Based on most of the debate coverage of the past 18
hours, the most embarrassing moment of Wednesday’s Republican presidential faceoff — for any candidate – has largely been ignored.
Donald Trump was asked about his signature issue,
immigration, and why he criticized Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Zuckerberg’s
“own personal senator” — Marco Rubio — for supporting a visa program that benefits
business by bringing in hundreds of thousands of immigrants with high-tech
skills.
been critical of Zuckerberg and he agrees that the H-1B visa program is a
valuable means to bring “talented people” to the U.S. With his usual bombastic tone,
he denied ever linking Zuckerberg and Rubio on the visa issue: “I never said
that. … Somebody’s doing some really bad fact-checking. I never said that.”
Then he bashed the CNBC moderator,
suggesting that, in typical media fashion, she had her facts all mixed up – a line
that gained big applause from the audience.
Embarrassing? No, not in 2015
double-checked their facts and found that, yes, Trump did criticize Zuckerberg
and the Facebook founder’s support for H-1B visas, and he did disparage Rubio
as Zuckerberg’s “personal senator.”
The confirmation was found where? On
Trump’s own campaign website.
Talk about embarrassing. Yet, when
CNBC’s Becky Quick informed the real estate tycoon that the source of the
information was his own website, Trump just shrugged, unfazed, and the debate quickly
moved on.
debate faux pas, on such a key issue, might have severely wounded the
candidate. But this is the Trump era of
presidential politics and the candidate’s many misstatements and flip-flops
have piled up so high that the media has lowered the bar he must clear to avoid
a truly awful gaffe.
‘Self-funding’ sleight of hand
he claimed that he is free of outside influences because his campaign does not
except donations. “I am the only person in either campaign that’s self-funding.
I’m putting up 100 percent of my own money,” he boasted.
Not True. Not even close.
As Factcheck.org points out, most of
Trump’s campaign spending has been financed by contributors. Trump has spent
about $1.9 million of his own money running for president, according to the October quarterly report he turned in to the
Federal Election Commission. But his campaign has spent more than $5.5 million to date,
and the majority of that has come from campaign donors.
As for donations, including cash on
hand, the Trump campaign has received more than $3.8 million from campaign
supporters, which is more than half of the $5.8 million the campaign accumulated
as of September 30. And while Trump reportedly referred to the donations as
“unsolicited,” his campaign website features a donate page telling
supporters how to make contributions.
That represents an especially
glaring mistruth for a billionaire contender who repeatedly assails his
opponents for accepting money from special-interest groups.
Do as I say, not as I do
kind in the debate came when Trump talked tough about stopping gun violence and
said that he (with a permit) carries a concealed weapon from time to time. He
seemed to be urging others to do the same.
Referring to recent mass shootings at schools, theaters
and places of worship, he said: “I feel that the gun-free zones…
that’s target practice for the sickos and for the mentally ill. They look
around for gun-free zones.”
One of the CNBC moderators quickly pointed out that Trump
resorts are gun-free zones.
Trump’s response? Another shrug.
who watched the rhetorical contest between 11 GOP candidates?
According to three online polls, Trump won the debate. By
a wide margin.
Sadly, many voters of all political persuasions base their allegiance on what candidates say today, as opposed to what they said (or more importantly DID) in the past. Voters should be making candidates work hard to please them. Look more at what they do (and have done) than what they say in a debate or speech. Everyone knows "talk is cheap," yet they reward candidates for cheap talk every day.
Free speech reigns supreme, as long as no one gets killed via the words emanating from T- rumps mouth
Free speech reigns supreme, as long as no one gets killed via the words emanating from T- rumps mouth