Trump 2024?

[crazyfingers]

I hope that in 2024, Mr. Trump is sitting in Mar-A-Lago watching the election returns after allocuting to his conspiracy to commit sedition, defraud the US and various other crimes in order to avoid prison. The allocution included his sworn statement that he knew and knows there was no election fraud.

Imagine the number of frivolous lawsuits if Trump loses the primary to Desantis. How many states? He'll have to sell a lot more superhero cards. Oh wait... I forgot. He doesn't pay his lawyers.

 

[bilby]

Even an indictment on any of those charges would likely end any practical possibility that Donald Trump could stand for office again. He would simply be too preoccupied with his legal defense to mount a presidential campaign

That presupposes that his legal defence is a separate matter from his campaign.

I suspect that in Trumpworld, the two will be inseparable, with his "persecution" by the courts acting to energise his base, and his lawyers arguing for delays in his prosecution on the grounds that it's prejudicial to his run for office.

 

[Copernicus]

Even an indictment on any of those charges would likely end any practical possibility that Donald Trump could stand for office again. He would simply be too preoccupied with his legal defense to mount a presidential campaign

That presupposes that his legal defence is a separate matter from his campaign.

I suspect that in Trumpworld, the two will be inseparable, with his "persecution" by the courts acting to energise his base, and his lawyers arguing for delays in his prosecution on the grounds that it's prejudicial to his run for office.

For Trump, they are inseparable. He uses campaign donations to fund his legal defenses, to the extent that he can. Before 2016, he used his presidential campaign as part of his business enterprises, and he is now using the huge following he has amassed to raise money, the latest scheme being his digital "trading cards". For a while, he had the RNC picking up his legal expenses. The man is nothing if not a scam artist and political televangelist, and he is milking it for all he is worth. Nevertheless, his base of support is visibly deflating now, and Republicans are looking for someone new to rally around. DeSantis lacks the media stardom and charisma to fully replace Trump, but his support is snowballing. Trump will always have some loyal fanbase, but his chances of holding public office are pretty much flatlined. Even if he is never criminally indicted, he is hamstrung by so many lawsuits that 2023 will likely be his worst year ever. Many Republicans are tired of kissing his ass all the time, so they will not be sorry to see the door hit it on his way out. The GOP will move on while Democrats are still trying to resurrect him, because campaigning against Trump is a lot easier than selling themselves directly to the public.

 

[Elixir]

campaigning against Trump is a lot easier than selling themselves directly to the public.

Problem with that is, it can lead to down-ballot disaster. Lots of people are getting a bad taste in their mouth about Trump, but hold to FOX News “values”. With Trump gone there would be a possibility of selling some of them on a conscientious “Republicans are a danger to ‘Murka” campaign.

 

[SLD]

Paul Ryan, predicting Trump won’t win, said recently, “We all know that he’s much more likely to lose the White House than anybody else running for president on our side of the aisle, so why would we want to go with that?”

what does he mean, “we?”

The Republican establishment doesn’t want Trump - they never did. But they may not be able to stop him. The base will force him down their throat. They will continue to give him lip service to save their skins. Anyone who challenges him for the nomination will be forever tainted. Which is why I hope DeSantis does. I fear he is a competent version of Trump.

Trump ought to destroy the party in 2024. The country is sick of him and his toxic politics. I just don’t see the base abandoning him yet. They might if Republicans United against him, in the House as well as Senate. But he may end up splitting the party, and that’s what really scares them.

 

[lpetrich]

Republicans are hoping Donald Trump will die before he ruins 2024 for them, but he is obviously never going to.

11/22/22 - Nearly 6 In 10 Americans View Trump's 2024 Run As A Bad Thing, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Republicans Split Between Trump Vs. DeSantis For 2024 GOP Nominee | Quinnipiac University Poll - 2022 Nov 11

Trump's 2024 bid gets harsh reaction among Hill Republicans | CNN Politics - 2022 Nov 15

Is Trump finally politically dead? Sort of | Robert Reich | The Guardian - 2022 Dec 18

After all, most of the candidates he endorsed flamed out, including celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania; Tim Michels in Wisconsin; Adam Laxalt in Nevada; Blake Masters and Kari Lake in Arizona; and Herschel Walker in Georgia. (Walker’s campaign even asked Trump to stay away in the final weeks.)

