Category: politics

“How can any meeting between Trump and Harris be a ‘debate’ if Trump has already made clear that he rejects the foundations of the American system of government?”

That’s a quote from a recent Atlantic post from Tom Nichols, and it gets to the absurdity of the debate for me. The policies of either candidate are secondary if one of the candidates doesn’t respect the rule of law, the Constitution or even facts. Briefly touching on the latter to go into the former seems wrong to me. Doing so implies that a candidate that rejects key beliefs and norms for a liberal democracy is a viable candidate. Maybe it’s just me, but I think that’s absurd, and the press sending this is message is a major failing on their part.

Trump and Republicans Supporting Him are on Russia’s Side

Blocking aide to Ukraine. And comments like this (which is consistent with previous comments Trump has made about NATO). Someone said that if a Democrat said this prior to 2016, Republicans (and conservative) media would be castigating this person, calling them a traitor.

Not only are Trump and his Republican supporters aiding Russia, they’re aiding authoritarian rulers in countries like China, Iran, North Korea.

Trump Thwarting Bi-partisan Senate Deal on the Border

The U.S. Senate was real close to a deal on the border and also funding for Ukraine and Israel. A few days ago I read that Senator McConnell said that this deal would be better than if the Republicans controlled Congress and the White House. Democrats want funding for Ukraine so much they haven’t included a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers.

But McConnell and Romney say that Trump is pressuring Republican senators not to accept the current bipartisan deal. Romney says that Trump does want Biden to get a political victory with this deal–even though it would help address a problem many Republicans say is critical. Listen to Romney’s comments:

A Message to Trump Supporters I’ve Been Waiting to Hear

I’ve been waiting for a prominent public figure to reach out to Trump supporters–particularly those who feel anxious and angry by the social and cultural changed around them–in a way that expressed sympathy for their feelings, but also encouraged them to work through these feelings. I haven’t heard this message from any political leader, on either side of the aisle, or a prominent public figure. Until now. This message below from Arnold Schwarzenegger comes the closest. I hope other leaders deliver something similar.

This is How I Expected Republicans to Act, Part 2

I had an earlier thread on this topic, focusing on the Lincoln Project folks and other Never Trumpers. Recently, several prominent Republicans (besides Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger) and former Trump officials have publicly criticized Trump in a way that would be earth-shattering, prior to 2016. Some of these individuals deserve opprobrium for their actions in the Trump administration (e.g., Bill Barr), others enabled, at least tacitly, also deserve strong criticism (e.g., Chris Christie, and even Liz Cheney)–but their public comments now are really important for the country.

Perhaps some believe their comments are a too late and likely won’t have impact. I disagree. While the comments likely won’t change the minds of hardcore Trump supporters, I think it could significantly impact casual news consumers. If former, high-ranking Trump administration officials and prominent Republicans criticize Trump and call out his lies, that undermines narratives that erode the trust in our elections and the DOJ, FBI, and the mainstream press. I believe this will be sway these casual news consumers and inattentive voters–groups that I believe are a large majority of the voters.

In this thread, I’m going to try and post videos, articles, and statements by these Republicans speaking out against Trump.

Trump Indictment Thread

There is news that the Manhattan District Attorney may indict Trump next week for paying hush money to a porn star (who I assume is Stormy Daniels). Trump could be indicated and prosecuted for several other crimes–crimes related to election interference (in Georgia) and refusing to return classified information. And there may be more. This is a thread track all of this.

One recommendation: when following these stories, to decide if an indictment is political, ask yourself the following questions: If any president behaves in the similar way, what would and should the reaction be?

Continue reading “Trump Indictment Thread”