The Trump brand is in crisis

  Donald Trump Bled Tonight in Texas:' Reaction As Trump Pick Defeated in House Runoff

"Donald Trump's power as a GOP kingmaker has suffered a blow after voters chose Republican Jake Ellzey over the former president's pick for a vacant seat in Congress, sparking claims that he is "not bulletproof.""

He's the most important figure because that's all they have to run off. They have nothing else to give their voters except Trump and social wars.

Can't run on policy. Policy is fuck the climate, fuck poor people, fuck Healthcare, fuck voting rights, fuck anything that helps you. But look at Trump, guns and the how bad the libs are ....Maga!!!

It’s worth noting that his endorsements rarely go over very well, regardless of what’s happening now. Only 45% of republicans say they’d support a candidate endorsed by Trump; it’s critical to understand that registered republicans comprise only around 25-27% of the electorate. For independents and Democrats, around 12% and 7% respectively say they’d support a Trump candidate. Consequently, it’s clear the Trump endorsement game isn’t really a success story waiting to happen.

Also worth noting that the raw win rate for Trump-endorsed candidates is among the lowest of any recent president/Vice President/presidential candidate.

Republicans backed themselves into a corner, and really should have hit the brakes/nipped their extremism in the bud somewhere in the 2012-2015 timeframe, or at the very latest, before Super Tuesday during the primary for 2016. Now they're damned if they do, damned if they don't. Allow the party to be led by Trump, who is reviled by 65% of the public, or ditch Trump and probably lose a chunk of voters to deflated enthusiasm.

They're riding with the guy and banking on keeping the loonies mad so they turn out in midterms for anyone with an R, so long as Trump is the face of the party. As good a strategy for the party as they can muster, but a really dogshit strategy for the longterm health of the country.

I'm not sure he necessarily has them on lock but the other way around. The GOP base won't give him -- or at least their idealized versions of him -- up. He's never really been able to lead his base anywhere they didn't want to go. Instead it is the base that ends up pulling him around.

COVID vaccination is clearly the latest example but there has been several times he would be talked into positions that were broadly popular but would quickly abandon when the base rejected such as vape regulations and legislative deals with Congressional Democrats.

It is somewhat splitting hairs because ultimately the GOP won't give him up. But it is a significant distinction on who the stranglehold is really on.

The takeaway from this is not that a Republican won, that goes without saying, but that Donald Trump has lost touch with the Republican base. Even worse for him, he may have driven the vote away from his recommended candidate. The Trump brand is in crisis.

The Trump brand is in crisis

  Donald Trump Bled Tonight in Texas:' Reaction As Trump Pick Defeated in House Runoff

"Donald Trump's power as a GOP kingmaker has suffered a blow after voters chose Republican Jake Ellzey over the former president's pick for a vacant seat in Congress, sparking claims that he is "not bulletproof.""

He's the most important figure because that's all they have to run off. They have nothing else to give their voters except Trump and social wars.

Can't run on policy. Policy is fuck the climate, fuck poor people, fuck Healthcare, fuck voting rights, fuck anything that helps you. But look at Trump, guns and the how bad the libs are ....Maga!!!

It’s worth noting that his endorsements rarely go over very well, regardless of what’s happening now. Only 45% of republicans say they’d support a candidate endorsed by Trump; it’s critical to understand that registered republicans comprise only around 25-27% of the electorate. For independents and Democrats, around 12% and 7% respectively say they’d support a Trump candidate. Consequently, it’s clear the Trump endorsement game isn’t really a success story waiting to happen.

Also worth noting that the raw win rate for Trump-endorsed candidates is among the lowest of any recent president/Vice President/presidential candidate.

Republicans backed themselves into a corner, and really should have hit the brakes/nipped their extremism in the bud somewhere in the 2012-2015 timeframe, or at the very latest, before Super Tuesday during the primary for 2016. Now they're damned if they do, damned if they don't. Allow the party to be led by Trump, who is reviled by 65% of the public, or ditch Trump and probably lose a chunk of voters to deflated enthusiasm.

They're riding with the guy and banking on keeping the loonies mad so they turn out in midterms for anyone with an R, so long as Trump is the face of the party. As good a strategy for the party as they can muster, but a really dogshit strategy for the longterm health of the country.

I'm not sure he necessarily has them on lock but the other way around. The GOP base won't give him -- or at least their idealized versions of him -- up. He's never really been able to lead his base anywhere they didn't want to go. Instead it is the base that ends up pulling him around.

COVID vaccination is clearly the latest example but there has been several times he would be talked into positions that were broadly popular but would quickly abandon when the base rejected such as vape regulations and legislative deals with Congressional Democrats.