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

Trump's radical plans if re-elected.

...
Former President Trump’s top allies are preparing to radically reshape the federal government if he is re-elected, purging potentially thousands of civil servants and filling career posts with people loyal to him and his "America First” ideology, people involved in the discussions tell Axios.
The impact could go well beyond typical conservative targets such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Internal Revenue Service. Trump allies are working on plans that would potentially strip layers at the Justice Department — including the FBI, and reaching into national security, intelligence, the State Department and the Pentagon, sources close to the former president say.
....

Inside Trump '25: A radical plan for Trump’s second term

Allies want to empower him to purge potentially thousands of civil servants.

www.axios.com

 

[lpetrich]

The race is getting nasty.

Trump’s newest low blow calls Ron DeSantis a ‘groomer’ | Clay Today
About the picture of RDS and those female high-school students,

The photo was initially posted by a Truth Social user named Dong-Chan Lee, whose account describes him as a "staunch paleoconservative who has been supporting President Donald J. Trump since 2016.

But RDS preferred to stay calm.

"I've faced defamatory stuff every single day I've been governor. That's just the nature of it," DeSantis responded Wednesday when asked about Trump's post during a news conference in Ocala. "It just goes with the territory. You gotta have a thick skin."

Trump suggests DeSantis was 'grooming high school girls;' governor responds - "'I don't spend my time trying to smear other Republicans,' DeSantis says of Trump's Truth Social post"

The former President re-truthed a poster commenting on a picture of DeSantis and former students.

“Ron DeSantis was having a ‘drink’ party with his students when he was a high school teacher. Having drinks with underage girls and cuddling with them certainly look pretty gross and ephebophiliaesque,” went the description.

Trump responded, “No way?”

Then, a second re-truth on a post with text on the image stating, “Here is Ron DeSanctimonious grooming high school girls with alcohol as a teacher.”

“That’s not Ron, is it? He would never do such a thing!” Trump responded sarcastically.

Then noting that RDS's supporters are organizing a super PAC for his expected run for President later this year.

Trump had taken nearly a week off from attacks on DeSantis, with the last barrage being at the beginning of February, when he took to his Truth Social account to whack DeSantis as a “globalist” and a “RINO” (Republican in name only).

“Thank you. The real Ron is a RINO GLOBALIST who closed quickly down Florida and even its beaches. Loved the Vaccines and wasted big money on ‘Testing.’ How quickly people forget!”

Trump also “re-truthed,” similar to re-tweeting on Twitter, various supportive messages, such as “President Trump will destroy DeSantis in the primary,” “people need to do there (sic) research, DeSantis is fake and a globalist,” and reminders that the then-Congressman voted for resolutions that would raise the retirement age to 70.

“You need to go back and look at his history. You will change your mind. He is a RINO. Paid opposition to keep Trump from saving America. A vote for DeSantis is a vote for the establishment,” read a message from one Trump supporter that the former President boasted.

Trump also offered a retort to DeSantis’ assertions the voters of Florida had offered a “verdict” by re-electing him in 2022 by massive margins.

“Remember, I was 233-20 in the Midterms and got 1.2 Million Votes MORE than Ron DeSanctimonious in the Great State of Florida. Also, 12 Million MORE Votes in 2020 than in 2016, and Won!”

Prior to that, Trump posted a video of then-Congressman DeSantis citing former House Speaker Paul Ryan as a model, continuing a stream of abuse on the so-called “globalist” Governor.

