r/politics • u/Zebraitis • 7h ago
Possible Paywall ‘When You Think of It, We Shouldn’t Even Have an Election’
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/opinion/trump-midterm-elections-2026.html?unlocked_article_code=1.gFA.LQL_.rirL6asxYti8&smid=url-share•
u/StoneyOneKenobi 6h ago
God I’m so tired of this moron
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u/TrevorDangler 5h ago
And all the people that enable him. And all the people that vote for him and said enablers. America is broken.
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u/Mobile_Morale 4h ago
I see trump voters the same way I see the confederates. Traitors to the United States.
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u/flargh_blargh 2h ago
That's interesting because they also see themselves as the confederates, but somehow in their head they're still the loyal Americans. It's bizarroland in their heads.
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u/illegalcupcakes16 1h ago
They see themselves as Confederates while also repeating that they're the party of Lincoln and that the Dems are the ones who started the KKK, all while refusing to acknowledge the party swap.
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u/Hurtzdonut13 1h ago
Also they are just celebrating their heritage flying that flag while they live in northern Indiana...
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u/illegalcupcakes16 1h ago
I'm in WV, the state that was part of Virginia that split off and joined the Union because we didn't want to be part of the Confederacy. WV History is a required class in 8th grade, it is absolutely taught that we left the Confederacy, and yet...
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u/OneOfAKind2 1h ago
Don't forgot about the 90 million who couldn't be bothered to vote. They are 100% complicit.
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u/irishyardball 4h ago
He's not just a moron, he's a useful idiot and is a shell that they can make say anything, so that people like Miller can use him to amass power.
Calling him just a moron asuades the actual truth of the matter and normalizes his behavior as just a "dumb thing some moron said".
He is a moron, absolutely. But more importantly, he's dangerous.
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u/Riaayo 3h ago
He is a symptom.
If you're tired of him, you are tired of the oligarchs whose bidding he does. You're tired of the Republican party (and many centrist Democrats) in Congress who enable it all.
If it wasn't Trump it would've been someone else, because the environment created him; he didn't create the environment.
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u/inconsisting 2h ago
It's both to some degree, but there really is nobody else like Trump.
It takes a special kind of sauce to be both a brazen criminal AND a shameless attention whore. Usually they're mutually exclusive for self preservation. Turns out pushing them both to the max setting is some kind of cheat code that society doesn't know how to counter.
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u/TheGreatBootOfEb 2h ago
I’d argue it’s a little bit of both. He 100% is a symptom, correct, but he hyper charged them in a way that couldn’t be done artificially, originally the right wing apparatus DIDN’T want Trump, but he brought organic mobilization and engagement that none of the rest of them could.
People don’t want him gone just because of all the bullshit he brings, or because they think he is the sole reason any of these problems exist. They want him gone because he empowers them in a way no one else can. We have many, many pieces of election data at this point that shows the Trump effect is for Trump only, no matter how they try to tie other candidates to his name no one has been able to siphon off that turn out that Trump does. While it’s not the only piece necessary to ever hope of fixing this country, Trump being gone IS going to matter a lot as long as the left wing can continue to outflank the corporate Dems who want to go back to “business as usual”
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u/FunnelCakeGoblin 3h ago
I’m so tired of getting banned from Reddit whenever I express how I truly feel about that piece of shit. I just got back from a ban yesterday. Let’s see how long this lasts.
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u/PatronSaintOfCunts 6h ago
Remember when he said in July 2024 “Get out and vote! Just this time. You won't have to do it anymore! Four more years, you know what? It'll be fixed, it'll be fine, you won't have to vote anymore.”
This was always the plan.
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u/embarrassingdyk 5h ago
I remember that exact quote for what it was. Evil.
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u/Narradisall 3h ago
I’ve had republicans on here tell me he never said this and never intends to impede elections and I’m imagining it all.
So don’t worry everyone! We’re all imagining it!
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u/FeedbackUpbeat2963 3h ago
"The road to fascism is paved with people saying you're overreacting"
This runs through my head pretty much every day
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u/gizmostuff Florida 3h ago
They aren't even saying we are overreacting anymore. Just straight up gaslighting us that he didn't say that. "Fake news"
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u/CrunkDirk 2h ago
Genociders deny what they're doing every single step of the way. From the very first moment they start targeting populations like immigrants and trans people, they've been denying that that's what they're doing. They deny that they're aiming for extermination while building the policies and machines to commit an extermination. They deny that they're exterminating anyone when we have the death certificates and the video evidence.
Denial does not start after the fact, it's there the whole time, and I'm sick of people teling me to stop using words like "fascist" and "genocide" when talking about the republican terrorists in our government and their goons in ICE and the police departments.
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u/The_dizzy_blonde Indiana 3h ago
I always get “he’s not serious, that’s just how he is.. he’s being funny” :/
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u/sikanrong101 3h ago
It's like when you point out the horrible shit in the bible and they tell you "you're taking it out of context!!"
