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Donald Trump Tag

Donald Trump has a "favorability" problem. Poll after poll shows Trump doing poorly against Hillary Clinton head-to-head, perhaps reflecting Trump's historically low levels of favorability (and high levels of unfavorability) for a leading major party candidate. In response, a meme was created and spread far and wide earlier this month that Trump's favorability is no worse than Ronald Reagan at a similar point in time in his challege to Jimmy Carter. The conclusion being that if Reagan could overcome that obstacle, so can Trump. So, the theory goes, those of you Republican national convention delegates who worry about Trump being a general election disaster who could cost Republicans the presidency, House and Senate have nothing to worry about. A post by Gallup (discussed below) explains why that is not accurate, and why Trump's favorability is much worse than Reagan's. But equally important is to examine how it came about that Gallup even is discussing the issue.

I fully appreciate that support for Trump has become a cult of personality. Nothing can sway those who refuse to see that Trump is conning them. He doesn't respect you. He doesn't like you. He is manipulating you to get what he wants. It's all a show. And his new convention manager (and de facto campaign manager) Paul Manafort just admitted to the con in a closed door meeting with the RNC. The Associated Press obtained a recording, and reports, Trump team tells GOP he has been 'projecting an image' (emphasis added):
Trump's newly hired senior aide, Paul Manafort, made the case to Republican National Committee members that Trump has two personalities: one in private and one onstage. "When he's out on the stage, when he's talking about the kinds of things he's talking about on the stump, he's projecting an image that's for that purpose," Manafort said in a private briefing. "You'll start to see more depth of the person, the real person. You'll see a real different guy," he said.

Donald Trump was asked on the Today Show which bathroom at Trump Tower Caitlyn Jenner should use. Trump didn't limit himself to Caitlyn, and broadly proposed that businesses would be discriminating if they provide a separate (presumably non-gendered) bathroom. Trump also complained that a separate bathroom would be too expensive for businesses. https://twitter.com/TODAYshow/status/723125136170213376 Here's the full question and answer:

Updates (by WAJ). No surprise, the second the polls closed Trump was projected the winner. What remains to be seen is how many delegates he gets. (added) As of 11:30 p.m., Trump has approximately 60% of the vote and is credited with 89 delegates, but that likely will go up a couple more as more final results come in. Kasich has 3, and Cruz none. So Trump did what he needed to do. But he's still on a trajectory to fall short of 1237 on the first ballot. A number of commenters on TV and Twitter also are pointing out the obvious -- the Republican electorate in NY State is small relative to Democrats, so there remains no reason to believe Trump could carry the state in a general election. Hillary v. Bernie currently not called, but "leaning" Hillary. Networks call it for Hillary. https://twitter.com/LegInsurrection/status/722600349379522561

On the campaign trail in Buffalo, New York Monday night, Donald Trump mistakenly referred to the convenience store 7-Eleven in place of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. From the AP wire:
Donald Trump made an unfortunate slip-of-the-tongue while campaigning in Buffalo, New York, on Monday evening at his final rally before Tuesday's big-prize primary. Trump was about to deliver prepared remarks lauding New York values when he mistakenly mentioned the name of a popular convenience store chain in place of 9/11.

Donald Trump is hovering near a delegate trajectory that will gain him a majority of delegates on the first ballot, even though he will not come anywhere near a majority of votes cast in various primaries and caucuses (including caucuses that selected delegates to state conventions). In other words, using the characterization of the delegate selection process which Trump and Trumpmedia claim is rigged and amounts to "stealing" the election when it benefits Cruz relative to vote percentage, Trump would be the biggest thief of the campaign season. (By the way, the claim that state conventions are "voterless" is a lie.) This NBC News analysis as of April 11, 2016, demonstrates how the supposedly "rigged" system has helped Trump:

We've been documenting the Trump hysteria which has gripped college campuses but we now turn to an elementary school in a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. Three boys who came up with a hilarious act for their school talent show have been told the show won't go on. The Boston Globe reported:
In Wellesley, it’s curtains for three dancing Trumps Three Wellesley 11-year-olds figured they’d found the perfect plan to reprise their hit performance at last year’s Fiske Elementary School talent show, when they donned masks of their retiring principal’s face and danced wildly: This year, they’d be the dancing Donald Trumps.

