Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Breccia]

Trump brags that his speech along the National Mall outdrew (or so he says) MLK's "I have a dream" speech

There were 25,000 people at Trump's Jan 6th pre-riot warm-up. That is the National Mall speech, right?

MLK drew a crowd of over 200,000.

So either I have the wrong Trump National Mall speech, or he's lying by a factor of eight to ten. This seems like one of those things a Trump supporter should weigh in on. Perhaps the next one I see will be politely asked to comment? Surely a Trump supporter would be all too happy to explain how big Trump's crowd sizes are.

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Trump spent today bashing Pence for not overturning the fair and legal election. Again. Because nothing proves how hypocritical the "Clinton lost, get over it" party is than Trump still claiming he won almost a year and a half after leading a murderous insurrection.

Probably because of this, and maybe out of fear for his life, Pence missed a big time conservative religious gathering, probably a place where old white rich people state that Jesus wants us to have more guns and less health care. He attended the last five of these, by the way, so being VP wasn't enough of an excuse to miss it, but he "had a scheduling conflict" this time.

“I think he’s seeking God’s direction for his decision on what to do next,” said Dr. Robert Jeffress, pastor at First Baptist Dallas, who is close to both Pence and Trump, and sits on the advisory board for Pence’s political group, Advancing American Freedom.

God, when reached for comment, said "I don't know why Pence would come to me for help. I told him Trump was a serial adulterer, a serial thief, and violently insane. He agreed to be his Vice President anyhow. I'd tell him to go to Hell, but based on his words and actions, I'm pretty sure he's going there anyhow."

The authors of the article talked to a fair number of Trump cultists attending, possibly because they were trying to lynch Pence if he stepped through the door. There was not a single word of negative opinion of Trump gassing his way through peaceful protestors to hold a Bible upside-down.

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Oh, and DWAC stock price fell again. Lost about 4% today. I wonder what it would take to get back up past $40. That Musk Q&A thing did not go great, but DWAC didn't bounce upwards from that. I would blame the SEC investigation, because while Trump's cult seems to be as divorced from reality as Trump from the wives he cheated on, most stockbrokers are not, as making purchases based on wild theories rather than facts and logic tends not to pay well. But that investigation isn't going anywhere soon.

[s_bushido]

I don't know if it's "satisfaction," but I'm definitely feeling ways about things when I see Pence cast aside by the evangelicals...when his only purpose on Trump's ticket was to reassure them in the first place. But they found their new messiah in 2016, so he's just redundant now.

[Kaleredar]

He does, but it isn't big enough numbers to satisfy his insecurity.

Honestly, I would love a large network to tell him he can have an hour on air to go through the "massive Voter Fraud & Dem Security Breach" with someone there as a fact checker, just to see him squirm like the worm he is when his conspiracy theories are fact checked in real time.

He would never accept such a thing.

He wants a giant, free space to be able to shout whatever he wants to rile up his followers utterly uncontested, and is pissy that no major news network will supply that avenue, that he was banned from the most popular one, and that the one he has he has to pay for and isn't even doing well.

I really do hope that they demand Trump take the stand. Where him lying actually has serious repercussions. I don't think he's actually capable of telling the truth.

[szechuan]

Dan Crenshaw physically assaulted by right wingers at the RNC.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-b2104275.html

[Endus]

Dan Crenshaw physically assaulted by right wingers at the RNC.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-b2104275.html

Reminder that anyone spewing "globalist" as an insult is an antisemite at a minimum, if not a full-on swastika-bearing Nazi. Literally every single one of them.

Their issue is that Crenshaw's not Nazi enough.

[Xyonai]

Reminder that anyone spewing "globalist" as an insult is an antisemite at a minimum, if not a full-on swastika-bearing Nazi. Literally every single one of them.

Their issue is that Crenshaw's not Nazi enough.

Or they're just easily duped idiots who're being lead around by said anti-semites. Like not to devalue your points, because the folks with actual influence throwing these terms around know exactly what they're doing, but the rank-and-file have proven time and time again how they just fall behind stupid buzzwords and never actually think about it.

[Endus]

Or they're just easily duped idiots who're being lead around by said anti-semites. Like not to devalue your points, because the folks with actual influence throwing these terms around know exactly what they're doing, but the rank-and-file have proven time and time again how they just fall behind stupid buzzwords and never actually think about it.

There's a word for easily-duped idiots in the Weimar Republic being led around by the likes of Hitler and Goebbels.

The word for those idiots was "Nazis".

This wasn't a correction. You're just describing Nazis.

[Breccia]

Trump says if he wins in 2024 he'll pardon the murderous insurrectionists.

Well, no. That's a lie. He said he might do it.

And if I become president, someday if I decide to do it, I will be looking at them very, very seriously for pardons. Very, very seriously

Trump also said they were being treated worse than terrorists, which is another lie. They are terrorists. Using violence and threats to change political outcomes is the definition of terrorism. That's what they were doing.

"Why didn't Trump pardon them between Jan 6th and Jan 20th?"

Because he didn't care about them.

"And he does now?"

I don't believe so, no.

