Donald Trump did not vote in a primary election for 21 years (so why does he interested in politics now?)



He's talking about running the country, but Donald Trump's record on voting in elections, or rather the lack of it, is coming under fire.

The New York City Board of Elections says Mr Trump did not vote in any primary elections for 21 years.

The registered Republican, who has been touting himself as a prospective presidential candidate, would first need to get GOP voters to nominate him in a primary – a process in which official records show Trump repeatedly failed to participate in.

No show: Trump missed voting in several primaries and one general election, according to Board of elections records

The real estate developer and reality show entertainer voted in the 1989 primary for mayor when Rudolph Giuliani beat business magnate Ronald Lauder.

But according to City Board of Elections documents, Trump failed to show up at the primaries after that for 21 years.

Among the presidential primaries he missed were 1988 when George Bush Sr was nominated and Bob Dole in 1996.

Mr Trump became a Democrat in 2001, and documents show he ignored that party’s primaries as well, missing the 2001 and 2005 primaries for mayor.

In 2002, not only did Mr Trump miss the Democratic primaries for statewide offices, but records show he also skipped the general election, the Associated Press reports.

There is also no evidence that Trump voted in the presidential primary between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, even though he voiced support for Mr Obama after Mrs Clinton took New York State.

Now you see him, now you don't: He voted in the 1989 primary for mayor when Rudolph Giuliani was running but not in George Bush's 1988 presidential primary



Mr Trump told NY1 in 2008: 'I think (Barack Obama) has a chance to to go down as a great president,” Trump told NY1 in 2008. “Now if he's not, if he's not a great president then this country is in trouble.'

NY1 was the first to report the information about Mr Trump's no-show at the polls. An angry Mr Trump told the station that it was wrong and that he's voted in every general election.

Mr Trump said: 'I voted in every general election … You’re going to pay a big price because you’re wrong ... I have records that I voted and so does the Board of Elections … I signed in at every election.'

His lawyer Michael Cohen said Saturday that "for one of the greatest international businessmen who travels all over the country and the world, his voting record is very, very good."

Mr Trump still hasn't confirmed whether he's running for the Republican nomination in 2012.

Chiefs at NBC, the network that airs his hit reality TV show The Apprentice, doubt that he will enter the race.

Give it a miss: Donald Trump was a Democrat in 2008, but no record could be found that he voted in the presidential primary between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama

'This is Donald being Donald,' one senior executive said. 'Any decision is still weeks away.'

Trump has said he will announce his intentions before June but has already put plans for further series of his reality show The Apprentice on hold after becoming the GOP frontrunner in latest poll.

The potential Republican contender said he told NBC last week he could not commit to a three-year contract extension for the series until he decides whether he's running.

There has been growing speculation that he will announce his decision on the night of the grand finale of the current series of Celebrity Apprentice on May 22.

Trump's show, which currently stars Meat Loaf, La Toyah Jackson and Gary Busey, has been NBC's top rated series over the last several weeks, pulling in about 8.1 million viewers this week.

According to the Times, several scenarios had been discussed if Trump decided to run. They included:

A new series could be taped this summer, then held until Trump’s fate is decided in the primaries or in the general election; NBC could substitute a different host for Trump; Or: Putting three of his children, all of whom already act as his seconds on the show, at the centre of The Apprentice” in his absence.

Hitting back: 'You're going to pay a big price' Donald Trump told NY1

But executives are still concerned that they would have to give the equivalent time from another candidate, or his or her children.

“Anyone assuming that the reality show host’s interest in running for president is just another one of his publicity stunts would not likely be wrong,” wrote Charlie Cook, the political analyst.

The decision to put future plans for the show on hold comes as a survey by Public Policy Polling shows that The Donald is Trumping the other GOP competitors - by a whopping nine-point lead, at 26 per cent.

In the national poll of the hypothetical Republican presidential field, Trump leads with 26 per cent, followed by former Arkansas Gov Mike Huckabee at 17 per cent, former Massachusetts Gov Mitt Romney at 15 per cent and ex-Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich at 11 per cent.

Trump needn't worry about any of the Tea Party darlings catching up with him as Sarah Palin trails behind with only eight per cent and Michele Bachmann only received four per cent of the vote.

Records: The New York City Board of Elections Data

When Trump addressed a raucous Tea Party crowd at a rally lasst week in Florida, he said he would be the ideal man for the job because he had the qualities needed in the White House and the conservative ideals necessary to seal the Republican nomination - should he decide to run.

Trump talked about his own business acumen in his speech to the crowd who were brandishing signs and wearing badges and T-shirts with his name on.

The real estate mogul even talked about the type of people he'd have serve as diplomats and said he was looking forward to releasing his financial disclosures.

'Most very successful people, the kind of people that we need running our country, don't want to be scrutinised and abused,' he said.

'This is the kind of person that this country must have right now.'

He derided Barack Obama, calling him the worst president to occupy the White House in history.

He again questioned whether the president was born in the U.S., even though the fact has been affirmed by officials in Hawaii, where Obama was born.

And he maligned China, saying the U.S. should take control of Iraqi oil and described American infrastructure as third world.

Camp Trump: A Trump T-shirt wearing Tea Party supporter at a rally in Florida and, right, Trump's tenacious spokesman Michael Cohen



Trump also said he was anti-abortion, against gun control and wanted to repeal President Obama's health care law.

However Karl Rove, former President Bush's Deputy Chief of Staff, thinks that Trump's so-called obsession with President Obama's birth certificate has hurt his running chances.

'He was an interesting candidate who had a business background,' Rove told Fox News. 'But his full embrace of the birther issue means he's off out there in the nutty right and is now an inconsequential candidate.

'I'm shocked,' he added. 'The idea that President Obama was not born in Hawaii, making that the centrepiece of his campaign means he's now a joke candidate.

'Let him go and announce for election on The Apprentice. The American people are not going to be hiring him and certainly the Republicans are not going to be hiring him in the Republican primary.'

Meanwhile the man behind Trump's possible 2012 presidential campaign has been revealed as a registered Democrat, who voted for President Obama in 2008.

Michael Cohen, who is known as the 'pit bull' at the Trump Organisation and around New York, also once volunteered for 1988 presidential candidate Michael Dukakis and worked for a Democratic member of Congress.

Explaining his nickname in an interview with ABC News, Cohen said: 'It means that if somebody does something Mr Trump doesn't like, I do everything in my power to resolve it to Mr Trump's benefit.

'If you do something wrong, I'm going to come at you, grab you by the neck and I'm not going to let you go until I'm finished.'

Perhaps not surprisingly Cohen is also known as 'Tom' AKA Tom Hagen, the consigliore to Vito Corleone in the Godfather films.

Defending himself and his past Democratic bent, Cohen said he had grown disappointed with President Obama and was 'offended' by his agenda.

'I thought it was the greatest thing ever,' Cohen said. 'This fantastic orator was going to make a change in this country. He was going to do things that Bush clearly did not do.'

His disappointment led Cohen, businessman Stewart Rahr and other supporters to create Should Trump Run? a website that has since attracted 830,000 hits.