Mike Love Meets Donald Trump

[CenturyDeprived]

I guess we all have different perceptions, based on the information and biases we bring in, which underscores 18th of May's point, I guess.
If I saw that photo with no context at all, I'd agree - four friends showing affection.
Given my knowledge of the individuals and situation, I see a New York Senator and her charity-running husband hobnobbing with a very wealthy, prominent New Yorker.

Who are not only NOT endorsing each other, but  are rivals for the same office.

Agreed - except they weren't rivals for the same office at the time. But the photo does not imply an endorsement of Trump for Clinton.

Not only that, but this apparently candid photo of Clinton and Trump wasn't taken and posed for at Donald's behest, with the intention and end result being Donald publishing a full-res giant photo on the front page of his personal printed magazine "I Am The Donald And You're Not" with high tens of thousands of subscribers.

Had Donald done that in the 1990s when this photo was taken, I would think that many, many people would have gotten the idea that he was (at minimum) soft-endorsing Clinton.

Yet those actions I've described above are basically exactly the actions that Mike did. The Clinton/Trump pic was a (presumably) not posed photo, shot candidly, and it wound up in the press, which is why it circulates today. The Mike/Donald pic circulates because Mike made the effort to pose for it, and to post it on his website for the most possible number of views. It's apples and oranges to compare the two. 

[Emily]

I guess we all have different perceptions, based on the information and biases we bring in, which underscores 18th of May's point, I guess.
If I saw that photo with no context at all, I'd agree - four friends showing affection.
Given my knowledge of the individuals and situation, I see a New York Senator and her charity-running husband hobnobbing with a very wealthy, prominent New Yorker.

Who are not only NOT endorsing each other, but  are rivals for the same office.

Agreed - except they weren't rivals for the same office at the time. But the photo does not imply an endorsement of Trump for Clinton.

Not only that, but this apparently candid photo of Clinton and Trump wasn't taken and posed for at Donald's behest, with the intention and end result being Donald publishing a full-res giant photo on the front page of his personal printed magazine "I Am The Donald And You're Not" with high tens of thousands of subscribers.

Had Donald done that in the 1990s when this photo was taken, I would think that many, many people would have gotten the idea that he was (at minimum) soft-endorsing Clinton.

Yet those actions I've described above are basically exactly the actions that Mike did. The Clinton/Trump pic was a (presumably) not posed photo, shot candidly, and it wound up in the press, which is why it circulates today. The Mike/Donald pic circulates because Mike made the effort to pose for it, and to post it on his website for the most possible number of views. It's apples and oranges to compare the two. 

It was a posed picture for the media:

I've lived in the NY media market on-and-off throughout my life and, since the '80s, Donald Trump has managed to get his face on TV or in periodicals posing with whatever bigwig is around to pose with on a regular basis. He's inescapable and does not care who the bigwig he poses with is, as long as it will get his face on TV.

[CenturyDeprived]

I guess we all have different perceptions, based on the information and biases we bring in, which underscores 18th of May's point, I guess.
If I saw that photo with no context at all, I'd agree - four friends showing affection.
Given my knowledge of the individuals and situation, I see a New York Senator and her charity-running husband hobnobbing with a very wealthy, prominent New Yorker.

Who are not only NOT endorsing each other, but  are rivals for the same office.

Agreed - except they weren't rivals for the same office at the time. But the photo does not imply an endorsement of Trump for Clinton.

Not only that, but this apparently candid photo of Clinton and Trump wasn't taken and posed for at Donald's behest, with the intention and end result being Donald publishing a full-res giant photo on the front page of his personal printed magazine "I Am The Donald And You're Not" with high tens of thousands of subscribers.

Had Donald done that in the 1990s when this photo was taken, I would think that many, many people would have gotten the idea that he was (at minimum) soft-endorsing Clinton.

