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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhat Trump's birther comments really meant
http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/16/opinions/trump-birtherism-comments-interpreted-begala/index.htmlPaul Begala Sept 16, 2016
Trump's public remarks:
"Hillary Clinton and her campaign of 2008 started the birther controversy. I finished it. I finished it. You know what I mean. President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period. Now we all want to get back to making America strong and great again. Thank you, thank you very much."
Paul Begala, Democratic strategist, translates Trump's remarks on Obama's birth to what Trump is really saying:
Translation 1 for Trump's base-- uneducated white people:
"My fellow oppressed, aggrieved, angry white folks: I truly do love the poorly-educated. Hillary is a witch, and a weak one at that. She lost to Obama and let that Kenyan Muslim become president. I am the only one who has stood up to the Great Imposter, and I cannot wait to see him moved out of our White House. I will replace his weak-kneed whimpering with a warrior's battle cry. I have to say this crap about Obama's birth because the media wants to crucify me. But watch my eyes: they're blinking in Morse Code: K-E-N-Y-A-N. You get it. It's like a hostage tape. I need you more than ever. We must not allow the coastal elites to replace a weak Kenyan with a weak woman. Thank you, thank you very much."
But Trump is trying to expand beyond his base to college educated white people. For them here is what Trump's speech sounds like
Translation 2-- for educated white people he hopes to trick:
"My fellow well-off, well-educated white people: Hillary is the real racist. She started the birther movement; it's all her fault. I had to say this crap about Obama's birth because I need the racist bumpkins to win. But now I've put an end to it. I'm really one of you. I mean, look at me: I'm standing in the five-star hotel I'm opening in Washington. Those rural rednecks are never setting foot in here, any more than those hillbillies are gonna join Mar-a-Lago. But now that I've got them all jacked up, let me reassure you: I'm no racist. And Hillary is. Bet you didn't know that, but she is. I'm one of you: a country club Republican who doesn't hate black people at all. Thank you, thank you very much."
Begala ends with this:
"Can Trump succeed in this effort to hold his base and expand his appeal? That depends on how gullible folks are. I do not doubt the intelligence of those who are taken in by Trump's con; some of the smartest people in America fell for Bernie Madoff's scam. Trump knows what every con man knows: You can go far in life by simply telling people what they want to hear -- even if it's two completely different things at the same time."
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Scary and his analysis is probably right on the money.
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What Trump's birther comments really meant (Original Post)
andym
Sep 2016
OP
I disagree with Begala. Most who understand English can see Trump's duplicity for what it is.
anamandujano
Sep 2016
#2
Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)1. Translation 2, like a little kid, he started it or she started it.
anamandujano
(7,004 posts)2. I disagree with Begala. Most who understand English can see Trump's duplicity for what it is.
Anything to do with math or spreadsheets stumps most people and they are more likely to let someone else reason for them. Bad analogy.