DCPolitics

Donald Trump’s “Birther Bounty”

MOGUL’S “OCTOBER SURPRISE” IS A DUD Just when the presidential campaign of “Republican” Mitt Romney appeared to be pulling ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama, along comes television caricature Donald Trump with his “October Surprise.” Trump, who briefly flirted with his own presidential bid, created a major buzz when he…

MOGUL’S “OCTOBER SURPRISE” IS A DUD

Just when the presidential campaign of “Republican” Mitt Romney appeared to be pulling ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama, along comes television caricature Donald Trump with his “October Surprise.”

Trump, who briefly flirted with his own presidential bid, created a major buzz when he announced that he was releasing information that would change the landscape of the 2012 election.

The only problem?  Trump’s big “reveal” wound up being a “Birther Bounty” that quickly turned the 66-year-old real estate mogul into a national laughing stock.

Via YouTube, Trump announced that he would give $5 million to the charity of Obama’s choosing if the president released his “college records and applications, and passport application and records.”

Trump also lambasted Obama as “the least transparent president in the history of this country.”

What is Trump trying to prove?

No clue … although we suspect it might be connected to this column published a few months ago by Town Hall columnist Greg Hengler.

“Here’s my gut belief: Obama got a leg up by being admitted to both Occidental and Columbia as a foreign exchange student,” Hengler writes.  “He was raised as a young boy in Indonesia.  But did his mother ever change him back to a U.S. citizen?  When he returned to live with his grandparents in Hawaii or as he neared college-age preparing to apply to schools, did he ever change his citizenship back?  I’m betting not.”

As we’ve said on numerous occasions, we think the whole buzz over birtherism is ridiculous.  And even if it were proven conclusively that Obama was a native Kenyan (even a Muslim one) … we wouldn’t care.

It’s his fiscal liberalism (and economic socialism) that we reject …

Trump endorsed Romney back in March, saying “Mitt is tough, he’s smart, he’s sharp and he’s not going to allow bad things to continue to happen to this country we all love.”

So … how does this stunt help Romney’s cause?

Easy: It doesn’t …

***

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45 comments

NoMoNationalGuardAgencyHeads October 24, 2012 at 5:27 pm

Why did Obama seal his college records? That’s unheard of for a president. If bill Clinton had a gold star in the second grade, you better believe he would have droned on for three hours about it. This is not about birtherism, it is about all of the things this fraud is hiding.

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Common Sense October 24, 2012 at 7:59 pm

again..facts must scare you. Please do research before posting what amounts to total BS.

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Smirks October 24, 2012 at 9:05 pm

Dubya didn’t release his college records if I remember correctly, they were leaked.

Candidates do not usually release their college records. It is false equivalency aimed at defending Romney’s refusal to release his tax returns, which are usually released by candidates.

From FactCheck:

1)Root: “Obama spends millions to armies of lawyers to keep them sealed.”
Obama’s college records are not “sealed” by a court order, as this graphic would have you believe. It would be illegal under federal law (the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974) for Occidental, Columbia or Harvard Law School to give any former student’s records to reporters or members of the public without that person’s specific, written permission. Obama hasn’t released them, but neither have other presidential candidates released their college records. George W. Bush’s grades at Yale eventually became public, but only because somebody leaked them to the New Yorker magazine. Bush himself refused to release them, according to a 1999 profile in the Washington Post.

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The Colonel October 24, 2012 at 10:16 pm

The funny thing abouts Bush’s grades was the fact that they were much better than Gore’s …

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interested October 25, 2012 at 11:49 am

NoMO, you must be fuming at the notion of Barry Bernstein taking over at the AG’s office….

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BigT October 24, 2012 at 5:32 pm

Sadly for you, FITS…Obama, when placed beside Romney is the DUD…and the voters are speaking…

You report this, but you IGNORE that Obman KNEW, did NOTHING to SAVE Americans’ lives..THEN HE LIED….

Watergate RING a BELL…yet I doubt Obama will have to worry about resigning…after Nov. 6…

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south mauldin October 24, 2012 at 6:01 pm

Obama is a dud? If you put Romney next to an artificial plant, it would wilt.

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tomstickler October 26, 2012 at 6:09 pm

Stephen Colbert made a tea-bagging counter-offer to Trump.

http://my.firedoglake.com/cleonpolifonte/2012/10/25/video-stephen-colbert-offers-donald-trump-1-million-to-put-balls-in-his-mouth/

No news on whether Colbert will make a similar offer to BigT.

