Donald Trump and Aviles Santiago (courtesy flowjournal.com)

Is a politician’s — or potential politician’s — relationships with women fair game for journalists? The New York Times thinks so. Crossing the Line: How Donald Trump Behaved With Women in Private is based on “over 50” interviews with women who’ve interacted with the real estate mogul. It adds fuel to the fire of those stoking accusations of misogyny against the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Mr. Trump’s first wife’s accusation that her husband raped her is, perhaps, the most serious. Here’s the thing . . .

The investigative report indicates that Mr. Trump consistently views sex — and sexual appeal — as a commodity, rather than, say, the physical expression of love. Which it certainly can be. A commodity, I mean. And certainly always will be.

In any case, The Times article implies — but doesn’t state outright — that Mr. Trump “abused” his wealth and power by trading it for sexual gratification.

This angle on Mr. Trump dovetails with a more general perspective, stated by the candidate himself: everything is negotiable. Taxes, immigration, walls, foreign policy, rules of engagement for military, the use of torture, sex, everything. Americans’ natural, civil and constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms, too?

TTAG commentators have made that very point under previous Trump-related posts. Our gun rights wouldn’t be safe in a Trump administration, they say.

On the positive side, Mr. Trump starts from a position of [now] complete support for the Second Amendment’s ban on government infringement on gun rights; from calling for the end of federal “gun-free zones” to national reciprocity for concealed carry. Ms. Clinton’s starting point: civilian disarmament.

I don’t see any “answer” to this political conundrum. Better the devil you don’t know than the devil you do? I guess so.

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96 COMMENTS

  1. FLAME DELETED

    TTAG’s posting policy: no flaming the website, its authors or fellow commentators.

    • So one woman claims the reporter didn’t quote her in context and that is a big deal? I think the times piece was the result of 50 women who were interviewed. Trump’s first wife claimed he raped her while they were married.

      Don’t defend Trump, you’ll look like a fool.

        • What has Trump ever done, not merely said, but done, to defend the 2A? He’s a bilious blowhard who, by his own admission, can’t be held accountable for anything he says during the campaign because they’re only “suggestions.”

        • Trump’s done dick for the RKBA besides donating a shitload of money to our enemies across the nation and abroad (and a broad, Kamala Harris). Oh, and securing HIMSELF a carry permit in NYC in so doing.

          What a glorious defender of our rights, he is.

        • So Trump is pro 2a now while running for office after calling for various forms of gun control the rest of the time and donating to some of the most anti 2a politicians.

          Trump cares about trump, not you, not me, not 2a.

        • “I’ll defend Trump – especially when he’s defending the 2nd Amendment.”

          Me, too. Although I like Robert (most of the time) he’s peddling liberal/progressiveist campaign twaddle about Trump. I’ve watched Trump since last June. I almost immediately realized that what he was doing in all those over-the-top speeches and campaign events was establishing his brand. (His marketing strategy was genius: he immediately started pulling in tens of thousands of people while his retail politician opponents were pulling in dozens or, at most, hundreds.) On examining his actual political positions, I find that they are solid enough for my support. In particular, I think he’ll do a better job of supporting 2nd amendment rights than either Hillary or Bernie. Pissin’ and moanin’ about Trump while studiously ignoring the real threat posed by Hillary and Bernie is, in my humble opinion, just plain dumb.

      • This is all comming from the NY times dude. They are about as factual as infowars. Anyone that gives them any credit needs some serious education.

      • Actually no, Ivana Trump simply didn’t how they had sex, there was no rape. “Ivana Trump once accused the real-estate tycoon of ‘rape,’ although she later clarified: not in the ‘criminal sense.’. … Ivana Trump’s assertion of “rape” came in a deposition—part of the early ’90s divorce case between the Trumps, and revealed in the 1993 book …”

        The only account the NYT pushed was an ex-girl friend who reacted to the hit piece, by saying Trump was always a gentleman, and the NYT ignored the numerous praises she made about Trump, and reported the negatives out of context. If you want to lump praises on the NYT, how about how Hillary savaged the women who accused Bill of rape; I believe she coined it the bimbo eruption.

      • Women who are raped and survive it, immediately run away from the scene screaming, and contact police ASAP, without delay. The ones who don’t, are by definition not raped. Just fucked.

  4. Remember voting for Bill Clinton, RF? Twice? Clinton makes Trump look like a virgin. Trump is/was a playboy. Clinton is sexually mentally unbalanced.

    • No, I don’t remember voting for Bill Clinton. Because I didn’t. I only voted for a Democrat once in my life, and that was because I only had a choice between two of them.

