Does Donald Trump think we’re all idiots?

[markomalley]

From the Corpus Christi Caller-Times:

Donald Trump's rat-a-tat-tat firing of insults, outrages, slurs and personal slams have come at a dizzying pace.

He has barely finished sending a volley against one target — House Speaker Paul Ryan for a lack of enthusiasm over Trump's candidacy — than he moves on to maul another. The latest was his tirade against the press for their impudence in forcing him to account for the millions he said he had collected for veterans.

Amid the mud balls coming out of his mouth recently was an attack on a federal judge who he labeled "a hater," "very hostile," and "a Mexican."

With that race-baiting attack Trump has again torn away any illusion that progress has been made in race and ethnic relations.

Or at least any progress among those of Trump supporters who understand and embrace his blatant appeal to prejudice.

We may have believed that, as Martin Luther King Jr. hoped, that we are judged "by the content of his character" and not by the color of our skin or the ethnicity of our background. Trump has disabused us of the thought that the ideal was universal.

His target was Gonzalo Curiel, a federal judge in the Southern District of California. Curiel was born in East Chicago, Indiana. That's a long, long way from Mexico.

For Trump's purposes, it doesn't matter that Curiel has a sterling judicial record and an inspiring career as a federal prosecutor specializing in going after drug cartels.

He's "a Mexican." That's all Trump knows about Curiel and all he asks his supporters to know.

Curiel is the judge who is presiding over a class-action lawsuit against Trump University in San Diego, California. The defunct school charged students thousands of dollars for courses in real estate that have been called nothing more than infomercials.

Trump's ire was triggered when Curiel ordered that internal university documents be released to the public. Trump's lawyers had fought against the motion filed by The Washington Post. Trump who has a long history of litigation said he was being "railroaded" in the federal court suit.

Curiel is now the latest Hispanic target of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Only days before his attack on Curiel, Trump had again slammed New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez.

That she is a rising star in Republican national politics and chairwoman of the Republican National Governors Association didn't restrain Trump's harangue against the governor.

At a May 25 rally in Albuquerque, Trump said, "Your governor has got to do a better job. She's not doing the job. Hey! Maybe I'll run for governor of New Mexico."

Martinez' offense is her reluctance to endorse the real estate mogul. She has said she is offended by the language he uses to describe immigrants whom he has called "rapists" and "killers."

Add Curiel and Martinez to the list that includes Columba Bush, the wife of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Rafael Cruz, the father of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Trump attributed Bush's moderate stand on immigration to the Mexican origins of his wife, Columba and then refused to apologize for dragging her into a political fight. Trump used a scurrilous and evidence-free article in the National Enquirer to suggest that somehow the elder Cruz was linked to the Kennedy assassination.

It was no surprise that the reporter he singled out in his press attack is Hispanic, ABC reporter Tom Llamas.

Yet the attack on Curiel, of all of Trump's racial and ethnic slurs, is the most blatant evidence that he has legitimized verbal bigotry. He does it and gets away with it. And his most barbed and vicious verbal assaults seem mostly directed at Hispanic targets.

This is the kind of labeling that was, in another time, a way to reduce a man's life to a caricature, and usually not even an accurate caricature. You may have been born in the U.S., have a successful career, a family man, a property owner and a respected member of the community. But to some, you were always "a Mexican."

Calling Curiel "a Mexican" is not a clumsy attempt to identify his heritage — his parents are Mexican immigrants — but a clear signal to diminish the standing of an adult man who is a graduate of the University of Indiana, a law school graduate and a former assistant U.S. attorney. He is one of 124 federal judges in the nation of Hispanic heritage.

Yet there was on Cinco de Mayo, tucking into a taco salad, tweeting "I love Hispanics."

Does he think we're all idiots?

Well, yes, he does think they're all idiots. Yes, indeed.

[geronl]

The judge is as American as Trump is

 Does Donald Trump think?

[HonestJohn]

The judge is as American as Trump is

 Does Donald Trump think?

To Trump and his supporters, one cannot be American unless one is white and christian. 

[geronl]

He slaps his own supporters in the face by endorsing a pro-amnesty candidate

they'll ask for another.

[Right_in_Virginia]

To Trump and his supporters, one cannot be American unless one is white and christian.

This is absolute  @HonestJohn.  But you already know that. 

[INVAR]

Does Donald Trump think we’re all idiots?

I know for a fact his rabid supporters do.

[HonestJohn]

This is absolute  @HonestJohn.  But you already know that.

You are supporting and defending a candidate that has blatantly stated that the judge cannot be trusted because he's 'Mexican'.  Someone born here in the United States, lived here their entire life... is a Mexican.  You defend the logic that despite the place of birth and how a person is raised, that their nationality can and will never be 'American'.

The same goes for Trump's latest bit about Muslim-Americans.

And you support and defend the candidate with a predilection for white nationalist tweets.

So I don't think it is bull at all.  It'd have been bull had Trump supporters called him out on it, but that train has *LONG* since left the station.

[sinkspur]

To Trump and his supporters, one cannot be American unless one is white and christian.

