Trump Retweets Suggestion That Mass Shootings Boost His Poll Numbers

Presidential contender Donald Trump looks on at the 16th green on the 1st first day of the Women's British Open golf championship on the Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, Thursday, July 30, 2015. (AP Phot... Presidential contender Donald Trump looks on at the 16th green on the 1st first day of the Women's British Open golf championship on the Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, Thursday, July 30, 2015. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Donald Trump knows that violent attacks like Wednesday’s shooting rampage in San Bernardino, California, which left 14 people dead, are good for his presidential campaign. In the early morning hours on Thursday, he retweeted a post from a supporter who said that “his poll numbers jump every time instances like this occur.”

The deceased suspects in Wednesday’s shooting were identified as Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and his wife or fiancee, Tashfeen Malik, 27. Co-workers told The Los Angeles Times that Farook was a devout Muslim.

The Twitter user Trump retweeted, who went by the name Mobious, was responding to another user who pointed out that Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric boosted his standing in the polls.

After a series of coordinated terrorist attacks struck Paris in mid-November, Trump amped up that rhetoric, calling for a national database of all Muslims living in the U.S. and passing around a debunked story about Muslims celebrating the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New Jersey. He saw a spike in his national poll numbers as a result.

In a Reuters/Ipsos poll released days after the Paris massacre, he was also tied with Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton as the candidate best equipped to address terrorism.

Trump has thus far responded to the San Bernardino shooting by applauding the police officers involved in rescuing the victims and tracking down the suspects.

h/t Washington Post

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. Good that people are thinking of the victims and their families.

  2. So I take it he is in favor of mass killings then…
    OK, Got it.

  3. In the Trumpiverse, everything revolves around Teh Donald.

  4. Ordinarily a sane person would decry mass killings, but not ol’ Donnie. He revels in it cuz it makes his poll numbers get bigger.
    This is alternate reality folks.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

51 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for doremus_jessup Avatar for richardinjax Avatar for littlegirlblue Avatar for sociosam Avatar for bluestatedon Avatar for kufpu Avatar for trnc Avatar for rudesan Avatar for topcat Avatar for cliffhendroval Avatar for callmeeric Avatar for arc_of_the_universe Avatar for ottnott Avatar for geofu54 Avatar for elrod Avatar for forkedtongue Avatar for khaaannn Avatar for dsinlp Avatar for darrtown Avatar for emilianoelmexicano Avatar for jtx Avatar for lizzymom Avatar for progressivebroad

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: