Trumped: Inside the Greatest Political Upset of All Time (2017) User Reviews

Some good, some bad

[eospaulding · 7/10 · 7 February 2017]

It's an insult to Fox, CBS, CNN, etc., to call the material in "Trumped" unprecedented. And the slant is clearly anti-Trump. Virulently so.

Still, there's a lot of good news footage and some excellent interview material here. Nice piece of history, once we reach the point where the 2016 election isn't a just-gone-by current event.

Too bad no effort was put into the reason the election came out the way it did. The obvious bias of the hosts/moderators is another drawback. There didn't seem to be even an attempt to explain the why of the outcome, just the disbelief of the non-winners.

Liberal bias showcased cognitive dissonance personified

[tracybirkland · 6/10 · 22 July 2019]

This turned out to be the best way of showing why Trump won. The entire #MSM couldn't have done more to help her win. The "experts" were brought to tears over the fact that she lost. They are so lost to cognitive dissonance that they STILL can't see that Trump won because the VOTERS see what the media, Hollywood, Washington DC did. Hillary Clinton was A TERRIBLE CANDIDATE and a worse human being. Here we are 3yrs later and the people that claimed POTUS wouldn't accept the outcome Still haven't accepted she lost!

A really engaging and fast-paced documentary

[Jeremy_Urquhart · 7/10 · 17 July 2020]

I liked this a lot, and even as a Michael Moore fan, it's probably better than the compelling but somewhat flawed Fahrenheit 11/9. You're not going to find out much you don't already know, and I can see this being less useful for people who watched the tv series all the footage is from. But it's engaging and entertaining and kind of grim but also enlightening: I saw clips of Trump here that I hadn't seen before, and it kind of made me go: "huh, so that's the appeal." I mean it's not as important now that there's a 2020 election to worry about (and look, problems beyond that that are arguably more pressing), but it's a good political recap of how the USA got to the position it's been in since 2017, and so therefore kind of like a very well-done, feature length "previously on" segment for the tv show that is LIFE.

Very informative interesting look at the 2016 election

[davispittman · 8/10 · 13 March 2017]

Trumped is an inside look at how Donald J. Trump became the 45th president of the United States. Or as I personally like to call it: how our country elected a clown lol. Whether you supported Clinton or Trump in the November election doesn't really matter when watching this documentary. Yes the men doing it have a pretty clear liberal lean to them, but hey everyone has opinions. With me having supported Clinton in the election, it was interesting to see exactly how it all happened. Because believe me, I was beyond shocked at the result that night, I fully expected to see a Hillary Clinton win, but the pollsters were all wrong, that's not what we got. The documentary is well filmed, with real live footage of rallies, interviews with both campaign managers, Mook and Conway, and talks with other media people about what they expected the result to be. I liked the pacing and the very thorough explaining of everything as the film covered it. If you want to find out more about exactly how this shocking, very unconventional past election cycle happened, then I suggest this movie. Or maybe you have very young children right now and one day when they're older they want to learn more about the 2016 election, I'd say this movie is a good way to educate them.

The establishment asks the establishment why the establishment lost....

[AlsExGal · 4/10 · 14 February 2017]

...and can't seem to come up with an answer, in the end comparing Trump's victory to Pearl Harbor and the Civil War! I read some of the reviews of this documentary before writing my own, something I tend not to do, and I was genuinely puzzled at the claims of bias as I watched the first half, the part about Trump's rise to victory in the GOP presidential primaries to become the presidential nominee of that party. It does a very good job of compressing that 15 month period from Trump's announcement of his campaign to the convention and the mystified nature of the moneyed and anointed insider candidates who could not believe that this man who had never held any elected office in his life was pulling their base out from underneath them. Only Bernie Sanders, an anti-establishment candidate from the other side of the aisle, seemed to have any wisdom on the subject.

And THEN comes the general election campaign. And somehow all objectivity is lost. Every scandal and misstep of the Trump campaign is examined in minute detail. Meanwhile Hillary Clinton is portrayed as the 30 year public servant with common sense who is unfairly struck down by FBI director James Comey who decides to try her sins in public and by the hacking of private American emails by Russia, a country whose head, Vladimir Putin, had said he preferred that Trump win. Never is it mentioned that the leaked emails showed a clear conspiracy of the media and the DNC with the Clinton campaign to deep six Bernie Sanders' candidacy and crown Hillary the nominee. Never are the security clearance infractions that Clinton committed that made it possible for Comey to impugn her integrity in the first place ever discussed. And not one word about how Debbie Wasserman Schultz, head of the DNC at the time of the sabotage of the Sanders campaign, was basically met by eggs and tomatoes by Sanders supporters at the DNC convention and had to resign her post.

The cherry on top is the alleged "unbiased interviewer", Mark Halperin, following the campaigns around, showing up on Colbert's election night special - this was NOT a Trump love fest, I watched it - and agreeing with Colbert and his other guests that Trump's victory is a national calamity. Unbiased indeed.

