# The Trump Administration: A Clusterfuck in the Making Part Deux (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 22, 2020, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083 "2020-06-22T03:36:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 139
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/2777 "2020-08-25T16:12:37Z")
Here is trump’s legacy, summed up: [https://www.axios.com/trump-pushes-fringe-beliefs-mainstream-3438b21f-5653-4269-aaff-e866006aa72b.html](https://www.axios.com/trump-pushes-fringe-beliefs-mainstream-3438b21f-5653-4269-aaff-e866006aa72b.html) TL;DR - trump took a great big shovel in his tiny hands and turned over the rocks so now all the creepy-crawlies can slither and sting freely with his blessing. > **…Several fringe ideas and conspiracy theories** have been pushed further mainstream by the president, often via tweets to his 85 million followers. > > - **Unproven cures** for the coronavirus have grown in popularity after the president has promoted them. Many Trump supporters remain convinced hydroxychloroquine is a miracle COVID-19 cure but that there’s a conspiracy to obscure its efficacy in fighting the disease. > - **Birtherism** has mutated from false claims that President Obama wasn’t born in the U.S., an idea Trump built his political career on, to casting doubt on the eligibility of Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris, who was born to immigrant parents in California. > … > - **Tech censorship** began as an idea most embraced by fringe online figures like Trump super-fans Diamond and Silk before becoming [widely accepted](https://www.axios.com/conservatives-social-media-bias-censorship-d4a27c76-21b5-4a65-952f-a0ff91b6f171.html)) in the GOP, with Trump as its top promoter. The idea that tech companies censor political speech they disagree with is now a commonly held belief among both Republicans and Democrats, according to a new Pew Research Center [survey](https://www.axios.com/social-media-political-censorship-poll-6bd4fbaf-43a9-49ac-8e20-48b07f5af38c.html). > - **QAnon** continues to [grow](https://www.axios.com/qanons-2020-resurgence-41759d2b-7d08-4d6e-bad0-d2a63b6285ad.html). President Trump, who [praised](https://www.axios.com/trump-praises-qanon-supporters-i-understand-they-like-me-very-much-42146fb3-bd69-4943-8e80-2f0bcf4b0b17.html) supporters of the conspiracy theory last week, has retweeted QAnon followers at least [90 times](https://www.mediamatters.org/twitter/fbi-calls-qanon-domestic-terror-threat-trump-has-amplified-qanon-supporters-twitter-more-20) since the pandemic began, and others in Trump’s inner circle have also shared Q content. Nearly a dozen QAnon supporters [are now 2020 Republican Congressional nominees](https://www.axios.com/qanon-nominees-congress-gop-8086ed21-b7d3-46af-9016-d132e65ba801.html). > … > > **The bottom line:** The office of the president makes Trump a uniquely potent vector for spreading fringe beliefs, particularly as some Americans’ trust in other institutions crumbles. > > - “When a figure that has inherent trust built into their position or role in society addresses a fact or idea, it provides validity to it,” says Webster-Jacobsen. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/2778 "2020-08-25T16:21:08Z")
I really don’t get Nikki Haley. Does she believe this helps her career in any way? The hardcore Trumpist types would not support her run for President and she’s burning bridges with everybody else. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/2779 "2020-08-25T16:42:44Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > And he _says_ it’s gold. It’s actually gold-colored spray paint - a discount shitty brand too. Cheap gold plate and cheap spray paint are both used, which one depends on how often he’ll see it. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/2780 "2020-08-25T17:08:18Z")
She’s running for president in 2024, and would therefore sell her first-born to get the “rising star” convention speaker slot (Reagan 1976, Obama 2004…). She needs to walk a tightrope, saying just enough nice things about Trump to get the spot and not piss off any current Trumpists, but stay at just enough distance to be redeemable in 4 years. She’ll be like post-war Germans who said yeah, I may have been a Nazi but I wasn’t _fanatical_ about it. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/2781 "2020-08-25T17:16:38Z")
I get the motivation. I don’t get why she thinks it’ll work that way. There’s no tightrope. The hardcore Trumpists are also misogynists and racists, which she well knows. There’s no ‘there’ there for her, except as a subservient mouthpiece - and they’re all about women and people of color (both in her case!) serving at the pleasure of rich, old white men. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/2782 "2020-08-25T17:58:39Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > No, Trump always puts Trump first. Anything actually benefiting America is a coincidence. 'L’etat c’est moi From his point of view this is a distinction without a difference. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/2783 "2020-08-25T18:36:10Z")