Yet those actions I've described above are basically exactly the actions that Mike did. The Clinton/Trump pic was a (presumably) not posed photo, shot candidly, and it wound up in the press, which is why it circulates today. The Mike/Donald pic circulates because Mike made the effort to pose for it, and to post it on his website for the most possible number of views. It's apples and oranges to compare the two.  

It was a posed picture for the media:

I've lived in the NY media market on-and-off throughout my life and, since the '80s, Donald Trump has managed to get his face on TV or in periodicals posing with whatever bigwig is around to pose with on a regular basis. He's inescapable and does not care who the bigwig he poses with is, as long as it will get his face on TV.

Ok, got it. There was a posed pic in the bunch after all. In that way, I think Mike and Trump are alike, in just wanting to get their faces on TV. But I don't think Mike, in 2016, would think that the public *wouldn't* consider a Facebook post by Mike to be at least a soft endorsement. Mike's savvy and would know that would be the impression, and I'm sure he wouldn't mind, because I don't believe it's anything but representing his actual feelings on who he likes of the candidates. It's a laugh to me to think of Mike supporting either Clinton or Sanders; of course he's gonna support Trump.

[Emily]

Based on what little I've gleaned of ML's politics, yes, he's most likely to support Trump among the current pool. And if his opinion of Trump was the same as mine, for instance, he wouldn't have posted the photo along with positive commentary. So while I wouldn't go so far as to call it an 'endorsement,' it's clear he's at best neutral and seems more positive than negative on Trump, and doesn't mind letting people know that.

[Jonathan Blum]

And what does Donald Trump "perform"?

...Donald Trump.

Regards,
Jon Blum

[Cam Mott]

And what does Donald Trump "perform"?

...Donald Trump.

Regards,
Jon Blum

Agreed.

[Cam Mott]

Now I'm surprised at all of the politics and endorsement revealed by the event photos.  Bruce endorsing Actress-Whose-Name-I-can't-Remember for President. Bruce giving his thumbs-up endorsement to His Shirt for President. Mike and Colin Powell endorsing Pop-up Event Canopy for President.  Tim and Capitol Building endorsing Keyboard for President. Mike giving his pontifical blessing to Robert Irvine for President,  

[The_Beach]

I guess we all have different perceptions, based on the information and biases we bring in, which underscores 18th of May's point, I guess.
If I saw that photo with no context at all, I'd agree - four friends showing affection.
Given my knowledge of the individuals and situation, I see a New York Senator and her charity-running husband hobnobbing with a very wealthy, prominent New Yorker.

Who are not only NOT endorsing each other, but  are rivals for the same office.

Agreed - except they weren't rivals for the same office at the time. But the photo does not imply an endorsement of Trump for Clinton.

Not only that, but this apparently candid photo of Clinton and Trump wasn't taken and posed for at Donald's behest, with the intention and end result being Donald publishing a full-res giant photo on the front page of his personal printed magazine "I Am The Donald And You're Not" with high tens of thousands of subscribers.

Had Donald done that in the 1990s when this photo was taken, I would think that many, many people would have gotten the idea that he was (at minimum) soft-endorsing Clinton.

Yet those actions I've described above are basically exactly the actions that Mike did. The Clinton/Trump pic was a (presumably) not posed photo, shot candidly, and it wound up in the press, which is why it circulates today. The Mike/Donald pic circulates because Mike made the effort to pose for it, and to post it on his website for the most possible number of views. It's apples and oranges to compare the two. 

It was a posed picture for the media:

I've lived in the NY media market on-and-off throughout my life and, since the '80s, Donald Trump has managed to get his face on TV or in periodicals posing with whatever bigwig is around to pose with on a regular basis. He's inescapable and does not care who the bigwig he poses with is, as long as it will get his face on TV.

