Trump Paid Actors $50 to Cheer for Him

$50

Amount his campaign paid actors to cheer at Donald Trump’s presidential announcement Tuesday, according to Hollywood Reporter. “New York-based Extra Mile Casting sent an email last Friday to its client list of background actors, seeking extras to beef up attendance at Trump’s event. … The pay was listed as $50 for fewer than three hours of work. According to the email, Extra Mile was reaching out to potential extras in partnership with Gotham Government Relations and Communications, a New York-Based political consulting group that has worked with Trump in the past.”

Trump May Be a Joke, but …

No, he won’t win the Republican nomination for president, and no, his rambling announcement-day speeches (Mexico? Free trade? China?) won’t help him get taken much more seriously. But there’s a slice of voters, not insignificant in the Republican primary race, who despise Washington and politicians more broadly. Every candidate likes to try to channel that, but none bring the bluster that Trump does. (Tuesday night in Des Moines, he blasted Jeb Bush as a poor dresser, and said he had better hair than Marco Rubio.) Trump is a sideshow, but one whose act will spill on to the main stage, particularly if he earns a debate invitation or three. His candidacy may be a giant joke. But don’t forget there are voters who want to laugh, and hard, at the entire political process.

— Rick Klein, on ABC News.

Trump Represents the GOP’s Id

It’s tempting to feel a little sorry for the Republican Party. Here they were, trying to have a perfectly civil and sober primary campaign to determine their candidate for the presidency, when along comes Donald Trump. … Here’s the problem, though: Donald Trump is the essence of contemporary Republicanism. It’s a distilled essence, boiled down to a viscous and sour consistency. But if you want to know what Republicans believe and who they are, you don’t need to look much further. He’s a walking caricature, but it’s a caricature created from everything Republicans believe.

— Paul Waldman, in The Week.

Trump’s Whining About the Media Again

I have the biggest crowds, I get the biggest standing ovations, and then I read these sleaze-bag reporters. And they say, ‘Donald Trump had a smattering of applause.’ A smattering – and they’ll say about some guy that’s a loser politician that’s up and nobody’s even watching him, ‘He gave a brilliant speech!’ They’re very dishonest.

— Donald Trump, quoted by the Daily Mail, on political journalists.