On Monday, Republican consultant Cheri Jacobus filed a defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump, his presidential campaign, and his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski. Jacobus is a veteran political operative with decades of experience in the political consulting world, including a stint as a media spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee. She has been a repeated guest on cable news shows; the complaint states she has had "over one thousand appearances on Fox News/FOX Business News, and hundreds of appearances on CNN and MSNBC," among other television appearances and published articles. The dispute started after Jacobus criticized the Trump campaign in January and February. The campaign responded by claiming she was a disgruntled job-seeker who had "begged" for a job. As reported by Politico:

It's not often that a Republican presidential primary in New York matters. This year it does. It's a time for choosing, to paraphrase Ronald Reagan. The choice is between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, though John Kasich is on the ballot too. The real race to the nomination has been Trump v. Cruz for at least several weeks and it is likely to remain that way. Faced with that choice, it's easy. Legal Insurrection started in October 2008 in anticipation of the Obama presidency. We were part of the Tea Party movement (though aligned with no specific group) since the beginning. We worked hard through Operation Counterweight and campaign coverage to find and elect candidates who would push the window towards conservatism. Sometimes we were disappointed once they took office, but the window opened wider.

Ted Cruz racked up another big delegate win, this time in Wyoming. CNN reports:
Cruz won 14 of 14 Republican National Convention delegates up for grabs at the Wyoming state convention here Saturday. The crowd here was clearly in Cruz's corner, as the Texas senator was the only candidate to make the trip to Casper -- ahead of a major snowstorm -- and Sarah Palin, scheduled to speak for Trump, previously canceled.

It was going to be yuge. There was going to be a march on the Colorado State Capitol the likes of which had not been seen before, reflecting seething anger among voters over Ted Cruz "stealing" Colorado in a "voterless" process. It was pure media manipulation based on a lie spread by Trump and his campaign about how the Colorado process worked. And it was aided and abetted by Trumpmedia, that hyperbolic group of formerly conservative websites and media personalities who are riding the Trump horse. Turns out the massive rally didn't get thousands, not even hundreds. A few dozen showed up.

This video really serves as a metaphor for the campaign so far. Michael Cohen, Trump's legal and campaign adviser, is demanding that Republicans unite around "Mr. Trump." Of course, it is revealed near the end of the clip below, after a lengthy harangue of the RNC and Reince Priebus by Cohen, that Cohen is a Democrat and can't even vote for "Mr. Trump." Much like some of "Mr. Trump's" own family members who campaign for him, who also are Democrats.

As Professor Jacobson blogged yesterday, reports suggested the Florida prosecutor would not be filing charges against Donald Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, for the alleged assault of former Breitbart News reporter, Michelle Fields. The backstory on that dramatic saga here.

Back to the Corey Lewandowski saga and his grab of Michelle Fields. Politico reports that the local prosecutor will not pursue the case despite a finding of probable cause by the police:
A Florida prosecutor has decided not to prosecute Donald Trump’s campaign manager for battery after a March run-in with former Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields, sources with knowledge of the situation told POLITICO. The decision not to press charges against Corey Lewandowski is scheduled to be announced on Thursday afternoon by Palm Beach County State Attorney David Aronberg....

Donald Trump inexplicably waited until YESTERDAY to name a State Political Director in California. The California primary on June 7 could determine whether Trump reaches the magic 1237 majority delegate number prior to the July convention. By all reports, Cruz is far ahead in the ground game in California, which awards delegates not only on the statewide vote but also by congressional district. Even if Trump wins the state, he may underperform in enough congressional districts due to Cruz's superior campaign preparation that Trump is stopped short. Or he may fail to file delegate slates in all districts. Erick Erickson reports:

Donald J. Trump got crushed at the Colorado Republican state convention, where Ted Cruz swept the national delegate selection. This sweep happened not because the convention was rigged, but because Trump did a horrible job of working the caucus process that led to the convention. Trump all but ignored the electoral process leading up to the convention, and didn't even bother to go make a pitch himself at the convention, unlike Cruz who gave a speech on stage as Trump surrogates were furiously working to convince delegates to vote for Trump. Throughout the process, there was no discernible complaint by Trump and his supporters so long as they thought they had a shot at winning, or at least eating into Cruz's likely win. Only after it was over, and Colorado together with Wisconsin created momentum for Cruz, did Trump and his supporters start alleging fraud and deceit. This was a classic "change the narrative" Trump ploy, much as he would roll out high-profile endorsements that morning after a debate. Had Trump done better, there would not have been a peep. This controversy is not about principle, fairness or anything other than Trump losing and fearing his chance to win on a first ballot is slipping away.