Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Surfd]

The dude was also racist as fuck I mean "this is connecting with Black America, because they love sneakers, it's a big deal certainly in the inner city" what?

Kind of makes me wonder if their next big attempt to appeal to the Black vote will be Trump branded watermelon and fried chicken.

[Breccia]

Wisconsin ethics panel recommends felony charges against Trump committee, lawmaker

The Wisconsin Ethics Commission has recommended that state prosecutors file felony charges against a fundraising committee for former President Donald Trump and a Republican state lawmaker related to an effort to unseat Assembly Speaker Robin Vos.

The ethics commission on Tuesday referred the alleged violations to several county prosecutors, based on documents the commission provided Friday.

The commission alleges that Trump’s fundraising committee and state Rep. Janel Brandtjen, a Trump ally, conspired in a scheme to evade campaign finance laws to support the Republican primary challenger to Vos in 2022.

The ethics commission alleges that Trump’s Save America political action committee, Brandtjen, Republican Party officials in three counties and Steen’s campaign conspired to avoid state fundraising limits in the effort to defeat Vos, steering at least $40,000 into the bid.

The ethics commission recommended that charges be brought against the Trump fundraising committee, Brandtjen, Steen’s campaign, eight other individuals and three county Republican parties. If county prosecutors don’t initiate charges within 60 days, the commission said it will go to another district attorney or the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

[Dontrike]

So outside of Trump and his attorney's arguing, once again, that he has immunity for stealing documents and keeping them what else are his "world class" attorney's arguing? Well that Trump shouldn't have to pay Carroll because he'll appeal and will be "reduced or eliminated."

Gotta give his attorney's credit, they sure do love to think they are capable of winning anything for him. At least they have spirit. With that said, how the hell they think this "violates the Constitution" is beyond me.

Donald Trump’s lawyers asked a New York judge Friday to suspend an $83.3 million defamation verdict against the former president, saying there was a “strong probability” that it would be reduced on appeal, if not eliminated.

The lawyers made the request in Manhattan federal court, where a civil jury in late January awarded the sum to advice columnist E. Jean Carroll after a five-day trial that focused only on damages. A judge had ordered the jury to accept the findings of another jury that last year concluded Trump sexually abused Carroll in 1996 and defamed her in 2022.

The second jury focused only on statements Trump made in 2019 while he was president in a case long delayed by appeals.

In the filing Friday, Trump’s lawyers wrote that Judge Lewis A. Kaplan should suspend the execution of a judgment he issued on Feb. 8 until a month after he resolves Trump’s post-trial motions, which will be filed by March 7. Otherwise, they said, he should grant a partially secured stay that would require Trump to post a bond for a fraction of the award.

The lawyers said the $65 million punitive award, atop $18.3 in compensatory damages, was “plainly excessive” because it violates the Constitution and federal common law.

“There is a strong probability that the disposition of post-trial motions will substantially reduce, if not eliminate, the amount of the judgment,” they said.

Trump did not attend a trial last May when a Manhattan jury awarded Carroll $5 million after concluding that the real estate magnate sexually attacked Carroll in spring 1996 in the dressing room of a luxury Bergdorf Goodman store across the street from Trump Plaza in midtown Manhattan.

Since Carroll, 80, first made her claims public in a memoir in 2019, Trump, 77, has repeatedly derided them as lies made to sell her book and damage him politically. He has called her a “whack job” and said that she wasn’t “his type,” a reference that Carroll testified was meant to suggest she was too ugly to rape.

Carroll also testified that she has faced death threats from Trump supporters and has had her reputation shattered after remarks Trump continued to make even as the trial was going on.

At the second trial, Trump attended regularly and briefly testified, though he did most of his communication with the jury through frequent shakes of his head and disparaging comments muttered loudly enough that a prosecutor complained that jurors surely heard them and the judge threatened to banish him from the courtroom.