It is somewhat splitting hairs because ultimately the GOP won't give him up. But it is a significant distinction on who the stranglehold is really on.

The takeaway from this is not that a Republican won, that goes without saying, but that Donald Trump has lost touch with the Republican base. Even worse for him, he may have driven the vote away from his recommended candidate. The Trump brand is in crisis.

Trump using his political PAC as slush fund for personal expanses

 OF COURSE TRUMP HAS SCAMMED MILLIONS FROM HIS NOT-VERY-BRIGHT SUPPORTERS

"One of the more ironic aspects of Donald Trump’s improbable election win in 2016 was that many of his supporters declared they were voting for him because unlike career politicians, he actually told the truth. In reality, of course, he lied about everything all the time.

Obviously Trump hasn’t stopped lying since he left Washington, with the biggest lie being that he won the 2020 election, but at the same time, his supporters continue not to care. So while it might tick off a normal person to learn that money they’d donated to a (supposedly) important cause had actually gone to funding personal expenses for a guy who never misses a chance to tell everyone how rich he is, we’re pretty sure the ex-president’s followers will not be bothered."

Here is the thing: it isn't illegal. It is just improper. Presidents would give up their business holdings in the past not because they were legally required to, but to avoid the mere appearance of impropriety.

So much of the US system is just traditions and norms and assumes that the majority of the people acting within the system are doing so in good faith and it sucks.

What it is illegal is for the President to accept "things of value" from certain groups and the easiest way to make sure you can't be accused of that is to have absolutely nothing they can put value into, which is totally a law Trump actually broke but that also doesn't seem to matter because enforcement mechanisms were never defined it was all just good faith bullshit.

For a guy who claims to be a billionaire, he really seems to engage in the high-dollar-value equivalent of scrounging change from the couch cushions. If you're really a billionaire, why would you need to bilk supporters with a fake legal defense fund, run a scam charity, or send taxpayer dollars directly into your own pocket by charging the Secret Service retail price to protect you at properties you own? (Spoiler alert: it's because he's not actually all that wealthy.)

Then, as now, Trump talked about winning in business, in romance, in life. Yet, Spy investigated the shakiness of his business dealings and revealed how most developers in New York real estate considered him a bit player. In one stunt, the magazine sent tiny checks to prominent New Yorkers to see who would cash them. Those who did received a series of checks, each diminishing in size. For Trump, the checks kept coming.

"In April, New York Times reporter Shane Goldmacher revealed that the Trump campaign had ripped off supporters for tens of millions of dollars through a scheme in which when they donated money, the default option authorized the campaign to transfer the pledged amount from people’s bank accounts not once but every single week. Later the campaign introduced a second prechecked box that doubled a person’s contribution and was thus known internally as a “money bomb.” (In order for people to have noticed this, they would have had to wade through “lines of text in bold and capital letters that overwhelmed the opt-out language.”) And the scheme continued after Trump lost the election, with his campaign reportedly “continu[ing] the weekly withdrawals through prechecked boxes all the way through December 14.” Those withdrawals, the Times noted, occurred “as [Trump] raised tens of millions of dollars for his new political action committee, Save America.”"

7-point-plan to suck Trump supporters dry.

 A 7-point-plan to reinstate Donald Trump as president 'in days, not years' was handed out at CPAC

"The cards seemed to have been made by a group called Patriots Soar, which was not affiliated with the event organizers.

The outlandish plan involves ousting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and eventually installing Donald Trump in her place.

Donald Trump as Speaker would then call for a vote to impeach, charge, and remove "imposters" President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

As the Speaker of the House is third in the line of presidential succession, Trump would then take up the presidency again in this highly improbable scenario."

This allows him to milk every last penny from his followers. He will never give up as long as the donations keep trickling in.

I think this is an important point. I understand that his "election" fundraising is also worded in a way that allows him to do anything with the money, including personal use. He won't give up as long as the money is flowing.

Trump is not selling you nationalism. He’s selling his supporters the lie that he won the elections and that he’s oh-so-close to revealing the truth any minute now. Just give him more of your money and “victory” is coming real soon.

The two party system is ruining America but that is not the point. Most people don’t hate Trump because he’s not a career politician. It’s his poor track record, his lies, his greed, his selfishness.

The fact that many dems are also corrupt doesn’t mean Trump is a good choice. America can do much better if only people would stop looking at party lines.

In 2016 he said he had a healthcare plan. The best plan, better care at a lower cost, beautiful, tremendous. You'll be hearing more about it soon.

