Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Edge-]

"Asking"? So they could just say "nah" and walk away?

Overall, the speech just seemed to be about conspiracies and fear. Not really much different from the last few years.

The difference in how media are covering it is interesting, though. CNN definitely taking that turn toward the right a bit more. Other places just went for it with their headlines, mentioning the impeachments and such.

Oh boy, it's not just mask off he's peeling the flesh right off of his face. Good lord, there's no way Republicans are signing back on with this after the midterms, and if this is how it's starting (I should watch the speech, apparently it was very sad, very low energy) like this then they're going to have a delightful two years of campaigning from him. And they can't run away from him: He was the Republican president from 2016-2020 and the head of the party during that time, largely maintaining that status up until Nov. 8, 2022.

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The spineless fuck that is Lindsey Graham is on the Trump train again, at least.

Not at all predictable. And people say democrats never learn lol

Holy fuckin shit what does Trump have on Graham that he's simping over this shit after just about everyone of note in the party has functionally abandoned him? Even Pence seems to have received approval from Mother to take some fairly mild digs at Trump recently.

[bladeXcrasher]

So Trump's schilling for Herschel Walker, but he's taking 90% of the donations and giving Walker 10% lol

[Endus]

Y'all, /r/conservative has a thread on it and the knives are really out, this is delightful. Don't go shitposting or brigading or anything, but it's worth a look to see just how much that place has suddenly turned on Trump and how the [MAGA] tags and the like have all but disappeared.

They're absolutely livid and rightfully blame Trump and his brand of candidate for costing them their "Red Wave". At best they're looking to eke out a slim majority in the House, which is still a significant win, but otherwise they were fairly wiped out across the board. The only real victories they're rallying around are very strong performances in Florida with DeSantis (boy DeSaintis just rolls off the tongue, eh? So does DeSatan, but whatever, that one honestly sucks in comparison.) and Florida. They have some other great pickups in states like NY and CA in the House, but overall the predicted Republican wave did not appear and it's basically Trump's fault. (And yes, the Republican party for allying him, but they're nowhere near that level of self awareness there. Baby steps.)

So what do you think? Is DeSantis gonna announce his own run in the next couple weeks, pissing off everyone who just voted for him as Governor? Or does he give Trump a good year or so of time to build up a head of steam and get his candidacy imprinted in every Republican's head so that DeSantis comes off as a usurper when he finally gets around to it?

Or does he just ignore the obvious path and decide to stick it out as governor because all this shit is bananas?

[Kathranis]

Did not edit this.

Fox News even cut away from his speech.

[Edge-]

So speaking of Trump things, Devin Nunes. Truth Social CEO and former House Rep.

https://www.techdirt.com/2022/11/15/...re-documented/

Remember that time he sued a reporter for reporting that his family farm used undocumented labor? And his family farm (NuStar) did as well?

Well...uh, we all know discovery is a thing and -

NuStar produced a verified employee roster with their names, proffered SSNs, dates of employment, and dates of birth… In response to the Court’s order, the SSA reported that data for 76%, or 243 of 319, of NuStar employees listed did not match its records….

This data is consistent with two so-called “no-match” letters the SSA sent NuStar in November 2019 and December 2020… The letters state that, for tax year 2018, 20 of 27 NuStar employees (74%) did not match SSA records , and for tax year 2019, 14 of 19 employees (74%) did not match….

So that's not proof by any means but it's uh...surely worthy of investigation. And they have Nunes, under oath, confirming he was personally familiar with his families hiring practices. And that he talked about how he thought that it was illegal to verify the identify of employees...despite lobbying to make a system akin go the existing E-verify system mandatory, which sure sounds like he knew it wasn't illegal.

Also also he repeatedly co-sponsored bills that would have personally helped his family to make it easier to get visa's for workers, though one that came with a verification system. And a bunch of other farm-related shit he pushed for to personally benefit from including lifting penalties for workers who falsify SSN's. Just farm workers, though. And a ton of other shit.

None of which he could apparently recall under deposition, though. I keep saying that Republicans sure seem to have serious memory issues and we need to find out why.

Now I'm not really expecting anything to come of this. I just find it all hilarious and wanted to remind the thread of the caliber of people Trump has running his organizations. Truly, the best of the best of the best, sir. With Honors.

