Donald Trump Says Public Scorn Greater Than He Expected

NASHUA, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Real estate magnate Donald Trump suggested Wednesday it's not much fun flirting with the idea of running for president in the face of relentless attacks and ridicule.

"Nobody said it was going to be easy, but I had no idea I would get hammered in the way I've been hammered the past few weeks," Trump said in Nashua, New Hampshire.

The billionaire host of NBC-TV's "Celebrity Apprentice" has hinted for months that he will run for the 2012 Republican nomination for a chance to take on President Barack Obama.

But Trump has slipped badly in surveys taken since Obama released his birth certificate confirming he was born in the United States.

The so-called "birther" issue had been a major issue of Trump's nascent campaign.

Public Policy Polling, which in April showed Trump leading the Republican field with 26 percent support, this week showed him with just 8 percent support.

Still, 700 businesspeople turned out for a sold-out Nashua Chamber of Commerce event. Trump delivered a speech heavy on his post-birther themes: high gas prices, Obama's healthcare reforms, and U.S. dealings with China and OPEC.

"If Obama gets re-elected, I think your taxes are going to go through the roof," Trump warned.

Still no word on whether a White House bid is for real, especially now that The Donald's political star is dimming.

"I'm thinking about running," he said.

Trump referred to the April 30 White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, during which Obama and comedian Seth Myers mocked the tycoon mercilessly while Trump sat in the audience, stone-faced.

Even Republicans have been taking shots, he noted.

"I haven't done anything, in all fairness," he said. "I haven't even announced whether or not I'm running."

(Reporting by Ros Krasny; Editing by Xavier Briand)

Corrects date of dinner in paragraph 11.

Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

 

 

Comments

[Demgirls]

10:08 PM on 05/18/2011

The office of the president is not for the faint hearted. Obama is one tough guy to have gotten where he is with all his challenges and to stand up to the naysayers. Kickass, Obama in 2012.

[builderman55]

09:01 PM on 05/16/2011

"Donald Trump Says Public Scorn Greater Than He Expected"...but far less scorn than he deserved...

[Bor Zoi]

05:25 PM on 05/16/2011

The Merkin is not running for President.

[Duane Hanes]

05:20 PM on 05/16/2011

Well "Donald," that is only because you behaved more stupidly than anyone expected.

And considering your past, woeful financial track record, marital history and daily antics, that is really saying something.

Just take all the money you need and go away.

[TheRealOsamabinladen]

03:10 PM on 05/16/2011

Donald says- "Life is like a huge box of chocolates, huge, you never know what you're going to get, except for me, I'm Donald Trump, thank you and congratulations to me Donald Trump."

[TheRealOsamabinladen]

03:06 PM on 05/16/2011

Trump/Orly Taitz --2012

[retromega]

02:30 PM on 05/16/2011

"I haven't done anything..." That's right Donald. You just engaged in some good ole' fashion race baiting and the American people let you know just what they think of that. Now America realizes that you have a tin ear, a small mind, and a view of the world that would make a 'cracker' turn red!

[menagainstviolence]

01:36 PM on 05/16/2011

Trump has no chance of being prez, Americans say
By: CNN Political Producer Alexander Mooney


(CNN) – Donald Trump is getting more bad news as he comes closer to making a final decision about a presidential run.

A new survey from Politico and George Washington University indicates more than two-thirds of Americans think the business mogul has "no chance" of ever winning the White House.

The poll, out Monday, shows 71 percent think a Trump candidacy is a non-starter while only 26 percent think there is a chance the reality television star could beat President Obama.

Those numbers follow a similarly-poor showing for Trump in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released last week. That survey showed Trump has an unfavorable rating of 64 percent and would lose to Obama by 22 points in a general election matchup.

The Politico/GWU poll surveyed 1,000 likely voters from May 8-12 and carries a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

[airmikee99]

01:36 PM on 05/16/2011

Show us the tax returns, Donald.

[zenbamboo]

12:01 PM on 05/16/2011

He is not running, he never was. He just needed enough PR to stroke his ego and get another season of his lousy show.

[Eric4969]

11:45 AM on 05/16/2011

The Don hasnt gone thru nothing OUR PRESIDENT has gone thru the Silly,Personal UnAmerican Rhetoric Like no other in our history of Presidents and NO Bushy didnt go thru this even though most of his attack's are desirved like Iraq and Bin Laden and Mission Accomplished OUtin our own CIA Agents Torture illegal spying on AMERICANS and so on Yes the Deficit 2 wars and again so on LOL

[OuterBanx North12]

01:26 PM on 05/16/2011

you really need to polish your sentence structure.

[Duane Hanes]

05:23 PM on 05/16/2011

Yeah, but you gotta love Eric4969's earnesty.

[Telly Savalas]

11:22 AM on 05/16/2011

Instead of the rooster-crowing we've all been subjected to, now Trumpy is clucking like a little hen......soon he'll lay that egg!
ROFLMAO!

[trobts]

11:19 AM on 05/16/2011

"I haven't done anything, in all fairness,"

That about sums up the non campaign AND what he would do IF he won. A candidate that cannot take criticism and cannot laugh at their own flaws and foibles is NOT a worthy candidate. Hell, he looks in the mirror everyday and he CAN'T see anything to laugh at ... he has major problems!

[GraniteSkyline]

11:08 AM on 05/16/2011

Gawd he's duh-mb, and vain!

[Handyman2]

11:07 AM on 05/16/2011

Sarah Palin / Donald Trump find that toxic rhetoric is OK when their making it, but not so much fun when it's directed their way. There's a word for that...."narcissism"