2016 1:03:11 PM PST by smoothsailing
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To: traderrob6

I think you’re being too kind.:)


18 posted on 02/15/2016 1:04:11 PM PST by beandog (TrumperTantrum)
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To: euram

The mania against Trump is strong. I can appreciate the people who pop into a thread to make fun of Trump for being crass or having funny hair or whatever, but the avalanche of posts that just contain parroted Cruz lies is at a fever pitch lately. And then on top of that, there’s the general attitude that if you don’t fawn all over GWB’s Iraq legacy, you’re a Code Pink lib.

Cruz and the rest of the GOPe are trying to push all kinds of people out of the tent for not sticking to the scripted groupthink. And then Cruz people say you’re a Kool-Aid drinker for not cheerleading the status quo.

I’ll be glad when this election is over. The spell that the GOPe and army of PAC paid shills have over people is powerful to the point of being depressing sometimes.


19 posted on 02/15/2016 1:04:51 PM PST by 20yearsofinternet (Border: Close it. Illegals: Deport. Muslims: Ban 'em. Economy: Liberate it. PC: Kill it. Trump 2016)
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To: 20yearsofinternet
Bush accomplishments
20 posted on 02/15/2016 1:08:23 PM PST by scooby321
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