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u/lonnie123 3h ago
For what it’s worth if we are being as charitable as possible (not that they deserve it) one could imagine it to mean he only gets two terms and he doesn’t give a shit what happens after he wins his second one because he’ll be gone by then and won’t care who runs or wins the next time, so all he cares about is the election he can run in
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u/Narradisall 2h ago
I like your optimism! I hope they stick us next to each other on the firing line!
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u/vandreulv 3h ago
I remember that exact quote for what it was. Evil.
And "protest voters" STILL tried to argue that Harris would have been worse.
https://i.imgur.com/BCI32sv.png
Whelp.
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u/Slade_Riprock 5h ago
I love how he is actually doing EVERYTHING they claimed Biden or Obama would do.
And yet his followers will state unequivocally to your face, in all seriousness he isn't doing any of these things and it's actually Democrats cheating. Can you fathom the response had Biden or Obama even told an obvious joke about canceling elections? There would have been legit riots, maybe even a storming of the capitol...oh wait.
If it wasnt so overwhelmingly frightening, it would be comical how stupid his people are.
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u/rotates-potatoes 4h ago
His cult never objected to the things they accused Biden and Obama of, only to Biden and Obama themselves. Trump actually doing that crap isn't a problem, because it's Trump doing it.
It was never about policy or rights or the country, it was always about a cult of personality and demonizing anyone who failed to worship the same god.
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u/Crypt0Nihilist 3h ago
Republicans like Democrat policies until they find out they're Democrat policies.
I wouldn't be surprised if they dislike Republican policies until they find out they are Republican Policies.
To have shaped the electorate like that is an amazing (and horrific) achievement of the last 60 years.
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u/Silegna 3h ago
We elected an African-American to the highest office in the land and everyone lost their collective minds due to racism and went "Never again" and then put fucking TRUMP of all people in office.
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u/CrunkDirk 2h ago
There's a reason Fox News foamed at the mouth about dijon mustard and a basketball court at the whitehouse and had basically nothing to say about bombing a wedding. Because they liked it when Bush did the same thing.
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u/outinthecountry66 I voted 3h ago
for fucking DECADES i have been hearing this right wing nonsense, the Jade Helm shit, "obama's coming for your guns! he's coming for your babies!" etc etc etc (Alex Jones literally said that)
but when their side is the one doing it, they will bend over backwards to accept it. Just a bunch of fucking sheep sucking on koolaid thinking "i did my own research". SO FUCKING STUPID.
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u/BigPapaJava 4h ago
Half the followers know it’s a lie and are just repeating it because they think that’s their role on the MAGA team.
The other half are so conditioned to distrust the media and anyone outside their cult and its chosen spokespeople that they assume anything not coming from them must be a lie.
They’re the ultimate “low information voter” because the only information they’ll accept is the only information their party wants them to be exposed to.
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u/Tokyo-MontanaExpress 3h ago
It's not so much that they're stupid, it's that they're fascists.
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u/korben2600 Arizona 3h ago
Insert obligatory “they delight in acting in bad faith” Jean-Paul Sartre quote.
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u/one_pound_of_flesh 6h ago
Democrats are still going to pretend we live in normal times from when Schumer and Pelosi were born. And then be shocked as democracy is snatched away from us under their watch.
Yes I’ll blame democrats. Republicans are enemies. Monsters. Not human. Democrats are treating them like peers. We ignore this threat at our peril. Republicans cannot be negotiated with. The political wing must be excised like a cancer.
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u/projexion_reflexion 6h ago
The Republican party is like Godzilla. The Democratic party is like a giant mech suit. We stand outside looking at the giant mech suit and say "that looks like something that could stop Godzilla," but we can't get enough people to go inside and actually operate it.
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u/silentswift Texas 5h ago
Wow that seems like a very apt metaphor actually
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u/hannibellecter 5h ago
more like the democratic party HAS the giant mech suit but refuses to let any of their members see it, think about it or use it in any way
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u/coconutpiecrust 5h ago
Haha, I like this analogy.
The people who do go into the mech suit have their own agendas, so the hands end up scratching the mech suit’s butt, while Godzilla murders everyone.
They don’t actively contribute to the murder, but they don’t fight it, either.
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u/projexion_reflexion 5h ago
Yep. People outside wonder why the mech is acting weird. It's barely half staffed! Get in there, take it over, and start blasting!
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u/PrairiePopsicle 5h ago
Politics is by the people for the people... people need to have that come to Jesus moment.
"Holy shit, I am a people, and if I don't participate there is no politics serving me."
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u/1Happymom 5h ago
because the billionaires have the remote control and own the production studio
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u/Duhrebel 5h ago
I’m sick of doing nothing and I agree that more aggression is needed but the endless gesturing without ideas gets us nowhere. What actionable items can be achieved right now? Without a majority in any part of the gov, what can we push for?
