Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[solinari6]

https://variety.com/2022/digital/new...ts-1235290726/

Welp, Trump's "FREEZE PEACH" Truth Social, predictably, is banning users for posting about Jan. 6 hearings. Or just deleting their posts.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FREEZE PEACH?!

Wasn't there a rule in their TOS that said you'd get banned if you said anything negative about Trump? Seems like the Jan 6 hearings fit that bill

[Breccia]

Speaking of guns:

In this 14-page ruling New York's highest court tells the NRA to cut it out with this "witch hunt" nonsense.

Remember how the NRA was claiming that NYState was just attacking them because they felt like it? Well, not only was NYState able to provide evidence of fraud, the NRA didn't present even a single shred of evidence this was a hit job. Turns out, shrilling "WITCH HUNT!" doesn't actually work.

The narrative that the Attorney General’s investigation into these undeniably serious matters was nothing more than a politically motivated — and unconstitutional — witch hunt is simply not supported by the record.

By the way, if the NRA believed their own wild, baseless claims, why go bankrupt? Sorry, I meant attempt to go bankrupt, that move was blocked a while ago, but they still tried. I'm pretty sure they knew this wasn't going to fly and they'd be on the hook for all that money they stole. They did, apparently, file a counterclaim that would end the investigation and also seek damages from NYState. Both were just ended.

By the way again, I do love how the NRA's response to being presented with evidence of their own fraud, was to beg NYState for money. That's what this amounts to, begging. I'll call @cubby in on this because I think he'd find this verdict amusing, but I'm guessing he'd agree that countersuing for damages when you have zero proof of anything is basically the same as asking for change on street corners.

[gondrin]

No truth on Truth. Could be a good slogan for the app.

Should be Truth(wink) Social. Can't have people get a false impression that there might be true statements there.

[postman1782]

https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/10/polit...y-6/index.html



Seems like there's some trouble brewing on the Trump family homefront.

Damn, I just posted this on the Insurrection thread, figuring that is where it would be.

- - - Updated - - -

https://variety.com/2022/digital/new...ts-1235290726/

Welp, Trump's "FREEZE PEACH" Truth Social, predictably, is banning users for posting about Jan. 6 hearings. Or just deleting their posts.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FREEZE PEACH?!

This too, DAMMIT.

[PhaelixWW]

The Biden Administration likely noted that Trump is having a bad week, and so decided to hit him where it really hurts...

Politico: Biden scraps Trump’s Air Force One paint scheme over cost

The Biden administration has opted not to go with former President Donald Trump’s red, white and blue paint scheme for the Air Force One replacement after a new study showed it could drive up the cost, according to an administration official.

The news comes two days after POLITICO first reported that Trump’s planned livery for the new Air Force One, which calls for dark blue paint covering the plane’s underbelly and engines, could contribute to excessive temperatures on the aircraft.

The darker paint scheme would have required additional modifications to cool some of the components, potentially driving up costs, the Air Force said.

For this reason, the White House ultimately chose to scrap the Trump plan.

“The Trump paint scheme is not being considered because it could drive additional engineering, time and cost,” said the administration official, who asked for anonymity to discuss an internal issue.

While the White House has not released a mock-up of the new Air Force Ones, which will consist of two modified Boeing 747-8s, it is likely they will revert to the classic JFK-era light blue and white scheme. The new planes aren’t expected to fly until 2026, according to Air Force budget documents.

The new paint decision is good news for Boeing, which would have had to pay out-of-pocket to fix the heating problem. The company on Friday referred questions on the paint job to the Air Force.

Trump got personally involved in negotiations for the replacement aircraft soon after he took office. In February 2017, he announced on Twitter that the government had successfully reduced the price of the contract with Boeing by “over $1 billion.” Soon after, Boeing agreed to a fixed-price contract with the Air Force for the planes, meaning that the company would be responsible for any cost overruns.

Then in 2019, Trump told ABC News that he wanted to change up the traditional pattern, later telling Fox News “the baby blue doesn’t fit with us.” The new scheme bore a striking resemblance to Trump’s private 757.

The Air Force awarded a $3.9 billion contract in 2018 to Boeing for a pair of modified 747-8s to replace the existing Air Force One aircraft based on the 747-200B that has been flying since the 1990s.

The program continues to face delays due to supply chain problems, a Boeing dispute with a subcontractor and a workforce shortage of skilled mechanics that was detailed by the Government Accountability Office.

The fiscal 2023 budget documents show the plane may not be ready to fly a president until at least four years from now, two years later than initially planned.