[jonnysensible]

wonder if he will start his own party

[Nymrohd]

wonder if he will start his own party

We can only hope.

[Skulltaker]

So what do you think? Is DeSantis gonna announce his own run in the next couple weeks, pissing off everyone who just voted for him as Governor? Or does he give Trump a good year or so of time to build up a head of steam and get his candidacy imprinted in every Republican's head so that DeSantis comes off as a usurper when he finally gets around to it?

Or does he just ignore the obvious path and decide to stick it out as governor because all this shit is bananas?

Wouldn't the sensible thing for him be to not run in 24, let the shitshow unfold? If he goes up against Trump, he'll get squirted with shit when Trump finally goes down. Whomever else the Reps send and gets endorsed will have to deal with dissent from the Trumpers and go up against the Dem candidate. You'll be in deep shit from the get go. If he's clever he'll sit this one out, and get an endorsement from Trump for 28, maybe with a promise for a pardon tacked to it.

[Nymrohd]

Wouldn't the sensible thing for him be to not run in 24, let the shitshow unfold? If he goes up against Trump, he'll get squirted with shit when Trump finally goes down. Whomever else the Reps send and gets endorsed will have to deal with dissent from the Trumpers and go up against the Dem candidate. You'll be in deep shit from the get go. If he's clever he'll sit this one out, and get an endorsement from Trump for 28, maybe with a promise for a pardon tacked to it.

I am pretty sure we will watch Trump attack DeSantis regardless. He already started, even came up with his stupid nickname.

[Corvus]

Wouldn't the sensible thing for him be to not run in 24, let the shitshow unfold? If he goes up against Trump, he'll get squirted with shit when Trump finally goes down. Whomever else the Reps send and gets endorsed will have to deal with dissent from the Trumpers and go up against the Dem candidate. You'll be in deep shit from the get go. If he's clever he'll sit this one out, and get an endorsement from Trump for 28, maybe with a promise for a pardon tacked to it.

The problem DeSantis has waiting until 2028 is that he may no longer be the flavour of the month anymore by then. Some other populist may have popped up by then relegating him to the backseat.

[Fugus]

Holy fuckin shit what does Trump have on Graham that he's simping over this shit after just about everyone of note in the party has functionally abandoned him? Even Pence seems to have received approval from Mother to take some fairly mild digs at Trump recently.

Can’t say for sure, but I remember hearing something about a gay escort going on a radio show in South Carolina and during the interview he said he had politicians for clients and one of them had a father/son role play kink.

Might be related to that. No clue if true but it’s something to think about that would be damning enough to destroy him at every level if it came out.

[Shadowferal]

Wouldn't the sensible thing for him be to not run in 24, let the shitshow unfold?

Yes. He has at least a year. He can play it cool being the governor of Florida and still be the GOP's great white hope without saying a word.

[Breccia]

Trump doesn't have the 2016 energy of humiliating other gop nominees with shit talk and reducing them to spineless clowns, but this should be fun to watch anyway.

Have you missed the last few days? He's absolutely doing that, especially DeSantis.

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wonder if he will start his own party

@Edge- said he filed as a Republican. So it's possible, but he's going for the GOP nomination first. If that fails, which of course would be late 2024, he might go third party. Until then, he is literally their leading candidate.

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Wouldn't the sensible thing for him be to not run in 24

This would be admission that Trump runs the Republican Party. He's free to admit that, just so we're clear.

I've posted routinely that DeSantis won't run if Trump does. That was before the midterms. DeSantis has dramatically changed his tune in the last month.

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Fox News even cut away from his speech.

That's a lie!

...of omission. They all did.

Fox News briefly cuts away from Trump 2024 presidential announcement speech

Fox News on Tuesday briefly cut away from live continuous coverage of former President Trump’s speech announcing his candidacy for president in 2024, while MSNBC gave the speech no live screen time.

The network, which has shied away from covering Trump rallies and other events featuring him live since he left the White House, carried Trump’s remarks for longer than any of the three major cable channels before it broke away.

