Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Breccia]

I don't see how her leaving him lowers his chances at all. It's not like it would be the first time a wife divorced him.

No, but it would be the first time a candidate's wife left them mid-campaign. Already the Party of Family Values is looking for an excuse. Imagine when their leading candidate shows how much of a sociopath when his wife walks, and he doesn't care.

She leaves, the Republican Party finally has their exit ramp.

[Egomaniac]

No, but it would be the first time a candidate's wife left them mid-campaign. Already the Party of Family Values is looking for an excuse. Imagine when their leading candidate shows how much of a sociopath when his wife walks, and he doesn't care.

She leaves, the Republican Party finally has their exit ramp.

Yeah, they won't care anymore about her leaving him then they cared about him banging a porn star when she was pregnant. Or "grabbing them by the pussy". Or walking into teenage girls locker rooms. Or causing an insurrection. Or getting indicted for causing said insurrection. Etc etc etc.

You can lead the GOP to an exit ramp...but you cant make them take it.

Trump's history has no shortage of "first time a candidate..."

[Breccia]

You can lead the GOP to an offramp...but you cant make them take it.

Fair enough point, let's just say I hope to see the conditions rise where we find out who is right

[gondrin]

"But Biden", Trump exclaims....

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...78f0f339&ei=26

Trump contradicts Biden on president's docs probe: 'They can’t even set up a meeting'

Donald Trump on Saturday claimed President Joe Biden isn't fully cooperating the the special counsel investigating documents found at the president's residence and other locations.

Trump specifically said that the special counsel "can’t even set up a meeting" with Biden, but Biden has recently denied reports that there was such a request --- or even interest in it. Trump, who earlier in the day targeted a conservative Wall Street Journal reporter, took to Truth Social to rail against Biden.

"Remember all of the Fake News reporting that was done saying that Crooked Joe Biden was fully cooperating with the Robert Hur, the Special Council, concerning the thousands of boxes of Documents that Joe took out of the White House," Trump wrote Saturday. "Well, that turned out to be a big lie."

He then added:

"They can’t even set up a meeting, 'BIDEN IS BEING IMPOSSIBLE.' But I’m not, I even gave them, openly and freely, Security Tapes , and I come under the Presidential Records Act, Joe Doesn’t. It’s all about Election Interference!"

Trump did not provide a source for the claims that he was spreading.

[Twdft]

She files for divorce, his 2024 hopes drop to 0.

"I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK?"

Which I believe is absolutely true. We all laughed when he said it, but it's true. A divorce means nothing.

[Zaydin]

Yeah, right now the kid is, as far as I know, "innocent". When he turns 18 he might want to consider cutting ties with daddy dearest and staying with his cousin Mary.

Yeah, I've always advocated to people on the left to leave Barron alone. He's a minor right now and should be left alone. If he chooses to get involved in politics once he turns eighteen then he's fair game but for now leave him alone.

Don Jr, Eric and Ivanka are all fair game due to being adults willingly helping their fathers campaigns and Residency but Barron is still a minor.

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"But Biden", Trump exclaims....

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...78f0f339&ei=26

Trumps source is that he pulled it out of his generous orange ass.

[Egomaniac]

Fair enough point, let's just say I hope to see the conditions rise where we find out who is right

I mean, he was found liable for Sexual Assault...and his polling went up.

If Melania leaves the narrative becomes that shes the money grubbing whore that left him when he needed her the most.

[Breccia]

I mean, he was found liable for Sexual Assault...and his polling went up.

There is polling, and there is electability...but yes, perhaps my opinion on the Republican Party actually valuing families is a touch outdated. It's hard to back up a party that had Newt Gingrich, a triple adulterer, backing Trump, a triple adulterer. I still would like to see that theory stress-tested, who knows.

In other news, Trump is now claiming Biden took thousands of boxes out of the White House and you wouldn't expect someone to say that after claiming it was okay to do that. I think Trump might feel the walls closing in on him, and not just because he's very fat.

Maybe I should let Cohen explain. It's safe to assume he's an expert on such things.

“If any one of them ends up turning, it’s destruction for the rest,” Cohen said in an MSNBC interview Saturday.