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jurisdoc October 24, 2012 at 5:36 pm

All he’s doing is bringing attention to the fact that Mitt won’t release tax returns. . . . . . . So, who’s hiding what?

Trump just wants some attention. I’d hate to have to show my bank statement to get laid.

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NoMoNationalGuardAgencyHeads October 24, 2012 at 6:44 pm

You call yourself jurisdoc? They must be cranking some real geniuses out of law school. Did you not happen to hear he released returns and a summary going back years, and this issue is not relevant, in fact, it is no longer an issue, except for the fact that Harry Reid and Stephnaie Cutter called him a liar, a felon, and a murderer–FAIL. Mitt Romney is so squeaky clean, you leftists must hate it. You keep making him out to be some 80s style hostile take-over/hedge fund guy, and he is not that guy. It’s fantasy, to paraphrase Bill Clinton.

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Common Sense October 24, 2012 at 7:55 pm

no he did not release returns going back years..he released ONE year ..he released one full return and one partial which will be completed after the election. Facts are scary things. Squeaky clean..hmmm no. Not even close.

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porchsitter October 24, 2012 at 5:40 pm

A turd with a comb-over

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bogart October 24, 2012 at 5:45 pm

Doesn’t he know that a pink tie does not go with orange hair and skin….Tacky.

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BigT October 24, 2012 at 5:48 pm

Stupid Trump: Doesn’t he realize that US laws and the Constitution do not apply to Obama…???

He does what he wants…answers to no one…and no one is supposed to question him…

And if you do, FITS and the rest of the Idiots will attack YOU…

That said: $5 Million…Trump is putting his money where his mouth is….

Will Obama Man up or stay silent COWARD???

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CoolAireHeights October 24, 2012 at 6:01 pm

Actually, was kind of hoping that Trumps’s announcement was that a source had gotten a hold of Obama’s transcripts; anyway, $5M is still a heck of an amount to throw down by Trump as a challenge and truly shows the fear of disclosing damaging (and yep, maybe illegal) information by Obama. What gets me is that while I suspect he claimed foreign student status as well to enter the Ivy League, that if I’m right, many within Columbia and Harvard must know this as well. If so, would they have a right/obligation to disclose this for the good of the country? After all, to have claimed foreign student status would clearly have been off-the-charts illegal.

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Jack October 24, 2012 at 6:34 pm

Show us the tax returns Mitt. What are you hiding? Don’t try to divert the question. You wanted 10 years of Ryan’s tax returns. Said it was relevant to determine if he was qualified to be VP. So why won’t you release yours? Surely the American People need the information to ascertain your qualifications?

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Cid October 24, 2012 at 6:36 pm

Trump is sort of a typical Republican.

That’s about all that needs to be said.

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Nunyabiz October 24, 2012 at 7:12 pm

Who gives one rat’s behind about what Donald “Duck” Trump has to say? He’s a joke! He looks like a comic strip character. Puh-lease. If anyone thinks that he can hurt President Obama’s campaign, or help Romney’s campaign, or vice-versa, then they are buying into Trump’s own rhetoric that he’s the greatest thing since sliced bread. Funny, we only hear that coming from him and no one else.

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CoolAireHeights October 24, 2012 at 7:21 pm

Here’s the thing Jack, you may not like how rich Mitt is; however, I’ve really not heard of anyone who is suggesting that he broke the law in his 10 years of tax returns your clamoring for. Trust me, if he had been financially suspicious, the IRS would have been all over him by auditing him. What we do know is that he contributes more to charity than you, me, the prez, the VP, and the VP candidate combined. Now, regarding Obama’s transcript, there are both potentially embarrassing items – his likely low grades, yet his being able to enter Ivy League institutions – and similarly, potentially illegal items – his likely claim to be a foreign student which probably allowed him to enter/pay for the Ivy League. So yeah, if I’m Romney, I’d up the ante, I’d tell Obama that I’d release every tax return that I’d ever filed, if he’d merely release his college transcripts.

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Common Sense October 24, 2012 at 7:57 pm

except Romney will NOT release returns etc. If he had nothing to hide he would have released ages ago to make the issue go away. In fact Bush didnt want to release his C average grades either, they had been leaked and was forced to release after the leak. facts are scary things.

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CoolAireHeights October 24, 2012 at 8:33 pm

Good god, you’re a “Common Sense” guy? hardly!… more like a partisan f&ckwad. Look, I despise Obama (though I’m no Repub); however, at least I’m unbiased enough to be calling for both disclosure on Romney’s tax returns AND Obama’s college transcripts. You? You don’t even give a flying flip as to whether Obama potentially lied to Columbia and Harvard regarding his citizen status in order to obtain admission/financial benefits. Again, youre merely a partisan f&ckwad.

