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For months now, people have been writing off Donald Trump's chances of being the President,
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saying that he's just a joke or fluke or fad, and, honestly, I use to write him off, too.
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But after looking into him, I have to say it is time to stop laughing, because if you
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watch till the end of this video, you'll see that Donald Trump has some incredibly effective
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mental techniques and the charisma to influence the masses. And as his poll numbers are clearly
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showing, he's got a very serious chance of working his way, not only to be the Republican
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nominee, but the President of the United States. So let's understand exactly how he's doing
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it by looking at his first technique--Fear.
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There's a great hatred toward Americans by large segments of the Muslim population. Twenty-five
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percent agree that violence against Americans, here in the United States, is justified. Sharia
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authorizes murder against non-believers, beheadings, and more unthinkable acts. It's gonna get
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worst and worst. You're gonna have more World Trade Centers. It's gonna get worst and worst,
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folks.
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Now, fear is an incredibly powerful emotion. Firstly, it captures our attention like no
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other emotion can. We focus intensely on the thing that is giving us that fear. Secondly,
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it shuts down higher thinking. When we're terrified by a bump in the night, we don't
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think rationally about the fact that it's likely just the wind. Our critical thinking
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skills dip as we focus simply on protecting ourselves, and, thirdly, fear feels crappy.
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We don't like to feel afraid. So, the fastest way to get out of fear, and to move towards
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a powerful emotion is to move into anger.
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When Mexico sends his people, they're not sending their best. They're bringing drugs.
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They're bringing crime. They're rapists.
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They're taking our jobs. They're taking our money.
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Syrians are now being caught at the southern border. We don't know who they are; could
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be ISIS.
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I would never have made that horrible, disgusting, incompetent deal with Iran. They're a terrorist
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nation.
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Now, notably, the outlets for this anger are always out-groups. They're never necessarily
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segments of the voting population. They're Sharia Muslims or Mexican rapists; people
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that are not going to influence this election. And he sets it up so that if you disagree
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with him, you are on the side of the other. You are anti-American life. It's a very powerful
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position for him to take. Even if it statistically doesn't make any sense with what's actually
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going on in the world.
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Now, with this fear that Donald has created, he takes a next step, and that is to imply,
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and, basically, say that no one else will keep you safe.
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Do you think this is tough when you're not being treated fairly?
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This isn't tough
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Oh, yeah, oh I know you're a tough guy, Jeb, I know.
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You're never gonna be president of the United States by insulting your way to the presidency.
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Oh, yeah? Let's see. I'm at 42 and you're at three, so so far, I'm doing better.
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So far I'm doing better. You know, you started off over here, Jeb, you're moving over further
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and further. Pretty soon, you're gonna be off the end.
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Now, this might strike you as schoolyard bullying, and, honestly, it is, but it has a very effective
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way of communicating that Donald Trump is the dominant force in any interaction that
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he is having these debates with Jeb Bush, and the poll numbers reflect that. Jeb, with
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every single advantage, has plummeted.
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Here's another example of Donald Trump absolutely running over Jeb Bush at a presidential debate,
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and, now, pay attention to the number of crutch words that Jeb uses compared to Donald; the
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way that Jeb's face looks when Donald cuts him off. Donald comes across as the dominant
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personality in this interaction.
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Excuse me Jeb, I was a businessman. I got along with Clinton, I get along with everybody.
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That was my job, to get along with people.
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More energy tonight, I like that.
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If you noticed, Jeb is looking at Trump the entire time, while Trump never even looks
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in his direction. He's going to talk no matter what. He didn't want...
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It was my obligation as a businessman, to my family, to my company, to my employees.
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Now, this might come across to you as a complete jerk move, but what people see behind that
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is strength because, honestly, Jeb Bush's personality cannot compete with the dominance of Donald
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Trump's, and, now, Trump has set it up such that he's created this climate of intense
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fear, and he's also made his opponent look completely inept when it comes to handling
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it, because they can't even handle him on stage. So, he sets himself up as the logical
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strongman and then promises Americans what they crave most deeply, which is a return
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to dominance; a return to that situation where we don't have to be afraid because we have
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the strong man leading us and which, in turn, makes us feel more powerful, and he spells
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that sentiment out exactly when he says no one is going to mess with us.
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I will rebuild our military. It will be so powerful and so great that we'll never have
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to use it. Nobody's gonna mess with us, folks, nobody. Nobody's gonna mess with us.
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So there you go--Donald promising total dominance. Nobody's ever gonna mess with us. Here's another
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example of Donald Trump's style of black and white, everything you ever dreamed of rhetoric.
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We're gonna start winning so much that you're gonna get used to winning instead of getting
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used to losing, whether it's military, whether it's trade, health care, we always lose. We're
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going to always win again.
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And you see, here, where most politicians might acknowledge that with effort and compromise,
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you can achieve a certain goal. Donald Trump promises us what we really want, which is
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to win in every arena, every time, guaranteed. This is the 6-minute abs version of politics.
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Does it work? No. But do people buy it in droves? Absolutely. Now, this tactic of creating
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an atmosphere of fear, presenting yourself as a strongman, and promising the world, is
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actually very, very common in the world of politics. The problem is it makes you extremely
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vulnerable. Lots of people are gonna be attacking you from the other side, and if you're ever
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seen as weak, you come across as a hypocrite who cannot deliver on their promises. One
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of the most fascinating things about Donald Trump is that he's always presenting himself
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as a winner, and the most basic way that he does this is through social proof. So, take
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a look at these clips, just from his opening remarks at one of the debates.