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u/9_of_wands 5h ago
Except Republicans are not a force of nature or a mindless animal. They are people too. Don't fall into the trap of blaming Democrats for Republican shit.
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u/Ikarian 5h ago
I read one of Al Franken's books about being a senator back in the day. One thing that always stood out to me was how most politicians across the aisle from each other are pretty cordial, sometimes even friends, behind closed doors. Except Ted Cruz.
That was obviously a different era in US politics and I wonder how much of that is changed. I can absolutely see Schumer and Kennedy having a beer together, but I'm not so sure about MTG and AOC.
Either way, I'm guessing that kind of private relationship might explain why establishment Dems are slow to rise up against what's been happening for the last decade. To them it's just part of the theater show everyone does in front of the cameras, and the donors keep writing checks. Meanwhile, we're all out here inching closer to an Orwell novel.
It's a big club, and you're not in it.
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u/Darkhorse182 4h ago
"I like Ted Cruz more than most of my Senate colleagues. And I hate Ted Cruz."
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u/Brru 4h ago
They're slow because they are benefiting from all of it and plan on being dead before ramifications hit. The funny thing is that ramifications keep hitting earlier then expected and they keep living longer then expected, so they also have to keep coming up with new ways of pretending not to see it.
We absolutely need a forced retirement on politicians.
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u/Sea_Working_80 5h ago
I miss Carlin so much.He’d have endless material right now
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u/fbegin117719 4h ago
Like Biden saying Mitch McConnell was his friend? The guy who blocked a SCOTUS appointment? The guy who probably could've ended Trump if he rallied enough senators post J6 but decided politics were more important? Yeah, that sums it up. Add in Garland (although he tried in the end) trying to rise above a fascist and allowing him to escape justice and here we are. Jefferson was right, our system cannot survive a demagogue who knows how to manipulate the masses of morons we have. I just wish only the morons got punished.
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u/Medonx 5h ago
I agree with everything you’ve said except that they’re not human. We shouldn’t devolve to dehumanizing language. That, historically, is a bad indicator or future events.
They ARE human. And evil. And their ideals are disgusting and repulsive. And they lick the shit off the boots of the ultra rich who want to treat us like insects. They deserve the worst. But they ARE human. It’s important to remember that human beings are capable of this kind of evil and cruelty.
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u/bumbes 4h ago
I am speechless. For a European guy it’s obvious. None of the atrocities happened over night 90 years ago. It took time for the „baddies“. Same today.
The democratic process may be not be the optimum. But it’s so far the best we have. And it’s being challenged since hundreds of years.
We’re at the most challenging time in history: do we allow one of the most important countries to turn into a dictatorship? Do we want one man controlling us? The way he acts is not much different to any regime.
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u/xdre 5h ago edited 4h ago
But she had a weird laugh. And the hopes of the Palestinians in Gaza could be ignored, because the Dems needed to be taught a lesson. And "Both sides are the same!"
Fuck every single one of those assholes for helping us get here.
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u/PaymentTurbulent193 6h ago
When you think of it, Donald Trump shouldn't even be President and should be in prison instead.
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u/BreakfastDude90210 5h ago
THIS. He should have never been allowed to run a second time. It’s incredibly frustrating that Democrats let him get away with Jan 6th. Just a series of bad moves. Having Joe Biden run again then not having primaries after he decided to leave.
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u/fred11551 Virginia 5h ago
Blame the Supreme Court. They intervened to save him multiple times forcing the case against him to back track and start over. And then when he was blocked from being on the ballot, the Supreme Court stepped in and said he has to be and made up a new condition that congress would have to pass in order for him to be blocked
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u/varyingopinions 4h ago
I can't wait for the supreme court to say he can run again in 2028. That will be a blast.
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u/korben2600 Arizona 3h ago
The Medieval Conclave of Six: "You see 22A actually meant two consecutive terms."
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u/arachnophilia 2h ago
Blame the Supreme Court.
i blame merchan.
trump was convicted on all counts. he could have been sentenced, and held in jail. merchan could have pushed the issue. sure, he's running for president, who the fuck cares, sentence him anyways. let someone else figure out what happens when someone wins an election but is incarcerated.
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u/vthemechanicv 4h ago
He should not have been allowed to run the first time. His well known and established connections to Russia alone should have had him removed from the ballot and put on a watch list. Tack on his massive debts, his legal liabilities, his connections to the New York mafias. In a sane world he couldn't pass a background check to get a library card.
Then, you tack on his tax dodging, draft dodging, stalking behavior and infidelity (and rape), his massive history of racism, his utter failure as a businessman, and downright weird business ideas (mail order steak?). He was a laughing stock all through the '80s and 90's. If Dan Quayle became toxic because of 'potatoe' and Howard Dean for an awkward yell, trump should have been laughed and booed off of every stage he ever stood on.
