Oh yeah this is the man they want to be president.

"Today, I add: I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed: I am your retribution,” Trump said.

‘I am your retribution’: Trump rules supreme at CPAC as he relaunches bid for White House

https://www.yahoo.com/news/am-retribution-trump-rules-supreme-015230799.html


But Trump is right. That's all treasonous conservatives/America Hating/Republicans really want. Not the United States of America. Just retribution’

 

Oh yeah this is the man treasonous conservative/America Hating/Republicans want for their authoritarian dictator to take their retribution on real Americans.


Trump has entered his fat Elvis stage: MSNBC host

Sarah K. Burris
March 07, 2023



Photo: Roxanne Cooper/MidJourney


Filling in for Lawrence O'Donnell on Monday, Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart discussed Donald Trump's speech at CPAC over the weekend that pledged, "I am your retribution."

"The crowd cheered, even if he wasn't playing to a full house," Capehart mocked of the small crowd size at the conference. "Retributions against whom, exactly? Voters who rejected the Trump brand of democratic values and hand-picked candidates? The lawmakers to impeach him twice? The federal and state prosecutors overseeing many investigations into Donald Trump? But even as Donald Trump enters his 'fat Elvis' stage, it's imperative to take his threat to democracy seriously. It's still not clear who's gonna stand up to him in a Republican primary."

He went on to say that it certainly won't be Fox, because the conservative network is "afraid of Trump."

"And not just Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson, but even Bret Baier, not the host of a primetime opinion show, but a Fox 6 p.m. show which runs opposite of nightly news shows," he continued.

Former conservative Jennifer Rubin joined the discussion calling it another example of a wannabe dictator.

"This is once more the quiet part out loud. This is Donald Trump acting like a tin pot dictator aspires to be," she began. "This is a sort of stuff that guys in funny uniforms with lots of phony medals on them say to their supporters. And it's a way of enlivening them. It's a way of combatting democratic institutions. It's a way of putting everyone on notice, and it's a direct attack on the rule of law, unlimited government, on the Constitution itself. So, the only thing that is different this time around is, as you point out the audience was pretty puny. And secondly, that he actually said it, rather than simply imply it."

See the conversation below or at the link here:



https://www.rawstory.com/fat-elvis-trump/

 

Wrong thread, wrong time, wrong topic.
Carry on.

 

He can't Carry on, he's not smart enough to Carry on.

 

Trump indictment? Possibility throws wrench into campaign plans
by Brett Samuels - 03/11/23 6:00 AM ET

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Greg Nash
Former President Trump leaves the stage during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md., on Saturday, March 4, 2023.
Former President Trump is reportedly on the brink of facing charges related to a hush money payment during the 2016 campaign, throwing a wrench into the nascent 2024 GOP presidential primary.

Trump has already said in interviews that he plans to continue his campaign for the presidency even if he is indicted, and he was defiant in posts on Truth Social late Thursday that made clear he was undeterred by the latest specter of criminal charges.


But a possible indictment in New York would be another blow for Trump, whose extensive legal woes already has some Republican voters and leaders suggesting it may be time for the party to move on to a candidate with less baggage.

“Given all the unknowns right now, it’s far too early to know the political impact,” said Alex Conant, who worked on Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) 2016 campaign.

“That said, it’s hard to see how this is a positive for Trump,” added Conant, who now works with Firehouse Strategies. “At a minimum, it’s a distraction from the relatively well-disciplined campaign he’s run in recent weeks. It will remind a lot of voters about the chaos that they really disliked during his administration.”

The New York Times reported Thursday that the Manhattan district attorney’s office has signaled to Trump’s lawyers that he could appear before a grand jury next week, a strong indication that the former president could face criminal charges over a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet an alleged affair during the 2016 campaign.

A conviction would not be assured, but a decision to charge a former president and current candidate for president would be a significant step from district attorney Alvin Bragg.

Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels, and in a lengthy statement late Thursday denied any wrongdoing while casting the probe in Manhattan as the latest in a slew of politically motivated investigations into his conduct.


“This is a political Witch-Hunt, trying to take down the leading candidate, by far, in the Republican Party while at the same time also leading all Democrats in the polls, including Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,” Trump wrote.

“It is appalling that the Democrats would play this card and only means that they are certain that they cannot win at the voter booth, so they have to go to a tool that has never been used in such a way in our country, weaponized law enforcement,” Trump added.

The prospect of criminal charges is just the latest case of legal issues hovering over Trump and his 2024 bid, which some have speculated was launched last November in part to try and stave off an indictment.


The Fulton County District Attorney in Georgia is investigating whether Trump interfered in the 2020 election, and experts believe that probe could be the first one to bring charges against the former president. Portions of a grand jury report in that investigation were made public last month.

A Justice Department special counsel is simultaneously investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, including the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when pro-Trump rioters violently stormed the Capitol, as well as whether Trump mishandled classified documents after dozens of sensitive materials were found last year at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.

Trump and his team have been unflinching in arguing that the pileup of legal threats will only harden support among his most loyal backers, who represent enough of the Republican primary electorate that it could even be enough to win in a splintered field.


“It’s only going to embolden a lot of his supporters,” one Republican strategist said. “With a lot of Trump supporters, you’ve gone through the Russia hoax, you’ve gone through so many different impeachments, so when he is targeted like that it causes a lot of people to double down.”

Trump himself told reporters at the Conservative Political Action Conference earlier this month that he “won’t even think about leaving” the 2024 race if he’s indicted.

And national polls still largely show Trump garnering the most support among declared and potential 2024 presidential candidates, with only Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) coming close or surpassing him in some surveys.


But there are signs the party may look to move past Trump even if he won’t bow out himself.

Republican strategists have for months raised concerns that Trump may be the only GOP candidate who could lose to President Biden in a general election due to concerns about his conduct and character.

DeSantis has seen his star rise in the last few months since his resounding reelection victory in November, and he is making the rounds in early voting states as he moves closer to a 2024 campaign of his own.


Ken Cuccinelli, a former Trump administration official, launched an outside group to draft DeSantis into the 2024 race, and former Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.), who Trump backed for a 2018 Senate run, tweeted Friday in support of DeSantis launching a presidential bid.

A poll of Iowa voters released Friday underscored the party’s Trump problem at its core.

Freedom Caucus chair fires back at Biden: ‘Smear-and-fear campaign’ House GOP campaign arm launches new ad blasting Don Lemon’s ‘prime’ comments
The poll of 805 Iowans, including 257 self-identified Republicans, found 80 percent of them hold a mostly favorable or very favorable opinion of Trump, a higher rating than any other potential GOP presidential candidate. Seventy-five percent said they had a very or mostly favorable view of DeSantis.


But the poll also showed that Trump’s grip on the party may not be as iron-clad as it once was. Forty-seven percent of Iowa Republicans said they would definitely vote for Trump if he became the party’s presidential nominee, down from 69 percent in June 2021.

“Iowa is where the competition starts,” pollster J. Ann Selzer told The Des Moines Register of the data. “And someone who has already held the office and who won the state twice would be presumed to be the front-runner, and I don’t know that we can say that at this point.”



https://thehill.com/homenews/campai...ossibility-throws-wrench-into-campaign-plans/

 

Trump is a 'greater threat today' to the Republican Party if they don't give him what he wants

Tom Boggioni
March 14, 2023



Donald Trump (Photo via AFP)


With Gov. Ron DeSantis becoming a legitimate contender for the 2024 Republican Party presidential nomination, there is a growing concern that Donald Trump could run as a third-party candidate if only to exact revenge on the party for rejecting him.

In his column for the Wall Street Journal, former George W. Bush speechwriter William McGurn claimed that the former president is both the leading contender for the nomination and a dark cloud looming over the future of the GOP if he doesn't get what he wants.

