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Future President Donald Trump Surges Ahead In Polls!
By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 15, 2011
Modified Apr 15, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 15, 2011
Modified Apr 15, 2011
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Just like that old philosophical riddle about the trees and the forest, we've started to wonder, "If Donald Trump announces his candidacy for presidency on Celebrity Apprentice and nobody watches, did he really announce it?" It seems that the Daily News savior is mulling whether to make his big announcement about making a big announcement about maybeprobablynotreally running for president on his reality TV show. “I am thinking of saying on the live finale of ‘The Apprentice’ on May 22 that in a few days I will be making an announcement about my decision...I might ask the two finalists if I should run for president,” Trump told the Times.
Jimmy Kimmel succinctly summed up our feelings about Trump's ambitious plans for political synergy in his monologue last night: "But the truth is, there's no way in hell Donald Trump is really running for president. He's smart, he has a show on, and he's milking this for all its worth, and we go along with it." Of course, that doesn't mean that there aren't people out there taking Trump seriously, and weighing his credentials: The Hill's pundits blog argues that Trump has been right about several policy issues, and asks, "Is Donald Trump John Galt?" And his bullshit is obviously working for some people: in a new GOP survey released today by Public Policy Polling, Trump is now leading the field of Republican nominees, with a nine point lead over Mike Huckabee.
On the other hand, the Atlantic thinks that he's an egotistical clown who is harming the Republican party, and an embarrassment to them:
Anyone assuming that the reality-show host's interest in running for president is just another one of his publicity stunts would not likely be wrong. But what does it say about the Republican Party or, for that matter, the American people that this guy gets a second glance? Could a Jersey Shore personality be far behind? Legitimate Republican candidates have to wonder whether they'll be sharing a stage in the early debates with characters straight out of the bar scene in Star Wars.
Trump's main calling card lately, which seems to be both the source of his base as well as the source of much mockery, is his birther rhetoric, his continual insistence that we don't really know where President Obama was born. Obama was asked about Trump in an interview with ABC, and he just sounds sad for the Grand Old Party: "There's been an effort to go at me in a way that is politically expedient in the short term for Republicans, but creates I think a problem for them when they want to actually run in the general election, where most people feel pretty confident the President was born where he says he was, in Hawaii. He doesn't have horns...We're not really worried about conspiracy theories or birth certificates."
Obama might not have horns fueling his presidency, but Trump does have one x-factor that no other candidate can, nor would dare, to match: his hair. If you've ever wanted to know more about the secret life of Trump's hairpiece, or perhaps even style your own in that manner, then check out this handy guide to giving yourself the Donald's trademark coiffure.
Tagged
birthers
donald trump
election 2012
jokes
president obama
presidential ambitions
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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