Donald Trump: Classic or Dud?

I know we've kind of entered some uncharted waters anyway and the end result here is fine since Biden's border thing wasn't great anyway, but my god, I can't help but be struck by how much sway Trump still manages when he doesn't even hold any office.

He's not asking the GOP to do what most in the party wouldn't try to do anyway

It's really something to take a few steps back and imagine these career politicians who have in many cases spent decades playing the game to accrue power and influence and who now just bend in whatever direction some dough-brained reality tv star happens to aimlessly hurl his feces.

it's not Mitch's party anymore, that's for sure... and Johnson takes orders directly from the mango mussolini

I think Eric H. is right: the Trump shit is basically what the MAGAnumnuts wanted anyway. He just said the quiet part out loud, hence his appeal to those who wish they could do the same.

Well, yeah, I get that the interests are aligned... but more to OL's point, it's hard to imagine them allowing it to be made so blindingly obvious in the public eye that they are taking orders from him. Just seems like it'd be embarrassing on some level to a politicians' ego, even if they were getting what they wanted, to have to do a whole dog and pony show along with it about how they sure are making the unelected orange dipshit happy.

I am sure that most of them wish he would just die and let them get back to manipulating his mouth-breathing followers.

prepare for unimaginable levels of pettiness when he wins...

I'm curious who would make the candidate pool for VP but wouldn't be obviously rooting or even plotting for him to keel over.

Never forget

https://www.dailydot.com/wp-content/uploads/aef/87/6220c8c9ccd6aa6da1989b406dc13ff7.jpg

prepare for unimaginable levels of pettiness when he wins...

Or loses... Floridian Dems are bracing for a grouchy loser DeSantis back in the capitol

Someone needs to make a "Hitler in the conference room" clip for DeSantis.

Just load his office with pudding cups, there's only so much damage he can do with his fingers perpetually shoved up his mouth.

I know we've already beaten this to death, but this is a solid take by Dahlia Lithwick on today's events in the defamation trial.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/01/trump-three-minutes-stand-point-explained.html

So would throwing Trump out of the trial early have been better? If not, we're just in "Trump put on a performance for his base" territory, right? The real question is whether he pays out to Carroll.

I think he's going to pay out bigly

what's the largest amount the jury could award, does anyone know?

750 hamberders

Frustrating how in the Alex Jones and Giuliani trials, the minute these guys get got and whalloped with punitive damages, all of a sudden they go bankrupt and their millions disappear. Hope Carroll gets all Trump's cash and his gold toilet, but if he plays the suddenly-bankrupt game himself, maybe that'll bruise his image in the eyes of his scumbag followers somehow? I'm guessing not, but.

Or maybe the shithead will keel over and die.

there should be a 1 billion dollar bill with his face on it, especially since he'll never own it in person

Let's not forget he's likely on point to pay even that much more in the civil fraud suit.

This is pretty funny — they're using his ridiculously inflated self-declared net worth to argue for high punitive damages.

The more important testimony from Trump that the jury saw Thursday was from his April 2023 deposition in the New York Attorney General’s fraud case. At one point, Trump, while discussing the value of his properties, estimated that his brand alone is worth “maybe $10 billion.” When Trump bragged about his billions in assets, he probably wasn’t anticipating that it would be used against him in the defamation case to argue for an enormous punitive damages award. But Carroll’s lawyers can put it to that use, and because deposition testimony is given under oath, there’s nothing Trump can do now to undercut it without exposing himself to the risk of perjury. Sometimes, the chickens really do come home to roost.

https://joycevance.substack.com/p/trump-testifies

lololol excellent

news says that trump stomped out of the courtroom during closing arguments.

he probably stomped into the courtroom, too.

Some folks are born silver spoon in hand
Lord, don't they help themselves
But when the taxman come to the door
The house looks like a rummage sale

That is a truly beautiful self-own.

Now let's see how he inevitably manages to wriggle out of this one.

