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Donald Trump Blames This Political Figure for 9/11

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By David Martosko. Donald Trump took an unprovoked slap at George W. Bush in an interview broadcast Friday, blaming the former U.S. president for not preventing the 9/11 terror attacks.

Asked by Bloomberg Television anchor Stephanie Ruhle how Americans might trust him to keep them safe, the Republican presidential front-runner bristled at the mention of Bush’s role as comforter-in-chief after 9/11, and President Barack Obama’s similar position following the December 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

‘OK, I think I have a bigger heart than all of them,’ he said. ‘I think I’m much more competent than all of them.’

‘When you talk about George Bush – I mean, say what you want, the World Trade Center came down during his time’ . . .

‘Government has proven to be a disaster during the Obama administration,’ Trump pivoted. ‘What we need is a leader, we don’t have a leader.’ (Read more from “Donald Trump Blames This Political Figure for 9/11” HERE)

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Facing Backlash, Trump Dodges Questions on 9/11 Comments

By Tal Kopan, Eugene Scott and MJ Lee. Donald Trump, under fire for suggesting that George W. Bush shared in the blame for the 9/11 terrorist attacks because they happened during his presidency, repeatedly declined to engage with reporters about the matter Friday night — opting instead to continue a long-running feud with Jeb Bush on Twitter afterwards.

Trump regularly speaks with reporters at campaign events and often takes multiple questions in an impromptu manner, making his silence Friday all the more noticeable.

When asked by CNN after a rally at a local high school here if he thought the attacks were George W. Bush’s fault, Trump, after pausing to listen to the question, walked away.

Minutes later, he again declined to say anything when asked to react to Bush’s response on Twitter, ignoring at least half a dozen questions on the matter before driving away in his motorcade. He did respond to questions about the crowd size at his campaign event Friday and why he was campaigning in Massachusetts.

The controversy began Friday morning when Trump implied that the former president could share some blame for the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans, as he was in office at the time. (Read more from “Facing Backlash, Trump Dodges Questions on 9/11 Comments” HERE)

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Here’s What Donald Trump Says Bernie Sander’s Huge Mistake Was at Democratic Debate

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Bernie Sanders made a “big mistake” by giving Hillary Clinton cover not to discuss her emails, Donald Trump said the morning after the first Democratic presidential debate.

“You have an FBI investigation on the emails and he just let her off,” the billionaire businessman and Republican presidential front-runner said Wednesday on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. “When you’re losing that badly you have to go a lot stronger” . . .

“I thought the others were not strong. They were not going after her. They were kind to her. Very gentle,” he told GMA. “They had to hit her hard. They decided not to do that.”

Despite some strong sound bites, Trump said Sanders will not overtake Clinton as the front-runner.

“I don’t think he’s going to get her. I think his performance was OK,” he said. “He had to be much better than okay. He had to come out the clear winner. And he didn’t.” (Read more from “Here’s What Donald Trump Says Bernie Sander’s Huge Mistake Was at Democratic Debate” HERE)

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On Debate Night, Trump Gets Out-Tweeted by a GOP Rival

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There was high anticipation for Donald Trump’s running commentary on the first Democratic debate. But the bombastic Republican front-runner ended up only sending out a few tweets of his own throughout the night. And the tone was rather… well, sedate.

Meanwhile, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee unleashed his social media id:

(Read more from “On Debate Night, Trump Gets Out-Tweeted by a GOP Rival” HERE)

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Busted! Jeb Bush Staffer Planted in Audience to Frame Donald Trump Narrative/Hit Job

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During an appearance at a Jon Huntsman / The Hill “No Labels” event, a female audience member named Lauren Batchelder played the role of a female antagonist toward candidate Donald Trump.

However, Ms. Batchelder is not just an average audience member. She’s a paid political operative of the GOP and a paid staff member of Team Jeb Bush:

Within minutes of her scripted performance at the event, the producers of CNN were quickly editing soundbites and framing a narrative. That story was pushed into the media stream within hours. CNN’s Jeanne Moos was the delivery vehicle for the a hit piece.

