What does the future hold for Donald Trump? - threadbans in OP

Interesting thread, perhaps very much so for some on here...

protect them from who?

Possibly Trump administration were waiting for counter protesters, "antifa" or BLM so they could declare an emergency to protect the peacefull patriots and by some extension prevent certification.

I bet daddy didn't know about this text...

“Laura Ingraham sent texts on 1/6 to Meadows pleading with him to get Trump to stop the attack --"this will hurt us all."

Then she goes on Fox that night and says it was all antifa.”

Shameful behaviour.

Wow, everyone knew that Trump was well aware what was happening and did nothing, but to have it pointed out like that make it inescapable that at the very least Trump abdicated his responsibility to be a leader on the 6th. And this is the man that millions think will stand up for America.

And to then come out, as so many others in the GOP have done, and attempt to down play what actually happened when they were fully aware of what had happened.

Trump should absolutely be held accountable, but so should the majority of the GOP who at best sat on their hands and continue to facilitate the attack on the democracy they say they love.

Well, I assume he knew in advance that there'd be violence and planned to use the National Guard on Trump's orders to protect the rioters. So much for a peaceful planned protest.

Trump zealots will argue that he didn't know that there was going to be riots. That's nonsense of course, but they'll argue it nonetheless.

However, when it all became clear what was happening, when McCarthy rang Trump to tell him to do something, when other tried to do the same and Trump did nothing for far too long, then made a mealy mouthed video that looked like a hostage video, *that's* when there can be no excuse.

It's no one else's fault, no one else would be listened to.

The more details that come out, the harder it will be to swallow that Trump let this happen, and that is why he and the rest of the GOP are fighting so hard to stop the information from becoming public.

I don't think it actually matters in the long run, at least when it comes to the GOP's devotion to Trump. They'll find someone else to blame, the base voter will swallow it and they'll move forward with him in 2024. While the US showed that it's electoral institutions are strong in the last election, their justice/investigative system is a shambles. Trump will continue to obstruct everything that the Select Committee tries to do and tie them up in endless appeals. There'll never be any justice, mostly because everything over there takes so damn long.

It really doesn't matter. As you say, Trump's true believers will never accept any amount of empirical evidence that the man is a liar and a crook who has no respect for the established democratic systems and laws of the United States. But the bigger news is that even if you entered some crazy alternate universe were they would accept the evidence, they still wouldn't care. They worship Trump so much that subverting or ignoring the U.S. constitution or ignoring electoral laws or ignoring judicial rulings or ignoring the concept of the peaceful transition of power are acceptable things if they allow Trump to retain/regain power. They will distort their perceptions of reality or justice to any extent in order to maintain their one consistent principle: that Trump must be president.

And when you get to that level, it's no longer a political discussion because you cannot play the game of politics where the sides involved are not willing to respect the same set of rules. When you tear up the rule book, what do you have? You have a fight. War is what happens when diplomacy breaks down, i.e. when talking is no longer a satisfactory means to resolve a dispute. And we are seeing diplomacy between the sides in the U.S. breaking down. Refusing to respect the same set of rules is a form of soft force, and the Capitol invasion burgeoned into actual force, albeit unorganised and chaotic. But that idea has become normalised. One half of America has rationalised that incident to themselves, and the only thing left is how it's done again, with more success.

The thing I don't get is why Trump is seemingly so attractive to a large percentage of the US population. He's not good looking. He mumbles and is incoherent when he speaks. He clearly isn't a man of the people. He's an obvious and beyond-doubt serial liar. He didn't deliver on campaign promises. His actions during the pandemic cost lives. He lost the House, Senate and White House within 4 years and got impeached twice. He made America a laughing stock on the world stage. Yet, he's still madly popular with Republican voters. What is it about this man that people find so appealing? Genuine question.