http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2015/11/20/drive_bys_lie_and_claim_donald_trump_said_register_all_muslimsDrive-Bys Lie and Claim Donald Trump Said Register All Muslims
November 20, 2015
BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: The Drive-Bys are trying to destroy the two leading Republicans again today, Donald Trump and Ben Carson. They are doing a terrific job of taking Trump out of context. He was leaving the stage, I guess it was last night, he was doing a personal appearance somewhere, he was leaving the stage, he's finished, and a Drive-By gets amongst the autograph speakers and starts peppering him with questions. He answered a question and it's how the reporter is purposely misinterpreting it to say that Donald Trump last night said that he's in favor of a registration database of all Muslims in the US, and everybody in the Drive-Bys has run with it, and he didn't say it. We have the audio sound bite coming up to illustrate it.
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RUSH: Now, I don't know if you have seen it yet today. There are stories all over the Drive-By Media -- the Associated Press, Yahoo News, I mean, it's everywhere -- that Donald Trump supposedly is calling for the registration of all Muslims in America. Trump is demanding that they all be registered and that a massive database be collected. CNN is all over reporting this. Even the Wall Street Journal has picked up on it. There's a problem, though: Trump didn't say it. I'm gonna tell you what happened. At a recent public appearance Trump's coming off the stage after one of his usual one hour to 90-minute appearances.
He's probably worn out and spent, and there's the usual crowd of autograph seekers and supporters and fans, and amongst them is a Drive-By Media reporter who says to Trump, "Should there be a database system that tracks the Muslims that are in this country?" Trump says, "There should be a lot of systems, beyond databases. We should have a lot of systems, and today you can do it. But right now we have to have a border. We have to have strength, we have to have a wall, and we cannot let what's happening to this country happen again." Reporter: "Is that something your White House would like to implement?"
There's no specificity there. The question is just, "Is that something your White House would like to implement?" Trump has given a multifaceted answer. He says, "Is that something," without specifying what he's asking about. Trump said, "Oh, I would certainly implement that, absolutely," and that's how they report that Trump "demands a database and registration for all Muslims," when he didn't say it! He never said it. It's a Journalism 101 trick. It's right out of the manual they teach you at the first year of journalism school in how to destroy political opponents or powerful people you don't like. It's that common a technique.
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RUSH: Now, I'm not sure, but I think that the reporter that asked Trump the question and has totally, totally twisted this purposefully to convey something that did not happen, I think the reporter works for Business Insider. I think the reporter is Hunter Walker. If that's who it is, you need to know that this guy is a major backer of Hillary Clinton, as most in the Drive-By Media are. He has written endless articles championing her, and now I think he writes for Yahoo News and is the Business Insider politics editor.
So here is how this happened. This is in Newton, Iowa, yesterday after a campaign event. Trump's leaving the stage, and a reporter says, "Should there be a database system to track Muslims in this country?" Now, nobody has suggested that, keep in mind. Trump has not suggested it. So the reporter's not asking a question bouncing off anything Trump has said. It's just a question thrown at Trump, and it comes to him in the midst of autograph seekers and fans and supporters wanting to meet him after his performance is finished.
TRUMP: There should be a lot of systems beyond database. We should have a lot of systems. And today you can do it. But right now we have to have a border. We have to have strength. We have to have a wall. And we cannot let what's happening to this country happen.
REPORTER: But is it something your White House would like to implement?
TRUMP: Oh, I would certainly implement that, absolutely.
REPORTER: What do you think the effect of that would be? How would that work?
TRUMP: It would stop people from coming in illegally. We have to stop people from coming into our country illegally.
REPORTER: Muslims specifically, how do you actually get them registered into a database?
TRUMP: It would be just good management. What you have to do is good management procedures. And we can do that.
REPORTER: Would you go to mosques and sign these people up into the system?
TRUMP: Different places. You sign 'em up at different -- but it's all about management. Our country has no management.
RUSH: Okay. Now, two things about this. The first is, as I said, everybody in the Drive-By Media is running with this because they think they've got Trump again. They're salivating out there, folks, they are hoping, they've got their fingers crossed, they've doubled down, they're putting this story everywhere: Trump sexist, Trump bigoted, Trump anti-Muslim, wants a database; wants to go to their mosques to sign 'em up; wants to have them carry around symbols on their clothes to tell everybody who they are. And he never said it.
