Trump goes one step too far

[Mr. Morden]

Politico has a rundown of the reactions of fellow 2016ers:

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/trump-attacks-mccain-i-like-people-who-werent-captured-120317.html?hp=t3_r

Candidates who condemned Trump's remarks:

Jindal
Perry
Graham
Walker
Christie
Rubio
Bush

Candidates who waffled:

Santorum
Cruz
Carson

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[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Wow. This is vile.

[Lief 🗽]

Nice, sounds like Ben Carson is positioning himself to pick up the Trump supporters if Trump drops out.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Was McCain a "War Hero"?  He certainly risked his life and almost lost it, in service to his country, and he also suffered greatly, and permanently.  I'm sympathetic to Trump on a number of issues, but he ought to realize that most Americans classify McCain as a "War Hero" because he endured more than most people would wish on their enemies.

[Negusa Nagast 🚀]

What is wrong with you people? Prisoners of war are "despicable" to you?

Not all of them, certainly. But John McCain surely is.

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Donald Trump:
- Divorced twice
- Wasn't there for his younger daughter
- Committed adultery
- Pro-Choice

Two of those things are not characteristic of a despicable person (divorce and adultery). The latter detail (pro-choice) is actually quite the opposite. Men who would restrict female autonomy due to their mythological beliefs are absolutely despicable.

No, they very much are...

Divorce is not "despicable" in the slightest. Are you so prude you want to enforce Victorian era marriage conventions on society?

[dudeabides]

What is wrong with you people? Prisoners of war are "despicable" to you?

Not all of them, certainly. But John McCain surely is.

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Donald Trump:
- Divorced twice
- Wasn't there for his younger daughter
- Committed adultery
- Pro-Choice

Two of those things are not characteristic of a despicable person (divorce and adultery). The latter detail (pro-choice) is actually quite the opposite. Men who would restrict female autonomy due to their mythological beliefs are absolutely despicable.

No, they very much are...

Divorce is not "despicable" in the slightest. Are you so prude you want to enforce Victorian era marriage conventions on society?

No. There are instances where divorce is necessary. But this guy can't win the catholic vote if he first bashes catholics and then has all this baggage.

Also, in a world like this where we are seeing divorce left and right, having a President who has been with the same spouse for decades because they love each other and not an arrangement would be nice. I don't have anything against people divorcing, I just find it sad so many find they have to divorce.

What is wrong with you people? Prisoners of war are "despicable" to you?

Not all of them, certainly. But John McCain surely is.

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Donald Trump:
- Divorced twice
- Wasn't there for his younger daughter
- Committed adultery
- Pro-Choice

Just pointing out that McCain is also a divorcé who committed adultery and has a rather inconsistent voting record on "defending human life." He also let his youngest daughter get dragged through the mud in the worst ways possible during the 2000 Republican primary. Trump's comments were inexcusable but this isn't a very good path to go down.

The attacks on McCain's daughter in 2000 were horrible, but he didn't allow her to be attacked, he didn't have a choice - she was.

What is wrong with you people? Prisoners of war are "despicable" to you?

Not all of them, certainly. But John McCain surely is.

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Donald Trump:
- Divorced twice
- Wasn't there for his younger daughter
- Committed adultery
- Pro-Choice

Two of those things are not characteristic of a despicable person (divorce and adultery). The latter detail (pro-choice) is actually quite the opposite. Men who would restrict female autonomy due to their mythological beliefs are absolutely despicable.

I don't believe divorce or adultery are despicable.

For most candidates, I really don't care. But Trump has brought other people's marriages into the equation. He said Jeb Bush is soft on illegal immigration because his wife is Mexican, and he said Hillary Clinton can't satisfy her husband, and therefore can't satisfy the country. So, if Trump is going to get personal about folks, I don't see why others shouldn't be personal towards him. The man is not loyal to his wives or his country for that matter.

Secondly, the right to life is a very personal issue. I happen to believe that life begins at conception . I am fine with birth control and while I recognize there are extreme circumstances where abortion may occur, I am pro-life and don't believe abortion, in most instances, should be legal. However, ultimately, this is a state issue.

[An American Tail: Fubart Goes West]

Well, this was fun while it lasted.

[pbrower2a]

He is so awful that I almost think him a Democratic mole. Except that Democrats don't ordinarily use moles in politics.

[Xing]

Even if you don't like McCain (I don't either), Trump's comment is downright disgusting.

[JonathanSwift]

What is wrong with you people? Prisoners of war are "despicable" to you?

Not all of them, certainly. But John McCain surely is.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Donald Trump:
- Divorced twice
- Wasn't there for his younger daughter
- Committed adultery
- Pro-Choice

Two of those things are not characteristic of a despicable person (divorce and adultery). The latter detail (pro-choice) is actually quite the opposite. Men who would restrict female autonomy due to their mythological beliefs are absolutely despicable.