The former attorney

You're going to have to narrow that down.

had a message for the co-defendants — especially Trump’s attorneys Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, and his former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

“Donald doesn’t care about you. He doesn’t care about you one bit,” he argued. “He will use you as the scapegoat and the system will use you as the scapegoat in order to get somebody.”

“[Prosecutors] will get them to turn, because these three could easily end up in the same situation that I ended up,” Cohen said. “And I can promise you something, it’s not fun.

“Exactly what happened to me is going to happen to all 18 of the co-indicted defendants,” he added.

Cohen has also repeatedly criticized Trump for opting not to pay his co-defendants legal bills, saying it encourages them to flip. Giuliani has reportedly asked Trump several times to pay his bills, and former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis, also a co-defendant, has done so publicly.

“Donald’s an idiot,” Cohen said in a CNN interview Monday. “Let me just be very clear: When it comes to paying money, he is truly an idiot.”

“He has not learned yet that … three people you don’t want to throw under the bus like that: your lawyer, your doctor and your mechanic,” he continued. “Because one way or the other, you’re going to go down the hill and there’ll be no brakes.”

Granted, Trump is now hosting a bbq for Giuliani and claiming Giuliani will get a cut of the ticket sales. But that's it. 17 other co-defendants have had no such luck, and I personally cited one hosting a GoFundYourself and another who just gave up and said "just throw me in jail, I can't pay".

As a reminder, two of the 18 non-Trump co-conspirators have asked to move their trials sooner. I admit it's possible they're testing a Team Trump defense, taking one for the team, and if it works the others will follow and if not the rest will swap tactics. Like the Lemmings games. I find it highly unlikely a band of unethical traitors led by a narcisistic sociopath possess the skills to do this. I also don't think either of these people were bluffing. You don't bluff when your opponent is showing four aces, they're not going to fold. Earlier, I suggested they might have tried the approach of asking for a speedy trial, hoping that the GA DA wouldn't be ready on time, which sounds a lot like bluffing in retrospect, but also like sprinting for your car before the bear catches you, in the "I have no other options and my underwear is soaked in honey" way. But, I think it is more possible that they're hoping to be the first ones offered plea deals.

I've mentioned before one of them is I'm Not Your Chese, Bro. The other is Sidney Powell for some reason. Given everything we know about her, using a good legal strategy is dramatically out of character. I don't know what Powell thinks Trump owes her, but her life is basically already ruined for actions she did on Trump's behalf, and I'm not convinced she was ever paid for any of it.

Forbes reports that not only has Trump tried to block Chesebro's legal motion -- and I have no idea if he has legal grounds for that, it's Team Trump, "I have legal grounds to do this" isn't in their vocabulary -- but also, filed to separate their cases, which would make them have even less legal grounds. I don't understand how you file to have your cases separated when you're both accused of a RICO conspiracy together. It's not like they have the same lawyer.

...do they? If Trump wants to split lawyers, that's pretty much proof Chesebro is turning on him.

I will also point out that Powell will not be able to move this to federal court. She was not a federal employee or acting for the federal government in any way. Meadows tried and failed, but she can't even try.

I have seen no actions on Trump's part about the Powell filing, but he may not have had the chance to.

I think Cohen's argument has evidence backing it, for example Cohen himself, but mostly the unindicted co-conspirators. Whoever knows they've been sold out has a very short timespan to sell Trump out. Once their trial starts, I don't think the GA DA will accept anything other than full public on-camera testimony that Donald Trump specifically and directly ordered them to commit a crime.

[Egomaniac]

There is polling, and there is electability...but yes, perhaps my opinion on the Republican Party actually valuing families is a touch outdated. It's hard to back up a party that had Newt Gingrich, a triple adulterer, backing Trump, a triple adulterer. I still would like to see that theory stress-tested, who knows.

That's the thing...it has been stress-tested. You listed just one example...but there's many.

Grab 'em by the pussy is just locker room talk after all

[Corvus]

Melaina might have proof Trump made her get an abortion and I'm not sure even that would make any difference to the cult anymore.

[postman1782]

Melaina might have proof Trump made her get an abortion and I'm not sure even that would make any difference to the cult anymore.

