National Politics

Another day, another Trump scandal

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In his convention speech last night GOP vice presidential nominee Mike Pence promised Trump will ‘stand with our allies’: “Donald Trump will rebuild our military and stand with our allies.”

Maybe someone should have informed Pence ahead of time that “The Donald” had just given an interview to the New York Times in which Trump undercut key foreign policy commitments just before Pence pledged to uphold them:

At one point [in his speech], Pence addressed foreign policy.

nato-logo_8“We cannot have four more years of apologizing to our enemies and abandoning our friends,” he said. “America needs to be strong for the world to be safe. On the world stage, Donald Trump will lead from strength. Donald Trump will rebuild our military and stand with our allies.”

Shortly beforehand, Donald Trump addressed the same topic in an interview with the New York Times. But the man at the top of the ticket offered a distinctly different understanding of America’s foreign commitments.

[Trump] even called into question whether, as president, he would automatically extend the security guarantees that give the 28 members of NATO the assurance that the full force of the United States military has their back.

For example, asked about Russia’s threatening activities that have unnerved the small Baltic States that are the most recent entrants into NATO, Mr. Trump said that if Russia attacked them, he would decide whether to come to their aid only after reviewing whether those nations “have fulfilled their obligations to us.”

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RNC Convention day three: Ted Cruz hijacks The Trump Show

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Day three of the RNC Convention was set aside for the remainder of the GOP Clown Car Primary opponents of Donald Trump, who had not already appeared at the convention, to come out and lay prostate before the delegates and to swear their allegiance to “The Donald.” The “showcase” speech was to be for the VP nominee, Mike Pence.

One by one Trump’s former opponents came out and swore their allegiance to “The Donald” (with their fingers crossed behind their back).

CruzAnd then came Senator Ted “Calgary” Cruz from Texas, the “most hated man in the U.S. Senate.”  “Calgary” decided to make himself the “most hated man at the 2016 RNC Convention.”

Rather than lay prostate before the delegates and swear his allegiance to “The Donald,” “Calgary” came out to bask in the applause of his delegates, and then to effectively announce:

“I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.”

Not only did “Calgary” not endorse “The Donald,” but he used the opportunity to declare his candidacy for the 2020 GOP nomination for president. “Calgary” hijacked The Trump Sow, and bedlam ensued.

I have been watching conventions for some 50 years, and I have never seen anyone be so blatant in this way. Ted “Calgary” Cruz is the only candidate who is as big an ego-maniacal sociopath as Donald Trump. Team Trump should have seen this coming.

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Randy Rainbow

#RandyRainbow on the #TP Presidential Ticket: ‘We’ve got trouble’

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Randy Rainbow

In any normal presidential election year (when I’m not running for office myself), I would have been hunkered down in front of the TV watching the Republican National Convention (RNC) this week.

But since I have had campaign events every night, I have had to depend upon social media and the lame stream media for my news. From what I have seen, the scene in Cleveland, my hometowm region, has been a wild ride. For a light-hearted look at how dire the situation is. Check out Randy Rainbow after the jump.

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Trump was prepared to offer John Kasich the chance to be the de facto president

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At the end of May I posted about an interview of Donald Trump by the New York Times in which he “teased” that he does not really want to serve as president. Donald Trump doesn’t want to be president, he wants to be the celebrity chairman of a reality TV show.

Today, the Columbus Dispatch has a report that appears to confirm this, and reports that John Kasich is who Trump originally wanted to be his running mate. Trump’s offer to Kasich to be running mate: Be in charge of both domestic, foreign policy:

John_KasichJohn Kasich could’ve been the second-most powerful person in America, but overtures a couple of months ago to become Donald Trump’s running mate were rejected.

Donald Trump Jr. and campaign chief Paul Manafort both reached out to John Weaver, Kasich’s top campaign consultant, both shortly before and after Kasich dropped out of the presidential race May 4, Weaver told The Dispatch.

If Kasich became vice president in a Trump administration, he would have been put in charge of both domestic and foreign policy, four Kasich campaign sources told The Dispatch. Trump’s oldest son and Manafort portrayed the potential offer as making Kasich the most powerful vice president in U.S. history.

When asked what Trump would be doing, his son replied, “making America great again,” echoing Trump’s campaign theme.

Wow.

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Trump speechwriter falls on sword for plagiarized speech (updated)

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The Melania Trump plagiarism scandal that is the bright shiny object for the media is in its third day of the RNC Convention, which demonstrates that Team Trump does not know what the hell it is doing. Trump Campaign’s Shifting Story on Speech Raises New Questions.

Today Melania Trump’s Speechwriter Falls on Sword, But Trump Rejects Resignation:

MeredithMelania Trump’s speechwriter is stepping forward to take the blame for plagiarizing Michelle Obama’s 2008 speech.

Meredith McIver says the almost word-for-word lifting happened after Melania gave her passages, over the phone, from Michelle’s speech. McIver says she “wrote them down and later included some of the phrasing in the draft that ultimately became the final speech.”

As we first reported on Tuesday’s “TMZ Live” … Melania likes the First Lady and had watched some of her speeches for inspiration prior to her own speech in Cleveland.

Indeed, McIver says that’s exactly what happened, but the mistake occurred because, “I did not check Mrs. Obama’s speeches. This was my mistake, and I feel terrible for the chaos I have caused Melania and the Trumps, as well as to Mrs. Obama. No harm was meant.”

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