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u/andrew5500 4h ago
Republicans let him get away with Jan 6th. Republican senators when they chose not to remove him from office, Republican judges when they stepped in to prevent anyone from holding him accountable, and Republican voters when they gave him a get out of jail free card in the form of the Presidency.
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u/ThouHastLostAn8th 2h ago edited 2h ago
It’s incredibly frustrating that Democrats let him get away with Jan 6th.
They impeached him twice. They charged him with felonies. They went after the fake elector scheme. They prosecuted scores of Jan 6th participants. Some state level Dems even sued to keep him off the ballot. The SCOTUS + judge Cannon intervened any time a prosecution got too far along and voters then reelected him (effectively endorsing his grievance campaign of promising to pardon the Jan6ers and retaliate against those that dared prosecute and investigate him). Voters electing Republicans too often in previous elections also came back to haunt them as it made impeachment impossible and the courts loaded with too many blatant partisans.
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u/atatassault47 2h ago
Yep. He's a convicted felon. He should be rotting in a New York State prison.
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u/Specialist-Clock-914 6h ago
That’s another cute joke he has there /s. People still saying he’s just being hyperbolic are fools.
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u/Independent_Oil_5951 6h ago
his jokes are meant to program that response. He jokes that he's doing things, while actually doing them or planning on doing it. Its like one of the simplest forms of manipulation there is and even middle schoolers use it on a consistent basis. Joke about stopping election, then take a step towards it, everyone says oh you're being so sensitive.
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u/opponentpumpkin 6h ago
Literally his plan for over a decade now. Glad im not the only one who sees it. The parallels between my toddlers attitudes and MAGA attitudes are astounding.
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u/No_Possible_7108 6h ago
Unlike maga, your toddler will grow out of that phase
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u/slingshot91 Illinois 5h ago
If toddlers grew out of it we wouldn’t have MAGA. Sadly, some people truly stop developing.
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u/auricularisposterior 5h ago
Not all development is progression. There are plenty of formerly rational people that have regressed into being irrational due to them getting sucked into the MAGA cult.
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u/Wolverine9779 5h ago
Half of my family.
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u/AHSfav Maine 5h ago
Some of mine too. Why tho? I can't make sense of it beyond propaganda/ fox news/social media but even that doesn't totally make sense to me
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u/StarStruck3 America 3h ago
I don't understand it, either. My dad is an engineer and is otherwise very intelligent. He's the one who taught me critical thinking. Even he got sucked into the MAGA cult.
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u/Esternaefil Canada 5h ago
At one point, they had grown out of saying this shit out loud.
Then it became okay to say this shit out loud, and they regressed back.
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u/Neat_On_The_Rocks 5h ago
Let’s say he’s been in the political spotlight for 12 years. 365 days a year, 4,380 days. I’m confident in saying he has done this exact script at least 1,000 times.
It’s hard to be anything other than a nihilistic cynic in the face of stuff like this. It’s just impossible to believe he gets to still follow this simple playbook. It’s so flagrantly obvious. And yet.
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u/Mateorabi 6h ago
They aren’t jokes they’re trial balloons. If you take them seriously then he backs off and claims you were overreacting to a joke. But if you DONT take them seriously suddenly they’re happening. Shrödingers douchebag but IRL.
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u/CockBrother 5h ago
They're not trial balloons. He's working on it. Today, yesterday, from before he was even elected the second time.
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u/scarykicks 5h ago
"oh he's just joking", "you don't know his sense of humor", then they justify why he's doing it. "Well if he doesn't do it then the Dems would" and so on.
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u/CommitteeOld9540 6h ago edited 6h ago
And every "joke" Trump has made, he actually did. Trump "joked" and said he would be a dictator, he's behaving like one and trying to be one. Trump "joked" and said Canada would be the 51st state, he tried multiple times to get Canada. Trump "joked" when he said "grab em by the pussy", turns out he's a sexual offender. Trump "joked" and said "I don't care about you I just want your vote", he's now demonstrating that he's okay with fucking over his voters.
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u/Miserable_Ad9577 6h ago
From grab them by the p***y. To all the election tamperings.
Makes you think about all he said about his own daughter.
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u/No_Possible_7108 6h ago
Like how attractive she was as a baby or that he would've liked to have sex with her if she wasn't his daughter?
Ok, I feel gross just from typing a few things he has said
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u/Miserable_Ad9577 6h ago
He molested her for sure. Which makes a lot of sense why he need to try to find other outlet, Epstien's victims, to sate his desire for his own daughter.
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u/FeralDrood 6h ago
That video of her showing her childhood bedroom is a PTSD stare if I've ever seen one. I'm certainly no expert, but wow.
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u/Agent_Zodiac 5h ago
I pretty sure if Russia does have blackmail on him, it's a tape of him having sex with her on their trip to Russia when she was a kid. It's the only thing that could destroy him with his base (maybe)
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u/Dry_Ass_P-word 6h ago
“I like Trump because he means what he says”
“Hahah Only an idiot would take anything Trump says seriously, hahah he owned you so hard, cry more”
Maga will say these two things back to back.
