Surprise: Trump Attacks Walker For...Not Raising Taxes in Wisconsin

Townhall.com ^ | March 29, 2016 | Guy Benson

[Kaslin]

It's been a rough 24 hours for Team Trump. The billionaire's campaign manager has been arrested for battery against a female reporter -- with new surveillance conclusively proving that he lied about the incident and smeared his accuser -- and the candidate himself was subjected to a string of inhospitable interviews with conservative radio hosts in Wisconsin. We wrote about his exchange with Charlie Sykes yesterday; later, he hung up on Vicki McKenna after he grew exasperated with her questions about his threats and insults against Heidi Cruz.  The Texas Senator narrowly leads in recent Badger State polling and just landed the endorsement of Scott Walker, who is extremely popular among Wisconsin Republicans.  Trump, as is his wont, responded to Walker's decision by blasting the governor's record.  First, he regurgitated the debunked Democratic attack that Walker racked up a multibillion-dollar deficit, a blatant falsehood that Trump blamed on Time magazine during yesterday's Sykes interview.  Using inaccurate left-wing talking points to slam Walker wasn't his fault, the candidate told the host's large statewide audience, because all he did was was repeat what Time had written back then.  Over to you, Washington Post fact-checker:

The only time that the $2.2 billion figure has appeared even on Time’s website is after the magazine published a transcript of the second Republican debate, on Sept 16 — and quoted Trump as jabbing at Walker: “In Wisconsin, you’re losing $2.2 billion right now.” He added: “You were supposed to make a billion dollars in the state and you lost $2.2 billion. You have right now a huge budget deficit. That’s not a Democratic talking point, that’s a fact.” But here’s the rub: weeks before Trump uttered the claim at the September debate, fact checkers had already called him out for using it. On July 28, PolitiFact Wisconsin gave Trump a “mostly false” for making this claim in a campaign event. And on July 29, FactCheck.org published an article titled “Wisconsin’s Trumped Up Deficit.” Both fact checks made similar points: Wisconsin, under state law, is required to have a balanced budget. There had once been a projected budget shortfall of $2.2 billion over two years, back in November 2014, after an earlier projection of a $1 billion surplus. But the shortfall was never a deficit — because the law requires a balanced budget. Indeed, on July 12, two weeks before Trump made the comments that were fact checked, Walker signed into law a two-year balanced budget.

The only time that number appeared in print at Time was when they quoted...Donald Trump. And the broader point he was using to pummel Walker had been disproven multiple times. So by repeating the Democrat-approved smear, Trump was either knowingly lying, or he was too lazy and ill-informed to understand the truth. Both options seemed plausible at the time, but not anymore.  Less than 24 hours ago, he was called out for the misstatements, for which he blamed the media. The very next day, he repeated the misstatement. There's your answer to the 'lie vs ignorance' question. And here's the kicker:

.@realDonaldTrump bashes @ScottWalker for not raising taxes in the Badger State https://t.co/oLxgS0VFyb pic.twitter.com/alN9StloAH— Justin Green (@JGreenDC) March 29, 2016

Let's be crystal clear: Donald Trump is not a conservative. He would not govern as a conservative. He distorts (wildly successful!) adherence to bedrock conservative principles as a means to launch self-serving broadsides against actual conservatives.  Let's pretend for a moment that the $2.2 billion number wasn't total garbage.  Trump's policy critique would be that Scott Walker did not seize upon that 'opportunity' to justify tax hikes on Wisconsin's workers.  This coming from a man who routinely -- and rightly -- bemoans the looming national debt crisis, while rejecting responsible and necessary conservative reforms to the largest drivers of that crisis and vowing not to raise taxes.   It's incoherent.  It's untenable.  It's unserious.  It's Trump.  I began by asserting that Trump has encountered some campaign turbulence this week.  I'll leave you with more evidence to that effect, courtesy of two staunch Trump defenders:

Ann Coulter: Defending 'mental' Trump like constantly bailing 16-year-old out of prison.https://t.co/mIWBjUdxMU pic.twitter.com/pEemmcGDCL— T. Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) March 29, 2016

Newt Gingrich on Hannity tonight: Trump's retweet disparaging Heidi Cruz "utterly stupid." It sent a signal of "instability" to voters.— John McCormack (@McCormackJohn) March 29, 2016

And oh, by the way:

Poll: 73% of women have unfavorable view of #Trump https://t.co/mKt9ZmLyGc - panel weighs in #TheLead— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) March 25, 2016

Trump earned his 70% unfavorable rating among women *before* his campaign manager was arrested for battery against a woman. That's skill.— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) March 29, 2016

[PA Engineer]

The article’s author is trying a too hard to get Trump and has become deranged. I just watched the video of the “assault” on the female reporter....and even if I hated Trump, I would be embarrassed out of my mind to try to call it “assault”. It doesn’t pass the red-face test of absurdity.
If that was assault, then the whole human race needs to be locked up.

