Donald Trump: Classic or Dud?

because this all but ensures him the gop nomination and they would all like to be his running mate or in his cabinet.

maybe if all his opponents rally around him instead of attacking a huge fuckin weakness

oh for sure he'll be the nominee -- martyrs make great nominees

hell be the nominee because the gop cant produce anyone with any game, his supporters are willing to give up at him look at the attendance at these protests, but theres just no one to grab the ring

https://i.imgur.com/93dlDpx.jpg

There’s just nothing else for them to talk about, except about how bad trump has it. They have a problem of not actually having an idea. There is actually no reason for them to be a leader. What are they going to do, talk about how their economic plan which is just to lower taxes for rich people and weaken regulations, again? The only ideas are punishment for people they’re afraid of, and that’s trump’s domain

i'm sure the viewership for this was miniscule.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2023/03/30/jason_whitlock_i_never_voted_before_but_the_left_has_made_me_hardcore_maga_ready_for_whatever_is_next.html

They don't like our Judeo-Christian founding. That's why they don't like the Founding Fathers. That's why they want to overthrow the constitution that is laced with biblical values and biblical principles. They want a Marxist, godless, communist country. Plain and simple. Clear as day. With the alphabet mafia. This LGBTQ alphabet mafia in control

The Alphabet Mafia.

"weaponizing"

like that is a bad thing? I thought Republicans love weapons. Just look at their family Christmas cards. Weapons, weapons, weapons.

They want a Marxist, godless, communist country

Hell yeah!

Jason Whitlock works for The Blaze. is he really going to claim he's never voted before?

I thought they would go after us for porn shaming

lol at spinning this like this indictment finally spurred him to action, he was hardcore MAGA before this indictment, he's had a column with the Blaze the last two years, called the left "Satanic" in 2021 on Tucker Carlson's show, and he made racist comments about Jeremy Lin when he was a sports broadcaster

I will never get tired of that gob-smacked, stricken expression of Tucker's whenever he's in split-screen.

perpetually being stung by a bee

look folks we have been through this before. he was impeached once and every single person on FOX News (and several on ILX!) claimed it basically guaranteed his re-election. then he was impeached again and the same people argued it was only gonna make him stronger. instead he lost re-election and the entire MAGA movement got embarrased in the midterms. the GOP still has to rally around him because, as Zach mentions, they actually have no ideas, and despite retaking the House campaigning on jobs, inflation, and education, and they have actually put forth exactly zero bills to address those issues. there's another reason of course, which is that any Republican who goes against Trump winds up being hated by everybody. Liz Cheney lost her job pointing out what was obvious to everyone. Jeff Flake was forced into retirement. James Comey's legacy is throwing the election to Trump and being hated by every single Republican anyway. you really don't wanna be in that spot.

with the eeyores in public and on social media all saying he's been given Popeye's spinach, all these dudes want is clout, because it's always a moving goalpost.

"we impeached him, now we just gave him the White House in 2020"
"oh, ok, he lost, but he only lost because of the pandemic, no Republican will ever lose again. and we still don't have the Senate"
"ok so we have the Senate now, but it's just 50/50, and we're now fucked in the midterms in 2022 thanks to this and Biden - when the GOP will have both chambers."
"ok so we kept the Senate and only barely lost the House. this only happened because of the abortion ruling and once that is distant news, we're back to being fucked".

none of these people actually gaf about is being right and being the first person to call it, and give little fucks about the actual scenario on the ground, and the only treatment these trolls should be given is being shat on, often, by someone who knows how

It's all about who has the hottest take.

I mean the central tenet of the MAGA movement right now is just being wrong about absolutely fucking everything. this loser couldn't even get the day he was gonna be indicted right. I don't care what anyone says having the main media story being about how you're about to get arrested for 2 weeks, and then ACTUALLY getting arrested, is not a great campaign strategy. look I could be wrong about this but I really do think he could've cruised to re-election just by being a little less weird and abrasive. this shit he's doing doesn't really work!

I'd be tempted to feel sorry for him if he weren't such a colossal asshole.

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/AridPresentFeline-size_restricted.gif

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXtBsikiY50

there's a group called the New York Young Republican Club. here's what they have to say

“President Trump embodies the American people — our psyche from id to super-ego — as does no other figure; his soul is totally bonded with our core values and emotions, and he is our total and indisputable champion,” the statement reads. “This tremendous connection threatens the established order.”

this shit he's doing doesn't really work!

point taken. what's truly remarkable is the fact that it worked as well as it did for decades. after all, he was able to move up from grifting his way through a whole series of borderline or outright fraudulent business ventures, from failed casinos, to selling Trump-branded steaks, water, 'college diplomas' and golf resorts, to becoming a successful reality show host, then he hit the BONANZA and won the 2016 election while getting three million fewer votes than his opponent, being impeached by the House and acquitted by the Senate, twice.

all this has taught him that he can ride the back of the tiger forever and never have to dismount and be eaten by it. he'll never ever change his modus operandi. he trusts it to deliver because so often it has.

