Donald Trump is at it again. His $5 million offer to get Obama’s grades mystifies me, and irritates me (why doesn’t he just call Harvard, and see what GPA was required to graduate with the honors on Obama’s diploma?). It’s clear Trump has not bothered to see whether information is available on Obama, but is instead attempting a political smear.
Should we be concerned at all? David Letterman savaged Trump on his show October 24, but then invited Trump to appear on October 25, and let Trump get away without challenging most of his big whoppers. Letterman seemed to sense he was not witnessing a political exposé, but instead was witness to the dying throes of a man whose talent and time seem to be restricted to hair design, these days.
Heh. Why should we believe Donald Trump? In addition to the manifold reasons you may have already accumulated to dismiss the guy as a crank and a crackpot, consider that we don’t have a clue about his bona fides.
Who is Donald Trump, really? I posted this originally in February 2011 — and since then, Trump has failed to release any whiff of evidence to clear up his murky background. He’s not released his birth certificate (except a forgery), he’s not been able to establish that he ever attended a college in America. In short, he’s vulnerable exactly to the type of unfair and churlish attack he’s making on President Obama.
Here’s how it unfolds:
Donald Trump demonstrated his ability to spread hoax information at the CPAC Conference recently — a group who love to hear hoaxes and spread them, as much as fourth-grade boys love to hear and spread jokes about flatulence.
But can he take it? [Note the hoax insinuations below are underlined.] Could Donald Trump withstand the kind of attack* he made on President Obama?
I mean, he claims President Obama may not have attended Columbia because Trump hasn’t personally interviewed anyone who knew him there — despite years of stories in alumni magazines, major media interviews with the people who knew Obama there, etc., etc.
Gratuitous picture that makes trump look funny or evil, with gratuitously misleading caption: “Donald Trump wants people to stop asking why no one, in America, can remember his high school and college days.” Alternative caption: “Donald Trump, two of his closest friends and an unnamed woman discuss politics and government policy.”
Does Trump have room to talk? His Wikipedia bio claims he attended Fordham University for a brief period (got kicked out, maybe?), but didn’t graduate. It claims he got an undergraduate degree from the Wharton School in Pennsylvania.
A search found no one from Wharton who remembers Donald Trump as a student there. Jon Huntsman, the founder of Huntsman Container and Huntsman Chemical, the guy who invented the “clamshell box” for McDonalds, is one of the most famous and wealthy Wharton grads (and also the father of Jon Huntsman, Jr., the recently resigned Obama Ambassador to China). He never saw Trump on campus at Wharton. James DePriest, the outstanding conductor now with the Oregon Symphony (and fun to watch, trust me) — he never ran into Trump on campus when he attended Wharton. There’s no record of Trump having had a roommate there. Alan Rachins, the famous actor who graduated from Wharton — not only never took a class with Trump, but said he never heard of Trump attending classes at the time.
Who is Donald Trump? Where did he come from? How come no one remembers him?
But the fog gets inkier.
Trump was not only a football standout in high school, he was a social standout, winning awards for his community involvement (although, no one at the high school in his hometown remembers his attending classes there).
But during the time he claims to have attended Fordham, no one remembers him. No social standout. No football hero. Was he ever really at Fordham?
And what about his odd religious beliefs? There are jokes about his worship of money — but what sort of religion would lead a man to claim that the 2008 economic collapse was “an Act of God?” Yes, he really believes that. His “god” appears to have a grudge against the United States and its economy. Even in his greatest economic ventures, he pays homage to Muslim
Hindureligiouslandmarks. What is his secret agenda on religion?Where did Donald Trump come from? Why does no one in his hometown high school remember him? Why did he drop out of sight at the time he claims to have attended Fordham University? Did he buy his way into a listing as an alumnus of Wharton, after so many Wharton grads don’t remember seeing him there? Who can trust a guy who worships (if he does worship at all) a “god” who strikes down the U.S. economy?
Who is Donald Trump? Why did no one at CPAC check his questionable credentials before giving Trump a national platform? Why is CPAC mum about this entire affair? Why did Fox News conspire to obscure the message and candidacy of Ron Paul, with their new darling, Donald Trump?
Worse for Trump, most of the things in this screed are factually accurate. Those who live by the inaccurate spin can die by it, too.
Scarier: Which conservative sites will have the guts to question** Trump’s secret credentials?