Looks like Trump toke Hilary and Bill toke some young hot woman. Go figure

[18thofMay]

Now I'm surprised at all of the politics and endorsement revealed by the event photos.  Bruce endorsing Actress-Whose-Name-I-can't-Remember for President. Bruce giving his thumbs-up endorsement to His Shirt for President. Mike and Colin Powell endorsing Pop-up Event Canopy for President.  Tim and Capitol Building endorsing Keyboard for President. Mike giving his pontifical blessing to Robert Irvine for President,  

Pathetic.. again

[Cam Mott]

Now I'm surprised at all of the politics and endorsement revealed by the event photos.  Bruce endorsing Actress-Whose-Name-I-can't-Remember for President. Bruce giving his thumbs-up endorsement to His Shirt for President. Mike and Colin Powell endorsing Pop-up Event Canopy for President.  Tim and Capitol Building endorsing Keyboard for President. Mike giving his pontifical blessing to Robert Irvine for President,  

Pathetic.. again

Back at ya, friend.

[Jim V.]

Now I'm surprised at all of the politics and endorsement revealed by the event photos.  Bruce endorsing Actress-Whose-Name-I-can't-Remember for President. Bruce giving his thumbs-up endorsement to His Shirt for President. Mike and Colin Powell endorsing Pop-up Event Canopy for President.  Tim and Capitol Building endorsing Keyboard for President. Mike giving his pontifical blessing to Robert Irvine for President,  

Pathetic.. again

Back at ya, friend.

What's your opinion on the Donald, Cam? You support him for president?

[Cam Mott]

Now I'm surprised at all of the politics and endorsement revealed by the event photos.  Bruce endorsing Actress-Whose-Name-I-can't-Remember for President. Bruce giving his thumbs-up endorsement to His Shirt for President. Mike and Colin Powell endorsing Pop-up Event Canopy for President.  Tim and Capitol Building endorsing Keyboard for President. Mike giving his pontifical blessing to Robert Irvine for President,  

Pathetic.. again

Back at ya, friend.

What's your opinion on the Donald, Cam? You support him for president?

Registered Republican (because my dear departed Grandpa was) in 1971 and my first vote was for George McGovern. Since I've voted in every Presidential election and for more Democrat presidential candidates than Republican (but only by 1 to the best of my recollection). Not a Trump supporter. Never a supporter of Ted Cruz FYI.

[Jim V.]

Now I'm surprised at all of the politics and endorsement revealed by the event photos.  Bruce endorsing Actress-Whose-Name-I-can't-Remember for President. Bruce giving his thumbs-up endorsement to His Shirt for President. Mike and Colin Powell endorsing Pop-up Event Canopy for President.  Tim and Capitol Building endorsing Keyboard for President. Mike giving his pontifical blessing to Robert Irvine for President,  

Pathetic.. again

Back at ya, friend.

What's your opinion on the Donald, Cam? You support him for president?

Registered Republican (because my dear departed Grandpa was) in 1971 and my first vote was for George McGovern. Since I've voted in every Presidential election and for more Democrat presidential candidates than Republican (but only by 1 to the best of my recollection). Not a Trump supporter. Never a supporter of Ted Cruz FYI.

Damn. Did not expect an answer (much less THAT answer).

At least you are open minded on some issues. I'll give you credit for that.

[MarcellaHasDirtyFeet]

Now I'm surprised at all of the politics and endorsement revealed by the event photos.  Bruce endorsing Actress-Whose-Name-I-can't-Remember for President. Bruce giving his thumbs-up endorsement to His Shirt for President. Mike and Colin Powell endorsing Pop-up Event Canopy for President.  Tim and Capitol Building endorsing Keyboard for President. Mike giving his pontifical blessing to Robert Irvine for President,  

Pathetic.. again

Back at ya, friend.

What's your opinion on the Donald, Cam? You support him for president?

Registered Republican (because my dear departed Grandpa was) in 1971 and my first vote was for George McGovern. Since I've voted in every Presidential election and for more Democrat presidential candidates than Republican (but only by 1 to the best of my recollection). Not a Trump supporter. Never a supporter of Ted Cruz FYI.

Damn. Did not expect an answer (much less THAT answer).

At least you are open minded on some issues. I'll give you credit for that.