[fwc577]

Y'all, /r/conservative has a thread on it and the knives are really out, this is delightful. Don't go shitposting or brigading or anything, but it's worth a look to see just how much that place has suddenly turned on Trump and how the [MAGA] tags and the like have all but disappeared.

They're absolutely livid and rightfully blame Trump and his brand of candidate for costing them their "Red Wave". At best they're looking to eke out a slim majority in the House, which is still a significant win, but otherwise they were fairly wiped out across the board. The only real victories they're rallying around are very strong performances in Florida with DeSantis (boy DeSaintis just rolls off the tongue, eh? So does DeSatan, but whatever, that one honestly sucks in comparison.) and Florida. They have some other great pickups in states like NY and CA in the House, but overall the predicted Republican wave did not appear and it's basically Trump's fault. (And yes, the Republican party for allying him, but they're nowhere near that level of self awareness there. Baby steps.)

This is pretty glorious to watch however, I do hope there is opposition to Trump because I don't want to see him in the general again as we could end up with another Trump victory. Recent data (midterms) suggests he will likely lose but you know what? Everyone bet against him in 2016 and I don't want to have to take those odds again.

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So what do you think? Is DeSantis gonna announce his own run in the next couple weeks, pissing off everyone who just voted for him as Governor? Or does he give Trump a good year or so of time to build up a head of steam and get his candidacy imprinted in every Republican's head so that DeSantis comes off as a usurper when he finally gets around to it?

Or does he just ignore the obvious path and decide to stick it out as governor because all this shit is bananas?

DeSantis won't officially announce for like a year if he does announce to run against Trump.

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Wouldn't the sensible thing for him be to not run in 24, let the shitshow unfold? If he goes up against Trump, he'll get squirted with shit when Trump finally goes down. Whomever else the Reps send and gets endorsed will have to deal with dissent from the Trumpers and go up against the Dem candidate. You'll be in deep shit from the get go. If he's clever he'll sit this one out, and get an endorsement from Trump for 28, maybe with a promise for a pardon tacked to it.

The problem is there is going to be a lot of pressure for him to run from within the party. The party knows Trump is a loser. He has essentially lost 3 election cycles now, 2018, 2020, and 2022. If he runs again, there is once again going to be a strong Trump-opposition vote. Why? Because we just watched his candidates losing at all levels, that means candidates in 2024 presidential election for Republicans will have to run AGAINST his support or risk ending up losing like 2022 candidates.

It's an all-around shitshow.

Copium filled Republicans will tell you, but.. but.. abortion won't be on the ballot! It most certainly will because Democrats won't be able to codify abortion in the next two years or expand the Supreme court and overturn the previous ruling. Republicans need to realize they're gearing themselves up for a loss at some point because abortion is now on the ballot every year going forward until the rights stripped by the Dobbs ruling get restored. So add onto that fact the person directly responsible for the Dobbs ruling might be on the ballot? 2024 won't be some slim loss, it will be a fucking bloodbath.

Personally, I hope DeSantis doesn't run or some milquetoast Republican somehow beats Trump in the primary resulting in a 3rd party run for Trump. I look forward to a Dem supermajority.

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The problem DeSantis has waiting until 2028 is that he may no longer be the flavour of the month anymore by then. Some other populist may have popped up by then relegating him to the backseat.

This very much. I remember when Paul Ryan and Bobby Jindal were being discussed as rising GOP stars and the next Presidential candidates for the party.

[Flarelaine]

So what do you think? Is DeSantis gonna announce his own run in the next couple weeks, pissing off everyone who just voted for him as Governor? Or does he give Trump a good year or so of time to build up a head of steam and get his candidacy imprinted in every Republican's head so that DeSantis comes off as a usurper when he finally gets around to it?

I'd say he will give everyone in the party enough time to freak the fuck out at the prospect of Trump running and wait for/arrange for being called on publicly. Then he can appear as a saviour of decent, upright conservatism.

[Breccia]

or some milquetoast Republican somehow beats Trump

Unlikely. Trump is a circus ringleader, he puts on a big show, and his voters like the shiny objects he dangles. Whoever goes against Trump needs to have some level of showmanship, charisma, or stage presence. Smart as he is, experienced as he is, McConnell would be one-shot by Trump in the debates, because Trump would ignore all the rules and go for applause and laughs, and the cultists that infest the GOP voter base would assume that Trump won because of that.

