"What Trump Really Meant"

“What Trump Really Meant”.

Observe with suspicion the bold claim found in the headline of the NPR article What Trump Really Meant When He Said Obama Has 'Something Else In Mind', and then ask yourself how they may have reached their conclusions.

One might expect that with such a headline, Trump clarified his remarks for the press, and NPR simply reported on the clarification. But as with all things anti-Trump, “what Trump really meant” turns out to be something the critic pulled from the recesses of his own imagination.

I don’t believe for one minute that NPR hired psychics to do its reporting, so observe with even more suspicion when the author arrogantly proceeds to wage an assault on “what Trump really meant”, which turns out to be a typically threadbare straw man built on a spine of assumption.

The conclusions are borderline conspiratorial, evoking the Manchurian candidate, dog whistles, and subliminal messages, something that Trump himself might enjoy if it wasn't about him. “Trump has essentially raised the specter of a Mohammedan Candidate at the very epicenter of U.S. politics.” Has he?

Given that the only way to know “what Trump really meant” is to ask Trump himself what he really meant, it is slightly surprising to see that such a reputable news source didn’t even bother doing so, but not surprising to see such sophistry when it comes to the anti-Trump propagandists.

Mentalizing about the mental states, intentions, desires, and wants of others is handy and useful guesswork in social situations, but it is guesswork. The author of this article (including the psychics here on ATS) have either special access into the thoughts and intentions of Trump, or more likely, they have disguised their own inferring as Trump’s implying, their own gut-reactions and feelings as Trump’s intentions, and their own subjective interpretation of Trump’s meaning as “what Trump really meant”.

Granted, Trump may have implied Obama was somehow involved after all, and his reaction to such accusations is nothing more than a charade; but in the absence of any confession or evidence of guilt, the author and the psychics here on ATS have engaged in nothing more than specious conjecture.

In the end, only one question remains. Have those who have pushed this nonsense arrived at this conclusion on their own accord, or is this the glaring symptom of an overdose on gutter press?

Thank you for reading

- LesMis

a reply to: LesMisanthrope

You could ask trump the same question every day for 7 days. He would give a different answer every time followed by his normal "A lot of people are saying it."

It's clear what Trump meant. If you take into consideration comments he's made in the past, his insinuation is shamefully transparent.

a reply to: angeldoll

It's clear what Trump meant. If you take into consideration comments he's made in the past, his insinuation is shamefully transparent.

Such a statement is shamefully made up and likely mob-derived.

originally posted by: reldra
a reply to: LesMisanthrope

You could ask trump the same question every day for 7 days. He would give a different answer every time followed by his normal "A lot of people are saying it."

You do realize that is a normal human trait right?
To learn, evolve, and change your opinion on things...
So long as it doesn't make one look like a hippocratic fool.
For the most part he has stuck to his guns on the controversial subjects.

Got any substance to add to the thread?...

I think that what Mr. Trump REALLY meant does not matter. One thing he is making clear by his candidacy is that what he, or anyone really, means is irrelevant. What is important is, how is he interpreted. How do people interpret his words and fit them in with their own biases. This goes for Mrs. Clinton also but I think Mr. Trump has better handle on it than she. What he says need not make sense, only be interpretable by those who may vote for him.
For now, this seems to be working, however it may or may not continue. Maybe sometime soon or sometime later enough of his followers will go, wait a minute,,ah, that doesn't mix with what I thought he was all about and then his building block castle of catch phrases will come tumbling down around his ears. And maybe not.

And in the end, does it really matter to him, really? Unlike Mrs. Clinton who for the last 20 years seems to have built her whole persona on being the 'first woman', Mr. Trump, should he lose, will go on his merry way doing whatever the hell it is he wishes to do. If nothing else, I love him for offering up proof positive of the complete shallowness of the American political system. I"m just sorry that so many of his 'flock' cannot understand it.

OH, I forgot Mis, good post and I agree about all the psychics. Me included I guess.

originally posted by: LesMisanthrope
a reply to: angeldoll

It's clear what Trump meant. If you take into consideration comments he's made in the past, his insinuation is shamefully transparent.

Such a statement is shamefully made up and likely mob-derived.

I'm not a member of a mob. Just wanted to clarify that.

I did, however make it up without shame.

a reply to: LesMisanthrope

I think he meant this

what a bunch of haters !! losers !!! ban them all !!!

a reply to: TerryMcGuire

I agree with everything you said. Any candidate who would say the things Trump has said would be scraping the barrel right now. Any statement he says is manipulated by him and his followers when confronted by the media. If a candidate can't be taken for his word, nobody can take stock in what they say.

I compare it to a little kid who gets caught doing something wrong. When their parents confront them, they deny it, or make up a story about why they did it. Trump really accepts no responsibility for what he says.

a reply to: LesMisanthrope

If one has been paying attention to the Obama's presidency you don't need to be psychic.

originally posted by: WeRpeons
a reply to: TerryMcGuire

I agree with everything you said.

Any candidate who would say the things Trump has said would be scraping the barrel right now. Any statement he says is manipulated by him and his followers when confronted by the media. If a candidate can't be taken for his word, nobody can take stock in what they say.

I compare it to a little kid who gets caught doing something wrong. When their parents confront them, they deny it, or make up a story about why they did it.

Trump really accepts no responsibility for what he says.

Funny, neither has Clinton or Obama..

So, at the least, it is more of the same we've been being fed for a while now.

"How do you know when a politician is lying?"

"Their lips are moving."

From the title I thought you were another one of his followers trying to explain away his many messed up statements.


There has been so many times he has gone off the rails where his followers will claim he meant something other than what he stated.


No one really knows what he means since he changes his position so often.

originally posted by: LesMisanthrope
a reply to: angeldoll

It's clear what Trump meant. If you take into consideration comments he's made in the past, his insinuation is shamefully transparent.

Such a statement is shamefully made up and likely mob-derived.

republican senator john McCain said today "OBAMA IS DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ORLANDO"...and when asked a second time what he meant, he said the exact same thing....

originally posted by: Grimpachi
From the title I thought you were another one of his followers trying to explain away his many messed up statements.


There has been so many times he has gone off the rails where his followers will claim he meant something other than what he stated.


No one really knows what he means since he changes his position so often.

no one really knows what he means?....how about you just listen to his actual words that come out of his mouth for a start.

I have heard, "what Trump really meant" and "well that is not what he meant" so many times from the Trump supporters I know. Either he needs to select his words better, or he is saying just what he meant. This holds true when he reaffirms his more controversial quotes. Flippidy flip flopper.

He makes himself painfully clear here.

www.vanityfair.com...

a reply to: Grimpachi

No one really knows what he means since he changes his position so often.

He has changed very few of his positions. Once the gutter-press quote-mines and cherry picks his speeches and statements, there is very little left of what he said.

a reply to: MrThortan

You might need to listen to his speeches and statements in their entire context instead of repeating what you read in blogs. Quote-mining and cherry-picking are the tools of sophists.

a reply to: JAY1980

It's normal if you've got ADD. It's not normal otherwise.