Noting that Trump in 2016 refused to make a pledge to not run as a third party candidate, now, after two bruising elections -- one of which he lost -- the possibility that he will leave the party and then challenge the eventual GOP and Democratic nominees is growing.

As McGurn put it, the former president is "a greater threat today. And it speaks to the unique challenge faced by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2024."

"Not only does Mr. DeSantis have to beat Mr. Trump in the primaries, he has to do it in a way that won’t provoke the former president into stalking off and running as a third-party candidate in the general election," he wrote before adding, "Mr. Trump faces no such inhibition. He’s already launched a few broadsides in the governor’s direction and tried out some nicknames, although none have stuck. Mr. Trump remains the man to beat, but at the moment Mr. DeSantis appears the Republican likeliest to beat him."

According to the conservative columnist, Republican Party officials recognize the risk and are treading carefully and will have to come face to face with his leaving if he struggles in the early primaries.

Then they will face two prospects, both of which would be crippling to GOP hopes in 2024.

"The longer he stays in, of course, the harder it would be to get on state ballots as a third party. But if defeating Mr. DeSantis became his real aim, he might not even need a third party. He could simply discourage his supporters from voting for Mr. DeSantis, forcing the governor to have to run against Messrs. Trump and Biden at the same time," he wrote before posing the question: "Will Donald Trump try to ensure that no Republican wins the White House if the party doesn’t nominate him?”

You can read more here.



https://www.rawstory.com/trump-threatens-gop/

 

Wow.
Rent free.
Tax free.

 

OH JUST FUCKING ROFLCOPTERS ​

Trump or anyone who supports him trying to accuse someone else of being unethical.



Donald Trump allies file ethics complaint against GOP rival Ron DeSantis

366
David Jackson, USA TODAY
Wed, March 15, 2023 at 10:05 AM MDT


WASHINGTON – Allies of Donald Trump fired the latest political attack on Ron DeSantis on Wednesday, saying they would file an ethics complaint claiming that the Florida governor is using his office to mount a "shadow presidential campaign."

DeSantis' activity – including travel to primary states, a book deal and meetings with potential donors and campaign staff – "violates state and federal campaign finance laws," said the draft of the complaint addressed to the Florida Commission on Ethics and provided by Make America Great Again, Inc., a political action committee that backs Trump.

DeSantis Communications Director Taryn Fenske said in a statement on the complaint: “Adding this to the list of frivolous and politically motivated attacks. It’s inappropriate to use state ethics complaints for partisan purposes.”


https://www.yahoo.com/news/donald-trump-allies-file-ethics-155634996.html

 

Time's up: Election officials order Trump to stop stalling and file his financial disclosures

Matthew Chapman

Dave Levinthal, Editor-in-Chief
March 16, 2023



Truth Social/Rumble



Former President Donald Trump is violating a federal financial disclosure law, and the Federal Election Commission is telling him to comply immediately — or face financial penalties, according to a letter obtained by Raw Story.

Trump had previously applied for, and received, two extensions on the filing deadline as he runs for president ahead of the 2024 election. Then, in a letter dated March 15, Trump lawyer Derek H. Ross asked for an additional 30-day extension for Trump, citing "complexities of his financial holdings."

But the FEC denied his most recent request, saying he had reached the maximum of 90 days allowed under law.

"As no further extension of time is available, Mr. Trump’s deadline for filing his personal financial disclosure report remains March 15, 2023," acting FEC general counsel Lisa Stevenson wrote back to Ross on March 16. "Under section 104(d) of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, as amended, '[a]ny individual who files a report required to be filed under this title more than 30 days after [the due date, as extended] shall … pay a filing fee of $200.'"

Trump's financial disclosure, required of all presidential candidates, would reveal information about his income, assets, debts and royalties.

