Is Trump *trying* to lose the midterms?
Between rising prices and gilded ballrooms, Trump has practically giftwrapped oppo ads for Democrats.
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/is-trump-trying-to-lose-the-midterms-inflation-iran-war-prices-hormuz-tariffsOpen linkView original on lemmy.world
115 replies
Donald Trump thinks he can shoot someone in the middle of 5th Avenue, and still not lose the midterms.
Which means he's going to cheat.
Do your part. Sign up to be a poll worker.
Might not even call it. One way or another, I get the impression he doesn’t give a shit.
They are betting on there being no midterms, or provoking a 9/11 type attack and rallying support before then.
For any attack against the US, the Donvict is at the top of my list of suspects responsible at this point. It's the new meaning of 'America First.'
Many people are underestimating how much red and purple states are going to suppress blue votes. This is without the SAVE act suppressing an unprecedented net amount of democratic votes.
Previously we were looking at a base 3 point advantage for republicans…people got used to that. It’s estimated Trumpism expanded that to about 5% the last election…going forward it could be 8 or above. The Democrats will never will again if the save act passes. It’s just numbers.
The SAVE act is too much of a wild card variable to accurately predict, too wide reaching with too much general fuckery. Most Republican fuckery requires precision so as to prevent back firing, slow well tested and generally easy to control. This is the equivalent of calling an arty bombardment on yourself, sure you may just kill your enemies or you just blow yourself up.
Wouldn't factor too much of it before it passes, which I suspect it never will simply because the Republicans with brain cells probably want it to stay in limbo. It's basically a no lose situation for them if it stays just a bill they support openly even if backrooms deals have effectively killed it.
I've heard a lot of people talking about how the SAVE Act may actually hurt more Republican voters, as they're significantly less likely to have a passport vs Democratic voters
This absolutely does not make it ok
Remember the pandemic, he sucks at handling a crisis and can only succeed if dems shoot themselves in the foot and put an unpopular candidate.
At this point, I'm not sure the dems have any feet left.
If there was another pandemic right now trump would deny its existence and even more millions of Wankees would die. And they’d die for him and for “freedumb” - willingly.
she's a woman, that's what made her unpopular
it wasn't a bad decision, she's still the most qualified candidate
but americans showed what they want and they will live with it
Run a progressive woman like AOC and if she loses I'll concede it's misogyny. Until then I'm putting the blame on the shitty platforms these centrist women keep running on.
That's incorrect. The Dems first ran the sitting President who vowed that he would not run a second time and waffled about for an extended period before saying he was running, and then waffled about some more before dropping out due to the extremely tepid voter opinion on his running and the Dems declaring that they weren't going to hold a primary and appointed Kamala as the candidate.
She was already a contested candidate with very mixed opinions on her track record, plus general discontent with the party leadership, and that was before the Democrats gagged her and her running mate when they found the most effective political campaign move they could ever possibly use against Republicans when they called them "weird," and then the Dems shot the campaign's legs off when they started dragging around conservatives to speak at campaign rallies. In places where they had people like Cheney speak, the Dems dropped a full 3-5% in the polls afterwards compared to before the campaign speeches.
Kamala herself definitely played a part in it, as did sexism, but truthfully the Democrats, like with Hillary, looked a gift horse in the mouth and started sifting through the pile of horse shit behind it for "moderate conservatives." I bet if they had run a candidate like AOC and, you know, actually appealed to their base instead of avoiding talking about the things that their voters cared about, things would've been rather different. But they'll never willingly run an actual progressive, so we'll never know.
americans elected a convicted rapist, it's a fact
hate her or the dems all you want, any real democracy would've chosen her
your hate is an emotion, it doesn't affect reality
You have to keep in the front of your mind the fact that he's a strong narcissist. Things like truth and reality don't matter, and the only thing that's kind of true to him is whatever he believes, and that's what he believes right now, and that's that he's the best, and everyone loves him except for crazy people.
So in answer to your question, no, he is not trying to lose because in his brain he isn't losing and he couldn't possibly lose.
Strong narcissist is a severe understatement. He doesn't think other people are capable of agency at all. Which is why he's constantly flying off the handle any time someone breaths in his direction
Then we need a new word, because narcissist is the closest we've got. I think he's just such a distilled pure case that it seems different when it's just the prime example.
What about "Trump Derangengement Syndrome" ? defined as "being as deranged as Donald".
To me the real TDS has always been looking at him and thinking he's a good smart strong "leader". That's the actual derangement at play imo, and it includes Trump looking at himself.
