TikTok resurfaces video of Trump saying US shouldn't have a president with felony conviction
Lauren Lane
Trump in 2016:
She shouldn't be allowed to run.
If she were to win this election, it would create an unprecedented constitutional crisis.
In that situation we could very well have a sitting president under felony indictment
and ultimately a criminal trial.
It would grind the government to a halt.
This won't do anything. His base doesn't care. They treat this like a sports team. He's still "their" guy. The Cleveland Browns have a rapist as their quarterback. Despite everyone in Cleveland not being a fan of his extraciricular activities, I have seen no boycotts. I've seen no reduction in Browns gear here in Cleveland. I've seen no reason to believe that we've shown our front office that we won't stand for a rapist on the team.
It's the same with trump/republicans. They've had several, countless even, oppertunities to exit the highway down the road that is trump. The fact that he emerged in 2016 as the republican nominee at all still feels like it was decided by a round of plinko.
They should have looked at him from before 2016 and said no. They could have exited anytime between 2017-2021. They could have exited over J6. They could have exited in the aftermath of J6.
They stayed on the highway that whole time. They aren't getting off. They're going to ride that highway until they drive off a cliff at the end.
And in that sense, this article/post/video is nothing but a feel good moment for everyone else that ultimately doesn't do, or change ANYTHING. Remember, he JUST claimed he never said "lock her up". His base is unphased.
I have no credibility or relevant qualifications. I'm just some random moron on the internet, but here's my opinion:
His base has been manipulated. They have a sunken cost. Each time something new and horrible comes out about Donald Trump, they have to either be OK with it or come to terms with the idea that they may have been wrong about him this whole time. They'll react emotionally to this dilemma as if being wrong in this case would constitute a personal attack on their character.
With every new lie he tells or every new horrible thing he does, his supporters are forced to embrace it. And it just compounds. If they question him now, that would mean they'd have to question the hundreds of other things about him they've accepted.
So if he says "the sky is green" then they have to accept it as fact. Because if they question it, then they have to question if he told the truth about getting a fair trial, and then they have to question if he actually tried to cover up sleeping with a porn star, then they have to question if he slept with a porn star, etc etc all the way back for at least a decade. It's much easier just to accept the latest small lie than question everything you've believed for so long.
God damn. I HOPE you're wrong. As that would imply that roughly 48% of america is voting because of this refusal to admit to themselves that they were wrong.
Hell, I KNOW I'm wrong a lot. There's no reason to say "oh, maybe I shouldn't have done that." And then fix your mistakes. There's even times I'm right 100% through an event, and then contexts change, and you have to admit the way you did it was actually wrong for reasons that hadn't happened yet in that moment.
We used to LOVE trump in 2004. Long before he was a politician. We loved him because he was easy to laugh at, and immitate in a mocking manner. But, now I know that watching clips of him on tv, only gave him ratings, kept him with a weekly paycheck for doing nothing. I now know if he went bankrupt in the 2000s, he wouldn't have had the standing or money to run a campaign in 2016.
So, oops. I was wrong for that. Difference is, we loved him like a clown. These people today love him like a savior. Which I do not understand.
No, his base hasn't been manipulated. They like Trump for one reason and one reason only: He makes you gnash your teeth. Trump is their revenge on you for being such self-righteous arrogant dicks and cheating in the political process. The only way Trump could lose luster in their eyes is if you guys all stopped freaking out about Trump, which won't happen.
When I see comments talking about how pointless it is to continue pointing out his hypocritical actions I immediately write that person off as a bot.
If you're struggling to figure out why it's important to show this to his stupid constituents then I don't understand why you're even commenting. Sit back and let the people interested in effecting change spread this information and shut the fuck up.
I think it should definitely be pointed out, constantly, how much of a hypocrite and liar Trump is, just to get it (and keep it) on the record. Ignoring it would only normalize it more. And maybe some fence sitters didn't know about it and now they do. Which is a good thing.
At the same time, however, I also believe it's absolutely pointless, if your goal is to convince any of his followers. They already know all of this and they don't care. They don't love him despite the lies and hypocrisy. They love him because of it. And even if they don't like it per se, they still won't turn against him, because they're accepting way worse and nothing has been a deal breaker so far.
Edit: I have often wondered what Trump would have to do for his followers to abandon him. Is there anything they wouldn't accept?
Discussing on forums like these is all find and good, but in the end it's lots of Preaching To The Choir. What people need to do is find a Red Hatter and ask them what it would take to choose their country over their party.
Regarding your edit (i. e., what would it take for Trump followers to change their mind), go hit YouTube with a search for "Jordan Klepper fingers the pulse" and watch some of those. A more recent one, in which he speaks to Niki Haley supporters, demonstrates what are likely "more reasonable" Republicans regarding Trump, and probably best answers your question. Most feature him speaking to Trump supporters at Trump rallies. One features him talking to supporters during (yes, you read that correctly) the January 6 insurrection. Watching these will help understand the entrenched mindset. Hilarious and horrifying.
