Conservative talk-show host Glenn Beck said Thursday that Donald Trump likely voted for President Barack Obama in 2008, citing factors ranging from the Republican front-runner's longtime membership in the Democratic Party to his bitter attacks on former Republican President George W. Bush to his donations to leading Democrats.
"Let's hypothesize for a moment that Donald Trump did actually vote for Obama in the 2008 election," Beck said in an infographic
posted on his website. "If so, should it matter?
"If a presidential candidate's long-standing track record, opinions and stated beliefs hold any value, it should," he said.
Among the evidence Beck cites:
- Trump was a Democrat for seven years leading up to the 2008 election and remained in the party for nearly a year after voting.
- He praised Hillary Clinton's presidential candidacy, telling CNN's Wolf Blitzer that "I think Hillary would do a good job."
- He strongly attacked Bush on the Iraq war and other issues, once saying that he was "a terrible president, perhaps the worst president in the history of this country."
- Trump called for Bush's impeachment over the war two weeks before the 2008 election.
- He lauded Obama after he was elected in 2008, even saying in his book the next year: "His comments have led me to believe that he understands how the economy works on a comprehensive level. He has also surrounded himself with very competent people, and that's the mark of a strong leader."
- The developer donated a "maximum" amount of money to the re-election campaign of now Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid in 2010 after Obamacare was passed.
- Trump gave $50,000 to Rahm Emanuel, Obama's chief of staff who is now Chicago's mayor, a month after the 2010 mid-term elections.
"Did Trump vote for Obama?" Beck asks, urging readers to click on to express their opinion. "Why wouldn't he lie?"
Related Stories: