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Louis Dor
Jul 30, 2016
Pictures: Getty
On Friday, the New York Times updated their online record of Donald Trump's Twitter insults, which stands as a damning indictment of the trough into which he has dragged political discourse in the US.
Two days prior, Trump had partaken in an "Ask Me Anything" session on reddit, in which he was asked what he would do to end the influence of money in politics.
It turns out that president Barack Obama was asked the same question in his AMA four years prior.
Their responses, as noted by Cooper Fleishman of Mic, could not have been further apart in tone and calibre.
Obama's response read:
Money has always been a factor in politics, but we are seeing something new in the no-holds barred flow of seven and eight figure checks, most undisclosed, into super-PACs; they fundamentally threaten to overwhelm the political process over the long run and drown out the voices of ordinary citizens. We need to start with passing the Disclose Act that is already written and been sponsored in Congress - to at least force disclosure of who is giving to who. We should also pass legislation prohibiting the bundling of campaign contributions from lobbyists. Over the longer term, I think we need to seriously consider mobilizing a constitutional amendment process to overturn Citizens United (assuming the Supreme Court doesn't revisit it). Even if the amendment process falls short, it can shine a spotlight of the super-PAC phenomenon and help apply pressure for change.
Trump's response read:
Keeping Crooked Hillary Clinton out of the White House!
These sessions are designed to give a snapshot of a candidate through some direct questions the public want answered.
Let's hope Trump takes the oval office a little more seriously - although his track record currently says otherwise.
HT Vox
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