Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Shadowferal]

That pardon law is extremely absurd. I hope it will backfire spectacularly

I think it's safe to say that it will. Funny thing is everyone on that parole board was appointed by a Republican, and has been for several decades. And they know they can't approve a pardon unless there's a conviction. And that means Trump has to wait for 5 years in prison until he can apply.

[Flarelaine]

I think it's safe to say that it will. Funny thing is everyone on that parole board was appointed by a Republican, and has been for several decades. And they know they can't approve a pardon unless there's a conviction. And that means Trump has to wait for 5 years in prison until he can apply.

No, that's not how that works. Trump has to complete his sentence then wait 5 years before applying.

[Poopymonster]

I mean, I get it, but if you're advocating civil war being necessary, shooting cops is a necessary first step. You're gonna get up to trying to kill the military, too, but you start with the police. They're the ones who'll be stopping you.

Their delusion says that won't happen, trying to bring things like logic and reality won't help.

But but but, once we rise up, the Real Americas in the police and military will join us!

[Shadowferal]

No, that's not how that works. Trump has to complete his sentence then wait 5 years before applying.

Ugh...I read it too fast.

...that is kinda...ugly.

[Dontrike]

"Just say that the election was corrupt, and leave the rest to me...."

That there may be one of the most damning pieces of evidence that Georgia, and so many other investigations, have against Trump where he tried to solicit Jeffrey Rosen and Richard Donoghue.

From Vanity Fair as they list off a bunch of shit Trump did that lead to that "perfect*" call and of course Trump's plans.

It goes hand in hand with him trying to solicit Zelenskey, hoping that just announcing an investigation into Hunter Biden would let him "do the rest." Good thing is that didn't happen.

[Breccia]

A new AP poll shows that support for Trump amongst Republicans has, you guessed it, increased.

I'm rounding of course, but about 8% of all Republicans
a) say they want Trump to run
b) say they have a positive view of Trump
c) say they will support Trump if he's the GOP nominee
that didn't in April. The poll ran Aug 10-14.

Which means, of every 12 Republicans, one of them said "well I wasn't going to support him when I thought he only might be a criminal, but now that he is, he definitely has my support". 7-8 of the other 12 were saying "my support never waivered".

"Surely that one in twelve don't think Trump is a criminal, and instead, are supporting him through what feels like an unjust bias hoax Witch Hunt!"

Well the poll didn't ask that phrasing, and I suppose it could be a mix. Either way, there's a "beyond the margin of error" level of Republican support for Trump that grew as he was arrested over and over.

The most direct issue this slams into is, of course, the RNC, its pledge, and its debates. To the best of my knowledge, Ronna "I asked for this job" McDaniel has not yet retracted her public statements that, to get on the RNC debate stage, you had to sign the pledge first. Trump has not yet committed and in fact has suggested he'd skip both, on the grounds of "I'm already winning". And a while ago, I posted that while Trump is winning, the stakes for him are really high and he needs to land in the WH before he lands in federal prison.

...but I also suggested that there was no reason not to commit, as he was then and is even more now the frontrunner. Party of Trump, after all. Why wouldn't you sign the pledge? His market share is an even more solid majority now. Like, what's the downside?

There is a downside. And Trump sees it.

We all know Trump believes life is a zero-sum game. For him to win, someone else must lose. He sees the option to lose here. You guys know I keep referring to the rabid fanbase as a fanatical cult, and I stand by that, the poll backs me up. Trump is absolutely a narcisistic sociopath, and I'm not convinced I can pick that brain very well.

Here's the best I could do:
1) Trump believes he could fare so poorly in the debates, someone passes him
Trump is a horrible debater. He lies, he uses derogatory nicknames, he makes false accusations. In other words, he's eight. He lost all three debates against Clinton -- so badly he tore up his notes after one of them -- and he lost all three debates against Biden -- once so badly he nearly died. And yet, in the Republican primaries, he survived and even thrived.

What happen?

The Republican debates encouraged this. They weren't based around answering serious questions honestly, or dealing with the issues. Trump called one of his opponents too ugly to vote for, to her face, during one of them. It wasn't a debate, it was an episode of Jerry Springer, with special guest host reality TV show host Trump.

I think Trump is concerned the RNC might make their debates, actual debates. Which means he would lose and someone else would win.

"That can't possibly kill his lead."

No, and a sane person would know that. Trump is not a sane person.

If the debate is about the issues, Trump knows everyone else comes to the duel with two extra bullets:
a) Trump's single term tenure of abject failure, and
b) his prison record.
He has no defense of either other than making shit up, and if the RNC wanted to, they could engineer a debate that made it harder for Trump to lie. And I'm not just talking about a fair moderator (they could) or fact checking (they could, but that's like bringing gasoline to a kid's marshmallow roast) or, most realistically, they could set up the who has how many minutes thing in a way that, say, if someone jumped in out of turn ("WRONG!") they lose their response time.

