Amanda Knief asks him a question.
He’s just writing off electoral demographics right and left, isn’t he?
Although I have to give him credit for being right, for once. Atheists don’t care for him.
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
Is there a transcript?
I had to listen to it twice. It’s “I don’t know about the atheist vote. They might not like me. I’m not so sure.”
It’s a 14 second video.
Amanda: Do you want the atheist vote, too?
Trump: I don’t know about the atheist vote. They may not like me.
Thanks.
It’s a video.
I can’t watch it.
Longer version.
It’s a video (with Donald Trump in it.)
I can’t (bring myself to) watch it.
Can someone explain how Donald Trump is so popular among Republicans? Is he tapping into a pool of anger among Tea Party types? Disgruntlement with the establishment? People who want government to be run like the Apprentice?
Are Republicans not aware of the many sexist/racist/xenophobic/etc. remarks he’s made? Or do they not care or maybe even agree with them?
In the 2012 campaign, there was a revolving door for who was leading the polls before it converged at Romney, the establishment candidate. I just don’t understand how Trump’s the most popular Republican candidate for a sustained amount of time. At least I can take solace in that among the Republican candidates, Trump is polling almost the worst against any Democratic nominee.
#6 Chump says things out loud that many Reps are thinking but don’t out of fear of the backlash. There’s also a bit of the olde christian persecution complex. When Chump says something stupid he gets ridicule from “the left” just like what happens when the fundies say something stupid. So they see a lot of themselves and what they want to be in him.
Plus you have the prosperity bible which is about how God shows his favor with wealth and Chump made a fortune multiple times.
as for Trump’s supposed popularity:
I try to comfort myself with the attitude that these are just results of random phone polls, where Trump is popular because he is “unfiltered” and just “speaks his mind”, without any filter for considering the people he’s slurring. That it is the “unfiltered” plain-speak that is more refreshing, than the other candidates’ “doublespeak”, that makes him popular (in those very quick polls). I expect (maybe undeservedly) that when confronted with his name on a ballot, their finger will veer away from Trump onto the next name there.
For a Republican, this is practically a pro-atheist statement.
Trump himself doesn’t actually appear to be religious, outside of some half-hearted pandering statements he made after he got in trouble for saying that he didn’t turn to God for forgiveness. It’s kind of hilarious to see some on the right declaring him a Christian hero now, which seems to be just desperate projection.
Wasn’t undecided about him before. Not undecided now. Do not expect to budge from my position, which is Do Not Like, in the future.
–
futurechemist:
There are those who say that it’s simply refreshing to hear a candidate who will just say what he thinks, without PCing it after checking the polls to see what his target demographic wants to hear, first.
There are those who say, “Well, at least he doesn’t need to sell himself to the Kochs to get elected”.
There are those who say, “He’s successfully navigated his way through multiple bankruptcies and come out on top; we can use that kind of business savvy in the White House!”
And then there are those who like him solely because “he makes the Democrats’ heads explode”.
I know a couple of these people.
They were enthusiastic about Palin for the same reason.
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Dude is as religious as I am and I’ve been an athiest for over 40 years. The only thing he worships is money and his ego. As far fooling the religious nutjobs, remember the saying “When you can fake sincerity, you got it made”. Trump has it made.
here are some thoughts that might have insight into this election from Robert Reich.
http://robertreich.org/post/125702366950
uncle frogy
re froggy:
getting popcorn ready for the Sanders v Trump “event”.
[in my dreams]
futurechemist #6
He really isn’t. As far away as the election is, the only people bothering to answer polls right now are Tea Party wingnuts and trolls.
slithey tove
I tend to agree that it does seem unlikely that either will win the nomination at least at this time (I could be wrong though) as Reich points out their strength in the poles indicates their is a lot of discontent in the population and it is being expressed in the campaigns of these two candidates.
Reich ends with this
uncle frogy
Considering that Trump thinks minority voters love him (spoilers: they don’t), the fact that he admits that atheist voters might not like him is especially remarkable.
Of course, it may just be that he’s trying to sell his position as ‘Atheists hate me, therefore you Christians should love me!’
futurechemist @ 6
My thinking is that Republicans have been blowing sexist and racist dogwhistles for years. All the (strictly metaphorical) dogs those calls attracted are loving Trump as a ‘no-nonsense, straight shooter type who doesn’t play by Washington’s rules’ by actually saying what the rest of the Republicans have only hinted at.
I just don’t see how Trump is any worse than any other Republican presidential wannabe.
Saying stupid shit and comparing liberals to Nazis is a feature of the entire party.
I think a lot of people are saying Trump is worse than the other Republicans just because the media keeps saying it. And things seem to come true if you just say them over and over.
futurechemist #6
“Can someone explain how Donald Trump is so popular among Republicans?”
Easy. Trump is the Republican id. He is saying exactly what most R’s believe. In the past week I have heard not one but two of my conservative friends, both of them reasonably intelligent people with no obvious mental illness, say that they would vote for Trump.
From my perspective, Trump’s popularity simply illustrates the bigotry and racism that permeate the Republican Party, and have for many years. Furthermore, it shows quite clearly how the rich exploit the gullible, as he’s been doing for quite some time. Anecdotal evidence clearly substantiates this, as many Repubs here in the NYC metro area agree with his biases.
If that didn’t do it for you , check out his view re: vaccines and autism:
On the news the other night a reporter was interviewing people in line to see Trump … perform. When asked why she liked him, one white-haired woman gave one of the standard answers, maybe, “He’s just like us.” But when asked if she would vote for him, she said, “Oh. No.”
I wonder how many people turning out for him are just playing the game right now with no real desire to see him in the White House.
Another way to put the answer:
Trump is being an asshole to many of the people and groups of people right wing conservatives hate. Even better, he doesn’t back down when he’s called out on it.
This is how many on the far right believe the presidential election will be won — by having a conservative leader who won’t mince their words, and doesn’t back down when challenged.
Trump isn’t going away anytime soon. His favorables with GOP supporters have almost doubled within the past three months, going from 28% to 52%, which is not supposed to be possible for someone who is already so well known. He’s taken the wind out of the sails of the right-wing candidates, like Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, who have been reduced to making stupid human tricks videos, like taking a chain saw to the tax code or frying bacon on a machine gun, in their desperate quest for attention. Scott Walker has also failed to gain traction even though many conservatives love what he’s done in Wisconsin.
And now they’re about to debate a man whose ego is so big there’s barely any room left on stage for the rest of them — and remember, these are people who believe they are fit to be president of the most powerful nation on Earth.
Trump isn’t going to be president. He can’t win the presidential election, even if he wins the primary, but he can continue to wreak havoc in the Republican primary season for a good while longer, and then there’s also the threat that he might run as an independent if the GOP succeeds in forcing him out of their primary.
Slate
in short:
favorable: 53% DOWN from 64%
unfavorable: 42% UP from 27%
his “unfavorability rating” is rising faster than his “favorability” is falling. so being Trump, he is both the most favorable and the most UNfavorable, simultaneously (as great leaders always were, I guess).
Does he even know what atheists are?