Trump routinely filed personal financial disclosures on time as a presidential candidate and as president. Such personal financial disclosure documents materially differ from Trump's tax returns — the subject of significant legal and political drama regarding Trump — in that they generally contain less information.

"This looks like a continuation of a pattern of disregard for both the informal norms and formal rules around government ethics and the broader expectations we have for political leaders and elected officials," said Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, government affairs manager at the D.C.-based nonprofit watchdog organization Project on Government Oversight.

RELATED NEWS: From Marjorie Taylor Greene to Ro Khanna: Several members of Congress could personally profit from Biden-backed fossil fuel drilling project in Alaska

The problem, said Hedtler Gaudette, is that the penalty of $200 is useless as a deterrent.

"As is true in other contexts, like the STOCK Act, when consequences are virtually nonexistent and punishment is nominal at best, the deterrent effect of these kinds of rules is minimal," he said. "A law without teeth to enforce it is an exercise in futility in most cases, even if we should be able to trust elected officials and political candidates to abide by them out of respect and propriety."

Paying a small federal fine is probably the least of Trump's current legal worries, at present.

The former president faces numerous points of legal peril, including potential prosecution in New York related to hush-money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

Officials in Georgia are also investigating Trump for his role in meddling with the results of the 2020 election. Meanwhile in Washington, D.C., special counsel Jack Smith is investigating whether Trump illegally retained sensitive government documents after leaving the White House — and then stifled government efforts to take them back.

Trump has maintained he's innocent.

https://www.rawstory.com/raw-investigates/trump-finances/

 

I believe this is true.


WATCH: Mary Trump Says Uncle Donald Trump ‘Could Run From Prison’ And Win GOP Nomination
By Tommy ChristopherMar 18th, 2023, 3:15 pm
711 comments



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Ex-presidential niece Mary Trump said former President Donald Trump “could run for the nomination from prison and still get it.”

Trump touched off a firestorm Saturday morning with a pair of all-caps social media posts that culminated in a call to unrest. In his posts Trump urged supporters to ‘TAKE OUR NATION BACK!’ in an early-morning all-caps rant over reports he claims say he ” WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK.”

Trump appeared to be reacting to reports that various law enforcement agencies are meeting next week with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office to prepare for a possible indictment and arrest of Trump in Bragg’s case against Trump over hush money payments to Stormy Daniels.


But before Trump kicked off all that speculation, his niece predicted he could win a GOP primary from a jail cell. On the most recent edition of The Mary Trump Show podcast, Ms. Trump — a strident Trump critic — answered a question from a viewer who asked “Should we be happy the Republicans are leaning towards a losing and compromised candidate?”:

The base certainly doesn’t see him as compromised and as a loser. Right? In fact, you know, because it’s taken so long for him to be indicted, which is to say because he hasn’t been indicted yet. You know, think about that.

We are over two years out from January 6. The first that we are over two years, almost two and a half years out from the election interference in Georgia. And it’s not alleged because I heard the audiotape. Okay. I don’t even know how many years are we, years we are out from the financial sorry, the elections fraud he committed by writing Stormy Daniels $130,000 check. That might be the first thing he gets indicted for.

So it’s been such a long time that even if he is indicted, I think a lot of people on the left are going to be like, “Yeah, well, that took too long. And now he’s never going to get prosecuted. Or even if he gets prosecuted, he’s never going to get punished.”

And people on the right. I think it just strengthens him with his base. I think, you know, he would, he would ru, he could run for the nomination from prison and still get it, right? So he will run on on his indictments. He will fundraise off of his indictments. It will prove what a martyr he is to the cause. It will prove how what a witch hunt it is. It will prove all of the false narratives he’s been telling about himself since he was friggin two years old. So now I don’t I don’t think we should be happy about anything having to do with the Republican Party and whoever their presidential candidate ends up being.

Watch above via The Mary Trump Show.

https://www.mediaite.com/news/watch...could-run-from-prison-and-win-gop-nomination/

 

Mary, Mary ....................
Ah! Isn't she the disgruntled Trump family member no Trump will talk to, you know, ever since she sued demanding that she get a bigger cut of the family fortunes than she'd agreed to earlier?