At least in the end one of the interviewers - I don't remember who - may not have "gotten it" but at least uttered words that indicated he did. He said that 2016 was a year of unbridled anger for voters from both parties. The Democrats messed up when they served up the same old boring solutions that all of the insiders had been serving up for the past 20 years with falling wages and rising costs for the voters, and windfalls for the bankers and insiders that took their jobs all the while saying let them eat cake. The voters looked at the establishment candidate and they looked at Trump and thought they could either repeat what had been giving their personal finances a downward spiral or blow up Washington DC and let the chips fall where they may. They chose the second option. Maybe Bernie Sanders can explain this to them sometime.

Forgive me for pontificating in the last paragraph, but since the documentary did quite a bit of it I really don't see the problem.

At last a finale to the Circus.

[georgemabny · 8/10 · 5 February 2017]

I've watched "the circus - the greatest etc..." from day one.

It ended before election day with the presenters effectively saying they'd eat their hats if trump got elected.

what an anti-climax.

Subsequently Heilemann and Halperin and their show "with all due respect" were dropped by bloomberg during a changing of the guard.

I was gutted ... where was the follow up? Where were they eating their hats (figuratively)? I'm half way through this 'finale' because I'm savouring watching the second half.

I only wish the brits had done a similar show on brexit - they probably will in time.

My only criticism is that there is too much cursing by Heilemann which he must think is either cool or acceptable.

One-sided, as expected, from The Politico

[schweikart · 2/10 · 10 February 2017]

First, there is little original in this documentary: it is 100% taken from "The Circus," the Showtime series on the 2016 election with Mark Halperin, Mark Mckinnon, and John Heilemann, liberals all. Second, for the subtitle "Inside the Greatest Political Upset of All Time," there is almost zero understanding of why this happened.

Heilemann's final "Americans wanted to throw a bomb into Washington and see where the rubble bounces" comment was not enlightening as to WHY a bomb is needed in the first place, or why the horrid Obama regime had drive so many white, black and Hispanic Americans to desperation. Van Jones's inane comments about the election being about race shows (thank God) that the moronic media still doesn't even begin to understand what happened. One would think a movie like this would have tried to explain just that.

There is an amazing scene, totally un-commented upon (probably unnoticed) that occurs with Heilemann and Halperin immediately after Trump won the primary as they sit at a restaurant with Robbie Mook and John Podesta. The Politico guys are saying in essence, "Well, his tactics worked so far, but they won't work on you, right? RIGHT????" Mook was all sunshine pumping, but Podesta looked very, very concerned and said that the traditional slime tactics used by Democrats would not work on Trump, that he was impervious to that. My belief is that the knew then they were in for a helluva fight, and on the night before the election--in a clip the movie did NOT use---again Halperin asked Podesta about his confidence and rather than saying they had it in the bag, he deflected, dodged, and was again very, very concerned (cause he knew the real numbers, and likely was afraid to tell Hillary).

The documentary did an extreme disservice by not capturing any of Hillary's meltdown on election night. but overall, the lack of any serious analysis as to Trump's strengths, the lack of curiosity as to why virtually EVERY poll was wrong at state levels---this is a lame attempt and we still await a real, solid documentary about the election.

Good documentary, but about 20 minutes too long

[SeabrookeSmiles · 8/10 · 11 March 2017]

I won't comment on the politics that other reviewers did. That belongs on Facebook, not here.

This captures the excitement of the campaign. I love how they used music to heighten the drama. The film captured how angry half of America was. And the end captured the poignant sadness that the democrats had at the outcome and the joy that Trump voters had.

The only thing I'd change would be to cut some of the middle part which showed the long campaign. That was repetitive and probable only interesting to political wonks.

I watched the series The Circus. This is a nice ending to that series. It wraps up the crazy election.

A not very accurate account of the 2016 campaign with blatant Democratic bias

[douglaswcampbell60 · 2/10 · 24 February 2017]

The beginning of the movie when the focus was on the Republican primaries came across as relatively unbiased, but the coverage of the race after the conventions became completely unhinged. The blatant pro-Clinton bias of Halperin was bad enough but Heileman was absolutely insufferable.

Furthermore, most of the "news" clips were from CNN and MSNBC, two channels that don't practice responsible journalism. And like the MSM coverage during the campaign, little or no attention was paid to the many Clinton scandals or her poorly run campaign- just a brief mention of those leaked emails.

And the ending was pitiful - extensive coverage inside the Javits Center where Clinton was to have given a victory speech - the 3 "pundits" (especially Heileman) reacting with Snowflake-like disbelief at the outcome. I thought Heileman was going to start sobbing at any moment. Plus, attendees were filmed watching the developing election results on monitors tuned to the Clinton News Network. It's no wonder they were "stunned".

At the ending, we were supposed to feel sad and depressed (check out the melancholy ending theme music) about Trump's victory which is about what I expected from a channel like Showtime. It has some good moments, especially from early in the campaign, but after the conventions, the movie descends into blatant Democratic bias.

If you choose to watch this, you'll be thinking at the end, "Well, there's 2 hours of my life I'll never get back." Unless, of course, you are interested in learning more about how out of touch liberals are these days.

