You loved him back then, you hate him now, Was Donald Trump a Democrat? Why the Billionaire Real Estate Mogul Has Changed Political Parties By Tom Murse Updated June 10, 2020 It's true: Donald Trump was a Democrat. Long before the ultrawealthy real estate magnate became president of the United States after running on the Republican Party ticket, he belonged to the party of former U.S. presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, and Lyndon Johnson. And that led to some conservatives suspecting Trump of acting on behalf of the Democrats, and in particular, the Clintons, to sabotage the GOP. "Saturday Night Live" comedian Seth Myers once quipped: “Donald Trump often talks about running as a Republican, which is surprising. I just assumed he was running as a joke.” Though many conservatives suspected Trump wasn't a real conservative for a long time before the 2016 campaign, he insisted he had the credentials to win over the Republican Party's right wing. “I am a conservative person. I am by nature a conservative person. I never looked at putting a label on myself, I wasn’t in politics," Trump said in 2015. "But if you look at my general attitudes in life I would certainly have the more conservative label put on me." When Donald Trump Was a Democrat It turns out you don't have to look far to find evidence that Trump wasn't always a conservative Republican. Trump was registered as a Democrat for more than eight years in the 2000s, according to New York City voter records made public during his 2016 campaign for president. Trump owned up to his years with the other party and told CNN's Wolf Blitzer in 2004 that he identified with Democrats during that time because they were more adept at handling the economy: "It just seems that the economy does better under the Democrats than the Republicans. Now, it shouldn't be that way. But if you go back, I mean it just seems that the economy does better under the Democrats....But certainly we had some very good economies under Democrats, as well as Republicans. But we've had some pretty bad disasters under the Republicans." Trump was a registered Democrat from August 2001 through September 2009. Criticisms of Trump's Voting Record Trump's inconsistency when it comes to party affiliation—he's also been registered with the Independence Party and as an independent—was an issue in the campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. Many in the large field of presidential hopefuls criticized his affiliation with the Democrats, including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. “He was a Democrat longer than he was a Republican. He's given more money to Democrats than he has to Republicans," Bush said. (Among the politicians Trump has given money to are former Secretary of State and Sen. Hillary Clinton, who was his Democratic opponent in the 2016 presidential campaign.) It probably didn't help Trump's case among conservative voters that he's spoken very highly of some of Democrats who are typically vilified by conservatives, including former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Oprah Winfrey, and even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Trump as a Stalking Horse Of course, there was plenty of speculation during the race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination that Trump was trying to sabotage the GOP candidates by saying outrageous things and making a mockery of the process in a bid to help Hillary Clinton win the election. "Donald Trump is trolling the GOP," political reporter Jonathan Allen wrote. Trump also threatened to run for president as an independent, a move many believed would siphon votes from the Republican nominee as other, similar candidates have done in the past. Sources Bush, Jeb, et al. “PolitiFact - Bush Says Trump Was a Democrat Longer than a Republican in the Last Decade.” 24 Aug. 2015. “Donald Trump Thinks That the Democratic Party, Which Is Called the Democratic Party, Should Be Called the ‘Democratic Party.’” Urban Education Journal | University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. Moody, Chris. “Donald Trump: 'I Probably Identify More as Democrat' - CNNPolitics.” CNN, Cable News Network, 22 July 2015. Staff, Extra. “Obama Roasts Trump at White House Correspondents' Dinner.” Extra, ExtraTV, 18 Oct. 2014.
Trump isn't/wasn't either a Democrat or a Republican. He was whatever he needed to be to con stupid people. He has no morals, no decency, no convictions, no loyalty to anyone but himself. To call him either a Republican or a Democrat is just falling for his con act. However, one party fell hook, line, and sinker for the con. That would be the Republicans. So it is irrelevant what Trump calls himself. What is important is who believes him.
Donald Trump is the man George Wallace hoped he could one day become. He rode the train of white supremacy all the way to the White House, something Wallace only dreamed of.
The Democrats never ran him for president. I think that is the smoking gun. Not a celeb pic from years ago.
All joking aside, and this was to give you a good ribbing, you are right. Trump was both a Republican and a Democrat, and at the same time neither. I think what really pisses everyone off, is that Trump "played the system". With 2 dominate political parties, we are all in the hands of the party bosses. Pick a party and we will tell you who to like, who to hate, what to think. He slide in, piss off the establishment (both parties), and ended up with the full political weight of both parties, the media, and the bureaucracy against him. Side Note: Lincoln Republicans, RINO's, and Never Trumpers are the Establishment Republicans. Trump was and is, for the most part and independent. Now the big question, we all know that an independent stands a 0% chance of ever being elected. How can Mr Smith go to Washington when all the slots are for the party bosses fair hair children.
Trump demonstrates the fault lines in the political system that we all are subjected to. He walked in, bullied everyone, and ate their lunches. If a man this unqualified can take apart a system that has been around for decades, anyone can take advantage of the fractures in our democracy for their own purposes. This man has roughly half the country willing to die for his every word. Donald Trump is a symptom. The problem is the fragility of the mainstream political structure that allowed something like Trump to even happen. It survived of course but at the same time paved the way for the next Autocrat to succeed where Trump failed. He has given them a roadmap.
Will the Trumpist demographic latch onto anybody who plays their favorite tunes, though, or does it require somebody who has Trump's ability to gratify his hunger for adulation? Big thinkers like Tucker Carlson are already nodding along with the idea that the Republicans are being forced (by the horrible socialists who hate America) to choose fascism, so will just any fascist be able to take up the Trumpist mantle?
