Oh, mommy, please make that man go away. Please, mommy, just make him go away. That’s likely the verdict of a good chunk of America’s electorate as the media — and, in many ways, Republicans — continues its love affair with Donald Trump, a living example of how lots of money and loudness brings lots of attention. And — no, joke, now…this is not from The Onion or Mad Magazine — he is s-t-i-l-l raising questions about President Barack Obama’s the birth certificate.
But when asked about Sen. Ted Cruz, who was born in Canada, he seems to skirt the issue. The Politico:
Donald Trump, in the early presidential caucus state of Iowa this weekend for an event featuring many potential 2016 Republican presidential hopefuls, defended his questioning of President Barack Obama’s place of birth in an interview aired Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
Correspondent Jonathan Karl asked the former presidential candidate about his pursuit of Obama’s birth certificate, suggesting it made him look not serious.
“Why does that make me not serious? I think that resonated with a lot of people,” Trump said.
Karl pressed if Trump still believes Obama was not born in the United States.
“I have no idea,” Trump said. “I don’t know, was there a birth certificate? You tell me. You know, some people say that was not his birth certificate. I’m saying I don’t know. Nobody knows. And you don’t know either.”
“I’m pretty convinced he was born in the United States,” Karl replied, which prompted Trump to jump in and seize on “pretty convinced.”
Karl then said he believed Obama was born in the U.S. “without question.”.
“Jonathan, you said you’re pretty convinced, OK? So let’s just see what happens,” Trump said.
Karl asked Trump if the Canadian-born Cruz was eligible for the office. (Cruz’s mother is an American citizen.)
“If he was born in Canada, then perhaps not,” Trump said. “That will be ironed out. I don’t know the circumstances. If he says he was born in Canada, that’s his thing.”
The full clip so you can judge for yourself unless you, like many Americans, are overdosed on Trump (it is sort of overdosing on “dope”):
Trump has (again) been making noises about running for the Republican Presidential nomination. This time he’s warning GOPers about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and of the dangers of ignoring the political realities when it comes to immigration reform:
Donald Trump on Saturday made his first-ever political visit to Iowa, speaking to conservative Christians, stoking speculation about his political plans and labeling the United States a “laughingstock” during an interview with NBC News.
He warned the Family Leadership Summit in an evening speech that Republicans will have a “really tough” time in the 2016 presidential race if Hillary Clinton runs. He said the Senate’s immigration bill “could be a death wish” for the Republican Party but insisted the GOP has to do “the right thing.” And he bragged about buying the old Post Office building in Washington: “You have the White House, you have Congress and I’m building right in the middle!
In an interview after the speech, Trump said he’s focused on midterm elections for now, not the 2016 presidential race (though he declined to say which GOP Senate races or candidates he finds promising in 2014). He declined to elaborate on what immigration reform proposals he might back. And he said Sen. Rand Paul’s fight with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie over national security and civil liberties is “probably bad overall for the Republican Party.”
Summing up his view of the U.S., Trump said, “we used to be the king and the queen all put together, and now we’re a laughingstock as a country.”
And on that he has lots of experience:
Donald Trump knows a lot about being a laughingstock.
UPDATED: The Huffington Post’s Jason Linkin’s points to a bigger issue in his headline: “Donald Trump, Louie Gohmert Make Great Case For Why GOP Should Keep People Like Them Off TV”.
And, yes, if I was a to Republican Party official I’d move heaven and earth to a)try to get Trump to avoid these appearances b)put out the word that Trump is just one of millions of Republicans and does not represent the Republican Party. To be sure, he looks more like he represents Hair Club for Men (RETRACTION IN ADVANCE: Hair Club for Men produces natural looking hair solutions that have pleased thousands of people across the country and cannot be confused with Mr. Trump’s hair-don’t.)
Part of his post:
Here is a message to the Republican Party, from me: Guys, I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but you are getting rooked pretty badly by the Sunday shows. Did y’all wake up today thinking that the best thing for your message was to have it carried by guys like Trump and Gohmert and King? I am guessing that’s not the case. But that’s who got booked, because nothing is better for ratings than a bunch of hot messes on the teevee.
AND:
And Trump’s “thing” is horses—like this, which everyone at ABC News knew to be the case the second they agreed to interview him. I promise you, no one at ABC News thought that their interview with Trump would be good for America. Interviewing Trump is the political media version of the group of people who positioned pig’s blood above Carrie at the prom and then laughed in anticipation of the big joke they were about to pull, only in this case, “America” is Carrie. “HAR DE HAR, THERE’S GONNA BE PIG BLOOD EVERYWHERE!” is what the people at ABC News said when they hatched the idea of airing an interview with Donald Trump.
AND:
Hey, we called around and got some quotes about today’s Sunday offering of Trump-Gohmert-King, just for fun. “Looking forward to future Sunday shows filled with Markwayne Mullin,” griped one GOP operative. Another told us, “We have Fox and we use (like props) the most irritating, obscure Democratic political voices, like Bob Beckel, Susan Estrich, Pat Caddell, and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. They have the major networks. We used to get Bachmann [on these shows], and now it looks like we’re gonna get Gohmert. [Bob] Dole’s Meet The Press appearance record could be in jeopardy.”
Look, Republican Party, there is probably nothing you can do about Donald Trump, because he is a unique, sparkling gas-sack unto himself. But can you guys see about keeping Gohmert and King occupied on Sunday mornings? Maybe give them both a sack of jacks and a rubber ball to bounce, or something? It would make my life better and it might even make your jobs easier as well.
Why just rubber balls?
Why not rubber padded rooms?
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.