# 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:** 307
**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:** [November 9, 2020, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6140 "2020-11-09T23:30:54Z")
The head of Individual 1’s voter fraud legal team has tested positive for covid. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6141 "2020-11-09T23:39:44Z")
Republicans _are_ Covid. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6142 "2020-11-09T23:40:41Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > I’m stealing this. How can I credit you? Don’t worry about it; I stole it myself from an unidentified source. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6143 "2020-11-09T23:45:04Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > The head of Individual 1’s voter fraud legal team has tested positive for covid. I think this is the third attendee of the Tuesday night election “party” in the White House who has tested positive (along with Meadows and Carson). Super-spreader part 2. ---
**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:** [November 9, 2020, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6144 "2020-11-09T23:51:26Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > I think this is the third attendee of the Tuesday night election “party” in the White House who has tested positive (along with Meadows and Carson). Super-spreader part 2. Actually fifth, apparently. Two unnamed staffers tested positive, too. ---
**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:** [November 10, 2020, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6145 "2020-11-10T00:27:01Z")
Kayleigh McNinny held a press conference today which she caveated as in her private capacity so as to not trigger the Hatch Act, where she went on and on about lying and fraud and illegalities. Even Neil Cavuto at Fox cut her off saying they need to start providing proof. > **[Fox News host cuts away from White House press secretary over her unproven...](https://theweek.com/speedreads/948957/fox-news-host-cuts-away-from-white-house-press-secretary-over-unproven-claims-widespread-voter-fraud)** ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6146 "2020-11-10T02:01:14Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > The problem is that Republicans have created a Trump authoritarian cult. They can’t just come out and congratulate Trump. I think privately most Republicans wish he would concede, but McConnell and Graham, who benefited from Trump’s voters, can’t risk alienating those voters by asking Trump to step down before he’s ready. Graham is pushing harder to give himself a little bit of political cover. > > I think we will know a lot more this week about how serious this is, once the right wing media do their thing in prime time. There’s still the potential that Hannity, Carlson, Limbaugh, etc could whip the Trump voters into a frenzy. I am not certain that Republican voters and political operatives are ready to concede just yet, and if they aren’t there yet, then that’s a thorny problem. … > [@Aspenglow](#): > > Well, the Trump Cabal are forcing Republicans to pick sides, and that is going to have a deleterious effect on their caucus. > > Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Pence and others have decided they are going to call into question the legitimacy of the Pennsylvania election. McConnell is going to have to decide soon which horse he wants to ride. And whether or not GOP officeholders decide to support Trump in his ‘I was robbed’ quest for overturning democracy may depend, to a great extent, on public opinion as a whole. Do a majority accept that Biden won and Trump lost? Do a substantial number of Trump’s fans accept that he will be doing something other than being President for the next four years, though perhaps remaining the leader of their white-supremacist, anti-democracy movement? And the answers to those questions depend a great deal on **whether the corporate heads of the networks and major newspapers believe that their own best interests are served by a ‘_Two Legitimate Sides Battle it Out_’ narrative.** If they think that such is the road to massive ratings and sales, they may go for it—lending every Trump Admin. attempt to subvert the election full gravitas and breathless attention. This is a massive danger. Television ratings and the drive for subscription revenues could be what finally brings down the republic. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6147 "2020-11-10T02:10:37Z")
[quote=“Snowboarder\_Bo, post:6104, topic:911083, full:true”] **Mark Esper won’t need that resignation letter after all:** The following excerpt from [an article I was reading earlier](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/us/politics/esper-defense-secretary.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage) was chilling. _"Two White House officials said later on Monday that Mr. Trump was not finished, and that Christopher A. Wray, the F.B.I. director, and Gina Haspel, the C.I.A. director, could be next in line to be fired. Removing these senior officials — in effect decapitating the nation’s national security bureaucracy — would be without parallel by an outgoing president who has just lost re-election._ _Democrats and national security veterans said it was a volatile move in the uncertain time between administrations, particularly by a president who has made clear that he does not want to give up power . . ._" In one of the readers’ comments, Carl Bernstein is said “to have said that there are perhaps 20 Senate Republicans who are fed up with Trump’s behavior. . . . and with Senate Democrats that may be enough to convict and remove him from office right now. Time to revisit impeachment.” That would be interesting. A bipartisan coalition to save America from Trump. ---
