In two different political arguments on Facebook, I have seen different Trump supporters make essentially the same argument. They each claimed that Trump critics all loved "the Donald" back when he was a TV celebrity, but that us liberals only decided that he was a failed businessman and bigot when his presidential campaign took off and the liberal media turned on him. Obviously, I don't buy the story, but it did get me wondering what I might have thought about Donald Trump before he entered the current presidential race. Luckily. I have been blogging for a while and this site has a searchable archive, so here is every post that mentions Donald Trump from before 2015:
February 13, 2004. I write a post about this new show called "The Apprentice" and mention how I am not just avoiding it because I dislike Trump so much. The post does not give lot of details about why I disliked him. But it does mention a massive statue of the guy with a smug smile, implying that might have something to do with it.
April 18, 2011. Trump floats the idea of a presidential run and I hypothesize that it was just a publicity stunt. Nevertheless I characterized it as "pretty freaking awesome" that his publicity stunt campaign was leading in the polls. (This is the post that looks the most naive in retrospect)
February 9, 2013. I post a video of Trump with Bill Maher. The video link no longer works, but in my commentary afterwards I indicate that Trump is just a failed businessman whose biggest accomplishment is marketing the idea that he is a successful businessman. I also suggest that he's not that smart because he seems to believe his own bullshit.
December 1, 2011. I wonder why all the Republican presidential candidates are kissing up to Donald Trump, a guy who was recently on record being pro choice and pro single payer healthcare.
December 2, 2011. I quote Jon Huntsman (remember him?) who mocks the other GOP candidates for sucking up the Donald.
March 15, 2013. I mock Trump for thinking that the average European would vote Republican (what with their free tax-subsidized university system, government-run health care, etc).
And that's it until he began his current run in 2015. It doesn't look to me like I ever had a favorable impression of him. But check the links if you don't believe me.