Extreme solopsist?
I think it takes a narcissistic personality to consider solipsism with regards to one's own behavior and moral standards. ie I think solipsism is a symptom or narcissism.
Does Trump plan on leaving the White House at the end of his term?
Remember, last time he said no.
Remember when all the "Never Trump" Republicans broke rank and joined Democrats to certify the election results in 2021? People forget about the MAGA Republican insurrection attempt, maybe because it was right before the MAGA Chud insurrection attempt.
So... about former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and the rest of the neocon Republicans... where are they now? I understand they're not exactly in a position to uphold our democracy, now.
Is he planning to end his term before his health declines? Doubt it.
Doesn’t matter the damage would take a generation to fix and the heritage foundation has solidified 3/4 of its plan. The other elephant in the room is that the fascist terrorist state of Israel fully owns both parties so unless we start arresting these politicians for treason we’ll continue to be occupied by a genocidal state. This is the part where I get yelled at because vote blue no matter who which I have done my entire life and I’m pretty old and things continue to get worse. Also, candidates like Newsom are also neoliberal Israeli first fascists so there’s that too.
fuken newsom. we better not or it’s dunzo
Not Newsome, or MAGA will be back in 4 years.
Like everyone is saying, no need to try to win if you just cheat.
No need to try to win if you just annihilate humanity so that you will have been the last president ever
Trump doing more for dems than what dems are currently doing for themselves lol.
I already can't wait for this community to flood my inbox about Newsom in 2028, and then cry when he inevitably loses to a revived zombie hitler in 2030.
He will try his hardest to cheat, but he is also pissing a lot of people off.
Now if the Stop All Voters Equality bill passes, then it's possible we could lose tens of millions of votes due to more election rigging by Republicans, but even then it may not be enough.
It's looking like a realignment
Probably bored of unlimited power and is tired of being around the other miserable fucks in his cabinet.
I cant imagine a hell worse than the personal life trump has created for himself.
Shitting yourself through a presidency you are completely incapable of managing. Surrounding yourself with the most evil people on the planet. Everyone hating your guts and the people who dont hate you are mentally challenged. Then living with the fact that the thin veneer of your legacy is all undone the second the world sees the mandated documents you signed the law to release.
Trump might nuke us all to hell but only because he lives his own personal hell every time he looks in the mirror to slop orange gook on his face like the fucking clown he is.
But yeah, when hes not using his fortune to fuck kids he gets to eat big macs on air force one.
Yeah and the sad/hilarious thing about it is that he doesn't even enjoy rich guy shit . He doesn't appreciate good food, which is why he eats McDs instead of $1000/oz caviar. He's traveled but I'm sure he just sits in hotels--can you imagine him appreciating being in a new place and just taking in the surroundings, or enjoying nature somewhere? He's not having amazing new experiences skiing in the Alps or skydiving or anything.
Other than covering everything he can with gold and I guess being a guest on some luxury yachts, he could have had everything he's ever cared about on a working stiff's salary. The only real thing his wealth ever did for him was allow him to put up buildings with his name on it. Was that worth never having a real relationship or someone loving you (other than maybe with Epstein), never having a single accomplishment, and having everyone except delusional cultists detest your entire existence?
The only thing that makes him happy when he travels is when he sees hotels, golf courses, etc. all emblazoned with the name Trump. He’s such a narcissist that he simply can’t enjoy something that doesn’t shout “Trump” in the most garish way possible.
That would require a level of self-awareness greater than any that Trump has ever shown.
I'd put my money on incompetence, dementia and hubris.
No, Trump plans on attempting to cancel the midterm elections.
I'm real tired of hearing this line at this point. States run the elections, and even if he were able to get past that, republicans are on the same ballot and are also retiring in huge numbers. They need the elections to happen, they're going to happen.
Now, you could argue that the elections won't be free elections, and that would make more sense. Even shitholes like Russia have ""elections"", but of course the result is predetermined. Nonetheless, Russia has ""elections"". That's not even getting into how the US has never cancelled an election, not even in the civil war.
Saying he's trying to cancel the election just makes people who are considering to vote to change something for once less likely to do so, because why would they if they're going to be cancelled anyway. You shouldn't do the job of voter suppression for the GOP.
Regardless of all of that logic you just unleashed, he's still going to try & red states like Florida are going to help him by passing their own version of the SAVE act.
It's already happening.