This reporter, Hunter Walker, retweeted the headline from the AP. The AP headline: "Trump Says He Would Absolutely Implement Muslim Database." This little know-nothing reporter is so proud of his work today. This, as I say, journalism 101. This is what they teach you when you want to take out a political opponent or a powerful person you don't like, this is how you do it, with innuendo.
Again, here's what happened. Trump comes offstage, "Should there be a database system that tracks Muslims that are in this country?" It's a setup question from the get-go. Nobody has suggested it. Trump said there should be a lot of systems beyond databases. We should have a lot of systems. And today you can do it, but right now we have to have a border. We have to have strength. We have to have a wall, and we can't let what's happening to this country happen again.
He has not confirmed a database. He has not confirmed registration of Muslims. He's changed the question to his favorite subject, the wall and the border and keeping illegal immigrants out. The reporter says, "Is that something your White House would like to implement?" Not specifying. If anything, the guy's talking about the border. The last thing Trump said in his answer was talking about the border, strength, a wall. The reporter says, "Is that something your White House would like to implement?" There is nothing specified. The use of the word "that," the reporter then can say, "Well, I meant Muslim registration, look what Trump said, Trump knew what I was talking about."
But Trump's answer was, "Oh, I would certainly implement that, absolutely."
Reporter: "What do you think the effect of that would be?"
"It would stop people from coming in illegally." Trump's still talking about the border. He's still talking about the wall. He says, "We have to stop people from coming into this country illegally." So how in the world can Trump be talking about the registration of Muslims or anybody when he's still talking about keeping people out of the country? Muslims are here. This is a good, old-fashioned hatchet job by this low-rent reporter named Hunter Walker who's got everybody in the media reporting it the way he wants because this is what they want people to believe about Trump. This is what they believe about all Republicans. We're bigots, we're racists, sexists and so forth, and Trump's just come along and confirmed it. And I guarantee you there's a contest inside the Drive-By Media to see who can be the one to take Trump out.
Here is what they are forgetting. This isn't gonna hurt Trump. Even their journalistic malpractice is not gonna hurt Trump. They haven't figured that out. They keep applying standard, ordinary, everyday tactics on hit pieces to Donald Trump, and all that happens as a result is that Trump increases his support. Trump's support gets stronger. It gets deeper every time they try something like this because Trump is dead serious about protecting this country and its borders and keeping terrorists and so forth out of the country. He makes no bones about it. He's one of the only candidates that's unwavering on it. It's the number one issue.
And you combine what's happening with ISIS in Paris and border security, national security, protecting and defending the country and the people who live here is far and away the number one most important issue because everything descends from it. The economy descends from it. Jobs descend from it. Everything that matters descends from this country remaining a country. It has to have a border. That border has to be enforced. Trump's the only guy talking about. They think they've got him. They're gonna be crying in whatever it is they drink. This is not going to rip the bottom out of Trump's campaign. It's not gonna destroy Trump's campaign no matter how much they're lying, no matter how they try to distort this, because Trump did not say he's in favor of registration or a database of all Muslims in America.
And once again, what's gonna happen here is an ever increasingly aware and sophisticated public is gonna just get angrier and angrier at the usual childish tactics of the very unrespected Drive-By Media. Once the public learns what's happened here, the anger is not gonna be at Trump. There wouldn't have been that much anger at Trump anyway among his supporters. That's what they don't understand. You people in the media have got to understand something. You're gonna have to go about this a different way. You didn't make Trump; you can't destroy him. There's nothing you can do. And look at the lengths they're now going to try. Exactly what they did to Romney, by the way. This is no different than Harry Reid saying, "Mitt Romney hasn't paid his taxes in ten years." "Hey, look at Mitt Romney putting the family dog on top of the station wagon." "Hey, Mitt Romney, one of his employees' wives died of cancer, Romney didn't care, went ahead and canceled the health care plan, didn't care."
I don't think this guy's questions were even registering with Trump. I think Trump continued to talk with his own framework in mind, meaning his focus on the wall. Because if you continue on with the sound bite -- keep in mind here that Trump's never talked about registering or having a database of Muslims. The reporter asks a fake question: "Is that something your White House would do, like to implement?" Trump answers, "Yeah." He keeps talking about the wall. He keeps talking about the border. "Oh, I would certainly implement that, absolutely." Trump's still talking about the border.
The reporter says, "What do you think the effect of that would be? How would that work?"
Trump: "It would stop people from coming in illegally." He's still talking about the border. He's still talking about his wall. "We have to stop people from coming in illegally."
