Tag: MSNBC

Trump Claims Banning Muslims Makes Them More Likely to Fight ISIS

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Donald Trump discusses arresting women who get an abortion.

Donald Trump said that his proposed ban on Muslims entering the country may have the effect of motivating them to fight ISIS in order to attempt to return to the U.S. at some point.

Trump made the statement during an MSNBC town hall, when the GOP presidential front-runner was asked by Chris Matthews about the temporary ban he suggested in December.

Asked if Muslims would be more ill-disposed to fighting ISIS if a ban was imposed.

“I don’t know, maybe they’ll be more disposed to fight ISIS,” Trump said. “Maybe they’ll say, ‘We want to come back into America, we’ve got to solve this problem.'”

Here is the entire exchange:

 MATTHEWS: But there’s 1.6 billion Muslims in the world. And they’re all getting the message from Donald Trump, who’s leading the fight for the Republican nomination for president, saying, “Stay out of my country.”

How does that encourage them to fight ISIS?

TRUMP: Chris (inaudible).

MATTHEWS: How does that encourage them to fight the bad guys?

TRUMP: OK, let me explain (inaudible). They have a problem too. They have a big problem.

MATTHEWS: But if we say “Go away…”

TRUMP: I have been told by more (inaudible) who are saying, “What are you doing is a great thing, not a bad thing.” The two people in San Bernardino…

MATTHEWS: Are any Muslims telling you that?

TRUMP: I have actually — believe it or not, I have a lot of friends that are Muslim and they call me.

MATTHEWS: Right.

TRUMP: In most cases, they’re very rich Muslims, OK?

(LAUGHTER)

MATTHEWS: But do they get in the country?

TRUMP: But they do call me. They’ll come in.

MATTHEWS: How do you let them in?

TRUMP: They’ll come in. And you’ll have exceptions.

MATTHEWS: But you…

TRUMP: Wait, wait, wait. Look, Chris, Chris, with the San Bernardino situation…

MATTHEWS: Right.

TRUMP: … many people saw that apartment with bombs all over the apartment…

MATTHEWS: Yeah, I agree with that.

TRUMP: … bombs on table.

MATTHEWS: You see something, say something.

TRUMP: Not one person…

MATTHEWS: I know.

TRUMP: … with all the people that said — they said it’s racial profiling. That’s why they didn’t call. You know why they said that? Because some lawyer said, “You know, you saw this, you better come up with a good excuse.” They said it’s racial profiling. A lot of people saw what was going on in that apartment. Not one Muslim, OK?

MATTHEWS: I’m with you on this. Of course I’m with you. But that’s not the question.

TRUMP: OK. Why didn’t they report ’em?

MATTHEWS: Look, look, you’re saying ban…

TRUMP: In other words, why — but Chris, why don’t they report ’em?

MATTHEWS: OK. You say ban them from entering the country. They get the message. Everyone in the world — over 1.6 — in Indonesia, Pakistan, everywhere. In Albania. Anywhere there’s Muslims, you know, they know you don’t want them. So they get the message. They’re a little more ill-disposed to fight ISIS, a little bit more after that once they say, “The Americans don’t even like us,” don’t you think?

TRUMP: I don’t know, maybe they’ll be more disposed to fight ISIS. Maybe they’ll say, “We want to come back into America, we’ve got to solve this problem.”

MATTHEWS: OK.

TRUMP: I’m serious about that. Maybe they’ll be…

Reality

Trump’s flip-flop on banning all Muslims is a proposal to create a 2-class system, those who are rich enough to afford to get past his ban and the rest who would be forced into military service to fight ISIS. This is interesting to note to the Trump supporters who believe that he would help out the common man when it is very clear from remarks like these that his views favor the wealthy.

We will say this again, Trump’s call to ban Muslims from entering the United States has been widely derided as discriminatory, hateful unworkable, and illegal. Many legal experts have said it’s almost certainly unconstitutional.

I think Republican House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, whose district includes parts of San Bernardino County, which suffered a deadly terrorist attack in December, said it best later in the day:

I think the thought we could have a religious test [for entrants] would be unconstitutional.
[But] we need to address the problem in terms of foreign fighters who might come back in the United States,” the congressman said in a “Squawk Box” interview. “We need to vet people who come in.”