Here’s the CNN narrative as presented yesterday:

However, as previously noted, it didn’t take long to discover that Lauren Batchelder was not just an ordinary audience member, she is actually a current staffer for Senator Kelly Ayotte and also working in New Hampshire on behalf of the Jeb Bush 2016 campaign.

Batchelder’s LinkedIn profile shows she is a Jeb Bush For President 2016 staffer.

Given Senator Ayotte’s position being pro-life, and contrasted against the framework of Ms. Batchelder’s line of questioning being completely opposite of the boss(es) she is working for, it doesn’t take long to figure out this was a planted Establishment GOPe hit job targeting Donald Trump:

Of course, Ms Batchelder quickly began scrubbing her social media history trying to hide who she works for. Almost all of her Twitter history is now deleted, but not before much of it was able to be captured. Several other profiles remain available:

From her Facebook Profile it appears Ms. Batchelder has quite a history as a Thespian (actress).

[You can read more of the texts within her deleted tweets HERE. Not surprisingly most of them are disparaging toward Donald Trump and Ben Carson]

It is amazingly pathetic how the RINO Caucus has to operate in order to try and eliminate their political opposition. (For more from the author of “Busted! Jeb Bush Staffer Planted in Audience to Frame Donald Trump Narrative/Hit Job” please click HERE)

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Trump Says People Will Turn off Today’s Democratic Primary Debate Because He’s Not in It – You’ll Never Guess Who Agrees

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Tuesday’s first Democratic presidential primary debate will be a low-ratings snoozefest, according to Donald Trump – because he won’t be on the stage in Las Vegas.

And a CNN executive is hinting that he might be completely right.

‘I think people are going to turn it on for a couple of minutes and then fall asleep,’ The Donald said Monday morning on ‘Fox and Friends’ . . .

‘I don’t want to say this in a braggadocious way, but a person at CNN and a couple of other people said, ‘We have to put Donald Trump in this debate. We’re going to die with it’,’ Trump claimed.

‘Let’s see,’ he said. ‘I don’t think they’ll do badly, because there is a curiosity factor. I don’t think they’re going to do great, and I think a lot of people will turn off after a little while.’ (Read more from “Trump Says People Will Turn off Today’s Democratic Primary Debate Because He’s Not in It – You’ll Never Guess Who Agrees” HERE)

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This Is What Donald Trump Says Should’ve Happened to Bowe Bergdahl

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By Associated Press. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said Thursday that Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl should have been executed for leaving his post in Afghanistan.

“We’re tired of Sgt. Bergdahl, who’s a traitor, a no-good traitor, who should have been executed,” Trump said to cheers at a rowdy rally inside a packed Las Vegas theater at the casino-hotel Treasure Island . . .

It was practically an aside in a litany of complaints at the end of a more than hourlong, free-wheeling speech that included a large dose of media-bashing and a claim that he was behind Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s decision to drop out of the race for House speaker. (Read more from “This Is What Donald Trump Says Should’ve Happened to Bowe Bergdahl” HERE)

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Democrats Troll Donald Trump With ‘America Is Already Great’ Hat

By Denver Nicks. Donald Trump is famous for a few things. There’s real estate, of course, and his reality television shows. There’s his headline-factory personality. There’s the hair. And now there’s the red hat and the slogan, “Make America Great Again.”

How can the Democrats complete with all that? They can’t have his real estate empire or his TV show, not his made-for-prime-time personality and certainly not his hair (it’s unlikely science will ever fully unlock its secrets). But what they can have is a hat of their own.

The Democratic National Committee Friday unveiled a new baseball cap for sale on its website ($28) with the slogan “America is Already Great.” (Read more from this story HERE)

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This Is Why Donald Trump Sent Marco Rubio ‘Trump-Brand’ Water Bottles

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Donald Trump pranked his perpetually sweating rival Marco Rubio with a heat relief care package full of spring water and towels.

The bombastic billionaire sent his fellow Republican a 24-pack of Trump Ice Natural Spring Water — with Trump’s face emblazoned on the labels — and two “Make America Great Again” towels, aides told CNN.

