It is very easy to pass off Donald Trump's announcement Tuesday that he will be seeking the Republican nomination for president in 2016 as a joke. Some already have.
But the nature of national politics creates an environment that favors celebrity personas, and, therefore the businessman and reality television star is bound to get attention in the media. You may not like that his name is in the news, but that distaste is part of the reason it's there in the first place.
The flip-side of that, for Trump, is that considering the comical and unserious way many view his campaign, in order to thrust himself into serious contention, it would help to have an announcement speech that was factually accurate, policy focused and less sensationalized.
That often was not the case during Tuesday's speech. Here are some of the "highlights" of his announcement, with some of the best reactions.
Mexican immigrants are 'rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.'
Reaction:
Lisa Navarrete, spokesperson for National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization, via The Guardian:
“This is a man who has a pathological need for attention,” said Navarrete. “I look at him as a 2-year-old who will say a naughty word to get their parents’ attention. That’s what he’s doing.”
Navarrete said the claim that Mexicans seeking work in America were rapists was “offensive."
“This is an exceedingly silly man, who has no idea what he’s talking about,” she said.
On dealing with immigration: Build a wall, make Mexico pay for it
Reaction:
ObamaCare deductibles 'are through the roof. You have to get hit by a tractor, literally a tractor, to use it.'
Reaction:
Recently, insurers filed requests for increases to premiums. Those are negotiated down...
But how do you respond to "literally, a tractor." As in, Trump thinks that for you to avoid getting a deductible you must have been hit by a tractor? What does that mean?
The Affordable Care Act website cost $5 billion; Trump's websites cost him $3
Reaction:
On Islamic terrorism: They built a hotel in Syria
They just built a hotel in Syria. Can you believe this? They built a hotel. When I have to build a hotel, I pay interest. They don’t have to pay interest, because they took the oil that, when we left Iraq, I said we should’ve taken.
Reaction:
The grain of truth here is that the Islamic State has taken over a luxury hotel. But they didn’t build it. And it’s not in Syria. And it doesn’t really operate like a normal hotel.
We couldn’t find any evidence that the Islamic State is running any sort of hotel in Syria. We tried to get in touch with a Trump spokesperson and didn’t hear back.
However, this May, the Islamic State reopened a five-star hotel in Mosul that shut down when the terrorist group took over the city, one of the largest in Iraq.
Also, it’s not really open for business. According to news reports, the Islamic State is using the hotel’s 262 rooms to house the group’s commanding officers, and they might use it as a wedding venue for the group’s members.