Omnibus Politics Thread: Campaign 2016 EditionFollow

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Donald Trump is suggesting boycotting Starbucks over the minimalist design of its annual holiday cups.

Trump tells thousands of people at a rally in Springfield, Illinois on Monday that: "Maybe we should boycott Starbucks. I don't know."

Some religious conservatives have expressed anger over the all-red design of the coffee company's holiday cups, seeing them as part of a larger movement away from Christmas.

"Starbucks is taking Merry Christmas. No more Merry Christmas. I will tell you," Trump said to the crowd.

He added, "Hey look, I'm speaking against myself. I have most one of the most successful Starbucks in Trump Tower."

Previous years' cups have featured snowflakes, winter scenes and Christmas tree ornaments. Trump has also expressed frustrations over companies using the term "Happy Holidays" in place of "Merry Christmas."

He says that if he becomes president, everyone will be saying "Merry Christmas."

As CBS News correspondent Don Dahler reported, the topic of Starbucks cups percolated on social media, where Evangelical groups accused the company of waging a "war on Christmas."

"Do you realize that Starbucks wanted to take Christ and Christmas off of their brand new holiday cups? That's why they're just plain red," former pastor Josh Feuerstein said.

On Thursday, Feuerstein posted a video to his Facebook page that has now been viewed 12 million times.

"When I went in, I asked for my coffee, they asked for my name and I told them, 'My name is Merry Christmas.' So guess what, Starbucks? I tricked you into putting 'Merry Christmas' on your cup," Feuerstein said in the video.

In a statement to CBS News, Starbucks responded, saying: "Our core values as a company is to create a culture of belonging, inclusion and diversity..." and "...we will continue to embrace and welcome customers from all backgrounds and religions in our stores around the world."

Experts said Starbucks will stick with their minimalist design.

"I'm sure in some ways they're happy about some of this attention. It's really shining a spotlight on their brand and the holiday season. They probably have a lot of people that are welcoming this change as well. So people will come to Starbucks and buy coffee and maybe they'll put their hashtag on it, but they're buying a cup of coffee," Adweek editor Lisa Granatstein said.

This isn't the first time Starbucks has been attacked for its cup designs. In 2005, the company launched its "The Way I See It" campaign, printing quotes from notable figures on its cups. Some dealt with gay rights and religion, drawing anger from Christian and Muslim groups. Last March, Starbucks was forced to yank its controversial "Race Together" campaign days after launch, which was intended to get people to talk about race.

Who did he commission, a freshman art 1 student?

Only Gbaji would put effort into defending a GOP candidate claiming that the pyramids were granaries.

Hey, guys, Bobby Jindal dropped out of the race. Did you remember that he was in the race? Well, it doesn't matter now because he dropped out.

Faced with increasing scrutiny about whether Mr. Carson, who leads in some Republican presidential polls, was capable of leading American foreign policy, two of his top advisers said in interviews that he had struggled to master the intricacies of the Middle East and national security and that intense tutoring was having little effect.

“Nobody has been able to sit down with him and have him get one iota of intelligent information about the Middle East,” said Duane R. Clarridge, a top adviser to Mr. Carson on terrorism and national security. He also said Mr. Carson needed weekly conference calls briefing him on foreign policy so “we can make him smart.”
[...]
Mr. Clarridge, who contacted Mr. Carson nearly two years ago to offer his services without pay, has helped the candidate prepare for debates. But the briefings do not always seem to sink in, Mr. Clarridge said. After Mr. Carson struggled on “Fox News Sunday” to say whom he would call first to form a coalition against the Islamic State, Mr. Clarridge called Mr. Williams in frustration. “We need to have a conference call once a week where his guys roll out the subjects they think will be out there, and we can make him smart,” Mr. Clarridge said he told Mr. Williams.

Mr. Williams, one of Mr. Carson’s closest friends, who does not have an official role in the campaign, also lamented the Fox News interview. “He’s been briefed on it so many times,” he said. “I guess he just froze.”