**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:** [November 10, 2020, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6148 "2020-11-10T02:35:01Z")
This may be a reason why Barr is going ahead with having the DOJ investigate the election, or at least having it go through the motions-- to avoid being the next one to get the ax. In the Election follow thread, @Mike_Mabes suggested Barr may have agreed to the investigation to pacify DJT. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6149 "2020-11-10T02:38:17Z")
We are thinking alike again. In the election thread I said Barr was giving the big baby a pacifer. ETA - oh missed part of your post; I did not think about Barr trying to keep his job. But won’t BIden fire him, or can he since he didn’t appoint ---
**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:** [November 10, 2020, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6150 "2020-11-10T02:39:36Z")
I edited to give you credit. 🙂 I hope it’s true. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6151 "2020-11-10T02:40:25Z")
We are both editing at the same time ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6152 "2020-11-10T02:43:54Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > But won’t BIden fire him, or can he since he didn’t appoint ALL cabinet secretaries serve at the pleasure of the president, who may fire any secretary at any time for any reason or no reason. And in fact, it is routine for an incoming president to replace ALL incumbent cabinet secretaries (with sporadic exceptions) with choices of his own (ETA: subject to Senate confirmation, of course, which might be a problem this time). Furthermore, it is traditional that as soon as a new president takes office, ALL incumbent secretaries tender their resignations – most of which the president will politely accept. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6153 "2020-11-10T02:47:13Z")
Thought so. I know when Nixon won a 2nd term, he asked for everyone’s resignation, even though he wasn’t going to fire most of them. ---
**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:** [November 10, 2020, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6154 "2020-11-10T02:47:32Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > But won’t BIden fire him, or can he since he didn’t appoint Well, Biden can’t fire him until he’s President, and that’s a couple of months away. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6155 "2020-11-10T02:54:13Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > This may be a reason why Barr is going ahead with having the DOJ investigate the election, or at least having it go through the motions-- to avoid being the next one to get the ax. In the Election follow thread, @Mike_Mabes suggested Barr may have agreed to the investigation to pacify DJT. But why? Why would he care if he gets fired at this point? Why not tell the big orange baby to just get over it already? Because he knows that stoking this bullshit is the best way to undermine Biden’s presidency before he even takes office. Make sure 49% of the electorate thinks the Biden administration is illegitimate, giving Mitch all the cover he needs to never even give Joe the time of day. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6156 "2020-11-10T02:57:54Z")
Remember also that Barr has an agenda of his own. He may not (and probably doesn’t) give a rat’s ass about Trump. But if he can stay on Trump’s good side AND keep Trump in power, then Barr himself might be able to retain his power. Barr is widely reputed to have his own agenda, which is to make America a Catholic theocratic state. So I think he’s doing what he thinks is best to retain power toward that end. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6157 "2020-11-10T03:17:20Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > In one of the readers’ comments, Carl Bernstein is said “to have said that there are perhaps 20 Senate Republicans who are fed up with Trump’s behavior. . . . and with Senate Democrats that may be enough to convict and remove him from office right now. Time to revisit impeachment.” I’ll believe it when I see it. While I don’t doubt that Republicans wish he would go away, that means absolutely nothing. Truth is, they’ve been wishing he’d go away for a long time. They’ve been wishing all along that they could use him as a poster boy or marketing gimmick for their party and then dispose of him when it suited them. Problem is, it’s not that easy to get rid of him because they turned their party into a warped cult. What they’re hoping is that he will privately concede, but if he goes rogue, he will have 70 million votes behind him - not a single fucking senator among them can say they have anything approaching that kind of fan base. Hate to say it, but this is not over. As I posted before the election, the constitution and our republic is about to be exposed to things it probably wasn’t designed to handle. Edit: If Trump does fire the national security team and damages national security, he needs to be investigated after leaving office for potential treason. ---
**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:** [November 10, 2020, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6158 "2020-11-10T03:20:55Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > he needs to be investigated - By…? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6159 "2020-11-10T03:24:40Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > In retrospect, the site of Giuliani’s press conference, with fertilizer, dildos, and urns readily at hand, was actually a good choice for someone who ought to eat shit, fuck off, and die. Stolen. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083.md?page=306) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083.md?page=308)