It wouldn't be the first time Trump has paid for an abortion.

[Gorsameth]

If Melania could divorce Trump and not lose everything she would be gone already.

That is not to say she isn't extra pissed at Trump for using Brannon.

[Odinfrost]

"But Biden", Trump exclaims....

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...78f0f339&ei=26

My favorite part of this is that Trump accuses Biden of taking thousands of boxes of documents.
I am so happy to see him be so salty that about him being in trouble for not returning the documents, while Biden avoided all that shit by actually complying.

[Breccia]

When even the Associated Press is calling you out, you know you have a problem.

With Donald Trump facing felony charges over his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, Trump is flooding the airwaves and his social media platform with distortions, misinformation and unfounded conspiracy theories about his defeat.

It’s part of a multiyear effort to undermine public confidence in the American electoral process as he seeks to chart a return to the White House in 2024. There is evidence that his lies are resonating: New polling from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that 57% of Republicans believe Democrat Joe Biden was not legitimately elected as president.

While the rest of the AP article is stuff we already knew -- states did recounts, court challenges failed, the claims of voter fraud had no evidence because they didn't exist -- that 57% is concerning.

Well, it's more than halfway, it's recent, and a seriously-done poll by a reputable source. I guess we have no choice but to assume any given Trump supporter, including any Trump supporting posters here, fit the majority unless they say otherwise. From now on, any Trump supporter should be assumed to still, to this day, believe that Trump won and Biden lost the election, despite no evidence backing that.

"Surely some people answering the poll lied."

Saying that you believe the election was rigged when you don't is worse. At least insane people have an excuse. People who say it's rigged when it isn't are intentionally lying, just like Trump is, to spread misinformation and distrust of democracy. Without a dividing line in the poll to work with, I'll go with "they believe the election was stolen with no evidence" also known as "conspiracy theory" and at least I have evidence to back my opinion.

- - - Updated - - -

Speaking of polls, Trump is not a fan of the last one.

See, FOX News *ding* asked a poll to debate watchers. You know, the debate they hosted? Asking about their own show, their own content? Pretty standard stuff.

Trump was upset that he, the person who voluntarily skipped the debate, wasn't an option on the poll.

No, really.

The Globalists over at FoxNews and their subservient 'paper,' The Wall Street Journal, in their never ending quest to stop America First, and give Ron DeSanctimonious one last HOPELESS push, have created the dumbest Poll yet. It states 'What candidates are you voting for among likely GOP primary voters who WATCHED THE DEBATE?'

I wasn’t going to bring this up but no TRUMP VOTER watched the debate, which was the lowest rated ever, because they were ALL watching my interview with Tucker Carlson!

The Interview has, at this moment, 260,000,000 Views, the biggest of all time, whereas the FoxNews Debate had only 11,000,000 Viewers. End of story! If FoxNews doesn’t get on board the greatest MOVEMENT of all time, MAGA, they will continue to Hemorrhage Viewers and Ratings - They will never come back - The beautiful Golden Goose will be forever gone!

I've already dealt with Trump's false viewership claims. The fact that he's repeating them is as unsurprising as it is sad, pathetic, lame-ass, limp-dick, and IMPOTUS. By Trump's own fictional figures, more people watched than can vote, including every Democrat, and either children or non-Americans. By his own twisted logic, a poll amongst the Carlson watchers would be useless to him anyhow.

Incidentally, WaPo backs my play. For every six Republicans who watched the debate, they said, only one watched Carlson.

But, Trump seems to take issue with FOX News asking their debate watchers who watched their debate about their debate they just watched. That's...fucking stupid, but okay. So I'll just pick another one.

The Washington Post, FiveThirtyEight and Ipsos conducted a poll before and after last night’s debate with potential Republican primary and caucus voters, including those who watched the debate.

And they thought Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis came out on top Wednesday night, with 29 percent of Republican voters who watched the debate saying he performed best. He was nearly matched by former pharmaceutical executive Vivek Ramaswamy, with 26 percent saying he performed best. The findings may be surprising because DeSantis generally stayed above the fray in a raucous debate, though Ramaswamy received and delivered lots of barbs.

