Donald Trump Was Remarkably Chill in Last Night's Debate. And Then…
Trump took to Twitter afterward to bash Megyn Kelly, Frank Luntz, and anyone who doesn't recognize his greatness.

It might seem strange to call Donald Trump's performance in last night's GOP debate subdued, but he managed to mostly stick to time limits, wait his turn to talk, and even refrain from hurling insults at moderator Megyn Kelly when she questioned him about some of the horrible names he's been known to call women. It could have been much worse (or better, depending on how you look at it). But that sort of bare-minimum effort at decorum couldn't last long, obviously. After the Republican candidates left the stage and made the pundit circuit, Trump took to Twitter to vent his frustration with Kelly, Fox News, and anyone who doesn't recognize his greatness.
A sample:
I'm not sure what Twitter Trump was looking at, but the general consensus I saw on there and on other social media, heard from the people I talked, and have seen so far in the press is that Kelly and all the Fox moderators did a remarkably good job at actually asking legit, non-softball questions. Pretty much every candidate, from Jim Gilmore to Donald Trump, was asked to explain some of their most obvious liabilities or failures, which actually seemed to shake them from their talking points from time to time. But Kelly insulted Trump—even asking at one point, "When did you actually become a Republican?"—so of course the whole thing was a bust.
Trump also reserved some ire for pollster Frank Luntz, who hosted a post-debate public-opinion segment in which Trump was getting very little love.
Clearly the tweets of someone who DOES NOT CARE WHAT PEOPLE THINK OF HIM.
We've all known someone like this: no matter what happens, it is somebody else's fault—somebody jealous, probably, or a "hater." Any positive to come from their actions is totally deserved and understandable; any negative a conspiracy, a coordinated attempt to bring them down, or at least merely the sour grapes of the vastly inferior. If someone calls them out for being a jerk, it's because those people can't handle people who "speak the truth" or "tell it like it is." There is a term for these people.
In the age of selfies and social media, the chattering classes and people who parrot them love to throw around the word "narcissist" with abandon. If nothing else, at least Trump provides a good reminder what true narcissism actually looks like.
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Megyn Kelly when she questioned him about some of the horrible names he's been known to call women.
He calls men mean things, too. But I guess that's okay, because PATRIARCHY, or VAGINA, or something. So let's only get offended when it comes to women.
But women need to be protected more because they are completely identical to men in every way. Except when it is convenient to be different.
Also, pointing out that he says shitty things about people in general doesn't help promote the idiotic War on Women narrative.
If anything there is a war on boys.
When Megyn Kelly triggers the War on Women fears...
Megyn Kelly has a Vagenda
I think the point was that he wasn't making fun of what the particular women did or said, but how they looked. Most people consider that a form of bigotry
He called Luntz a slob in one of the very tweets ENB quoted. He says that shit about men and women, so the bigotry charge doesn't really fly.
Judgments based on appearances don't have to be exclusive to women to be bigoted
What about the charge of assholery?
Agreed. Trump is an asshole, plain and simple.
He can be clinically diagnosed as an extreme case of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. This explains why he's so thin-skinned, combative, and calls anyone who disagrees with him a "loser" or worse.
He's actually a worse case of NPD than Obama, our current divider-in-chief, who, is only slightly less thin-skinned, combative, and calls anyone who disagrees with him a "partisan" or worse.
War on Idiotic Women?
Megan Kelly can take care of herself.
Because Hillary won't be attacking him for his comments about men.
Megyn asked him a question - how are you going to defend yourself against charges of misogyny from Hillary, based, for example, on the quotes given?
Trump needs an answer for that. Because HIllary would attack him for that.
Megyn gave him a chance to preempt Progressive attacks that he is a misogynistic prick, and his response was to *demonstrate* that he's a thin skinned vindictive prick who can't take the heat, and personally goes after a woman who questions him, attacking her accomplishments, her competence, and her emotional stability, claiming that she is on the rag.
Is he particularly misogynistic? Maybe so, maybe not.
Is he capable of successfully fighting back against the inevitable charges of misogyny from the Hillary camp? No way. He is a petulant and vindictive clown, who brought his reality tv clown car to his presidential candidacy.
He could have said - "Hey, I was an entertainer looking to get ratings. Sometimes insults make good tv. My insults were hardly limited to women. I notice that you didn't include any of the insults I've made to men. Don't you care? Don't men deserve respect as well? But I'm not looking for ratings now. I'm looking to make America great again, blah blah blah".
But instead, it's zoom zoom zoom in the reality tv clown car.
Next contestant. Donald, you're fired.
Overrated, angry, and a bimbo! He knows she has her own show, right? She was out to get a couple of them and she's like a pit bull. She's not done.
She was the only person I heard say RP had a good debate
I am no fan of Mr. Trump, but the moderators were particularily hard on him, from the 1st question, and clearly they were trying to toss him under the bus.