Reporter: "For Muslims specifically, how do you actually get them registered in your database?" Trump has never said that he wants to register them in his database. He's talking about the wall. He's talking about the border. This idiot, talentless reporter says, "Well, for Muslims specifically, how do you actually get them registered in your database?" Trump says, "It would be good management. What you have to do is good management procedures, and we can do that." He's still talking about the wall. He's not even listening to this kid. He's walking out of there, he's answering the question, he's got it answered, he's on the wall, he's on the border, that's what he's talking about.
When it's all over the reporter makes it up that Trump's talking about registration of Muslims and a database. Totally makes it up. Anyway, I gotta take a break here. I just wanted you to see this. I wanted you to hear it, the reporter's own words, Trump's own words because it's been picked up everywhere, and, mark my words, the next poll that comes out, Trump's just gonna jump even higher and they're not gonna know what to do with themselves in the Drive-Bys. But you people in the media are gonna have to learn something. When you don't make somebody, you can't destroy him. And you haven't made Trump. The media has nothing to do with why Trump's where he is, and therefore you can't take him out. You can try, you may think you can, but he's got a bond, a connection with his supporters and his audience that you people are not gonna be able to break no matter how hard you try.
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RUSH: So you know how this works? I just got an e-mail from a friend of mine who plays around on Facebook, and he sent me a screenshot of his Facebook post that he sent out, and he wants me to know that he's on top things. He says, "Yeah, Trump wants to register all Muslims. The last guy that wanted to do that was Hitler with the Jews! Come on, folks! We're going backwards." So I just had to write him back: "Hey, buddy, you've got it 180 degrees wrong. Trump didn't say it!" This is a guy that reads the news all day. This is exactly how this happens. You've got every Drive-By news source now reporting this.
I'm not sure who the reporter was that actually got this whole thing started, but there are the suspects who have taken what that kid did and expanded it are all over the place. You could mention any Drive-By name out there and you'd be pretty close to being accurate about who did this. I'm not exactly sure who the reporter was at the Trump event. I was told one thing and now I'm told that that's not necessarily true. But the guy's name I gave you is still responsible for expanding, amplifying, and leading this. That Hunter Walker is who kicked it all off. Doesn't really matter.
I mean, they're all the same stripe, and they've all got the same objective here. And this e-mail I just got from a friend of mine -- who's not an idiot, and you know, he's not a casual consumer of news. It's in the Wall Street Journal. This guy's a financial guy. He read it in the Wall Street Journal, and the Wall Street Journal to these guys is gospel. I have tried to tell every friend of mine, and it's probably gone for naught. I've tried to tell them just based on the way I get covered, and they know me and they know what's written about me is all bogus. I said, "Could you not apply that to every story you hear, particularly about people you support?
"Could you just learn to not believe anything you read if it's defaming Republicans in the Drive-By Media? Could you just learn to be suspicious of it and try to confirm it on your own? (sigh) But it doesn't work that way. People believe it. "There it is! It's in print. It's right there," or, "It's on my screen, Rush! I mean, they can't write stuff that isn't true!" I can't tell you how often I hear that. So Trump's gonna... I don't know how he's gonna deal with this. He will, but... (sigh) Let me... I'm gonna go ahead and get in trouble myself here. Can I give you what I think might have happened with a lot of people when they first saw this BS story?
What do you think? You're driving around or you're reading or whatever and you hear, "Trump wants to register all Muslims!" (interruption) Yeah. (chuckles) Get my drift? So I'm just marveling here. I'm thankful for the opportunity. I'm thankful I haven't retired. I'm thankful I've still got this program and a chance to come here every day and illustrate the dishonest, the reprehensible, the just scummy way these people work. And each time I see something like this, I focus even more on, "They're not media!" This isn't media! This isn't the news. The media is the Democrat Party. The media is all part of the left-wing establishment that's trying to advance the Democrat Party agenda.
Every time I see a story like, "Trump has to fight media here or overcome media," I ask: Why would you have to overcome the media? The media's just a bunch of journalists telling people what happened who weren't there. (thumps table) Of course, this is the exact opposite. Everybody knows now, or many people. And even people who know what the media is, still get sucked in and believe this stuff. But when you read the transcript of what Trump said, when you actually read it or hear it and then compare it to the news being reported, you can't escape the fact that the media's making it up; that Trump never said it.
