The Disunited States of Trump (Trump Thread #104)

[TheNorthWestPawsage]

Trump used manipulation and race-baiting four years ago. He’s at it again. We are weary and worried but we shall persist.

Cartoon by Chris Riddell.

Previous thread:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3983600-Less-than-100-days-and-counting-Trump-thread-103?msgid=99566209#99566209

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/28/will-the-new-york-times-taxes-report-sink-donald-trump

"The Times has promised more stories to come. They won’t shake the Trump faithful, but they might chip away at enough voters to make an important difference."

Meanwhile, I read an article yesterday about how much former Presidents have profited after leaving office.
What are the chances that Trump will be able to charge $100 000s for a speech or millions for a book deal to be able to pay his debts?

Foreign compromat is a real danger.

Heffalooomia
I'm reading that if the IRS investigation goes against him he could owe the American government $100 million

If that's true, will it come out of his estate (if any) if the case goes against him but he dies before it is completed? His lawyers will be at work to delay and delay.

Projecting then...

www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-obama-old-tax-tweet_n_5f715143c5b61af20e779df0

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
@BarackObama who wants to raise all our taxes, only pays 20.5% on $790k salary. 1.usa.gov/HFZJKH Do as I say not as I do.
7:19 PM · Apr 13, 2012

And now...

"Trump says he's 'strongly demanding' Biden is drug tested ahead of their first presidential debate"

www.businessinsider.com/trump-strongly-demanding-biden-drug-tested-2020-9

Oh dear.

This might explain Brad's Parscale meltdown and now suicide watch

www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/07/28/non-partisan-watchdog-accuses-trump-campaign-of-laundering-170-million/#1675a3396128

"The Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan campaign finance watchdog group, filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission Tuesday accusing the Trump campaign of “laundering” $170 million through numerous companies, some with connections to former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale."

Missed this yesterday: disunited indeed.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/26/proud-boys-rally-portland-oregon-kate-brown-ted-wheeler-trump

Could it be any more murky?

I wonder what Melania thinks. She didn't expect her husband to be brassic, that probably wasn't part of the deal

@BruceAndNosh

Trump's outfit for debate

As a diehard true blue Dodger fan, we wouldn't have him on a solid gold platter. And he wouldn't last a minute in LA.

Trump's 'true' base will never desert him. Nothing he could ever do will change them. No matter what heinous crime he committed or what proof there was, they would believe him when he told them it was all lies and fake news. Because what would become of them if they finally admitted that they've been duped? He's the Rev Moon of politics. Everything that's come out and will still come out, is to 'get' to the waverers, undecideds, and 'straight ticket' GOP voters.

I have no pity for Parscale. You lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.

Melania? I fully expect her to run for the hills (with Barron) as soon as Scrotus is out of office. I think she's smart enough to know that what she has to tell is worth millions. If she plays her cards right she'll be worth more than he is in a couple of years.

Not a lot of use negotiating a huge prenup (which we have gathered she did) if the mark is bankrupt when you divorce him.

If Melania has any sense, she'll have been squirrelling away an escape fund for years

@pinkbalconyrailing

$ 70.000 tax deductions for his hair!

To paraphrase Dolly Parton "it takes a lot of money to look this cheap"

Maybe they are gold threads.

www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54323654
The BBC has done a nice bullet-point list of the main points here.

• The president paid just $750 (£580) in federal income tax both in 2016, the year he ran for the US presidency, and in his first year in the White House

• He paid no such taxes in 11 of 18 years of tax records examined by the newspaper

• The president has managed to lower his taxes through reporting hefty losses on his businesses

• After the success of The Apprentice TV show he did initially pay significant taxes - $95m over 18 years. But he later got most of that back via a $72.9 million federal tax refund. The refund remains under review

• Mr Trump's daughter, Ivanka, has helped reduce the family's tax bill through large "consulting fees"

• He is personally responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in loans, most of which will come due in the next four years

• He has claimed tax deductions on expenses including $70,000 of hair styling for television

It won't make a difference to Trump hard liners, but it's the swing voters he needs, and I wonder how they'll feel about this.

I also enjoyed reading the comments on the main Fox News story about it last night.

The majority said 'But it would be so easy for him to prove them wrong - all he has to do is release his tax returns...'

Anyone else watching C4 news right now? Holy fucking shit - millions of black voters deliberately profiled and targeted to deter them from voting...

Here's a C4 news article on it

Aargh! I'm so busy at the moment I can't keep up... Lots of Trumpy links to read as well as catching up on tv. But the tax return stuff is just delicious!

A friend has just sent me this:

www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/09/24/supreme-courtreligious-beliefs-420863

It seems to me that there is a world of difference between not allowing Catholics to hold office, and requiring someone who is to hold office to reveal what previous commitments they may have made which might be incompatible with the proper fulfilment of that office.

If an oath to a religious organisation would take priority over an oath to uphold the constitution of the United States of America, then it definitely ought to be a question when there is reason to believe that a candidate for the office has taken such an oath. And we are not to be told what the oath was that this candidate has previously taken.

"The key point is this: The analogy drawn between members of new Catholic communities and other Catholics in public office is false. Amy Coney Barrett is not Catholic like John F. Kennedy was Catholic or Joe Biden or Paul Ryan or the late Antonin Scalia was Catholic. She has made solemn promises that go far beyond the baptismal promises every Catholic makes. Nor is Barrett like Robert Drinan, a Jesuit priest who served for many years in the U.S. House of Representatives. His vows of obedience as a Jesuit were open and public." Hers are secret, to an unaccountable organisation.

Isn't it just, North?

That C4 link.

www.channel4.com/news/revealed-trump-campaign-strategy-to-deter-millions-of-black-americans-from-voting-in-2016

Hers are secret, to an unaccountable organisation

And what I find gobsmacking is... this People of Praise cult like organisation has just 1,700 members.
Hardly mainstream?

More Brad -- the list is something that communicates a lot, maybe more than the figures alone.

www.businessinsider.com/trump-campaign-manager-parscales-companies-got-nearly-40-million-2020-5?r=US&IR=T

'Parscale has made some notable purchases, including a Ferarri, a Range Rover, a $400,000 boat, two million dollar condos and a $2.4 million waterfront house in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.'

Seen on Twitter.
I'm surprised they didn't give him a light sabre.

Thanks for the C4 link.

www.channel4.com/news/revealed-trump-campaign-strategy-to-deter-millions-of-black-americans-from-voting-in-2016

The ‘Deterrence’ project can be revealed after Channel 4 News obtained the database used by Trump’s digital campaign team – credited with helping deliver his shock victory to become president four years ago.

Vast in scale, it contains details on almost 200 million Americans, among more than 5,000 files, which together amass almost 5 terabytes of data – making it one of the biggest leaks in history.
[...]
In 16 key battleground states, millions of Americans were separated by an algorithm into one of eight categories, also described as ‘audiences’, so they could then be targeted with tailored ads on Facebook and other platforms.

One of the categories was named ‘Deterrence’, which was later described publicly by Trump’s chief data scientist as containing people that the campaign “hope don’t show up to vote”.

Analysis by Channel 4 News shows Black Americans – historically a community targeted with voter suppression tactics – were disproportionately marked ‘Deterrence’ by the 2016 campaign.