Frustrating how in the Alex Jones and Giuliani trials, the minute these guys get got and whalloped with punitive damages, all of a sudden they go bankrupt and their millions disappear. Hope Carroll gets all Trump's cash and his gold toilet, but if he plays the suddenly-bankrupt game himself, maybe that'll bruise his image in the eyes of his scumbag followers somehow? I'm guessing not, but.

Or maybe the shithead will keel over and die.

And yet, I don't think Jones has paid anything yet, right?

Dunno, but, Trump already had to put $5M in escrow while he appeals the prior Carroll defamation case: https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/23/politics/trump-e-jean-carroll-5-5-million/index.html

Saw speculation that this could be in appeals for a very long time.

was wondering about the appeal issue

Eternal return

Judge Kaplan: Move onto another topic
Habba: Under the First Amendment you have a right to speak -
Roberta Kaplan: Objection!
Judge Kaplan: Sustained
Habba: You've heard the objections, you've heard me being told to sit down
Robert Kaplan: Objection
Judge: Move on

— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) January 26, 2024

"Roberta and the Judge," Tuesdays this fall on NBC!

“President Trump has no more control over the thoughts and feelings of social media users than he does the weather,” Habba says.

xpost Throw in an orangutan and I'd totally wat... oh, wait.

I like this one, the timing is impeccable:

Judge Kaplan: She showed you only five tweets-
Habba: Objection!
Judge Kaplan: Only one lawyer. Who is it?
Habba: Michael.
Michael Madaio: Objection.
Judge Kaplan: Overruled.

— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) January 26, 2024

Carroll lawyer Shawn Crowley: "One of the questions you have to decide is whether he acted with malice. What could be more on-brand for Donald Trump than malice?"

— erica orden (@eorden) January 26, 2024

“President Trump has no more control over the thoughts and feelings of social media users than he does the weather,” Habba says.

https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2020-02/1/17/asset/ff90b1278a8b/sub-buzz-346-1580578270-8.png?downsize=700%3A%2A&output-quality=auto&output-format=auto

I know of one way he could make around half of social media users feel very happy

"Deliberations have begun in Carroll v. Trump, starting at 1:40 p.m. EST. "

Over and over this week, Trump’s lawyers argued that E. Jean Carroll was not sexually assaulted or defamed by their client, when in fact Trump was found liable for both offenses in court already. Why no one on the defense team — including Trump himself — has not been found in direct criminal contempt of court is indicative of our judicial system and its different rules for the rich and powerful.

Kaplan pretty much shut that down every time, strictly limited the questions his lawyers could ask Trump, etc. I've seen a couple of posts from lawyers who've worked these contexts basically saying Kaplan would be primarily interested in getting the trial done first (especially since Trump etc would love there to be an obvious mistrial happening -- it's what they kept trying with Engoron), then if he felt it warranted could happily sanction the hell out of his lawyers after.

I'm on the case
Can't be fooled
Any objection
Is overruled

Yes, I'm the Arbiter
And I know best

He's impartial
Don't push him
He's unimpressed

the clip from the deposition where he's shown the photo of Jean Carroll, a woman he said he couldn't have assaulted because she's "not his type", and then proceeds to misindentify her as his second wife, while also being unable to recognize his first wife in the photo, is still I think one of the most truly insane Trump moments ever. the man's brain does not work

Sounds like we have a verdict.

at what point does one run out of appeals and have to cough up?

beginning the countdown to when Trump gets in front of a dozen news cameras and defames Carroll yet again because he knows no other way to react

Andy (clerk): 7.1 million... 11 million... punitives: $65 million

— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) January 26, 2024

Verdict in Carroll v. Trump

Jury says Donald Trump must pay E. Jean Carroll:

COMPENSATORY:
Other than reputation repair program: $7.3M
Reputation repair program: $11M

PUNITIVE: $65M

TOTAL: $83.3M

— erica orden (@eorden) January 26, 2024

pay up, Fucker