Trump rips GOP rivals who broke pledge; Kasich touts electability

[WAC]

..."Why can't Mr. Trump accept the fact that the primary is over and he won."......

I don't get any indication that Trump doesn't accept that......he fully accepts and believes he's the rightful nominee, and frankly he is.

The problem isn't Trump...the problem is the Gop and Rnc failing to support him....which hesitation is one thing, but there certainly appears to me a definite onslaught happening from those who should be supporting him by now.....especially since they haven't offered another alternative to justify their behavior aside from just don't want him as the nominee....and that's not sufficient to scrub this election and let Hillary and Bill tkake the ball and run with it.

[Right_in_Virginia]

RIV I was replying to Mesaclones post which started like this:

 
It is relevant to this post as this poster was trying to lecture others that "real" conservatives keep their word and how important it is to keep your word.....
My response to this misguided lecture was to examine trump's history with keeping his word before lecturing others.

Whether or not Cruz honors his pledge still has nothing to do with Trump.   

[Henry Noel]

No one wants to comment on how Herr Drumpf wants to ban people from running for office solely for the fact they don't support him?

I noticed that. The question on my mind is: how would he set about doing it?

[Jazzhead]

Yeah I remember that also...here is his quote  "No, I don't anymore," Trump said, when asked by CNN's Anderson Cooper if he continued "to pledge to support whoever the Republican nominee is?"

All three GOP contenders appeared at a CNN town hall in Milwaukee one week before Wisconsin's April 5 primary.


When asked if he would keep the pledge he signed last September, Trump responded "No, I won’t." The real estate mogul explained that he was taking back the pledge because, "I have been treated very unfairly," and listed the Republican National Committee and party establishment among those he believes have wronged him.

 Trump's renunciation of his pledge liberated the others from their pledges - unless they re-affirmed their pledges after Trump renounced his.   

It's crucial to remember that the pledges were made collectively - all were asked the same question at that same time in the same debate.   When the collective pledge was first broken - by Trump, see above - then the others were ipso facto released from their pledges barring re-affirmation. 

[sinkspur]

..."Why can't Mr. Trump accept the fact that the primary is over and he won."......

I don't get any indication that Trump doesn't accept that......he fully accepts and believes he's the rightful nominee, and frankly he is.

The problem isn't Trump...the problem is the Gop and Rnc failing to support him....which hesitation is one thing, but there certainly appears to me a definite onslaught happening from those who should be supporting him by now.....especially since they haven't offered another alternative to justify their behavior aside from just don't want him as the nominee....and that's not sufficient to scrub this election and let Hillary and Bill tkake the ball and run with it.

Sorry.  But the problem IS Trump.  He just can't stop the childish games and foolishness.  He gets in front of one of his rallies and has to go off against.........members of his own party.

No one should support a mental case, and Trump is that, squared. ANYBODY, at this point, would be better as the nominee than Trump.   

51% of Republicans want somebody else as the nominee and only 74% of Republicans support him.  He can't win with those numbers.

[Jazzhead]

No one should support a mental case, and Trump is that, squared. ANYBODY, at this point, would be better as the nominee than Trump.   

That's the problem.  Not policy positions. Not worry that he's not conservative enough.   The man's brain is squishy like a hacky sack.   That's why, in the context of the job he seeks, he's more dangerous than Clinton.

[Leto]

How was the losing candidate personally "destroyed"?  Is his marriage intact?  Has he lost custody of his children? Have friends (if applicable) shunned him?   Is he bankrupt? 

How was the losing candidate professionally "destroyed"?  Are his professional licenses intact? Has he lost income?  Has his job been lost?  Has he lost eligibility for reelection?   


There was no destruction.  The pledge stands .... and honor requires they keep it.

Trump committed Blood Libel against Cruz and his family and continues to this day. Cruz owes Trump nothing but his contempt.

IF Trump weren't a malignant Narcissist he would have apologized to Cruz a long time ago, Trump can f himself he has no honor what so ever.

[geronl]

Donald Trump on Wednesday said his former Republican primary rivals who have refused to support him in November should be barred from running for public office again

Donald Trump is worse than Hillary.

He should rightly be squashed like a bug in November.

[geronl]

At what point does our side quit playing school yard tactics and fight for the country by supporting the ONLY candidate we have????

Trump is not and never will be "our side".

[GrouchoTex]

Whether or not I have a sense of irony has nothing to do with this, Sink.  This is about Cruz and Kasich keeping their pledge.

This is not about Donald Trump.   

I disagree. Trump himself in a Town hall meeting said he wouldn't back the others, because he was treated unfairly.
Now, he has the gall to call out the others?
So Kasich and Cruz are bad for not honoring their pledge, but Trump is okay for not honoring what would have been his?
If you were running, and you previously agreed to endorse the nominee, and then that nominee said two times, once on national TV after you had dropped out, that your father was involved in the JFK assassination, would you still hold to that pledge?