It was a hit job, for sure.
So, it's not valid to ask a person running as a Republican if they're going to support the Republican nominee? Would it have been hard on him if his answer was the same as everybody elses?
Why should any libertarians give a shit if they decide not to get behind whatever zombie the GOP decides to nominate?
Trump's best quality is that he could actually nuke the GOP, and with the country due for another recession in the next 2-3 years, if Hillary gets elected she'll end up discrediting the Dems. I can't think of anything more I'd rather see than two national parties fractionalize in one presidential cycle.
if Hillary gets elected she'll end up discrediting the Dems.
No. it will be the fault of the RETHUGLIKKAN wreckers and Kulaks.
I wasn't replying to what libertarians give a shit about, I asked if it was valid for a moderator to ask a person running as a Republican if they were going to support the Republican nominee. Replace Republican with any party
Is that supposed to mean it was an unfairly tough question in the Republican debate?
I asked if it was valid for a moderator to ask a person running as a Republican if they were going to support the Republican nominee. Replace Republican with any party
Is that supposed to mean it was an unfairly tough question in the Republican debate?
So a Republican candidate is just supposed to fall into line behind whomever the party nominates, just because TEAM? Interesting argument, considering that we tend to mock such concepts on this board repeatedly.
"So a Republican candidate is just supposed to fall into line behind whomever the party nominates, just because TEAM?"
Not what he said. It's a perfectly reasonable question for the debate for a party's nomination. Relevant to people in the party.
Again, this is The Donald making it all about himself. He could have made it about the issues, how he cared for the country, how he'd have to evaluate the nominee, and whether he'd be good for the country.
Instead, it was "I'll support me. Me me me me." What a megalomaniacal putz.
You underestimate the ability of Dems to blame "BOOOOSH!" for everything that is wrong in the world.
It is a valid question, of course.
But should not have been the first one, maybe ask about a particular policy position, and then use that as a jumping point to clarify his positon if hes not nominated.
I also was referiing to tone, body language, and clearly the question was framed to put him into a bad lite no matter how he annswered, if he was honest.,
I would be willing to bet they spent hours coming up with that question, that is not relevant to experience, positions, beliefs or ideals.
Yet it was the most important question in the debate, because none of the other ones matter at all if Trump hands it to Hillary.
If the essence of his positions, beliefs or ideals leads him to want to sabotage the GOP, how is that not relevant to the GOP party? It would be stupid for the GOP not to try to ascertain his motives. And, whether it was on Fox News or not, the debate was a GOP event.
Allright, so we are going to amicably disagree. Again, i do see your point, but i was refering to the tone of the question.
Besides it wont matter, of course he wont get the nod. Hillary will be the Pres in 2016, and not because she is the best, but because the electable R candidates will never be put on the ballot. this is unfortanate for the country, because we will be losing an oppurtunity to have a real debate about important things, it will be Hill debating one Rep who had to stretch themselves so far right to get the nod the general populace would not vote for them, and Hill wins.
And to put myself in the correct light, I do normally vote on the D side, but I dislike Mrs CLinton, (wife and I fight over that) and I will not be voting for her.
There is no way Hillary will be president.
Really? I have two words for you: Barack Obama.
B.O. was canonized by the media leading up to his election. FFS, he stumbled into a Nobel Peace Prize somehow.
Hillary, while obviously the heir presumptive as far as the media would like to think, is not getting any such slavish devotion. Plus half of America hates her already.
Half of the country always hates the other candidate. Hillary would be the first woman president. That means any GOP candidate except Fiorina would have to treat her with kid gloves for fear of being denounced as a misogynist.
Not sure you've realized this, but people don't need to like you for you to win the presidency.
Right now, as it stands, the presidency is hers to lose, and dumb as she may be, a lot of very well paid people are around her 24/7 to keep her from punting it. She's the most likely to win, primary and general, by a long shot.
I have two other words -- Donald Trump.
I don't see what's to object to. Trump deserved to be thrown under a bus.
It would have been smarter of course to just stick to policy questions and let Trump bury himself.
He's the frontrunner, Elizabeth! Respect him! Because he's a dunce and a clown and an asshole! Unless he's riding one of your hobby horses and then he's a genius that has tapped into a groundswell of discontent that you libertarians refuse to acknowledge! He's the frontrunner, but it doesn't say anything about the viability of the GOP as a national party because, Like Fox News or something. But he's the frontrunner, so stop running articles on him, Reason. Because he's the frontrunner and doesn't matter whatsoever. Except on those issues with which I agree with him 100% and he's brave enough to speak up on. Stop covering Trump. Argh!
no one outside of the comments has called trump a genius in these pages
NO ONE I KNOW VOTED FOR TRUMP.
