And I imagine once the dust settles, and things blow over, the Republicans will be calling for more investigations into Benghazi and Hunter Biden’s laptop.
And don’t forget Hillary’s emails!
To the degree that there’s any forethought going on in Trump’s head, he probably figured he could incite a riot and then cover his ass by betraying the rioters afterwards. Which is essentially what he did.
Now he’s probably figuring he can run out the clock. Is Congress really going to impeach him in the final eleven days of his term? Or impose the 25th? I think it’s doubtful. There’ll be some deal making and they’ll settle for a censure. Trump has no sense of shame so he won’t care.
Since Trump can’t keep his “mind” on more than one thing, I think the best plan is to have him stew over impeachment. Even if it doesn’t happen (and McTurtle says the senate will not be in session until Jan. 19), it will keep his little brain occupied and he won’t think to start a war or anything. We can hope, anyway. I guess he will go to Florida and we won’t get the joy of seeing the secret service shoveling him into a paddy wagon.
I think it’s highly likely Trump will be impeached next week by the House, but whether he is convicted by the Senate is a whole other thing. By it not coming to a vote in the Senate it saves the Trumpian Republicans from having to vote against impeachment just to please their QAnon loving constituents back home. Sadly, there will be no repercussions for the Republicans who solidly backed Trump for the past 4 years, whether out of fear or out of true love for their dear insane leader.
It would be in the best Republican interest to have Trump impeached and convicted AND banned from running for office again.
Right now the biggest GOP nightmare is a 2024 Trump campaign. That campaign couldn’t possibly win, but would destroy any legit Republican contender. So by impeaching and getting rid of Trump right now, the Republicans can finally move on from Trump, and Trumpers would no longer agitate for him to run in 2024, knowing that he’s no longer legally allowed to run.
The problem Republicans face is that works both ways. If they impeach and repudiate Trump, they will anger all of Trump’s base and lose them for the 2024 election.
As to @Velocity, IMO he slightly misspoke. IMO it’s better said as
Right now the biggest GOP nightmare is a now through 2024 permanent Trump campaign. …
And that shift provides the seeds for my adjustment of @Little_Nemo’s thought:
The Republicans face a Hobson’s choice.
They can have Trump as a legal candidate in 2024 who will be campaigning and fund raising continuously from now to then while working non-stop to grow and amplify his angry mob of supporters. And thereby totally setting the agenda for the entire R party. Whether they like it or not.
Or they can eliminate him right now in the next 10 days as a 2024 candidate and spend 4 years trying to calm or redirect or split or co-opt his angry mob of supporters. while Trump sulks from the sidelines or disappears to an island someplace.
The odds of success for any individual R, whether an establishment character, a Cruz, or a Hawley, are better under scenario 2 than 1. It’s either 4 years without Trump as anything but a gadfly or it’s 4 years of Groundhog Day with a very loud and obnoxious Trump as the de facto only meaningful person in the Right each and every day.
Will enough of the R Senators have the collective brains and 'nads to see it that way? I hope so, but am not optimistic.
Yeah. I bet that the fervent wishes for Trump’s imminent demise that we’ve seen expressed by several vociferous angry Democrats absolutely pale in comparison to the passionate desire for it felt by many senior Republicans.
The GOP will hire a hit man to make it look like an accident.
It now occurs to me that if he is impeached and removed, he loses his lifetime protective security detail.
I notice a number of Republican senators are now signaling they would vote for removal.
Coincidence?
Like most rich folks, Trump has enough security already. Icahn is still alive, to name another robber baron with hundreds of thousands of people who wish he’d meet (or better yet 30 years ago had met) an untimely end.
You omit the fact that he has been banned from social media. The major sites will most likely practice due diligence in making sure he does not sneak his way back onto them. This is a big part of his exposure. He will not be able to start a television network, because no one will want to carry it. He will not get regular television coverage because no want will want to broadcast his bullshit.
In short, he is a pariah, facing serious marginalization. The leverage he needs to start a national campaign to retake the WH simply does not exist and will not form. He is really no longer a future threat to the Rs, and they are not even obligated to give him any air (e.g., in debates).
I fully agree. A dead Trump is the ideal solution for the Republicans. They can invoke his memory as needed without having to deal with his nonsense.
Problem is, I’ve already seen many Trumpers endorse - with utter seriousness - the idea of having Trump’s torch carried on by running Donald Jr., Eric, or Ivanka Trump for president in 2024 and beyond.
“Trump” as a brand may not leave us for a long, long time to come. A deceased Donald may not end it.
That his followers are anxious for his even more useless family to carry on says something deep-seated about human nature.
Not something very nice, but something very deep-seated. There is a reason “royalty” by one name or another has ruled substantially everywhere for substantially the sum total of sentient human history.
If humanity can’t grow up, and do so quickly, it will kill itself within a couple more generations. Just like an unsupervised 8 yo in a wood shop full of power tools.
I did indeed. And you’re right that may be a killing blow. But IMO it’s premature to assume it is a killing blow versus a minor speedbump.
Assuming he doesn’t have a mental meltdown I predict somebody (e.g. Murdoch or Putin) will fund a vehicle to let him maintain his audience. Which vehicle will soon be monstrously profitable. It won’t be charity for that sponsor; it’ll be an investment, and one with a high return whether measured in dollars or in political power and political consequences.
Fortunately, between the three of them, only Ivanka has even a shred of charisma*. And the misogyny of many of Trump’s diehard supporters disqualifies her in their eyes.
*Or whatever the hell it is that DJT has - I recognize it, but I’m damned if I know what to call it.
They may privately wish for his demise (I cannot imagine the self-loathing Ted Cruz must feel having to support Trump after the shitty things he’s said about Cruz’s father and wife) but they admire his ability to bring in the marks and jam up the works. Trump is the proverbial son of the political game that Newt Gingrich has been playing out since the early 'Nineties, and they’ve gone so far down the road of winning at all costs that they can’t really stop without admitting the perfidy. As long as the Trump “brand” is viable, it’ll be the leading marquee of the GOP because of all the disaffected voters it brings with it. Joe Biden may have won the election (both the popular and Electoral College vote, this time) but Trump did bring in 74 million votes which is a stunning level of support for a president with consistently negative net approval ratings and who has fumbled every single issue and promise.
Nope; conservatives are quite willing to get over any misogyny when it comes to an attractive female candidate to parrots their views, e.g. Sarah Palin. I would put real money on the bet that Ivanka will at least run a trial balloon and, if the Trump name isn’t totally soiled, make a serious run at the nomination. She’s maintained a reasonably low profile in comparison to Don Jr. and Eric, but she also doesn’t come off as a douchy trophy hunter bro or drooling moron (it is an exercise for the reader to determine which description applies to which Trump son) and she’s actually well spoken and even tempered enough to appeal to people who wouldn’t vote for Donald Trump themselves. Her biggest problem is actually Jared, who has all the charisma and photographic appeal of school paste, but then he also won’t overshadow her with his commanding presence and brilliant oratory.
Stranger
I’ve seen Kayleigh McEnany referred to adoringly as “Princess McEnany” on a Trump-leaning board.
Misogyny won’t be a thing. They’d support a female Republican even more than Democrats support Hillary or Kamala.