the issue is not that he doesn't want to alienate KKK members or sympathizers, it's that he doesn't want to alienate all the people mad at "libtards" who are trying to make him submit to some kind of "PC agenda"

It's not KKK members, its people like JCE2011

3/1/2016 2:17:26 PM

^^^^ lol, so it's okay for Trump to build a huge presidential campaign on race baiting, but when I call you out for ignoring this, im the one race baiting?

No wonder the GOP is imploding, conservatives can't acknowledge what's literally smacking them in the face.

[Edited on March 1, 2016 at 2:18 PM. Reason : ]

3/1/2016 2:17:55 PM

No, it's just boring and old.

If the left continues believing that Trump's entire base supports him "because racism", then they're going to get God Emperor Trump in 2017, and they'll still be scratching their heads wondering how a plurality of Americans are hardcore, KKK-supporting racists.

There are a lot of reasons people support Trump, but simplifying it down to "they hate the minorities" is a misreading of Trump's ascension.

3/1/2016 2:18:22 PM

^ it's not "the left", it's the National Review, it's Riehan Salam, it's Bill Kristol. Have you been paying any attention at all?

3/1/2016 2:19:19 PM

The portion of the population that care if Donald Trump disavows the KKK is so fucking tiny it makes no difference at all. To act like he is worried about losing that vote is fucking incredible. There are plenty of legit things to go after him about, this is not one of those.

3/1/2016 2:20:22 PM

^ i think it's relevant, because it keeps otherwise sane republicans from drifting to Trump. It's not to stop the racists that already support trump.

3/1/2016 2:21:40 PM

Oh, I realize that the criticism is coming from all around. Glenn Beck's radio show has turned into 3 hours of tearing down Trump. The Koch's hate Trump. Kristol, the father of neoconservatism, hates Trump. Personally, I think those conservatives will get behind Trump eventually, but that remains to be seen.

This shit is super interesting to me because it looks like there is a real possibility for the current GOP establishment to implode.

3/1/2016 2:22:40 PM

you'll see a lot of these kinds of stories as we approach the general election. they are not aimed at trump supporters, they are aimed at independents and democrats. there is a real fear that clinton will lose votes to trump from anti-establishment voters who are otherwise left of center. polling and primaries suggest that Clinton will not be bringing a lot of people to the polls, turnout will be down, so those kinds of swing votes matter. the media has to establish Trump's credentials as a disgusting racist so voters who are otherwise just mad at the establishment don't consider him as a possibility.

3/1/2016 2:29:25 PM

https://twitter.com/libyaliberty/status/703705770081304576

If you're an American confusedly watching the darkest forces of ur nation rally behind a demagogue-maybe u can understand the Mid East now.

3/1/2016 3:16:33 PM

the people who need to read that don't know what demagogue means

3/1/2016 3:31:13 PM

I truly wonder if Trump is really just part of a giant conspiracy to help usher Hillary into office. By captivating the hearts and souls of the blue-collar mobile home living "conservative-base"; all the indies, moderates, and practical conservatives will have no choice but to abstain or vote for Hillary.

Given the Trump/Clinton relationship over the previous decades, Trump wins either way

3/1/2016 4:20:03 PM

http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/03/louis-farrakhan-donald-trump-220021

Farrakhan praises trump for his antisemitism.

3/1/2016 4:48:09 PM

Quote :

"Asking someone running for office in 2016 if they condemn the KKK is simply poisoning the well. The goal isn't to find out if they support the KKK - you already know they don't. The point is to get a bunch of headlines that have "Donald Trump" and "KKK" side by side. "

Quote :

"That is the most pathetic political hit after asking someone if they still beat their wife"

I ain't buying it. You want to put their names together, you don't need to ask him anything -- just report about the endorsement and the job is done. No, this line of questioning wasn't some piece of "Gotcha journalism," it wasn't a trap, it was the slowest and softest of softballs in American politics. David Duke and/or the klan have endorsed mainstream politicians before, and those politicians have said "Yo fuck that I ain't touching that shit" and the whole issue disappeared before the news cycle was complete.