“Since you’re always sweating, we thought you could use some water. Enjoy!” the Trump camp wrote in a note inside the package.

Rubio, who recently exchanged insults with Trump after the real estate mogul called him out for sweating during a debate, took the gag gift in stride . . .

The Florida senator touched on more serious issues in Tuesday interview, too. In the wake of last week’s school shooting in Oregon, Rubio advocated for better metal health services — but not stricter gun laws. When Matt Lauer asked what could have prevented gunman Chris Harper Mercer from buying 14 guns, Rubio said “His family shouldn’t have allowed him to do it.” (Read more from “This Is Why Donald Trump Sent Marco Rubio ‘Trump-Brand’ Water Bottles” HERE)

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Donald Trump and Sarah Palin: The Oddest of Political Couples

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By Jim Geraghty. “Jerry, how much do you think Lorne Michaels would pay me if I were to run in 2016?” Sarah Palin asked Jerry Seinfeld in a skit that aired as part of Saturday Night Live’s 40th anniversary special in February.

“Run for president? Sarah, I don’t think there’s a number too big,” Seinfeld responded.

“Hypothetically, then, what if I were to choose Donald Trump as my running mate?” Palin continued.

“Sarah, you’re teasing us, that’s not nice!” Seinfeld responded in mock indignation.

Eight months ago, the idea of Donald Trump appearing on a GOP presidential ticket was literally the punchline of a joke. Today, Trump is the front-runner for the Republican nomination, and arguably the field’s most natural successor to Palin, who has enthusiastically aided his campaign. (Read more from “Donald Trump & Sarah Palin: The Oddest of Political Couples” HERE)

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BLAST FROM THE PAST: Sarah Palin Heaps Praise on Donald Trump: ‘He’s Doing Something Right!’

By Ahiza Garcia. Former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin lavished conservative real estate mogul Donald Trump with praise on Wednesday for announcing his bid to become President.

The former governor of Alaska could hardly contain her enthusiasm in a Facebook post and tweet criticizing the media reaction to Trump’s Tuesday announcement.

“Mr. Trump should know he’s doing something right when the malcontents go ballistic in the press!” Palin wrote.

Trump responded to Palin’s tweet with a note of his own:

(Read more from this story HERE)

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In Interview Yesterday, Trump Reveals The One Thing That Would Cause Him to Drop Out

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While appearing as a guest on NBC’s Today on Tuesday morning, Trump revealed the one scenario under which he would leave the presidential race. . .

Host Matt Lauer pointed out to the billionaire candidate that his unrivaled place atop the GOP field seems to have changed with Ben Carson pulling within one point. A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released this week finds Trump at 21 percent support, Carson at 20, and Carly Fiorina and Marco Rubio also gaining ground, both polling at 11 percent. . .

Lauer followed up, asking: “If the polls change and you are no longer the person everybody is talking about, Donald with all the great things going on in your life in other areas, do you have the stomach to stick this out?”

“I’m a practical person,” Trump responded. “If I see things aren’t going well, like for instance there are people right now in the Republican Party who are not doing well I don’t think it’s going to change for many of them, at some point you have to get out. Right now, I’m leading every poll…I get the biggest crowds by far. I had 20,000 in Dallas I had 35,000 people in Mobile, Alabama, you know so far it’s looking good…So I will go and if I think for some reason it’s not going to work, I’ll go back to my business.” (Read more from “Trump Reveals the One Thing That He’d Drop Out Over” HERE)

OPINION: Trump Is a Danger to Free Speech

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Last week Hillary Clinton has threatened a conservative political action committee with a lawsuit, angrily boycotted Fox News, complained about unflattering media photos, and demanded that a National Review editor be fined for making politically incorrect comments about her.

Oh, wait. That wasn’t Hillary Clinton doing any of those things. That was Donald Trump.

Trump’s seemingly endless capacity to bully and insult his critics has been entertaining, sure, but is quickly becoming dictatorial. His calls for (mostly conservative) political pundits to be silenced, fined, and boycotted should give pause to anyone in America who cares about free speech.