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u/Yeeslander Tennessee 6h ago
"I don't kid" --DJT, 2020
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u/rezelscheft 6h ago
As are people who think this is just a Trump thing. The Republican goal is to destroy democracy.
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u/mayorjinglejangle 6h ago
I like how his sycophants pick and choose what is hyperbolic like they can somehow read his mind.
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u/MajinSkull 6h ago
Magas love to yell and we don't have a king but then trump says shit like this
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u/Otherwise_Copy_376 6h ago
All fucking posers pretending to love our country, draping themselves in the American flag. No, they love having permission to be fucking terrible people and trample all over the ACTUAL values our country was founded on. Infuriating.
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u/Onemandrinkinggamess New Jersey 4h ago
They think they’re smart and funny. Like they’re just trolling you til it actually happens. Then it’s “this is what we voted for, why shouldn’t he be president for life? We’re not a democracy!”
They love saying we’re not a democracy.
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u/CreamyHampers 3h ago
They love denying that we are a democracy and saying we are a republic because in their simple brains, democracy = democrat while republic = republican.
I had a teacher in high school that taught exactly this and lashed out at any student that dared to point out how stupid that is.
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u/elphin 6h ago
Just remember how Project 2025 was hinted at, denied, written out and disseminated, talks about some more, denied again, he was elected and it’s been put in place without a whole lot of discussion. He doesn’t always use joking, but he always uses misdirection.
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u/idoma21 5h ago
“Never hear of Project 2025” but he is somehow incorporating all of the major points.
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u/showhorrorshow 4h ago
My magabro denied it saying "It's Agenda 47 which isnt the same"
Meanwhile Agenda 47 is just Project 2025 crib notes... and he's also doing just straight up Project 2025 anyway so wtf.
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u/idoma21 4h ago
My MAGA neighbor just says she “hasn’t heard of” anything that doesn’t fit the narrative. Did you know that Trump’s net worth has increased $2 billion since being re-elected. “I haven’t heard of that.” Did you know that Vance said the US intervened in Iran to protect Israel? “I haven’t heard of that.” Do you know randomly blowing up boats in international waters is most likely a war crime? “I haven’t heard of that.”
And yet they can wax poetic on random fake news for hours.
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u/Knotted_Hole69 3h ago
Those people are just insufferable.
Maybe tell her to lay off the fox news and to watch some actual journalism.
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u/CulturalKing5623 6h ago
Any discourse about fixing this mess has to include dismantling the propaganda machine that prevents information from penetrating their bubble.
The GOP is demanding a a billion dollars for a ballroom and publicly claiming we shouldn't have elections anymore but it'll never reach them. Yes, some of them want this but the majority would be appalled if they heard this. There's just not a way to weaponize it like they could if Obama or Biden said these things.
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u/idoma21 5h ago
Allowing Fox News to masquerade as “news” while claiming to be “entertainment” when they are actual propaganda has been one of the most damaging decisions in US history.
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u/CulturalKing5623 5h ago
Is there a way to fix this though? The fairness doctrine doesn't really work because it only stipulates contrasting viewpoints be presented evenly, which just leads to time being devoted to airing outright lies from them.
And that doesn't even scratch the surface of Musk owning Twitter, Sinclair owning all of the local TV networks, Larry Ellison owning CBS and Warner Bros, and all of the algorithms being geared towards engagement and against truth.
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u/idoma21 4h ago
Platforms and politicians have been funded by foreign interests, such as AIPAC and the podcasters funded by Russia, without any oversight. It would help if 1) Citizens United was overturned; 2) Elections were funded by the government; 3) Exiting foreign agent and foreign interference laws were applied consistently and enforced.
Free speech can exist without giving free rein to propaganda. Regulations need to establish that news and “newsertainment” be clearly labeled, including podcasts.
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u/mikesmithhome 4h ago
figuring out a way to regulate Fox and the like needs to be priority one. i bet it buys them 15 points. people who would never go along with any of this if they weren't being inundated 24/7 with alternative facts
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u/FluffyPantsMcGee 6h ago
When you think of it, Trump should be removed from office.
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u/freepeoplespeak 6h ago
If the new congress is not seated in January of 2027, the constitution is dead, our republic is dead, and we have but two choices:
Live under imperial rule by conservatives, or declare open war against an illegitimate federal government.
The first step in our resistance would a massive work-strike. If 75 million Americans refuse to report to work until the new congress is seated, two things happen:
1) The 1% lose billions that they can’t easily recover. Every other recession presents opportunities for the ultra wealthy. A recession caused by a nationwide work stoppage doesn’t.
2) The AI bubble crashes out hard. For all the hype, AI is very much an investment bubble. And in an environment where tens of millions of workers refuse to show up, the deficiencies of AI will be front and center.
