Trump Thinks He's Great for Gay People

By Gage Skidmore - CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47943348.

The Grand Old Party has a pretty terrible reputation when it comes to gay rights. Republican elected officials have been warring against the LGBT community for decades, particularly in recent years with the gay community's success in gaining marriage equality.

GOP hysteria over gay marriage, transgender bathroom habits, and the beauty of rainbows has flooded the republican party with bigoted rhetoric and a slew of anti-gay laws in dozens of states around the country. Despite GOP hatred for all things happy and gay, Trump thinks his presidency would be excellent for the LGBT community.

At a recently rally, Trump actually said:

"You tell me: who is better for the gay community and who is better for women than Donald Trump."

If Trump's decades of crass remarks and verbal harassment of women are any indication of how he'd treat the gay community, LGBT individuals would do well to run as far away as possible from The Trump. Just like every female within a 1,000 mile radius. After all, Trump wants to punish women who have abortions, doesn't believe we need paid family leave, and calls women pigs.

(you can read an excellent list of all the ways Trump hates women at The Huffington Post)

Right before Trump asked his followers who might be better for women and gay people than The Donald, he uttered this gem:

"As far as gays are concerned they throw them off buildings. They kill gays in these countries."

So, Trump thinks that because he wouldn't toss gay people off buildings and kill them that he'd be great for gay people. At the rally, The Donald also said:

"LGBT community is starting to like Donald Trump very, very much lately."

If we ignore his propensity for speaking about himself in the third person, Trump's blanket statements about how much gay people love him seem far fetched, particularly in light of his opinions on gay marriage.

In a pretty honest write-up of Trump's opinions, remarks, and current stances on LGBT rights, advocacy organization HRC (Human Rights Campaign) shares a pretty damaging account of Trump's stances on marriage equality:

"Trump has been a consistent opponent of marriage equality. He said that he opposed it because he was a "traditional" guy, choosing to support domestic partnership benefits instead. Trump later reversed himself and said he also opposed civil unions. Despite a brief flirtation with "evolving" in 2013, Trump has consistently maintained his opposition to marriage equality, sometimes by citing polling and making an analogy to his dislike of long golf putters. After the Supreme Court ruling, Trump said the court had made its decision and, although he disagreed with the ruling, he did not support a constitutional amendment that would allow states to re-ban marriage equality. He later said he would appoint Supreme Court judges who would be committed to overturning the ruling."

Trump thinks he's great for women despite a total lack of support for basic equality, he believes Mexicans "love" him and will be glad to build his wall, and he thinks he'll be awesome for gay people even though he wants to rescind their basic human rights. Trump must be one of those folks who thinks pain is a good thing.

Hillary Clinton's Twitter feed posted a pretty entertaining video about Trump's stances on gay rights:

Donald Trump says he's "the real friend" of the LGBT community.

Yeah, no.https://t.co/TWwZKC5ARS

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 17, 2016

A belief that a Trump presidency would be "good" for the gay community is about as strange as an organization of gay republicans. Yes, it exists. Sometimes this world makes no sense.

Trump Gets in Bed With Conspiracy Theories

By - Michael Vadon - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42540601.

Donald Trump lies all the time. Just about every sentence he utters is a lie. Fact checkers have worn their pencils to nubs and exhausted themselves in an attempt to keep up with Trump's blistering speed of lying in every single speech he makes.

The most recent numbers from Politifact on Trump's record of lies and truths reveal that just 2% of Trump's statements rank as "true" and a staggering 19% rank as "pants on fire" lying (as of 14 June 2016). More than three-quarters of Trump's statements are mostly false or worse.

Source: Politifact

One of the most popular types of lies upon which Trump relies is the conspiracy theory.

This type of lie is easy to spot because it's almost always book-ended with Trump uttering "I don't know, I don't know" a few times. It's like he's trying to tone down the ridiculousness of his comments without actually retracting the comments.

You might see something like:

"I don't know, I don't know, maybe the sun revolves around the earth. I don't know, I really don't know. Listen, we just don't have enough information right now. Does the sun revolve around the earth? Maybe. I don't know. It might. I just can't say."

He floats a ridiculous idea that has no basis in fact, and then tries to soften the blow with a careless shrug, a smirk, and a wave of his tiny hands.

Take his comments in an interview last year in July with CNN's Anderson Cooper:


Trump's response to Anderson Cooper's question about President Obama's birthplace was a repeated "I don't know, I don't know."

