Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Breccia]

...ooh, but his ego has ever been his weakness. I would be very surprised if he conceded to 2nd fiddle.
McConnell...DeSantis...even Pence, need to be put into their place.

It's Trump, he's insane, it's impossible to say. Maybe he held off, not as an escape plan, but for PAC/legal reasons.

In any event, announcing his bid after a week of nothing but R after R after Murdoch after FOX News saying anything from "he's had his chance, is someone else's turn, we have other options" to "I blame Trump for our bad performance" to "fuck you fatty, you ruined my life" just strikes me as bad timing even a known PR master like Trump would struggle with. Yes, the crowd there will cheer his name and clap their hands...but nobody else will. Trump spent the last week yelling at the TV. Even if he is literally too insane to understand why people don't like him, he knows people don't like him.

Just to be clear, I also put the odds at his announcement being a WH run. I just wouldn't bet more than "pizza and wings" level of money on it.

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...ooh, but his ego has ever been his weakness. I would be very surprised if he conceded to 2nd fiddle.
McConnell...DeSantis...even Pence, need to be put into their place.

Or...you could be 100% right.

From Axios:

When Trump teased his rally crowd with his promise of a "very big announcement" on Nov. 15, he was actually offering a compromise to his advisers.

That very morning, Nov. 7, Trump had told associates he planned to announce his 2024 campaign that night in Dayton, Ohio, in his rally with JD Vance.

Even though he was less optimistic than some of his advisers, Trump expected Republicans to do well last Tuesday night. And his main concern, the day before the elections, was ensuring that he would receive sufficient credit for the GOP triumphs.

Trump figured that by announcing his own candidacy the night before election, he could increase his chances of getting the credit he felt he deserved, an adviser told Axios.

Several of Trump's confidants, including GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), were alarmed when they learned he was going to toss out his team's tentative plans of announcing his campaign the week after the midterms and instead do a haphazard announcement the night before the midterms.

They thought an election eve announcement would gin up Democratic turnout the next day and harm Republicans' chances. They scrambled into action and tried to talk Trump out of it.

He ultimately compromised by announcing his announcement date.

If Trump really did want to take credit for the election...well, congrats, he did.

[Kathranis]

The Jan 6th panel is not involved in the Mar-a-Lago raid.

No, but it's possible that some documents he took could pertain to Jan 6 or the election in general. Just like with Alex Jones' defamation suits yielding the entire content of his phone.

[unfilteredJW]

I see Tulsi has completed the path everyone with sense knew she'd take. Standing in for Tucker and simping for Rush.

This truly is shocking.

[Moralgy]

I see Tulsi has completed the path everyone with sense knew she'd take. Standing in for Tucker and simping for Rush.

xdd couldnt have seen this coming

[Breccia]

All the documents they retrieved in Mar-A-Lardo, good chances something there is connected.

No, but it's possible that some documents he took could pertain to Jan 6 or the election in general.

Agreed, but let's not forget, the Jan 6th panel's main job -- especially now -- is to get a bunch of information on the record and hand it to the DOJ. They don't need to do that with the Mar-a-Lago documents, the DOJ already has those.

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DeSantis handwaves Trump.

Damn. That's fucking harsh.

"What? All he did was politely and professionally ignore a troll. You should try that s--"

Yes, but Trump loves attention and thrives on conflict. Being ignored is one of the worst things that can happen to him. DeSantis chose those lack-of-words on purpose.

I...I think he's running.

[gondrin]

So, are the MAGA folks starting to realize that an echo chamber is generally a bad thing? Maybe.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...3e91b3be1f0041

Far-Right Republican Who Called For 'More Gallows' Wonders If GOP Had A Messaging Problem

As updated vote tallies began to cement a loss for Trump-backed Arizona governor candidate Kari Lake on Monday, a far-right state lawmaker who told a gathering of white nationalists that “we need to build more gallows” started to have second thoughts about her party’s pitch to voters.

“We wonder now if we were in an echo chamber,” said state Sen. Wendy Rogers (R), who has also suggested throwing county officials in solitary confinement and spent years lying about the 2020 election.

“I don’t know, I’m just beginning to get some perspective,” added Rogers.

In the final days of her unsuccessful campaign against Democrat Katie Hobbs, Lake bear-hugged Rogers, despite the fellow Republican being one of the nation’s foremost elected supporters of the white nationalist influencer Nick Fuentes.

Rogers’ realization about echo chambers occurred in an interesting place: She was speaking to Charlie Kirk on his YouTube show, which is also broadcast on the Salem Radio Network.

Kirk is the founder of the right-wing youth group Turning Point USA, which has close ties to the Trump family and spent considerable time and money working to elect Arizona Republicans. The group’s nationwide endorsement page is now sprinkled with painful losses, including Lake and U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters (R).

“Every pollster was wrong, every single one,” Kirk told Rogers. Later, he apologized to listeners for getting the projections wrong ― referring to positive polling for Lake as “Kool-Aid” ― and mentioned that he’d heard “they didn’t run an internal poll the whole campaign.”

“Never again are we going to trust polls, or tracking, or any of that stuff,” Kirk said.

As the results rolled in, the crew speculated that Lake, who in many ways emulated former President Donald Trump’s election denialism and theatrical antagonism of the press, was simply too much for some otherwise winnable Arizona voters.

“If every person who voted to retire [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi in Arizona voted for Kari Lake, she’s governor,” Kirk said, referring to Arizona’s U.S. House delegation, which went from 5-4 Democratic to 6-3 Republican with this election.

“What that means ... is a Republican undervote, and it looks like that happened,” he added, referring to voters who supported Republicans other than Lake.

Tyler Bowyer, TPUSA’s chief operating officer and a falsepresidential “elector” for Trump’s 2020 campaign, said “the same Trump attack messaging seemed to work” against Lake.

“I love Trump, I love him to death, but the Trump rally is an echo chamber,” Bowyer said separately, responding to Rogers’ comment. He recalled warning Lake’s political team against having “all the same people showing up to the same events” and not bringing in new supporters but rather “fangirls and fanboys.”

Rogers agreed that Trump’s more recent rallies felt like a “family reunion.”

“I do think voters are telling us that they’re fatigued,” Kirk said. “I think people are telling us, they’re trying to send it in more ways than one: ‘I’m going to vote for the more boring person.’”

A few minutes later, Kirk read the latest returns from Maricopa County ― home to more than half of Arizona’s residents ― which sealed the deal on Hobbs’ projected victory.

Then he read an email from a listener as he and his guests’ heads sank. “We all have Trump fatigue syndrome,” he read. “I reluctantly voted for Kari Lake but all my friends couldn’t do it. We don’t want all the bombast.”

When Kirk announced that Lake was trailing Hobbs by 20 points in Pima County, the second largest county in the state, Rogers did a double take. “You said 20 points?” she confirmed, seemingly stunned as she looked at her phone.

[Breccia]

“I don’t know, I’m just beginning to get some perspective,”

Torn between "About fucking time" and "...are you, though? Are you really?" Because I don't know who Wendy Rogers is, other than the secret love child of two fast food franchises, but Trump's about to announce his run in like seventeen seconds and I'm already about to predict she goes all-in on Trump.

[Kathranis]

It's a shame that her ultimate takeaway seems to be "I love Trump but he's too mask-off, we need to put our masks back on to win elections."

Not "oh hey Trump is a piece of shit narcissist who is normalizing extremism amongst his supporters and everyone else thinks that's gross."

[Edge-]

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022...4-announcement

Fuckin lol, apparently Trump's shitty daughter and shitty son-in-law don't want anything to do with Trump Part Deux and Trump is begging them to join his announcement.

I wonder if they think this will put them back in the good graces of their wealthy liberal neighbors. They probably do, and it's gonna be funny when we have another round of stories complaining that nobody invites them to house parties.

