Support NeoGAF

[Gattsu25]

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/201...p-s-rapidly-changing-policy-positions-n547801

Donald Trump changes his mind so frequently and so dramatically that a compilation of his current policies would not tell the whole story, nor would it be up to date for very long — he once offered up three different views on abortion in eight hours. By mixing facts with exaggerations and outright falsehoods in hundreds of interviews while simultaneously refusing to offer specifics — insisting that unpredictability is an advantage he'll use to cut better deals — Trump and the Republican Party that's nominated him are putting forward the most elusive presidential platform in modern history.

To wit: This list features 117 distinct policy shifts on 20 major issues, tracking only his reversals since he announced his candidacy on June 16, 2015.

NBC News has done us all a great service by documenting Donald Trump's ever-shifting policy positions. For example, here are his policy positions on Immigration. In the article, each item is sourced and annotated:
IMMIGRATION

1. Build a wall, deport all undocumented immigrants.
2. Deport all undocumented immigrants but bring the 'good' ones back legally.
3. Build the wall, deport criminals, triple the number of ICE officers, end birthright citizenship.
4. Use a deportation force to implement policy.
5. Trump might be flexible on actually deporting 11 million undocumented immigrants.
6. Deport undocumented immigrants, but don't call it "mass deportations."
   6.b A deportation force is "TBD."
7. "I'm gonna do the same" as past presidents.
8. I'm open to "softening."
9. "There's no amnesty" but "we work with them."
10. Deport "criminal illegal immigrants" within one hour of being sworn in.
11. What's the plan again?
12. A deportation force is not currently being discussed.
13. The plan — whatever the plan is — has never changed.
14. Deport all undocumented immigrants in due time, using a deportation force.
15. Don't worry, hardliners. There's no amnesty and Mexico will pay!
16. But "there's really quite a bit of softening."
17. I won't rule out a path to citizenship.
18. Current position: Trump says he will deport millions, but he has not ruled out creating a pathway to citizenship. Despite immigration being the GOP nominee's signature issue, his policy position is still extremely unclear.

Here's another list detailing his positions for Health Care in the US. Again, the article includes sources and annotations:
HEALTH CARE

1. Repeal Obamacare. Look to Canada for inspiration.
2. Repeal Obamacare. Cover everybody.
3. Repeal Obamacare, but 'I like the mandate'
4. Repeal Obamacare. Replace it with something.
5. Repeal Obamacare. Not everyone will be covered.
6. Current position: Repeal Obamacare. Replace it with something

Here are all the categories that they cover:

Immigration
Young Undocumented Immigrants And Children Of Illegal Immigrants
Proposed Muslim Ban
Defeating Isis
Minimum Wage
Taxes
Voting For The Iraq War
Guns
2011 Intervention In Libya
Japan And Nukes
Climate Change
National Debt
Abortion
Money In Politics
Violating U.S. And International Laws With Regard To Torture, Terrorism
Visas For High-Skilled Workers
Border Control And The Refugee Crisis
Ku Klux Klan And David Duke
The Iran Nuclear Deal
Health Care​

It's really worth giving the article a read.

I'll flip flop if old.

 

[GoldenEye 007]

People voting for him simply don't care and want to watch the world and especially minorities burn.

 

[DontBeThatGuy]

lol @ the truth.

 

[CaviarMeths]

It's crazy how John Kerry's flip-flopping was one of the major factors that sunk his campaign, or at least the RNC's capitalization on it was. That was only 3 elections ago. Now Trump flip-flops more in a week than most politicians do in their entire careers and his base could not possibly care any less.

 

[UnemployedVillain]

The fundamental problem with the whole Trump craze and why it's so dangerous is that this is the type of reporting that would normally turn supporters away from a candidate, but Trump's supporters are so because they ignore these types of reports. They simply don't care. They can't be reasoned with, because their support defies reason

 

[Dubbedinenglish]

The only constant is his ego, as long as it is being fed the policy does not matter.

 

[Oni Jazar]

HEALTH CARE

1. Repeal Obamacare. Look to Canada for inspiration.
2. Repeal Obamacare. Cover everybody.
3. Repeal Obamacare, but 'I like the mandate'
4. Repeal Obamacare. Replace it with something.
5. Repeal Obamacare. Not everyone will be covered.
6. Current position: Repeal Obamacare. Replace it with something

This guy really knows what needs to be done unlike the crook and Muslim!

 

[RPGCrazied]

If this doesn't tell you this man isn't fit to be President, nothing will. He has no policy. He just goes with whatever on a given day. Sad.

 

[Red]

The fundamental problem with the whole Trump craze and why it's so dangerous is that this is the type of reporting that would normally turn supporters away from a candidate, but Trump's supporters are so because they ignore these types of reports. They simply don't care. They can't be reasoned with, because their support defies reason

I don't think it defies reason. Their reasons may not be swayed by policy flip flops. These things don't have weight for many people. One of the driving factors for voters is simply disliking the opposition. That's reason enough.