So... it wouldn't even have cost the taxpayers more money? Sounds like a perfectly epic trolling of Trump's over-inflated ego.

[gondrin]

Well, on the, lets just call it what it is, insane side of news, Donald Trump is suing. Why you ask? Because someone revealed his fear of flying fruit. I wish this was TheOnion.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...c8dbf727e03ea3

A Trump lawyer wants cash sanctions over fear of flying fruit reveal — and lashes out at Daily Beast, Michael Cohen

Former President Donald Trump is demanding cash sanctions over what his lawyer is calling the malicious disclosure of the former president's fear of fruit being thrown at him.

Trump's stated concern that "pineapples, tomatoes, bananas, stuff like that" could be thrown at him at protests had been revealed in April, as part of his sworn deposition in a Bronx civil lawsuit.

Fruit-laden excerpts from that deposition should never have been made public, Trump lawyer Alina Habba complained last month.

But in papers filed on Friday, Habba upped the ante, demanding cash sanctions to "punish" the "bad-faith conduct."

The decision to publicly file the "highly prejudicial" deposition transcript "was unquestionably undertaken to harass or maliciously injure" Trump, Habba wrote in Friday's filing.

The target of Habba's anger is the lawyers on the other side of an ongoing lawsuit that accuses Trump of siccing his security guards on protesters who held "Make America Racist Again" posters outside Manhattan's Trump Tower in 2015.

The case goes on trial this summer; a new, July 18 date has been agreed to for jury selection.

In demanding cash sanctions Friday, Habba cited a December text exchange between Daily Beast reporter Lachlan Cartwright and Trump fixer-turned-critic Michael Cohen as an example of the other side's "ongoing effort to weaponize the media" against Trump.

In the brief exchange, the reporter asks Cohen to reach out to protester attorney Benjamin Dictor, and Cohen agrees.

It's not clear how the exchange shows Dictor "weaponizing" the Daily Beast, beyond showing that the lawyer and reporter knew each other — and that the lawyer sought the reporter's help in reaching Cohen.

Cohen is a star witness against Trump in the case and has given a sworn deposition saying that he watched as his then-boss directly ordered Trump Tower security to "get rid of" the protesters.

Dictor has said in court filings that he only learned recently that Cohen was there at Trump Tower that day.

The revelation was "a completely random thing" when it happened, New Republic staff writer Alex Shepard told Insider on Friday.

It was November, and he was having dinner in Brooklyn with Dictor and Cartwright when Cohen called Cartwright's cellphone, Shepard said.

Cartwright told Cohen he happened to be sitting with "the lawyer who just deposed your ex-boss," meaning Trump, Shepard said.

Cohen and Dictor then had a brief exchange on The Daily Beast reporter's cell phone, at which point Cohen revealed what he knew about Trump's involvement in the protest.

The December text exchange was Dictor's attempt to reach out again to Cohen, Shepard said.

"It was kind of just a lark" that Dictor and Cohen happened to speak in the first place, he said.

Cohen and Dictor did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Dictor, too, has filed for sanctions against Habba for saying he acted in bad faith in releasing the transcript. Oral arguments in the fruit fracas have been scheduled for June 22.

Maybe someone should bring their lunch with them to one of the debates, if they have any. Make it an all fruit lunch featuring bananas and pineapples.

[Breccia]

Because someone revealed his fear of flying fruit.

So, just admitting it's true, then? Awesome.

[gondrin]

Well, well, well. Here is something you don't see everyday. The New York Post editorial calling Trump delusional and the GOP needs to pick someone else.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...4964a56ec2fbaf

Trump 'refuses to accept reality': Murdoch newspaper says it’s time for GOP to move on

Fox News refused to broadcast Thursday's prime-time hearing by the Jan. 6 select committee, but Rupert Murdoch's New York tabloid editorialized on the subject on Friday.

"The Jan. 6 Commission is a Democratic campaign ad, a thinly veiled partisan exercise — aired in primetime, with the cooperation of a liberal press — to bolster a failed Joe Biden presidency. But rather than ignore it or look to the future, Donald Trump, the King Lear of Mar-a-Lago, decided to tweet — er, Truth — yet another statement confirming that he refuses to accept reality," the New York Post editorial board wrote.

Trump was permanently suspended from Twitter after he was accused of inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

"The Unselect Committee didn’t spend one minute studying the reason that people went to Washington, D.C., in massive numbers, far greater than the Fake News Media is willing to report, or that the Unselects are willing to even mention, because January 6th was not simply a protest, it represented the greatest movement in the history of our Country to Make America Great Again. It was about an Election that was Rigged and Stolen, and a Country that was about to go to HELL..& look at our Country now!" Trump posted on Thursday.