      Although moral relativism isn’t much of a defense, point taken.

      Truth be told, I’m not so sure I wouldn’t have played the same game if I’d been in Trump’s shoes. As Oscar Wilde said, I can resist anything but temptation.

      Then again, I’m not running for president. And I don’t change/modify my views depending on their popularity.

      • Point taken. Apologize for the Clinton voting accusation.

        Women love Bill Clinton for a reason. He’s a rich, powerful player. He even jizzed all over the Oval Office (close enough). I suspect Trump’s cheating days are behind him with Melania around, but you never know. Clinton’s philandering days will never end.

        • I just saw the ‘National Enquirer’ (don’t laugh, they have gotten MANY things right over the years), that Hillary is suppressing the fact that Bill has had affairs with 36 different women in recent years. Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire.

        • And how many women did Hillary have “affairs” with?

          Nothing new here move along.

      • “I only voted for a Democrat once in my life, and that was because I only had a choice between two of them.”
        And now we all get the opportunity to choose between two Democrats! Or a Democrat & a socialist. Yippee.

      • No, you’re not running for president. You run a blog. A blog that apparently thinks the NY times is reliable.

    • “In any case, The Times article implies — but doesn’t state outright — that Mr. Trump “abused” his wealth and power by trading it for sexual gratification.”

      This just shows, if it’s true, that Trump has had the makings to be a politician all along.

  5. Trump is a lifelong liberal con man. I don’t trust him on the 2nd amendment, I don’t trust him on taxes, foreign policy, nothing.

    Hillary is a vile, repulsive option, Trump is right there with her though too. Trump supported Schumer, Reid, Kennedy, Hillary, Bill Clinton, Pelosi, etc. Don’t give me the ‘oh he was a businessman just buying influence’, well Bloomberg is one too and he’s never given to people like Ted Cruz. Steve Jobs, Ballmer, Gates, etc. all give nearly completely to liberals. Trump gave to Schumer, Pelosi, Reid, Clinton because he’s a liberal like them.

  6. Trump is a 13 layer shit sandwich.

    Vote for him because you hate the idea of Hillary that much if you must, but don’t pretend Trump is anything but a terrible human being by any metric.

  7. So if this is true then why is Trump not in jail? Perhaps because Ivana said: “During a deposition given by me in connection with my matrimonial case, I stated that my husband had raped me,” the Ivana Trump statement said. “[O]n one occasion during 1989, Mr. Trump and I had marital relations in which he behaved very differently toward me than he had during our marriage. As a woman, I felt violated, as the love and tenderness, which he normally exhibited towards me, was absent. I referred to this as a ‘rape,’ but I do not want my words to be interpreted in a literal or criminal sense.”

    • And we all know that women never lie about rape, right?

      Riiiiiight?

      (insert sound of crickets here)

      Yea. That’s what I thought.

  8. Women judge men on their resources(money, free time, social status), character(emotional control, ambition, charm), and life experiences.

    Trump didnt abuse his power and wealth, women wanted to be wrapped up in his power an wealth.

    Im starting to think all these guys that analyze trumps relationships are just a bunch of mr. nice guys that cant understand why beautiful women flock to powerful men.

    The more the media tries to discuss his relationships, the more women will vote for trump. This is no different than being in a club. Where the more a beta loser of a man says “hes a bad guy”, “but hes a player”, “you deserve a loving man”…the more the woman is drawn toward the alpha male.

    • They aren’t “Mr Nice Guy’s”. They are lifelong losers. Don’t you remember the people who were journalism majors in College. Guys who wrote, never accurately, about what OTHER guys did. Since they can’t rise up, they must bring down the successful. And they do it every day.

  9. I raised the point that Trump had too much(public) baggage. Nasty exes,girlfriends,4 BK’s,sleazy deals,tax cheat. Donnie sucks but the hildebeast is much worse. My own ex claimed I raped her-didn’t happen. Billary are actual traitors. $100000000 from furiners’? THIS is the worst I’ve ever seen in my 60some years. We are screwed either way. I’m hoping for the best from the orange dude…

  10. It’s relevant…because many people will vote character over platform (my mom was as liberal as they come, but voted Goldwater over Johnson, because Johnson was such a sleazebag).

    When dealing with two people with abominable platforms, character is what you have to go on, and it looks like both have abominable character, too. Yuck. It seems as if BOTH parties outdo themselves in picking a worse candidate than the time before, and that has been true since-and-including 1988. We’ve now reached the point where the R nominee is vastly worse than the D one was way-back-when.