 

[Garmonbozia]

Sadly, his supporters don't care in the end. The benefits of a cult of personality, I guess.

 

[Muppet of a Man]

Like I've said previously...a wheeling and dealing opportunist that actually holds no position of his own at all. Aka a sociopath the likes of Silvio Berlusconi.

 

[entremet]

People voting for him simply don't care and want to watch the world and especially minorities burn.

He stepped back his nationwide stop and frisk plan to Chicago only lol.

Also none of this matters to his supporters.

 

[smokeandmirrors]

remember when john kerry got a bunch of shit for being a flip flopepr?

 

[Vince_Russo]

There's not much point to these articles, unfortunately. Just preaching to the choir. Trump supporters genuinely feel that Clinton kills people all the time. There's even jokes that they have to watch their backs when they talk bad about her online or they'll be "suicided"

They're very long gone.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

I don't think it defies reason. Their reasons may not be swayed by policy flip flops. These things don't have weight for many people. One of the driving factors for voters is simply disliking the opposition. That's reason enough.

Supporting a candidate whose politics and positions are paper thin or non-existent absolutely defies reason. You can't reason with idiots.

 

[Kerned]

I don't think it defies reason. Their reasons may not be swayed by policy flip flops. These things don't have weight for many people. One of the driving factors for voters is simply disliking the opposition. That's reason enough.

By "opposition" I assume you mean "brown people."

 

[Morrigan Stark]

OMG the part about climate change...

1. I don't believe in it.

"I don't believe in climate change," he told CNN in September after a long history of calling it both a hoax and a Chinese invention to undermine U.S. business interests. In May 2016, he vowed to "renegotiate … at a minimum" the Paris climate agreement, one of the Obama administration's landmark achievements.

2. Global warming is threatening one of my golf courses.

A statement of environmental impact filed by the Trump International Golf Links & Hotel Ireland, owned by the presumptive Republican nominee, cited rising sea levels and extreme weather due to global warming as the reason the company needed to build a seawall to protect its coastal resort, Politico reported Monday. The sea wall is necessary protect the course from "global warming and its effects."

Current position: Global warming isn't real, unless it's threatening a Trump property.

Climate change matters... for his golf course. If this guy were a cartoon character from a TV show for children, I would declare him to be an unbelievable caricature.

The fundamental problem with the whole Trump craze and why it's so dangerous is that this is the type of reporting that would normally turn supporters away from a candidate, but Trump's supporters are so because they ignore these types of reports. They simply don't care. They can't be reasoned with, because their support defies reason

Sadly, this is true.

 

[aeolist]

quickly shifting and contradictory policy positions is a hallmark of fascism

 

[PartlyCloudlike]

The problem isn't trump. The problem is people. A LOT of people. He's the butt ugly reflection you see in a gas station public toilet. They don't want any part of your progressive agenda, minority welcoming, gender neutral restroom. Even if it is cleaner and doesn't smell like dumb ass. They like things the way they were, when they were on top by right. The old days will be new again, praise be to Trump.

 

[RustyNails]

I mean we are all aghast by this. But Trump's supporters, if you listen to them speak (not the racist, hateful alt-right types) it becomes pretty clear that they don't care about policies at all, or lack thereof. Majority of his supporters are uneducated white men, so imagine them caring about the nitty gritty of deficit spending, tax laws and the nuclear triad. They don't. To them Trump is an anti-politician billionaire businessman and he will make the economy "rich" like himself and everything will be dandy. Even if he says the sky is pink, whatever. Nothing is going to penetrate their brains.

If anything, articles like these should be blasted towards 3rd party supporters and how voting for Gary Johnson helps elect this buffoon.

 

[Gordon Shumway]

This here will change the blackened hearts of his supporters..book it..

 

[Akuun]

Sometimes having a breakdown like this is better than simply saying the guy always talks completely out of his ass.

Unlike normal people, Trump seems to be completely free of the urge to keep any degree of reason, consistency, responsibility or accountability to anything he says or does.

 

[Pamplemousse]

Lester better have a question for Trump regarding this tomorrow.

 

[Opto]

The Drumpf particle occupies multiple positions simultaneously

 

[Gordon Shumway]

Lester better have a question for Trump regarding this tomorrow.

Doubt it..

The Drumpf particle occupies multiple positions simultaneously

It's science!

 

[MUnited83]

Yep. This is why people that claim that you can be not racist and still vote for Trump because of his other policies are completely full of shit.