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When I began it, talking about other things and those things are things I'm very good
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at, and, maybe, that's why I'm center stage. People saw it. People liked it. People respected
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it. People like what I say. People respect what I say. So, you see? Over and over again,
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the Trump emphasizes that he is a winner; that he has been a winner. He quotes his poll
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numbers. He gets the best of the debates in most exchanges, but there's always gonna be
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those situations where somebody gets the best of him, and as a strongman, he can't afford
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that, which is where one of his most incredible skills comes in, and that is deflection with
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humor. Watch what happens in this next clip as the audience starts to boo.
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Well, let me just tell you something, and you know it because you just saw the numbers yourself.
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NBC, Wall Street Journal just came out with the poll, headline "Trump Way Up,
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Cruz Going Down."
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There he goes, again, quoting his winning poll numbers. Now, see how he deals with the
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boos.
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You can't... They don't like the Wall Street Journal. They don't like NBC, but I like the
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poll, and, frankly, when this came out
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Now, watch that. They were just booing him. He cracks this joke, people laughed, and watch
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how quickly the sentiment of the crowd changes.
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And, I would, now, as you know, Ted, in the last three polls, I'm beating you, so, you
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know, you shouldn't misrepresent how well you're doing with the polls.
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So that is the power of laughter. It is a pattern interrupt. You can't stay booing and
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upset, and angry when somebody makes you uncontrollably laugh. It also makes you more receptive to
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whatever comes next that somebody has to say, because they've already started to lead you
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emotionally. So, what Donald Trump is doing here is using laughter to take control of
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situations where he's starting to lose control, and what that does for him is it effectively
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helps him dodge any points that you make against him because he can almost erase them with
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a laughing crowd. This also works for ducking very pointed attacks, like this one, that
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you might have already seen on YouTube.
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You called women you don't like fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals, your
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Twitter account
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Only Rosie O'Donnell.
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No, it wasn't.
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And you hear Megyn Kelly here. Her point is getting drowned out. Obviously, it was more
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than Rosie O'Donnell, but because Donald has made the audience crack up, the entire point
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gets lost. It gets dismissed as ludicrous, which is what Donald goes on to say in his
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answer. It was just a joke, yada yada yada, and people have accepted that at this point
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because he made them laugh. Now, it's not just through laughter that Donald Trump was
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able to avoid talking about any of the contentious issues in his record. In fact, one of the
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most popular ways for him, that he's able to avoid engaging in any sort of reasonable
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debate about the things that he has said and done, is by simply acting superior to them.
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So, in this clip, Jeb is levying some charges against him. Watch Donald's face as he listens.
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He doesn't look at Jeb, and, really, he just has this complete look of disbelief and disgust,
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which communicates to the audience this is ludicrous. He doesn't even have to defend
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himself.
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ISIS was not our fight just two months ago. He said that Hillary Clinton would be a great
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negotiator with Iran, and he gets his foreign policy experience from the shows. That is
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not a serious kind of candidate.
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So take that, that sort of non-verbal communication, and contrast that with the reverse, when Donald
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Trump goes and attacks Jeb Bush, and see if you have a sense of how Jeb feels about it.
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The trouble that we're in now. And, by the way, Jeb, you mentioned Boeing. Take a look.
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They order planes. They make Boeing build their plant in China.
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So, notice how Jeb is looking at Donald. It's clear that he is ready to react to him.
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China. They don't want it made here. They want those planes made in China. That is not
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the way the game is supposed to be played
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Do you see that frustrated, tight look on Jeb's mouth? Basically, what's going on here
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is that Donald is leading Jeb. Jeb appears to be reacting to him, which he is, and this
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is where that communication of strength goes through. Donald Trump sets the tone, even
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when he's losing, he's able to reverse it with laughter. He acts superior to accusations
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against him. And then, the people around him can't seem to deal with the accusations that
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he levies against him. So, I want to show one more clip of Donald Trump now, dealing
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with a situation where somebody actually does get the better of him just for a moment. And,
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in this clip, the situation is that they just asked the candidates what their code name
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would be if they were to win President. Donald has been going at Jeb for being low energy,
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and Jeb responds.
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Eveready. It's very high energy, Donald.
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So Jeb gets in a zinger. And look at that. Jeb slaps his hand like a little kid walks
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up to a teenager when he extends his hand to be slapped. It's ridiculous. Donald is
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able to take control of the situation. He clearly sees that Jeb has won the audience
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with this little joke, and, so, rather than trying to make it a super serious thing, he
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makes himself a player in the funny game, and watch now as he one-ups even what Jeb did.
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And, again, here we have Jeb reacting very much. It becomes Donald's game that everyone
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else is reacting to, and it's this way that we get the sense that Donald is the leader.
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So, you combine the atmosphere of fear that he's created, with the fact that he seems
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to be the leader in so many ways. He promises this sense of dominance of a return to not
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having to worry about what's going to happen because he's going to lead and be protective
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over the nation, and what you've got is someone who's very, very powerful. Add to that this
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thing that he seems to be like Teflon. Whenever something comes at him, he can divert or deflect
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with a joke. He's in a very, very powerful position. Now, we still have yet to see what
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goes on with these Republican primaries, but don't count Trump out just because you think
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this is a fluke.
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In terms of charismatic personalities, he has everyone else in the field beat, whether
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you like it or not, and, truth be told, there's a lot more that I found on him that I just
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didn't have space for in this video. So, if you'd like to see that stuff. Let me know
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in the comments and, maybe, I'll do another follow-up video. Of course, subscribe if you
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morning, sometimes, more often than that. And, of course, if you're interested in going
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