Last night during the Q&A portion of a Rochester, NH town hall appearance, Donald Trump — a man who prides himself for his (alleged) candor — was
faced with a situation similar to that of John McCain, who in October of 2008 took a question from an elderly audience member expressing her concerns
that the then Sen. Obama was untrustworthy based on her incorrect belief that he's an Arab.
McCain famously corrected the woman in a manner that was firm and direct while remaining polite, saying, "No, ma’am, he’s a decent family man
[and] citizen who I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues and that’s what this campaign is all about." Donald Trump, who
garnered quite a bit of coverage for himself in July by disparaging McCain as "not a war hero" because he "[likes] people that weren’t captured,"
could learn a lot about character from John McCain.
Here's the video from Thursday's town hall:
and here's my transcription:
Birther: We have a big problem in this country, it's called 'Muslims.' We know our current President is one.
Trump: Right.
Birther: (pointing at Trump) You know he's not even an American.
Trump: (interrupting) We need this question (chuckles) this first question.
Birther: Birth certificates man. But anyway, we have training camps, growing, where they want to kill us.
Trump: Mmhmm.
Birther: That's my question. When can we get rid of 'em.
Trump: We're going to be looking at a lot of different things and you know a lot of people are saying that and a lot of people are saying that bad
things are happening out there. We're going to be looking at that and plenty of other things.
Trump declined to correct this moron who was wearing a Trump campaign t-shirt. He also chose not to respond to questions regarding his failure to
speak up thoough his campaign manager has the following to say
to CNN:
But Corey Lewandowski, Trump's campaign manager, later told CNN that the candidate did not hear the question about Obama being a Muslim.
"All he heard was a question about training camps, which he said we have to look into," Lewandowski said. "The media want to make this an issue about
Obama, but it's about him waging a war on Christianity."
In my opinion, McCain faced significant backlash for his candor as it seems that thereafter he was roundly denounced as a "RINO." I've searched news
articles for instances of McCain being referred to in conservative media as a 'RINO' and I've yet to find anything from before the incident.
Of course we all know that Trump has gotten his fair share of attention from his past birther antics but on the record at least, after 2011, Trump has
dropped the birther rhetoric. So as referenced by the title, my question is this:
What should we make of this incident? Is Donald trump a deaf as his campaign manager would have us believe, is he simply a coward for not wanting to
alienate the Islamaphobes and birthers in the conservative base or is he still a birther but realizes that saying so only makes him sound more crazy
than he already does?
In any case, this proves yet again that Donald Trump isn't fit to hold office.
edit on 2015-9-18 by theantediluvian because: (no reason
given)
Maybe Trump doesn't think he is holier than thou and did not think it is his place to confront another American who could by the way have easily been
a plant to get him to say something that would tarnish him and his campaign. I think he just let the guy do his thing, commented as best he could and
moved on.
Obama is they guy who thinks it is his job to tell us what and how to say things, not Trump. Trump is a birther for sure though...just do some
googling.
Jesus was a far right anti-progressive...
He can't help you.
On topic;
Yes Kali, I'd have said why not all three, too.
He is deaf to the critique, a coward who attacks the weakened and voiceless, and as far as I know, he was still a birther when I stopped following him
on Twitter earlier this year.
edit on 18-9-2015 by CharlieSpeirs because: (no reason given)
Why does he have to answer the question at all? Does every politician answer every question posed to them at every rally?
I seem to remember a certain Bernie Sanders who left his rally rather than deal with BLM, but I sense no outrage over that.
Of course, here's what I think:
There have been stories circulating for the past three or four days in the press about a poll showing that about 37% of Trump's supporters are
basically this one guy.
How convenient that this one guy shows up and asks this perfect question RIGHT NOW. So that the press can carry that story forward.
Plant? I think maybe. Isn't it funny how when Herman Cain started surging from an outsider position in the last election, all these women suddenly
came forward alleging sexual misconduct. And as soon as his surge was deflated, they just as quickly disappeared. Don't you think if their claim was
serious, they would have pressed it like the women going after Cosby?
This is just too convenient for me to bite on, and I'm not Trump supporter.
Valid points, Trump is all business. That hurts him in quite a few ways. In Business he has more time to listen to his advisors and make a good
decision. When asked a question he rushes to make a "statement of fact" in the hopes we will agree with him. This can be fixed by a good team of
advisors. I'm sure there are many heated discussions after he makes his statements after the fact in his camp.. But if he gets elected it won't really
be for what he said, it's for the people agreeing with his side of an issue. Guess we'll see soon! He's definitely dropping the Birthers and going for
a larger common audience now.
A leader should be able to answer a quick question. I don't want someone who does the whole bureaucratic thing....hmmm we'll look into it and do a
study and move on. Just say the truth. If he's not smart enough to realize that Obama is an American Citizen then he's not smart enough to be
president.
Editing to add the reason that I think Obama is an American citizen incase you bring that up and why I think Trump is not inteligent enough to be
president.
Think about it. There are hundreds of millions of people that Hate Obama and want him out of office. Especially before the last, Romney, Election.
Among those hundreds of Millions....there are billionaires. CEOS, Generals, Lawyers, police officers, CIA, NSA, FBI, SEAL, IRS, Military Intelligence,
Judges, Governors, Former Governors, Private investigators, Hackers, Leaders of other countries and everything else in between Mass media like Fox and
talk radio and the wall street journal. And with all of that....all of those resources they couldn't prove he was not an American? They best they
have is Sheriff joe, and a few talk radio personalities? That defies belief. If there was anything to it, it would have seen the light of day.
edit on 18-9-2015 by amazing because: (no reason given)
Pretty sure it was Cain's utter stupidity and his 9-9-9 bit that smacked of a freaking local used car dealership ad... that undid him.
And yes, when you hold a rally and open up questions, you should answer them. What happened with Bernie and black activists isn't comparable and he
handled it like a leftist should.
2. View Obama/Stefanopolis interview on YouTube where Obama said "my muslim faith" and was ahem corrected
3. All birther, muslim and bath house issues with Obama came from 2008 Clinton campaign and it's operatives. I am very amused by her oh so false
claims out today regards this issue and her utter hypocracy.
4. Much ado about nothing.
5.Coordinated attack by establishment and media to protect their cronyism and corruption.
Anyone read Trumps 2A position document out today - exactly why he needs to succeed!
Maybe Trump doesn't think he is holier than thou and did not think it is his place to confront another American
Are you freakin' kidding me? Have you been living in a fallout shelter for decades and this is your first glimpse of the "The Donald?"
The man has made a campaign of shameless self-promotion, a lack of self-censorship and a propensity for personally insulting anyone he doesn't agree
with.
Pretty sure it was Cain's utter stupidity and his 9-9-9 bit that smacked of a freaking local used car dealership ad... that undid him.
And yes, when you hold a rally and open up questions, you should answer them. What happened with Bernie and black activists isn't comparable and he
handled it like a leftist should.