 

[lpetrich]

Trump Gives DeSantis a Taste of His Own Medicine | The New Republic - "After years of tarring his opponents as groomers and pedophiles, the Florida governor is on the receiving end of his favorite slur."
"Sorry to everyone who wanted more time, but the 2024 presidential election began in earnest on Tuesday." With Joe Biden's State of the Union speech, complete with Republican hecklers.

“Here is Ron DeSanctimonious grooming high school girls with alcohol as a teacher,” Trump posted. “That’s not Ron, is it? He would never do such a thing!” he added.

DeSantis on Trump’s attack: ‘I don't spend my time trying to smear other Republicans’ - POLITICO - "On Tuesday, Trump reposted a message on social media sarcastically insinuating DeSantis is grooming teenage girls."

DeSantis’ reply was the latest in an ongoing fight between him and Trump, his one-time political benefactor whose endorsement during the 2018 election cycle helped DeSantis win election. Yet their relationship has soured as DeSantis’ clout among Republicans has grown and is increasingly viewed as more electable and better positioned to lead the party.

He recently hosted a gathering on media bias and defamation, an obvious venue for addressing Trump's attack on him.

When asked about Trump’s social media post Wednesday and whether any proposed defamation legislation would apply to Trump, DeSantis said he has a “thick skin” and brushed off the former president’s broadside.

“I would not take time out of being governor to be fighting lawsuits,” he said. “It’s just not practical.”

 

[lpetrich]

Ron DeSantis deflects when asked about Donald Trump 'groomer' attacks - Florida Politics- 'I don't spend my time trying to smear other Republicans.'

Ron DeSantis told reporters and supporters in Ocala that he wasn’t spending time “trying to smear other Republicans,” in response to posts from Trump on Truth Social that included the amplification of allegations that the Governor was “grooming high school girls with alcohol” during his short-lived, pre-politics stint as a college preparatory academy teacher.

@realDonaldTrump's post | Truth Social - "That’s not Ron, is it? He would never do such a thing!"
noting
@Magnanimous's post | Truth Social - a picture of RDS with three young women, their faces pixelated. It is captioned
“Here is Ron DeSanctimonious grooming high school girls with alcohol as a teacher. (vomit emoji)"

Ron DeSantis responds to Trump's groomer charge at diaper press conference. - Slate - "Groomer accuser attacked by groomer accuser."

DeSantis’ appeal to right-wing pundits and primary voters is that, like Trump, he has proven himself as a crusader against “woke” social trends and pressures, but unlike Trump, he does not carry the baggage of having led an insurrection against the government or otherwise personally alienated every swing voter in the country. One of the “woke” phenomena that DeSantis objects to is the discussion of, let’s say, non-heterosexual sexuality in public school; last spring, his press secretary created a national frenzy by repeatedly arguing that discussing LGBTQ issues with students is a way to “groom” them for sexual molestation.

Trump is upset by the hype DeSantis is getting and, on Tuesday, he turned the tables on the governor, circulating some extremely low-evidence accusations made by users of his Truth Social site that DeSantis engaged in the “grooming” of minors during a year that he spent teaching high school two decades ago. (The “evidence” was a blurry photo of, allegedly, a young DeSantis at a party. DeSantis has not been accused of sexual misconduct by any authority.)

noting
Christopher Hooks on Twitter: "DeSantis giving this statement about grooming and smearing while swaddled by packages of diapers tells me that he’s not ready for this" / Twitter
noting
Florida’s Voice on Twitter: "BREAKING: DeSantis responds to Trump ReTruth accusing him of being a "groomer"
"I'd just say this. I spend my time delivering results for the people of Florida and fighting against Joe Biden [...] I don't spend my time trying to smear other Republicans." (vid link)" / Twitter

ReTruth? Tweets are called truths in Truth Social, and naturally, a retweet is a retruth.

DeSantis proposed lifting a tax on gas stoves after a culture war mini-cycle in early January about whether the appliances should be regulated due to health concerns. He has also apparently made a similar proposal regarding diapers, though not one that exists, to Slate’s knowledge, within any framework of owning libs. The ostensible purpose of the event he held Wednesday was to promote these and other tax proposals, hence the piles of stoves and diapers.