The newspaper said Trump was wrong.

"It wasn’t, of course. It was a national shame. One that neither Democrats nor Trump can stop obsessing over. It’s time for Republicans to move on," the newspaper counseled. "But Trump has become a prisoner of his own ego. He can’t admit his tweeting and narcissism turned off millions. He won’t stop insisting that 2020 was 'stolen' even though he’s offered no proof that it’s true."

The editorial board wrote the expected 2024 presidential candidate is unfit for the job.

"Respected officials like former Attorney General Bill Barr call his rants “nonsense.” This isn’t just about Liz Cheney. Mitch McConnell, Betsy DeVos, Mark Meadows — they all knew Trump was delusional. His own daughter and son-in-law testified it was bull," the NY Post wrote. "Meanwhile, reports that Trump was pleased that the Jan. 6 crowd chanted for Vice President Mike Pence to be hanged — a truly reprehensible sentiment — makes him unworthy for the office. Trump can’t look past 2020. Let him remain there."

The editorial board suggested Republicans focus on making America sane again.

Link to original NYPost article: https://nypost.com/2022/06/10/trump-...uture-instead/

Donald Trump, Democrats are obsessed with 2020 — GOP should look to the future

The Jan. 6 Commission is a Democratic campaign ad, a thinly veiled partisan exercise — aired in primetime, with the cooperation of a liberal press — to bolster a failed Joe Biden presidency.

But rather than ignore it or look to the future, Donald Trump, the King Lear of Mar-a-Lago, decided to tweet — er, Truth — yet another statement confirming that he refuses to accept reality. “January 6th was not simply a protest,” he wrote, “it represented the greatest movement in the history of our Country to Make America Great Again.”

It wasn’t, of course. It was a national shame. One that neither Democrats nor Trump can stop obsessing over. It’s time for Republicans to move on.

This isn’t 2016, when the country was sleepwalking toward a Hillary Clinton coronation, and Trump was the only one pugnacious enough to say it doesn’t have to be this way.

He refused to accept that the southern border should be lawless and that China should be allowed to steal jobs. He knew, unapologetically, that the economy flourished under low taxes and little government interference. He pulled off one of the most jaw-dropping upsets in American political history, and — though the liberal media will never admit it — oversaw a term of mostly peace and prosperity.

But Trump has become a prisoner of his own ego. He can’t admit his tweeting and narcissism turned off millions. He won’t stop insisting that 2020 was “stolen” even though he’s offered no proof that it’s true.

Respected officials like former Attorney General Bill Barr call his rants “nonsense.” This isn’t just about Liz Cheney. Mitch McConnell, Betsy DeVos, Mark Meadows — they all knew Trump was delusional. His own daughter and son-in-law testified it was bull.

Trump’s response? He insults Barr, and dismisses Ivanka as “checked out.” He clings to more fantastical theories, such as Dinesh D’Souza’s debunked “2,000 Mules,” even as recounts in Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin confirm Trump lost.

Meanwhile, reports that Trump was pleased that the Jan. 6 crowd chanted for Vice President Mike Pence to be hanged — a truly reprehensible sentiment — makes him unworthy for the office. Trump can’t look past 2020. Let him remain there.

Look forward! The 2024 field is rich. You have Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley … the list goes on. All candidates who embrace conservative policies without the preoccupations of the Don.

Consider: Even if Trump, at 78, managed to win the presidency in 2024, who would work for him, now that he’s betrayed every competent person on his former staff?

The motivations of the Democrats are purely political, but that doesn’t make the events of January 6 right. The best argument Trump’s people can cling to is that the Capitol building wasn’t properly secured. The committee would look far less partisan by scrutinizing these claims. But what’s the logic? You knew Trump was going to incite a mob, so you should have brought in more troops? Trump himself doesn’t deny that he wished the rioters had succeeded in overturning the election.

Donald Trump lost in 2020. Joe Biden is a disaster as president. Both are true. The nation has been through enough pain and mismanagement for a generation. We need a fresh start.

Tune out the Jan. 6 hearings and binge-watch the new season of “Stranger Things.” Unsubscribe from Trump’s daily emails begging for money. Then pick your favorite from a new crop of conservatives. Look to 2022, and 2024, and a new era. Let’s make America sane again

[Breccia]

The New York Post editorial calling Trump delusional and the GOP needs to pick someone else.

Can't help but notice they're claiming Democrats are obsessed with 2020. Perhaps they're referring to the lynch mob that broke into the Capitol? If so, maybe "obsessed" isn't the right word. Also, that was 2021.