Trump's latest theory is that President Obama invites terrorists to the United States because he sympathizes with them and is a secret Muslim. Because we've all seen Obama breaking out the prayer mat in the Oval Office to face Mecca every few hours, right? The LA Times describes Trump's conspiracy theories well and suggests there are two distinct types:

"In the first, Trump tries to cast suspicion on his political rivals. The most infamous example of this was when he implied that Ted Cruz’s dad was mixed up with the JFK assassination, citing the National Enquirer as his source... The second category is more ideological. Trump at his core is a nationalist, and nationalists are especially likely to embrace Enemy Outside stories."

Trump just says whatever he wants, and damn the consequences. He never really gets in any trouble even when he says absolutely ridiculous things. Honestly, he's a better Teflon Don than John Gotti ever was. Trump famously said:

"I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters."

Trump's latest conspiracy theory comes right after one of the most devastating events to occur on American soil: the Orlando nightclub massacre. Almost 50 people dead and countless more wounded, and all Trump cares about is congratulating himself and making dumb comments about President Obama. Trump actually called for President Obama to resign because of the Orlando shooter and said in an interview:

"Look, we're led by a man that either is not tough, not smart, or he's got something else in mind."

Trump has spent a lot of airtime insulting President Obama and launching conspiracy theories. Trump's favorite newspaper, The Washington Post, offers a video that shows how the presumptive presidential nominees - Trump and Clinton - responded to the Orlando massacre.

Steve Bennen with The Rachel Maddow Show offers an excellent response to Trump's verbal frivolity:

"Maybe Trump and his team have decided if the GOP candidate uses a firehose to spew nonsense, the sheer volume will become overwhelming, making it easier for him to get away with antics that might otherwise doom a traditional White House contender."

Trump has certainly dialed up the rhetoric on Muslims and immigration since the Orlando massacre. However, since 80% of terrorist attacks in the United States have been committed by Americans since 9/11, maybe The Donald should rethink his rhetoric about foreigners and immigrants. Isn't it time we locked up all the angry white men in our country?

Donald Trump Says "No" to the First Amendment

By Max Goldberg - By Max Goldberg - https://www.flickr.com/photos/max-goldberg/24490975695/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47421099.

In a preview of what would likely happen if Trump found his way to the Oval Office, he decided to ban The Washington Post from attending his campaign events by revoking their press credentials.

This is what Trump posted on his Facebook feed about his decision:


Donald Trump seems to run into this problem on a daily basis. Everything he says is "taken out of context," or is "misinterpreted." Imagine the number of international scandals and mishaps during a Trump presidency with his habit of terrible communication.

He'd probably insult the wife of some foreign leader one day and whine that he was actually giving her a compliment the next. Then he'd complain about some traditional food dish in another country and then retract his comments the next day and try to feign an allergy. He'd finish up the week with a racist statement about some other nation's leader and then get mad that people didn't appreciate his "joke."

Trump's daily statements about people and news publications misinterpreting his speeches sound like "whine, whine, whine," and it happens so damn often. In fact, Donald Trump believes whining is the best way to win.


The banning of The Washington Post isn't the first action Trump has taken against a publisher with which he disagreed. According to an article by liberal publication Mother Jones, Trump's campaign has already banned several publications from obtaining press credentials to his events:

"Trump's campaign hasn't confirmed the existence of a list of banned publications. But the list has, at times, included the National Review, the Des Moines Register, Univision, BuzzFeed, the Daily Beast, Fusion, the Huffington Post, and Mother Jones. Rather than targeting specific reporters, the Trump campaign appears to decree blanket bans on publications that have published negative coverage of the Republican candidate."

Would Trump act this way with the press room in Washington at The White House? Would he ban publications that dared critique his decisions as president? Would he threaten anyone who dared publish negative commentary about his spray tan, bouffant coif, and tiny hands?

The entire Briefing Room at The White House would probably be filled with rows and rows of Brietbart reporters and Fox News journalists.

Trump has also suggested stripping journalists of their rights under the First Amendment to the Constitution with a threat to change the libel laws. The change would allow The Donald to sue people with greater frequency whenever he thought someone said something mean about him or "misinterpreted" one of his misogynistic, fascist, racist, and infantile remarks.

An article by Trump's apparent enemy, The Washington Post, suggested that it would be almost impossible for Trump to actually rescind our First Amendment rights.