Roberta Kaplan, a lawyer for Carroll and no relation to the judge, declined comment Friday.

Alina Habba, one of Trump’s attorneys, said in a statement that January’s jury award was “egregiously excessive.”

“The Court must exercise its authority to prevent Ms. Carroll’s (sic) from enforcing this absurd judgment, which will not withstand appeal,” Habba said.

Since the January verdict, a state court judge in New York in a separate case has ordered Trump and his companies to pay $355 million in penalties for a yearslong scheme to dupe banks and others with financial statements that inflated his wealth. With interest, he owes the state nearly $454 million.

[Breccia]

So outside of Trump and his attorney's arguing, once again, that he has immunity for stealing documents and keeping them what else are his "world class" attorney's arguing? Well that Trump shouldn't have to pay Carroll because he'll appeal and will be "reduced or eliminated."

I believe the correct response is "prove it". If they're so sure the punative damages Trump brought on himself will be reduced on appeal, they should sprint towards appeal as quickly as possible. Because right now, it sounds a lot more like Trump's lawyers are (a) asking the court to take them at their word that (b) they will be effective and (c) get results. Three things they have not done yet.

I'm fairly sure the judge has the power to reduce what seems like an overly unfair jury award. I'm far more sure that the judge has not done so. Therefore, I do not believe the judge feels the jury's award is unfair, therefore, I do not believe the judge will suspend it.

As for yelling "unConstitutional!" at random cameras, Trump is likely referring to the Cruel and Unusual Eighth Amendment. Honestly, this is his best shot. It's not a great one.

1) Trump claims to be worth TEN BILLION DOLLARS. Claiming the award is too high, without admitting he's worth lower than that, will lack foundation.

2) This is Trump's second trial. In the first, the award was lower, and he did not change his behavior. If a lower award did not stop his behavior the first time, why would a lower one stop it the second?

3) Trump is likely begging for the reduction because of his cash crunch -- he may be admitting he can't pay both damages caused by his illegal behavior. However, the Trump Org fraud trial is not Carroll's problem. I can understand an award against some random guy being called excessive because that guy needs to pay for food and rent. Trump broke the law and got caught. It's not hardship when it's both optional and self-inflicted.

The award might come down on appeal, but I don't think it'll be reduced before that.

[Gorsameth]

Trump was going to fight the Caroll judgement regardless, because he fights everything for as long as he can really, but I feel fairly confident in saying the main reason for this push now is 3). Trump doesn't have the cash on hand to pay for both judgements.

[Shadowferal]

In a month we'll see. Trump attorneys have all but used up every delaying tactic. It'll be time to pay up. NY and Carrol will get paid one way or another.

[Breccia]

Our Ruling

Trump said the fine in his New York fraud case "is a form of Navalny, it is a form of communism or fascism."

Although Trump is embroiled in numerous legal battles, his civil case involved a fine, not imprisonment, not poisoning, not subjugation to a legal system dominated by an authoritarian regime.

Trump is free to express outrage about the fine and a New York judge’s ruling against him. He is free to speak against the government. He is free to hire lawyers. He is free to appeal his cases. He is free to travel the country while he campaigns for president.

Navalny was blocked from running for public office. He was poisoned by a chemical weapon that the German government said was developed by the Soviet Union. He was convicted in Russia and sentenced to prison largely on the charge of "extremism" which does not exist in the United States. Numerous human rights organizations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said the cases against Navalny were unjust and that Russia was crushing dissent. Navalny died in prison under conditions that have not been fully explained.

Trump has been given due process in the fraud case and has the legal right to appeal. The federal government has not tried to kill Trump, who is running for president of the United States.

We rate this statement Pants on Fire!

[Santti]

Our Ruling

He has such a way with words.

[Benggaul]

Except that his proposed legislation would require items with vaccines to be labeled, not those without. Meaning that there would never be an instance where a grocery store would need to slap one of these labels on their produce because there is no such thing as produce containing vaccines, much less that is available for general purchase at the same price as other produce.