      • It’s my bad here, I answered a very general question, instead of the one being asked. What I answered was along the lines of whether in general one should look at such things. The real question was whether you should judge his pro-gun-ness by his (alleged) shabby treatment of women. And I think those two are basically disjoint, unless you can make the point that the latter indicates such a degree of deceptiveness that it means you shouldn’t believe a thing he says.

        Note, that that’s what many Trump detractors do. In point of fact, I don’t believe I have any idea whatsoever what he’d really do once seated behind that desk in the Oval Office. I doubt he’d be consistent on any issue, much less ours. He’ll probably do some stuff the POTG would cheer and other stuff we’ll truly hate.

        I don’t think of a vote for Trump as “pro gun” but rather more as a “not definitely anti-gun” vote. I can’t picture myself pulling the lever for Hitlary. I can imagine pulling the lever for Trump, but I can’t imagine myself doing so with any sense that I’ve done something I’ll be proud of.

    • “It’s relevant…because many people will vote character over platform”

      It’s irrelevant this time, because the voters know both of them are equally scummy.

      It doesn’t matter if video is found of Trump groping Miss America contestants, the folks lining up to vote for him DON’T CARE about any of that.

      They want politically to ‘burn the whole bitch down’.

      Trump and Hillary are equally hated in this race…

      • If there were ever a race that will prove the maxim that people don’t love their own party, but rather they hate the other one, this is it.

        (As an aside: That hatred, not love of one’s own party, is what motivates people to not try third parties. They’re not worried about not helping X, they’re worried about not stopping Y.)

  12. FLAME DELETED

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    • Hahahaha right. Man I can’t imagine the epic butthurt you must feel. If what I said was considered flaming, I suggest you get out of the blogging business and into your safe space, Rob job.

      • Yes, he needs to go to his safe space and turn this over to somebody that can run it.

  13. COMMENT DELETED

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  14. Ask Juanita Broaddrick, Kathleen Wiley, and Monica Lewinsky about how Hillary Clinton oversaw the destruction of their lives and reputations. The Hildabeast and her minions like the NY Times have no business at all pointing fingers at anyone. The best title for that woman Hillary Clinton is Enabler-In-Chief because that was the one position she was good at.

  15. I am not a Trump fan but this article makes him a bit more palatable. If Trump was really some kind of secret criminal against women the New York Times would have found it. Instead they had to settle for weak sauce innuendo and SJW triggering bullshit. I guess this means Trump is clean.

    • Most Americans don’t settle in to monitor the presidential race until around September/October. Definitely not until after the conventions.

      The media is keeping their powder dry for not, taking mostly just a few pot shots at him now. Expect them to unload on him with all they have in the fall. Expect them to have a lot more to unload then.

      This is why Democrats invaded GOP open primaries to nominate this abomination. They nominated the weakest candidate to run against.

      • You are correct, the demons put Hillary up as their one and only candidate, the weakest and worst one possible.

  16. Back to the question, “What Does Donald Trump’s Relationships With Women Say About His Stance on Gun Rights?”

    I think not much. When making a deal, there has to be something that you want from the other side and they can give. Trump’s position on gun rights since campaigning has been solid.

    Do I trust him? Nope. But he has nothing to gain on this issue by giving the anti’s anything on gun rights – at the moment. So this issue really depends on who controls the house and senate after the election. Who does he have to make deals with?

    What this election really comes down to for gun rights is the next three, possibly four Justices on the Supreme Court.

    I think Trump is a carney barker, but Hillary is the poster child for left wing, corrupt politician and I know what kind of justices we’ll get if she’s elected. If she’s elected, kiss the Second Amendment goodbye.

    • Guaranteed, if SHE is elected, you can kiss what little is left of what the founding fathers’ have done to create this country goodbye, for she will, and has already, sold this country out multiple times… and despite the fact that her traitorous actions are still being exposed, her supporters don’t care and turn a blind eye toward it.

      Trump is definitely right about one thing, politics as usual is part of our problem, especially with these “liberals” at the helm and selling us down the river.

  17. Wow. The comments.

    I am 100%, absolutely sure that Clinton will attack gun rights. And she will appoint anti-2A supreme court judges.

    That “trumps” everything.

    Voting for ANYONE except Clinton.

  18. I’m just sick of the “devil you know…..” bit with Trump. He’s never done anything that wasn’t in his own interest, and often to the detriment of someone else. His entire reason for being is self-aggrandizement. He’s looking for a legacy greater than some gaudy casinos and money he can’t take with him.