[skeeter]

Yes. There is. Inconvenient, but they all signed it - even Trump, eventually.

No, there isn't.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/29/politics/donald-trump-ted-cruz-nominee-pledge/index.html

[Ancient]

We're discussing the oath given by all candidates to support the eventual nominee. As Trump has not broken this pledge, your comments have no relevance to this issue.

Cruz and Kasich gave their word...pledged their support. They are either men of honor who keep their word, or they are not...the answer to that is dependent only on themselves.

The pledge was to support the nominee.  Trump is not the nominee until the convention, so throwing a fit now is premature.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

Why can't Mr. Trump accept the fact that the primary is over and he won. 

He should, but in fairness to him, there are still a lot of Republicans out there who apparently are unwilling to concede that point.  That numbnuts Kasich is still out there telling people that he's more electable than Trump.  And some people on this board are still arguing that delegates aren't really bound, that they should "dump Trump", etc..  So I suppose that until he's actually the nominee, those folks aren't going to give up trying to prevent it.

[Norm Lenhart]

The pledge was to support the nominee.  Trump is not the nominee until the convention, so throwing a fit now is premature.

I've tried telling people that simple fact of civics but the Know betters insist that even though there has been no convention, he has been nominated at an event that has not happened, by people that have not voted for his nomination.

Some people need an education or therapy for their issues, and not access to the internet.

[INVAR]

So I suppose that until he's actually the nominee, those folks aren't going to give up trying to prevent it.

Perhaps.  What is for certain is that once he is crowned their nominee - I certainly will not be voting for him in November and will continue to call him and Hildabeast out on their implicit dangers to our liberties and what remains of the Constitution.

[Ghost Bear]

Alinsky's Rules for Radicals, Rule #4: “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.” If the rule is that every letter gets a reply, send 30,000 letters. You can kill them with this because no one can possibly obey all of their own rules. (This is a serious rule. The besieged entity’s very credibility and reputation is at stake, because if activists catch it lying or not living up to its commitments, they can continue to chip away at the damage.)

Hmm, now where do I see evidence of this rule being used in this comment thread...?   

[Ghost Bear]

No one wants to comment on how Herr Drumpf wants to ban people from running for office solely for the fact they don't support him?

Oh, I will, I will!

*ahem*

That's very dictatorial of him!

 

[Idiot]

By Jeremy Diamond and Cassie Spodak, CNN
Updated 7:13 PM ET, Wed June 29, 2016

http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/29/politics/john-kasich-hillary-clinton-donald-trump/

(CNN)Donald Trump on Wednesday said his former Republican primary rivals who have refused to support him in November should be barred from running for public office again.

"They signed a pledge saying they will abide, saying they will back the candidate of the party," Trump said during a campaign appearance in Bangor, Maine, adding, "They broke their word. In my opinion, they should never be allowed to run for public office again because what they did is disgraceful."

Trump didn't mention any Republican candidates by name. But some of his significant primary challengers, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Ohio Gov. John Kasich -- who on Wednesday released a letter on his campaign fundraising list highlighting a positive poll for him -- have yet to endorse Trump despite saying during the primary they would back the GOP nominee.

Trump called Republicans who wouldn't back the pledge "sore losers."

Trump has struggled to unite Republican officials behind his campaign since clinching the party's nomination in early May and his frustrations with the slow pace of that unity have boiled over in recent weeks.

Despite talking up the need for party unity, Trump earlier this month criticized fellow Republicans and threatened to go it alone and campaign into the general election "by myself."

(more at link)

The man is a jackass....

[Idiot]

Trump has warped your judgement. And your sense of morality.

You trash my wife, implicate my father in the death of a president, and I'm supposed to support you?

What kind of perverted thinking is that?

[etcb]

The man is a jackass....

You are quite possibly correct.

He is much like the NFL coach whose team wins the National Conference Championship title in a hard fought game and instead of putting that game behind him and preparing for the Super Bowl, he spends his time and energy complaining about how unfair the officials and other team were to him in the last game.   He is in danger of losing the next election by focusing so much on the last one. 

[Mesaclone]

Is this the stance you held when Deceitful Donnie broke the pledge back in late March?

http://www.npr.org/2016/03/30/472365249/trump-goes-back-on-pledge-to-support-eventual-gop-nominee

How about when he released Ted Cruz from it?

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/03/30/472363315/trump-abandons-pledge-to-support-republican-nominee

Or are you a hypocrite, blindly supporting Hillary by pushing a dishonest, rotten candidate?

I hope you can show me how you blasted Trump, because I'd hate to think you're a hypocrite.

Trump, from the beginning, made his pledge conditional on the RNC being fair. Thus he broke nothing, but simply referenced that the RNC wasn't being fair and thus he was no longer obligated by a pledge (because it was conditional on that fairness).

[WAC]

Unfortunately that is the nature of a Narcissistic personality as Trumps. ..they DO keep score and do not forget....and they will rub noses in whenever opportunity presents itself regardless of how distant a situation is from the present. And this directly as well as by insinuation or jesting.