No, they very much are...

Divorce is not "despicable" in the slightest. Are you so prude you want to enforce Victorian era marriage conventions on society?

How on Earth is adultery not despicable?

[dudeabides]

What is wrong with you people? Prisoners of war are "despicable" to you?

Not all of them, certainly. But John McCain surely is.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Donald Trump:
- Divorced twice
- Wasn't there for his younger daughter
- Committed adultery
- Pro-Choice

Two of those things are not characteristic of a despicable person (divorce and adultery). The latter detail (pro-choice) is actually quite the opposite. Men who would restrict female autonomy due to their mythological beliefs are absolutely despicable.

No, they very much are...

Divorce is not "despicable" in the slightest. Are you so prude you want to enforce Victorian era marriage conventions on society?

How on Earth is adultery not despicable?

I disapprove of adultery as a general rule, but you never know what goes on with people.

[Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends]

How low can Trump go... Not that we was ever up that high in any of our books to begin with.

[Mr. Morden]

Here's the video of Trump's remarks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6HKc24oUiE

Perry has made the strongest denunciation, calling on Trump to "immediately withdraw" from the race:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-belittles-mccains-war-service-sparking-stern-republican-backlash/2015/07/18/e9f814c6-2d7e-11e5-bd33-395c05608059_story.html

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In Trump's attempted cleanup of his remarks, he said that he does think POWs are heroes, though he called Bowe Bergdahl an exception.

Meanwhile, Trump says that he's never sought forgiveness from God for his sins:

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/07/18/politics/trump-has-never-sought-forgiveness/

[An American Tail: Fubart Goes West]

"Between the illegal immigrant quote and now this, we have a window into his soul and the way he thinks. It's not a pretty picture." - Lindsey Graham

[Lief 🗽]

"Between the illegal immigrant quote and now this, we have a window into his soul and the way he thinks. It's not a pretty picture." - Lindsey Graham

Should that bloodthirsty old queen really be commenting on the darkness of other people's souls?

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Nice, sounds like Ben Carson is positioning himself to pick up the Trump supporters if Trump drops out.

Cruz is also looking to benefit.

[publicunofficial]

Honestly, if you're a Trump supporter, do you even care about these remarks? John McCain isn't exactly loved in the fringe far-right that loves Trump, and if you are the kind of person who honestly would vote for Trump you've already managed to ignore or agree with every other despicable thing Donald Trump has ever said or done; no reason this one should be the straw that broke the camels back.

[eric82oslo]

Honestly, if you're a Trump supporter, do you even care about these remarks? John McCain isn't exactly loved in the fringe far-right that loves Trump, and if you are the kind of person who honestly would vote for Trump you've already managed to ignore or agree with every other despicable thing Donald Trump has ever said or done; no reason this one should be the straw that broke the camels back.

Besides, Cruz is still saying that Trump speaks the truth. So you're probably right.

[Mr. Morden]

Nate Cohn: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/21/upshot/the-trump-campaigns-turning-point.html?abt=0002&abg=1&_r=0

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[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Trump also said this

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Much worse was said about Cleland's patriotism and Kerry's purple hearts.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Trump also said this

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Much worse was said about Cleland's patriotism and Kerry's purple hearts.

Very true, and there's been no demand that those folks apologize.  Indeed, Bush 43 was Swiftboated to reelection in 2004.

[Tender Branson]

Trump's one massive asshole.

[Brittain33]

He also let his youngest daughter get dragged through the mud in the worst ways possible during the 2000 Republican primary.

What do you think McCain could or should have done differently in this case?

[Fuzzy Bear]

He also let his youngest daughter get dragged through the mud in the worst ways possible during the 2000 Republican primary.

What do you think McCain could or should have done differently in this case?

He should have called out the Bush Noise Machine on that one, and not let up.  Folks don't like it when political campaigns launch whispering campaigns against other candidate's non-political family members.

I suspect that McCain was made an offer he couldn't refuse.  It's why he was the 2008 nominee, and he would have been the 2004 nominee against Gore, if Florida had ended up going for Gore.  I also suppose it was to minimize discussion of his wife's problems with drug addiction and being ratted out to the DEA, resulting in her being placed in a pretrial intervention program where her legal problems disappeared. 

[useful idiot]

Honestly, if you're a Trump supporter, do you even care about these remarks? John McCain isn't exactly loved in the fringe far-right that loves Trump, and if you are the kind of person who honestly would vote for Trump you've already managed to ignore or agree with every other despicable thing Donald Trump has ever said or done; no reason this one should be the straw that broke the camels back.

True, but it might cause you to shift your support to a candidate like Carson, knowing now that Trump's candidacy is essentially over. With the first debate only weeks away, we know that if Trump is on that stage he will be savaged by the other candidates. This opens him up to a whole range of attacks now that the rest of the field doesn't have to pretend he's serious.