The RNC could very well make an actual debate, and Trump knows how badly he sucks at those. He might believe attending will create a drop in the polls worse than skipping them.

2) Trump could be worried that the RNC will wait until he signs the first pledge, then demand a second. "I will not be convicted of a felony before the election".

Meaning, he'd have to publicly say "I am leaving the Republican Party, because I will likely become a convicted felon". Or just as bad, flee and be deemed a coward. Correcty, I might add.

The RNC making such a trap purely to bait-and-switch Trump would bring me endless joy.

Now for the record, I don't think the RNC has the guts to do either of those. They didn't in 2016, they didn't after Jan 6th. That poll says they won't do it now.

But Trump could be so insane, that he can't fathom a situation where someone isn't plotting against him. Remember, if he doesn't like it, it's fake news, it's a hoax, it's a witch hunt, it's rigged.

What is paranoia a symptom of? Lots of things, it turns out. But one of them is Alzheimer's, and another one is -- you guessed it -- narcissism. (So are some other very ugly things that should never be in charge of a golf club, let alone a country)

So while I don't think those two are realistic threats, Trump might.

3) Trump is just, as a general rule, refusing to cede any form of authority. Maybe that's a general statement, but in this case, it could be more personal. He doesn't want the Republican Party specifically to say "We are making a rule, and you Donald J. Trump must follow that rule". Maybe he'll shamble his fat ass up on the debate stage, but he wants to be the one calling the shots.

This does not help the image of Trump being a petulant child.

This is my best guess. Obviously, "Trump is a child" has years and years of backup. But look at his life right now. He spent years being the man in charge, even if being in charge meant "I bark vague results I want and you make them happen and I win, or you get fired and therefore I still win". That's come to a crashing halt. Judges are giving him orders, and he has to follow them. Well, mostly. His lawyers are giving him, well not orders that's a death sentence, but they're saying "Please, Mister Bigly Yuge, please do this so that things actually don't burst into flames". The police came to his house saying "We get to take your stuff" to him they were his stuff "and you can't stop us".

Also, where is his family? Name one Trump family member who's gone out in public to defend Trump in the last four days. Maybe I missed it, but if Melania or Ivanka had said something, I'm like 70% sure I would have noticed.

He could just be misbehaving, because he feels he's running out of ways to be in control. Which, yes, is insane, he runs a fucking company. He could just buy something, hire or fire people, renegotiate a loan...maybe not that last one. Look at this forum, if I want to feel like I have some kind of control and change in my life, I can log on, kill a dragon, and take its stuff. It's not real, but it makes me feel better. There are outlets.

Trump is just choosing the outlet of antagonizing what should be his best ally right now.

What do you think? Unlike some people, I'm willing to cede control, and I'm doing so by asking you to explain why Trump hasn't signed the pledge yet. Oh, shit, I just demanded you do something. Um, it's up to you, do it or not as you feel, or post a new topic. I'm not the police of you.

[Paranoid Android]

Several attorneys who helped defend Trump's 2020 election lies were never paid. But you know who did get compensated? The Trump campaign, which raked in $250 million off of the former president's claims that the election was rigged. on.msnbc.com/3OYR25O

https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/169...Jdfj9ClpA&s=19

Shocking! We know.

Dangit, Scarborough mentioned something interesting. That raising funds publicly saying it's going to defense but not actually borders on some type of criminal fraud.

As @Breccia and I always discuss the range of thievery one can get away with PAC money doesn't mean much for this.

[Breccia]

That raising funds publicly saying it's going to defense but not actually borders on some type of criminal fraud.

I don't think that will happen. PACs are intentionally set up to be as vague and squishy as possible. In fact, I would not at all be surprised if there were rules/laws about PACs saying that the money could not be specified -- as in, they can say the funds will go to campaign ads, but really get spent on liquor and whores, and no laws were broken. Trump gave a shitload of money to himself and nobody filed any charges.

Oh, and the lawyers who worked for Trump thinking they'd be paid? That's on them at this point. The number of fucks I give for them can be found in the blank space below.

[Edge-]

https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/169...Jdfj9ClpA&s=19

Shocking! We know.

Dangit, Scarborough mentioned something interesting. That raising funds publicly saying it's going to defense but not actually borders on some type of criminal fraud.

As @Breccia and I always discuss the range of thievery one can get away with PAC money doesn't mean much for this.

When libs talk about an economy "percolating up" this isn't what we mean.

But I won't be sad if a bunch of Trump supporters choose to skip some meals and donate to a guy collecting indictments like he's Post Malone seeing a One Ring MTG card.