Let me grab a phone call. We always try to get one in in the first hour on Open Line Friday. It's Leo in Northern Virginia. Hey, Leo, I'm glad you called. Hello.
CALLER: Hey, Rush. Hey. You know, this whole database thing, you could take it one of two ways. Either it could be good for us, and we should all be in some sort of database. I know my wife and I... She doesn't even have a clearance, because I do. Her records got breached through OPM. So who's gonna keep these records and keep 'em safe? These guys have already proven that they can hack into wherever they need to. They can forge any kind of document they want. (coughs) Excuse me. So what's to say they don't go in there and maybe delete their names out of the database, or add it in if it's the safe, y'know, Muslims, however they label it?
RUSH: Wait a minute. You're accepting the premise here. You know it isn't true, and yet you're accepting the premise.
CALLER: No, no, no, no, no! Quite the contrary. I think it would be a big mistake to create a database.
RUSH: Because the bad guys can hack it?
CALLER: Absolutely.
RUSH: Well, let me ask: "Do you think there aren't such databases in this country?" Who the hell do you think has them? If you think there are databases of people -- and we know damn well there are! It's called metadata from your phone calls. It's a database! Now, whether it's a database by virtue of your religion or your conservatism or liberalism or whatever, there are databases all over, and who's got them? The Obama administration has them! Not Trump. And Trump hasn't even suggested it. Remember Maxine Waters, "Obama's gonna have the biggest database anybody's ever seen! We're gonna know everything about everyone! Nobody knows about it but we're working on it. It's gonna be the best thing."
They already exist, folks, and Barack Hussein O has 'em.
Wake up!
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RUSH: Even Ted Cruz has gotten in on this. "Ted Cruz Disagrees with Trump on Muslim Registry." He says, "I'm a big fan of Donald Trump, but not a fan of big government registries of American citizens." Even Cruz fell for it! The Republican Party, the establishment, may not let go of this. They may think they've got him, I'm sure.
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RUSH: So it's gonna be fascinating to see where this Trump story goes, because right now, much as I hate it, hate when these people get away with this crap -- and crap is what it is -- where we are right now, virtually everybody who has seen that story, who has not listened to this program, thinks it's true. And by the way, you can't miss the story. I mean, it's everywhere the low-information crowd reads.
It's at the Wall Street Journal. It's at the AP. It's at Yahoo News. It's all over the place. The whole thing is Trump advocates a national registry for Muslims, and they wear some kind of signage or symbol that they are and so forth. And he never said it, never, ever said it. In fact, the question was a trick question, and Trump still didn't go there. It's totally made up. But look, I'm not gonna spend another 30 minutes explaining it and going through it.
It will be up shortly at RushLimbaugh.com. We update the site a little bit more frequently and you'll be able to revisit, and I would suggest you do it, and I would suggest that you Facebook and tweet everything you heard me say once it's tweetable and Facebookable. Once we have it ready on my website, I suggest that you get it out there as best you can, if this matters to you. But even at that, I think they're all gonna be shocked and surprised.
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largeRUSH: The first hour -- and it was not structured this way, and I certainly did not show prep this way. The first hour, most of it was devoted to correcting the latest Drive-By Media hit on Donald Trump. And I said at the conclusion of that hour, just check at RushLimbaugh.com 'cause I can't repeat later in the program the whole first hour. Just check RushLimbaugh.com and whatever you find there interesting, tweet it and Facebook it, because other than that, this Trump hit piece is everywhere.
Even Ted Cruz believed it when he saw it. And it's totally, totally made up. Trump did not say that he wants to register and have a database of Muslims in this country. He didn't even get close to saying it. The media played a trick with the way they asked a couple of questions. Trump, by the way, has tweeted the following: "I did not suggest a database. A reporter did. We must defeat Islamic terrorism and have surveillance, including a watch list to protect America." That's the tweet from Trump on this. And he's exactly right. He didn't suggest a database, and he did not respond to a database. The reporter suggested it. The reporter attempted to ensnare Trump in it.
Trump thought he was talking about a wall and a border and keeping people out. And he was talking about that, and the reporter just basically -- well, it's worse than deception; it's close to lying about it. But, anyway, it's all explained at RushLimbaugh.com, first hour, and if there's anything that you want to tweet out or Facebook out to whatever you call 'em, your groups that you do that with, it's up and ready to go.
