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Perhaps this Man Should Not Be President of the United States
Okay, folks, all kidding aside, this Trump thing has gone too far.
Tim Mak is a good reporter. I was once on a press junket with him, and I saw someone who took a great deal of care to get the facts right. This piece — ostensibly about rumors that Donald Trump raped his ex-wife, Ivana — contains what I trust to be an accurate quote from Michael Cohen, special counsel at The Trump Organization:
Cohen acknowledged Monday that he has not read the entire deposition but said he had read the two relevant pages of it, including the rape accusation.
“It’s not the word that you’re trying to make it into,” Cohen told The Daily Beast, saying Ivana Trump was talking about how “she felt raped emotionally … She was not referring to it [as] a criminal matter, and not in its literal sense, though there’s many literal senses to the word.”
Cohen added that there is no such thing, legally, as a man raping his wife. “You cannot rape your spouse,” he said. “There’s very clear case law.” …
Trump’s lawyer then changed tactics, lobbing insults and threatening a lawsuit if a story was published.
“I will make sure that you and I meet one day while we’re in the courthouse. And I will take you for every penny you still don’t have. And I will come after your Daily Beast and everybody else that you possibly know,” Cohen said. “So I’m warning you, tread very [redacted by Ricochet’s editors] lightly, because what I’m going to do to you is going to be [redacted by Ricochet’s editors] disgusting. You understand me?”
“You write a story that has Mr. Trump’s name in it, with the word ‘rape,’ and I’m going to mess your life up … for as long as you’re on this frickin’ planet … you’re going to have judgments against you, so much money, you’ll never know how to get out from underneath it,” he added. …
[Trump’s attorney] said that “there is nothing reasonable about you wanting to write a story about somebody’s usage of the word ‘rape,’ when she’s talking [about how] she didn’t feel emotionally satisfied.”
“Though there’s many literal senses to the word, if you distort it, and you put Mr. Trump’s name there onto it, rest assured, you will suffer the consequences. So you do whatever you want. You want to ruin your life at the age of 20? You do that, and I’ll be happy to serve it right up to you,” he added.
The joke has gone too far. We’ve heard enough from Donald Trump.
Published in Elections, Politics
He’s starting to remind me of another loud mouthed businessman who got into politics for a season. We have that man and his gaff to thank for the governorship of Ann Richards, mother of PP’s Cecile Richards, who probably wouldn’t have the job if not for the political success of her mother.
This is the most shameful thing I’ve seen in American politics in a long time. Mr. Trump is not only shameful, but there is a good case that Christian conservatives should be thinking of him as evil. It is remarkable how many people who talk principle can turn to someone like this, however they may feel about the institutions of their country. Mr. Trump presents the attractions of Mr. Putin, without the violence–he is only violent in speeches, being otherwise a coward.
I was talking to a friend recently: It seemed to us that the difference between Mr. Obama & Mr. Putin is the difference between gentlemen & gangsters. Mr. Obama seems to believe it will be obvious to everyone what it means to follow the laws in the pursuit of power & honors, to say nothing of living peacefully alongside people who hate your guts & talk to you as if you were a monster. & therefore that the contrast with a gangster who murders dissenters & terrorizes people & debases his people would be self-evident. That is, of course, wrong. People do not see Mr. Obama’s noble stature in the comparison with Mr. Putin–but rather his impotence. Partly, it is that foreign affairs is the domain of necessity, not justice. But there is something else, too: Mr. Obama is too sure that speeches will suffice for civilized people to see sense & act on it. That is entirely wrong. He has the gentleman’s inability to do deeds–as in Syria.
I have read conservatives’ arguments that this guy is the alternative to a corrupt party that’s jumped in bed with the liberals after using the electorate to get a foot in the door to that earthly paradise.
I have read serious conservatives pointing out that this guy is not conservative on any principle or policy that matters.
These things seem to make no difference. Mr. Codevilla argues in Powerline, the reason is simple: The anger in the land has turned to vengeance & what’s good for the party or country does not matter anymore. That is disturbing & it should teach conservatives who are proud of themselves that they have much reason to be ashamed. It certainly is my feeling-
In the first place, this is, from everything I understand, legally not accurate. In the second place, this is a morally repellent argument.
My understanding is that he’s innocent of the charge — but that’s because his wife took it back and said she was misunderstood, not because of his lawyer’s ramblings.
I was pretty clear in 2012 that I wanted to burn the republican party to the ground and return the land to productive agricultural purposes.
Nothing has convinced me more that this is the just, moral, and proper outcome than my time on Ricochet.
I like moderate left more than I like the moderate right. The moderate right is every bit as tedious, malicious, hateful, and stupid as the radical left with none of their virtues.
So yeah, I am inclined to watch the republican party lurch around like a zombie not smart enough to know its dead, just for the lulz.
The republican party’s last useful purpose is providing me lulz.