- - - Updated - - -

https://twitter.com/Timcast/status/1691320254390059008

Everyone's favorite "not a Nazi sympathizer and totally centrist" Tim Pool seems to have jumped on the totally not-extremist position of "CIVIL WAR" because of the Fulton indictment.

rofl losers

Ok nevermind, he's been predicting this about once a month since 2019 or so. Man conservatives are weird and consistently seem super fuckin jazzed at the possibility of being able to justifiably murder their fellow American.

[Shadowferal]

53 percent in new poll say they would not support Trump if he is GOP nominee

The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found that 53 percent of Americans said they would definitely not support Trump if he was the nominee. Another 11 percent saying that they would probably not support him.

These new numbers come as GOP support for Trump has seemingly grown since April, even as the former president faces a number of legal challenges.

Sixty-three percent of Republicans in the poll say they want Trump to run again, which is slightly up from April — when 55 percent answered the same way. About 7 in 10 Republicans also now have a favorable view of the former president, up from 60 percent just two months ago.

Nearly three-quarters of Republicans also said they would support Trump if he becomes the GOP nominee, according to the poll, which was conducted before Trump and 18 allies were indicted Monday in Georgia related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election in the state.

Weird numbers...need to see what happens at the end of the month

[Twdft]

https://twitter.com/Timcast/status/1691320254390059008

Everyone's favorite "not a Nazi sympathizer and totally centrist" Tim Pool seems to have jumped on the totally not-extremist position of "CIVIL WAR" because of the Fulton indictment.

I always wonder how that works in practice. Do they shoot everyone not wearing a MAGA hat? Do they make new hats?

[Sunseeker]

I always wonder how that works in practice. Do they shoot everyone not wearing a MAGA hat? Do they make new hats?

Does it matter? Dead men tell no tales.

[Egomaniac]

So...there's a PAC paying Trump's legal bills.

It is a campaign not WH fund, therefore, it would be trivial to pay Giuliani's. After all, his actions were a 2020 election issue.

What we're seeing...again...is how Trump repays loyalty.

Remember when Trump said he was "really really rich" and he didn't need anyone's money?

[Gigantique]

I'll help you pack.

God no he already does enough damage from over there don't you dare ship him over.

[Paranoid Android]

Remember when Trump said he was "really really rich" and he didn't need anyone's money?

Meh sorta not about that. I get your comment.

Trump is a piece of shit. So he is going to con, steal money anyway he can. As noted so many times, he is the guy who gets his car repaired for $200 and could at least pay that, but instead is such a piece of feces that he doesn't pay an make the other person do the work to get the money.

Now funny enough Trump and others who worship these assholes think being rich and shitting on people is a virtue. So as his so called christian followers say; He robs Peter but never pays Paul" in this case.

[Breccia]

God no he already does enough damage from over there don't you dare ship him over.

Fair enough, you're too close to Finland and I don't want to risk that whole thing.

[Egomaniac]

Meh sorta not about that. I get your comment.

Trump is a piece of shit. So he is going to con, steal money anyway he can. As noted so many times, he is the guy who gets his car repaired for $200 and could at least pay that, but instead is such a piece of feces that he doesn't pay an make the other person do the work to get the money.

Now funny enough Trump and others who worship these assholes think being rich and shitting on people is a virtue. So as his so called christian followers say; He robs Peter but never pays Paul" in this case.

Yeah, I just mention it because he went on stage and bragged about how rich he was and that he didn't need money and wasn't going to have any donors...and now all his legal fees are being paid by PAC's. It says as much about his followers as it does him. If any other candidate went on stage and bragged about how much money they have...that would be the end of their campaign. But when Trump does it... not only does he get their cheers...he gets their money that he, allegedly, doesn't need.

[Edge-]

https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-pre...ici-rcna100222

Press secretary for Ohio Secretary of State fired. Why am I posting here?

An official spokesperson for Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is out of a job, days after his tweets — including some critical of former President Donald Trump — became fodder for LaRose’s political opponents.

Rob Nichols, a veteran Republican communications operative who had served as press secretary for LaRose’s office, was fired because of the tweets Tuesday, three sources with knowledge of the situation told NBC News.

Gonna be a lot of purity testing to see who's loyal to Dear Leader and who isn't. Who stands by him as he's the only, and most indicted former-POTUS in US history, and who calls him out.

Should be fun times, ahead!

[Sunseeker]

https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-pre...ici-rcna100222

Press secretary for Ohio Secretary of State fired. Why am I posting here?



Gonna be a lot of purity testing to see who's loyal to Dear Leader and who isn't. Who stands by him as he's the only, and most indicted former-POTUS in US history, and who calls him out.

Should be fun times, ahead!

Glad to see that once again free speech only applies to people who agree with you.

[Edge-]

Glad to see that once again free speech only applies to people who agree with you.

They #CANCELED that man's job.