Protester Attacked While Being Escorted Out of Trump Rally

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A Donald Trump rally punctuated by near-constant interruptions from demonstrators reached a violent crescendo Saturday when a protester was punched and kicked while being escorted out.

The incident at the event in Tucson, Arizona, was the latest in a series involving scenes of violence at and around events for the Republican front-runner.

There were around 150 police officers working at the Trump event in Tucson on Saturday night.

Trump was interrupted several times during the first 20 minutes or so of the rally by protesters, who the candidate called “disgusting,” “troublemakers” and a “disgrace.”

Bryan Sanders was one of the protesters — dressed in an American flag shirt and holding a sign with Trump’s face with the slogan “Bad for America.”

He told NBC News that he was being escorted out of the rally when a man in the stands grabbed his sign and ripped it out of his hands.

“I stumble back, sucker punch.. and then you saw all hell break loose,” Sanders said. “He’s stomping me.”

Video emerged of the incident that shows Sanders being punched and kicked on the ground before police are able to separate the two men.

“What was going through my mind was: Put your arms over your head, because this political movement has gotten to the point where you may get beat to death inside of a rally,” Sanders said of the moments he was on the ground.

Officers arrested Tony Pettway, 32, at the scene. He was charged him with assault with injury, a class 1 misdemeanor, and released, police said.

Trump noticed the disturbance during his remarks, pointing to the stands and saying, “That’s a disgrace.”

Sanders, who said he is an independent and plans to vote for Bernie Sanders in Tuesday’s primary, said he expected the crowd might be hostile but was surprised by the violence.

“I understand that people support Donald Trump, but do they support this kind of scene?” he said. “Really?”

“Let’s relax, not beat each other at rallies, ok? Even if we have dissenting opinions… I find it un-American that each of us can’t dissent.”

Reality

Protests at Trump rallies do not occur in a vacuum. Since he first announced his candidacy, Trump continues to make racist, sexist, and authoritarian remarks that marginalizes anyone who do not meet his view of white and conservative enough. A full list of protests can be found here.

Media

Links

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/protester-punched-kicked-donald-trump-rally-arizona-n541991

Trump Tweets Megyn Kelly’s Show Would Tank Without Him

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Twitter

On Saturday morning, Trump said “crazy” Kelly’s “ratings would totally tank” if she wasn’t constantly covering him. He also said her show was “terrible” and that she was “average in so many ways.”

If crazy @megynkelly didn’t cover me so much on her terrible show, her ratings would totally tank. She is so average in so many ways!

(h/t CNN)

Trump Tweets Megyn Kelly Claims He Won’t Go On Her Show

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Twitter

On Saturday morning, Trump claimed that “crazy” Megyn Kelly said he won’t go on her show yet she gets good ratings from negative pieces about him.

Crazy @megynkelly says I don’t (won’t) go on her show and she still gets good ratings. But almost all of her shows are negative hits on me!

Reality

Trump has had an issue with Kelly since she moderated a Republican presidential debate in August. He accused her of being unfairly harsh on him by asking him valid questions about past sexist and misogynist comments. Fox News is standing by its anchor, calling the attacks on her “sexist verbal assaults.”

“Donald Trump’s vitriolic attacks against Megyn Kelly and his extreme, sick obsession with her is beneath the dignity of a presidential candidate who wants to occupy the highest office in the land,” the network said in its statement.

“Megyn is an exemplary journalist and one of the leading anchors in America — we’re extremely proud of her phenomenal work and continue to fully support her throughout every day of Trump’s endless barrage of crude and sexist verbal assaults,” the statement continued. “As the mother of three young children, with a successful law career and the second highest rated show in cable news, it’s especially deplorable for her to be repeatedly abused just for doing her job.”

Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Hires Hundreds of Foreign Workers

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Trump Mar a Lago resort

Here’s Donald Trump’s dilemma: He is running for president on a platform of bringing jobs back to the U.S. and making America Great again.

But at his private club in south Florida, he has filled his staff almost exclusively with imported foreign workers. And he has been doing it for years.

 The U.S. Department of Labor has confirmed to CNN that between 2013 and fall 2015, Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club posted 250 seasonal job openings and filled just 4 of those jobs with American workers. The club requested the rest of the staff be temporarily imported through the Federal government’s H-2B visa process. Basically, Mar-a-Lago brings in its seasonal staff from overseas

From 2013 to 2015, Mar-a-Lago was approved to hire 246 foreign workers by the U.S. Department of Labor with H-2B visas, which allow U.S. employers to temporarily import foreign workers to fill non-agricultural jobs that can’t be filled with Americans.