It is much worse. In the sequence you can see where Fields assaulted Trump after pushing her way between Secret Service Agents.

[TTFlyer]

Thanks for the slanted “reporting” from the Log Cabin, Mr(Ms?)Benson. BTW, I like the way Lou Dobbs ripped you a new one on his show yesterday.

[gov_bean_ counter]

Trump will be put through an entirely different milling machine

Including cutting his debate mic when he starts talking over Hillary and doing tight shots of Hillary when he starts mugging for the cameras...

[Brilliant]

Why is that a surprise? Trump has always favored big government at the expense of the common man.

[Kartographer]

Of course he is:

Trump: I could ‘shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters’
http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/23/politics/donald-trump-shoot-somebody-support/

Donald Trump: I could “shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters”
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-i-could-shoot-somebody-and-i-wouldnt-lose-any-voters/

Trump: “I Could Stand In the Middle Of Fifth...
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/01/23/trump_i_could_stand_in_the_middle_of_fifth_avenue_and_shoot_somebody_and_i_wouldnt_lose_any_voters.html

[bigbob]

So that’s why many more “common men” support Trump than any other candidate?

Better change your screen name.

[MotorCityBuck]

Nice.
For those bored of the GOP bandwagon crew. Thee Donald will be speaking in Janesville in about 30 min. Its been a while since he has done a rally. Would be nice break from the Harpy C’Losers and there snivelin.
The link is a coupe threads up with a Youtube link.
Go Trump

[HLPhat]

>>All will be ok, just think “wall” and no worries

Whilst clicking the Ruby Red Slippers together!

Wall... Curtain...

Is there a balloon ready for the final scene just in case Dorothy actually manages to show up with the witch’s broom, again?

[RightFighter]

You don’t understand. Donald Trump will cause economic growth of 327%, so you won’t mind paying more in taxes.

[RightFighter]

It wasn’t assault. It was battery.

[Beagle8U]

“The billionaire’s campaign manager has been arrested for battery against a female reporter — with new surveillance conclusively proving that he lied about the incident and smeared his accuser.”

Trump is a bully that has a campaign manager that likes hurting girls.

[editor-surveyor]

.
The MSM has worked overtime to create Trump, why would they want to destroy him?

He’s Hillary’s path to the oval office.

[AndyTheBear]

A plainly visible lie.

Seems to me it was a confused and defensive "what the heck are you talking about" reaction in the face of an absurd charge of "assault". I recall the Trump people saying nothing happened. I did not remember them detailing that "I am certain I did not touch that particular person, here is a list of the people I had contact with in the crowded room".

Be honest, you are abandoning common sense because you are too anxious to score a gottcha.

[Leto]

How does he have a 73% unfavorable rating with women when he wins the female demographic in the primaries.
__________________________________________________

The general public doesn’t vote in the pub primaries genius.

[AndyTheBear]

It wasn’t assault. It was battery.

Ah, thank you for the distinction. I looked up the difference. Seems most people don't make it that distinction, and I was not even aware of it.

However, it is still an absurd charge. But not as absurd as Cruz trying to say its an example of Trump's campaign getting violent. What a load of crap!!!

[huldah1776]

Well, he did testify to congress against Reagan’s tax plan in 1991. Has he learned anything new?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rksd80-FCAw

It is nice to hear him speak to someone respectfully.

[gorush]

ping

[vette6387]

Guy Benson is just another “pseudo-conservative pimple” on the bunghole of the GOPe. I have to mute the TV when this little jerk is “pontificating.”

[AndyTheBear]

Well it’s also silly to call her contact assault outside of making a rhetorical point about how silly she is being. Nor even battery (which I just learned is the correct term for physical contact that is violent or sexually aggressive...while assault means threatening battery)

[magna carta]

With Cruz? What do we get?