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Donald Trump Tag

The other day we showed the full Rebel Pundit video of the anti-Trump protest on the streets of Chicago. It was not hard to guess which segment would go viral. It is this woman demanding that the videographer (I think it was Andrew Marcus for that segment) either leave or dismantle his white male privilege. Now it is viral on Twitter: https://youtu.be/Vat_w4QV_uM https://twitter.com/PotluckPolitico/status/711327502371831809 Language Warning

Say what you want about Donald Trump, but he has an instinctive knack for zeroing in on an opponent's inherent weakness. With Jeb, it was "low energy." That term exploited a key perception problem of Jeb, and one he couldn't shake. So too did "Little Marco," which may have ended not only Marco Rubio's presidential campaign, but his political career -- it's a term I just can't shake from my current perception of Rubio, and I suspect that a decade from now his political opponents will be referring to him as Little Marco. As to Hillary, Trump went straight for her supposed strength -- supporting women and women's rights -- by zeroing in on Bill Clinton's serial abuse of women and Hillary's silence or connivance. Now comes Elizabeth Warren, who harshly criticized Trump this week. Trump's response zeroes in on Warren's key perception problem, that she dishonestly claimed Native American, and specifically Cherokee, heritage for professional purposes. The research on Warren's Cherokee problem is at Elizabeth Warren Wiki. Trump is quoted by Maureen Dowd in a column at the NY Times, Will Trump Be Dumped?, responding to Warren's criticism, as follows:

Donald Trump's quest for the Oval Office certainly has been fascinating. This weekend, protesters in Arizona and their anti-Trump road blockage made for breathless press coverage. I suspect the organizers of that inanity are going to be shocked when they learn that it helped Trump win more votes and gave the business mogul free media attention. Now, Trump is being blamed by the elite media for the impending death of the Tea Party. For example, the Los Angeles Times engages in fantasy reporting with this analysis:
...Trump’s candidacy has not only fractured the Republican Party, it’s threatening to break apart the tea party movement and erode a once-powerful voting block that has driven conservative politics and elections for the past seven years. In addition to grass-root defections by activists like Dooley, tea party leadership has split over Trump’s presidential bid. Some conservative activists met this week to try to stop him, while others have joined his campaign. Meanwhile, major financial backers, including groups funded by the billionaire Koch brothers, have been sidelined from publicly backing GOP primary candidates, partly out of fear they might alienate their divided base.

Shutting down major highways as a protest tactic is extremely dangerous. Not only does it create the possibility of car accidents, it also traps motorists behind the road blockage, making it impossible for emergency vehicles or vehicles with people in distress to pass. This tactic was used by anti-Israel protesters who hijacked a Martin Luther King Day protest on the San Mateo Bridge and blocked the span at its highest point, trapping hundreds of motorists. [caption id="attachment_113857" align="alignnone" width="600"]https://twitter.com/farah_salazar/status/558214869648814080 (via Farah Salazar Twitter)[/caption] In that instance, there were in fact motor vehicle accidents and at least one report of a vehicle with a child in medical distress who could not pass.

There are many reasons and ways to oppose Donald Trump. Policy, temperament, qualifications are all in play. But leftists have come up with some very left-wing ways to protest. One of the left-wing ways is to shout-down and disrupt his rallies:

A few days ago we posted a preview of a video by Rebel Pundit about the anti-Trump protests and deliberate disruption of a campaign rally in Chicago. The protests and near-riots were not caused by Trump. This is the same radical, institutionalized left which populated the Occupy protests. If you think this is about Trump, you haven't been paying attention to what is going on at campuses:
Shout-downs and disruptions of non-leftist speech have become common on campuses. Remember, Chicago is one of the places where they tried to ban Chick-fil-A because it allegedly spread hate. So it doesn’t take much for leftists to shout about “hate” and to use that as an excuse to suppress the rights of others. Disruption of opposing speech is THE preferred tactic among campus leftists. If you think the disruption of Trump’s event was about Trump, then you haven’t paid attention to what is going on on campuses.