"It's hard to imagine any serious debate about an attempt to alter libel laws, however; such an effort would clearly exceed Trump's — or any president's — authority." 

Trump's threat is a perfect example of how he would abuse the office of the president and use the position to further his whiny, sniveling, personal agenda. He has zero interest in anyone but himself, and believing otherwise is folly. The race for the president is a big, fat joke to Donald Trump, and he's in it to make fools of everyone who votes for him.

He's not even entertaining like a train wreck that you can't tear your eyes away from...

...but you know what is entertaining? The West Wing and the glorious Allison Janney, AKA C.J. Cregg. No matter your position on politics, this is a much better story about the rescinding of press credentials:


Enjoy!

Trump Shows Class With Orlando Shooting Tweets

By Marc Nozell - https://www.flickr.com/photos/marcn/24622320840/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46901376.

One thing everyone associates with Donald Trump is class. He's a classy, classy guy. There was the time he commented on former presidential hopeful Carly Fiorina's appearance, as if what she saw in the mirror each day had anything to do with her ability to run a country. There was that other time he suggested he'd be dating his daughter (Ivanka) if she wasn't his daughter.

Gross.

If you're interested in reading more about Trump's opinions on women, The Telegraph offers an excellent timeline. There's another great list of Trump soundbites at Marie Claire. The excellent Buzzfeed video about all the nice things Trump has said over the years about women is also worth a view.

Donald Trump is the sort of man every mother wants for a role model for her son. He's the kind of guy every woman dreams about as a future partner. He's the bro every guy wants as his best friend.

Or not.

In reality, Donald Trump proves over and over again that he has absolutely no class and is one of the most selfish billionaires on the planet (if he is, indeed, a billionaire...). Check out his Twitter response to the Orlando massacre:

Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism, I don't want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance. We must be smart!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 12, 2016

Trump posts inappropriate things multiple times a day via his Twitter account, and most of his speeches also feature ridiculous comments.

Robert Reich, who was part of former President Clinton's administration and works today as a college professor and political commentator, had this to say about the tweet:


Trump has posted inappropriate comments on his Twitter feed so often that there is likely no one can feign surprise at his lack of consideration, empathy, and humanity. His response to this tragedy and massacre is a beautiful example of Trump's disorder:  narcissistic personality disorder.

Here's the definition of the condition from The Mayo Clinic:

"Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental disorder in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for admiration and a lack of empathy for others. But behind this mask of ultraconfidence lies a fragile self-esteem that's vulnerable to the slightest criticism."

Sound familiar?

Every time anyone criticizes Trump about anything - whether it's his spray tan and orange face or something stupid he posted on Twitter, he responds with insults, whining, and threats. He's actually threatened to take away our First Amendment rights if elected president.

Even less surprising, CNN reporter Brian Stelter noticed some plagiarism going on with Trump's Twitter feed in the wake of the Orlando massacre:

It looks like Trump flagrantly copy & pasted @SebGorka's unsourced 2:03pm tweet, tweaked it, and posted at 2:52pm pic.twitter.com/aAHWUHvvnH

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 12, 2016

A vote for Donald J. Trump is a vote to destroy America and all the freedoms our men and women have fought for so valiantly over the past two centuries. Every media outlet that gives free airtime to Trump is guilty of bringing our country closer to collapse and ruin.

Imagine the horror of a president unable to take criticism in any form. How can the United States maintain any sort of position of respect in the world with such a weak and spineless person in at the helm?

Donald J. Trump needs therapy, and The White House should take out a restraining order against him, so he can't get anywhere near the highest office in the land.

Trump Spreads Business Failure Far and Wide

By - Jjohn02 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46674203.

Trump has filed for corporate bankruptcy four times and believes his multiple business failures qualify him to run a country with a GDP of almost 17 trillion dollars. His business failures have not only been fodder for Democratic opponents, but his inability to make money without getting handouts from the federal government has also been cause for Republicans to complain.

At one of the Republican debates, presidential hopeful Carly Fiorina accused Trump of running up "mountains of debt" during four corporate bankruptcies.

A look at the statement by Politifact found Fiorina's statement about Trump's bankruptcies to be "mostly true."

Share The Facts

Carly Fiorina

Presidential candidate

Says Donald Trump was "forced to file for bankruptcy not once, not twice, four times."