It worked for her in South Carolina. You also have to understand that some really hardcore Trumpists would vote for her, because that would _prove_ they’re not racist. She’s like the often advertised black best friend. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/2784 "2020-08-25T18:45:05Z")
Yeah, I can see that for a governor or even a Senator. Or even a VP candidate. Harder to see the GOP do that for POTUS where there’s no shortage of alternatives who fit the preferred profile. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/2785 "2020-08-25T18:47:11Z")
Oh, I agree 100%, but Nikki Haley’s reach often exceeds her grasp. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/2786 "2020-08-25T19:12:34Z")
After the Beatdown of 2020 (oh please god please please) the shards and remnants of the Republican Party will try to reassemble, promising that this time they’re a real party, with real ideals and real candidates. Their hope will be to cobble together a coalition of disaffected pre-Trump republicans + MAGAites. So anyone with an eye on 2024 will need to be able to appeal to both, and Nikki’s saying “I’m your gal!” ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/2787 "2020-08-25T19:41:07Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Their hope will be to cobble together a coalition of disaffected pre-Trump republicans + MAGAites. > So anyone with an eye on 2024 will need to be able to appeal to both, and Nikki’s saying “I’m your gal!” Yep. It’ll be Haley vs Pompeo. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/2788 "2020-08-25T20:09:41Z")
I hope that the republican party implodes, and then the more moderate republicans join the moderate democrats, who split off from the progressives. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/2789 "2020-08-25T20:22:12Z")
Amen. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/2790 "2020-08-25T20:35:05Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > I hope that the republican party implodes, and then the more moderate republicans join the moderate democrats, who split off from the progressives. I’m not sure who you’re talking about. The more moderate Republicans left ages ago. Some went Libertarian, several joined the Dems, and others just opted out entirely. The ones who are left are predominantly the crazies and the collaborators. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/2791 "2020-08-25T20:40:16Z")
People like Kasich or the late McCain. Never Trumpers with whom I have fewer disagreements than with some of the more progressive parts of our party. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/2792 "2020-08-25T21:18:29Z")
Kasich is a fair point. He’s certainly not insane or a collaborator, though I’d be hard pressed to classify him as a moderate Republican, except by comparison to the nuthouse the GOP has become. I’d disagree about McCain, though. His voting record sure doesn’t reflect the idealized version people like to trot out. He was a louder version of Susan Collins - talked a big game but when push came to shove, he was a safe vote for his party with only a few notable exceptions. And that included occasionally praising most of Trump’s moves in 2017 before his cancer treatments precluded more involvement in the Senate after that. Kind of the opposite of Hillary Clinton whose voting record was more progressive (with only a few notable exceptions) than Obama’s, despite her reputation. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/2793 "2020-08-25T23:30:16Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > I’d disagree about McCain, though. His voting record sure doesn’t reflect the idealized version people like to trot out. He was a louder version of Susan Collins - talked a big game but when push came to shove, he was a safe vote for his party with only a few notable exceptions. And that included occasionally praising most of Trump’s moves in 2017 before his cancer treatments precluded more involvement in the Senate after that. He also never met a war he didn’t want us to get involved in. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/2794 "2020-08-25T23:43:56Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > He also never met a war he didn’t want us to get involved in. Well, we had that whole GIANT expensive military and it was just **sitting** there… ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/2795 "2020-08-26T03:02:22Z")
Scheduled speaker at the convention who is on Individual 1’s campaign staff has had her scheduled speech pulled after she tweeted a QAnon link saying the Jews are plotting to take over the world > **[RNC Speaker Cancelled After Boosting QAnon Conspiracy Theory About Jewish...](https://www.thedailybeast.com/rnc-speaker-boosts-qanon-conspiracy-theory-about-jewish-plot-to-enslave-the-world-1)** > > Mary Ann Mendoza, an “angel mom,” was set to speak on Tuesday night. But then she took to Twitter to encourage followers to read a thread about the Rothschilds. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2020, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/2796 "2020-08-26T04:18:14Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > I get the motivation. I don’t get why she thinks it’ll work that way. Have you _met_ America? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083.md?page=138) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083.md?page=140)