DeSantis has enough stage presence that he could hold his own. Pence? Not even close. Cruz? We already saw that play out.

[Paranoid Android]

The "execute drug dealers in one day" is classic. For most simple minds out there they will eat this shit up. This is the classic of the guy at the end of the bar thinking he has the solution to everything with simple answers. Drug problem? You just kill all the drug dealers. The Trumpers will devour this and sadly anyone who got scared up by the crime narrative.

Of course besides dry humping your gun on the 2nd Amendment, our biggest right(s) were due process in a court of law. Yes, flawed but was important. Now, we know what most Trumpers have in their mind think what a drug dealer looks like. Do we need a dog whistle here?

Plus, as always the Drug Companies got away with the largest drug crises in past 10 or so years. Will we execute CEO"s, doctors, pharmaceutical businesses? Well again the person at the bar would say "Hell yes!". You think any of these people will be touched?

[Breccia]

So what's the top headline this morning?

ABC News: Kremlin notes 'far more professional reaction' from US
CBS News: "No indication" missile that hit Poland was "attack," but NATO says Russia at fault as it hammers Ukraine
NBC News: Trump, whose lies about the 2020 election inspired an insurrection, announces third White House bid
Reuters: Escalation fears ease after NATO, Warsaw say missile that hit Poland was Ukrainian stray
USA Today: Colleges expel few sex misconduct offenders, despite men's rights claims
Newsweek: Poland Missile Strike—What We Know and What We Don't
NYTimes: NATO and Poland Say Deadly Blast Was Likely Unintentional
WSJ: NATO Says Missile That Hit Poland Was Likely Ukraine Air Defense
TheOnion: Things To Never Post On Social Media If You’ve Had An Abortion
Washington Examiner: Trump’s 2024 odds in free fall; Biden and DeSantis would beat him

and finally

FOX News: Gov. DeSantis receives 'enthusiastic' response from crowd at GOP event as party looks toward 2024

Or, if you click this link, it becomes Minutes before Trump announcement, DeSantis receives standing ovation at Republican confab

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida received a hero’s welcome on Tuesday night, as he addressed an audience of leading Republicans minutes before Trump announced he was launching a 2024 White House bid.

DeSantis, who last week won a landside re-election victory for a second term steering Florida, garnered a standing ovation from the audience as he delivered a keynote conversation at the Republican Governors Association’s winter meeting in Orlando, according to multiple sources in the room.

According to one source, DeSantis spotlighted his "impressive re-election campaign" and how he won Maimi-Dade County, connecting with Hispanic voters.

Another source told Fox News that governor received an "enthusiastic" response as he "recapped the Florida blueprint and the path to winning Hispanics, women, and independents."

And a third source added that the speech received a very warm reception from an audience that is energized about the possibilities of taking the DeSantis model and applying it to battleground states across the country.

Multiple sources said that the margins DeSantis was able to run up in his re-election victory last week and his efforts on issues like education and on battling "woke curriculum" received some of the strongest applause of the evening.

I am not making this up. Feel free to check the sites yourself. Trump announced and he's already page 2 news. That R-ticle from FOX News is just fucking brutal.

[solinari6]

DeSantis has enough stage presence that he could hold his own. Pence? Not even close. Cruz? We already saw that play out.

I'm not sure where you are getting that, everything I've seen says that DeSantis doesn't have the personality to make it nationally. Honestly, I think that Republicans should try for a candidate who isn't a legit asshole. I mean, that's kind of why they lost 2022, they turned into a party of assholes. It was exhausting. Someone normal like Youngkin would serve them much better than DeSantis.

[Ivanstone]

I'm not sure where you are getting that, everything I've seen says that DeSantis doesn't have the personality to make it nationally. Honestly, I think that Republicans should try for a candidate who isn't a legit asshole. I mean, that's kind of why they lost 2022, they turned into a party of assholes. It was exhausting. Someone normal like Youngkin would serve them much better than DeSantis.

Youngkin is a more boring version of DeSantis. All of the asshole, little of the bombast. He's also a businessman first and a politician second. Just waiting for him to lead poison some black people like Rick Snyder did.