In a debate. – Wednesday, September 16, 2015

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Interestingly, The Donald wanted viewers to believe his business failures were a good thing rather than a sign that he has no business running a business. During the debate, Trump said:

"Out of hundreds of companies, hundreds of deals, I used the [bankruptcy] law four times, made a tremendous thing. I’m in business. I did a very good job."

So, to Donald Trump, driving a company into the ground and using untold millions of taxpayer dollars to support his failures is a "good job."

His corporate bankruptcies have included:

• The Trump Taj Mahal in 1991
• The Trump Plaza Hotel in 1992
• Trump Hotels and Casinos Resorts in 2004
• Trump Entertainment Resorts in 2009

Unfortunately, Trump's quack business sense not only cost taxpayers money, but it also robbed small businesses all over the country of their livelihoods. Trump's projects have left a deep ocean of shuttered businesses that were forced to close because of rampant bankruptcies and refusals to pay even when his companies weren't in federal court begging for approval to stiff creditors, employees, and subcontractors.

While you could probably argue that Trump has been involved in quite a few business ventures, which might mean his ratio of business success to business failure is "good," no one responsible (or even partially responsible) for losing hundreds of millions of dollars over and over again could ever be considered someone doing a "very good job."

In a recent investigation by USA Today, the newspaper found that "hundreds of people" involved in Trump projects haven't been paid, and some have gone out of business as a result.

An article on the investigation revealed:

"Donald Trump often portrays himself as a savior of the working class who will 'protect your job.' But a USA TODAY NETWORK analysis found he has been involved in more than 3,500 lawsuits over the past three decades — and a large number of those involve ordinary Americans, like the Friels, who say Trump or his companies have refused to pay them."

Trump routinely brags about the size and worth of his businesses. No surprise. But he's also been accused of inflating his worth to impress business partners while simultaneously deflating the value of his properties during tax assessments.

It's worth noting that Trump has maintained a high degree of animosity for his "haters," and even once denied going bankrupt...

Haters, stop saying I went bankrupt, it is not so. I never went bankrupt...

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 20, 2013

There's a good chance The Donald was trying to argue that he never underwent personal bankruptcy, but does that really matter when your name is on the corporation that files for corporate bankruptcy?

You can't simultaneously disavow responsibility and involvement in devastating business failures while also bragging about your business prowess and how you did a "good job."

Trump University: A Closer Look (Late Night with Seth Meyers)

By Marc Nozell from Merrimack, New Hampshire, USA - 20160208-DSC08296, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46940050.

The Trump University scandal continues to provide fodder for late night comedians, democrats, and Trump haters, but as usual, The Donald complains about being treated unfairly by his judge because of the judge's Mexican heritage.

Seth Meyers offers a hilarious analysis of the situation with his "Closer Look" segment, which begins with a quote of one of Trump's recent Twitter tweets:

Wow, USA Today did todays cover story on my record in lawsuits. Verdict: 450 wins, 38 losses. Isn't that what you want for your president?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 2, 2016

Of the tweet, Meyers says:

"I gotta be honest. I don't know if I do want a president with 488 lawsuits because that's the number sticking in my head, not your win/loss record. If someone said, 'I've been on Maury Povich 55 times, but I've only been the father twice,' I'd wonder about the 55."

Trump apparently loves getting sued almost as he loves filing for corporate bankruptcy, making racist comments, and encouraging his followers to use violence against people who aren't so fond of The Donald.

See the entire video segment here:

Trump's comments about the judge overseeing the lawsuit against Trump University were categorically racist, but there is no evidence Trump plans to admit to making racist comments. In fact, Trump refused to admit his comments were racist despite being asked 20 times in an interview conducted by a reporter from CNN.

"Trump, pressed by CNN's Jake Tapper more than 20 times on whether he was invoking racism in his attacks on the judge, continued to point to his plans to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico and renegotiate trade agreements between the two countries as justification and validation of his critiques."

Trump brags about his billions so often that he should probably just volunteer to pay for the wall on his own dime. Can we ignore the fact that more Mexicans are leaving the United States than coming to it, that none of the 9/11 hijackers got into the United States across the U.S./Mexico border, and that the wall would be fiscally unsustainable?

If you're in Trump's head or part of his ridiculous campaign, the answer to that question is a resounding "yes."

However, former president of Mexico, Vicente Fox, said it best:

"I'm not going to pay for that f***ing wall."

It doesn't matter who Trump expects to pay for his wall. His crazy ideas are crap, his attitude is ridiculous, and his threats are imbecilic. #anyonebuttrump