You know, the Trump that lost in court?

Why sure, if I was a pundit I'd hang my hat on every word she breathed.

 

It looks like if going to be lots of fun and very classy.


Trump Goes Scorched Earth on DeSantis, Raises Questions About His Sexuality and Peddles Groomer Smear
By Ken MeyerMar 20th, 2023, 2:33 pm
7324 comments





AP Photos

Former President Donald Trump went scorched earth on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis after he weighed in on his potential indictment in the Stormy Daniels case brought by prosecutors in New York.

Trump, in a post on Truth Social, raised questions about DeSantis’s sexuality and once again peddled his groomer smear against the Florida Republican who is seen as a potential presidential candidate in 2024.

“Ron DeSanctimonious will probably find out about FALSE ACCUSATIONS & FAKE STORIES sometime in the future, as he gets older, wiser, and better known, when he’s unfairly and illegally attacked by a woman, even classmates that are “underage” (or possibly a man!),” Trump seethed. ‘I’m sure he will want to fight these misfits just like I do!”


Trump also included a picture from an article suggesting the worst about DeSantis’s conduct with “underage” young people.

Trump’s scorched earth remarks came hours after DeSantis made snide comments about the former president while addressing the possibility Trump will be indicted this week over the Stormy Daniels hush money scandal.

“I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star or to secure silence over some time of alleged affair. I just – I can’t speak to that,” DeSantis told reporters on Monday. “But what I can speak is that you have a prosecutor who is ignoring crimes happening every single day in his jurisdiction and he chooses to go back many, many years ago to try to use something about porn star hush money payments. You know, that’s an example of pursuing a political agenda.”

DeSantis has not yet declared whether he will run for president in 2024, though he is often considered the most formidable challenger Trump would face in a Republican primary. Trump has been attacking DeSantis on a regular basis, though the feud has been mostly one-sided as the governor has tried to avoid hitting back at Trump directly.


Trump’s latest post comes a month after he posted the same picture as part of a meme depicting DeSantis getting drunk and partying around with students back when he was a high school teacher. At the time, DeSantis responded to that by saying “I don’t spend my time trying to smear other Republicans.”

https://www.mediaite.com/trump/trum...bout-his-sexuality-and-peddles-groomer-smear/

 

NEW POLL: Trump CRUSHES DeSantis By More Than Double — But They Both Lose to Biden
By Tommy ChristopherMar 21st, 2023, 1:45 pm
1382 comments





Former President Donald Trump crushes Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) by more than double in a new poll — but both men lose to President Joe Biden in head-to-head matchups, albeit narrowly.

While DeSantis has yet to announce his presidential run formally, Trump has been training his fire on DeSantis for months as the Florida governor cemented his status as the only candidate in the GOP field with any shot at contending with Trump.


But after some gains in the fall and early winter, DeSantis has been getting dominated by Trump in more recent polls, including Morning Consult’s GOP primary tracker — which now shows Trump more than doubling DeSantis at 54 percent to just 26 percent for DeSantis.

Among the “Key Takeaways” from Morning Consult’s Eli Yokley is the fact that DeSantis ties his lowest level of support since the poll began in December, and some bad news for former VP Mike

Trump Continues to Lead DeSantis: As Trump awaits potential indictment on charges related to a 2016 hush money scheme with adult-film star Stormy Daniels, he has posted one of his largest polling leads in the 2024 Republican primary. The latest survey shows 54% of potential primary voters support the former president, compared with 26% who are backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, tying his expected opponent’s lowest level of support since tracking began in December.

…

Pence’s Popularity Takes Hit: Former Vice President Mike Pence’s favorability rating among potential primary voters declined from 60% to 55% during a week that featured news coverage of his condemnation of Trump’s behavior surrounding the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. Over the same time period, the share who said they’d recently heard something negative about Pence, who is polling at 7% in the nominating race, increased from 15% to 24%.