I don't believe that Donald Trump is a white supremacist, but his handling of what should have been the easiest layup he will ever face says some ugly things about him anyway. Namely:

1) He really does think he can get away with anything
2) He has absolutely no standards for human decency
3) He is willing to entice even the most fringe elements of society

This was not a hard test. And he failed it.

Quote :

"He has a history of grifting real estate investors - how many people can the DNC line up to claim they lost most of their retirement due to his business deals He employs foreign workers on visa programs - so much for making America great again "

These are the things that might, might actually fracture his base if used properly. Everything else they can excuse, but if you get enough damning enough material on illegal immigrants you can hurt him. And best of all would be some suitably poor, idiotic victim of Trump's shady business stuff. I assume that most people who think Trump investments are a good idea are pretty stupid, so this shouldn't be hard. But they have to be photogenic and with a good, airtight story of how bad he screwed them.

3/1/2016 5:20:15 PM

maybe they should put trump on the supreme court to keep him from becoming president.

3/1/2016 5:37:01 PM

^^
To paraphrase John Oliver, whether he's actually a racist or just pretending to be one, at some point it doesn't matter.

That point comes pretty quickly when you're a presidential candidate whose message reaches millions of people.

3/1/2016 6:23:45 PM

Not if he's pandering to the millions of racists out there.

3/2/2016 8:00:25 AM

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/king-not-long-killed-trump-rally-article-1.2549868?cid=bitly

[Edited on March 2, 2016 at 8:38 AM. Reason : ]

3/2/2016 8:37:46 AM

I for one find it refreshing that he's willing to look into this "David Duke" character and "white supremacists" groups instead of just jumping to conclusions about a whole group based on the actions of a few.

(yes I stole this from a meme)

3/2/2016 9:58:32 AM

^^ https://www.facebook.com/GavinNewsom/videos/10154037127588117/

It's nuts how much he endorses violence at his rallies to deal with dissenters.

3/2/2016 10:10:59 AM

woah - a guy who is a member of the White Nationalist Party endorsed Trump?

yooooouge get

3/2/2016 10:12:19 AM

farrakahn also endorsed trump so he still has the "racists love me because everybody loves me" thing going.

3/2/2016 10:32:13 AM

^ Farrakhan like his antisemitism (wasn't a full endorsement).

3/2/2016 10:34:01 AM

yooooouge get

3/2/2016 11:35:56 AM

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/why-donald-trump-might-be_b_9368144.html

Trumps success despite his very high unfavorability I think is very concerning, this researcher has some hypotheses on what this might mean.

3/2/2016 6:49:13 PM

For the people saying trump doesn't really mean the racist stuff he says...

3/2/2016 7:39:50 PM

This was an interesting read: http://www.vox.com/2016/3/1/11127424/trump-authoritarianism

3/2/2016 9:44:35 PM

Trump talked about making apple make iphones in the usa last night. Estimates show that with current american wages, that would send the cost of an iphone to 2000 dollars. americans would have more jobs but everything would cost more. its a more sustainable model than what we have now.

3/2/2016 10:02:03 PM

^ Trump couldn't and wouldn't make Apple do that, but if he somehow did, Apple would just invest heavily into automation, which would then wash down to other factories (more quickly than it already is).

Trump is an idiot, but no one except Sanders is talking about solutions that take the likely future into account.

3/2/2016 11:45:35 PM

This focus on bringing back manufacturing jobs is a loser. Manufacturing is a race to the bottom. In 50 years, I think almost no one in any country will be working in a factory.

3/3/2016 10:00:52 AM

^ did you take Macro Econ with McElroy also?

3/3/2016 10:03:08 AM

^^a lot of the added cost to manufacturing deals with logistics. i don't know if apple could quickly streamline a fully automated way to transport goods acrsoss the country. the advantage of china is industrial zones like shenzen where everything needed (including the work force) is located in adjacent factories to one another.