So again, I'm not seeing who is harmed by this other than maybe the poor suckers within the state government that need to waste some weeks creating a process for this to never actually happen, assuming the legislation passes.

I have to imagine that this all came about because of this.

With the help of an advanced technique known as agrobacterium-mediated transient transformation, the MacLean research team used a specific type of bacteria to transfer genes from bacteria to plants. Specifically, the team focused on the transfer of a gene sequence that corresponded to SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, an antigen target upon which most vaccines are based.

The technique had already been optimised with inedible plants such as Nicotiana benthamiana (a close relative of the tobacco plant). Thanks to the pioneering efforts of Prof. MacLean and Ms. Power, this is now possible with edible plants. Before striking success with lettuce, Monique tested a variety of edible plants including arugula, Choho hybrid greens, collard greens, cucumber, pepper, radish, spinach and tomato. The desired viral protein expression was finally observed in lettuce, which was chosen as the most successful candidate for an edible vaccine.

The importance of this discovery could potentially revolutionize how the world looks at vaccines and how they can be delivered. Not only is this delivery method much easier than injectable vaccines, but it also stimulates the development of mucosal immunity, which offers protection at mucosal surfaces including the lungs. Furthermore, it would allow us to combine injectable and edible vaccines for a more comprehensive immune response and protection against COVID-19 and other viral pandemics in the future. Advantages of this method include the low production cost, since there is no need for a cold chain for distribution, as well as avoiding the use of needles. Eliminating the need for a cold chain would greatly facilitate the administration of vaccines in rural areas and expedite vaccination efforts in developing countries around the world.

The next step will be animal studies to determine the effective dosage of antigen necessary to elicit an effective immune response. The results of this research have strong potential to take us one step closer to making edible vaccines available to the public.

So I wouldn't go so far as to say it's completely out of the realm of possibility, but still, the paranoia around this shit is ridiculous.

- - - Updated - - -

And in Trump-related news...he still doesn't understand what a tariff is.

'You Screw Us, We Screw You': Trump Vows To Impose Retaliatory Tariffs Against 'China Or Any Other Country' If Reelected

In a recent rally in South Carolina, former President Donald Trump announced his intention to reintroduce retaliatory tariffs if he secures a second term. Economists caution that this move could potentially worsen inflation.

What Happened: Trump expressed his plan to implement the “Trump Reciprocal Trade Act” if re-elected, reported The Hill.

The former president stated, “If China or any other country makes us pay a tariff of, let's say 100 [percent], or 200 [percent], or even 300 percent, and they do that, we will make them pay a reciprocal identical tariff of 100 [percent] or 200 [percent] or 300 percent right back.”

Trump’s proposed policy, which he described as “you screw us, and we screw you,” was met with applause from his supporters. He further added that as foreign tariffs increase, taxes on American workers and families would decrease “very substantially.

Trump had imposed tariffs on several countries, including China, India, and those in the European Union, during his first term. During one point in his presidency, nearly half of Chinese products had up to 25% tariffs slapped on them, affecting goods worth $360 billion.

Earlier this month, Trump hinted at the possibility of imposing a tariff exceeding 60% on all Chinese imports if he returns to the presidency, amidst rising economic and other tensions between the U.S. and China.

Why It Matters: Trump’s potential return to the presidency has been viewed as a business risk by nearly half of Japanese companies, primarily due to the protectionist policies that characterized his previous term from 2017 to 2021.

Previously, in June, Trump had threatened to impose a 100% tariff on Chinese goods if Chinese President Xi Jinping did not shut down China's spy base in Cuba.

Nobel laureate Paul Krugman has also criticized Trump's tariffs, calling them a "bad idea" and "stupid." He thinks this would lead to the end of GATT, or General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which seeks to reduce tariffs amongst signatory nations.