The poll also shows DeSantis and Trump losing to Biden, which Yokley notes continues a negative trend for the Florida governor:

A hypothetical head-to-head matchup shows Biden with a 3-percentage-point lead over Trump and a 2-point lead over DeSantis. Since early this month, DeSantis has held no advantage over Biden, a contrast with prior surveys conducted since December that would from time to time give the Floridian a modest lead.

The poll was taken March 17-19, which partially encompasses the time since Trump began to rally supporters to protest his reportedly impending arrest with social media posts urging them to ‘TAKE OUR NATION BACK!’ in an early-morning all-caps rant over reports he claims say he ” WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK.”.

https://www.mediaite.com/news/new-p...more-than-double-but-they-both-lose-to-biden/

 

The old "Ragin' Cajun" has been right more often than any other political pundit I have ever seen. In fact I was recently sure he was going to be wrong when months before the midterms and miles ahead of anyone else James Carville said "Listen here their ain't going to be no damn Red Wave and the Republicans might not even be able to take back the House." Everyone else was predicting the opposite and Carville was mocked for everything from drunk to crazy. And me made fools of all of them. So I am pretty sure he's right here again.


‘Trump Hit Him in the Mouth and He Lost His Plan’: Carville Says DeSantis Crumbling Under Ex-President’s Blistering Attacks
By Michael LucianoMar 23rd, 2023, 9:46 pm
1169 comments





Democratic strategist James Carville weighed in on the rising tensions between former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Trump is running for the 2024 GOP nomination, and DeSantis is seen as a likely challenger. The former president has repeatedly lashed out at DeSantis for not ruling out a run after Trump endorsed him for governor in 2018.

DeSantis has largely ignored Trump’s broadsides as the former president has surged in the polls in recent weeks. If DeSantis does declare his candidacy, he is going to have to take on the de facto leader of his party directly.


On Thursday’s edition of MSNBC’s The Beat, Carville quoted former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson to explain DeSantis’s situation:

DeSantis proves the wisdom of Mike Tyson. Everybody’s got a plan until you hit him in the mouth. That guy, he doesn’t know whether to wind his rear or scratch his watch. And he tried to play in the league that he can’t play in, and that’s pretty evident. I mean, he’s a confused guy and, you know, Trump hit him in the mouth and he lost his plan. He just went totally off-key. So, my hat’s off to Iron Mike.

Host Ari Melber responded by understating his guest’s response. Search ads

“It sounds like you’re not impressed that DeSantis is really up there the way he’s been built up and we haven’t seen him in national settings and long-form interviews and debates,” he said.

DeSantis is taking flak from MAGA world, which views him as insufficiently loyal to the man they say launched him into the spotlight in 2018 after serving as a backbencher in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Watch above via MSNBC.


https://www.mediaite.com/politics/t...bling-under-ex-presidents-blistering-attacks/

 

Wait till they turn on Nikki Haley.
Hell hath no fury ................

Bet she doesn't make the mistake of attacking despicable voters with slurs and insults.
Or trying to win the white house on her knees.

 

Trump campaign says that anyone who works for DeSantis will be blacklisted from ever getting a job with him, report says

Trump campaign says that anyone who works for DeSantis will be blacklisted from ever getting a job with him, report says
125
Alia Shoaib
Sat, March 25, 2023 at 8:14 AM MDT

• 
  Donald's Trump campaign plans to blacklist anyone who works for Ron DeSantis' book tour or presidential campaign.
  
  
• During his presidency Trump was known to put candidates through loyalty tests.
  
  
• DeSantis is Trump's fiercest political rival, but polls show the former president surging ahead.
  

Donald's Trump campaign plans to blacklist anyone who works on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' book tour or for his possible presidential campaign, a report says.