Show Confirms Allegations Made Against the Media

[KatCoelho · 1/10 · 7 March 2017]

I watched this show...twice. I wanted to ensure that my first opinion was not correct; give them a second chance, if you will. Oh well, I've been wrong before in giving second chances. As this election progressed, it became more and more apparent that the media showed prejudice with their interpretations, rather than reporting. This show contained nothing more than opinions by an obviously prejudiced group of over-paid people. They over-embellished on almost everything they stated as "fact!" John Heilemann's abusive language was insulting to listen to...he had to use the "f" bomb at every available opportunity; which was not necessary. If he thought he was "being cool" in some way, he certainly was NOT. No one in my home speaks like that and I did not appreciate my 96-year-old mother having to listen to his disgusting language. Mark Halperin's comment, comparing Mr. Trump's winning the election equal to The Civil War, WWII, and 9/11 was one of the most idiotic remarks I have ever heard; it just proves the fact that the media is not what it used to be. REAL media personnel, like Walter Cronkite, told the truth the way it was; why do these reporters feel they have the right to give us nothing more than their poor interpretations. This entire election has shown us all that the media has gone to hell on a handcart and is most certainly not a trustworthy source of information of any kind. This is pathetic because, as always, WE, the citizens, are missing hearing the truth. WE, the citizens, continue to lose because Congress will not do their jobs and assist the man that the majority voted into office. He is the President of the United States and deserves the respect and assistance required to do a good job for ALL of us, but he cannot do that with his hands tied behind his back by Congress! After watching this show, I thought of the American saying, "Land of the free, home of the brave." Thanks to the debacle during this entire election, they may as well change that line to "Land where NOTHING is free; home of the homeless," because of the media and Congress. They are destroying us all. Thanks a lot for doing your part in making the United States of America a bigger laughing stock of the world than it already is. You cannot blame Mr. Trump for THAT. Wow, maybe there WAS more truth to this airing; just not the truth we were all hoping for.

Hubris and Pretentiousness

[BoomerDT · 2/10 · 1 April 2017]

If you are watching this thinking this may as the title claims, an analysis of why Donald Trump pulled off an incredible electoral upset, be prepared for a major disappointment. It's more about how these 3 arrogant, snide and condescending left wing "journalists" (Heilemann, Halperin & McKinnon) stroll through the media tents with access to behind the scenes areas of both campaign headquarters with an astonishing air of self-importance. I never watched the SHO series, "The Circus" and from watching this documentary, I didn't miss much. This is very heavily edited and slanted to make Trump supporters all look a bunch of reactionary escapees from a looney bin, plus glossing over the many, many faults of Hillary Clinton who may be as bad of a candidate that any party has ever nominated. Never voted for Bill or Obama, but I will admit that they were both excellent campaigners, especially WJC who was a very charismatic politician.

If you are a Trump supporter, DVR it and fast forward to the final 15 minutes of election night. It's fun again to see the so-called expert pundits with excrement all over their faces. Plus their analysis of what occurred was spot wrong. They still didn't get what happened, ignoring the huge losses suffered by the Dems in all other elections across the country, except for the left coast and northeast. I guess from the left's POV the closing music, some sort of funeral dirge, was completely appropriate.

Deceiving title..

[scottdixon-05963 · 1/10 · 23 January 2019]

It would have been nice to see some Election Night footage of people who actually matter, rather than the Liberal whiners. Although, it was nice to see these 3 Liberal losers eat their words.. which were clearly chock full of soy.

Trump breaks rubber ceiling!!

[CocksureBurns · 3/10 · 15 February 2017]

Despite the fragile butt-hurt feelings of interviewers Halperin and Heilemann, Trump is obviously the right man for the times. Sometimes one needs to break a few heads, and conventional wisdoms to make an omelet. A HUGE, beautiful, winning bigly omelet. And, as Halperin, Heilemann and McKinnon indicate, while nobody expected a moose-turd omelet for breakfast, that IS what was ordered. Shut-up and eat it.

Obama broke the 'white ceiling'. HRC broke the 'glass ceiling' (by being the first woman to win the presidential nomination of a major US political party). Now the tremendous Donald J. Trump has broken the 'rubber ceiling'.

He has given inspiration to mental defectives everywhere to live their dreams of world domination. No more play-acting out your jerk-water fantasies in a padded room with action figures. Shed your straight jackets and fully realize your wildest alternative realities! The election of this fabulous Reality TV star has shown the low I.Q. populace that if you pool your resources with other intellectually challenged sociopaths, there's no limit to what you can't imagine to have accomplished. The future is as bright as your tinfoil hat!

CRYBABIES!

[sbennett400 · 3/10 · 14 October 2020]

That was one of the worst cases of liberals having pre-TDS things I've seen. My goodness look at it now. 3 and a half years later the world didn't end in the "worst cataclysm the United States has ever seen". The man, the legend has kept his promises. 3 historic peace deals that never get talked about. This is very tilted to the left and it just goes to show u should not judge a book by its cover.