Michael Every, a global strategist at Rabobank, thinks Trump’s proposed 10% tariff on all imported goods could have a significant impact on the global economy, warned.

Of course his MAGA base are every bit as ignorant. *waves to the Trumper dipshits still on the forum* Hey you! Yes, you. You sycophantic cowards. This is the dumb fuck you support. The one who actually causes most of the higher prices you lot bitch about. Have fun emptying your wallets just to scrape by the next few years if you're stupid enough to put him back in office--that is if you have any money left over after sending him your nest egg to pay his legal bills.

[Masark]

So again, I'm not seeing who is harmed

And when one of your belongs-in-a-padded-cell police officers gets it into their head that their tomato had vaccine in it and assaults some grocery store worker?

[DarkAmbient]

Managed to catch about 20 minutes of the car crash that was his CPAC speech. I say speech, but it was more like watching a man's brain melt in real time.

[Edge-]

And when one of your belongs-in-a-padded-cell police officers gets it into their head that their tomato had vaccine in it and assaults some grocery store worker?

I mean, are we just coming up with wild hypotheticals just cause?

That would be assault, but the officer would probably find themselves covered by qualified immunity...somehow. But that would happen regardless of the law being in place or not, which would exclusively apply to the grocery stores/suppliers who would need to identify produce containing vaccines. Which again, is not a thing that exists.

[Cthulhu 2020]

So Trump now has 30 days to pay the $454,156,783.05 plus $87,000 interest per day. If not, they can start seizing his properties to pay off his debts.

[Breccia]

Managed to catch about 20 minutes of the car crash that was his CPAC speech. I say speech, but it was more like watching a man's brain melt in real time.

I applaud your intent, sir. I barely made it three hunting through for a specific line.

Speaking of car crash, let's talk about the RNC.

Two resolutions to vote on have been introduced and we'll see how much the Republican Party is the Party of Trump by how they unfold.

One, that the RNC does not coordinate with Trump's campaign to fund raise until Trump has the required number of delegates.

The Republican National Committee and its leadership will stay neutral throughout the Presidential primary and not take on additional staff from any of the active Presidential campaigns until a nominee is clearly determined by reaching 1,215 delegates.

"But surely Trump will 100% clean sweep!"

Then there's no harm in waiting, is there? Nobody expects Trump to lose. All this does is force him to wait for the official nomination, before he becomes the official candidate. You know, like every other election.

Two, not paying Trump's legal bills.

"It calls Trump out?"

Remember that Florida bill that would fund the legal bills of all Republican candidates from Florida facing unjust prosecution in 2024, but didn't say the word "Trump"? Same.

The Republican National Committee will not pay the legal bills of any of our candidates for any federal or state office, but will focus our spending on efforts directly related to the 2024 election cycle.

Depending on how things go, it's possible that the current expected RNC head will try to extend that further.

NBC News' Vaughn Hillyard spoke to Chris LaCivita, who is expected to take over the RNC's operations. He conveyed that the party will not be using the funds on Trump.

"No," he said simply while in South Carolina.

He was asked to clarify the answer and responded: "Fucking no."

I mean, why not say that? He's going to be thrown out and replaced by Trump loyalists and family members anyhow. I applaud his stance.

"Ethical ground?"

Being a vengeful fucker. If I was fired without cause, I'd steal whatever I could lift on the way out and then give all my students A+ grades too.

And he's not alone.

Former Homeland Security chief of staff, Miles Taylor, said on Thursday that Trump is known for trying to hoover up cash through campaigns and committees for his own purposes.

Taylor said that he would hope that most Republican donors wouldn't want to see their party's funds spent on Trump's fines. He wanted to believe that such a move would turn people off of the GOP and mark the end of Trump's reign.

"But I know better than that," said Taylor. "I think Lara Trump probably knows better than we do, that they have so fooled the GOP base that their future of the country's tied to Donald Trump. That they seem willing to do almost anything to support him."