"Has he paid for their legal defense?"

No.

"Has he hosted or led a fundraiser for other people to pay for their legal defense?"

I don't think so.

"Is there any reason anyone should believe Trump, not just in general, but this promise specifically?"

Yes, the reason is they're divorced from reality and still think Trump tells the truth.

"Okay smartass, is there a reason anyone reasonable should believe Trump?"

No. Trump lies all the time about everything.

Trump is still pushing the objectively false notion that he won the election. Claiming that he would free the people who broke into the Capitol changing "hang Pence" just plays into that narrative. Whether or not Trump is insane enough to believe that isn't as important as Trump knows a lot of his rabid fanbase does. He also knows the image he projected of himself would be broken forever if he admitted he lost, which he did. He lost. Some people would just willingly rather follow someone either that detatched from reality, or pretending to be, even one who broke basically every promise he made the first time, because of promises he made the second time.

[Ripster42]

"Okay smartass, is there a reason anyone reasonable should believe Trump?"

Yes, because it fits his MO. Pardon people in ways that reinforce the fact that his supporters don't need to follow the law while dismantling the US. It has nothing to do with whether or not he cares about them. It's why he pardoned blago: he supports corruption, and wants you to know it.

[Breccia]

Insiders tell the Rolling Stone that Trump has retroactive decided Eastman is a bad baddie poopiehead and he did all the illegal stuff, Your Honor.

With the Justice Department and Jan. 6 committee taking a close look at Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, he and his cronies could certainly use a fall guy, and it looks like they’ve found their patsy: right-wing lawyer John Eastman.

Eastman worked for Trump as the attorney devised legal strategies to overturn the election to keep the outgoing president in power. But, in recent weeks, Trump has confided to those close to him that he sees no reason to publicly defend Eastman, two people familiar with the matter tell Rolling Stone. The ex-president is also deeply annoyed with Eastman and all the negative “attention” and media coverage that the lawyer’s work has brought Trump and his inner sanctum, including during the ongoing Jan. 6 hearings on Capitol Hill.

"I don't believe it. Trump hasn't used the magic words: I barely know him. Without that, it means nothing."

Furthermore, to those who’ve spoken Trump about Eastman in recent months, the ex-president has repeated an excuse he often uses when backed into a corner, as investigators confront him with an associates’ misdeeds: He has privately insisted he “hardly” or “barely” knows Eastman, despite the fact that he counseled Trump on taking a string of extra-legal measures in a bid to stay in power and wrote the so-called “coup memo,” which laid out the facsimile of a legal argument for reversing Trump’s election defeat.

Behind closed doors, Trump will occasionally ask questions about Eastman’s fortunes, including bluntly inquiring: “Is [John] going to jail?” according to a source who has heard the former president say this. But publicly, Trump has stayed silent. Over the past several months, Trump has been strongly advised by lawyers and several associates not to openly discuss Eastman or his work — and to personally avoid the man altogether, according to three sources familiar with the matter. At this time, Trump, his legal advisers, and various political counselors would prefer to cut ties with Eastman and keep their distance, in a perhaps vain attempt to build a firewall between the lawyer who enthusiastically pitched strategies for delegitimizing the 2020 election outcome and the ex-president who repeatedly sought his help.

“It has been repeatedly communicated to the [former] president that he should not even bring up Johnny Eastman’s name because he is maybe the most radioactive person [involved in this] when it comes to…any so-called criminal exposure,” a source with direct knowledge of the matter says. “Johnny does not have many friends in [the upper crust of] Trumpworld left, and most people loyal to the [former] president are fine with him being left out on his own, to deal with whatever consequences he may or may not face.”

Indeed, the infamously garrulous Trump has publicly kept his mouth shut about Eastman, a lawyer whose work became integral to the scandalous efforts to nullify President Biden’s 2020 victory. (Trump even considered Eastman as counsel for his post-insurrection impeachment.)

Nowadays, in the top ranks of MAGAland, there’s a clear attitude towards Eastman (“Johnny,” as some Trump advisers derisively call him): He might be going down. So be it, as long as he doesn’t take anyone else down with him.

Emphasis mine but shared. This is also an incredibly risky idea.

Look, we all know Eastman worked for Trump on purpose, so he can't possibly be that bright. But we've sung the "I never thought Trump would turn on me" chorus so many times, bottles of beer are getting jealous. Eastman, despite again being stupid enough to work for Trump, is clearly a talented enough lawyer to, well, write up a scheme to plunge the US directly into dicatorship territory. And he was working in Trump's direct orbit, because he's fat enough to draw objects in by gravity, for quite some time. Multiple witnesses have already spoken that. Doesn't it seem highly likely that Eastman has notes? Recordings? Emails?

Would Eastman, knowing this could either work (and Dictator Trump would owe him both yuge and bigly) or fail (and sad pathetic loser Trump would discard him as soon as possible), really have no evidence at all that the rest of Team Trump were doing their part in the Plan to End America?

