He thinks the people would revolt
Trump told Reuters yesterday that it’s all fine, it’s all legal, it’s nothing, it’s peanuts, oh look a squirrel.
“It’s hard to impeach somebody who hasn’t done anything wrong and who’s created the greatest economy in the history of our country,” Trump told Reuters in an Oval Office interview.
“I’m not concerned, no. I think that the people would revolt if that happened,” he said.
Nope. Some of “the base” might, but “the people” no. Most of us hate him and hate being under the thumb of a criminal.
“Michael Cohen is a lawyer. I assume he would know what he’s doing,” Trump said when asked if he had discussed campaign finance laws with Cohen.
“Number one, it wasn’t a campaign contribution. If it were, it’s only civil, and even if it’s only civil, there was no violation based on what we did. OK?”
Asked about prosecutors’ assertions that a number of people who had worked for him met or had business dealings with Russians before and during his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump said: “The stuff you’re talking about is peanut stuff.”
He then sought to turn the subject to his 2016 Democratic opponent.
“I haven’t heard this, but I can only tell you this: Hillary Clinton – her husband got money, she got money, she paid money, why doesn’t somebody talk about that?” Trump said.
And what about the Lindbergh baby? And that guy who shot Lincoln? And Guy Fawkes? Why doesn’t somebody talk about that?
Jennifer Rubin is not impressed.
We have gone from “hoax” and “witch hunt” to “Well, tax fraud, lying to the FBI and campaign violations are penny ante stuff.” That’s essentially President Trump’s newest line of defense: He and others didn’t break the law. But if they did, it’s no big deal.
Plus Hillary Clinton and Guy Fawkes.
What makes Trump’s blithe dismissal of felony crimes doubly horrifying is as chief executive Trump took an oath to “execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States” not to “execute the Office of President of the United States — except when it comes to ‘peanut stuff.’”
Trump’s party is no better. When Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) says he doesn’t care if Trump broke the law, it’s time to question whether he or any other Republican congressional apologists for Trump, who took an oath as well, is fit for office. (This is the same crowd who wants to lock up migrants for the misdemeanor of entering the country illegally. Silly them — if only they’d obstructed justice or committed some “peanut stuff,” they’d be in fine shape.)
Orrin Hatch doesn’t care if the president committed crimes. Funny world we’re in, isn’t it.
Trump’s declaration that “the people would revolt” if he were impeached, if not an implicit threat to stage a civil uprising, represents a perfect distillation of his authoritarian outlook. Ultimately, nothing matters in his mind because he controls the streets. If he sounds like thuggish autocrats like Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey or Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, you can understand why he embraces such characters. He is one of them.
We can be sure it is a threat – he’s telling us he’ll call on “the people” to stage a coup for him. Yay populism.
Hasn’t Trump always thought that the people are revolting? Also
is the most ham-fisted way of saying “I’m about to tell you some made-up shit” I have ever seen.
(If you’re one of those people who feels it’s unethical to diagnose public figures with mental health issues then stop reading.)
It’s seems almost certain to me that Orrin Hatch is suffering from some form of dementia, as he’s been saying a lot of really goofy, out of character stuff the last few years. He always seemed to value decency, and yet he’s full of gushing praise for Trump and outlandish defenses of his behavior. He’s seemed pretty confused in hearings as well.
It just seems like something’s not right with him. He’s 85 and retiring in January, so he or his family likely know it as well.
So, in a nutshell, I personally wouldn’t spend too much time on what he’s saying at this point.
Because having a senior Senator behaving despicably, because dementia, is no biggy provided they retire several years after they start behaving despicably?
Well, this “to the best of my ability” thing is a problem innit? If that’s the oath Trump took, and his abilities are limited to cheating, lying, stealing and bullying, he’s doing exactly what he promised to do. How foolish of us to imagine we could hold him to a standard that we would expect of a president. Or just any normal human being.
Since the only requirements of president are that he (and I use that advisedly, since our president has never been a she) be at least 35 years old and born in the US, yeah, it’s a huge problem.
We wouldn’t accept such qualifications for a doctor, lawyer, teacher, nurse, or any other profession that holds a lot of responsibility. I am constantly being charged to demonstrate success, to provide evidence of learning on the parts of my students – accountability. Presidents? No required qualifications outside of age and nativity. These days, of course, rich has become a key requirement, so we get a steady succession of millionaires, many with inherited wealth who never really even worked to earn their money, but believe somehow that being handed a potful of gold is the same as doing the hard work to find the end of the rainbow, fight the leprechaun guarding the gold, and struggle back to civilization carrying a heavy pot filled with a heavy metal substance. (Obama was in good shape financially, but at least he fought the leprechaun to get there).
How can Hatch be ‘out of character’ when he has none?
#6: Ba-dum tshh.
iknklast, re. ‘(and I use that advisedly, since our president has never been a she)’.
There you go again, assuming gender ;-)
As was obvious to anyone who’s been paying attention since Bush the Lesser’s misbegotten reign, Republicans rule as though divinely mandated despite (or, rather, because) their having failed to secure a mandate, and they gin up their supporters to revolt whenever they don’t get their way.
People have already forgotten that Obama faced two organized, armed revolts during his tenure, instigated by the Bundy clan (klan?) and inspiring thousands of their fellow rubenicks to join them in spirit, and dozens in person. These revolts amounted to an insurrection that hasn’t been properly dealt with, especially given the wisdom of the juries involved.
The next Democratic administration, even (or especially) if elected by a historic majority and run by a member of a historic *minority*, is certain to see another armed revolt that will very likely evolve into an insurrection. Republicans have stoked the flames of it for my entire lifetime, and now that their avatar is a living wheel of melted cheddar who says all the quiet parts out loud, there will be nothing to stop him from making good on his threat.
It doesn’t take a majority to revolt and destroy a society, Ophelia. It just takes a few percent, and a leader willing and eager to inspire them. I daresay they have the numbers to do a great deal of physical and political damage, when their tangerine generalissimo gives them the watchword.
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Ophelia, thank you for the clean-up.