Considering how much Trump likes being “The Man”, can you see him giving Pence Presidential authority while he is still breathing? If not, do you think Pence would dare to invoke the 25th Amendment?
This shouldn’t be controversial – W. set the precedent of formally handing over temporary authority per the 25th amendment to Cheney a couple of times when he was going to be under anesthesia for medical procedures. But no, I don’t think Trump will do it.
I think that if Trump slips into a state of not being lucid or conscious, suddenly a note will appear with something resembling his signature on it that temporarily transfers power to Pence.
If so, Pence better hope Trump never wakes up.
Why? He’s literally the only member of the executive branch that Trump can’t fire.
If he screws with Trump, breaking tie votes will be his only duty.
His only two duties now are breaking tie votes and giving the illusion that Trump cares about evangelical voters. And I don’t think Trump will want him to stop doing that second job.
And compared to his normal state you could determine this how?
That’s why flurb added “or conscious”, no doubt.
The White House states very forcefully there will be NO transfer of powers. I believe them and I believe they know it for sure. I am sure Trump has the virus and I am sure he had some symptoms earlier than today, possibly during the debate (which might help explain his performance) and at the fund raiser. But I believe the symptoms are subsiding and the campaign decided to make political hay from this opportunity.
I have been around confidence hustlers my whole life. I can usually see through Trump and have seen all his tricks much closer to home. Something new smells funny about today’s events.
I am not stating this as a certainty, but could it be possible that Trump hid his infection at first due to fear of appearing weak and basic lack of human consideration? Then revealed it only after he started to recover - but all the people he infected started materializing so his handlers cooked up a deal for him. Hey Donald, how would you like a week long vacation from all your duties and wife while we put you up someplace? All you have to do is surrender your phones to us for the whole time and never tweet anything. We will even get Stormy D and Karen McD to swing by and say hi to you, are you game?
I don’t believe Trump is capable of pulling this off at all, but his team might be. They just get him to lay low while they put out sympathetic tweets for several days. Nothing he communicated today sounds like him at all – almost no communication on any subject and when he does tweet - it is kind? Come on! In a few days they will announce Trump has had a come to Jesus moment and will address the virus exactly as the polls indicate he should have from the start. Masks, distancing, hand washing, remote learning in schools – the whole desired agenda. They just have to get him in one instance to say: “I have sinned, mea culpa” after he leaves the hospital. Then keep him under wraps until the election by claiming the doctors require a limited schedule “for his health”. No tweets, no live mics – just waves from the portico and prerecorded statements that are controlled by the campaign.
I cannot offer any evidence, but some things just have in inauthentic smell to them. Trump tweeted LOVE in all caps??? WTF?!? He records a video where he humbly states he thinks he is alright?? We already know he bullies doctors into lying for press reasons and that’s another thing! No doctor from the hospital has made any statement at all? Suddenly all West Wing staff as well as Trump are wearing masks?? As a result of his terrible ordeal Trump has the best reason in the world to return next week with the perfect position on the one thing that was killing him in the polls. The only thing about this that doesn’t fit if it is a con is how well planned and executed it is. They must have help from someone with spy level intelligence training; someone like Putin!
If it isn’t a con job – it would make for a good movie don’t you think?
ISTM Trump has “cleaned up” his act a few times during his term so far, but it never ever lasts. Without exception, after he tweets something reasonable, he has followed up within a day with another obnoxious tweet that blows it all away. He just can’t keep up a clean act for any length of time.
I know that deep down in some way. But I have this horrible fear Trump will somehow leverage his karma induced misfortune into a win. If he comes out of the hospital and claims to have seen the light and promises an ideal response to Covid – he might pull off another upset.
I hope he recovers physically, but I also want the virus to kill his reelection hopes good and decisively!! Let him take his clown act to tax court and all the other courts that are after him. He needs to be out of the White House for good as soon as the people can vote him out!
Maybe this episode gave him a little humility, literally scared the mean out of him temporarily. As soon as he recovers he will likely return to default settings, but margins can be so tight in this game. Please, please people – don’t fall for his shit this time!
They just have to put the note in a seismograph for a few seconds.
Hella no.
And i predict that if trump dies, the White House will try to hide his death for days, so more & better grifting can happen.
They would at least insist on waiting three days for the savior to rise from the grave, anyway.
I thought Pence already wore the reins.
Along with a ballgag.
Do not forget the pony tail butt plug.
a lot of people get worse after 4-7 days so he could be getting worse soon. I think he might hand over power if he goes on a ventilator.
I think his power hungry family will try like hell to convince him not to.
It is inconceivable to me that Trump would ever, per the terms of the 25th Amendment, “transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office . . .” That would be admitting weakness, in a letter to Nancy Pelosi no less! I fully expect that to his last conscious gasp he will insist on SHOWING STRENGTH and that he is fully in charge.
If he slips into an unresponsive state, not having submitted his “written declaration,” things get interesting. The 25th Amendment provides that the VP and a majority of “executive department heads” may declare the President unable to discharge his duties and the VP immediately becomes Acting President. There are 15 Cabinet Secretaries who count for the purposes of the 25th Amendment. However, the status of one of them (Chad Wolf at DHS) is unclear, since he has been Acting Secretary for longer than allowed by statute and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) claims that he is illegally serving in that capacity. If it came down to his vote on whether to declare Trump unable to discharge his duties, it would be chaos.
The power struggle about to unfold:
Mike Pence – the dullard legitimate heir, too naive and trusting to understand the evil machinations under way around him.
Junior, Eric and Ivanka – genetically twisted and greedy for unearned power, beloved by a faction of the peasants but unable to coalesce around a single sibling and flush their one chance at the throne away.
Stephen Miller – the truly evil genius, the Littlefinger of the Trump admin, scheming and whispering but so unloved by everyone that he risks banishment to the dark corners of the white supremacy internet.
If they weren’t so fucking dumb and dangerous I would love this administration for the stories alone.