Politics

Donald Trump, Brought to You by 20 Years of Republican Politics

Published

10 years ago

July 23, 2015

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrives to a fundraising event at a golf course in the Bronx borough of New York, Monday, July 6, 2015. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

(Brookings Institute) – This week, billionaire businessman Donald Trump skyrocketed to a lead in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. The lead is significant. One recent poll shows him up 11 points over his nearest rival. Nationally, he commands the support of nearly one in four Republican voters.

Personally, I debated whether engaging Trump as a candidate was simply adding to the hoopla. Ultimately, though, he is the front-runner. He is commanding far more support among Republicans than Bernie Sanders is among Democrats nationally (that is not to compare their bona fides, but the realities of public support). What’s more, among every individual running for president, only one candidate—Hillary Clinton—commands more primary support than he does. And thus, I find myself writing about the Republican front-runner.

My internal machinations over Trump’s candidacy pale in comparison to those of the GOP. Republican candidates and the establishment are furious, uneasy, and scratching their heads as Trump—a political novice—has risen to polling prominence. And, he has done so by relying on a scorched-Earth, rhetorically bold, substantively vacant message. Typically billionaires seek to influence politics quietly and out of public view. Trump has decided to do so loudly and publicly. The GOP is surprised, but they really shouldn’t be.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

Video Rekindles Debate About Police Treatment of Blacks

Don't Miss

Why Hillary Clinton and Her Rivals are Struggling to Grasp Black Lives Matter

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

Published

4 days ago

June 7, 2025

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

1 week ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.