Trump ALWAYS has to have an enemy.  At every rally, every speech, every interview, every debate.  There's always an enemy.

Lately, Susana Martinez is an enemy.  Judge Curiel is an enemy.  Japan and South Korea are enemies because they're not "paying their way.

It's how he keeps his tribalistic followers all pumped up:  always have an enemy.  Somebody to hate.

Trump is an expert at hating you unless you kiss his ass.  And, even then, you're one slight away from becoming an enemy again whom he'll attack publicly.

The sonofabitch is a mentally deranged sociopath.  How did we get here with such a man in competition to lead us? And what of his supporters, who, in order to forget their own problems, link arms with someone who appeals to their lowest instincts?

[Oceander]

Does the Sun rise in the East and set in the West?

[sitetest]

You are supporting and defending a candidate that has blatantly stated that the judge cannot be trusted because he's 'Mexican'.  Someone born here in the United States, lived here their entire life... is a Mexican.  You defend the logic that despite the place of birth and how a person is raised, that their nationality can and will never be 'American'.

The same goes for Trump's latest bit about Muslim-Americans.

And you support and defend the candidate with a predilection for white nationalist tweets.

So I don't think it is bull at all.  It'd have been bull had Trump supporters called him out on it, but that train has *LONG* since left the station.

Has anyone mentioned the irony that stumpyism opposed Sen. Cruz for being born in Canada of an American mother, but call American-born Judge Curiel a Mexican for being born of Mexican immigrant parents?

[Oceander]

Has anyone mentioned the irony that stumpyism opposed Sen. Cruz for being born in Canada of an American mother, but call American-born Judge Curiel a Mexican for being born of Mexican immigrant parents?

Good point!!

[andy58-in-nh]

I suspect that Trump doesn't really care. Instead, he appears to have an unbounded faith in his ability to purchase support based not upon idiocy, but upon fear.  And toward that end, he identifies enemies intentionally, on a daily basis.   

[skeeter]

From the Corpus Christi Caller-Times:

Well, yes, he does think they're all idiots. Yes, indeed.

Yes Trump does think we're stupid. Yes, in a way he is setting race relations back.

But in all honesty, the leftist media is guilty of everything they're charging Trump with here. It's just that they were happy with all the racism going in one direction.

[musiclady]

Talk about a rhetorical question.................   

[TomSea]

[TomSea]

The point of your pictures?  The existence of an opposite bias does not nullify or justify Trump's statement -- if that was your point.  I am not sure.

Yes, that was my post.

Well, I did the read the OP article. It seemed that it was saying the only thing Trump knew about this lawyer was that he was Hispanic, something like this.

[TomSea]

I see.   As criticism of the above author, you may have a point.  He comes right out and says that all Trump knows and asks his followers to know is that the Judge is Hispanic.  Then he tuns around and gives validation to the Judge automatically due to his position rather than his positions (argument).   So neither side in this case would win top slot in even a high school level debate.  Where is the point?  Where is the argument?  Countering mudballs with mudballs is not a valid form of argument.

I confess to being most sympathetic to all anti-Trump positions.  I do imagine that the Judge is a liberal ideologically, having been appointed by Obama.  So make a valid argument against him.  If Trump had one, he didn't make it.  Besides, it was thoroughly unwise of him to turn a personal suit into a political statement when he is the presumptive nominee of one of the major political parties.  It is VERY Clinton of him.

Trump's exact words were something like this:

On Friday the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, dismissing criticism from legal experts on the right and left, pressed his case against U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, saying the Indiana-born judge is biased against him because "he's a Mexican. We're building a wall between here and Mexico."

Trump made the remarks, and others like it, repeatedly, in interviews with CNN and The Wall Street Journal, referring to Judge Curiel variously as "of Mexican heritage" or just "Mexican." But the message was always the same, that the judge had what Trump called "a conflict" because of his ethnicity.

At a rally in San Diego last week, Trump characterized the judge as "a hater of Donald Trump, a hater. He's a hater." And "they ought to look into Judge Curiel.

http://www.npr.org/2016/06/04/480714972/trump-presses-case-that-mexican-judge-curiel-is-biased-against-him

Trump may have known Curiel was involved in the La Raza law association; hence, it would be proper to post such images.

[Fishrrman]

"Does Donald Trump think we're all idiots?"

No, senor Jimenez.

Just you.

[TomSea]

Which brings me back to my first post.  Trump used a fallacious argument that the Judge is biased against him because he is Mexican, and after all Trump wants to build a wall. 

Who knows.  The judge very well may be biased against Trump, but Trump came nowhere near proving it.  He merely charged that the Judge was biased due to his ethnicity.  What you claim he may or may not have known about the Judge is irrelevant.  He did not present any proof, just insults and emotion and type casting.  Trump does this all the time.  He would get an F in high school debate.  The Presidential debates are likely going to be a joke in terms of real substance.   You do not score a legitimate argument win with ad hominem like "he's a hater" or by labeling him biased due to his ethnicity.  But then in the past the media has drooled all over rude one-liner comments when made by Democrats.  Perhaps we have sunk that low.  I'm just saying, back in the day when we chose adults as our representatives, that would not fly at all.