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The Colonel October 24, 2012 at 10:21 pm

Bush had better grades than Kerry or Gore, in fact, Al Gore was forced tondropnout of both advanced degree programs he attempted. Bush has an MBA.

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The Colonel October 24, 2012 at 10:25 pm

Bush’s transcript is still available on line.

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Common Sense October 25, 2012 at 10:07 am

@COOL…wow i didnt know you could read minds or at least think you can fuckwad..i never said i didnt want him to release his records i merely pointed out that Romney had not released his tax records..its apparent from some of the reg posters on this site that they think anyone who doest fall inline lockstep with Romney worships Obama..does it ever occur to the simpletons that many are not happy with Obama but feel less positive about the human windsock that is Romney..i know you are a small minded fucktard COOL but try to hold that thought for just a second. You are obviously of the birther kind even though the GOP, the CIA, the FBI and the multiple millionairs who have spent millions have yet to prove there is any truth to the birther idiots..but hey keep it up small one.

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love it or leave it October 24, 2012 at 7:56 pm

he didnt break any laws, he just didnt pay ANY TAXES in 2008 because of the stock market losses. i’ll repeat that: mitt romney didntpay ANY taxes in 2008. thats why he wont release those tax returns publicly. obama will hit him with the real october surprise: revealing that mitt paid NO TAXES IN 2008. then its 4 more years and george bush circa 2004 liberal suicide watch for all you racist pigs and fascist brownshirts. obama’s already got ohio on lock, so mitt’s october taxgate surprise will just be a few insurance runs on top. enjoy 4 more years of the greatest black president EVER. and if you cant handle it, please either kill yourselves so the rest of us can enjoy our socialism or run away with dick cheney and donald rumsfeld to UAE or ask geogie pie bush if you can feed and walk his dogs down on his ranch in paraguay. he may also need help moving brush.

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John T. October 24, 2012 at 8:14 pm

This limelight-lover is making a fool of himself with this long-discredited critique.

It just shows that with enough money, anyone can “make news” and cause folks like Folks to publish this crap.

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tomstickler October 24, 2012 at 8:17 pm

Most arcane dog-whistle of the campaign: Obama is “the least transparent president in the history of this country.”

Must be the melanin, I guess.

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Mr. Dixie October 24, 2012 at 8:43 pm

“Now, regarding Obama’s transcript, there are both potentially embarrassing items – his likely low grades, yet his being able to enter Ivy League institutions – and similarly, potentially illegal items – his likely claim to be a foreign student which probably allowed him to enter/pay for the Ivy League.”

Are there any lawyers reading this? I knew someone who was in law review many years ago. They told me the people that made up law review were the top in their class. Not only was Obama in law review at Harvard but he was the president of law review. So how do these people get into law review, is it a popularity contest? After graduating Obama taught constitutional law – not a job you would expect someone to get with low grades.

As for taxes Mitt might have paid you would be pretty daft if you did not know there are people that make a very good living advising rich people how to get around paying a lot in taxes. I guess you could argue that someone’s creativity in interpreting tax laws made everything they came up with fair and legal. I will say this: Some people believed the reason that Romney didn’t release his taxes was not because of the low rate he paid per se, but because after his past returns were securitized, they would not pass the legal muster. Can you imagine how he would have looked on the campaign trail if it looked like he had been doing things that were not legal? And why would he keep money in the Cayman Islands? Was he scared that the economic policies of George Bush made the banks in this country unsafe, but now feels compelled to go back to them as a model?

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Original Good Old Boy October 25, 2012 at 1:33 pm

I didn’t attend Harvard Law School, so I don’t know how they select students for the law review, but at USC you can write a nice essay to make it even if you lack the grades.

I’m sure the issue isn’t so much the grades as it is his nationality status. I think Obama was born in Hawaii but has probably claimed he was born in Kenya (or Indonesia) when it served his purposes — e.g. to appear more worldly or to help with college admissions/financial aid. His book attributed him as being born in Kenya.

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CoolAireHeights October 24, 2012 at 9:05 pm

Mr. Dixie, btw, strange name…. if Romney had done anything illegal, than at least it was submitted to the IRS for their review and potential audit. Thus, because of their function, there really is no need to release these to you or me (though I think he should). Now regarding O’s college records/transcript, where’s the comparable IRS accountability function? Ideally, I’d like to believe that his colleges would cry foul if they discovered years later he’d lied on his application. However, I really don’t trust that liberal schools would turn on or endanger one of their own. And regarding illegality, I guess it would really boil down to statements of perjury contained within the application or some form of Federal aid.