The mental exercise is... what would Biden have to do to get you to vote for the Republican Party? Or even to get you to just not vote at all? I know it's a false equivalency, but it gives you some sense of the lines we all draw in the sand, and the "activation energy" that it takes to change our minds.
If you’re struggling to figure out why it’s important to show this to his stupid constituents then I don’t understand why you’re even commenting. Sit back and let the people interested in effecting change spread this information and shut the fuck up.
What I'm struggling with is to find evidence from past events which would lead you to believe his voters are going to be changed by showing them any of this. You've got the folks who do not care because they are Trump cultists, then you have the folks who would vote for Satan himself if he had R next to his name.
Everyone else is already not going to vote for him.
So what change do we think showing this to his supporters is going to effect?
I think notorious waffler Lindsey Graham has proved conclusively that showing them their own hypocrisy is absolutely and completely pointless. They don't care. They want theirs in power and they don't give a shit how they get them there or what they've done before they got there. That's why they can scream about non-existent child molesters and pedophiles on the left while voting for right wingers who've been actually found to be such.
I want you to use my words against me. If there's a Republican president in 2016 and a vacancy occurs in the last year of the first term, you can say Lindsey Graham said, 'Let's let the next president, whoever it might be, make that nomination,' and you could use my words against me and you'd be absolutely right.
YouTube popped up a suggestion for a video of Obama being asked about cynicism and my god... I forgot what it was like to have a president who actually had a grasp of the English language and enough functioning neurons to actually speak...
Now we have Donnie Depends and Onion on his belt Biden...
It would be nice if we could have a president that doesn't have first hand memories of the war of 1812...
They're not interested in what kind of material he's made of. He's their team, and they're his supporters. It's what you get for turning your elections into a sports match.
Omg who cares. He lies and says literally opposite things from previous things every single day. It makes no difference. He's a shit human and no one is going to see this one example and think. "hmm maybe has had him pegged wrong.." just vote in nov please.
I can understand the fatigue, but the alternative is silence and resignation. Someone has to be the sane voice that points out these things. Someone has to display consistent morals, or else society rots completely. You might not see a result immediately, but it's not in vain.
Now now. He said the felony indictment would create a constitutional crisis. The trial would grind government to a halt. His trial's over, he's already been convicted. Completely different situation.
Sarcasm aside, I don't expect this to matter much. Pointing out the hypocrisy never seems to do anything. Maybe hopefully it'll peel off some hesitant voters on the margins, but will it cause the party to change course in any substantial way? I doubt it.
Exactly. I was going to reply to the original commenter saying, like, you know he's still got 3 other trials actively in progress right? (Well, 1 of those is indefinitely halted, but still).
His good buddy, Viktor Orbán, said that "any prime minister, who makes the Euro go over HUF300 should resign" not only made the Euro go over 300 in the first few months, but nowadays we often hit the 400 mark, basically nullifying most of the wage increase we got, many of which was in the form of "presence bonuses", meaning you get an extra paycheck if you don't go to day offs unless the factory is shut down, and don't use any sick leaves or go to the doctor - imagine what it did during the pandemic.
Add his opinion on media monopoly to the mix back when he was in opposition, sprinkle it with some claims of dancing to the Russians' tune, and decorate it with a pinch of concerns about how a government increasing divide and tensions can only expect to be washed away by the same radicalised masses.
Suddenly the supporters become politically sensitive and open to nuances and grab every opportunity to highlight the difference in cultural and political context (of him back then and now). Bring up literally anything else and the only thing they can regurgitate is the exact words of their dumbed down propaganda.
Landscape video in a portrait video in a landscape video... I'm watching that on a portrait oriented screen.
Am I the only one who finds that ridiculous?
Also this post should've just been a link to the video. I don't know how some journalists are employed when they can barely write a paragraph that somehow manages to tell you less than the title.
I think this a good sanity check for us all to remember the kind of person Trump is and what's at stake. But we can't stop with clever gotchas, we need to defeat the fascist ideas that the MAGA movement runs on. Trump will be gone one day, but fascist movements will persist until we defeat their ideas. Fascism is a self-destructive ideology that in the long term benefits no one. Everyone needs to know that.
I don’t disagree but the perceived strong man leader is one of the most important pillars of a fascist movement, who the followers love not for his position but mainly for his cunning ability to charm them.
There’s no other person but Trump in sight who would take over his place in the movements’ hearts. Only Elon Musk maybe but he can’t be president.
So getting at Trump is absolutely the priority, buying us time until Joe Rogan develops political ambitions.
While there is probably some benefit, that can be measured in votes, in going after Trump, it shouldn't be the priority. The priority has to be showing people that society can be improved without needing to ostracize groups of people. People need to learn the flaws with fascism and neo-liberalism. But they also need to learn that systemic change and wealth redistribution are the answers to their political and economic problems. The fewer people who believe they can fix their problems by punishing minorities, the fewer people Trump and demagogues like him will be able to reach.
Jesus fuck, stop playing this "gotcha!" game. This is dumb. He doesn't give a shit about consistency. He'll straight up lie about something he said yesterday. Who are you convincing with this?