3/3/2016 10:04:25 AM

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/donald-trump-reveals-details-his-health-care-plan-n530701

I like what I read about the Trump health plan. He makes a lot of good points. Of course both parties will probably just fight back and forth and not pass it even when he pushes for it. I don't get why they don't already allow for more competition across state lines.

3/3/2016 6:06:35 PM

it's just too perfect that you're a Trump supporter

it sums up both you and his rise so perfectly

3/3/2016 6:09:46 PM

My impression was always that it was just Republican spin and that it would allow insurance companies to pay less taxes and actually decrease competition.

3/3/2016 6:14:14 PM

^^I just want someone new in Washington. Clinton has done enough terms there. Sanders has been there 25 years. The other Republican options haven't been there as long as Sanders, but they have been there. The biggest problem is the fact that there are no term limits for senators and congressmen. People like Cruz and Sanders say whatever needs to be said, so they can keep their seat in Washington. It's time for those people to get out of Washington. Trump and Rubio are the only 2 that seem to be somewhat moderate.

3/3/2016 7:24:21 PM

Yeah let's elect someone with zero political experience to the highest office in the US.

3/3/2016 7:38:43 PM

^Or we could elect someone who has been there too long like most politicians. Honestly, not everyone working for him would have 0 experience on capitol hill. I think he would be fine since he would have a lot of experience around him. The rest of the options just come across as being too far right, or left to me.

3/3/2016 7:52:11 PM

Finally, a real Trump supporter. I thought they were like dinosaurs.

He's gonna hire terrific people!

3/3/2016 7:58:38 PM

President Trump and Vice President Trump Jr.!

3/3/2016 8:14:23 PM

Fox News has gone full retard tonight, but Trump went even fuller retard showing up to this thing.

3/3/2016 10:15:09 PM

this is glorious

3/3/2016 10:15:53 PM

Damn, this is a full on ambush.

3/3/2016 10:22:37 PM

I think the Republican party and Donald trump signed a suicide pact together after super Tuesday.

3/3/2016 10:26:42 PM

^What happened? I had a soccer game tonight, so I didn't watch any TV.

[Edited on March 4, 2016 at 12:23 AM. Reason : .]

3/4/2016 12:22:29 AM

Fox setup Trump

3/4/2016 12:30:37 AM

Yuuuuge penis

3/4/2016 6:01:49 AM

Megyn Kelly went all in on arguing with Trump herself at multiple times during the debate, and many other questions thrown to the other candidates were baited towards a Trump bashing. Kasich had to respond to a question directed to him about Trump being naïve about Vladimir Putin with "I'm not biting."

Kasich was the only person who came out of this debate not looking like a whiny simpleton, and Fox News looked desperate with their full screen ads attacking Donald Trump disguised as actual questions. I don't understand why Trump didn't just walk off the stage 15 minutes into the debate, as that was the best thing he could have possibly done. Instead, he babbled on uncontrollably, confusing H1B visas for H2B visas for a good 3 minutes and going into an outrage over Trump University and comments about his dick size.

the GOP seems fully intent on either stopping trump from getting the delegates or running another independent candidate like Romney against him to ensure a Hillary election. At this point I'm just hoping Bernie will run independent too for a chance at a 4-party race in November.

3/4/2016 11:32:58 AM

Quote :

"Megyn Kelly went all in on arguing with Drumpf herself at multiple times during the debate"

She wasn't the only one. Chris Wallace went pretty hard in the paint too. The shit they got booed for early on in this process was childsplay compared to how argumentative they were last night. Made for a good show

And Bernie ain't gonna run indy.

3/4/2016 11:38:25 AM

I'm shifting more and more into the camp of Trump being a mole for Hillary, because Trump has not only increased Hillary's odds dramatically, but he's almost single handedly destroyed the GOP in the process.

3/4/2016 11:43:12 AM

Fox showed video of 3 times Trump directly contradicted himself in interviews, then asked him what his final stance was. Really felt like it was Trump vs world on that stage.

That being said, I doubt Trump supporters will care. He'll chalk it up to being "against the establishment", crack some insults at Rubio and Cruz, and move on.

3/4/2016 11:45:31 AM