Democrats are not obsessed with the 2020 election. They won. The end.

[gondrin]

Can't help but notice they're claiming Democrats are obsessed with 2020. Perhaps they're referring to the lynch mob that broke into the Capitol? If so, maybe "obsessed" isn't the right word. Also, that was 2021.

Democrats are not obsessed with the 2020 election. They won. The end.

Oh yeah, they are trying to distract. The comments are what you would expect from this type of "paper" from this kind of editorial.

[Breccia]

Giuliani faces D.C. Bar ethics charge over false election claims

Specifically, for trying to have a million perfectly good votes thrown out in Pennsylvania despite having no evidence. Specifically, that two voters caught trying to vote in the wrong county -- why yes, they were both Republicans, thanks for asking @Edge- -- was enough to throw out 1.5 million votes correctly cast in other, unrelated counties.

No, really.

The disciplinary counsel alleged that Giuliani, through his claims, violated two Pennsylvania rules governing professional conduct.

It claimed he "brought a proceeding and asserted issues therein without a non-frivolous basis in law and fact for doing so" and "that he engaged in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice."

In doing so, the counsel said Giuliani also violated standards governing the practice of law in D.C.

Giuliani was disbarred in NYState almost exactly a year ago. Giuliani doesn't really seem to practice law in DC all that much, so this is mostly punative. But man, this on top of the Jan 6th and of course all those dead children, not a great look for the GOP these days.

- - - Updated - - -

Posted without further comment, other than the source is the National Review.

For the Sake of Faith and Freedom, Please, Enough with President Trump

My heart sank earlier today when I noticed a press release about Donald Trump giving a keynote at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority 2022. I’m pretty sure I spoke at a Faith and Freedom Coalition gathering once or twice or more in my life. These were my people, and I’m sure some of them still are (until they read this post?). Although the Christian Coalition before it and the Faith and Freedom Coalition were majority-Evangelical enterprises, I generally felt welcome. (I do remember being at one of the Road to Victory conferences in the mid to late ’90s, it must have been, and hearing grumbling about Father Richard John Neuhaus’s presence, talking about Catholics and Evangelicals working together for life. He came to that position, by the way, after being a leader in the civil-rights movement as a Lutheran minister. Because abortion — and the genocide of black babies — is our civil-rights movement now.)

My heart sank because Donald Trump shouldn’t be headlining political conferences in 2022. Even just watching clips of the January 6 hearings (which is all I’ve managed thus far) is embarrassing and maddening. Why are Republicans still defending him? And more so: Why are Christian conservatives catering to him, even adoring him?

I have friends who worked in the Trump administration, for the good (I think of people like Roger Severino who worked on conscience issues, among other things). Obviously, there are Supreme Court justices who are on the Court because he was president and listened to the likes of Leonard Leo, who have been in the trenches for much longer than Trump has been a mainstay of Faith and Freedom Coalition types. Someone said to me in recent weeks: If the Supreme Court rules as the draft 40 or so days ago suggests, Donald Trump is going to run as the person who ended Roe v. Wade.

The end of Roe v. Wade requires fierce mercy and tenderness and generosity. It requires integrity. It requires someone whose first instinct was not to talk about criminalizing women. I’m all for converts and am grateful he changed his tune, but Donald Trump is such a polarizing figure — and he seemed to be fine with Mike Pence, who up to about that point was his most loyal and gratuitous defender, potentially being killed for refusing to refuse to certify the election results. (Did he think they would really kill him? I certainly hope not. But when you whip up a crowd to right what you say is a wrong, adults know there are consequences. And it would help to have adults as presidents, as a general rule.)

Please, if there is anyone who has any influence over this man, talk him out of running. Make it seem like his idea. If you are a pro-life leader who supports him, please tell him how much more grateful to him you would be if he stepped aside for a new generation in a new era.

Donald Trump divides and brings out the worst in people. That doesn’t mean I’m not grateful for the judges he managed to get on the Court. But look at the violence. He’s contributed to that. And, yes, so have Democratic leaders, including Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden, including for not condemning the Dobbs leak and everyone who seems to have little concern for the lives of Supreme Court justices, especially if his name is Brett Kavanaugh. Please, reasonable people on the right, it is long past time to move on from Donald Trump. And, seriously, do it for the babies. How are we ever going to go about the essential work of saving hearts and minds if we’re still dealing with Donald Trump, whose very presence divides?

It would be nice to have a conservative coalition again that doesn’t have to be divided by the last thing Donald Trump said (or tweeted, should Elon Musk get him back on). Although there is going to have to be some healing work, for sure, considering some of what has been defended.