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Links

http://abcnews.go.com/US/trump-muslims-fight-isis-banned-us/story?id=38042421

 

Donald Trump: Sure, I Might Use Nuclear Weapons In Europe.

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Donald Trump has refused to rule out dropping a nuclear bomb on Europe, saying he is not willing to “take any cards off the table”.

In an MSNBC interview which has already made headline for Mr Trump’s comments on punishing women for having abortions, the presidential candidate said if the US wasn’t willing to use its nuclear weapons, “why are we making them?”

Mr Trump did say he “would be the last one to use the nuclear weapons” and added his now-familiar line that he was “against Iraq” – which is not strictly the case.

“I would be very, very slow to pull that trigger,” Mr Trump said. “[But] if someone hits us with a nuke, you wouldn’t fight back with a nuke?”

Here’s the exchange with Chris Matthews in full:

Donald Trump: “First of all, you don’t want to say take everything off the table because you would be a bad negotiator if you do that.

 

Chris Matthews: “Just nuclear?”

 

DT: “Look, nuclear should be off the table, but would there be a time that it could be used? Possibly.”

 

CM: “The problem is when you say that, the whole world heard that. David Cameron heard that in Britain, the Japanese where we bombed them in ’45 heard it. They are hearing a guy running for President of the United States talking about maybe using nuclear weapons. Nobody wants to hear that about an American president.”

 

DT: “Then why are we are making them? Why do we make them?”
Which countries have nuclear weapons?

 

CM: “Because of the old mutually assured destruction, which Reagan hated and tried to get rid of.”

 

DT: “I was against Iraq, I would be the last one to use the nuclear weapons because that’s sort of like the end of the ball game.”

 

CM: “Can you tell the Middle East we’re not using nuclear weapons?”

 

DT: “I would never say that. I would never take any of my cards off the table.”

 

CM: “How about Europe? We won’t use in Europe?”

 

DT: “I’m not going to take it off the table for anybody.”

 

CM: “You’re going to use it in Europe?”

 

DT: “No! I don’t think so. But…”

 

CM: “Just say it, say ‘I’m not going to use a nuclear weapon in Europe’.”

 

DT: “I am not taking cards off the table. I’m not going to use nukes – but I’m not taking any cards off the table.”

 

CM: “The trouble is, the sane people hear you, and the insane people are not affected by your threats. The real fanatics say good, keep it up.”

 

DT: “I think they are more affected than you think.”

Earlier this week, Mr Trump struggled with another question on the nuclear issue when he was asked by right-wing radio host Hugh Hewitt which of the US’s “triad” of weapons – by land, by sea or by air – was in most urgent need of an upgrade.

The candidate appeared not to understand the question, even when it was repeated, eventually responding: “I think – I think, for me, nuclear is just the power, the devastation is very important to me.”

David Cameron has previously said he would be willing to use nuclear bombs if an attack was “justified”, describing them as “the ultimate insurance policy”.

He was speaking in October last year, after opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said he could conceive of no circumstances in which he would order the use of a nuclear weapon.

(h/t Independent.uk)

Reality

Let’s just let this sink in for a moment. A leading candidate for the Presidency of the United States of America said that using a nuclear weapon in Europe is not off the table. That immediately put our allies in Europe on edge.

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Trump Consults Himself On Foreign Policy, ‘Because I Have a Very Good Brain’

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Donald Trump finally shared the name of someone he consults on foreign policy: himself. Asked on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” who he talks with consistently about foreign policy, Trump responded:

“I’m speaking with myself, number one, because I have a very good brain and I’ve said a lot of things.”

“I know what I’m doing and I listen to a lot of people, I talk to a lot of people and at the appropriate time I’ll tell you who the people are,” Trump said. “But my primary consultant is myself and I have a good instinct for this stuff.”

The New York real estate mogul has kept mum on his foreign policy team, despite promising in early February to release a list of his advisers in “about two weeks.”

Trump was also asked on Wednesday morning if his foreign policy was “neoisolationist,” to which he responded “I wouldn’t say that at all.”