First of all, there are people who think it is funny, like me.
Additionally, sometimes people just aren't aware of stuff and people draw different lines. Apparently trump support has decreased since the verdict of his 34 felonies. That wasn't my line for sure; the racism and history of racism was; but apparently some people didn't care about the racism, transphobia, sexism, the sexualizing of his daughter, the cheating on his wife, the lies, ... But about the felonies. So instead of telling people to not speak out about it, don't engage.
Different question. How is it that in the USA it is legal to run for president when you are a convicted felon? I mean you obviously do not qualify for the job.
Same reason felons can vote; if being a criminal removes your ability to participate in the political process then the government suddenly has a very strong incentive to criminalize their political opponents.
Afaik the idea is that you want to avoid someone to be able to convict their opponents. So make it impossible to take them out using the legal system. Makes total sense to me.
We have less qualifications to run for president than we do for working at McDonald's. Per the constitution you need to be born in the USA, be 35 by the day you are sworn in, and have lived in the USA for the last 14 years.
But as others have said, the felony thing prevents weaponizing the justice system against political opponents.
Campaign donators need some sign that you will bend to their demands, and so having a decent felony record is a good indication that you will play ball.
As a right-winger who doesn't support Trump, nothing liberals can do will make the Trumpets see "reason." They aren't voting for Trump because of "reasons." They're voting for him because he causes liberals to have a meltdown and drives y'all crazy, and they absolutely fucking hate you and want to watch you stress out and get aggravated. The only way the lib left could make the reactionary right reject Trump is by reacting to him like sane people, which y'all are incapable of.
Watching the video clip I caught myself pining for the days when Trump rants were at least coherent enough to resemble human speech.
Like, of course everything he said is an easily disproven lie -- some things never change -- but at least the words came together to form sentences. I'm extra not looking forward to the daily news cycle in the coming months.
Just drive people to the polls. Help as much that you can to get the republicans out of office. It doesn’t have to be calling and bothering people, can be a lot of little things.
There I nothing he does that he hasn't contradicted himself on or won't in the future. Literally nothing.
When you constantly cancel yourself out we have a name for that - zero.
I believe it was reported during the trial that most of the time he was barely paying attention, except for when they played recordings of Trump in court. Then he was fully engaged.
"Oh, the irony! It's like a plot twist straight out of a reality TV show. Back in 2016, I was all about keeping the government running smoothly, and now? Well, let's just say I've developed a taste for plot twists. You know, like when you find out the villain is actually the hero in disguise. Except in this case, the hero has a few court dates lined up. But hey, what's a little legal drama between friends?
In fact, having a sitting president under felony indictment is the new norm! Think of it as a bold new way to keep things interesting in Washington. No more boring government shutdowns – just high-stakes courtroom drama that keeps everyone on the edge of their seats. It's the ultimate season finale every day!
Plus, let’s be honest, who doesn’t love a good comeback story? So sit back, grab some popcorn, and enjoy the show. After all, what’s a little criminal trial compared to a good old-fashioned constitutional crisis? Let’s make America entertained again!"
TikTok Communist Propaganda! Shut'em down! Shut'em all down, folks. Big Ghina isn't going to be fooling those kids anymore, oh no. Looks like the Patriots will be back in control by November.
It will all be overturned. I understand it is not the popular opinion. HAHA Trumps a felon and so on, but no way do we want a justice system to be what we are seeing right now. Alvin Bragg ran and was elected on a platform of going after Trump, and he did it. Doesn't matter whether you're a Democrat or republican, this won't stand long.
But Bragg wasn't 12 jurors at the trial. Prosecutors are also not the judge. An appeals court might overturn it but it has nothing to do with whether the DA ran on a platform to hold someone accountable to the justice system or not.
What is there to appeal on? He can't appeal the guilty conviction. He can only appeal if the trial was not following procedure, which the judge made absolutely certain that he had nothing to appeal.
12 jurors impartially reviewed the evidence, trump's lawyers were allowed to DISPUTE that evidence, and in the end, those 12 jurors talked about it then came back and said with one voice, GUILTY AF.
There's a lot of biblical-themed Trump pictures in your post history. Didn't that dude cheat on his third wife with a porn star? What would Jesus say about that?
The last few years have really reinforced my feeling that a lot of so-called Christians don't actually read the Bible, but just assume it backs up all of their other backwards beliefs.
How... how is he not? Did he not use campaign money to pay hush money to a porn star? Is that not fraud? Who is Rachel Maddow? Do you understand basic fact-checking skills?
The only virtue your false savior upholds is white supremacy.
To follow him is to abandon your faith for weak, petulant, anemic hatred.
You are burning the very essence of your soul away and you won't realize it until your last days left alone in a careless old folks home because you yourself instilled your children with the value to let a "burden" like you rot.
This is ironic considering how many liberals will spend their last days left alone in a state-run nursing home because they didn't have children. Assuming the government hasn't fully embraced euthanizing senior citizens by then.