[sinkspur]

Trump, from the beginning, made his pledge conditional on the RNC being fair. Thus he broke nothing, but simply referenced that the RNC wasn't being fair and thus he was no longer obligated by a pledge (because it was conditional on that fairness).

Congratulations. You've got the Trump-weasel dance step down perfectly.

[Jazzhead]

Trump, from the beginning, made his pledge conditional on the RNC being fair. Thus he broke nothing, but simply referenced that the RNC wasn't being fair and thus he was no longer obligated by a pledge (because it was conditional on that fairness).

It was a collective pledge, asked to be made by all the candidates.  After Trump rescinded his pledge,  the other collective pledgees were released from their pledges (provided they didn't thereafter re-affirm their pledges).   That's how I'd analyze the issue as a lawyer.  The facts appear to show that Trump rescinded his pledge, so the others are now off the hook.

And, yeah, the bleatings of the Trumpsters regarding the primacy of "honor" are a sick joke.   Honor is to Donald Trump as a bicycle is to a fish.   

[Mesaclone]

Let's just end this dishonest effort at saying they did not all PLEDGE to support whomever the nominee is...in their own words.


From the debate on March 3rd.

BRET BAIER: Gentlemen, this is the last question of the night. It has been a long time since our first debate, seven months ago in Cleveland. A lot has transpired since then, obviously, including an RNC pledge that all of you signed agreeing to support the party's nominee and not to launch an independent run. Tonight, in 30 seconds, can you definitively say you will support the Republican nominee, even if that nominee is Donald J. Trump?

Senator Rubio, yes or no?

RUBIO: I'll support the Republican nominee.

BAIER: Mr. Trump? Yes or no?

RUBIO: I'll support Donald if he's the Republican nominee, and let me tell you why. Because the Democrats have two people left in the race. One of them is a socialist. America doesn't want to be a socialist country. If you want to be a socialist country, then move to a socialist country.

The other one is under FBI investigation. And not only is she under FBI investigation, she lied to the families of the victims of Benghazi, and anyone who lies to the families of victims who lost their lives in the service of our country can never be the commander- in-chief of the United States.

BAIER: Senator...

RUBIO: We must defeat Hillary Clinton.

BAIER: Senator Cruz, yes or no, you will support Donald Trump is he's the nominee?

CRUZ: Yes, because I gave my word that I would. And what I have endeavored to do every day in the Senate is do what I said I would do. You know, just on Tuesday, we saw an overwhelming victory in the state of Texas where I won Texas by 17 percent.

And I will say it was a powerful affirmation that the people who know me best, the people who I campaigned, who made promises that if you elect me, I'll lead the fight against Obamacare, I'll lead the fight against amnesty, I'll lead the fight against our debt, and I will fight for the Bill of Rights and your rights every day, that the people of Texas said you have kept your word, and that's what I'll do as president.

BAIER: Governor Kasich, yes or no, would you support Donald Trump as the Republican nominee?

KASICH: Yeah. But -- and I kind of think that, before it's all said and done, I'll be the nominee. But let me also say...

(APPLAUSE)

But let me also say, remember...

BAIER: But your answer is yes?

KASICH: But I'm the little engine that can. And, yeah, look, when you're in the arena, and we're in the arena. And the people out here watching -- we're in the arena, we're traveling, we're working, we spend time away from our family, when you're in the arena, you enter a special circle. And you want to respect the people that you're in the arena with. So if he ends up as the nominee -- sometimes, he makes it a little bit hard -- but, you know, I will support whoever is the Republican nominee for president.

(APPLAUSE)

WALLACE: Mr. Trump, I'm going to ask you a version of the same question. As we saw today with Mitt Romney, the #NeverTrump movement is gaining steam. Some people are talking about contributing millions of dollars to try to stop you. Again today, you raised the possibility that you might run as an independent if you feel you're treated unfairly by the Republican Party.

So I'm going to phrase the question that the other three people on this stage just got. Can you definitively say tonight that you will definitely support the Republican nominee for president, even if it's not you?

TRUMP: Even if it's not me?

(LAUGHTER)

Let me just start off by saying...

WALLACE: Thirty seconds, sir.

TRUMP: ... OK -- that I'm very, very proud of -- millions and millions of people have come to the Republican Party over the last little while. They've come to the Republican Party. And by the way, the Democrats are losing people. This is a trend that's taking place. It's the biggest thing happening in politics, and I'm very proud to be a part of it. And I'm going to give them some credit, too, even though they don't deserve it. But the answer is: Yes, I will.

WALLACE: Yes, you will support the nominee of the party? TRUMP: Yes, I will. Yes. I will.



And let's put extra emphasis on what Ted Cruz said....."Yes, because I gave my word that I would..."
Mr. Cruz states that his word is given. Period. No conditions. No equivocation or escape clauses...word given and sealed. He breaks that, and he is NOTHING that many here have claimed him to be.