Reality

As evidence, Trump claimed he had predicted the rise of Osama bin Laden, a statement which was a total absolute lie.

Media

Links

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/mar/17/donald-trump-i-consult-myself-on-foreign-policy-be/

http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/03/trump-foreign-policy-adviser-220853

Hot Mic Captures Trump Chatting With Morning Joe Hosts

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A newly released audio recording of Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski’s off-air conversations with Donald Trump has reignited concerns that the MSNBC co-hosts are too cozy with the Republican frontrunner.

The conversations, which took place during the commercial breaks at last week’s MSNBC “Trump Town Hall” event, feature the three talking jovially about the success of Trump’s campaign, his likelihood of winning South Carolina and Nevada, and the ineffectiveness of his opponents’ attack ads.

At one point, Brzezinski tells Trump that she had “a wow moment” when he brought two men up on stage after they had removed a protester from a rally. Trump responds: “I saw it, I watched your show this morning. You had me almost as a legendary figure.”

The audio, which was obtained by comedian and radio show host Harry Shearer, offered the latest evidence that the “Morning Joe” co-hosts are too friendly toward Trump, which has become a source of discomfort at NBC. Network insiders have chafed at what they described as Scarborough’s “over the top” and “unseemly” admiration for the real estate magnate who is leading the GOP field.

Shearer played the recording on his show to let listeners decide whether or not Scarborough and Brzezinski were “in the tank” for Trump. His own take, upon the conclusion of the recording: “You can cut the adversarial tension there with a knife,” he quipped. “A butter knife, but still.”

Throughout the tape, Trump asks Scarborough and Brzezinski to weigh in on his campaign tactics, his poll numbers and the effectiveness of his opponents.

“They’re spending $75 million on negative ads against me over the last two weeks. Are they catching on at all?” Trump asks at one point.

“No, doesn’t look that way,” Scarborough says.

“What do you think?” Trump asks Brzezinski.

“No,” Brzezinski says.

Trump says, “Just make us all look good,” and Scarborough responds, “Exactly.” Later, Trump says, “Nothing too hard, Mika,” referring to upcoming questions, and Brzezinski replies, “Okay.”

Reality

We’ve listened to the audio many times and remain undecided. This could very well just be harmless ice-breaking banter between the hosts, or it could be coaching. There is not enough evidence for this incident to come to an objective conclusion.

It is fair to point out that Donald Trump and Joe Scarborough have a friendly relationship and that his show MSNBC has been soft or in the corner of Trump quite often. Some examples include:

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Links

http://money.cnn.com/2016/02/22/media/donald-trump-joe-scarborough-hot-mic/

Trump Admits He Lost Iowa Because He Has No Idea How to Run a Campaign

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Donald Trump on Wednesday morning acknowledged that his campaign may have needed a more robust operation in Iowa, noting that he only recently learned what the term “ground game” means.

Trump said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” when asked if his campaign needed better organization to win in Iowa.

“I think we could’ve used a better ground game, a term I wasn’t even familiar with. You know, when you hear ‘ground game,’ you say, ‘What the hell is that?’ Now I’m familiar with it.”

 

“I think in retrospect we should’ve had a better ground game, I would’ve funded a better ground game. But people told me my ground game was fine. And I think by most standards it was.”

Trump came in second place in the Iowa caucus, despite polls showing he had a good chance of winning the state.

At the beginning of his Wednesday interview on “Morning Joe,” it seemed Trump was not thrilled to talk about his second place finish.

“So let’s talk about Iowa. What happened?” “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski asked Trump.

After a long pause, Trump simply responded, “OK.”

The hosts then asked if Trump could hear them, and he said he could.

When asked again what happened in Iowa, Trump responded, “Well, I think I did well there,” adding that he could have done better if he “did a little more work there.”

“The caucus system is a complex system that I was never familiar with,” the Republican presidential candidate continued. “I mean, I was never involved with the caucus system. Don’t forget, Joe, I’m doing this for the first time. I’m like a rookie. And I’m learning fast, and I do learn fast.”

Reality

Another example of how Trump is dangerously unqualified.

Media

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