    He’s an extremely dangerous man who will do even more damage than Obama and Hillary, because people will go along with his lunacy for quite some time before realizing they’ve been duped.

    To take comfort that Trump is not coming after you, is to take comfort that Trump is not coming after you, yet.

    • Agreed.

      Trump is so noxious you can’t hold your nose and vote for him. He’s as bad as Hillary and if you believe a word he says, you are a dope. He makes a lying politician look fairly honest.

    • You simply don’t know what you’re talking about and it shows, badly. Trump has given a lot to individuals and groups, Why are you even here if you are in the bag for Hilary, who has all ready promised to viciously attack gun rights by executive order and by appointing the more anti – gun, far left radicals she can find to the USSC.

      • There’s a huge difference between wishing the Republican Party had not nominated a shitbag, and being in the bag for Hitlary.

  19. “In any case, The Times article implies — but doesn’t state outright — that Mr. Trump “abused” his wealth and power by trading it for sexual gratification.”

    And…? Like women have never used sex to gain power and wealth… Get real.

  20. Trump seems fine on gun control. This is especially when compared to Cruz, who’s “pro gun”ness began and ended at trying to dress up a gun control bill of his as “protecting” rights (Look up the actual contents of Grassley-Cruz. I’ll wait).

  21. I neither like nor trust Trump. Unfortunately, our choice is between him, and he might be as bad as Hillary, or Hillary.

    I keep hearing speculation that Sanders might try a third party candidacy if he doesn’t get what he wants at the Democratic convention. That would be good news for us because he would siphon enough votes from Hillary to cost her the election. I expect he knows that and, in the end, will decide not to torpedo her. Maybe, enough of his supporters will stay home on election day to accomplish the same thing.

  24. If/When Trump becomes President, he will surround himself with pro gun people… unless those people are Chris Christie and Rudy Guiliani who are NY/NJ types that I just don’t have faith in to support and expand 2A.

    Why I put my trust in Donald Trump with 2A, when he’s made statements in the past that were anti-2A idk. I guess it’s because I’m willing to give Donald Trump the chance, because I didn’t think Cruz could beat Hilary, and because Trump isn’t Hilary.

    Trump is 100% right on concealed carry and he’s proof that he supports concealed carry because he’s one of a select few that can carry in NYC. Say what you will about him using his money and power to get that CCW permit, but there are many celebrities and rich/powerful/VIP types that are REALLY anti gun and don’t have one themselves.

    With “assault weapons” Idk where Trump stands. He’s said that with him as pres the 2nd amendment is “100% safe” but I’d have to hear from him whether he thinks the law abiding people have the right to own semi-automatic guns with detachable magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. I don’t see why Trump would think it makes any sort of difference whether a gun is semi-auto or a bolt action and holds 10 rounds or 30 because the point he’s made over and over with concealed carry is one person with a gun can make all the difference and save lives. Whether a gun holds 10 rounds or 30, people can still be murdered and limiting the good actors ability to stop the bad actors is dumb.

    Of course, that’s what I’d think he says, but IDK. He’s better than Hilary and he can beat her and that’s what I want. I don’t think we should confuse Trump’s rifle with his “gun”, one he uses for fighting the other for “fun.”

    • There’s more reason to trust him than Cruz. I’ll take the guy who used to be pro-disarmerment and now says his old views were misinformed (with plenty of proof he’s actually changed) and has given plenty of ways he’ll reduce infringements over the guy who introduced gun control legislation and federal government expansions (Grassley-Cruz) a mere 2 years ago then tried to tell me it was to “protect” gun owners (which he is still doing. It’s there on his website) and has offered no solutions.

      • And I give Trump the benefit of the doubt because people’s minds can change, which Trump’s certainly has.

    • No, it isn’t, not with so many ancient members of SCOTUS, The Senate can’t filibuster everybody, and once Hillary packs the Court you can kiss ’em goodbye.

  26. Gee Rob…… Being that the NY Times accurately and fairly coveres 2A issues, I’m sure they cover anything that’s not left wing communists with the same fair and just standards….. Right????!!!!

  27. I’ll just point out the obvious and go from there.

    1. This is a pro-gun website.
    2. Trump is the most pro-gun candidate with any chance of winning.
    3. Hillary is rabidly anti-gun and Bernie is highly anti-gun.
    4. The next POTUS will probably appoint 3-4 SCOTUS justices.
    5. There are no perfect candidates. Zero. And virtually all politicians are narcissists or become so.
    6. Chick dig money. Trump has it. Therefore chicks digs Trump. I don’t care if he’s a player or was a player.
    7. Our choices are Trump, Hillary, or Bernie. A “vote your conscience” choice has no chance of winning.
    8. It’s a 2-party system. Either your in government or your not. Government doesn’t care about the “nots.”
    9. Trump offends whiny liberal progressives. That gives me great joy.
    10. Both Hillary and Bernie are statists.
    11. Both Hillary or Bernie are likely to appoint Obama as a SCOTUS justice. There’s about a snowball’s chance in hell that Trump will do that.