Lovely logic here:

Cam Mott is the devil.

Donald Trump is the devil.

Cam Mott supports/is in fact Donald Trump.

smh 

[CenturyDeprived]

Now I'm surprised at all of the politics and endorsement revealed by the event photos.  Bruce endorsing Actress-Whose-Name-I-can't-Remember for President. Bruce giving his thumbs-up endorsement to His Shirt for President. Mike and Colin Powell endorsing Pop-up Event Canopy for President.  Tim and Capitol Building endorsing Keyboard for President. Mike giving his pontifical blessing to Robert Irvine for President,  

Trump is a whole other ballgame than any of those other folks. Let's not pretend that any of those other people are major candidates running for President in the middle of a campaign. You know they are not, and it's different. None of your sarcastic comparisons to the other people you mentioned hold any water whatsoever.

Trump is the most divisive and controversial candidate in modern times (at least as far as anyone who has gotten as far as Trump has thus far - a lesser-known racist candidate like David Duke, for example, who ironically also supports Trump, would obviously be more divisive and controversial).  

Bottom line: Mike posing and FB posting a thumbs up with Trump is undoubtedly the most controversial soft endorsement that Mike could make of any major candidate, especially timing-wise in the middle of a campaign, even if we went back decades to try to find a comparison.  If you want to try and find someone else who is even close, Trump would still be #2 at minimum. A celeb posting a thumbs up pic with Trump is a big deal to a lot of people, and many people will interpret the pic as an endorsement of some sort; your attempts to downplay even the soft endorsement aspect don't change those people's perceptions, and you can't brush them off and say it doesn't matter, because we all know how much Mike cares about peoples' perceptions of him.

Mike, with apparent legitimate sincerity and anguish, says "why don't people like me more", and proceeds to take a pic with a guy like Trump, which then makes the social media rounds, and gets people who already don't like Mike to like him significantly less, and gets some people to actually stop going to his shows, with fans' comments stating those intentions subsequently deleted from his own FB page. I wish Mike would stop shooting himself in the foot, but looks like he won't be stopping anytime soon. Mike needs to borrow the foot-shooting bronze bust from James Watt.

[KDS]

If fans stop attending Mike and Bruce shows because Mike supports Trump, that's on them. 

As a Republican, there's a lot of great shows I'd have never attended had I cared one bit about a person's chosen side of the political race, or their party affiliation.   Roger Waters and Paul McCartney come to mind among others. 

Whatever feelings fans have towards Mike Love (good, bad, indifferent) shouldn't be affected by who he endorses. 

[CenturyDeprived]

If fans stop attending Mike and Bruce shows because Mike supports Trump, that's on them.  

As a Republican, there's a lot of great shows I'd have never attended had I cared one bit about a person's chosen side of the political race, or their party affiliation.   Roger Waters and Paul McCartney come to mind among others.  

Whatever feelings fans have towards Mike Love (good, bad, indifferent) shouldn't be affected by who he endorses.  

I totally understand your line of thinking. I can appreciate Mike's talents and songs even though I strongly disagree with some of his political stances. But in terms of Mike, who seems very eager to be universally loved, and seems baffled by people not liking him, it seems completely at odds with publicly showing support, or at least doing something that has given that perception, if it's going to be controversial.

One would *think* that a celeb who would go so far as to asking why they are not liked in a major magazine article (not many celebs would go that far to publicly ask that question... so it's obviously a big deal to him) would make every effort to keep viewpoints that could be considered controversial out of the public eye. I'm sure many celebs would keep a potential Trump endorsement, soft endorsement, posed pic, etc... anything like that which could obviously be considered as having controversial political potential... out of their own FB feed because they wouldn't want to deal with blowback. The excuse that you personally might think the pic is not controversial is not an excuse, because it has already become controversial as I've seen many people express deep disgust about it online - and that disgust would not have been difficult in the slightest to predict. Like it or not, a celeb can't have it both ways (posting a pic with the most controversial candidate in recent memory, and wondering why more people don't like them) in the social media age.  I just don't understand why Mike doesn't see his actions as being contradictory to his goal of not being disliked.