+1 Pauline Kael
I caught some of the last hour on the radio. Meh. Double-plus-meh.
Pretty much every candidate, from Jim Gilmore to Donald Trump, was asked to explain some of their most obvious liabilities or failures
Whoa whoa, wait a minute. Jim Gilmore is running? I completely missed that news somehow.
And they put him in the so-called "first tier"? What a joke.
No, he was on earlier in the kids' debate. He was awful.
OK, that makes way more sense. I forgot that the AAA team had a pre-debate debate.
Yeah, in which the first question to pretty much everyone was basically some version of "So... why are you here?"
He was in the earlier debate
Donald Trump reminds me of the Time Cube guy who calls himself the "Wisest Human" and insults anyone who does not recognize the greatness of his "discovery" or who does not immediately recognize its infallibility.
ONLY FOOLS! DO NOT RECOGNIZE TIME CUBE'S PERFECT 4 PART HARMONY OF CYLINDRICAL LIFE AND HUMAN EXISTENCE!
Glad I spent time watching a Match Game '74 epsiode instead of this debate.
Good choice. Gene Rayburn was the shit.
"Megyn Kelly is soooo dumb even her follow-up questions had BLANK"
Bazooms?
Now I'm jealous.
Match Game is so much fun! Even on Youtube.
I'll vote for Trump if he gets to the general. If anybody can do serious damage to the cult of the Presidency over four years it's him.
If Obama hasn't destroyed it, it can't be destroyed.
Obama had the media behind him, I don't think President Trump will.
The type of people who Obama belittles aren't the types who worship politicians, but are very much the types who are despised by those who worship politicians. Trump will belittle the right people to effect some change.
Four? You are assuming he doesn't get reelected or appointed Caesar for life. He could probably build a very good temple to himself.
Judging from the comments of his supporters, their reaction to the debate last night, Trump will only grow the cult of the presidency.
I imagine Trump could jump o top of the podium, rip off his pants, and start jerking off with one hand, giving the nazi salute with the other, shouting sieg heil, all while simultaneously defecating, and the reaction of his supporters would still just be "take that, establishment! Winning, winning!!"
He's the Charlie Sheen of politics.
There's more than a whiff of Amy's Baking Company around this. Internet haters! It's all their fault!
Blowhard blows hard.
It sadly will have no negative effect on his polling.
He and his future third party will take 15-20% of the vote undoubtedly.
One of them should have godwined the debate:
"You know who else wanted a police state in order to improve security? Do you really want armed agents demanding your papers at every opportunity? Patting you down? Detaining you while they run a security check? This is the land of the free, folks, but if you want to give up your liberty for temporary feelings of security, then vote for one of my opponents who seem to think an American gestapo is what we need and deserve."
"She is totally angry and overrated"
Donald... Geesch... Other networks evaluate their news anchors on their wit and intelligence in delivering the news. FoxNews evaluates its anchors on how much their legs shine when delivering right-wing talking points and conservative tales of victimhood and woe.
What exactly were you expecting? Rachel Maddow?
If you're going to be propagandized by a retarded asshole either way, it might as well be one that's nice to look at.
"Other networks evaluate their news anchors on their wit and intelligence"
Since when?
"What exactly were you expecting? Rachel Maddow?"
Maddow, wit and intelligence? Amazingly, I actually still managed to lose respect for you. But I guess you think having a short haircut makes a woman smart.
If any candidate has a right to believe he was shafted last night it's Trump. No doubt FOX was gunning for him all night, which then belies their positing that they were neutral.
Started with the first question from Bair. It's one thing to ask a candidate about things he/she said on the past, and it would have been fair to ask Trump, but that group question "raise your hand" on a third party run was an attempt to single out one candidate as a yahoo. They didn't ask any other question like that ("raise your hand if you are for surveillance of American citizens").
As far as Kelly, glad she opened up the deck of playing cards for the media. She played the gender card, so the GOP shouldn't get too upset when mainstream media plays the race card, the sexual orientation card, and so on.
Here is an even better example. Bair didn't test the candidate's fealty to the GOP be asking, "raise your hand if you think Mitch McConnell lies." Of course, only Ted Cruz then would have been a yahoo.
Hey Jack!
When's the rapture, Gaia-kid?
Trump deserved to be shafted. The guy is not 'just another candidate' so why should they treat him like one? He's a circus animal. If they gave all the other candidates podiums and made Trump stand in a cage, I wouldn't see it as inappropriate.
Also, how does Kelly (idiotically) playing the gender card somehow make it more valid for others in the media to play identity politics cards?
"If any candidate has a right to believe he was shafted last night it's Trump. "
Wah!
I'm the front runner! How dare Fox ask questions of the front runner!
Fuckin LOL at ENB thinking that Trump going off on Kelly and Luntz is going to be considered a negative. She seems to have missed the entire last few weeks where Trump going off on his antagonists over Twitter has resulted in gains.
