Tag: Donald Trump

Did Trump Bribe Florida, Texas GOP Attorneys General in Trump University Scam?

Jon Ponder
Pay for Play? Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Donald Trump
Pay for Play? Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Donald Trump

Donald Trump has made it clear that he views campaign donations as bribes.

“As a businessman and a very substantial donor to very important people, when you give, they do whatever the hell you want them to do,” Trump said in July 2015. “As a businessman, I need that.”

At a rally in Iowa in January, he put it even more plainly. “When I want something I get it,” Trump said. “When I call, they kiss my ass. It’s true.”

Now it is becoming clearer every day that Trump has given donations to at least two Republican state attorneys generals — Greg Abbott, who is now governor of Texas, and Pam Bondi of Florida — who then decided not to pursue fraud investigations into his Trump University get-rich scheme.

This scandal in which the Republican presidential nominee appears to have bribed state officials has largely been ignored by the Beltway media, who are instead fixated on Hillary Clinton’s ineptitude as a webmaster when she served as secretary of state.

But with new reports that Trump paid a $2,500 fine related to one of the donations, it appears unlikely that the “liberal media” can continue to ignore what could well be the biggest scandal of the 2016 campaign.

[…]

When It Comes to Trump, Little Marco Might Be Sore But He’s Also a Whore

Trish

“Little Marco,” as Trump christened him during the debates, stands by his assessment of Trump as “a con man,” but he says we should put him in the White House anyway. That astonishing position reveals more about Rubio’s fitness for office than it does about Trump’s.

— Columnist and author Carl Hiaasen, explaining the awkwardness of the Republican custom of disavowing Donald Trump while continuing to endorse him.

Trump’s Crappy Campaign Might Do as Well as Romney’s Decent Campaign

Buck Banks

Here’s a sober­ing sign of the state of our polit­ics: It’s be­com­ing very plaus­ible that Don­ald Trump, des­pite run­ning one of the worst pres­id­en­tial cam­paigns in mod­ern his­tory, could lose the pres­id­en­tial race by the same Elect­or­al Col­lege vote mar­gin as Mitt Rom­ney. A cam­paign that doesn’t be­lieve in tele­vi­sion ads, of­fers in­sults in­stead of policies, and lacks a full-fledged cam­paign staff, could end up per­form­ing nearly as well as a high-char­ac­ter can­did­ate who ran a re­spect­able los­ing cam­paign against Pres­id­ent Obama.

— Josh Kraushaar, National Journal

Bachmann: Trump Was Chosen by God as the GOP’s Nominee

Buck Banks

I actually supported Ted Cruz. I thought he was fabulous but I also see that at the end of the day God raised up, I believe Donald Trump who was going to be the nominee in this election. I don’t think God sits things out. He’s a sovereign God. Donald Trump became our nominee. I think it’s very likely that in the day that we live in, that Donald Trump is the only individual who could win in a General Election of the seventeen who ran. Maybe I’m wrong, I don’t know but I do know that the Bible is true and that Daniel teaches the most high God which is one of God’s names is the one who lifts up who he will and takes down who he will ….

— Former Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), asserting that Donald Trump was “raised up” by God to win in the general election, The Hill reports.

Clinton’s lead Holds Steady

Buck Banks

5 points

A new Public Policy Polling survey finds Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump, 42% to 37%, followed by Gary Johnson at 6%, Jill Stein at 4% and Evan McMullin at 1%. “A month ago Clinton actually led 46/41 but both she and Trump’s support has dropped by 4 points, with support for third party candidates increasing from 8% to 11% and the level of undecideds increasing from 5% to 10%. It’s a similar story in the head to head- Clinton’s 5 point lead is the same as a month ago, but now it’s 48/43 instead of 50/45 with undecideds increasing from 5% to 9%.”

Trump Blames Clinton for Weiner Sexting

Buck Banks

If you were a presidential candidate who polled low among women, who was on your third wife, who had a reputation for womanizing and a professional relationship with a man who’d recently been axed from his job for sexual harassment, would you respond to the latest Anthony Weiner scandal by A. Staying out of it; B. Changing the subject; or C. Attacking your opponent by making a dubious connection between Weiner’s behavior and her own? If you chose C, congratulations: This election has officially warped your sense of good judgment.

— Olivia Nuzzi, The Daily Beast.