[HeyJude]

If fans stop attending Mike and Bruce shows because Mike supports Trump, that's on them. 

As a Republican, there's a lot of great shows I'd have never attended had I cared one bit about a person's chosen side of the political race, or their party affiliation.   Roger Waters and Paul McCartney come to mind among others. 

Whatever feelings fans have towards Mike Love (good, bad, indifferent) shouldn't be affected by who he endorses. 

To be fair, Mike's politics (and politics in general) have at times crossed over into impacting the band and/or its music. If nothing else, his apparent political leanings (and Bruce's for that matter) have been cited when expressing utter confusion (and accusations of hypocrisy) for their pro-environment songs and stance.

My thing isn't that people should not go to Mike's shows because of a picture or endorsement or his politics (and I don't think anybody does, so I don't even see it as an issue), but rather that I find it a bit absurd that anyone would be surprised that some people are repulsed by the recent Mike picture.

As with many things tied to a negative perception among some fans about Mike, like playing gigs with John Stamos, these things aren't the *cause* of anything some might find objectionable with Mike, they are all simply more symptoms of what some fight objectionable about him.

[filledeplage]

If fans stop attending Mike and Bruce shows because Mike supports Trump, that's on them. 

As a Republican, there's a lot of great shows I'd have never attended had I cared one bit about a person's chosen side of the political race, or their party affiliation.   Roger Waters and Paul McCartney come to mind among others. 

Whatever feelings fans have towards Mike Love (good, bad, indifferent) shouldn't be affected by who he endorses. 

To be fair, Mike's politics (and politics in general) have at times crossed over into impacting the band and/or its music. If nothing else, his apparent political leanings (and Bruce's for that matter) have been cited when expressing utter confusion (and accusations of hypocrisy) for their pro-environment songs and stance.

My thing isn't that people should not go to Mike's shows because of a picture or endorsement or his politics (and I don't think anybody does, so I don't even see it as an issue), but rather that I find it a bit absurd that anyone would be surprised that some people are repulsed by the recent Mike picture.

As with many things tied to a negative perception among some fans about Mike, like playing gigs with John Stamos, these things aren't the *cause* of anything some might find objectionable with Mike, they are all simply more symptoms of what some fight objectionable about him.

That is a serious stereotype alleging that Republicans don't care about clean air or clean water. Clean water and air is good for business.

It was on Obama's watch that the EPA had several toxic spills.  Where is the outcry?

Trump is a high level businessman and celebrity.  He holds no office (yet) and as such is still a private citizen, and an American who is free to associate with whomever he so chooses.  As is Mike. 

[Cam Mott]

Where is all this info about Mike's political beliefs coming from, more wild supposition based on who else is standing in proximity in other pictures?

[HeyJude]

We obviously don't know the super intimate details of Mike's political beliefs. He has done fundraising events for Republican politicians ("Bush Vibrations", and I believe he did a 2008 fundraiser for McCain).

He has performed at inaugurations and other events for sitting presidents of both parties. Don't know how often he's done a fundraiser for a *candidate* that isn't Republican (maybe some "Natural Law" party stuff in years past?).

He has also voiced opinions in the past on taxes. His position on "Sun City" in 1981 was, erm, intriguing I guess.

I don't think it's a completely manufactured idea that Mike might be generally a politically conservative guy. It doesn't mean we know where he stands on every issue or for whom he has voted in every (or any) election.

[Cam Mott]

We obviously don't know the super intimate details of Mike's political beliefs. He has done fundraising events for Republican politicians ("Bush Vibrations", and I believe he did a 2008 fundraiser for McCain).

He has performed at inaugurations and other events for sitting presidents of both parties. Don't know how often he's done a fundraiser for a *candidate* that isn't Republican (maybe some "Natural Law" party stuff in years past?).