The Club for Growth, a political action committee dedicated to supporting free-market, limited-government conservatives [Editor’s note: The Club for Growth has an apparent hatred for genuine, Tea Party candidates as evidenced by its penchant for supporting Establishment candidates in a number of recent contested GOP primaries] recently produced an ad critical of Trump over his past comments promoting a socialized healthcare system, higher taxes, and Wall Street bailouts. How did Trump respond? With a cease and desist letter warning that a lawsuit would follow if the ads didn’t stop.

Trump also launched a boycott against Fox News this week because the network had allegedly been “unfair” In its coverage. The issue? The network reported CNN poll numbers that found Trump’s winning margin over the other Republican candidates dropping from 35% to 24%. In response, Trump said he’s refusing interviews until he is guaranteed favorable coverage.

One Fox source told The Hill Trump decided to boycott because he “doesn’t seem to grasp that candidates telling journalists what to ask is not how the media works in this country.”

Despite the boycott, Trump was still watching and dictating orders from afar.

Last Wednesday, National Review Editor Rich Lowry made a somewhat crass remark about Donald Trump’s manhood on Fox News. Trump responded with a furious tweet: “Incompetent @RichLowry lost it tonight on @FoxNews. He should not be allowed on TV and the FCC should fine him!”

(Never mind that the FCC doesn’t issue fines against cable news.)

There you have it. In just a few days, Trump offered three draconian responses to political speech he deemed unfriendly. And that barely scratches the surface. He also went on a tirade against CNN, the New York Times, Politico, and the Associated Press for citing the empty chairs at a campaign event in South Carolina. And who can forget his calling Fox’s Megyn Kelly a “bimbo,” and his endless stream of insults against well…any idiot loser who fails to clap loud enough every time Trump speaks?

Although he’ll use any format to issue broadsides, the courts are, by far, Trump’s preferred remedy for conflict.

The Daily Beast recently posted a piece about his long-documented history of deploying lawyers to combat anyone who speaks ill of his name. And that piece doesn’t even include his threats to fellow Republicans for copyright infringement if they utter Ronald Reagan’s well-known 1982 campaign slogan “Make America Great Again,” which Trump trademarked for himself after stealing it from the Gipper. Or the fact he also fired off a cease and desist letter to a Boston-based t-shirt maker selling shirts that said, “Donald is Dumb” and “Stop Trump.”

You want tort reform? Start by limiting the number of lawsuits Donald Trump can file against political enemies.

It would all be fun and games if Donald Trump weren’t actually campaigning for the highest office in the land—and leading in the polls, a fact he believes earns him the right to laudatory media coverage.

One can only imagine how many press passes would be revoked by the Trump White House, if he deigned to keep a press corps around at all. Much more likely a Trump-approved reality TV camera would simply follow him around, unquestioningly documenting his greatness, similar to how President Obama restricted independent media access in favor of government-controlled media. WHTrumpTV! It’ll be yuuuuuge! NBC will pay for it! Right?

More seriously, Trump’s eagerness to use the courts and other agents of government power against his political opposition is not the mark of a leader. It’s a common trait among tyrants.

Trump may be campaigning as a Republican but his actions don’t reflect any understanding or appreciation for the core values enshrined in the First Amendment that guarantee Americans the right to criticize politicians.

His actions are much more aligned with far-left Democrats who want to pass rules and regulations to keep conservative personalities such as Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin off the air.

Conservatives have suffered through the era of Obama where the IRS was used as a political weapon against Tea Party groups, a filmmaker’s attempt to air an anti-Hillary Clinton film went all the way to the Supreme Court with Citizens United v. The Federal Elections Commission, and Democrats have relentlessly campaigned to silence those who donate to conservative causes.

Donald Trump is telling us he, like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, also believes in using the brute machinery of government to savage political enemies. Pay attention. Free speech is at stake. (For more from the author of “Trump Is a Danger to Free Speech” please click HERE)

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