 

[lpetrich]

NY Times: Trump Deciding Insulting Ron DeSantis Nickname
noting
DeSantis’s Challenge: When, and How, to Counterattack Trump - The New York Times

As the former president lobs insults and calls him “Ron DeSanctimonious,” Gov. Ron DeSantis is carefully avoiding conflict. But if he runs for president as expected, a clash is inevitable.

...
For months, Mr. DeSantis has pursued a strategy of conflict avoidance with his top rival in the shadow 2024 Republican presidential primary, delaying what is likely to be a hostile and divisive clash that forces the party’s voters to pick sides.

But now he faces the pressing question of how long this approach can work.

...
Many conservatives who dislike Mr. Trump’s constant dramas, the myriad criminal investigations he is facing and the stain of his efforts to cling to power after losing the 2020 election have put their hopes in a DeSantis candidacy, in a way their predecessors never did with any of Mr. Trump’s challengers in 2016.

They could have tried to organize a sort of soft palace coup, stripping him of real decision-making power while keeping him as a sort of ceremonial head of state. The Vice President, the Cabinet members, and the Chief of Staff would then be a sort of behind-the-scenes collective presidency, while Donald Trump gets to watch Fox and Friends and tweet all day, as he did during his "Executive Time", much of his waking hours.

Some deep-pocketed Republican donors have privately expressed concern about how Mr. DeSantis will perform when forced to directly engage with an opponent as combative and unbothered by traditional rules of decorum as Mr. Trump.

“No Republican has ever emerged from an exchange with Donald Trump looking stronger, so the natural tendency is to deflect his attacks and avoid confrontation,” said Liam Donovan, a Republican strategist.

“That’s easy to do, and maybe even wise when his barbs are confined to Truth Social,” Mr. Donovan added, referring to Mr. Trump’s social media site, where he has fired off many of his attacks. “The question is what happens when DeSantis finds himself on a debate stage opposite Trump, and G.O.P. voters want to see whether they are getting what they were promised.”

Then about "Ron DeSanctimonious".

Many conservatives — who had cheered Mr. Trump’s behavior when it was directed at Democrats — reacted angrily and were protective of Mr. DeSantis.

It was a signal that Republicans might rally behind a single primary opponent to Mr. Trump in a way they did not in 2015 and 2016, when Mr. Trump called Ben Carson “pathological,” comparing him to a child molester, and insinuated that Senator Ted Cruz’s father had been linked to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

He has been calling RDS "Meatball Ron" and "Shutdown Ron".

So far, Mr. DeSantis has countered Mr. Trump’s attacks with occasional needling aimed at the former president’s anxiety about being labeled a loser. While Republicans have suffered through three disappointing election cycles with Mr. Trump as the face of the party, Mr. DeSantis won re-election resoundingly in November.

“Go check out the scoreboard from last Tuesday night,” Mr. DeSantis told reporters days after the midterm elections, when he was asked about Mr. Trump’s criticism.

 

[ZiprHead]

From 11/7/2012

Trump calls for revolution, blasts Electoral College

Donald Trump decried the Electoral College and called for a revolution in the wake of the reelection of President Obama on Tuesday night. Trump, in one of the most extreme reactions to Mitt Romney’…

thehill.com

The real estate mogul and host of reality show “The
Apprentice” has been an outspoken supporter of Mitt Romney. He used Twitter to
object vehemently to the Electoral College system that he predicted would give
the win to Obama and the popular vote to the GOP challenger.

Obama was declared the winner of the election on Tuesday
after multiple networks declared he won Ohio, thus weighting the electoral map
in his favor. Romney was still leading in the popular vote shortly after midnight.

Trump called the Electoral College “a disaster for a
democracy … a total sham and a travesty.”

But either Trump or his team was deleting his tweets as fast
as he sent them, including two that called for a “revolution.”

One read: “We should have a revolution in this country!”

Another said: “More votes equals a loss…revolution!”