The New York Young Republican Club also wished to share a special message with Trump himself

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EOdbPlbKU4

he was impeached once and every single person on FOX News (and several on ILX!) claimed it basically guaranteed his re-election. then he was impeached again and the same people argued it was only gonna make him stronger. instead he lost re-election and the entire MAGA movement got embarrased in the midterms. t

This is what I have to tell the Dems down here with their croakings of doom.

always amazing to remember he bankrupted a business where "the house always wins"

see also: Elon Musk, where public perception went from "he's a supergenius and visionary" to "ok he's kinda weird but must still be good at some things" to "wait how fucked up is this country"

he was right about being arraigned on tuesday.

"we impeached him, now we just gave him the White House in 2020"

this talking point is so fucking dumb. literally zero people who weren't going to vote for Trump will vote for him now as a reaction to the impeachment. absolute fuckin zero. I guess you could argue some people who might have stayed home will be motivated to vote but I really, really doubt it.

More than a week after Donald Trump had angrily predicted — incorrectly and with no specific evidence — that he would be arrested, the former president had grown cautiously optimistic.

Advisers had counseled him that a possible indictment by a Manhattan grand jury involving hush-money payments to an adult-film star would not come for some time — if at all — and Trump had even begun joking about “golden handcuffs,” said one person who spoke with him in recent days.

...But when the indictment came, Trump and his advisers were caught off guard.

“It was a surprise to everybody,” said David Urban, a longtime Trump adviser who is not working on his 2024 presidential campaign.

Some of his lawyers had been preparing to take a few days off, not expecting any movement for several weeks, said two people familiar with the matter who, like many in Trump’s orbit, spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly share details of private discussions. Some Trump aides — including adviser Boris Epshteyn, who is taking a leading role on Trump’s legal team — had even begun telling the former president that he would not be indicted at all, people familiar with the comments said.

is this story true, or is someone just lying for reasons i can't understand? and if it is true, .....wtf, how do these people get in these positions of power without knowing anything at all, ever

were they telling him he wouldn't be indicted just to make him stop whining like a fucking baby?

power of positive thinking, etc

it has probably been said on the thread already, but if the thing that brings this fucker down is illegally claiming a payoff to a porn star as a campaign expense then that would be just perfect.

sorry, no offense to people on this thread who never thought he would be indicted. i understand the frustration with how he always evades any accountability whatsoever for his actions, and it wouldn't surprise me if he is found not guilty or it's a mistrial or some other bullshit, with the stormy daniels stuff. the atlanta case is much, much stronger for many reasons. but that he would be indicted here was not really in question iirc

i dunno i guess we all have to wait and see what he is actually charged with, but it is not hard to imagine that people might be persuaded to vote if they don't buy bragg's alleged "novel legal theory" (kristoff) and think this is a political hit job.

I want to know what changed in NY. Remember when those two top prosecutors reportedly resigned in protest when Bragg wouldn't act? And then many weeks/months later, I guess a switch got flipped and he did?

yes and one of the prosecutors who resigned wrote a book outlining his own labyrinthene novel legal theory.

Though iirc, maybe it had something to do with not getting in the way of James' own state investigation?

Even a potential guilty verdict would not disqualify Trump’s bid for the White House, according to Anna G. Cominsky, a professor at New York Law School, or keep him from serving if he was elected.

of course you can be President while not being able to vote

at a 1000-ft level, do we want to be seen as the party that thinks it's cool if presidential elections hinge on whether or not a candidate once had consensual sex ten years ago?

countdown to not my party

Was that the only thing that happened?

but as for the democratic party, it just doesn't fucking matter what they're "seen" as. no one left of a republican is going to see the democrats like that, and republicans already refer to democrats as marxists with seemingly zero awareness of what words mean. it just doesn't matter

I want to know what changed in NY. Remember when those two top prosecutors reportedly resigned in protest when Bragg wouldn't act? And then many weeks/months later, I guess a switch got flipped and he did?

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, March 31, 2023 3:57 PM (thirty-five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

thought this was a broader investigation into the Trump org and separate from the Stormy Daniels thing

Don't know why

Trump is an indicted guy

Stormy weather

at a 1000-ft level, do we want to be seen as the party that thinks it's cool if presidential elections hinge on whether or not a candidate once had consensual sex ten years ago?

most of the charges are about business fraud:

JUST IN: Donald Trump faces more than 30 counts related to business fraud in an indictment from a Manhattan grand jury, sources say https://t.co/GMfu9870dQ

— CNN (@CNN) March 31, 2023

Of course the GOP is going to find an angle (Stormy Daniels in this case) where they think they can get a rhetorical edge. They're going to do that for anything the other side does, world without end, amen. So what?

at a 1000-ft level, do we want to be seen as the party that thinks it's cool if presidential elections hinge on whether or not a candidate once had consensual sex ten years ago?

― Thus Sang Freud, Friday, March 31, 2023 5:16 PM bookmarkflaglink

Lol GTFO with this, that's not what he was indicted for.

Can we declare a moratorium on further discussion on how bullshit the charges are until THEY'RE UNSEALED???

Lukas otm