The former chair of the Republican Party, Michael Steele, warned that such a plan will ultimately destroy the party.

"Since 2015, Trump’s rise has (predictably) led to a diminished Republican Party – financially, electorally, and in fidelity to conservative values," he argued before reminding the leadership that Trump has been the author of a string of GOP defeats including losing control of the Senate and the White House.

A lot of classic Republicans don't seem to like Trump taking over their party and calling them RINOs. Yes, they're outnumbered, but they're nonzero. Every day and every dollar they cost Trump is a victory for democracy, and also, probably cause him to rage and throw his phone at things.

Speaking of which:

1) In the ongoing effort to destroy her life for Trump, Habba went on FOX News *ding* and attacked the host.

Sadly, not physically. I'd have paid to watch. Anyhow, the host brought up someone from the National Review -- Andy McCarthy, not just a senior fellow but also a former SDNY attorney. And Habba basically screamed "I've been on the case three years, how dare he comment!" and, to her credit, the host didn't respond "well, you were on the case three years and lost every time".

2) In the same FOX News safe space "interview" *ding* Trump apparently said Melania speaks five languages.

Turns out, no, she can't.

Why Trump would say this is unknown. It's been brought up as far back as 2016. There is no available information that Melania speaks more than two. I also don't know why Trump thinking Melania speaking Italian or German would be of any use on the campaign trail, which is the context in which the lie was told.

3) Trump's attempt to get Cannon to dismiss her case is insultingly stupid. Yes, this is the "Trump made them personal records on the way out the door and told nobody" claim.

Legal experts poured cold water on the Trump team’s arguments.

“The arguments are no more meritorious than the ones the court of appeals in DC already rejected,” tweeted former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance.

“If this were allowed, POTUS could declassify all of our most sensitive secrets when leaving office & sell them to Putin 5 minutes later,” wrote CNN legal analyst Norm Eisen.

“This motion is insultingly stupid,” argued national security attorney Bradley Moss, noting that Trump cannot introduce new facts in a motion to dismiss as he did with his claim that he designated the classified documents he took as personal records.

“What a joke,” he wrote. “You can’t introduce facts, and that alone is fatal to this motion. Trump is stuck with the facts of the indictment, no matter how much this motion pretends otherwise.”

I'll ask @cubby to back that up, but that's really just a ruse -- I know he'll come here, read this stuff about Trump's lawyers, and say "hah hah, what a dumbass"

4)
Trump says 'the Black people' like him because he's been 'discriminated against' in the legal system

"I got indicted a second time and a third time and a fourth time, and a lot of people said that that’s why the Black people like me, because they have been hurt so badly and discriminated against, and they actually viewed me as I’m being discriminated against," he said.

"I’m being indicted for you, the American people. I’m being indicted for you, the Black population. I am being indicted for a lot of different groups by sick people, these are sick sick people," Trump said Friday night in a speech at the Black Conservative Federation's annual gala, at which he received the "Champion of Black America" award.

"Some of the greatest evils in our nation's history have come from corrupt systems that try to target and subjugate others to deny them their freedom and to deny them their rights," Trump said. "I think that's why the Black people are so much on my side now because they see what's happening to me happens to them."

Trump said Black Americans showcased their support for him through their embrace of merchandize emblazoned with his mug shot.

"My mug shot — we’ve all seen the mug shot, and you know who embraced it more than anybody else? The Black population," Trump said. "You see Black people walking around with my mug shot, you know, they do shirts and they sell them for $19 apiece. It’s pretty amazing — millions by the way."

5) Trump had some things to say about migrants as well.

"It’s migrant crime. It’s a new category of crime. And I wanted to call it Biden Migrant Crime. But it’s too long. So we just call it migrant crime. We have a new category, Migrant Crime," Trump said.