I don't deny that he'll try, but them passing laws like the SAVE act show that they're still planning on having elections. There would be no need to do voter suppression if you were just going to cancel the election. That's the thing I'm really saying - the elections may not be free, they will cheat (or at least try to cheat), but there will be ""elections"". I'd rather not make people feel like they shouldn't bother voting because "the election is going to be cancelled anyway". The more people that turn out, the harder it is to cheat.
No, he won't try to "cancel" the elections. First he's trying to rig them through gerrymandering and voters suppression.
If that's not enough, he'll make crazy claims of frauds at different places, and will try to reverse some results.
But I can guarantee you that if none of that work, you'll have a showdown. He knows well what awaits him would the GOP lose and he's getting impeached. He won't accept the results.
Just note that he's currently using the war to kick out generals he deems not loyal enough.
According to the constitution. The same constitution that says that Trump was not elegible to run for President in 2024, because Trump had engaged in an insurrection. The same constitutions that says Trump can't receive emoluments. In states truly ran the elections, then they would have been able to remove Trump from the ballot in 2024. SCROTUS barred them.
It has already been demonstrated that to the Republicans currently controlling the levers of power in the US, notable SCROTUS, the Constitution is just a meaningless piece of paper.
Did you miss the "and even if he were able to get past that" part? You know, the rest of my comment?
He can't, elections are done by the states, including Republican states. They want their elections, too. If he tried to suspend elections, very few states would go along with it. Maybe Florida, they're all MAGA anyway.
He's finding other ways, a mix of strategies.
Who's going to stop him, and how?
If he says that elections are cancelled, states like California, New York, Illinois, and others are going to ignore him, and have their elections anyway.
Then we can have the true Constitutional Crisis we've been threatening, when Mike Johnson refuses to recognize the new Congressional Rep's from those Blue states, especially if they are replacing MAGAs.
Regardless of all of that logic you just unleashed, he's still going to try & red states like Florida are going to help him by passing their own version of the SAVE act.
It's already happening.
Florida has been totally rigged for decades, they're already in the bag. He's concerned about the Blue states, which are going to get Bluer, but also flips in Red states.
Trump's time on the stage is waning, and the MAGAs know it. They are looking forward to a MAGA without Trump. Killing elections is not just about suppressing the Democrats, it's also about keeping any potential rivals at bay. There are a lot of ambitious MAGAs looking to move up, and they need elections to do that.
Look at Texas. They have a LOT of ambitious MAGAs who are trying to get to the national stage. They aren't going to let a demented lame duck loser get in the way. They want elections as much as the Dems do.
Florida isn't "in the bag" In the past month there was a 30 point flip in the district that Mar-a-lago resides and another 17 point flip in another formerly red district. I'm worried that this won't be allowed to play out across the state due to voter suppression in the midterms.
I'll admit, I was shocked by that, but another Dem on the heavily MAGA state legislature doesn't pose any threat. But statewide elections, Governor, Senators, etc. are rigged. A Dem will NEVER win one.
I fear the republican states are already cheating. The only one that has balked at the newest round of changes so far has been Idaho that I've heard about.
States are gerrymandered to hell and run by nihilists, when the president tells them to rig their elections they will, even as they ostensibly run them.
It's too late, 2024 was the time to stop them. We can't stop them with the opposition leaders we have. Get new ones or enjoy republicans with absolute power.
No, he’s trying to end the midterms.
I like that someone edited this manga to later post on 4chan only for you to eventually upload it here. Maga really can't stop winning can they? Like we told them what would happen but their hatred said otherwise. Now we are forced to deal with the consequences.
Yeah, I think he is. I think he's doing the most outrageous things possible to rile people up, so when they react he he can then declare Martial Law and cancel the election.
What is the GOP going to do about the record amount of retirements and empty seats if they cancel the elections?
They need the elections as much as the Dems. It's a matter of how free the elections will be. They will happen, but will they be predetermined like in Russia, or will they be the US standard level of BS?
If he goes full authoritarian (which he's trying to) he won't need the elections. He or his stooges would just place sycophants into those empty spots. Given the way he's angling to rig the elections, and the lack of resistance to that so far, he definitely doesn't need the elections as we know them now.
That's the thing some people aren't getting: we keep thinking he needs to operate within the checks and balances of the current system. But he doesn't need to if nobody has the will or the ability to enforce them. At that point the constraints of the current system mean nothing.
I didn't say he operates within the checks and balances of the system. Those seats will be filled one way or another, meaning that there will likely be elections of some sort. It's just predetermined, like Russia. That is more plausible than fully cancelling the elections under martial law. Why do that when you can keep up the ruse of ""elections""? Why would you forcibly cancel them, making it so people directly see that you're doing so, and give them the chance to rise up against you?
