Posted on 04/23/2016 5:20:04 AM PDT by Kaslin
Despite his big win in New York on Tuesday, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has had a pretty bad week. But will it matter? It should -- and just might.
During an NBC "Today" show town hall Thursday, the host read a question from Twitter concerning Trump's views on LGBT issues and how he plans to be inclusive as president. "Speak about North Carolina bathroom law in particular."
Trump responded: "I had a feeling that question was going to come up, I will tell you. Well, look, North Carolina did something that was very strong, and they're paying a big price, and there's a lot of problems. ... North Carolina, what they're going through, with all of the business that's leaving and all of the strife -- and that's on both sides -- you leave it the way it is. There have been very few complaints the way it is. People go, they use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate. There has been so little trouble."
In response to a follow-up question, Trump said he would not support putting new bathrooms in Trump Tower. "I think that would be discriminatory in a certain way."
These politically correct answers from the alleged king of political incorrectness have to be music to the ears of Democrats -- not only those far left enough to agree with Trump's view but all others because they know this will alienate Trump from the tons of Republican voters who recognize such lunacy. Perhaps Trump should have been more forthcoming about his true New York liberal values.
Before you buy into Trump's inevitable walk-back of this disaster, remember how he began his answer: that he had anticipated the question. I'm not sure whether that should be more damning than if his answer had been purely spontaneous, revealing his true feelings apart from political calculation, but it's greatly troubling either way.
Trump says he is concerned about the strife and "the economic punishment (North Carolina is) taking." But it seems he also sees the issue from the perspective of adult men who want to use little girls' bathrooms. Has he even considered this from the perspective of the parents of these girls and all other sane people who don't feel comfortable sharing bathrooms with people of the opposite gender?
Who thinks like this, other than a candidate pandering to new constituencies? Who actually believes that prohibiting grown men from using little girls' bathrooms is discriminatory against the transgender community rather than against the 99 percent of people who have always had the comfort of going to public restrooms without the fear that people of the opposite gender could invade their privacy? Isn't protecting public safety one of government's chief duties?
It will be interesting to see how Trump's infinitely forgiving fans explain this one away or whether they'll even bother to try. I get it; all they think about is unfair trade and "the wall," so maybe they'll explain why Trump wants to tear down public bathroom walls.
Also on Thursday, Trump said he would support raising taxes on the rich, which should concern all economic conservatives who support reducing taxes across the board to stimulate robust economic growth. It should also concern Trump's defenders who believed he was standing by the tax plan posted on his website, which includes a cut to the top rate, from 39.6 percent to 25 percent.
Those convinced that Trump has few ideological moorings and an inclination toward liberal positions are vindicated -- again. No matter what written plans Trump has proposed for use in his campaign, his instincts are to support the liberal position on many issues. And for those who buy that he's made a strong conversion from his previous liberal ways, you should know that there has apparently been no change in Trump's views about taxes since 1991, when he testified as a Democratic expert witness and described Ronald Reagan's tax cuts as "catastrophic."
Those who still believe in the sincerity of Trump's conversion to conservatism should be aware of the other bombshell that exploded this week in Camp Trump, which may be the most troubling of all.
In a private meeting aimed at reassuring concerned GOP leaders about Trump's positions and electability in a general election, Trump's "chief lieutenants" reportedly told them that Trump has been "projecting an image" up to this point in the primary season and "the part that he's been playing is evolving" in a way that will make him more palatable to general election voters. How utterly comforting.
Trump's new campaign guru, Paul Manafort, reportedly told Republican National Committee members that Trump has two personalities -- a private one and another one when he's onstage. "When he's out on the stage, when he's talking about the kinds of things he's talking about on the stump, he's projecting an image that's for that purpose. You'll start to see more depth of the person, the real person. You'll see a real different guy."
So his own campaign chief just comes right out and says Trump has been playing a role -- pretending to be someone he's not? This is just incredible stuff, folks.
For the life of me, I don't understand how Trump's most ardent supporters can feel comfortable relying on his always-shifting promises -- even on immigration. Those who still feel comfortable about his candidacy baffle me.
Yes, Trump won his liberal home state resoundingly, but looking back, this could be one of his worst weeks of the campaign.
He’s wrong because, dude, it freakin’ was a great week for Trump.
He buried St. Ted. He ended Cruz’s entire campaign in one deathstroke. He became the GOP nominee.
Trust me when I say that to 99% of the non-freepers out there, whatever comments he made about NC are either welcome or don’t matter (more the latter).