They are positioned in the following order: DeSantis 29%, Ramaswamy 26%, Haley 15%, Pence 7%, Christie and Scott 4%, Burgum and Hutchinson 1%. Alongside the track are three categories. None of these candidates: 13%. Did not qualify: Hurd and Suarez. Did not participate: Trump.

Oh, the NYTimes did a focus group, too. Good luck blaming them on FOX News.

Here's Bloomberg! (They are citing WaPo but they are doing so gleefully so you can guess where it's going)

This is just more of the same from Trump. Anything he doesn't like is fake news, rigged, or "the jury said I didn't technically rape her". If he didn't like the results asked about people who had the guts to show up for the debate, maybe he should have showed up. We'll see what happens at the next one, but when even Mike Pence is showing courage that Trump lacks, I'm not holding my breath.

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I have the Staysure Senior PGA Championship in Aberdeen, Scotland, on my great course, and I can’t go. I have to stay around and fight off the Crazed Radical Left Lunatics, Communists, Marxists, and Fascists.

I wouldn’t want to be in Europe and watch this COUNTRY DESTROYING Scum work their disgusting and illegal 'magic' on unsuspecting Republican 'leaders' who just don’t think it is appropriate to Fight Fire With Fire. BUT WE WILL WIN. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

I have to admit, I'm a little lost on this one. What is the "magic" Trump refers to? At first I thought he meant "election fraud", that would mean he was ordering Republicans to commit crimes, that is 100% on the Trump brand. But then I thought, he might be asking Republicans to simply jail Democrats for fictional crimes, as he claims the crimes against him are fictional. But, either way, he said it was illegal, and then asked Republicans to fight fire with fire meaning using the same tactics, so either way, he's asking Republicans to commit crimes.

Anyone else want to take a swing at this one? The post, not the poster, of course. I shouldn't have to clarify, but unlike some people, I want it to be clear I'm not endorsing people commit crimes. We already have the leader of the Republican Party for that.

[VMSmith]

If Melania leaves the narrative becomes that shes the money grubbing whore that left him when he needed her the most.

It's also worth remembering that Christian Republicans tend to believe that women should not be allowed to initiate divorce at all, only men hold that privilege. A woman filing for divorce is still technically scandalous, despite all the Republican women who do it. If Melania filed for divorce the religious right would be up in arms against her.

[Breccia]

Oh, apparently Trump wasn't done talking about golf.

I am pleased to report, for those that care, that I just won the Senior Club Championship (must be over 50 years old!) at Bedminster (Trump National Golf Club), shooting a round of 67. Now, some people will think that sounds low, but there is no hanky/lanky. Many people watch, plus I am surrounded by Secret Service Agents. Not much you can do even if you wanted to, and I don’t.

“For some reason, I am just a good golfer/athlete – I have won many Club Championships, and it is always a great honor!

So not only did Tr--

"Hanky-lanky?"

I just cut and paste, dude. So not only did Trump win yet another tournament in which he sets all the rules and pays all the staff, it's not even a secret how badly he cheats.

One

Of the 144 rounds played at Bedminster by LIV golfers, six shot 67 or lower.

Seems a little suspicious already, what with Trump being nearly 80 and fat.

Two, the book Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump was published in 2019, and is used as a parallel between Trump's golf game and Trump's everything in real life game. Just read down the list of critical reviews, and more importantly who wrote them.

And three, Trump declared himself the winner of the previous contest he hosted and paid all the staff of. In January, it was the Senior Club Championship at Trump International Golf Club in Palm Beach. Trump didn't play the first round, he wasn't even in the state, he was attending Diamond's funeral. Competitors showed up for the second round on the second day, and Trump was in the lead by five shots.

Yeah, as he explained to the event organizers that he picked and he paid, he played a really good round two days before the tournament, and just decided that should count. In an amazing coincidence, there was no documentation of this practice round, but it was better by five strokes than anyone else playing a professional (?) tournament.
It's a shame nobody saw it, that's really quite strong.

Competed against many fine golfers and was hitting the ball long and straight. The reason that I announce this on fabulous TRUTH is that, in a very real way, it serves as a physical exam, only MUCH tougher. You need strength and stamina to WIN, & I have strength & stamina – most others don’t. You also need strength & stamina to GOVERN!

