Posted on 06/11/2016 5:32:52 AM PDT by randita
At Richmond rally, Trump rips McAuliffe's rights restoration order
By JIM NOLAN Richmond Times-Dispatch | Posted: Friday, June 10, 2016 9:30 pm
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump brought his campaign to Richmond on Friday night, and ripped Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s order restoring the rights of more than 200,000 felons who have served their time.
“We’ve got to win this state of Virginia,” Trump said early in his remarks at the Richmond Coliseum.
“This whole thing with the prisoners (is) not sounding too good, right?
Where murderers can vote and all these people can vote, I don’t think so,” he said. “ I don’t know; doesn’t sound good.
“Hopefully the court will act quickly — 200,000 people and many of these people, look, it’s not supposed to be the way it works, folks.” GOP leaders in the state legislature have filed suit in the state Supreme Court to block the Democratic governor’s order, which they say exceeds his authority under the state constitution.
Republicans also charge that McAuliffe’s motive is to speed registration of thousands of new voters to help his friend, Hillary Clinton, win Virginia in November. McAuliffe says his action was not politically motivated and that it was the right thing to do.
Trump and Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, are stepping up their efforts in Virginia, one of a handful of swing states that are likely to determine the outcome of the Nov. 8 election.
Trump is embarking on a week of visits to swing states, including Virginia, Florida, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and North Carolina. Clinton’s Virginia campaign terms this her Virginia Kickoff Weekend, with phone banks and voter registration events in Richmond, Alexandria, Norfolk, Staunton, Fredericksburg, Blacksburg and Winchester.
“We love you, Richmond, and we love you, Virginia,” said Trump, who touted his Trump Winery in Albemarle County and his golf course in Loudoun County.
“Over the next five months, I’m going to be here a lot,” Trump said.
“You’re going to be so sick of me in Virginia. You’re going to say, ‘Please don’t come back. Please don’t come back,’” he said.
During his stump speech, Trump derided President Barack Obama as “incompetent,” termed Clinton “crooked,” and called Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., “Pocahontas.” Warren has said she has Native American heritage.
Trump said he would “love it” if Clinton chose Warren as her running mate, calling Warren “one of the worst senators in the entire United States.” Trump’s rally at the Coliseum was his third stop in Virginia on Friday.
He first met with key members of Congress, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., at the Williamsburg Inn, then held a fundraiser at the Richmond International Airport for high-dollar donors, who put up $25,000 per couple, $10,000 per photo or $2,700 to be at the “VIP Roundtable” for access to the reality TV celebrity and billionaire.
At the Richmond Coliseum, Trump supporters toted signs that read: “The Silent Majority Stands with Trump” — though some would-be supporters may have been distracted by a weekend trip to the beach, high school graduations or the Tim McGraw concert at Altria Theater.
Security was heavy, with Richmond Police, State Police and the U.S. Secret Service congregated at every curve of the Coliseum, inside and out.
Obama, who endorsed Clinton this week, carried Virginia in 2008 and in 2012. Clinton has the backing of the state’s top-tier Democrats, including McAuliffe, who led Clinton’s 2008 bid for the Democratic nomination; and Sens. Timothy M. Kaine and Mark R. Warner, both touted as potential running mates for Clinton.
At the Coliseum on Friday, Trump picked up the endorsement of state Sen. Richard H. Black, R-Loudoun, who had been a key backer of Sen. Ted Cruz’s Virginia campaign.
The rally drew vocal but limited numbers that occupied about two-thirds of the floor in the Coliseum and left a number of seating sections on the lower level unoccupied.
Black, a Vietnam veteran, met in April with Syrian President Bashar Assad, whom Black sees as a protector of minority Christians.
Black said Friday that if Clinton, a former secretary of state, were elected, she would “stack the U.S. Supreme Court with Marxists like you’ve never seen before.”
Corey Stewart, a Prince William County supervisor who heads Trump’s Virginia campaign and is seeking the GOP nomination for governor in 2017, made reference to the private email scandal that has dogged Clinton.
“No one is more qualified to go to prison,” said Stewart, referring to Obama’s endorsement of Clinton as the most qualified candidate to run for the White House.
Many high-profile Republicans have recently criticized Trump for arguing that U.S. District Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel has a conflict of interest in presiding over cases against Trump University because of his Mexican heritage. The judge was born in Indiana.
At the Richmond rally Friday night, Trump said he is “the least racist person that you’ve ever seen.”
Before Trump’s event, a handful of Richmond-area Democrats held a brief rally of their own outside the Coliseum, where they denounced Trump as misogynistic and a threat to women’s health due to his views against abortion.
“Donald Trump has consistently diminished the role, the authority, the intellect, the character of women,” said Del. Delores L. McQuinn, D-Richmond.
A group of Democratic protesters stood behind a fence and chanted as Trump fans walked toward the arena. The group held signs reading “Trump’s agenda: Punish women.”
“For the health and safety of all Virginia women, we must repudiate Mr. Trump and the Virginia GOP’s dangerous views,” said Del. Jennifer L. McClellan, D-Richmond.
