Jenna Johnson

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Donald Trump.

Donald Trump.

Syphilis.

Syphilis.


Donald Trump wants you to believe he’s not such a terrible guy, the way a drug-resistant strain of gonorrhea would like you to think it’s merely syphilis. Sure, you’ll have ulcerous lesions on your genitals, but you won’t develop any tumor-like balls of inflammation in your liver if you’re promptly treated with penicillin. That’s what gonorrhea would have you believe.

The hideous hotelier also recently tried to convince Nevada Republicans that his candidacy isn’t only about celebrity. Holy fuck, what else does he have? Valuable foreign-policy experience gained in Westchester?

From Jenna Johnson and Robert Costa at the Washington Post:

“It’s not about being a celebrity,” Trump said. “It’s about having a view that’s captivating the people in this country, because they’re tired of being taken advantage of, they’re tired of being stupid, they’re tired of having their leaders be outnegotiated on every single deal. They’re tired of it. They’re tired of having China rip us off on every trade deal — and Japan and Mexico and everybody else. They’re tired of it.”

Absent from Trump’s speech was the usual blizzard of barbs about his opponents, such as questioning Carson’s religion, mocking Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) for profusely sweating or accusing former Florida governor Jeb Bush of being “low energy.” Trump instead praised Rubio and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) for their strong debate performances the previous night. The only time he mentioned Carson was to describe how they partnered up to pressure CNBC to limit the debate length.

And Trump thanked former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who barely made it onto the debate stage, for defending him the night before when debate moderators asked the governor to comment on Trump’s morals.

“There aren’t a lot of people that would do that,” Trump said. “He had a perfect opportunity to talk about himself, and he didn’t do that, so he’s a special guy.”

The softened tone was welcomed by many in the audience.

“He needs to cool it,” said Les Birch, 77, a retired elevator builder who lives in Carson City and defends Trump’s policy positions in Facebook conversations but doesn’t weigh in on Trump’s critiques of other candidates. “He needs to stop attacking people personally.”•

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Let me give you a peck, JC.

No thanks. I'm good.

No thanks. I’m good.


Donald Trump stands with Jesus Christ, but so did Judas Iscariot, and how did that turn out? Don’t let Trump kiss you, JC!

The thrice-married liar, braggart and casino owner is baffled that Iowa voters who identify as evangelicals seem to be turning away from his brand. How can they forsake him when he’s arguably slightly more moral than fellow entrepreneur Dennis Hof?

The usual grab bag of GOP zealots and loudmouths (the Huckabees, Christies and Santorums) have fallen by the wayside this campaign season, unable to gain any helium, because Trump preemptively out-crazied them with the hardcore wingnuts of the party with his hateful brand of xenophobia, racism and sexism.

Alas, someone even wackier came along in the form of Dr. Ben Carson, who divides his enemies into neat piles of Nazis and slaveowners. While Trump is a panderer to the worst impulses, Carson is a true believer in them. I mean, this is a guy who thinks there’s actually a devil with a pitchfork. Game on!

From Jenna Johnson at the Washington Post:

This was Trump’s second rally in less than a week in Iowa. But he returned to a far different landscape than the one he’d left days earlier. Since he was last here, Trump has seen his solid lead in the state evaporate as four new polls reported Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon, surging to claim the top spot. Trump was in standard campaign mode as he addressed a crowd of nearly 2,400 and took a few questions — but his usual complaints about illegal immigration, corporate inversion and jobs moving overseas were punctuated with new self-deprecating comments, humanizing details and a plea to voters here for the chance to be their president.

He also ran through some reasons why the polls might have shifted, placing a lot of blame on evangelicals.

“I do well with the evangelicals, but the evangelicals let me down a little bit,” Trump said. “I don’t know what I did.”

Trump told the crowd he’s “a great Christian” and described his favorite Bible, one inscribed by his mother. Each audience member was given a card showing two black-and-white photos, including one taken at Trump’s 1959 confirmation. Amid listing off his religious credentials, Trump stopped and begged once again: “Will you get the numbers up, Iowa, please? It’s ridiculous.”•

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