Similarly, why bother with voter suppression bills like the SAVE act if you're going to throw it all in the trash anyway?
This is exactly why Russia and countries like it still hold ""elections"". It's easier to control the population when they feel like they still have a say.
The Democrats look more and more like a controlled opposition party every day. Likely he has nothing to fear from them, win or lose.
Fetterman, Chuck and Nancy sure but AOC, Sanders, Porter and Warren seem legit
I there's a pac money graphic for this somewhere
Warren threw the election to biden. There is not a single white populist in the democratic party, there is no hope.
And Democrats will find a way to lose again.
But ramming some annointed leader down our throats.
Well GOP have, in my lifetime, always screwed up the economy, piled up the debt and started wars leaving Democrats to attempt to pick up the pieces. That leads to GOP once again blaming Dems for everything and Americans believing them. Now many Americans believe Dems are just as bad even though often a Dem President doesn't have a Dem Congress or Senate so can't get much done. But it's never the voters fault that they are getting what they vote for or fail to vote against.
To win elections, you need a candidate who brings voters from their side. Trump brought the MAGA, an inconsistent alliance of all kind of deplorables. But they were all enthusiastic about him. Neither Clinton nor Harris had that, neither did Biden by the way. Their main platform was to be not Trump, and the rest was the status quo.
At some point, the Dems need a candidate that voters actually support rather than pick as the least bad choice. So what will it be this time? Yet another meh-candidate backed by the "good" oligarchs or a candidate people actually want in power?
You'd think running against a Russian agent, pedophile, rapist, thief, insurrectionist and an unapologetic fascist would be easy, but the Democrats will "Go High" and fuck it up again anyway.
Snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
the high road is a dead end road
The dems have never been on the high road.
They aren’t worried about elections because they believe the fix is in. Free and fair elections are over. Disenfranchisement, intimidation, backdoor access to vote tabulators, and straight up claiming fraud and refusing to swear in Dems that win are all part of the plan.
This is true, at least in the minds of the far reight. (spelled that way purposefully, not a typo)
he'll try and use the elections as a rally cry for a coup. Worked last time.
In the sense that it specifically didn't work.
Still scary with how far/close it got. Also the willingess of some of those that participated.
I'm still not clear what would have happened if rioters had actually beaten Congressional Reps to the door.
Let's say Mike Pence really did get lynched. And Nancy Pelosi had to watch her desk get crapped on. And then the capital building is surrounded by the DC police. And there's a high profile hostage crisis, while whomever did get out reconvenes to decide what to do next.
Does anyone believe Joe Biden doesn't still get sworn in?
This is the Presidency not a game of tag. Who is still going to take orders from a Trump admin on these terms? Everyone - Republicans included - wanted that asshole gone by the end of 2020.
And yet.... here he fucking is.
I didn't think J6 would happen, but it did. If more congressional republicans would've went along with the fake electors, then yes maybe. Some republicans may want him gone, but he still maintains a tight grip on their party. Kevin Mccarthy went to swear fealty to their dear leader only days after. The current one defers all powers to him.
The problem with American democracy is that half of your allies are just in line for your job. Especially in the Senate.
They weren't going along for the ride because they weren't interested in the destination.
I think the biggest problem is relying on "the norms".
A coup doesn't have to succeed in order to destroy a republic... All that has to happen is they aren't tried for high treason and hanged, and sooner or later the rules stop mattering.
Really....who is president and how many insurrectionists are in jail?
He's knows he's going to lose, so he wants it to be as messy as possible.
Actually that makes sense, the messier it is the more he can claim that cheating was involved. Interesting how the ICE playbook got it's big kickoff in California and now we have a sheriff seizing voter ballets there as well.
California sheriff running for governor seizes more than a half million ballots from 2025 election
Interesting tidbit from that article:
Then implement ranked-choice ballots you stupid bastards
When you've gerrymandered all the districts and you're threatening to federalize state elections? When Silicon Valley owns all the venues those oppo ads would run? When your response to every defeat is to deny it is happening and double down on the military?
I just don't think Scary Voice Ads during the Late Show With Not Steven Colbert Cause He's Fired are going to make a huge difference.
Like, I'm not a doomer. I don't think "Democracy is Over!" Because, if Trump had the means to make Democracy Go Away, he'd have done it during the 2025 gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia. But it's crazy to think Ad Buys are going to be what decide the next election cycle.
Maybe he knows the fix is in.
