# How is trump still a viable candidate for president? Really, how? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [May 12, 2023, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949 "2023-05-12T14:28:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 46
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/904 "2023-12-21T02:35:32Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > There are more, but this is a hijack of the thread. I see . . . so you bring things up and when challenged you duck behind the stupidest rule this place has? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/905 "2023-12-21T02:40:13Z")
When challenged, I gave you the cites you wanted. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/906 "2023-12-21T02:40:40Z")
[https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/national/capitol-riots/indiana-grandmother-of-five-anna-morgan-lloyd-dona-bissey-to-be-first-sentenced-in-capitol-riot-jon-schaffer-donald-trump-qanon/65-422510ae-acf1-4527-8723-cb170b5f9041](https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/national/capitol-riots/indiana-grandmother-of-five-anna-morgan-lloyd-dona-bissey-to-be-first-sentenced-in-capitol-riot-jon-schaffer-donald-trump-qanon/65-422510ae-acf1-4527-8723-cb170b5f9041) > **[Idaho Woman, 69, Gets Jail Time After 'Needlessly' Distracting Police on Jan. 6](https://lawandcrime.com/u-s-capitol-breach/idaho-woman-69-gets-jail-time-after-needlessly-distracting-police-on-jan-6/)** > > A 69-year-old Idaho woman who was seen being walked down the steps of the U.S. Capitol after having breached the building—and encouraging other rioters to do the same—has been sentenced to two months behind bars. Ahh yes, just two innocent grandmas that didn’ do nothing! ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/907 "2023-12-21T02:46:54Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Ahh yes, just two innocent grandmas that didn’ do nothing! It’s a well known principle of law that if you’re a grandma, you can’t actually commit a real crime. I’m really not sure what her age or her distribution of progeny has to do with fuck-all, but there you go. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/908 "2023-12-21T02:52:32Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > It’s a well known principle of law that if you’re a grandma, you can’t actually commit a real crime. Unless, you’re at a BLW ~~demonstration~~ riot of course. And, also of course, if you’re browner than a paper bag living near a BLW ~~demonstration~~ riot than you’re not a rioter you’re a domestic terrorist. And also also of course if you’re lighter than a paper bag and you show up at the Capitol with flex cuffs and a taser or a fucking spear you’re just an innocent tourist. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/909 "2023-12-21T02:57:01Z")
I bet there were some grandpas at the insurrection at the Capitol as well. Do they count as innocent tourists? Or just Grandmas? Won’t someone think of the grandmas? ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/910 "2023-12-21T03:42:57Z")
Marginal charges? Jesus Christ… ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/911 "2023-12-21T03:57:23Z")
Just want to say I do love the conservative/Republican solutions to these problems, - If you are retired, there is nothing good about this economy. Inflation has caused your fixed income to decrline and your assets to be devalued. Food and rent and energy are your major expenses, and all have gone up more than general inflation. _Eliminate Social Security, SNAP, Section 8, and LIHEAP . . . and while we’re at it Medicaid too._ - If you already have a job, as most working Americans do, you don’t care about the unenmployment numbers. You DO care if your wages aren’t keeping up with inflation, which most people’s wages are not. _Which is solved by eliminating the Minimum Wage._ - Home ownership is now completely out of the reach of many young people, due to home price inflation and interest rates. _Simply get rid of the ~~Estate Tax~~ Death Tax and don’t collect Capital Gains on the sale of your second and third McMansions!_ - gas prices and utility prices have increased more than inflation in many places, and these are major expenses for middle class Americans. _Tax cuts! Well, that’s the solution for every problem really!_ It is curious that these were all problems during, pretty much, every Republican Presidency but they never did anything, that did anything for the working poor, to actually solve those problems . . . except cutting taxes on the wealthy and then complaining that the poor don’t pay their ‘’‘’‘fair share’‘’‘’. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/912 "2023-12-21T05:45:18Z")
And it’s all the fault of Biden’s huge deficits, despite the fact that the U.S. budget deficit is half of what it was during Trump’s final year in office. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/913 "2023-12-21T05:51:25Z")
And the lockdowns and mandates, despite the fact that those and Covid was during Trump’s years in office. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/914 "2023-12-21T05:57:11Z")
Biden should have fixed Trumps massive screw ups faster, so therefore we should vote Trump in again so he can screw up even more. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2023, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/915 "2023-12-21T17:16:14Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > > [@solost](#): > > > > The Colorado decision against trump is going to be _ **awfully** _ awkward for _ **Supreme Court of the US** _ Justice Gorsuch to rule against, now. > > Not necessarily. It seems like most online predictions I’ve read are that, despite the fact that the Colorado court’s opinion is generally viewed as solid, the Supreme Court will likely throw out the Colorado ruling. But here’s hoping that the court will pleasantly surprise us. Yes, SCOTUS is very conservative, with 3 trump appointees. But that doesn’t mean they have any great love for trump. And trump has no leverage over them, since they are appointed for life and can’t be fired or removed without drastic action. So hopefully they will follow the law and not trump’s wishes. Am I being naive in so hoping? ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/916 "2023-12-22T11:56:02Z")