 

[LiveFromKyoto]

The fundamental problem with the whole Trump craze and why it's so dangerous is that this is the type of reporting that would normally turn supporters away from a candidate, but Trump's supporters are so because they ignore these types of reports. They simply don't care. They can't be reasoned with, because their support defies reason

For the most part, it's perfectly reasonable. They fall on one side of certain hot-button issues, and in a two-party system they have no choice. They see a vote for Hillary as a vote for an America that kills unborn children, lets terrorists walk all over it, tilts towards high taxation & communism, and a Supreme Court that doesn't believe in God.

If the election was purely a referendum on whether Trump should be president, his favourables show he'd be wiped out.

 

[Darkgran]

Lester better have a question for Trump regarding this tomorrow.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 

[danm999]

That's the great thing about Trump, if you hate one of his policies don't worry, he's probably said he will do the opposite at some point.

 

[Gattsu25]

Supporting a candidate whose politics and positions are paper thin or non-existent absolutely defies reason. You can't reason with idiots.

I don't find this view unreasonable.

 

[Blader]

There's not much point to these articles, unfortunately. Just preaching to the choir. Trump supporters genuinely feel that Clinton kills people all the time. There's even jokes that they have to watch their backs when they talk bad about her online or they'll be "suicided"

They're very long gone.

Trump fact-checking isn't geared toward Trump supporters, who don't care about or believe in fact-checking, but toward third-party and undecided voters who are somehow still (!) on the fence.

 

[SilentRob]

"I'm not advocating guns in classrooms," he continued. "But remember, in some cases … trained teachers should be able to have guns in classrooms."

I just screamed into a pillow.

 

[LiK]

The pivots never stop

 

[Somnid]

Donald Trump has no real policies but I do strongly despise the idea of worrying about position shifts. The fact that it changed is largely unimportant because only a fool expects something to stay static in light of popularity and explored feasibility. Rather, they should concentrate on the lack of detail and how that has never changed.

 

[Shao Kahn on the Lawn]

We need the political equivalent of a Doppler radar to keep track of the ferocity of his current stances and the direction they're going in.

 

[thefro]

Donald Trump has no real policies but I do strongly despise the idea of worrying about position shifts. The fact that it changed is largely unimportant because only a fool expects something to stay static in light of popularity and explored feasibility. Rather, they should concentrate on the lack of detail and how that has never changed.

Typically people actually know what they're voting for.

 

[Hasphat'sAnts]

Once again the media believes that policy is what people are interested in when they vote for Trump.

They don't care.

 

[fantomena]

"Replace it with something."

Haha.

 

[Siegcram]

Donald Trump has no real policies but I do strongly despise the idea of worrying about position shifts. The fact that it changed is largely unimportant because only a fool expects something to stay static in light of popularity and explored feasibility. Rather, they should concentrate on the lack of detail and how that has never changed.

I think if you have multiple position changes per sentence, a little concern is justified.

 

[SuperBowser]

this is the sort of report politicians should face everyday. Then we wouldn't reach this point.

Instead we're treated to a clownshow that promotes Trump's idiocy.

 

[SilentRob]

this is the sort of report politicians should face everyday. Then we wouldn't reach this point.

Instead we're treated to a clownshow that promotes Trump's idiocy.

Trump had to face these reports since the second he stepped up as a candidate. It didn't change anything.

 

[emag]

Typically people actually know what they're voting for.

People never know what they're voting for. Nixon ran with the Southern Strategy, but wound up desegregating schools and enacting affirmative action. Obama ran on a end-the-wars platform but escalated killings in the ME.

People generally vote based on personalities and tribalism.

 

[SuperBowser]

Trump had to face these reports since the second he stepped up as a candidate. It didn't change anything.

barely. The majority of media have treated Trump in the past year the way Jimmy Fallon did. Trump should have been shut down by the media from step one (see Jeremy Corbyn in UK).

He's been riding on false equivalences, kiddy gloves and mutual respect that he does not deserve.

 

[ToraShiro]

Current position: Ask the generals, declare all kinds of war.

Massively simplified, actually terrifying.

 

[sflufan]

This list of "evolving" positions accurately illustrates him as Sam Harris describes as someone whose thought process is like an inflated balloon that isn't actually tied off at the end but is rather held closed between the fingers and then is let go to watch it go PPPPPPPFFFFFTTTT as it flies crazily around the room at random.

 

[RoninChaos]

These assholes (the media) spent all this time acting like Trump was a credible candidate so they could keep up this horse race for ratings and now they're panicking because he's a threat to our democracy. They were complicit in not calling out his issues and they're making a last minute dash to make up for their lax reporting. This shit seriously sickens me. They have given this dude the biggest pass but now they want to say "No, Trump is dangerous!"

 

[ezrarh]

He just says it like how it is! That's why I'm voting for him - at least he's consistent unlike crooked Hillary.

 

[Palette Swap]

Quantic policies. What could go wrong ?