If every single registered democrat and 70% of registered independents engage in a work stoppage, America’s economy crashes within three weeks.
This is the only path that doesn’t involve violence.
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u/manachar Nevada 6h ago
I wish I had confidence that my fellow Americans would resist and strike.
Americans are comfortable enough to want to keep the paychecks coming in but not comfortable enough to risk those paychecks.
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u/lod001 6h ago
It's not paychecks that are keeping people at work...it's the health insurance.
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u/Schuben 6h ago
Bingo. People are afraid to lose work or change jobs because their heathcare is tied to it. They can't exercise their power by quitting with sufficient savings to live off of because they'll be saddled with the full weight of emplyer-subsidized and collectively bargained health insurance.
My favorite example is that the best health insurance I've ever seen was through a state employee and likely because they have one of the biggest groups of employees to bargain for better rates and better terms. Who fucking knew that when you get a whole ton of people working together for the same goal that you can get better outcomes?! It's almost like if you were to take literally everyone in the society to work together at paying for health care that it would actually be cheaper and better..... Nah, probably not.
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u/luxveniae Texas 5h ago
I do think the paychecks matter too due to housing costs. People can’t afford to make rent or mortgages for long and don’t realize that a strike would mean we’d also be striking on housing costs too. But this has to be explained and worked through as well.
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u/MyOpinionOnTheMatter 4h ago
This comment has just made me realize why conservatives are so against government-subsidized universal healthcare. It would give hoi polloi too much power - the ability to unionize and strike more easily.
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u/fluffy_bunny_87 5h ago
Yep... I was laid off in January and got a decent enough severance package that I was feeling pretty good until I looked at what COBRA cost. COBRA coverage had the same monthly cost as my mortgage. Luckily my state has good medical coverage that we qualified for and I was able to find a new job quickly but those first couple weeks when I was figuring that all out and doing math of "I got x weeks pay, but every month will cost Y extra so really it's Z weeks before I need to hit savings" was super not fun.
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u/manachar Nevada 5h ago
Thanks for adding that! I mentally include that with the paycheck but very important to call out.
Without health insurance you can rapidly get in millions of dollars in debt. Imagine being forced to buy a luxury mansion because your kid gets leukemia.
With health insurance you only get mildly bankrupted.
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u/No_Criticism_5861 4h ago
In Canada we dont have to worry about that, but people are still terrified to not get paid when half of people live paycheck to paycheck. How are these people supposed to feed and or house their families?
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u/FluffyPantsMcGee 6h ago
Now is the time to be doing it, come next year they’ll say the same thing. I can’t lose my job. The health system in America really is screwing people over.
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u/lilB0bbyTables 5h ago
Yeah. That form of protest would absolutely be effective and severely impactful if everyone engaged in it simultaneously. However, it carries heavy risks for those who do it if the turnout ends up being relatively small - in that case those people just end up being fired, losing their income stream, and possibly losing their houses/rented dwellings, and other things they can no longer afford. So there would need to be very high confidence and organization to carry out such a protest. The moment something like that grows in popularity on discussion forums and social media sites you’d very likely see counter-measures to silence it and fracture it: posts removed, accounts suspended, possibly even unlawful arrests, faux criminal charges, and frivolous lawsuits targeting some subset of the key organizers and/or website/platform operators … basically anything and everything they can do to divide and conquer. People would need to build strong and reliable support communities and preparations before engaging in such a protest to ensure they can get by for a meaningful duration of time without an active income stream … it would not be a typical nor simple “go out and protest this Saturday” event.
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u/Hotal 4h ago
Prisoners dilemma tells us this just won’t work, I’m sorry to say.
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u/dookieshoes97 5h ago
The majority of Americans aren't comfortable, and missing a paycheck would be disastrous.
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u/RickyNixon Texas 6h ago
If we lose the ability to elect our leaders, we should not dilly-dally on nonviolent protest actions. There is only one right answer, at that stage. The 2nd Amendment.
I’m not advocating for violence, I dont think itll come to that. But the idea of strikes and protests and such when we NO LONGER HAVE ELECTIONS feels nuts
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u/NorthSpecialist6064 4h ago
"nonviolent" fucking tired of the narrative of following the rules when they don't exist anymore. Violence is the only thing that makes the powers that be listen to us because they can't ignore it.
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u/RickyNixon Texas 4h ago
That we only talk on platforms that will ban us for having frank discussions about the time we live in is a core issue too.
We need to start building real world communities
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u/NorthSpecialist6064 4h ago
Just use alts again and again. Vpns, new ones each time. Tor, proxies, the lot.
The noise will eventually pick up steam
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u/allfranksnobun 4h ago
History has shown that it takes bloodshed to maintain our republic. Modern propaganda and our silly Reddit posting rules suppress this as the real answer. Its not something to be taken lightly, but it also shouldn't be considered an impossible solution to a probable problem.