Cruz keeps losing and calling them victories. I’m reminded of the North Vietnamese general after Tet who told Ho Chi Minh, “With two or three more ‘victories’ like these we will be out of the war.”
.. that line has been used on maybe a half dozen Trump hating 'conservative' websites over the last couple of days.
Who's emailing you the cuck talking points, Kaslin?
I don’t trust anything you say. You and your candidate are frauds.
you’re either a conservative or your not. trump is not.
Well as I mentioned, since Sessions helped write Trump’s immigration platform, Sessions must have told himself what he wanted to hear.
Btw, Trump has also stipulated that only those who put more, economically, into the country than they took out will be eligible for reentry. From what I understand, this rules out the majority of them.
My only point is not the actual delegate selection, but PR positioning. Ted could have thrown this all back on the CO GOP and come out smelling like a rose . . . with the delegates too.
Nope. He never said he’d change the laws. Words mean things. Watch how he always says “bring them back LEGALLY.” Well, even (and this isn’t the case, but even if it was) if there were “law changes” (which, even if successful, would take years) the re-application process LEGALLY would take forever. They will never get back in.
They know it, and Trump knows it.
Great, but it's a little long for a bumper sticker: "Elect Trump - a hostile congress will prevent his bad ideas"
And I clearly don’t trust anything you say, if you back St. Ted, who has run the dirtiest campaign since Lee Atwater. Hiding behind “conservative” while America goes down the toilet is not acceptable anymore.
LMK if you find my tag line unacceptable.
Sure the North Carolina law has a point. Men shouldn’t be allowed in women’s restrooms for any reason. But that law is a necessity in a society so degraded and perverse that there is no way to support a flourishing economy; a metaphor for a country so far from knowing who or what it is that this is actually a point of discussion. Build the wall.
keep falling for the liberal media’s depiction of Ted. There’s nothing dirty about him. Trump on the other hand is a complete fraud.....he’s evolvvvving. Right. Got it.
Awesome. My tag line is Hendrix, so I’m honored to be in a tagline.
Keep blathering about “conservative” principles while the country goes into the toilet.
Me? I’ll help save the country while you pontificate.
David Limbaugh? two thumbs down
There’s the growing realization that the folks who spoke breathlessly about conservative principles really dropped the ball. They failed.
Totally agree. Cruz does not confront "criticism" in a way that gets the monkey off his back.
Trump didn't proclaim this himself, he was rolling his eyes at a media report that made the assertion.
One of Cruz’ big identity issues happens to be the very basis of his campaign. To wit, he bought The Audacity to Win in bulk and gave copies to all his staffers. That was his blueprint for winning.
If you recall, Obama purposefully kept everything vague in ‘08. He was the blank slate upon which people etched their dreams...hope and change...hope and change.
Cruz’ plan to be similarly vague hit an insurmountable snag when Trump charged out of the gate promising to build the wall. That’s a concrete plan—and it’s far more than McCain ever put up against Obama.
This and similar issues led to a series of me-too Ted moments. They were uninspiring at best.
Lately the me-too moments have devolved into simple, unvarnished Trump-hate. You see this in Cruz’ supporters, too. It’s no longer about even the vague wonderful things Cruz would do; it’s about how terrible Trump is. I’m no expert, but I doubt anyone ever won a presidential primary based on how much they hate the other guy.
Bad week? Maybe. Social issues and PC crap are important to me, so Trump was less than stellar in this regard, even with his lukewarm walk back. However, you guys need to visit the left wing version of free republic in the parrallel universe known as democratic underground. I like to check my opposition research there every once in a while and I am shocked at how Trump draws from the fringe left. It is clear that he knows this and that is why he is making such statements. Here is an example for you:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1280182729
This is from this morning. Now my heart is still in the Cruz camp. He is consistent on issues that are important to me. But I am not stupid and can see that he will never draw from the other side of the isle. As much as I’d like a true conservative, Trump seems to be as conservative as we can get in today’s America, particularly if the anecdotal info from the leftist websites holds true. We will win the general election and at least have the ability to build a wall, tilt. Supreme Court back to the right, and eliminate obamacare.
Actually, they will probably try to BAN urinals everywhere as some kind of male hegemony thing. This actually was tried in Sweden a while back, along with requiring men to sit down to urinate. But I get the gist of what you are saying. If it ever occurs that all bathroom are "gender neutral", I will always make it a point to put the seat down, pee on it, and then put it back up. I hope they enjoy it, because I know I will. :-)
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