"And it’s going to be more severe than violent crime and crime as we knew it, because we have millions and millions of people, and they came from prisons and jails. They came from mental institutions and insane asylums. No, they’re not the same. An insane asylum is a mental institution on steroids, Ok? It’s 'Silence of the Lambs,' Ok?. You know that. Hannibal Lecter! They’re all being deposited into our country. And then you have terrorists, and then you have drugs, and then you have human traffickers, and they’re coming over at levels never seen before. We’ve never seen anything like this."

Yes, that's Trump going past "they're bringing crime, they're rapists" and going straight for cannibalism and terrorism.

I wonder what our former Trump supporters would have said about their intentionally chosen candidate, saying that millions and millions were sent from prisons and insane asylums, even leaving out the cannibalism issue? Mexico has a prison population of about 200,000 or so, so, "millions and millions" is going to require some citation by Team Trump.

As always, I will take a lack of response as an intentional invitation for me to quote them saying "Trump lied and I was afraid to answer".

6) It's time again for Guess the Speaker!

We won’t survive 4 more years of Trump’s chaos. Let’s choose a new generation of conservative leadership.

Nikki Haley posted that on all forms of social media. Yes, including Twitter. The post includes a clip show of Trump being Trump.

7) Morning Joe points out something that I'm kicking myself I didn't think of first.

The empty seats in Trump's rallies, specifically. Yes, those are bad enough for Trump as it is. He can't even fill a small room anymore.

But, what does that mean?

I'll tell you what freaks Trump out even more is the fact that his small donors, which is absolutely critical in campaigns, small donors have dropped by 200,000 people! 200,000 donors from this part of the campaign to four years ago.

I'll take him at his expert word that Trump uses small donors more effectively than other Republicans. The dropoff should be concerning -- Trump is broke.

8) Hey remember when

Fox News Neil Cavuto interrupts Donald's speech to clarify that...the 2020 election was not rigged and there have been dozens of court cases and investigations that concluded that it was not rigged and Donald just lost. I'm sure the nearly $1B defamation case Fox had is partially why they're quick to point out that there was no widespread fraud in the 2020 election.

Turns out, Newsmax did the same thing. Kind of.

"Newsmax as a network believes the results were legal and final,” Carl Higbie said, after Mr Trump had finished speaking in Rock Hill.

Granted, Newsmax let him finish. But we are actually seeing some effects.

9) While this article's headline is clickbait it does contain some usefu info.

"In this order Donald Trump and the business entities that were found liable, are jointly and severally liable," Rubin said. "That means that any one of them can be liable for the whole of the judgment attributed to them and that also means that Donald Trump can't escape this just by plunging those business entities themselves into bankruptcy, because that would leave him individually on the hook for the totality of it.”

Rubin said the “only way to escape it all together would be to file for personal bankruptcy, which would place an automatic stay on further litigation, including judgment execution."

10) It sure sounds like Trump called his wife "Mercedes" in public.

Or, he for some reason, interrupted his tribute to his wife to thank a car company. I mean, that's arguably worse.

Melania was, of course, not at CPAC to hear that. She seems to still be missing.

Trump also said a bunch of other things at CPAC but we've heard those: crime is up (false) economy is down (false) I am your retribution (dictator) etc.

[cubby]

3) Trump's attempt to get Cannon to dismiss her case is insultingly stupid. Yes, this is the "Trump made them personal records on the way out the door and told nobody" claim.

Legal experts poured cold water on the Trump team’s arguments.

“The arguments are no more meritorious than the ones the court of appeals in DC already rejected,” tweeted former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance.

“If this were allowed, POTUS could declassify all of our most sensitive secrets when leaving office & sell them to Putin 5 minutes later,” wrote CNN legal analyst Norm Eisen.

“This motion is insultingly stupid,” argued national security attorney Bradley Moss, noting that Trump cannot introduce new facts in a motion to dismiss as he did with his claim that he designated the classified documents he took as personal records.