"So, he just admitted he cheats on his physical exam, then?"

I can think of 215 reasons that's true.

Trump's claims are useless without evidence to back them up. And just so we're clear, "the person I paid says I hit 67" does not count. Trump is already known in court for paying people to lie for him. So until video evidence backs up Trump's statements, I will now declare that I shot a 66 and won, despite having never played a golf game without a windmill or a pirate ship on the course. And Trump supporters will have to believe me.

- - - Updated - - -

A woman filing for divorce is still technically scandalous

Well, let's go one step further.

Melania deciding to leave Trump, which would probably cost her huge piles of cash, would be especially scandalous. Because it would mean she's giving up on a generation's work of gold digging and leaving, rather than waiting it out just a little longer until Trump dies. Maybe the message would fall on deaf ears, but it would be loud and clear.

[Nastard]

Melania deciding to leave Trump, which would probably cost her huge piles of cash, would be especially scandalous. Because it would mean she's giving up on a generation's work of gold digging and leaving, rather than waiting it out just a little longer until Trump dies. Maybe the message would fall on deaf ears, but it would be loud and clear.

"Many of you have heard of my recent divorce with my ex-wife Ivanka. Oops, Melania. She didn't leave me, I left HER because she doesn't love America the way I do. She kept saying 'Mr. President, Mr. President. You love America so much and I don't think I could ever love America the way you do.' So you know what I did? I kicked her to the curb. If America isn't good enough for you then you're not good enough for me. So then she thanked me for being the greatest person who ever lived and then she said, 'if in the future it looks like I'm trashing you to the media, just know it's not the real me and a robot made to spread lies.' True story."

That's all it will take and his followers will stop caring. I mean Christ, this fucker tried to overthrow the government and falsely install himself as President. His followers didn't turn on him over that. I don't know how a divorce from a man who has already divorced twice would make any difference whatsoever. After everything he's done at this point, everyone either loves him or hates him and no one is going to waver.

[Endus]

That's all it will take and his followers will stop caring. I mean Christ, this fucker tried to overthrow the government and falsely install himself as President. His followers didn't turn on him over that.

Of course they didn't. They wanted him to do exactly that. This isn't a case of Trump betraying his voters, it's a case of Trump's voters betraying American principles and identity, and acting to break down the nation so they can rebuild it in the fascist white supremacist form they wish it were.

[Dontrike]

Oh, apparently Trump wasn't done talking about golf.

Seems a little suspicious already, what with Trump being nearly 80 and fat.

I can believe Trump could get a 67 in golf, by using his trusty hand wedge.

[Breccia]

This Philadelphia Inquirer OP ED raises an interesting option: the person most likely to pardon Trump...would be President Joe Biden.

So, here's the chain of logic:
a) a President pardoning himself has no guarantee of success. Three days before Nixon resigned, his own DoJ said "no one may be a judge in his own case, the president cannot pardon himself". It has, of course, never been challenged, but Nixon sure believed it.
b) conditions can be attached to pardons. Nixon himself did it with Jimmy Hoffa, pardoning him on the requirement he didn't run for (Teamster) president. Hoffa sued to break the requirement, and lost.
c) the current GOP runners can't do it, because they're not President. And half the field doesn't seem all that eager to do so.
d) Trump is a craven coward, like his followers who refuse to post here, unable to defend their support of a felon and a traitor but wanting to vote for him anyhow.
e) Trump's primary goal of running is to benefit himself, and Trump thinks everything comes down to a deal.

Now, the theory is not perfect. Trump could roll the dice, and other GOP candidates could pledge an unconditional pardon. But the theory seems to be that, if Biden offered a sure thing instead of a gamble or (gasp!) that Trump trust that someone else will keep their word, Trump would take that sure thing as soon as it was clear he was going to lose the election anyhow.

I hate the idea, and I hope it doesn't come up. Trump is flaking on the remaining debates and the risk of the Republican Party splitting grows by the day. I think the status quo has him losing and not getting pardoned, my preferred outcome no question. But I think the theory has some merit.

What do you think? If Biden gave Trump a pardon, conditioned on him leaving the race and staying out, would Trump take it?