Sources told RealClearPolitics that Justin Caporale, a member of Trump's advance team, has said that any individuals who worked with DeSantis on his recent book tour will be considered "persona non grata."

"It's a time for choosing," a source close to the former president told the outlet. "If you work for Ron DeSantis' presidential race, you will not work for the Trump campaign or in the Trump White House."

- ADVERTISEMENT -

During his presidency, Trump was known for demanding loyalty in those that work for him, often putting candidates through loyalty tests that caused hiring issues.

While DeSantis is yet to formally declare, he has emerged as Trump's most formidable political rival.

The former president has regularly criticized DeSantis for being an "average" governor and has derisively nicknamed him "Ron DeSanctimonious."

Trump has repeatedly claimed that DeSantis owes Trump his political career, citing an endorsement that helped him become governor in 2018. He said it would be "disloyal" for DeSantis to run against him.

DeSantis has long avoided rebuking Trump directly, preferring to make subtle digs while presenting himself as taking the high road.

In a recent interview with Piers Morgan, DeSantis was his most critical of Trump yet, criticizing his leadership style and taking a jab at the "daily drama" of the Trump administration.

Although DeSantis has at times overtaken Trump in the polls, recent polling has shown Trump surging ahead, despite a looming possible indictment from a New York grand jury.

In recent days both Trump and DeSantis have ruled out the possibility of DeSantis ever being Trump's running mate.

Read the original article on Business Insider



https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-campaign-says-anyone-works-141424476.html

 

Opinion
Trump’s kickoff rally speech in Waco: half whining victim, half pompous overpromising | Opinion

2.4k
Nicole Russell
Sat, March 25, 2023 at 7:18 PM MDT




If the crowd in Waco on a warm Saturday is any indication of Donald Trump’s remaining popularity among Texas Republicans, it will be difficult for any other presidential contender to best him. And yet in his speech, Trump vacillated between victor and victim.

At once, Trump voiced suspicions of our nation’s election system and repeatedly cast doubt on it while also claiming that he would lead the entire GOP to smashing wins.

Thousands of Texans, and some surely from outside the state, too, waited in long lines and thorough security checks to see the former president speak at the first large rally of his 2024 campaign. Attendees parked more than a mile away and walked to the Waco Regional Airport, the rally site. At least a dozen vendors were scattered through the area, offering T-shirts, hats and flags with slogans such as “FREE TRUMP” and “[EXPLETIVE] BIDEN.”


“It’s great to be back in this beautiful state with thousands of patriots,” Trump said when he finally landed via helicopter to cheers and the Lee Greenwood song “God Bless the USA.”


In his signature speech style, rambling and at times disjointed, Trump told some of his most ardent followers something they already firmly believe: how awful life has been during the Biden administration.

“We’ve been fighting for seven years,” Trump said in a speech that stretched to an hour and a half. “We’ve been standing up to the Marxists, the socialists, the stupid warmongers … the fake news media. … They don’t want to tell the truth, that’s why they’re going down the tubes.”

Trump slammed Joe Biden’s administration as “one of those depraved” chapters in American history.

“Straight out of Stalinist Russia horror show,” he said. “A banana republic, that’s what we’ve become,” Trump said. But he vowed: “When this election is over, I will be the president of the United States [and] you will be vindicated and proud.”


Statements like this are an example of the dichotomy Trump lays out for his voters: In Trump’s vision, America is awful and elections are rigged, and only he can save America, even as he’s persecuted with investigations.

One would think hard-working, responsible, logical Americans are beyond such repeated assaults on the country they reside in and love is flawed without Trump, especially since this was his line when he ran before.

And is anyone who isn’t already in love with Trump convinced by a vision of total disaster now and utopia if we just re-elect him?

Trump called 2024 “the final battle.”

“Our enemies are desperate to stop us because they know we are the only ones who can stop them,” he said. “There’s never been a movement like this in the history of the U.S,. or, probably, in the history of the world.”