Read more here, at Oh, For Goodness Sake [archived here] (and here at “Donald Trump Pants On Fire”), and here, at PolitiFact.
_____________________________
* That is, “completely hoaxed up.”
** Oh, yeah — that should have read, “gullibility to fall for.” When will the blog owner correct that glaring error?***
*** Not until Trump apologizes to President Obama.
More:
- Hawaii’s confirmation that Barack Obama was born there (but they won’t vouch for Trump) (Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub)
- “Are Trump and the birthers hypocrites? Racists?” (Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub)
- Stephen Colbert Invites Donald Trump to Gargle His Balls For Charity (jezebel.com)
- Donald Trump’s “Big News” (now100fm.cbslocal.com)
- Obama Is Asked What Donald Trump Has Against Him: “This all dates back to when we were growing up together in Kenya.” (thedailydolt.com)
- Donald Trump’s Dr. Evil “blockbuster” – a $5 million hostage offer? (VIDEO) (timesunion.com)
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 
A reader subtley notes an error:
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[…] Who is Donald Trump, really? Why does no one remember his being at Wharton, as he claims? […]
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Nick/James,
Oh yes. One does become President of the Harvard Law Review by being a minority. Of course.
You mean you didn’t know that?
;-)
Jim
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David writes:
Because it might undermine his “bona fides” – which were what in 2008?
How come you guys weren’t interested in Bill Clinton’s college records? Or Gores? Or Hillary Clintons?
How come you guys are oh so interested in Barack Obama’s college records? Gee..what could be the difference between Barack Obama and the other people I listed….
Ah yes…silly me..the difference is that he’s black.
Are you quite so sure that your party isn’t the party of racism?
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David asks, Because it might undermine his “bona fides” – which were what in 2008?
Not being a dumb. Same as in 2012. And there you have it.
Jim
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David, Trump won’t pay $5 million regardless what Obama does. This is an old ruse, used in the past by deniers of the Holocaust: “Prove it happened, we’ll pay you $50,000.” Then, regardless what evidence is presented, the deniers claim it is insufficient, the money won’t be paid, and ‘therefore the Holocaust never happened — no one can prove it.’ (Of course, Mel Mermelstein cut through that particular Gordian Knot, but there’s no time to make the Mermelstein solution work here.)
There is not enough time in the campaign for such a distraction. Letterman put Trump on, and while I think Letterman was too soft on the Old Flatulence, he let Trump make the point that Trump is a fool. Trump put the deadline on the offer precisely because he calculated no one on the campaign would have the time to do it. As I understand the offer, it must be Obama who gives the stuff to Trump — so Mel Mermelstein, or you, or I, cannot do it to squeeze the money out of Trump.
Plus, there’s doubt in the minds of rational people whether Trump has $5 million to spare. How many times has he declared bankruptcy?
Is Trump as much a racist as the old white supremacists whose tactics he now employs? Is that even an issue? I merely point out that the lens Trump plans to employ to ridicule Obama applies equally well to Trump. You don’t know about him — he could be the sleeper assassin sent by the North Koreans for all we know, using the very loose standards of mystery Trump employs.
Why would I challenge the President of the Greatest Nation on Earth on the basis of a whine from a foreign, unknown maybe-agent-of-God-knows-what like Trump? What patriot would disrespect the U.S. like that? (Not to mention, have you noticed Trump never wears a flag lapel pin? What sort of patriot is he, and patriot to what nation or international movement?)
Et cetera.
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“Donald Trump is at it again. His $5 million offer to get Obama’s grades mystifies me, and irritates me (why doesn’t he just call Harvard, and see what GPA was required to graduate with the honors on Obama’s diploma?).”
Why doesnt Obama release his grades,thesis, etc to Trump and trump the Trump , claiming the 5 million and donating it to charity? Because it might undermine his “bona fides” – which were what in 2008?
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People who live behind murky biographies shouldn’t yell “look at the papers.” Trump raises false issues, issues that have already been resolved. Trump is a buffoon. Obama’s already laid out his bona fides, and the buffoon has no moral standing, nor legal standing, to question them. Trump has earned our scorn and ridicule, and good citizens will be certain he gets them.
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The difference between Trump and Obama is simple. Trump is not running for President. Obama is.
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Reblogged this on Absolute Video Montage.
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