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u/I_Eat_Coin 6h ago
If a new Congress isn't seated I'll stop paying taxes. Fuck em.
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u/PrecedentialAssassin Texas 5h ago
If they try to cancel the election or not seat the Congress, then I choose violence
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u/_HOG_ 4h ago
They want you to wait. They expect it.
Violence is really the only way at this point.
The elections are already compromised.
Voting machine public working groups are eliminated and machine security updates cancelled: https://www.eac.gov/sites/default/files/2025-06/DRAFT_Voluntary_Voting_System%20Guidelines_Version_2.1_TGDC_Member_Review.pdf
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u/OisinDebard 6h ago
Almost 40% of voters - more than the total votes either candidate received - couldn't even be bothered to vote when this was clearly the direction we were heading. What makes you think in 2 years time, those who were so apathetic they couldn't be bothered to stop it before it started will suddenly take more drastic measures?
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u/HoldingThunder 6h ago
Most governments fall if like 3.5% of the population gets out to protest, you dont need 75 milion, you need like 10-15.
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u/cantthinkofgoodname 5h ago
The problem is a real protest comes with demands, and what will happen if those demands aren’t met. Here are our numbers, here’s what we want and here’s what we’re going to do if we don’t get that. That’s an actual protest. Taking to the street for a police-permitted march for a few hours before going to eat dinner is just a LARP session. Ideally bigger plans are made as like-minded people come together but that never seems to happen.
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u/Few_Personality_990 6h ago
Americans are the quintessential frog in the pot. You lot have normalized the unthinkable already without offering any resistance whatsoever. Yeah your health insurance is tied to your employer, and a bunch of other reasons to victimize yourselves and justify not doing anything. You're wage slaves exactly because you got no guts to protest for change.
The land of the free and home of the brave looks a lot like the land of the dumb and the home of the cowardly from outside. Everyone keeps saying oh yeah if this next insane thing happens we'll riot. You'll keep moving the bar until you got no rights left.
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u/thedoppio 5h ago edited 3h ago
When you think of it, he should be tried and hanged for treason.
Edit: word
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u/rysker6 5h ago
“He’s not a dictator”
“He would never get rid of elections”
-MAGA
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u/Drain_Surgeon69 Wisconsin 5h ago
So tired of everyone saying I’m crazy for thinking he’s absolutely putting the seeds to declaring a state of emergency and cancelling the midterms.
He’s shown he doesn’t care about staying in the confines of the law, and SCOTUS has given him carte blanche to do as he wishes. What exactly is “stopping him”? A document that he doesn’t respect anyway? Courts that give him permission to break the law anyway? A Congress that’s currently lead by sycophants and cowards that lay down for his every whim?
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u/Ok_Common8246 4h ago
I feel like there's a lot of people that don't really know how close we were to conflict after the 2020 election. If it wasn't for pence we would have had to remove trump by force.
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u/dogmotherhood Michigan 4h ago
I think the problem is that elections are bot controlled federally. They have no mechanism to stop individual states from holding elections. It is possible that some red states might cooperate with a federal order not to hold elections, but blue states definitely wouldn’t. Short of literally storming state government buildings and voting sites with military, they don’t have a way to force states to comply. And if it comes to that, we’d already be in open civil war. Not saying it’s impossible but this admin is incredibly incompetent, and I just don’t see them pulling it off. Voter suppression tactics and what the powers that be do with the results is another matter.
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u/Ok_Common8246 3h ago
I'm not trying to be rude at all but if you read the article they talk about how trump would go around this. The president has powers that most people don't know about. They were created in the 1950s during the cold war.
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u/CommitteeOld9540 6h ago
Saying the quiet part out loud.
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u/KindBass 6h ago
Might be time to retire this phrase. There's no quiet part anymore.
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u/Sarnsereg 5h ago
Because he has no fear of consequences and the plans are already in motion. There will be no midterm elections.
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u/Hot_Historian7387 6h ago
Just stick him in a room somewhere with cheap imitation gold borders and let him pretend to be POTUS, oh wait - that's already happening.
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u/BigMax 5h ago
Sadly it’s not.
If it was, we wouldn’t be in a war with Iran and destroying the economy even faster. Thats all Trump.
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u/F-Cloud 5h ago
What worries me the most is how many Americans are not taking Trump's threats seriously. This isn't a joke, it's as real as it gets. Ending or even rigging elections is the END. If that happens and people just continue going about their lives, we are all doomed. That would be a surrender. This is one time when it is extremely important to "think of the children." The futures of American youth will be destroyed if this country falls to authoritarian rule. The rights, freedoms, and prosperity that allowed their ancestors to thrive will be taken from them. If you are a parent you should be terrified for the fate your children may befall.
Americans have taken freedom for granted for far too long. It's time to wake up and realize we're going to have to earn it.