Then he's President. No plan. GOP spends months trying to repeal and replace Obamacare. Replace it with what? Fuck if they knew, but what better time for Trump to release his amazing plan! Aaand... crickets from the White House.

Then it's fucking four years later, 2020 debates. This motherfucker claims once more to have a healthcare plan, tremendous, you won't believe it. Can't tell you about it yet, though, naturally.

How braindead stupid does a voter have to be to eat that shit up? How do they have just no functioning bullshit detector at all? Can you even function in your life being that gullible, that easy of a mark? So infuriatingly stupid.

"7 pt plan to RESTORE DONALD J. TRUMP IN DAYS, NOT YEARS:

1. Reveal ACHILLES’ HEEL: Pull back the curtain on the horror show that is today's “Democrat Party", Watch Pelosi melt, like the Wicked Witch of the West. See the Black Caucus and other key groups flip, unexpectedly, and watch the tables turn.

2. Witness a trusted Conservative elected as Speaker of the House and, FINALLY, reveal suppressed results of existing investigations into election racketeering.

3. Correct the official record. Reveal that Trump legitimately won the 2020 Election.

4. The Speaker of the House drafts Articles of Impeachment for Biden-Harris.

5. Citizen Donald J. Trump is placed into the line of Presidential succession, behind the Vice President, by electing him Speaker of the House.

6. Speaker of the House Donald J. Trump then calls for a vote to impeach, charge, —— and remove impostors, Biden and Harris.

7. Duly impeach, charge and remove Biden and Harris, whereby rendering all acts of said impostors, while in office, null and void and of no effect! Then, duly elected Donald J. Trump resumes his rightful place as U.S. President.

For more info on Trump, in Days, Not Years, visit: TrumpCard.PatriotsSOAR.com

from the website:

Watch this condensed version of Secret Satanic Sacrifices, even if you see the Full Version. This version is newer and contains STUNNING NEW EVIDENCE of a Satanic connection between Joe Biden, MaryJo Kopechne and what appears to be his life committed to sacrilege against the Virgin Mary and Jesus of Nazareth.

Questions for Nancy (from the video): • Nancy, will you please order investigations into these three related Occult sacrifices? • No?! Nancy, are you Anti-Catholic? A racist? Anti-Kennedy? Or, all of the above?! • Nancy, do you have any information about the numerous coincidences which connect Joe Biden, MaryJo Kopechne, Bethlehem and Nazareth, Pennsylvania? • Nancy, is Joe Biden scripted as the anti-Christ?"

Tidal wave of bullshit

 We Still Won’t Admit Why So Many People Believe the Big Lie

"How could so many Americans believe in “the Big Lie?” We see the numbers and we shake our heads. Poll after poll shows that one third of all of us believe the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump. Even though the matter has been adjudicated in scores of courts. Even though not a single scintilla of evidence exists that the election was anything but fair."

Why do so many believe it? Because many of them are ignorant, uneducated morons incapable of critical thinking who do not understand the idea of "evidence" or "lack of evidence".

Trump and his people have made many accusations but have produced no evidence. That is why Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani, Michael Lindell, Fox News, etc. are being sued by the election machine companies - because they went into court with accusations of votes that were "magically changed" but had zero evidence. All their election challenge cases were thrown out of court - many by repub judges - some appointed by Trump. But the morons still think Trump won.

Trump just repeats the lie over and over and over again. And so do his allies and fox news. Democrats/Liberals don't watch Fox or Trump's rallies so they don't realize the constant stream of lies. I only know because of research for work. When you have a constant stream of authority figures lying to, reality fades away. We're going to have to do more than just facebook telling you "This may not be entirely true."

But with half the government full of people like Jim Jordan and Ted Cruz it won't be possible until we create some sort of ethical standard. Yes, who is going to decide on what's a lie or true? Well.. in Trump's case.. these were outright lies. In fact, he'd often attempt to legally protect himself by saying "While there is no evidence of wrongdoing, this was all a scam! A terrible criminal scam, everyone knows."

It's not a free speech thing, it's has to do with news and news outlets, and giant fines for breaking the rules. It will be expensive for the government to run and manage. And it will be criticized as being the "ministry of truth." The only other option is continuing to plummet into disaster. And obviously the rules need to apply to Fox as well as MSNBC etc.

I don't see another solution. We have 25% of the population weapons grade brainwashed. That's the cold hard truth. But their votes are worth about 50%. We have to deal with this issue.

Conservatism is a world view that is terrified of change. They need all these fantasies to cope with the changing world.

Can you imagine what the “big lie” will evolve into once Donald kicks the bucket of old age and poor health?

"Conservatism is a world view that is terrified of change."

While this is true, even the word "conservativism" is itself a lie of sorts.