To get approval for H-2B visas, employers must prove they need extra workers and that they made an effort to recruit domestic workers, contacted everyone who responded to ads and hired all qualified applicants. After receiving approval, employers must petition U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to bring foreign, temporary workers into the country.

Trump has made the case that he couldn’t find American workers. “It’s almost impossible to get help,” the Republican presidential candidate told CNN last month. “And part of the reason you can’t get American people is they want full time jobs.”

Links

http://money.cnn.com/2016/03/18/news/economy/trump-maralago/index.html

Trump Protesters Clash, Rush Door

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Protesters clash in Salt Lake City, Utah

A throng of protesters, carrying signs and chanting against Donald Trump, marched down a blocked-off State Street toward a line of the presidential hopeful’s supporters in Salt Lake City.

The two sides shouted at each other for about an hour outside the Infinity Event Center at 26 E. 600 South, where Trump held a rally Friday night. During the protest, two people allegedly tried to breach a barrier on the west side of the event center, but they didn’t get in, said Salt Lake City police Detective Cody Lougy.

Some of the protesters’ criticisms were hurled during their beating of a Trump piñata near the end of the rally; the cardboard effigy swung through the air as it was incrementally destroyed. Among those who took a swing at it was Chrystle Baker, who compared Trump to Adolf Hitler — echoing Alyssa Ferris of the Anti-War Committee, who said at the rally that “we are facing Nazism again … and it is terrifying.”

As the crowd gathered at City Hall, Sean Taylor of Students for a Democratic Society, who organized Friday’s rally, said that they wanted a peaceful protest.

To his knowledge, no one was arrested.

The protesters eventually dispersed about 9 p.m. after an officer announced on a loudspeaker that Trump had left the building. Near the end of the protest, police asked the crowds to disperse while standing in front of the facility, some officers holding shields.

Reality

Violence has no place in our political process and should be condemned from all sides.

Donald Trump says a lot of divisive and hateful statements, escalation of tensions may only seem natural. However as a protester, engaging in violence only plays into the hands of Donald Trump and his supporters. It gives them justification for their false sense of being victimized and allows them to paint the opposition as “thugs” and side-step our real and valid arguments.

Media

Links

http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2016/03/19/donald-trump-utah-rally-protests-sanchez-lklv.cnn

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/03/19/trump-supporters-protesters-clash-outside-rally-in-salt-lake-city.html

Trump Tweets Boycott of Megyn Kelly’s Show

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Twitter

On Friday, leading Republican Presidential candiate Donald Trump called for a boycott of Megyn Kelly’s show saying she is “sick” and “overrated”.

Everybody should boycott the @megynkelly show. Never worth watching. Always a hit on Trump! She is sick, & the most overrated person on tv.

Reality

If a President Donald Trump we to call for the boycott of a journalist, it would be a clear violation of the freedom of the press as defined in the 1st Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.

Trump has had an issue with Kelly since she moderated a Republican presidential debate in August. He accused her of being unfairly harsh on him by asking him valid questions about past sexist and misogynist comments. Fox News is standing by its anchor, calling the attacks on her “sexist verbal assaults.”

“Donald Trump’s vitriolic attacks against Megyn Kelly and his extreme, sick obsession with her is beneath the dignity of a presidential candidate who wants to occupy the highest office in the land,” the network said in its statement.

“Megyn is an exemplary journalist and one of the leading anchors in America — we’re extremely proud of her phenomenal work and continue to fully support her throughout every day of Trump’s endless barrage of crude and sexist verbal assaults,” the statement continued. “As the mother of three young children, with a successful law career and the second highest rated show in cable news, it’s especially deplorable for her to be repeatedly abused just for doing her job.”

Trump Tweets Megyn Kelly is Always Complaining About Trump

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Twitter

On Saturday Donald Trump sent a tweet urging “crazy” Megyn Kelly to “[f]ocus on others” and accused her of “always complaining about Trump.”

Highly overrated & crazy @megynkelly is always complaining about Trump and yet she devotes her shows to me. Focus on others Megyn!

Reality

Trump has had an issue with Kelly since she moderated a Republican presidential debate in August. He accused her of being unfairly harsh on him by asking him valid questions about past sexist and misogynist comments. Fox News is standing by its anchor, calling the attacks on her “sexist verbal assaults.”

“Donald Trump’s vitriolic attacks against Megyn Kelly and his extreme, sick obsession with her is beneath the dignity of a presidential candidate who wants to occupy the highest office in the land,” the network said in its statement.