Regardless, I have no horse in the race at this point.  They are both entirely unacceptable.

I understand, I don't have a horse per se in the race either.  Just commenting on when I see right or wrong.

Anyway, I bookmarked that Russel Kirk Center in the other thread, some folks here are commenting above my head. Speaking of which, you seem knowledgeable and congenial. Thank you.

[Smokin Joe]

The judge is as American as Trump is

 Does Donald Trump think?

Donald Trump's Modus Operandi is to attack and slander those who threaten him getting his way. It is about "winning", what is right, true, just, or decent is irrelevant. The ends justify the means for him.

Imagine another four years of a self serving narcissistic POTUS with no regard for the Law. Because it looks like that is what we are going to get.

There is absolutely no guarantee that he will do anything Conservative while in office, except by accident.

[txradioguy]

To Trump and his supporters, one cannot be American unless one is white and christian.

I wonder when blonde hair and blue eyes will be added to the litmus test?

[Right_in_Virginia]

You are supporting and defending a candidate that has blatantly stated that the judge cannot be trusted because he's 'Mexican'.  Someone born here in the United States, lived here their entire life... is a Mexican.  You defend the logic that despite the place of birth and how a person is raised, that their nationality can and will never be 'American'.

The same goes for Trump's latest bit about Muslim-Americans.

And you support and defend the candidate with a predilection for white nationalist tweets.

So I don't think it is bull at all.  It'd have been bull had Trump supporters called him out on it, but that train has *LONG* since left the station.

Dig a little deeper and try to connect the dots @HonestJohn.  Trump has made stopping the flood of  illegal immigration on our Southern border--a priority, with Mexico in the crosshairs.  Trump has also made stopping the flood a US jobs to Mexico (and China) a priority.  Many Mexican-Americans strongly agree with Trump; some with equal strength do not.  Following the Judge's political ties, I think it's pretty safe to assume the Judge is in the second category.

Stopping the open admission of "refugees" from the Middle East until and unless we have the appropriate vetting process in place is common sense.  Unless it doesn't matter to you that this open policy puts the US and her citizens at risk.  If you don't believe me, just ask Germany.

If you believe America does not need or deserve strong borders, just say so--and defend your opinion.  But please, stop spewing Democrat "racist" talking points at me.

Thanks.

[Oceander]

Dig a little deeper and try to connect the dots @HonestJohn.  Trump has made stopping the flood of  illegal immigration on our Southern border--a priority, with Mexico in the crosshairs.  Trump has also made stopping the flood a US jobs to Mexico (and China) a priority.  Many Mexican-Americans strongly agree with Trump; some with equal strength do not.  Following the Judge's political ties, I think it's pretty safe to assume the Judge is in the second category.

Stopping the open admission of "refugees" from the Middle East until and unless we have the appropriate vetting process in place is common sense.  Unless it doesn't matter to you that this open policy puts the US and her citizens at risk.  If you don't believe me, just ask Germany.

If you believe America does not need or deserve strong borders, just say so--and defend your opinion.  But please, stop spewing Democrat "racist" talking points at me.

Thanks.

You dig a little deeper, through the muck of lies, aka truthful hyperbole, Trump has been dumping on you, look at who he really is and has been for decades, and then perhaps you'll stop drinking the koolaid.

[Right_in_Virginia]

You dig a little deeper, through the muck of lies, aka truthful hyperbole,

Good advice, @Oceander.  And I follow it every time I read a post from a #NeverTrump.   ^-^

[HonestJohn]

Dig a little deeper and try to connect the dots @HonestJohn.  Trump has made stopping the flood of  illegal immigration on our Southern border--a priority, with Mexico in the crosshairs.  Trump has also made stopping the flood a US jobs to Mexico (and China) a priority.  Many Mexican-Americans strongly agree with Trump; some with equal strength do not.  Following the Judge's political ties, I think it's pretty safe to assume the Judge is in the second category.

Stopping the open admission of "refugees" from the Middle East until and unless we have the appropriate vetting process in place is common sense.  Unless it doesn't matter to you that this open policy puts the US and her citizens at risk.  If you don't believe me, just ask Germany.

If you believe America does not need or deserve strong borders, just say so--and defend your opinion.  But please, stop spewing Democrat "racist" talking points at me.

Thanks.

Deflection.

You are supporting and defending a candidate that has blatantly stated that the judge cannot be trusted because he's 'Mexican'.  Someone born here in the United States, lived here their entire life... is a Mexican.  You defend the logic that despite the place of birth and how a person is raised, that their nationality can and will never be 'American'.

The same goes for Trump's latest bit about Muslim-Americans.

And you support and defend the candidate with a predilection for white nationalist tweets.

Which means you agree that a person's nationality is based by blood (jus sanguinus) and not by place of birth (jus soli).  That is a betrayal of the very concept of America as found in our Constitution and the writings of our Founding Fathers. 

And that *IS* pure bigotry.