The term is short-hand for "conserving" only the worst ideas and hatreds of society and little else. The term is an equivocation and a cover-up.

The US "conservative" opposes conserving everything that really matters from the environment to infrastructure to even the US Constitution. Yet, the label sticks even though the label is a lie.

Republicans’ effort to deny the Capitol attack is working – and it’s dangerous

"It has been described as America’s darkest day since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. But whereas 9/11 is solemnly memorialised in stone, a concerted effort is under way to airbrush the US Capitol insurrection from history."

From the publication by David Smith

Six months on from the mayhem on 6 January, when a mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the heart of American democracy to disrupt the confirmation of Joe Biden’s election victory, Republicans and rightwing media have variously attempted to downplay the attack or blame it on leftwing infiltrators and the FBI.

“Rightwing media and some Republicans, including Republicans in the Senate and the House, are trying to make it seem as though what was a siege on the Capitol was not actually a siege on the Capitol,” said Monika McDermott, a political science professor at Fordham University in New York. “We all saw it. We saw them breaking down doors. We saw our members of Congress running for cover and trying to get away. We saw Mike Pence being shuttled out of the chamber. All of these frightening things that we saw happen are now being denied or being or being laid at the feet of Antifa or the FBI or some other source, which just seems at this point ludicrous.”

The NYT dropped this gem of a documentary a couple of days ago. EVERYONE should watch it. I don't know why it starts at 5 min. Make sure to go back to the beginning.

6 Months Later, Republicans Have A New Jan. 6 Message: Insurrection? What Insurrection?

"Donald Trump tried to overthrow American democracy to remain in power, but his party is working to make America forget all about that riot at the U.S. Capitol."

They've moved on to "It was the FBI trying to frame Trump supporters." They actually have demanded that the FBI prove that they weren't involved. How do you prove a negative? One person can prove they weren't at a location at a certain time, but an entire organization? And if the FBI doesn't somehow prove that it wasn't involved (to these people's satisfaction) then they will be assumed to be definitely to blame.

Anything to avoid the truth that Trump supporters tried to overthrow our government on January 6th.

Their messaging has been pretty much unchanged since it happened. It goes:

"Insurrection? That wasn't an insurrection. That was a tourist group of Trump supporters and concerned moderates who were expressing their dissatisfaction with a fraudulent election. An election that Joe Biden won, yes, but that Trump actually won. And nobody there had any weapons and there wasn't any violence. Besides, the violence was carried out by Antifa and BLM Biden voters posting as Trump supporters and they brought weapons with them to try and overthrow the government and kill members of congress in a deadly terrorist attack. It wasn't anything more than a routine tourist visit, why are you making a big deal out of it?"

When does people understand

 ...that Trump only cares about Trump. 

‘Utterly Deranged’ Trump Has Full Meltdown Over William Barr, Mitch McConnell

"Donald Trump issued a lengthy and rambling statement late Sunday attacking two of his staunchest allies during his one term as president."

Why are there people who continue to work for him? I can't think of anything less appealing than subjecting yourself to a lifetime of utterly unblemished loyalty, or the knowledge that after that loyalty ends, regardless of how long and in-depth your faithful service was, you will be rewarded only with abject scorn from your one-time king and death threats from his millions of adoring supporters. You can't even say money, since Trump stiffs people every chance he gets!

Trump is very close to perfectly terrible. Seriously, it's hard to imagine anyone more greedy, more self-absorbed, more callous, more spiteful, or more unproductive, let alone all of them at once. Trump is far from a genius, stable or otherwise, but he's not a complete moron - that level of intellect, simply by being nonzero, is the only thing keeping him from being a completely worthless or valueless human being.

No matter how loyal a person has been, TRUMP WILL ALWAYS THROW THEM UNDER THE BUS. it's just a matter of time...

Historians rank Trump among worst presidents in US history, new C-SPAN survey shows

"Former President Donald Trump,  a former reality TV star who's famously obsessed with ratings, is unlikely to appreciate C-SPAN's new survey of presidential leadership. Historians who participated in the survey ranked Trump among the worst presidents the country has ever seen.

Out of 44 presidents reviewed for the survey by 142 historians and professional observers of the presidency, Trump landed at 41 — the lowest ranking of any president in the past 150 years. The only presidents who ranked lower than Trump were Franklin Pierce, Andrew Johnson, and James Buchanan.

William Henry Harrison, who died only 32 days into his presidency and had the shortest tenure of any commander-in-chief, ranked just above Trump."

How do you lose to a guy that only served 32 days? Lol. Time to leave Trump in the dustbin of history.