Well, maybe you should try and consider both sides of this story, ok? Is not character assassination something conservatives should be very averse to? How does one protect one’s reputation in the modern age? It used to be you would fight a duel to suppress slander. That is how far we have fallen away from responsible journalism.
Because he is not a political politician, Donald Trump has never been through the vetting process. True or false, the first drop of operations research has just happened. There will be many more shoes to drop.
Claire,
This is so below any standard that I find it hard to believe it is on the Main Feed of Ricochet. Is there any other 26 year old gossip you want to share with us? Tim Mak might be a good reporter but 26 YEARS is a long time. Soon we will find out that Trig Palin was Donald Trump’s love child.
If there was a crime that is one thing but unless there is corroborating evidence this is just a hit job. Would you link to some?
If liberals and liberal media pick up on this story, it can only mean that Trump’s appealing to their audience too. Interesting.
Read the words that Trumps’ lawyer said to a (conservative) journalist aloud to yourself.
I am that much a fan of Trump but when you had Andrew Sullivan saying Sarah Palin didn’t have her baby I put nothing past the left.
I think Byron York noted on the twitter feed earlier this morning that Trump was winning with independents in NH.
Perhaps he shouldn’t. And perhaps he won’t. And perhaps he never will be. And perhaps this is all just sound and fury many moons before anyone normal cares about voting for president.
And perhaps I’m confused by anyone reacting in any other way than laughing at a darn good show.
Didn’t Gracie Allen run for President too?
He should not be president because his lawyer said something or because his ex-wife said something?
He should not be president because he is not a conservative? The last time the GOP nominated a conservative was in the mid-eighties.
I thought Clinton proved rapists made decent Presidents?
I think the GOP is a joke and Trump makes an ideal Republican.
KP, on this subject I bring up Clayton Williams early and often ’round Here and nobody I talk to ever remembers Him or His words. Nobody.
Read the charges levied against Trump aloud to yourself. Then maybe you can understand that the lawyer did exactly what he should have, seeing how fighting a duel is no longer allowed.
We need to be careful to always distinguish between Mr. Trump & his supporters. Mr. Trump, for all his success, seems to be temperamentally unsuitable to be President, and his general counsel sounds like he has the public relations instincts of a mob boss.
His supporters are patriotic, frustrated Americans whose frustrations are being used by Trump for his own purposes. Everybody calm down, and let’s persuade Trump supporters that there are better outlets for their anger than this charlatan.
So what a lawyer says is evidence? Is that what you want me to believe? BTW, how does an author get direct quotes? Was there a tape recorder? Did Ivana Trump violate the gag order from the divorce? How do we know the incident happened that way?
How can one fairly judge this story?
Let us hope the same can be said for Trump soon.
Side note: Williams ordered his pizza from the Pizza Hut I worked at as a teen. He and his wife were pretty colorful characters.
This story is good for wrapping fish.
All this proves to me is that Trump is actually a Democrat, with a Democrat morals and tactics.
So now the “national conversation” can focus on whether a candidate who allegedly (is this an allegation?) raped his wife is disqualified from seeking the office of a former President who allegedly raped several women who were not his wife. Someone should create a website, lest this give us the Willeys.
Whilst you all debate the messenger, Angelo Codevilla, as a few commenters here and Pseudo on another thread mentioned, nails the messenger and the message.
What that story proves is the man is completely self centered and thinks he has special rights because of his wealth. Look at Rick Perry’s speech about Trump. He pointed out that Trump claims never to have had sought God’s forgiveness. Here’s the direct quote from Perry’s speech:
When I saw the Ivana Trump rape story this morning, that quote was the first thing I remembered. He is so self centered he doesn’t even realize what sin is. If he couldn’t ask for God’s forgiveness for that night’s behavior, then not only is he a deplorable human being, he is not fit to lead. He is a cancer on conservatism.
The Trumping will continue until morale improves.
Always with the fish, which variety do you want this time? Salmon?
Anything Scott Walker pulls from Trump Lake will be fine.
You’re right. Donald Trump shouldn’t be President of the United States. This story doesn’t really have much to do with the reasons why, though.
I would assume so; no reporter would dream of going to press with this without evidence. Most reporters tape everything. Tim certainly did when I was with him.
It’s standard to ask permission to record the call.
You actually believe things said during a divorce proceeding?
How does one protect one’s reputation? You could start by saying “this is a slanderous smear. It is utterly false. Here’s the evidence.” This is made all the easier because the woman he allegedly raped said he actually didn’t.
They have a right to report on what she said, if they want. They have a duty to report it accurately, and he can insist on that. You can threaten a lawsuit, if appropriate. What you do not do is threaten a reporter with abusive, bullying language and misrepresent the law in the process.
The answer to speech you don’t like is more speech, not threats.
Now Trump himself didn’t say this. If he doesn’t endorse this, he can always fire the lawyer.