[s_bushido]

Posted without further comment, other than the source is the National Review.

Why are Republicans still defending him? And more so: Why are Christian conservatives catering to him, even adoring him?

Presumably because they share in the sort of abject stupidity required to believe something like:

Because abortion — and the genocide of black babies — is our civil-rights movement now.

Sorry, Breccia, but these fuckers don't get a pass from me just because a handful of them finally managed to figure out that a terrible person like Trump is a terrible person.

[Kaleredar]

Presumably because they share in the sort of abject stupidity required to believe something like:

Sorry, Breccia, but these fuckers don't get a pass from me just because a handful of them finally managed to figure out that a terrible person like Trump is a terrible person.

Most tellingly, I'm sure they'd still vote for Trump if he runs in 2024 despite these "protestations." Which, ultimately, means they're fine with everything Trump is doing, they just don't like having to pinch their nose while they unwaveringly vote republican.

[s_bushido]

Most tellingly, I'm sure they'd still vote for Trump if he runs in 2024 despite these "protestations." Which, ultimately, means they're fine with everything Trump is doing, they just don't like having to pinch their nose while they unwaveringly vote republican.

"Who else am I going to vote for? An evil Satanist communist baby-killing socialist atheist Democrat who wants to flood my country with brown people and turn all the children trans?"

[Kaleredar]

"Who else am I going to vote for? An evil Satanist communist baby-killing socialist atheist Democrat who wants to flood my country with brown people and turn all the children trans?"

They'll turn their nose up at an, by all reports, earnest lifelong practicing catholic and instead vote for the "hold a bible upside-down in a church he wasn't invited to" lascivious billionaire known for lying and cheating and still think that they're "voting for the man endorsed by God."

And I'm not saying religious adherence is a reason to vote for someone, but even if that WERE the reason someone were to vote for someone, Trump doesn't even pass that bar.

[s_bushido]

And I'm not saying religious adherence is a reason to vote for someone, but even if that WERE the reason someone were to vote for someone, Trump doesn't even pass that bar.

This is why I was convinced until recently that not even the most hyper-partisan theocratic shitstain on the SCOTUS would allow themselves to be the deciding vote that repeals Roe. Because abortion is like...THE single issue that gets these religious single-issue voters to vote for politicians that stand opposed to anything and everything that would actually improve the quality of life in this country.

[bladeXcrasher]

This is why I was convinced until recently that not even the most hyper-partisan theocratic shitstain on the SCOTUS would allow themselves to be the deciding vote that repeals Roe. Because abortion is like...THE single issue that gets these religious single-issue voters to vote for politicians that stand opposed to anything and everything that would actually improve the quality of life in this country.

They'll just pick a new wedge issue to drum up support by, and these same people will then act like that is the most important thing ever.

[Kaleredar]

They'll just pick a new wedge issue to drum up support by, and these same people will then act like that is the most important thing ever.

Precisely. Next they’ll be coming for gay marriage or the part of the 14th amendment that makes children born in the US automatic US citizens.

Conservative policy has always been about infecting people with vague fears such that they can imagine that electing conservatives will get them what they want, regardless of whether that specific politician has voiced any actual proposed “solution,” let alone an actually effective one.

[Breccia]

We already knew the SEC was investigating CyberTrump 2077. I mean, in theory, they investigate every yuge bigly deal. Kind of their job.

Trump should be worried because the SEC just filed documentation that their investigation is expanding.

As a reminder, DWAC is a special kind of "blank check" company, namely an SPAC. It is illegal for such a company to negotiate with their target ahead of time. There are various reason for that, mostly fraud, and also commission (the SPAC's founders get to keep a percent, so it's in their best interests to overpay). Negotiation defeats the point of fair market value. Oh, and it's also an opportunity to make a giant legal slush-fund bribe.

[url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dwac-stock-trump-sec-finra-investigation/We've been hearing for a while[/url] that DWAC did, in fact, talk to Trump beforehand. The fact that the SEC is demanding more information is not good news for DWAC at all. If DWAC is found to have illegally colluded with Trump, not only will they both face what I assume will be civil penalties, but DWAC will have to refund 100% of the money and not get to keep any.

[Edge-]

https://twitter.com/therecount/statu...61373323784193

Rafael Cruz, comparing Elizabeth Warren and AOC to "liberals gone wild", just like the adverts for "girls gone wild" he used to see. You know, that group that got in trouble for filming under age girls and IIRC had to shut down.

Why is everything that Republicans choose to use as a favorable comparison always so ethically and morally gross?