    That’s how I see it. Feel free to argue or disagree any particular point. It seems to me that I’m a lot more pro-gun than most people on TTAG since I actually vote pro-gun and give money to pro-gun candidates. If Trump subsequently becomes anti-American and / or anti-gun, I will oppose him. We already know that Hillary and Bernie are anti-gun and anti-American. Both are really into European socialism and / or gun control, and neither is strong on the Constitution.

    • All true. Beyond guns there are a myriad of differences that sum up as one choice or another and there is no fence to sit on.

  28. “I don’t see any “answer” to this political conundrum. Better the devil you don’t know than the devil you do? I guess so.”

    Right-ish answer, wrong reasoning. What do we actually know about Trump? He likes to feel big, important, decisive, answer-y, and smart. He particularly likes to poke back at people who poke him, and poke holes in flimsy blaming arguments aimed at him. He’s utterly shameless about holes in his own arguments or his own inconsistencies. He’s brilliant and relentless at picking on holes or inconsistencies from people who have come down “against” him.

    From this we an project that Trump will block any ill-formed gun restriction people demand he do, especially if it’s presented as something obvious that he’s too dumb, or too in the pocket of the NRA to do.

    So, what to do? Encourage the gun-control folks to continue acting the way they always do, and he’ll block and deny them just to make the point that he’s huuuuuge. Can’t help himself. Fortunately they can’t help themselves either.

    What we need is more cowbell.
    https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=more+cowbell

    • I think you have it nailed. Hopefully Trump’s family continues to like guns and the anti-gunners continue their obnoxious ways. In the end, the SJWs might save the Republic with their unhinged moon-battery.

    • Hopefully the other side won’t figure out they can manipulate him, by pretending they want what they don’t really want.

      I’m pretty sure they already have figured it out, and they’re holding that tactic in reserve just in case he does win.

  30. The NY Times’ hitpiece is specious and thinly sourced at best. Already there’s one woman who was a source who has contested how her words were contorted by the NY Times.

    And Trump’s former wife, Ivana, disavowed the press’ claims that Trump raped her:

    http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trumps-wife-ivana-disavows-rape-allegation/story?id=32732204

    The NY Times is going to pull out all the stops on this one. There is fear in DC and NYC – the elites can smell that the natives are restless, with both Trump and Sanders’ candidacies showing that the peasants are revolting so much that they stink on ice.

    As for Trump and women, this clip from South Park pretty much explains everything:

    http://southpark.cc.com/clips/267346/understanding-the-outbreak

    • I’m guessing your casting your lot for Trump, also. I don’t see a better option at this point.

      • C’mon. In a contest of Trump vs. the Professional Broom Pilot… what is a guy with testicles going to do?

        Every man in America has to know she’s an emasculating witch. There’s never been any doubt about it. We’ve known who and what she is since about 1994. She hasn’t mellowed with age, only become more bitter and more corrupt.

      • I’ve been calling it “Oh, SHIT!!!” versus “Hell, NO!!!”

        In a contest like that, you pretty much have to go with “Oh, SHIT!!!”

        But that doesn’t mean I am not going to accurately identify the nature of “Oh, SHIT!!!” every time someone asks me what I think of him.

    • What I notice most about the NY Times is their two-faced “objectivity.”

      They’ll lavish all manner of tear-jerking stories on the Holocaust.

      But they’ve yet to return or disavow Walter Duranty’s Pulitzer for his propaganda obfuscating the Soviets deliberately starving millions of Ukrainians to death in the Holomodor.

      The NY Times has never wavered, never tired, never even paused in their advocacy of worldwide socialism/communism. Ever.

      • Their main method of manipulation is generally to fail to report on something that would be bad for that aim. It’s a bit harder to spot and prove an actual untruth. When it does happen (like with Dan Blather) it’s too blatant, and someone ends up getting cashiered. If it was decades ago, like the instance you brought up…well, it’s not newsworthy now, so we won’t bother with it. Better to just take the attitude of “oh, Holomodor just isn’t newsworthy. That Duranty Pulitzer prize, what difference does it make?” All rationalizations for the policy: Don’t give the enemy media coverage.

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