Trump couldn’t help but ruminate for a long stretch on the 2020 election “We won the most counties in the United States, in the history of our country,” he said, as if counties, not people, cast votes.

“We had a rigged election. We have a rigged system,” he said, despite courts rejecting every claim he made about fraud or abuse in 2020.

Trump didn’t specify why he chose Waco for his first big campaign stop. But Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick — Trump’s campaign chief for the state — said he had recommended Waco or another city, which Patrick didn’t identify, as areas where Trump won big.

“I told Dan, ‘You know, Dan, let’s not do one of those 50/50 areas,” Trump said. “Let’s go where we’re close to 100%.”

Not quite. Trump won Waco’s McLennan County, 61% to 38% for Biden. And he took just 52% of the state’s overall votes, a low for the Republican nominee in recent decades.

Toward the end of his speech, Trump applauded several Texas Republican supporters, including Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton, and U.S. Reps. Ronny Jackson and Wesley Hunt. He also mentioned Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller.

“By the way, these are all people who have endorsed me,” he said, adding that he wouldn’t acknowledge anyone who hadn’t.

Perhaps Trump started in Texas because its Republicans are so fervently for him, at least in places such as Waco. But he didn’t exactly win Texas in a landslide, either, so maybe he realizes there’s work to be done as well.

In either case, this is certain: Trump remains the most polarizing candidate, offering wild swings of vision. Like Trump’s personal life, his political slogans are extremes: selfish and selfless, hopeful and helpless, awful and great.

“In 2024 we’re going to have the greatest victory of them all,” he said. “Either the deep state destroys America, or we destroy the deep state.”

Here we go again.


https://www.yahoo.com/news/alvin-bragg-rips-house-gop-053654701.html

 

Trump Ignores Deadline for Personal Financial Disclosure to FEC

83
Shane Goldmacher
Tue, April 11, 2023 at 5:54 AM MDT



Former President Donald Trump speaks at his Mar-a-Lago estate hours after being arraigned in New York City, in Palm Beach, Fla., April 4, 2023. (Todd Heisler/The New York Times)

Former President Donald Trump has a minor addition to his mounting pile of legal challenges after he failed to meet the deadline to disclose his personal financial holdings.

But the threatened initial penalty — a meager $200 — is the latest sign of how weak federal enforcement of campaign laws has become.

The personal financial disclosure will eventually provide the first look at Trump’s postpresidential businesses, including his holdings in Truth Social, a social media company he helped to create.



“President Trump has significant financial holdings, and we have advised the Federal Election Commission that additional time is needed to file his financial disclosure report,” Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump, said in a statement.



Trump was warned that the fee could be imposed if he does not file within 30 days of the March 16 deadline, which is later this week, in a letter from the FEC’s acting general counsel that denied his request for a third extension last month.

Meredith McGehee, a longtime campaign watchdog, said, “It’s very clear that former President Trump doesn’t feel the law applies to him and has spent much of his career hiring legal representation to delay and distract. This is in line with his general approach.”

She added that the lack of teeth on the disclosure law highlighted the weak position of federal enforcement.

“They kind of wag their finger,” she said. “‘No, we really, really mean it’ — and then generally nothing happens.”

But his other legal problems are far greater: His recent indictment in a hush-money case made him the first former U.S. president to face criminal charges, and he is facing three other investigations.

Trump’s financial disclosures were closely tracked during his first White House run and his presidency, as they provided notable insights about the effect that holding office had on his wealth, even as income and assets were reported only in wide ranges.

The disclosures, for instance, showed how the pandemic affected his luxury hospitality businesses and brought to light gifts that he received.

The disclosure law is part of corruption-fighting efforts that date to the Watergate era.

Other politicians have sought to delay and game the disclosure requirements. Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York City, notably announced his presidential campaign in November 2019 and then dropped out — after making two extension requests to which he was legally entitled — before the disclosure requirement kicked in.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-ignores-deadline-personal-financial-115441063.html