“Trump has said that without the women’s card, Hillary would not be a viable person to even run a city council,” said Sen. A. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico, who is running for Congress in the 4th District.
“Dismissing the most qualified candidate in history because she is a woman may be outlandish for everyone else, but not for Donald Trump.” Trump stayed for 20 minutes after speaking, signing autographs on “Make America Great Again” hats and Trump campaign signs.
“I think he’s the man for the country” said Chesterfield resident John Gunsolley, 42, an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention from the 7th District, who was among the hundreds hoping to press flesh with the candidate.
“We need a change in Washington, and Hillary doesn’t provide that.” Nicole O’Keefe and her family came away with a Trump autograph, and confidence that Trump, in her estimation, means what he says.
“He really wants to make America great again — he really does,” she said.
“He says what middle-class America is totally feeling, about politicians, Washington. You just can’t trust them.”
Not everyone in attendance was persuaded Trump will get the chance to “make America great again.”
“He spent too much time attacking other people rather than saying his vision,” said Stephanie Jarrett, 22, who came from Fairfax County with two girlfriends to see Trump.
Jarrett, a Republican who previously supported Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said she was disappointed in the size of the crowd. She said that once supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., unite behind Clinton, the turnout for Democrats will carry them to victory.
“He won’t win,” Jarrett said of Trump. “But he’s my candidate, and he attracts so much attention it’s just exciting,” she observed, a ’70s rock blared in the emptying Coliseum. “It’s a Trump epidemic.”
I’ve got to agree that a felon who has served his time should be given his rights.
If he is a bad enough felon that his rights should be curtailed, then keep him in prison.
Either he is rehabilitated or he is not.
If not, don’t turn him loose, and don’t give him voting rights.
“Either he is rehabilitated or he is not.”
Prison is not a rehab clinic.
A child molester can “serve his time”, then he can cancel your vote. Fair enough?
> Prison is not a rehab clinic.
Don’t you think they should be?
In Massachusetts, they are called Correction Facilities. Of course, they’re nothing of the kind, but they should be.
People who cannot be rehabilitated should not be allowed to reenter society.
I know of one vote Trump is getting from McAwful’s action.
What say you of felons who the Guv commuted or pardoned their sentence...not actually serving their full sentence?
Kinda like the larger portion of the 200,000 cited in the article?
> What say you of felons who the Guv commuted or pardoned
> their sentence...not actually serving their full sentence?
>
> Kinda like the larger portion of the 200,000 cited in the
> article?
In a sane world ...
Without evidence of rehabilitation, that makes the governor complicit in any new crimes these people commit. He should be charged as an accessory before the fact in any of their future crimes, a potential life sentence, considering how many consecutive sentences he would have to serve.
Many high-profile Republicans have recently criticized Trump for arguing that U.S. District Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel has a conflict of interest in presiding over cases against Trump University because of his Mexican heritage.
*********************************
The judge belongs to groups that call themselves The Race.
Sounds to me like the judge is the racist.
You are placed in a cage for a certain amount of time for a crime, and then let go.
That is really all there is to it.
This is why we have repeat offenders because it isnt a magic machine that irons out what made people do bad things. Some may come out better for their time, but that is no guarantee.
LOL - you're kidding me right? NO ONE thinks most of these thugs are 'rehabilitated'. They served their time. Period.
The culture's grown up since the 1950's...
> LOL - you’re kidding me right? NO ONE thinks most of these
> thugs are ‘rehabilitated’. They served their time. Period.
In a sane world, they would not be released if they were not rehabilitated. Sentencing should be “until rehabilitation”, not for fixed periods of time.
In the end, it would cost less, not only in money, but in human suffering, to actually make efforts to do that.
But I know this is not going to happen.
McAwful should be charged as an accessory before the fact for any and all new crimes that these felons commit after he releases them.
That’s not going to happen, either, but it should be spoken so that people start thinking about exactly that.
Yes, in a world directed by laws, not the thoughts of politicians.
AKA, the Rule of Law - Not of Men.
I’m inclined to agree with Westbrook except give them a 10 year moratorium after they get out. Prison doesn’t rehabilitate anyone but if someone wants to become a good citizen, they will stay out of trouble for 10 years.
Those who served their time have done so because they declared themselves enemies of society. They should only be given the right to vote after a period equal to the time they served. Ten years in prison means see you in 2026 PERIOD.
I prefer the original method - if one wasn’t a productive citizen then one did not get to vote - we diluted the Constitution and what the Founders intended when we kept opening the door for more and more to vote - to the point where many want illegal invaders to be able to vote....PC thinking has invaded many minds with a “sense of fairness” that makes no sense when it comes to the viability of the Nation/Constitution/People.
The goal for democrats is to used the balled up hatred in these thugs to batter good people.
Did you see criminals beating up Trump supporters in San Jose? That's the democrat base.
So by this Rights Restoration Order these felons can now own guns, correct? I highly doubt it as his restoration order is only a Virginia State order, the Feds will not be going along with it. How conveeeeenient.
VA is very different today.
GW Bush never campaigned there and won it in a walk.
Thanks to NOVA, the state looks like a pickup for Hillary.
Not felons who prevented the victim from voting ever again, as a start.
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