To a point, Sam’s right. It doesn’t matter if those things are true. Just if people believe in them. Fighting that will be very difficult. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/917 "2023-12-22T12:17:47Z")
> [@solost](#): > > And trump has no leverage over them, since they are appointed for life and can’t be fired or removed without drastic action. So hopefully they will follow the law and not trump’s wishes. > > Am I being naive in so hoping? Yes, because 1) “Drastic action” is exactly what Trump is promising. He’ll break every rule he has to to carry out his agenda, and getting rid of a few pesky Supreme Court Justices who didn’t toe the line to support him will be small potatoes. And 2) If that doesn’t work, well, “lifetime” appointments have one obvious way of being shortened. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/918 "2023-12-22T15:18:39Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > > [@solost](#): > > > > Am I being naive in so hoping? > > Yes, because 1) “Drastic action” is exactly what Trump is promising. He’ll break every rule he has to to carry out his agenda, and getting rid of a few pesky Supreme Court Justices who didn’t toe the line to support him will be small potatoes. And 2) If that doesn’t work, well, “lifetime” appointments have one obvious way of being shortened. OK, I may be naive in this situation yet, but I think that you’re being perhaps a _ **bit** _ hyperbolic, maybe? I may be hijacking my own thread, but I’d be interested in other opinions on this. I’m well aware of trump’s publicly-stated plans to become a quasi-dictator, intending to weaponize the Justice Department against his political enemies, and gut government departments, leaving a skeleton crew of trump loyalists where before civil servants used to be politically neutral. But removing one or more Supreme Court Justices would take an impeachment process similar to removing a President: articles of impeachment would have to pass a bare majority in the House, and then conviction would take a 2/3 supermajority in the Senate. Despite Republican Congresspeople routinely toadying up to trump, I can’t see them just rolling over and supporting trumped-up (heh) impeachment charges against SC Justices with a decree from trump. And the suggestion that trump may just have Justices ‘whacked’ that he doesn’t like, well… he may like to act like a Mafia don, but I don’t think that’s realistic…right? 😨 > **[Opinion | How to Impeach a Supreme Court Justice](https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/03/30/impeach-supreme-court-justice-clarence-thomas-00021480)** > > It has never been done successfully, but lawmakers should investigate whether Clarence Thomas’ behavior merits an attempt. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/919 "2023-12-22T15:27:09Z")
> [@solost](#): > > And the suggestion that trump may just have Justices ‘whacked’ that he doesn’t like, well… he may like to act like a Mafia don, but I don’t think that’s realistic…right? He sent a mob to Congress, and I’m pretty sure those people would have killed a few people if they’d gotten their hands on them. Imagine a similar mob unleashed on the Supreme Court. Or just the old stochastic terrorism. “Justice DisloyalToTrump is a traitor, if only there was _some way_ we could be rid of them…” ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/920 "2023-12-22T15:34:50Z")
The thing about Trump is that people tend to have an opinion about him. I don’t buy the argument that any further challenge to Trump “will make him more popular”. People who have stood by him have made it clear they will accept whatever. People who dislike him, for reasons, do so strongly. Sam is mostly right about the economy - times are hard for many people. Biden does not control the justice system though. Trumpwashing the questionable actions of some people may be what many believe, which perhaps explains Trump’s viability. Surprising more aren’t defending Giuliani, though, America’s mayor and one thousandth of a point of light. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/921 "2023-12-22T15:37:15Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > He sent a mob to Congress, and I’m pretty sure those people would have killed a few people if they’d gotten their hands on them. Imagine a similar mob unleashed on the Supreme Court. Or just the old stochastic terrorism. “Justice DisloyalToTrump is a traitor, if only there was _some way_ we could be rid of them…” To this point, just this week he vowed to indemnify all police officers who take aggressive, violent action against suspects. You are a Trump-supporting PO in DC with impunity to act as you wish, and your guy asks that you take out a couple of Justices… what is stopping you? > **[In his latest pitch, Trump wants to ‘indemnify all police officers’](https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/latest-pitch-trump-wants-indemnify-police-officers-rcna130283)** > > Donald Trump apparently envisions a model in which officers who take “strong actions” would not have to worry about being held liable for their conduct. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/922 "2023-12-22T16:21:30Z")
> [@solost](#): > > And the suggestion that trump may just have Justices ‘whacked’ that he doesn’t like, well… he may like to act like a Mafia don, but I don’t think that’s realistic…right? 😨 I few years ago I would have laughed at the idea of an American president refusing to acknowledge he lost an election let alone sending a mob to the capitol to prevent the peaceful transfer of power to a new administration. I don’t know if Trump is willing to have anyone, let alone a Justice of the Supreme Court, whacked. But I’m not laughing anymore. I honestly believe a lot of his supporters wouldn’t care. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/923 "2023-12-22T16:30:18Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > But I’m not laughing anymore. I honestly believe a lot of his supporters wouldn’t care. A lot of his supporters would do the job for him. That’s the scary part. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949.md?page=45) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949.md?page=47)