Donald Trump has won the support of millions of evangelical and conservative voters by cultivating an image of himself as a strongman who always wins and always ‘tells it like it is’ and takes no prisoners. I get it. I like it when Trump bashes the establishment and when he rails against Obama’s America. I’m frustrated and angry, too.
There’s only one problem.
Trump isn’t telling it like it is. He’s lying to you – especially if you are an evangelical, a conservative or just someone who wants to back a winner.
TRANSCRIPT:
Donald Trump is fun to watch. He bashes the establishment, and they deserve it.
He’s the biggest man in the race; he’s the roughest, toughest bastard out there; and he tells it like it is.
Except that he doesn’t, because as entertaining as he is, Donald Trump is a liar.
Who does he lie to?
First, Evangelicals. Trump says he loves the Evangelicals, that the Bible is his favorite book. Forget the fact that Trump couldn’t even name his favorite Bible verse. Focus in on the fact that Trump said he never asks for God’s forgiveness. Here are some of the things Trump isn’t repenting for:
- Bragging about his “experiences with women, often seemingly very happily married and important women.”
- Cheating on his first wife, Ivana, after considering asking her for an open marriage
- Supporting partial-birth abortion until the last five minutes, refusing to label abortion “murder,” and stating that Planned Parenthood does great work;
- Writing, “Oftentimes when I was sleeping with one of the top women in the world I would say to myself, thinking about me as a boy from Queens, ‘Can you believe what I am getting?’”
- Saying, “You know, it doesn’t really matter what they write as long as you’ve got a young and beautiful piece of ass.”
- Stating, “If Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.”
- Telling a friend, according to New York magazine, “You have to treat [women] like shit.”
- Opposing a Constitutional amendment to end same-sex marriage;
- Saying he won’t take moral sides between Israel and the Palestinians
And, of course, Trump-branded casinos actually contain strip clubs. All of which begs the question: Have evangelicals ever supported an unrepentant, pro-Planned Parenthood, adulterous strip club owner before?
Next, conservatives. Trump hasn’t been consistently conservative on a single policy position in his entire career. He may be talking conservative policy now, but what reason do you have to trust him?
- Trump says now that he’s the most hard-core candidate on immigration, but in 2012, he criticized Mitt Romney for being too harsh on illegal immigration. Mitt Romney! Trump also hired illegals at his golf courses and to build his famous tower.
- Trump says now he’d ban Muslim immigration to the United States, but he originally said he would take in Syrian refugees.
- Trump is super-pro-Second Amendment now. But back in 2000, he supported the assault weapons ban.
- Trump says he isn’t for Obamacare, but then repeatedly praises the socialist British and Canadian and Scottish healthcare systems.
- Trump supported Obama’s stimulus package, TARP, and the auto bailouts
- Trump backs campaign finance reform, John McCain style.
- Trump says the government should cap executive pay.
- Trump boasts that he often bribed public officials, but wants you to believe he’s going to be the one to stop cronyism
- Trump says he’ll appoint great justices, but named his pro-partial-birth-abortion sister as a possible nominee.
- Trump only stopped giving money to Democratic candidates in 2011 – three years into the Obama Administration! – just as he was starting to talk about running for president. Between 1989 and 2010, Trump gave more money to Democrats than Republicans. He gave money to John Kerry and Teddy Kennedy and Harry Reid and yes, Hillary Clinton.
And just two weeks ago, Trump said, “I’m very capable of changing to anything I want to change to.” Is this someone conservatives should trust?
Finally, he’s lying to the “we want a winner” folks.
Trump says he wins and he wins and he wins. He’s a great businessman, a magnificent success. But here is a quick list of Trump business failures:
Trump: The Game, Trump Vodka, Trump Airlines, Trump Mortgage, Trump Ice, Trump Magazine, Trump Steaks, GoTrump.Com. And, of course, The New Jersey Generals.
He’s about to be deposed for his involvement in the alleged scam, Trump University, which Plaintiffs say defrauded them out of as much as $60,000 on the promise of teaching how to get rich in real estate.
Then there’s Trump’s Taj Mahal, which declared bankruptcy in Atlantic City in 1991 after racking up $3 billion in debt. Trump had to give up half his stake. Trump’s Plaza Hotel declared bankruptcy in 1992 after racking up $550 million in debt; he was essentially ousted from management. Trump Hotels and Casinos Resorts declared bankruptcy in 2004, after racking up $1.8 billion in debt; Trump gave up about half of his share in the company. Trump Entertainment Resorts declared bankruptcy in 2009, when it missed a $53 million interest payment. Trump had to resign as chairman.
Unfortunately, America can’t declare bankruptcy and fire Trump if he fails as president.
And what of Trump’s successes? Didn’t he make his own way?
Well, it turns out that Trump’s daddy was a New York real estate tycoon who loaned The Donald $1 million to get him started. That’s over $6 million in today’s dollars. And that wasn’t the only loan Trump got from daddy, either.
- Trump later ran his daddy’s company; when he started running it in 1974, his share of the company is reported to have been worth $40 million.
- In 1982, Forbes estimated Trump to be worth $200 million. Today, they say he’s worth somewhere between $3 and $4 billion – Proof of his keen business skills! Except that it’s actually less than he would have made if he had just left the money in the stock market and hung out at his casinos’ strip clubs instead.
- Of course, Trump – who absolutely never ever exaggerates his successes – says he’s worth $9 billion, but we don’t really know because Trump, like Obama, doesn’t like to release his documents. The Donald still hasn’t presented his actual tax returns.
So, is Trump a big winner? Or is he a spoiled brat who grew up in the lap of luxury, had his dad sign his checks, and then BRAGGED about how he is a huge winner?
Trump’s three biggest crowds are Evangelicals, conservatives, and “he’s a winner” voters. Trump is lying to all of them. Stop buying the lies.