Yeah, I hate Trump. Always have. But your right. One of the main reasons people like him is his non-apologetic fuck you attitude. Everyone is tired of people who acquiesce at the first sign of criticism. He doesn't waffle that's for sure. That's probably a huge reason people either love him or hate him. That's probably the nicest thing I can say about him. Might be only nice thing.
I didn't watch the debate so that's more of a general comment.
One of the best things written on Trump https://drhurd.com/55044/
Can't wait to see his tweets when he withdraws his campaign.
"America is full of slobs who don't want what's best for America!" #BLAHBLAHBLAH
I was watching Judd Gregg and Byron Dorgin on FBN this morning. When they got to the "national security" question they went into their whole "people have no idea how dangerous all this is . . . " And said in effect "but it's an important discussion" seconds before trashing some vague fellow senator for "misleading people" about the issue.
So, exactly what does - 'it's an important discussion' to have mean?
See, this in my opinion is the problem with establishment douches - they don't really want to have discussions or consider opposing viewpoints, or think outside the box, they want us to TRUST THEM, when in the same breath they give you reason NOT to trust them. And they're completely oblivious to why so many people as freaking sick of establishment politicians. Trump may breath toxic waste but none of the other candidates project any willingness to actually connect with the populace - and he may only give the appearance.
Here's an idea - you establish an independent investigator with the same secret subpoena powers and "fisa court" to investigate the NSA for violations of the law with mandatory 20 year sentences for anyone convicted of spying on US citizens. Then the NSA can be secretive.
As far as I'm concerned, he deflected the Clinton donations attack beautifully. He should just offer all the other candidates fifty mill to drop out.
bwhaha
Fox's panel sucked. Questions were horrible, and they made a circus of it. Tried to make the candidates look bad instead of just asking "what would be your approach on X?" (there was some of that, but not enough, and WAY too much "So when did you stop beating your wife?")
Also
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hey..check out the dude running for president... of a country... it turns out he's a narcissist
Never. Power only attracts selfless altruists.
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Donald, stop trying to make me like Megan Kelly!!
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LOL, let's not forget that Trump ran before and got nowhere, probably because he reminded everyone of the arrogant, narcissistic professor or boss whom they always hated. But now, after 6 years of Barack Obamao, he suddenly looks like he's merely self-confident. This may go down as Obamao's most remarkable achievement.
Better believe it. Kelly's been Fox's Golden Goddess for a long time now, but not after last night. She's getting absolutely hammered by the proles on Fox's various media boards.
The funny thing is that Trump will face these kinds of questions anyway. Can you imagine what the DNC will try to do to him should he become the R nominee? He better start growing a thicker epidermis now.
Yesterday, the right loved her.
Today, they hate her for not falling at his feet and not asking questions about how great he is. She dared to ask questions that might be critical, so she's a dumb liberal who treated Trump poorly.
These are the same idiots that scream about Obama being a dictator, yet tell us we had better not question Trump. Hell, he even threatened her not to question him, and they applauded him. "Look at him standing up to the media!"
These idiots are going to walk another Democrat right into the White House.
Their myopia could not be worse. Trump is clearly an opportunist who's just trying to ride an issue or two into the spotlight to satiate his egomania. He would come out in support of pedophilia and infanticide if it would get help him promote himself. But republicans actually seem to think he's sincere and principled.
Seriously, is someone paying the GOP electorate to throw the game? They've got a clear moment of opportunity in 2016, and they're thinking "how can we still manage to lose?" Can't blame the party or the 'establishment' for it either. Trump is a grassroots mistake. I guess we'd all better start doing our ass Kegel exercises so we're ready to #bottomforhillary.
These idiots are going to walk another Democrat right into the White House.
As if the other side is going to put in someone any better. The establishment GOP are clearly all-in on Jeb and Rubio, who are hardly exemplars of libertarian sympathies. I'm hoping Trump gets the nom just on the off-chance he says something so inappropriate during the debates that Hillary has a stroke on live TV.
Seriously, is someone paying the GOP electorate to throw the game? They've got a clear moment of opportunity in 2016, and they're thinking "how can we still manage to lose?"
Considering the clown show they're putting up, does anyone think they really have a shot? Rand's the only candidate on the R side I'd consider voting for, but he's a dead campaign walking right now. The longer Trump goes, the more likely it is that the GOP fractures, and given their track record I don't see why I should be concerned about whether they survive.
But republicans actually seem to think he's sincere and principled.
No, they like that he actually has the balls to flip people the bird without regard for his public image, and given that they don't believe the GOP truly represents their interests (in no sane political universe should Jeb even be considered a serious candidate), I can hardly blame them for getting behind someone who tells the media and political establishment to fuck off the same way they feel they've been told that by those same figures.