Imagine President Trump

Trump's Top Adviser Leaves Campaign

Politico reports:

Donald Trump made the surprising announcement Saturday afternoon that he was firing his top adviser, Roger Stone, but hours before the political consultant’s friends told POLITICO that he was actually quitting. Earlier in the day, Stone’s friends told POLITICO that he sent an email to Trump announcing his decision to leave the campaign. More than an hour later, Trump told a Washington Post reporter he fired Stone. The news coincidentally hit Twitter about 15 minutes after Stone told a Fox News TV show that he couldn’t appear Saturday because he was no longer affiliated with the campaign, friends say. “I can’t believe Roger got out-Trumped, that he got out-Stoned,” one of Stone’s friends said. “Roger’s mistake was trusting Donald and not establishing a clear record that he was resigning first.” Regardless of who resigned or was fired first, the campaign shakeup was the first sign that Trump’s election effort was seriously damaged from within after his Thursday night debate performance and his subsequent comments in which he attacked one of the Fox debate moderators, Megyn Kelly.

According to Politico, Stone is considered to be a "Nixon-era dirty trickster." Hit the link for a conversation that reportedly took place between the two after the debate.

Trump: All You Loser Deviants Are Totally Misinterpreting Meaning Of "Wherever"

And yes, it does change fonts halfway through.

More GOP Blowback For Trump

Trump Disinvited From RedState Event

Trump was to be tonight's headliner and most of the other GOP candidates will be speaking there this weekend. While we enjoy the escalating teabagger implosion, let's not forget that Erick Erickson, the person now leading the charge against Donald Trump, regularly calls you a NAMBLA-supporting member of the gaystapo and a hell-bound mentally ill homofascist. Erickson has also called the First Lady a "Marxist harpy wife" and called a member of the Supreme Court a "goat-fucking child molester." And then there are the times that newly-minted feminist Erick Erickson refers to "ugly feminazis" who should "get in the kitchen and learn to cook." Oh, but he totally has the right to the moral high ground regarding Donald Trump.

Camille Paglia: The Crafty Clinton Machine Sent Trump To Destroy The GOP

"What's with the carpet-bombing Don Rickles routine? Does Trump have any facial expression beyond knotted, squinting scowl? It's a strain even to look at him. The entire debate begins with Trump getting booed for refusing to rule out a third-party bid. He has a slashing, entertaining wit, but his braggart narcissism is on painful display. He speaks in simplistic polarities of 'winners' versus 'losers,' as if geopolitics were a jangling Atlantic City casino. He sets high goals but lacks real answers to any government issue. Trump is a Trojan Horse sent by the crafty Clinton machine. He has a bellyful of swords aimed at GOP hearts." - Camille Paglia, writing for the Hollywood Reporter.

The GOP Debate: Songified

STUDY: Trump Fans Don't Spel Gud

Via USA Today:

Fans of Carly Fiorina venting their views on Facebook are far more likely to do so with proper grammar than fans of Donald Trump. A new study by the folks at the grammar-checking app Grammarly concluded that commenters on Fiorina’s Facebook page made an average of 6.3 grammatical and spelling errors per hundred words compared with 12.6 errors per hundred for folks posting on Trump’s page. The grammar used by Ben Carson’s Facebook followers ranks up there near Fiorina’s at 6.6 errors per hundred words, while Rick Perry’s commenters are second worst, at a 12.5 goof rate.

Shocking!

Todd Starnes Swipes At Megyn Kelly

Hillary Campaign Mocks GOP Debate

Fox Debate Breaks Viewership Record

CNN reports:

Early overnight Nielsen ratings suggest that Thursday's Republican debate was not just the most-watched primary debate in history -- it may have been twice as big as the previous record-holder. The debate on Fox News had a 16.0 household rating between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m., according to Nielsen. Translation: 16% of United States homes with TV sets tuned in. Fox News usually has 1% or 2% of the household audience. For the sake of comparison, the highest-rated Republican primary debates in 2011 and 2012 were watched by approximately 5% of households.

Last night may have been the most-watched Fox News telecast ever.

Taiwanese Animators On GOP Debate

Frank Bruni: Hooray For Fox News

"This wasn’t a debate, at least not like most of those I’ve seen. This was an inquisition. On Thursday night in Cleveland, the Fox News moderators did what only Fox News moderators could have done, because the representatives of any other network would have been accused of pro-Democratic partisanship. They took each of the 10 Republicans onstage to task. They held each of them to account. They made each address the most prominent blemishes on his record, the most profound apprehensions that voters feel about him, the greatest vulnerability that he has. It was riveting. It was admirable. It compels me to write a cluster of words I never imagined writing: hooray for Fox News." - Frank Bruni, writing for the New York Times. (Read the full piece.)

Today's New York Daily News

GOP Debate Audience Cheers When John Kasich Expresses Support For Gays

The Huffington Post recaps:

“Our court has ruled and I said we’ll accept it,” Kasich said in response to a question from moderator Megyn Kelly about what he would do if his child were homosexual. “And guess what? I just went to a wedding of a friend of mine who is gay." "Just because they don’t think the same way doesn’t mean we shouldn’t love them,” he added. “That’s what we’re taught when we have strong faith." The crowd cheered Kasich’s response. The reaction contrasted starkly with a 2011 Republican presidential debate in which audience members booed Army Capt. Stephen Hill, a gay combat veteran, for speaking favorably about the repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

It really was a surprising moment.

Drudge Readers: Trump By A Landslide

According to over 185,000 Drudge Report readers, Donald Trump won last night's debate. Trump took 50% of the poll's total vote with Ted Cruz coming in a distant second.

Trump: Fox News Was Unfair To Me

Donald Trump's social media team tends to make its points by quoting people on Twitter.

Baume: LGBT Issues At First GOP Debate

GOP Attack Ad: Voting For Rand Paul Is Voting To Nuke American Families

Via Mediaite:

A new ad from former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton‘s Foundation for American Security and Freedom warns that if you vote for Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul, a cute suburban American family will be annihilated by a nuclear explosion. The ad is totally not a ripoff of a 1964 Lyndon B. Johnson campaign ad claiming that if Americans voted for Barry Goldwater, a little girl would be annihilated in a nuclear explosion.

OPEN THREAD: GOP Kids' Table Debate

Watch along and weigh in here during the Kids' Table Debate, which begins at 5PM eastern. This and the later debate at 9PM will be streamed live at Fox News, but you'll need your cable system login to watch.