How can Donald Trump win at this point?

Moderating:

Some comments in this post are very crude and misogynistic. They add nothing of value to the discussion to note that Trump is possibly having sexual relations with someone outside his marriage.

The only possible relevance is the extent to which this potentially adulterous relationship affects Trump’s ability to win the election. But there are ways to discuss this point without invoking the misogynistic language you employed (“banging Laura Loomer,” “how Trump was getting laid,” “macking on the Black chick,” e.g.).

You seem to enjoy pushing the limits of our rules to avoid speaking about women in misogynistic terms. The comments are irrelevant to the political discussion, they’re gross for their own sake and that’s enough for all P&E mods to agree to leave this thread closed. However, it’s a worthwhile subject to discuss and on that basis, we’ll reopen it for now, with the following caveat:

This is not your first brush with violating the misogyny rules. If you do it again, a Warning will ensue and the thread will be permanently closed.

We hope you learn how to discuss women respectfully.

The relevance of the Loomer relationship seems to be how it’s causing friction within the Republican Party. In the run-up to an election, it goes without saying that you strive for party unity.

Here, it caused Marge Greene to call somebody out for racism. Marge Greene! Thats unreal.

And, as juvenile as it is to say, it does seem like this is the kind of jealousy you’d usually find in high school. I seriously doubt that Marge really cares about racism. But I do think she’d freak out if Trump decided to cheat on his wife with somebody else before she got dibs.

I mean, Marge has long acted like she has a crush on Donald.

The other obvious impact that Loomer is having is on Trump’s own statements. It’s possible that his more recent derangements (like those about cats and dogs) are coming from her pillow talk.

I acknowledge there is merit in discussing this relationship. You managed to present it in a way that doesn’t devalue the women being discussed. That’s what we’re asking for.

Feel free to carry on the discussion, but please don’t argue moderation in the thread.

I didn’t think I was arguing moderation! I was trying to get us back on track, as it were, by relating it to Trump’s re-election chances.

My apologies if it read as if I disagreed with the note, or if I misunderstood the instruction.

(Re-reading, i see how that reads. I didn’t mean to disagree to your reference to how it is relevant - I didn’t realize I tracked your same verbiage!)

I don’t like ANY of these people, but can we STOP with the ‘she wants him’ ‘he’s hot for her’ crap?

It really IS possible for people to be devoted to someone in a non-sexual way, and it does a serious disservice to making the point that Trump is aligning himself with unsavory people, and that radical people feel they have a champion in Trump.

Don’t cheapen the message!

I think we just talked past each other a little bit. All good.

Nothing just “happens”, but maybe we can make it happen,

You are indeed correct, and I think most successful politicians have a magnetism that invites true believers.

It’s just hard to take this crew seriously when they resort to the most base of insults.

I mean, Loomer herself has called Greene an unchaste woman, and alluded to video from a staffer of Greene using the N-word at the office. Greene has been heard calling another rival, Lauren Boebert, a “bitch”.

In that context, it’s much easier to presume some degree of physical relationship than to believe these people are deep thinkers devoted to Trump’s vision for America.

I posted this in the Schadenfreude Pit thread but it’s relevant to your post too:

She’s a bad influence on him, and it’s bad for his campaign. Which is good for democracy and sanity in the country, because he needs to lose.

Unless he wins, in which case, her being bad for him may make things even worse.

Yeah, I did consider that. He’d undoubtedly give her some position in the White House and she shouldn’t even be in charge of a lemonade stand.

MTG did make out with a cardboard cutout of Trump.

How does Melania feel about this, and if she is annoyed enough by her husband’s fairly blatant public display of likely additional infidelity, will she react in any way that impacts his chances? Could she?

She could very well be completely okay with his having sexual activity outside of or instead of their relationship, but it being publicly displayed is another thing.

Stormy Daniels was embarrassing for her; her husband found liable for sexual assault has to at least had her biting her lip some. Is there a point that crosses her line, election be damned?

What would that look like and what impact could it have?

I think Melania made her peace with who he is long ago, and few would know better what a vindictive, petty person he is than she. Who wants to put themselves in the crosshairs of that?

Stormy Daniels was embarrassing, but she was also old news. Even though Loomer is topical, however tempted Melania may be to sink Trump’s boat, she realizes that doing so would have a severe knock-on effect to her own future and fortunes.

Whatever Melania may do, I don’t believe she will do it until after the election.

I apologize. I meant to express disdain for Trump and his associates but took it in a direction that is not within the rules and spirit of the board. Mea culpa on that.

Thank you for recognizing the issue. We appreciate it.

The word I hear from people on the Left is “transactional.” She’s playing wife and First Lady for wealth and prestige, period.

I have heard again and again that they don’t even sleep in the same bedroom. They almost certainly don’t have sex, and I can imagine that that is extremely frustrating for Trump, since he has clearly used his wealth in the past to attract women. Heck, I dated someone very briefly who had actually been hit on by Trump in a gross way. Like, hey, let’s go back to my room right now even though we’ve known each other for all of an hour. And he is an adjudicated sexual abuser and all that.

However, since becoming president, Trump has been in the public eye in a way that he hasn’t been in the past. I.e., if he has an “affair” within his fake relationship with Melania, it will be noticed and someone will care about that. I do think that Trump, who is manifestly in cognitive decline, can no longer maintain the falsely regulated image he could in the past, and is now failing to hide his attraction to other women and, yes, is probably having a sexual relationship with Loomer, or at least is getting as close as he is to her in the hopes of having one.

Don’t really care if this Loomer character is a purple-people eater and a yellow-polka dot-beekeeper. She’ll be doing damage to the Orange side campaign. :sunglasses:

(Didn’t want to use the “bikini” word here)

Only recently, The question hasn’t come up since Nixon and his pardon by Ford short-circuited that before resolution.