[Nymrohd]

It's a shame that her ultimate takeaway seems to be "I love Trump but he's too mask-off, we need to put our masks back on to win elections."

Not "oh hey Trump is a piece of shit narcissist who is normalizing extremism amongst his supporters and everyone else thinks that's gross."

But that's the right takeaway. The Republicans did win elections with their masks on. They have done horrible things with a veneer of civility. Repealing Roe vs Wade is not central to the MAGA message, it is central to the GOP message. And what the elections show is that people who can keep that veneer but will undoubtedly vote for every horrible law after are much more electible. Heck if they stopped doing things that are retarded when it comes to the economy, they'd still win elections even if they went full throttle with the culture wars as long as they did not vocalize their intent.

[Breccia]

I'm curious to see if Jared and Ivanka join Trump onstage when he announces his run.

*ahem*

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022...4-announcement

Fuckin lol, apparently Trump's shitty daughter and shitty son-in-law don't want anything to do with Trump Part Deux and Trump is begging them to join his announcement.

I wonder if they think this will put them back in the good graces of their wealthy liberal neighbors. They probably do, and it's gonna be funny when we have another round of stories complaining that nobody invites them to house parties.

Kushner isn't needed anyhow. He did...what, exactly? Losing Ivanka hurts. Trump, as we all know, needs a hot piece of ass to be vi--

"DUDE that's his daughter!"

Yes. I know. In Trump's mind, a woman over 45 is ugly. Check his divorce record. He's only kept Melania because he was running. Honestly I don't know what Trump promised her to stay, but I'll bet he had to pay in advance. She divorces him, he's off the R ticket, end of story.

[Edge-]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-b2225869.html

Uh...damn...I think the walls are closing in around Trump now.

Matt fucking Gaetz is pulling out of the event as well, citing bad weather. Which is a bit confusing since flights are all still going as-usual for the most part. I do wonder if Trump will start getting the hint or if he'll continue doubling down just to spite everyone else.

[Redwyrm]

What happened to the "announcement"

[Edge-]

What happened to the "announcement"

6PM PT /9PM ET, so in about 50 minutes.

[Redwyrm]

6PM PT /9PM ET, so in about 50 minutes.

Damn, I can make about 24 bags of popcorn in that time. I might need it for the circus.

[cubby]

*ahem*



Kushner isn't needed anyhow. He did...what, exactly? Losing Ivanka hurts. Trump, as we all know, needs a hot piece of ass to be vi--

"DUDE that's his daughter!"

Yes. I know. In Trump's mind, a woman over 45 is ugly. Check his divorce record. He's only kept Melania because he was running. Honestly I don't know what Trump promised her to stay, but I'll bet he had to pay in advance. She divorces him, he's off the R ticket, end of story.

Of all the things regarding Trump to be curious about, the Russia thing is at the top of my list. However, what Melania got to stay on is right up at the top. I hope she got a yuge chunk of change, up front and untouchable, before she decided not to leave him. Or, conversely, what he must have threatened to keep her "on board".

[ringpriest]

I see Tulsi has completed the path everyone with sense knew she'd take. Standing in for Tucker and simping for Rush.

Credit where credit is due: if Rush Limbaugh hadn't helped kill so many Republicans (mostly via his COVID conspiracy theories, but also by encouraging them to smoke), the Democrats wouldn't have done nearly so well last week. And he also killed himself, preventing years of malign disinformation.

[Edge-]

Damn, I can make about 24 bags of popcorn in that time. I might need it for the circus.

All I'm left with moderately expired popcorn. Still perfectly eatable and fine, just maybe a bit dry.

[Redwyrm]

All I'm left with moderately expired popcorn. Still perfectly eatable and fine, just maybe a bit dry.

Well it is appropriate. Trump is way past his expiration date as anybody relevant.

[Edge-]

https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/15/polit...bid/index.html

And it's official, the paperwork is filed.

Trying to find the paperwork itself as I'm assuming he's running as a Republican but am sorta hoping he ends up running third party to split the vote.