“What a joke,” he wrote. “You can’t introduce facts, and that alone is fatal to this motion. Trump is stuck with the facts of the indictment, no matter how much this motion pretends otherwise.”

I'll ask @cubby to back that up, but that's really just a ruse -- I know he'll come here, read this stuff about Trump's lawyers, and say "hah hah, what a dumbass"

At this point Trump's attorney's are just putting on a clinic in what a kitchen sink looks like re political legal manuvers. And as much as I hate to say it, they are playing Trump's one and only historically victorious strategy to effective work - delaying consequences for a Felon until they may not be enforceable. The motions they file are enormously stupid, the reasons they are filing them have nothing to do with their merits.

[Edge-]

10) It sure sounds like Trump called his wife "Mercedes" in public.

Or, he for some reason, interrupted his tribute to his wife to thank a car company. I mean, that's arguably worse.

Person, man, woman, TV, camera.

[Kathranis]

https://twitter.com/mmpadellan/statu...47348956659823

Trump forgets his wife's name and calls her Mercedes.


Edit: Whoops. Already posted. Still, worth more eyes.

One of the clearest signs of dementia yet.

Part of my feels like this is actual cosmic karma for him going after Biden's cognitive decline so hard.

Got another eight months of hard campaigning and court cases to go. Feel like it's going to really take a massive toll on him as this year goes on.

[Breccia]

Trump forgets his wife's name and calls her Mercedes.

Edit: Whoops. Already posted.

Eh, it bears repeating. Seriously having seen that clip, he 100% said the word "Mercedes" and I am looking forward to the defense of this.

[Kathranis]

I am looking forward to the defense of this.

At least he didn't call her McDonald's.

[Breccia]

Well...I'd say this was a good enough reason to drink. Like, in a good way.

Steve Bannon Takes Aim at Sean Hannity

*sip*

Bannon took to social media on Saturday with a dig against long-time Fox News host Hannity, in reaction to comments he made about former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley remaining in the race for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination despite trailing Trump significantly in the polls and primary results. During an appearance on Fox & Friends Saturday, Hannity was critical of Haley's stated intention to remain in the race until Super Tuesday, which is on March 5, arguing that she would be better served to drop out and partner with Trump.

"She had been making the argument that she was a more electable candidate," Hannity said. "I don't know if y'all saw the poll that came out of Texas this week, but Trump was up by, I believe, 9, and she was down by 7 in a red state like Texas. So it's not the slam dunk that she's making it out to be. And I actually think that, had maybe she gotten out after Nevada, waited the four years, and then maybe joined and partnered with Trump, take on a big role in his administration, which I think she would be with great at. I think it would have been a better strategy for her."

"You see, there's a big picture and you've tapped into this," Hannity said. "All the 'Never Trumper' money is right now going to her. She's the last one standing. So the amount of money is massive."

In response to a Mediaite article about these comments, Bannon took to his official Gettr account to lambast the host and Fox News overall for their allegedly persistent and positive coverage of Haley's campaign, including a town hall event broadcast from last week.

"LMAO: Dude —You Own Channel Gave Her a Prime Time Townhall to Kick Off the Week," Bannon wrote in his post. "She is PROMOTED by Murdoch News Non Stop."

Ah...the civil war continues. Bannon vs. Hannity, let them fight! Let them fight!

- - - Updated - - -

They’ll soon have us losing World War III. We won’t even be in World War III, we’ll be losing World War III with weapons the likes of which nobody has ever seen before. These are the stakes of this election. Our country is being destroyed. And the only thing standing between you and its obliteration is me. It’s true.

"Wait, we'll lose WWIII despite not being in it?"

I guess?

"How did Trump say WWIII would start?"

He didn't.

"How did Trump say he would stop WWIII?"

By siding with Putin.

"He didn't say that!"

He gave no other details in any way, so, I get to make shit up, too. Trump would forfeit control of the USA to Putin.