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Smirks October 24, 2012 at 9:33 pm

“He didn’t do anything illegal” doesn’t mean “He didn’t do anything unethical.” And judging from what we have seen, Romney paying less in taxes than some middle class people, he is the poster child for how broken our system of taxes really is.

Only in America can a multi-millionaire complain to middle class workers about poor people not paying federal income tax when said rich guy pays a lower effective rate than those less fortunate than himself.

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CoolAireHeights October 24, 2012 at 10:04 pm

So what, did he write the capital gains law? You’re angry and feel it unethical that he doesn’t pay a higher tax rate, apparently you think he should voluntarily. Do you pay more voluntarily? Of course not. Further, how small do you feel when you paint him as an unethical sleazeball when it is crystal clear that he outpaces almost all of us with his charitable contributions. And how about your lame hero.. Obama? Obama is a community organizing multi-millionaire fraud who’s talking about the poor while at the same time building a mega-million dollar palace in Hawaii. Seriously, for the most part, Dems are just hypocrites, frauds and full of sh1t…

Now, away from the ethics discussion above, I’m simply suggesting that Obama may have broken laws regarding his college application. Clearly, that would be more damning than your subjective views of ethics.

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Common Sense October 25, 2012 at 10:10 am

gee it looks like fucktard cool is on to something..better tell the GOP the federal Government, that idiot Trump, Adelson and many others that you have figured out something they after 6 years of research they haven’t.., that he is some secret muslim spy who years ago lied his way into Harvard….you simpleton fuckwad.

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Isotope Soap October 24, 2012 at 9:21 pm

“…many within Columbia and Harvard must know this as well. If so, would they have a right/obligation to disclose this for the good of the country?”

Well, looks to me that 5 Million should get someone talking. Lol!

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Mr. Dixie October 24, 2012 at 10:17 pm

You guys are funny. Don’t you think if there was anything in Obama’s records that would have derailed his bid for the presidency that the Republicans wouldn’t have already bought copies? How many people do you think would have access to them – just one? You don’t think the Republicans don’t have a group maybe called “The Plumbers” that they could have sent in to steal them.

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dwb619 October 25, 2012 at 4:10 pm

I predict the Republicans will be screaming for a repeal of the “electoral college’ after this election.

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upstate October 24, 2012 at 10:49 pm

The part about this that I find funny…….Obama is essentially submitting a job application to the American people. We are asking for his scholastic credentials, as is reasonable for any person in a position to hire an employee, and he is basically telling us to eat shit………and we aren’t allowed to cut the interview short and kick his ass out of our office prior to the conclusion of the interview.

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GKKjr. October 24, 2012 at 11:42 pm

Speaking of hypocrites…

I’d like to see Mitt Romney’s tax returns for the past three years. And his draft deferral application concerning his “Mormon mission” in France’s Cote d’Azur.

Donald Trump? I’d like to see what his scalp looks like after taking a shower.

At least Obama wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth. If he was born with a spoon, it was plastic.

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CoolAireHeights October 25, 2012 at 6:46 am

GKKjr., at least Trump and Romney earned their sizable wealth in the private sector and thus, legitimately. Obama? Nothing but a community organizing, government sucking millionaire fraud. Tell me, how does a community organizer build a mega million dollar home in Hawaii? Think this loser will even have plastic spoons in that palace?

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Isotope Soap October 25, 2012 at 9:58 am

CAH

Welcome to The BigT Brigade!

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RINO October 25, 2012 at 6:45 am

What does Donald Trump and Al Capone’s vault have in common? Both are empty.

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Isotope Soap October 25, 2012 at 10:15 am

So, a bit of money and ego can get you celebrity, but doesn’t give you respect. I could give a fuck what this tannng bed hairpiece has to say.

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Tanning Bed Hairpiece October 25, 2012 at 12:07 pm

For the love of God! How many times a week do I have to remind everyone I’m in love with myself and so should everyone else. Damn, people!

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Sardis12 October 26, 2012 at 5:53 pm

If my daddy left me $400,000,000 I might have ended up a billionaire (although I doubt he really is) too. Trump is a pig.

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George October 30, 2012 at 6:51 am

How come Trump doesn’t get his teeth and hair fixed if he’s so rich?

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