His supporters do not live in reality. They are for the most part brainwashed zombies being prepared to do his bidding. They are utterly convinced they are victims. Remember James Jones. These people have already drank the koolaid. SO hes only worst to those of use who still have the power of independent thought.

Trump's followers do take him literally

"During the 2016 election campaign a new political phenomenon emerged: journalists seemed to take then-candidate Donald Trump literally, but not seriously, while his supporters did the reverse: They took him seriously but not literally."

To be brutally honest, that's the whole M.O. for religious types. This is why Trump switched to running conservative as Facebook provided all the proof in their analytics (via Cambridge Analytica) that these people are receptive to "fantasy".

They have been actively deprived of education, economic opportunity, technology and broadband - and the vacuum has been filled with fascist Christianity and cable propaganda and lies to provoke white rage and violence. The majority of this Republican death cult have been carefully curated over the last 6 decades.

There's a caveat to this. They take him literally when he is saying anything that amounts to affirming the belief they can and should be entitled to do whatever they want at all times. If he says or does anything to the contrary, then they take it with a wink.

We saw this throughout the pandemic. Trump's default position was that it was bullshit and that no one should do anything. That's the part his supporters took to heart. But occasionally he would do something like wearing a mask or otherwise acknowledge reality. Here, his supporters didn't balk or question it they just went 'ahh, very clever, sir, wink wink, carry on'

Trump siphoning money away from RNC

 Trump's PAC, Save America, is opting supporters into extra 'surprise' donations for his birthday

"Save America, the political action committee (PAC) created by Donald Trump, is urging donors to "surprise" the former president with extra money on his birthday.

When supporters donate via Save America's site, the website automatically ticks a box saying they would like to donate the same amount on Trump's birthday, which is June 14.

For example, if a supporter donates $250, the website automatically opts them in to donating an additional $250 on June 14.

"President Trump's birthday is coming up on June 14th and we want to surprise him with a record breaking fundraising day!" the box reads. "Will you help us?""

More cult behavior from the Trump team. It is all about celebrating and pampering the leader instead of pushing for policies.

The GOP loved to mock Democrats about liking Obama. I don't remember people sending Obama a bunch of money for his birthday.

 The headlines in the subject and just the overall tone of the email seems like they're trying to trick people into donations.. I guess the marketing team figured out that that's what works considering most of their base our old middle American that are the demographic most susceptible to those kinds of email scams..

They talk about fighting and defeating in their emails - but it's always who, not what (except when the "what" is made up, like fighting the fraudulent election.) Democrats talk about fighting inequality, homelessness, low pay, fighting for trans rights, for safe neighborhoods, against pollution, for the planet, etc. Republicans talk about defeating "the left" and "the Democrats."

All from Don Jr or Eric saying how dissapointed they are that one of their top donors (my wife, a staunch leftist) is no longer supporting their effort to stop the evil socialists and their clear cut plan to bring communism to America. Emails are filled with references to "Crazy AOC" and "Sleepy Joe". The addressee is a "true American" and a "patriot" who, if they donate, can enter Trump's inner circle of VIP donors. There's no policy discussed, no plan to stop these so called "socialists". Just 100% scare tactics aiming to empty the pockets of pearl clutchers, old people, and plain ole idiots. It makes me so sad that this is what passes as political campaigning in this country. No surprised, just sad.

By pushing donations through his PAC, Trump is trying to siphon donations away from the Republican National Committee and into his own fund, Insider's Julie Gerstein reported. Neither the Save America PAC nor MAGAPac is directly affiliated with the Republican Party.

[...]

Insider's Oma Seddiq reported that there weren't many restrictions on how the donations to the PAC could be spent, so Trump could use the funds for himself, though he can't directly use them for his own future political campaign.

 Trump Casino Dream Dashed in Florida as Doral Votes to Ban Gambling

"Eric Trump has been pushing for the struggling Doral resort to be turned into a casino to boost revenue."

The biggest issue I see for Trump on this is that anyone dumb enough to want to go to a shitty Trump casino in 2021 has no money to begin with. The only people who would want to go are 40 year old unemployed incels living in their parents basements tweaking on meth and Monster energy drinks.

He's not even supposed to be living at Mar a Lago and none of the Palm Beach residents want him staying there as a permanent residence, they recently changed the laws to allow extradition so hopefully they'll forcefully take him up to NY for the Southern District to prosecute him and his children/organization/cohorts. I don't want him down here.

There is ample economic evidence that casinos drain tourism resources in established tourism areas, and they kill small business. Casinos keep the money, they do not spread it around as other businesses do, as they are not symbiotic but parasitic in nature. Finally a little something to be proud of in Florida.