Donald Trump Booed At South Carolina Rally, Is This The Beginning Of The End For The Billionaire Candidate?
Donald Trump has likely grown accustomed to boos and heckling from his detractors. But when a cacophony of disapproval erupts from his fellow Republicans, it might be a sure sign that his juggernaut of a campaign has finally hit a stretch of rough road. NBC News reports that the aspiring elected official was met with just that sort of reaction at an event in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Saturday when he launched into another round of sharp criticism of rival candidate Ted Cruz.
“You give a campaign contribution to Ted Cruz, you get whatever the hell you want,” Donald Trump said to an audience at the South Carolina Tea Party Coalition Convention. The audience erupted in boos, but Trump continued undaunted.
“Say whatever you want, it’s okay, he didn’t report his bank loans. He’s got bank loans from Goldman Sachs, he’s got bank loans from Citibank, folks, and then he acts like Robin Hood?”
The crowd continued to chastise Donald Trump and, as noted by NBC, at least one man – a 71 year-old Air Force veteran – rose from his seat and shouted at the real estate mogul. Unlike the Muslim woman who was ejected from a Trump event last week, the aforementioned elderly gentleman was not escorted out of the venue.
Donald Trump was even less restrained when he went on the attack against Ted Cruz earlier in the day on Saturday. Temporarily departing from his “birther” strategy that is ostensibly aimed at making Ted Cruz a less attractive candidate to some Republicans, Trump tweeted about concerns regarding Cruz’s position on gay marriage as well as loans he accepted from Goldman Sachs. All in all, Donald Trump posted 15 anti-Cruz tweets in less than 24 hours.
Ted is the ultimate hypocrite. Says one thing for money, does another for votes. https://t.co/hxdfy0mjVw
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2016
Everybody that loves the people of New York, and all they have been thru, should get hypocrites like Ted Cruz out of politics!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2016
Greatly dishonest of @TedCruz to file a financial disclosure form & not list his lending banks- then pretend he is going to clean up Wall St
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2016
Wow! Ted Cruz received $487K in campaign contributions, $11M from a NY hedge fund mogul, & $1M low int. loan from Goldman Sachs. Hypocrite
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2016
To be sure, Donald Trump’s decidedly negative strategies appear to be wearing thin, not just with respect to his base but with influential conservative pundits as well. Thus far during the primary season, Trump has run afoul of the likes of Glenn Beck and Erick Erickson, among others. Most recently, conservative writer and talk show host Mark Levin publicly warned the real estate mogul that continuing his feud with Ted Cruz will only damage his standing with the Republicans in the future.
“Either cut the crap – your accusations this morning that Cruz is Canadian, a criminal, owned by big banks, etc. … or you will lose lots and lots of conservatives,” Levin said in a Facebook post re-published by CNN. “Save the liberal New York City bully tactics for the New York City liberals. Put down your computer keyboard for a few hours, think before you tweet, and collect yourself. You’re not politically invincible, regardless of the polls and media. I am already hearing more and more people getting fed up with the low road you’re taking against Cruz, which has obviously intensified this morning.”
Controversy and hard feelings aside, Donald Trump is still the clear national frontrunner for the GOP according to an aggregate of polls by Real Clear Politics. The billionaire candidate holds a sizable lead over Ted Cruz in polls regarding the impending new Hampshire and South Carolina primaries. But things are not as rosy for the outspoken reality show star in Iowa, where Ted Cruz has pulled so close to Trump that the two are now in a statistical dead heat. Donald Trump is currently bankrolling ad campaigns in the early primary states in an effort to maintain his lead in the quest for the Republican nomination.
[Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images]