And that's above and beyond anything Trump would try along the lines of "Eastman wrote the plan, I only did every single step he asked me to do, I'm the victim here". Again, admitting you were a complete dupe when you continue to insist Only I Can Fix It is already bad. Claiming you were tricked into leading a murderous insurrection is far worse. Trying to claim you were tricked, when every single piece of evidence we have says Trump wanted to lead the riot personally, but instead turned his phone off and watched DC burn on TV, is just ridiculous.

And further, of course, Trump continues to preach to the rabid choir. Trump can get his demonstrably insane fanbase to pretend he's innocent. The Jan 6th panel will not fall for it. Biden's DoJ won't fall for it. At this point, Trump should be looking for an actual defense, or failing that a Russian passport, to help himself out, not yet another farcical "I didn't know that person everyone knows was my closest ally".

[Edge-]

Why is Trump always surrounded by covfefe bois he never knows?

[Breccia]

It is not going well for Trump in his increasingly televised "murder trial".

For one, we know there was a documentary film being made about his re-election. We now also know the panel wants to see all the footage -- even that not shown before. It is not just possible, but in my opinion likely, that the filmmaker(s) were told "you can't show that, we don't give you permission" but that still leaves figurative clips on the cutting room floor. If I'm right, "you can't show that" footage could easily show plotting to overthrow democracy, or that Team Trump knew what they were doing was illegal. Or both.

For two, Rusty Bowers is due to testify. If the name doesn't sound familiar, that's to be expected, a lot of people wouldn't remember the AZ Republican who told Trump and Giuliani what he was being asked to do was, well, illegal.

You are giving me nothing but conjecture and asking me to break my oath and commit to doing something I cannot do because I swore I wouldn't. I will follow the Constitution

And three, various Georgia officials, including Raffensperger, are also coming to testify. Probably angry, and we're probably going to hear that phone call recording again.

At some point, even Trump's rabid fanbase will know their fat orange emperor has no clothes. Trump was lying to them about the election, and used them as cannon fodder (getting plenty arrested) for a cause he knew was as false and illegal as he is overweight. It's increasingly public that Trump was told, over and over, his actions were unConstitutional and even blaming Eastman won't help.

[DarkTZeratul]

It is not going well for Trump in his increasingly televised "murder trial".

For one, we know there was a documentary film being made about his re-election. We now also know the panel wants to see all the footage -- even that not shown before. It is not just possible, but in my opinion likely, that the filmmaker(s) were told "you can't show that, we don't give you permission" but that still leaves figurative clips on the cutting room floor. If I'm right, "you can't show that" footage could easily show plotting to overthrow democracy, or that Team Trump knew what they were doing was illegal. Or both

And they've already turned all of it over and issued a statement that they are "fully cooperating" with the committee.
https://twitter.com/alexjholder/stat...54430033387522

[Breccia]

And they've already turned all of it over and issued a statement that they are "fully cooperating" with the committee.

Good for them. I heard, some guy told me, everyone's saying it, only the guilty plead the Fifth.

[Kathandira]

Trump continues to push for single-day, in-person voting in elections — prohibiting mail-in ballots and early voting that 69% of American voters used in 2020

I'd be willing to compromise if we make voting day a national holiday where all workers are given the time. And if we at minimum doubled the voting locations.

The compromise would be that if someone applied for a mail in due to their inability to leave the home, they would be permitted to do so.

[Edge-]

Trump continues to push for single-day, in-person voting in elections — prohibiting mail-in ballots and early voting that 69% of American voters used in 2020

Reminder: Up until the 2020 general election, Trump primarily voted by mail. Including in the 2020 primaries.

And in 2020 he voted in-person, but voted early.

Under his proposal his votes would not have been valid.

[Edge-]

And for someone that's so pro-military, he sure doesn't want the military to vote. Many live abroad and/or rely on mail-in voting because they're not at their home-of-record, etc.

Because he's not pro-miliary. He never has been. Neither has the Republican party.

[DarkTZeratul]

And for someone that's so pro-military, he sure doesn't want the military to vote. Many live abroad and/or rely on mail-in voting because they're not at their home-of-record, etc.

Trump is pro-making-Trump-look-good. He only supports the military (or anything else, for that matter) insofar as they can achieve that goal.

[Fugus]

Because he's not pro-miliary. He never has been. Neither has the Republican party.

Can definitely vouch for the GOP on that, I remember a couple years back they tried to push a bill capping VA back pay at 2 years so that if they pushed your disability back for decades or more (Took me about 9 years), you would only get back pay for the last 2 years of it, making it where the longer the pushed it out, the less they had to pay veterans even if they finally were approved.

When that bill hit the public, the supporters scattered like roaches.

[Edge-]

https://www.motherjones.com/politics...y-6-committee/

Republicans were very quick to pearl clutch about protests outside of the homes of Justices, but seem very unconcerned with their own membership and their families being harassed by their own extremists - at least if they don't fully support Trump.

“It is the new pattern…in our lives to worry what will happen on Saturdays because we have various groups come by,” Bowers said. “They had video panel trucks with video of me, proclaiming me to be a pedophile and a pervert and a corrupt politician.”

These aren't "leftists" harassing him. These are Republicans who are harassing him and his family.