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RUSH: By the way, speaking of Mrs. Clinton. She's out there now blasting Donald Trump for his never-made, never-stated comments about registering Muslims into a database. Never said it. Trump, by the way, just tweeted: "I didn't suggest a database. A reporter did." That's all he says about it, and he says we have to defeat Islamic terrorism and have surveillance, including watch lists to protect America.
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RUSH: John in Reno, Nevada, as we head back to the phones. Great to have you here on the show.
CALLER: Good morning, Rush.
RUSH: Hi.
CALLER: I'm a Millennial vet, first-time caller, started listening to you about three months ago.
RUSH: Wow. Well, welcome. It's great to have you here.
CALLER: Yeah. It's great talking to you. I'm calling in regards to how the media's handling Trump. I think everybody is so angry about the situation, they don't care what is said by the media, because, I mean, from what my group of friends and the people I talk to, everybody is kind of on the Trump bandwagon. I mean, I think we all realize, even the Millennials realize that he's kind of our best hope at this point to bring this country back. From everything he says, he brings a certain fire back that I believe has been gone for a while, and being a vet, that's something I want to see back in this country.
RUSH: There's no question that a lot of people think that way, a lot of his supporters. You know, John, you're very shrewd out there, because I think you're right. This is a traditional, typical textbook, it's in the owners manual media trick. This is how you destroy somebody with whom you politically disagree. The problem they have is that they didn't make Trump, therefore they can't break him, but beyond that traditional media assault rules have been shown not to work on Trump. They've tried everything. They've thrown everything at him, even things he did say that appear to be impolitic. And he didn't say this, but things he did say, like his opening day, the Mexicans that are coming here are criminals and rapists and murderers. And all it does is end up helping him.
The more angry the media gets, the greater Trump's support is. And the media hasn't figured it out yet because they've only got one mode of operation, and that's the way they're all taught. They're predictable, understandable. They've only got one way of going after people that disagree with them and that's try to destroy them and this is another one of those attempts. Like you're saying, it's not gonna change your support for Trump. They're not gonna be able to talk you out of it because of how important he is, necessary he is and all that. So it's another flailing effort. Doesn't affect you at all, right?
largeCALLER: No, not at all. I, frankly, laugh at it, because I look at it, and I mean, I studied political science 'til I changed my degree 'cause I got sick of the biasness in the schools, but besides that, I laugh at the media and I look at it, and I go, "You guys are just making fools of yourself," just like Obama is making a fool of himself. The entire Democrat Party at this point is making fools of themselves. And I think the country sees that. They don't see any leadership, any pride associated with what they're trying to teach, and it's hitting people in the heart. America they always say is, you know, during the bad times is when we come together, and I think we're going through bad times right now and Americas coming together, and they're showing these Democrats that, hey, you guys are not what you think you are to us.
RUSH: What do you think when you hear such things as, "The Republican establishment is very, very worried because they don't think Trump can in any way win the general election. There's no way Donald Trump can beat Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump would lose in a landslide. We've gotta get one of our professionals in there because otherwise Trump will lose big." What do you think when you hear that?
CALLER: I think they're scared. I think they're trying to pull every string they got, because they realize they have no control over this situation right now. And it's true. And I think it comes -- even from the Republicans. I think Jeb Bush is a fine example. I mean, I would support any Republican over Hillary any day of the week, but let's be real, I don't want a scripted president. I want somebody who speaks for me. And when I look at Trump and I hear these people like the question you just got say those things, I realize, they're scared. They don't know what to do anymore. They're running out of things. They're playing schoolhouse insults on Trump, and it's just like Trump's past that, you know, he doesn't care.
RUSH: I know. Well, so far you're absolutely right. That's been the case in every one of these efforts, organized or otherwise. Like today, I guarantee you there's some people thinking this is it, not just on the Republican side, but the media, too. "All right, all right, this is it, all right, we got him, all right, Trump stepped in it, scarlet letter for Muslims, register 'em, database, he's finished, we got it, no worries," and they're gonna wake up and look at the next poll where Trump has not lost any ground and they're just gonna get more and more frustrated and angry at their inability to get rid of him. 'Cause, folks, one thing about the media -- understand this -- if they want to take somebody out, they're confident they can do it.
I mean, they got Nixon. And ever since they got Nixon, boy, they've wanted the next Nixon. And they keep trying and keep trying. Trump has been in their crosshairs since the day he announced, and he's befuddled them at every turn. I think John's right. I think it's one of the things that attracts him to people, or attracts people to him, is that he is immune to all these media tricks, and you don't know how much people love that. Well, you may.
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