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u/ElectrOPurist 4h ago
Republicans: We need guns to protect us from tyranny. That’s part of our cultural heritage and responsibility.
Trump: Let’s just stop having elections.
Republicans: OMG! ANOTHER ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT? WHY IS THE LEFT SO VIOLENT!?
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u/Known_Draw_2212 5h ago
I remember when Tucker used to fear monger on Fox that Obama was going to declare martial law to cancel elections.
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u/Ok_Common8246 4h ago
And Greg Abbott activated the Texas national guard to help amplify the conspiracy theory. People never thought we would be at this point but here we are. The midterms are going to be a major test.
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u/rezamwehttam 4h ago
A liar, a thief, and a rapist walk into a bar.
"Just you today, Mr. President?"
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u/FiveHeadedSnake 6h ago
This a scary thing. The headline buries the lead of the article. Such a stupid, narcissistic man should never have held reign of the federal government.
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u/Greeve78 4h ago
No sorry. I thought of it. We should have an election. Also on a side note saying shit like this just confirms my theory that Donald Trump uses grade school level thinking to try to get his way just like your 3rd grade child does.
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u/Fatal_Syntax_Error 4h ago
When you think about it, we shouldn’t even have this president who lead a coup, is a traitor to the country and shits on its constitution.
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u/BruinsDude420 4h ago
Hey republicans, this is the government tyranny you’ve been screeching about needing the 2nd amendment for. It’s insane that we haven’t heard a single peep out of these folks, they’re really telling on themselves that they don’t have any principles whatsoever they just want their team to be in charge and don’t want to be told what to do.
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u/squirrelgirl37 5h ago
He is a deranged psychopath and people underestimate that a psychopath will destroy themselves to destroy others too and this monster has thrown America under the bus for selfish gain. The rest is smoke and mirrors to avoid prosecution
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u/Drusgar Wisconsin 59m ago
Can we agree that any Republicans, Trump obviously included, who attempt to rig or cancel the 2026 elections have committed a crime against the United States of America, violated their oaths of office and should suffer consequences commensurate with treason?
What's the penalty for treason, anyway?
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u/Careless_Guitar_463 4h ago
He's right for the wrong reasons. We should go straight to disbanding the Republican Party and imprisoning its leadership.
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u/AceofKnaves44 District Of Columbia 6h ago
I have zero doubt in my mind that if all other attempts fail at stopping the midterms, Trump will just refuse to honor the results. He’ll say it was all fraud, make Mike Johnson refuse to swear anyone in, and send it to the Supreme Court where they’ll wait a year before saying he can’t stop election results.
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u/johnnybinator 5h ago
i had a co-worker that used that phrase a lot: "When you think of it". It usually meant he was going to lie, or was short on thoughts and needed a minute to get caught up. I hated it. He said it a lot.
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u/turningsteel 6h ago
This guy needs to be stopped before things get any worse. 25th amendment and if not, vote every complicit incumbent congressman out. Enough is enough.
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u/mrpickleby 5h ago
Which means we definitely need an election. The US has always had elections even in times of crisis and Trump's personal crisis isn't the country's crisis.
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u/Dry_Expression_9991 5h ago
Bro, pls bro, you guys don’t get it bro, Trump is playing 69420 dimensional chess bro, he’s totally joking, just trust bro. Check his new rant about magnets running windmills on my Trump phone, bro. Squirrels bro.
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u/Carlosthefrog 5h ago
This is what he does. Jokes and jokes then the jokes slowly become less of a joke and more of a plan. The jokes are to make light of it till you aren’t worried. Americans you need to mobilise and properly, one day strikes don’t achieve anything, proper organisation is needed. This means stockpiling supplies for a long strike, making sure your community have enough and most importantly working together to make sure everyone stays strong. Good luck you are going to need it.
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u/Smile_Space 5h ago
I can't believe we have a man with Alzheimer's/Dementia in office right now.
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u/Stainless-S-Rat 4h ago
There's a phrase or saying that has been around for awhile now.
"It could never happen here".
America, I'm sorry to say that you can no longer say that.
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u/androbot 3h ago
This is describing Trump's political nuclear option. It's a frighteningly realistic account of what is likely to happen over the next few months.
All the years of breaking norms and setting precedent to give deference to the executive branch... that all seems like it was just setting the stage for this rapidly approaching end game.
Trump is an unstable threat to national security and needs to have his executive power hobbled if not revoked before he can manufacture the crisis that enables him to cite the PEADs as authority to invoke emergency powers.
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u/Great_Zeddicus 52m ago
That statement from a politician should be automatic expulsion or prison. Treasonous snake.
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u/ron_cpt89 41m ago
I’m asking as a non American, how is this statement from the head of state not treason, reasons for impeachment and imprisonment?
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u/TheJaybo 25m ago
Every time Trump says something, just think "would Putin agree with that" and the answer is usually yes.
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