“Megyn is an exemplary journalist and one of the leading anchors in America — we’re extremely proud of her phenomenal work and continue to fully support her throughout every day of Trump’s endless barrage of crude and sexist verbal assaults,” the statement continued. “As the mother of three young children, with a successful law career and the second highest rated show in cable news, it’s especially deplorable for her to be repeatedly abused just for doing her job.”

Trump Tweets Megyn Kelly Complains to O’Reilly

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Twitter

On Saturday Donald Trump sent a tweet complaining that “crazy” Megyn Kelly was upset at Bill O’Reilly for not defending her as a colleague.

Crazy @megynkelly is now complaining that @oreillyfactor did not defend her against me – yet her bad show is a total hit piece on me.Tough!

Reality

Watching the video, Bill O’Reilly did not come to the defense of his colleague Megyn Kelly.

Trump has had an issue with Kelly since she moderated a Republican presidential debate in August. He accused her of being unfairly harsh on him by asking him valid questions about past sexist and misogynist comments. Fox News is standing by its anchor, calling the attacks on her “sexist verbal assaults.”

“Donald Trump’s vitriolic attacks against Megyn Kelly and his extreme, sick obsession with her is beneath the dignity of a presidential candidate who wants to occupy the highest office in the land,” the network said in its statement.

“Megyn is an exemplary journalist and one of the leading anchors in America — we’re extremely proud of her phenomenal work and continue to fully support her throughout every day of Trump’s endless barrage of crude and sexist verbal assaults,” the statement continued. “As the mother of three young children, with a successful law career and the second highest rated show in cable news, it’s especially deplorable for her to be repeatedly abused just for doing her job.”

Trump Warns of Riots If Not Nominated

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Speaking on CNN’s New Day (I know I haven’t heard of it either) Donald Trump predicted violence if he were to not receive the Republican party nomination.

I think we’ll win before getting to the convention, but I can tell you, if we didn’t and if we’re 20 votes short or if we’re 100 short and we’re at 1,100 and somebody else is at 500 or 400, because we’re way ahead of everybody, I don’t think you can say that we don’t get it automatically. I think it would be — I think you’d have riots. Now, if you disenfranchise those people and you say, well I’m sorry but you’re 100 votes short, even though the next one is 500 votes short, I think you would have problems like you’ve never seen before. I think bad things would happen, I really do. I believe that. I wouldn’t lead it but I think bad things would happen.

Reality

Republican National Committee Communications Director Sean Spicer tried to spin this statement saying “I assume he’s speaking figuratively,” however one would find it hard to believe as actual riots broke out at a Trump rally in Chicago just a few days prior. What Donald Trump is doing here is a classic example of priming. By suggesting an idea of violence, either willing or unwillingly, supporters are then influenced to believe violence is part of normal judgement.

Comments like these add to the growing evidence that Donald Trump supports and condones violence against people with different ideas.

Links

http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/16/politics/donald-trump-ted-cruz-brokered-convention/index.html

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bbushman/98b.pdf

Trump Insults Journalists During Florida Victory Speech

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Trump victory speech in Florida

Donald Trump hosted supporters and the press at his Mar-A-Lago residence for an event billed as a “press conference.”

The hitch? He didn’t take any questions from the press.

Flanked by his closest aides and a couple of family members, Trump delivered a relatively brief 16-minute victory speech after racking up key victories Tuesday night before promptly leaving the stage — leaving the assembled press in the back rows of the room scrambling.

As he then made his way out of the ballroom, reporters shouted “Mr. Trump, Mr. Trump,” trying to get the Republican front-runner’s attention.

The billionaire briefly turned around to face reporters before waving off questions and leaving the ballroom.

Trump’s refusal to take questions came after a night of big victories in Florida, North Carolina and Illinois. Trump faltered, though, in Ohio to home state Gov. John Kasich.

The real estate mogul’s decision not to take questions from the press also came hours after Politico published a report sharply criticizing Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.

Trump decided not to take questions from the press after he railed against the hurdles of the campaign trail, including what he called the “lies, deceit, viciousness” and the “disgusting reporters.”

“Some really disgusting people back there,” Trump said of the press, which was restricted to the back two rows while the first 16 were filled with Trump supporters.

Reached later Tuesday night for comment, Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks confirmed Trump would not take any questions.

Asked why Trump did not take questions during an event billed as a “press conference,” Hicks responded: “Is that what it said?”

A media advisory sent by the campaign regarding the event described it as a “press conference.”

Links

http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/15/politics/donald-trump-news-conference-super-tuesday-no-questions/index.html

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