Trump for POTUS!
Posted on 12/05/2011 2:23:04 PM PST by Enosh
WASHINGTON – Sure, he’s out of the GOP presidential race, but The Donald isn’t content to sit on the sidelines. Donald Trump wants a say in who gets the nomination, so he’s hosting a presidential debate, holding out the prospect of his endorsement and threatening an independent run.
All that has some conservatives grousing that Trump’s involvement is tarnishing the GOP’s image and diminishing the Republican presidential field as it tries to field a candidate to beat President Barack Obama next year.
“GOP candidates would be foolish to show up at Trump’s clown circus/ debate. Walk away,” Republican strategist Mike Murphy advised on Twitter.
Republican strategist Karl Rove, President George W. Bush’s longtime adviser, added on Fox News: “What the heck are the Republican candidates doing showing up at a debate with a guy who says, `I may run for president next year as an independent’?”
Trump, predictably, is undeterred.
On Monday, the TV celebrity met with Newt Gingrich, the latest presidential contender to visit Trump’s New York offices in search of his support, and he released a campaign-style book to offer his views on the economy and the media in his typically bombastic style.
In a round of TV interviews, he blistered many of the GOP candidates, saying that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney “doesn’t get the traction” he needs to nail down the nomination and calling Rep. Ron Paul and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman “joke candidates.”
Given the field, Trump added, “I would certainly think about running as an independent.”
Earlier this year, Trump suggested he might seek the GOP nomination but ultimately decided against it — as he has during past elections.
It was around that time that Trump was somewhat marginalized when Obama himself sought to put to rest questions that the Republican had stoked about whether the president was eligible to serve in the White House. Obama released his “long form” birth certificate showing that he was, in fact, born in Hawaii in 1961.
Obama also suggested that Trump could be lumped in with “side shows and carnival barkers,” and he used his appearance at the White House Correspondents Dinner to mock Trump, who was sitting in the audience glowering.
Despite that, Trump tried to stoke the “birther” issue anew Monday, saying on MSNBC: “Whether or not he was born here, you know, to me it means something. I guess it doesn’t mean a lot to a lot of people. To me it happens to mean something.”
So far, only Gingrich, a former House speaker, has committed to attend the Dec. 27 debate.
Huntsman said he wouldn’t be there. “I’m not going to kiss his ring and I’m not going to kiss any other part of his anatomy,” he said.
“This is exactly what is wrong with politics. It’s show business over substance,” Huntsman said on Fox News.
Paul also planned to skip it, telling CNN that he didn’t understand why candidates were seeking Trump’s support.
“I didn’t know he had the ability to lay on hands and anoint people,” Paul said.
Romney, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota have met with Trump. Businessman Herman Cain, who ended his campaign on Saturday, and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin also visited with him.
I pray Trump will ask in the debate something along the lines of: ‘What is a natural born citizen?’ ‘What should the process be to confirm eligibility of a candidate?’ ‘Can a dual born citizen be a natural born citizen?’ **Hope Hope Pray Pray**
Huntsman and Paul get it right.
I’d welcome the Don to the race as a Tea Party candidate. If he would convince and fund Sarah Palin for president and take the VP spot.
Trump questions dunham’s birth certificate!!...
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/284917/trump-questions-obamas-birth-certificate-katrina-trinko
Trump has a way of making things interesting and I like the fact that he won’t drop the birther issue.
I will never forgive the man however if he decides to run as an independent and since he won’t rule it out - I hope he’s just craving the attention he loves so much.
Watch out. A lot of people seem to think that Trump is conservative. He is not.
If you check out his political donations, they are mostly to Democrat politicians. And almost all the Republicans he has given to are RINOs.
I still suspect that when Trump raised the birther issue, it was orchestrated by Obama. More and more people were doubting Obama’s credentials, and repeated attacks from the press failed to shut down those doubts. So, Obama needed some sort of excuse to post his long-form COLB on the internet, and Trump gave it to him.
That COLB turned out to be another fake. A forgery. And nobody has seen the supposed paper copy or properly certified it. But, by a strange coincidence, Obama released the new COLB right before the bin Ladin raid. Coincidence? I don’t think so. Obama had been told where Obama was something like 6 months earlier, so he had plenty of time to ensure that the Trump attacks could be conveniently hooked up with the raid.
Would Trump do this? Sure. He’s a businessman, and much of his business involves the usual crony capitalism. He needs to be on the right political side for his real estate deals, his casino maneuvers, and whatever he plans next.
Isn’t it rather odd that left-wing talk shows gave him time on camera to air his birther theories? And that the media were basically kind to him, other than a few mild jokes and complaints? And then the whole thing vanished down the memory hole, right on schedule.
They will now attempt to “cain” the Donald, and smear by association anyone (Sarah, Newt) that met with him. Watch for them to start telling us how crazy the Donald is for thinking he has a say. The interesting thing to see will be how many FReepers will play along...
THIRD PARTY CAMPAIGN=4 MORE YEARS OF SOCIALISM.
AND YES, I KNOW I’M USING CAPS. I’M SICK AND TIRED OF ALL THESE FOLKS THAT SEEM TO WANT TO GUARANTEE THE COMMIE MUSLIM GETS RE-ELECTED BY STARTING A THIRD PARTY.
CAN YOU SPELL ROSS PEROT???????
My thoughts exactly. Now that Cain is out of the way, Trump needs to be neutralized. Personally I find his bluntness refreshing.
His Hairness is a fool, a tool, and not cool.
Go away, Donald. You’re about as relevant as Jimmy Carter.
I like the Donald for his blunt speech, but if I had to guess I would say he would endorse Newt. They are very similar. Smooth,arrogant,self important and you instinctively don’t believe they mean what they say, but you hope they do.
My thoughts exactly. Now that Cain is out of the way, Trump needs to be neutralized. Personally I find his bluntness refreshing.
Two good comments - spacebar and enosh. I like bluntness, but I like honesty and follow through even more. Trump has a way saying things simply, and the way they are. My libertarian side likes Jesse Ventura (even though some others may not) for the same reason. I hate weasel politicians that never say what they mean, or mean what they say.
I can’t, for the life of me, understand why anyone would care what Donald Trump thinks.
Ya know, I am sick to death of the Republican elites who call themselves political pundits handing down edicts to conservative peasants. Donald Trump is a successful businessman who knows how the economy works, how to create jobs, and how to champion America versus China/Middle East. He’s certainly not “entitled” to have a say in the Republican primary, but I’d say he’s earned the right to speak his mind by offering a debate.
Yup, and I dislike both of them. Trump is a clown. Turning a GOP debate into a RealityTV circus is insane - especially considering the guy is openly talking about running a 3rd party indie bid.
This may be appealing to some but it makes Republicans look absolutely ridiculous and will damage GOP chances in 2012.
This is another subject that Trump must bring up in the debate. Up to now it has not been mentioned in any of them — it has been kicked down the road like the proverbial can.
Trump is intentionally making the GOP look like idiots. They deserve it.
I would say Trump is giving the Republican candidates opportunities to look like idiots, and many are happily taking him up on his offer.
Maybe one of the low tier candidates will commit political suicide by embracing the dopey birther stuff in an effort to curry favor with Trump the clown.
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