Trump opponents: Did you "give him a chance"?

[Dr. MB]

I did. I didn't support him during the campaign but after the election was over I realized he'd be president and I actually liked some of the things he did with the car companies. I watched a few of the victory rallies on TV and agreed with some of what he said. But candidate Trump was different than president Trump. He did some good things the first few days, like the congressional lobbying executive order. But once the pipeline order rolled out I started to disagree more and more, and by the next week I had realized he'd be a worse president than Bush.

[Frodo]

Trump made abundantly clear that he was a scumbag and a racist all his life up through election day.  Is that the sort of person you think I would be inclined to give the benefit of the doubt?

 

[pbrower2a]

Yes, but not for long. When the President persisted in vilifying his predecessor and his opponent, when he failed to try to convince people on the other side to do anything other than give in completely I gave up. It has gotten worse.

[Yank2133]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Bull****.

This whole thing was entirely predictable.

[BudgieForce]

You bet your ass I did.

[KingSweden]

I tried to talk myself into making peace with the idea of a President Trump the first week after the election, yes.

Then he tapped Sessions for AG

[Sestak]

I gave him a chance after he announced Mattis as SecDef.

He lost his chance pretty quickly.

[Crumpets]

Yes, but he wasted it well before he was sworn in.

[Indy Texas 🇺🇦🇵🇸]

No.

Someone who launched their political career spending years lying about the birthplace of his predecessor in a giant racist hoax is incapable of being a good president.

Character is destiny.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

For a short time. Not sure exactly when he lost said chance... In any event they died rather quickly.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Yes, I did.

Here was my initial take on him:

(If it was "Republican I'd least mind getting elected" then Trump - he wouldn't be any worse than the rest, might do some net good somewhere, and would spit in the face of the Party Establishment.)

That swiftly went downhill as he showed his true colors and I became very critical of his obvious failings:

Trump has moved from being the one pointing out that the emperor has no clothes, to becoming affronted at any discussion  his own wardrobe. (Doubtless one of Trumpfs first acts as President would be to ban criticism of himself.)

Sarcasm aside, I think I was pretty good at predicting his behavior, even if I was very, very wrong on vote totals.

And that he's good for ratings. "What awful stupidity will Trump utter next?" is an amazing way of drawing eyeballs.

I be shocked if his votes anywhere are as high as his polls.

Mere days after the election, here was my prediction for his presidency (in response to the question, 'Does Donald Trump want to do the job of POTUS?'):

Nope. But he'll enjoy the perks and the prestige.

So, like every other job he's had, he'll bask in the limelight and expect (demand) others do the hard work, then whine when things don't work out like he wanted.

[ProudModerate2]

Yes, I did.

Runeghost,
I just want to say that I absolutely love your signature (cartoon of "Humans of Late Capitalism").
LOL. Thanks for sharing it.

[Statilius the Epicurean]

No, I predicted pretty much 100% accurately how his Presidency would turn out, except maybe he's been a bit less aggressive on Iran than I expected.

[TML]

In the days immediately following Trump's election day win, I took a "wait and see" approach and held out some hope that he would become more presidential (like a George W. Bush-type figure) and moderate his policies a bit. Needless to say, that hasn't happened so far, so my view of him as president can be classified as "strongly disapprove."

[TPIG]

Does Trump being my 17th choice out of 17 GOP candidates and my leaving my presidential vote blank, while voting down-ballot for the GOP, count as being a Trump opponent? If so, I have given him a chance, and he has delivered on some important issues (regulations, Supreme Court, Paris Climate Deal). However, he is largely ineffective, and I desperately wish for someone in the mold of a Mitt Romney or a Jeb Bush  to be president.

[Dr. Arch]

No.

Someone who launched their political career spending years lying about the birthplace of his predecessor in a giant racist hoax is incapable of being a good president.

Character is destiny.

These were my thoughts, but I still kept my mind open, and he managed to botch it enough times before he even swore in after winning the election.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Yes, but he wasted it well before he was sworn in.

I had hoped he might be different once in office rather than on the campaign trail, but it's clear now that he has no interest in being President, but rather an eternal candidate.

[Devout Centrist]

No.

[IceSpear]

Yes, but he blew it pretty quickly within his first few weeks of office when he made it abundantly clear he chose to become the dear leader of the Alt-Reich rather than president for all Americans.

[Middle-aged Europe]

No, he didn't deserve one.

[BlueSwan]

No. I might be naive, but I'm not THAT naive.

[TheSaint250]

Could I be counted as an opponent now?  If so, then yes, but he blew his chance bigly.

[Inmate Trump]

Well, he has made zero accomplishments so far; his entire legislative agenda seems to be solely to reverse anything attributed to his predecessor (and he hasn't been too successful with that either, despite having a majority in both houses of Congress).  All he's really done is insult and lie and tweet.  So there's been very little substance to give him a chance on.

[GeorgiaModerate]

In the days immediately following Trump's election day win, I took a "wait and see" approach and held out some hope that he would become more presidential (like a George W. Bush-type figure) and moderate his policies a bit. Needless to say, that hasn't happened so far, so my view of him as president can be classified as "strongly disapprove."

[Koharu]

No. There is no reason for me to give a chance to someone who is in violation of the emoluments clause, is a proven liar, etc etc etc. He never should have been allowed in the White House (the electoral college failed on what it was specifically invented to do). I never got behind the "give him a chance" talk. And what would that even look like? Not be annoyed while he continued telling lies? Look away while he took money from who knows where at his golf clubs and hotels? I mean, seriously, what does "giving him a chance" even mean?