Donald Trump: Classic or Dud?

Maybe CNN should hire Mo Brooks to take Trump's place:

Ex-Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama - who once pleaded for Donald Trump's endorsement - now says Republicans must repudiate Trump. pic.twitter.com/GAHWILLKdk

— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) May 9, 2023

Sen John Cornyn (R-TX) to @CBSNews about Donald Trump:

“I don’t think he can get elected”

— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) May 9, 2023

Hasn’t stopped them before.

Can’t wait for all the ego destroying Ls this mfer is going to experience for the rest of his life.

Hope his last realization before he dies is that everybody did in fact hate him as much as he secretly feared.

Any day that’s a bad day for DARVO is a good day for me

― Piggy Lepton (La Lechera)

OTMFM throughout, <3 LL

Apparently Trump intends to appeal.. I wonder on what grounds?

― Andy the Grasshopper, Tuesday, May 9, 2023 1:23 PM

If they don't know, I'm certainly not going to start brainstorming ideas.

There is a part of me that would be down with the town hall if the people asking the questions all asked variations of “how many other women have you sexually assaulted” and “why are you bothering, we all know jail time is inevitably coming from you” etc

I know that won’t happen but it’s nice to dream. I also can’t imagine Trump going through with it at this point; CNN obviously wants it to happen because they’re half-hoping someone does a John Wilkes Booth on live television

If this part of his life is really gonna be defined by a cascade of court cases it’s gratifying that this is the first big verdict

Any day that’s a bad day for DARVO is a good day for me

Fuck yes.

every single one of the town hall questions is gonna be about inflation and immigration plus maybe "what do you think is your greatest quality as a father"

And he will answer by ranting about the verdict and all the other bullshit he has spouted on repeat for years.

"We'll appeal. We got treated very badly by the Clinton-appointed judge," Trump said.

There's the grounds for appeal lol

shoulda had Sidney Powell representing u man

“What’s it like knowing that at any given moment, you could be subpoenaed, indicted, or slapped into leg irons?”

"like being in Atlantic City"

meanwhile, over in the Foxiverse, the lead story?

WALLS CLOSING IN: Hunter Biden's former business partner makes last-ditch attempt to avoid prison

He's always the victim. I hope he burns in hell.

there you go, making him the victim again!

Congratulations on your sexual assault judgment grampa.

This is still making me happy hours later.

The town hall is going to be unhinged.

nah it's gonna be a free campaign rally

The venue for CNN's Trump town hall will be "filled with about 400 voters who are Republicans or Republican-leaning independents."

I've never seen a network try this hard to get their own anchor booed live on their own airwaves. https://t.co/rSA525kCvh pic.twitter.com/oN0TpVWkhe

— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) May 10, 2023

The town hall is going to be unhinged.

― treeship., Wednesday, May 10, 2023 6:51 AM (six hours ago)

was trying to figure out what it was about this post that was sticking in my head and realized it is basically another way of saying "will be wild"

Which also reminded me to thank VG (I think?) for posting about the Will Be Wild podcast -- great stuff, thank you for the rec wherever you are!

CNN was acquired just over a year ago in a major media merger where the acquiring CEO mentioned CNN's politics (at the time rated -2 or "lean left" on the political bias scale) were just too radical for mainstream america. So yeah, this is the "new CNN", just giving voices to underrepresented centrist voices like poor ole DJT.

Also I missed it in real time but thank you to LL, felicity and others for keeping this thread focused amid the nonsense.

What a welcome post, Steve Shasta. <3

nah it's gonna be a free campaign rally

Yes and these are unhinged.

seems like there was an anti-woke crank on the jury, and even he found in favor of carroll

Remember when I told you that the Carroll verdict shocked me, in part because of @Jose_Pagliery’s reporting on the jury’s “media diet,” especially Juror No. 77’s admitted interest in Tim Pool. Carroll’s team had serious concerns too, based on filings unsealed today. 1/

— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) May 10, 2023

Maybe shows that people can be shaken out of their echo chamber when faced with the plain truth.

One person at least

he was probably the only reason the finding was sexual assault rather than rape.

Haopy about reporter Joseph Pagliery, a former student.

Jose

yeah, Fox News yesterday was 'JURY REJECTS RAPE CHARGE' in bold, before conceding that maybe he was found liable for something after all

They rejected the rape charge because rape is the one crime where you apparently have to have video of the incident, a recording of the assailant admitting he did it to even approximate anybody believing you, and then you'll still be called a liar anyway.

Even in a civil suit, which requires a much lower burden of proof.

Unless you're a male victim, then they'll believe you and ridicule you for "being weak and letting someone do this to you", much like Terry Crews got told when he accused a Hollywood Exec of sexually assaulting him.

So the Town Hall is just an opportunity for Trump to frame his scandals the precise way he wants to backed by wild applause and sycophantic laughter. This is ridiculous.

why are you watching

I dipped in out of curiosity

Jonathan Swan
May 10, 2023, 8:46 p.m. ET16 minutes ago
16 minutes ago
Jonathan Swan

Advisers to Trump are thrilled at how this is going so far for him. They can’t believe he is getting an hour on CNN with an audience that cheers his every line and laughs at his every joke.

This is what I observed as well. In this environment he comes across as far more lucid and quick witted than I have seen him in years. If you didn’t pay attention to his words, just his affect, you’d think he seemed reasonable.

This is the night he finally became President

This town hall seems like something everyone will forget about in24 hours. The NY verdict doesn’t.

And if it gives him a boost in the primary, great. He will not win the general election, says me!

Between this and the appalling both sidesism of the Jordan Neely killing, I feel like I am in a time warp. Things that seemed definitively not mainstream are now mainstream again.

I agree tobo. He can’t win a national election. Most Americans don’t want a rapist as president. That is a low bar but I think we meet it at least…

I wish I had your certainty. He’s not going to win, he’ll get decisively fewer votes, but my fear is all the states working very hard to disenfranchise voters and change the rules so he can’t lose.

One thing that doesn’t make sense to me —

In the final days of his administration, as he promoted “stop the steal,” he seemed to have alienated everyone who even seemed halfway serious. His team consisted of clowns like giuliani and sidney powell. He could hardly find anyone to represent him in the impeachment case.

And yet now it seems plausible that he could pull off the kind of mass disenfranchisement he fantasized about before. I guess it is the GOP doing it at the state level — various loosely affiliated actors — but inspired by his obsession with voting laws.

Grab a drink, folx.

Done, your lordship

Disenfranchisement is a republican priority overall because it is easier than finding a popular platform that also pushes as much money as possible into the pockets of the richest people.

I dunno how plausible it is really. I mean he lost pretty badly in 2020 and that was before Jan 6, before the arrest, before the sexual assault judgement, before all the other things we know are coming soon. Trumpy candidates are constantly getting their asses kicked. idk how conditions are gonna get any better for him in the next 18 months.

An inspired act of god should happen here