This is what I worry is the case. Either he is drinking his own kool-aid and doesn’t realize how unpopular these policies are, or he knows there will be no real election. Either scenario is very bad
We can assume there will be, at a minimum, highly visible armed ICE agents "guarding" the polling stations. This is why trump is trying to ban mail-in voting, so that only the "right voters" will make it inside.
We can also assume that will be supplemented with lawsuits, intimidation, reduced numbers (or none) of polling stations in risky areas, and extreme levels of gerrymandering.
Trump will declare himself the winner before the results are counted, and the paperwork to check that will all mysteriously disappear.
And the media will call it a "Miracle Red Wave."
You can't lose the midterm elections if the world ends before they start.
Putin's Orange Sock Puppet giftwrapped the USA to Russia and China. The Democrats that continue to fail to help the lower class, improve income distributions and ignore socialized medicine will continue to fuck the USA in a nicer way.
Sometimes I think his goal is to figure out what in the hell he has to do to finally get someone to stop him
I shall ascend my funeral pile triumphantly and exult in the agony of the torturing flames.
Or maybe he is actually Ozymandias all along, giving the world a villian to rally around.
He believes that he will be able to control Iran just as he controls Venezuela. Controlling Iran means controlling its oil and price.
He doesn’t care. He’s on his way out, ultimately he’ll burn the entire world just to get his way.
It doesn't matter, the damage is already done.
No, Trump is working on forcing somebody, anybody to "justify" either his invoking of the Insurrection Act, XOR invoking martial-law.
Try impeaching him?
That "justifies" the Insurrection Act.
Get violent against his ICE terrorism of your city?
That "justifies" martial-law.
He's BEGGING somebody to "justify" his total-dictatorship, & thus-far people aren't cooperating.
The problem is that he can't be impeached, now, because he'll just escalate & use that to "justify" his dictatorship: there's no check/balance left, really, only a wrestling-choreography that "delays" the inevitable, now.
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I don't disagree with your interpretation, but the problem with this mentality is everything you've suggested Trump is trying to incite is everything that could be done to resist his power. I worry that people who read this take walk away with the idea that the nation needs to focus on the ceiling scuff marks and choke back our bile, as opposed to fighting back against the rapists; which is Not the message I want people to have in their head.
I probably failed to include this, then.. ( in my Notifications, I don't see context )
The opposition that the left NEEDED to be doing, for the last-few-years, was:
BECAUSE establishment-class won't tolerate accountability against its kind .. and the Democrats who vote to prevent impeachment are proving this, in shovels-full.
Sorry I didn't include that alternative: I keep wrongly-assuming that things are obvious, when they obviously ( to others ) aren't obvious.
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Is that a logic gate? An OR is also quite likely.
True!
Also, his new "Counterterrorism" Strategy is likely to be gutting civilrights from the US soon, as well..
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He's going to hire some idiot to pull something like the guy with a taped on scope. Mmw.
I don’t think he has the popularity to succeed with this gambit
If US were unlucky enough to be in a war that is going so badly that Marshall law is needed...
Weird things going on with Iran threats. Maybe after 4 hour stone age bombing campaign, mission accomplished?
More likely, oil price will keep rising as SoH closed, and regional infrastructure closed. Ground troops could be a quagmire. The weird threat is that the US will put tolls on oil (too) from the region as an act of war against the world, and retaliation from world.
Protests in US lead to Marshall law. Just doing terrible in foreign policy/war can lead to Marshall law budgeting and preventative reactions to crazy budgeting.
Er..did you mean to say Martial law ?
sorry, yes.
And the dems will still lose because they're hopeless
My guess is the powered that holdings strings will sacrifice Trump if he loses the elections and bank on JD Vance staying in office with the rest of the corrupt cabinet.
Well, I'd say he is behaving exactly like someone whose goal is to ruin his country
You guys still dont realize there aren’t going to be any midterms
Even if, at this point the surprise would be an actual change in politics.
Yeah vote republican and really stick it to the Dems. Lmao.
Stupidest take of all time
Not what I said.
But in the end dems only hold the status quo until the next reps move in, so it's really just a matter of time, anyway. Voting dems feels like it should be helping, but it's not. It's a race to the bottom, and the choice is between fast descent and slow descent.
The system is working as intended. The first step to change it is accepting it's not working for the people, no matter what you vote.
Having said that, if confined to the system, the dems are obviously the sane choice.
The midterms won't change a thing. Trump will try and sabotage them, but let's not pretend he has anything to fear from the feckless Democrats.
He might get impeached again. Oh well.