He has also voiced opinions in the past on taxes. His position on "Sun City" in 1981 was, erm, intriguing I guess.

I don't think it's a completely manufactured idea that Mike might be generally a politically conservative guy. It doesn't mean we know where he stands on every issue or for whom he has voted in every (or any) election.

Sounds kinda manufactured to me.  I guess he could be the politically conservative guy who is an 40 some year environmentalist vegan TM devotee.

[Jim V.]

If fans stop attending Mike and Bruce shows because Mike supports Trump, that's on them. 

As a Republican, there's a lot of great shows I'd have never attended had I cared one bit about a person's chosen side of the political race, or their party affiliation.   Roger Waters and Paul McCartney come to mind among others. 

Whatever feelings fans have towards Mike Love (good, bad, indifferent) shouldn't be affected by who he endorses. 

To be fair, Mike's politics (and politics in general) have at times crossed over into impacting the band and/or its music. If nothing else, his apparent political leanings (and Bruce's for that matter) have been cited when expressing utter confusion (and accusations of hypocrisy) for their pro-environment songs and stance.

My thing isn't that people should not go to Mike's shows because of a picture or endorsement or his politics (and I don't think anybody does, so I don't even see it as an issue), but rather that I find it a bit absurd that anyone would be surprised that some people are repulsed by the recent Mike picture.

As with many things tied to a negative perception among some fans about Mike, like playing gigs with John Stamos, these things aren't the *cause* of anything some might find objectionable with Mike, they are all simply more symptoms of what some fight objectionable about him.

That is a serious stereotype alleging that Republicans don't care about clean air or clean water. Clean water and air is good for business.

It was on Obama's watch that the EPA had several toxic spills.  Where is the outcry?

Trump is a high level businessman and celebrity.  He holds no office (yet) and as such is still a private citizen, and an American who is free to associate with whomever he so chooses.  As is Mike. 

Wow it is crazy you are so far off base.

So to you there is no difference between President Obama having NO FUCKING CONTROL over stupid fuckin' private companies like BP spilling oil in the Gulf of Mexico, causing him to have to fix that problem and geniuses like Little Marco, Lyin' Ted and the Donald telling us that "global warming doesn't exist" and "I'm not a scientist, man" when asked about this stuff.

And clean water and air is good for business? Tell that to the biggest of the big Republican funders the Koch brothers, who have paid the largest civil fine ever imposed for environmental penalties for causing HUNDREDS OF OIL SPILLS. For instance Koch was  fined $30 million in 2000 by the EPA for causing over 300 oil spills. But yeah, SURELY they care LOTS about the environment.

[bachelorofbullets]

Where is all this info about Mike's political beliefs coming from, more wild supposition based on who else is standing in proximity in other pictures?

I'm pretty sure I remember Mike declaring he was a republican in his last Howard Stern interview.  I could be wrong but it sticks out in my mind.

[HeyJude]

We obviously don't know the super intimate details of Mike's political beliefs. He has done fundraising events for Republican politicians ("Bush Vibrations", and I believe he did a 2008 fundraiser for McCain).

He has performed at inaugurations and other events for sitting presidents of both parties. Don't know how often he's done a fundraiser for a *candidate* that isn't Republican (maybe some "Natural Law" party stuff in years past?).

He has also voiced opinions in the past on taxes. His position on "Sun City" in 1981 was, erm, intriguing I guess.

I don't think it's a completely manufactured idea that Mike might be generally a politically conservative guy. It doesn't mean we know where he stands on every issue or for whom he has voted in every (or any) election.

Sounds kinda manufactured to me.  I guess he could be the politically conservative guy who is an 40 some year environmentalist vegan TM devotee.

The recent Rolling Stone profile points out this very aspect of Mike. There definitely are weird contradictions. But the evidence we have at hand leads me much closer to "generally conservative with a few contradictory things" rather than "hippie liberal that just happens to continually associate with a bunch of conservative ideals and figures."