To all the Trump supporters out there, and to The Donald, don't get your hopes up about Trump defeating Hillary in New York State in a general election. It's delusion. Trump does have a strong base of support in Upstate NY, the vast area north and west of New York City. Upstate NY Map But the downstate Democrat vote will swamp him, which is exactly what a Sienna College polling institute poll shows:

Dr. Ben Carson is no longer running for president but he's had a rough couple of days in the spotlight due to his support for Donald Trump. First, Carson was grilled by a reporter for standing by Trump who at one point in recent months compared Carson to a child molester. Carson's response was baffling.

Last week's protests and mini-riot that prompted Donald Trump to cancel a rally in Chicago were the latest example of a concerted effort to disrupt candidates' campaigns. As Trump edges closer to locking up the Republican nomination, such agitation will likely grow more frequent and more extreme. The questions, then, are what limits hecklers from interrupting campaign events, and does enforcing those limitations work.

Legal Restraints on Hecklers

Two preliminary matters, though. First, although there is some First Amendment protection for "speech" in the form of physical action, it is inapplicable for this conversation.  Storming the stage is not protected speech; it is likely assault.  If a protester crosses the line and lays hands on a candidate or somebody attending an event, that would be battery, at a minimum.

There was supposed to be a Fox News Republican Debate Monday night. That was until Donald Trump did well last night, and decided he didn't need another debate. Trump says he didn't even know about the debate, even though everyone else did, and won't participate because he is speaking before AIPAC: Except that as of yesterday his speech was not scheduled for a specific time slot:

Several savvy Legal Insurrection readers noted that Californians who flee our progressive paradise have the nasty tendency to take their politics with them. In light of the success business mogul and pugnacious political candidate Donald Trump has had in the GOP primary, Governor Jerry Brown may have stumbled upon a solution that should bring joy to many Americans.
Gov. Jerry Brown, mocking Donald Trump for his plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, suggested Monday that if the Republican frontrunner wins the election, California might have to take protective measures of its own. “If Trump were ever elected, we’d have to build a wall around California to defend ourselves from the rest of this country,” Brown told labor organizers at a dinner in Sacramento.
This idea may now have a lot more appeal to the citizens in our remaining 56 states, as the Golden State's crime rate has spiked.

Donald Trump had a good night, but he's still far from what it takes to win what is required -- a majority of all delegates. Here is the delegate count as of approximately 11:45 p.m. Eastern tonight. It will change somewhat because the delegate allocation calculations are not simple. Republican delegate count 3-15-2016 Trump supporters -- and some in the *conservative* media -- want to pretend that having a plurality of delegates or raw vote entitles Trump to the nomination. But it doesn't.

In assessing why the Michelle Fields - Corey Lewandowski dispute had such media legs, I previously assessed that there was a great dislike of Breitbart News among other media types and bloggers in part because of its treatment of employees, The Michelle Fields controversy is only barely about Michelle Fields:
Breitbart News has a reputation for having particularly sharp elbows as to employees. And many of us know those employees and former employees and have heard stories. That doesn’t mean Breitbart News does anything it’s not legally entitled to do, but, for example, people being locked into strict contracts seems pretty rough in a business where people float around a lot for relatively little pay. The Dana Loesch lawsuit created a lot of ill will among conservative bloggers.
Non-disparagement clauses -- in which parties agree not to criticize each other -- long have been rumored to be part of Breitbart News employee contracts. Indeed, there was a suggestion in the Breitbart News post about Ben Shapiro -- which was taken down with an apology -- that there might be legal action based on contractual provisions:
Shapiro, a Harvard lawyer and member of the State Bar of California, apparently violated virtually every clause in his employment contract during an appearance on The Kelly File last Thursday evening.
Now Politico reports that unnamed former employees have been getting cease and desist letters:

Well, now we know. Defunct presidential candidate, Dr. Ben Carson, raised many an eyebrow when he endorsed Donald Trump for president. Of course the assumption was the obvious -- Carson "sold out" for an administrative promise. Those who believed the speculation were less cynical and more right, apparently. Speaking to Newsmax Monday, Carson said he would be joining the Trump administration should it become a reality:
Dr. Ben Carson revealed on Newsmax TV Monday that he will work in Donald Trump's administration — at least in an "advisory capacity" — if the Republican presidential front-runner is elected to the White House.

It's Super Tuesday (again) Eve! Tomorrow, Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio have will hold their primary elections. Florida and Ohio are winner-take-all states; no delegate splitting in either. Here's the latest from the wild world of campaigns:

Florida's Attorney General endorses Trump