Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Donald has barricaded himself in the WH and we have Georgia on our minds. (Trump thread #113)

999 replies

TheNorthWestPawsage · 11/11/2020 09:31

Will Donald pardon the turkeys or will the turkeys pardon Donald?

Previous thread:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4072846-He-can-thcream-and-thcream-until-he-s-sick-but-the-US-has-taken-its-future-back-Trump-thread-112?watched=1&msgid=101645744#101645744

OP posts:
Thread gallery
38
maggiethecat · 11/11/2020 12:34

Difficulty is that they are dealing with a 2 yo, even if they think they've struck a deal with him he could have a wobbly (another one) the next day.
Wondering which he'd rather - the GOP or the Dems eating shit at the hands of his base?

nauticant · 11/11/2020 12:35

Much as I'd like to see Trump go bankrupt, the financial numbers don't support it:

www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2020/10/16/donald-trump-has-at-least-1-billion-in-debt-more-than-twice-the-amount-he-suggested/

He's got much higher debt than he's admitted to but seemingly not enough to bankrupt him.

BruceAndNosh · 11/11/2020 12:36

Off at a tangent, just thought I'd share one my favourite descriptions of Mitch McConnell
Courtesy of Stephen Colbert.
"A five pound face in a three pound mask"

JesusInTheCabbageVan · 11/11/2020 12:37

@BoreOfWhabylon

Thanks NorthWest

I agree with Echo that he will never openly acknowledge defeat but will eventually slide out the back door.

Like the greasy turd he is (apologies for lowering the tone - couldn't resist).
maggiethecat · 11/11/2020 12:39

🤣
Not sure how that five pound face in a three pound mask looks itself in the mirror everyday. Maybe in a very uptight way!

BruceAndNosh · 11/11/2020 12:40

@nauticant

Much as I'd like to see Trump go bankrupt, the financial numbers don't support it:

www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2020/10/16/donald-trump-has-at-least-1-billion-in-debt-more-than-twice-the-amount-he-suggested/

He's got much higher debt than he's admitted to but seemingly not enough to bankrupt him.

Part of Trump's problem going forward is that his Brand is irretrievably tarnished. His golf courses are a big vanity project and don't make much money. His hotels have been bolstered by Trump Inc being able to charge the administration for their use. You can be sure that Biden won't want to use them!
Lweji · 11/11/2020 12:44

@maggiethecat

The GOP are trying to work out some deal with him to shore up his base support for the Georgia runoffs. Question is how long and how far they'll let him carry on with his antics with the risk of serious civil unrest. I don't think they really care about anything else other than retaining the senate tbh.
It may well backfire, though.
pinkearedcow · 11/11/2020 12:50

Hello there, I wondered if someone could explain more about the possibility that has been mentioned about "electors not voting the way their state did?" I know this is unlikely, but I don't quite understand who the "electors" are? Do they vote on behalf of the whole state (apologies for my ignorance)?

Thanks!

Lweji · 11/11/2020 12:58

It is important to note, as Trump did Thursday night, that he also has significant assets. Forbes values them at $3.66 billion, enough to make his net worth an estimated $2.5 billion. He is not broke, despite what many critics claim.

If they are actually worth that.
Trump is known to inflate worth for publicity purposes.

2bazookas · 11/11/2020 13:00

@Zebracat

I feel very worried that all these defence sackings are preparatory to a coup. I know the military serve the country but it’s all so batshit. Surely what is going on is treason?
Trump has a long history of sacking anyone who questions him, challenges him with facts or refuses to support his lies.. Many Republicans are challenging and questioning his behaviour during the election. They have good reason to do so, and I'm sure the WH staff will be rapidly dwindling ( some jumping from the sinking ship, and others being sacked for daring to hint he has lost the election).
Apileofballyhoo · 11/11/2020 13:01

@HoneysuckIejasmine

Rousette that antichrist article was illuminating. Might forward it to some family members...
Entertainingly horrific.
JamieLeeCurtains · 11/11/2020 13:10

So I'm thinking about pros and cons.

Cons:
There's a madman in the Whitehouse.
There are enablers there too, plus Mitch in the Senate, with their eyes on the Georgia prize.

Pros:
There are also Republicans like Mitt Romney who despise Trump.
Fox is turning against Trump.
And the whole 2016 faithless elector 'movement' was about trying to stop a man deemed unfit for office - Trump - becoming President.
The US military are no friends to Trump and his shenanigans. They are loyal to their country. See the integrity shining out of Lt Col Alexander Vindman, for example. The oath of enlistment puts loyalty to the constitution ahead of obeying the (real) President.

And Biden is keeping his cool, looking the part.

Lweji · 11/11/2020 13:14

Looking great.

Donald has barricaded himself in the WH and we have Georgia on our minds. (Trump thread #113)
OohThatCat · 11/11/2020 13:18

@Echobelly

One one level, I think Trump hates being President - he hates the meetings, the briefings which bore him and he doesn't understand, and he hates that, unlike being a business boss, you can't just order things and get them done because there are Processes outside of him. OTOH, he loves being called 'Mr President', he loves being the Most Important Person in The World. So he's fighting hard to keep that, and also because he knows he'll likely be arrested and bankrupted the minute he's not President. Agree *@2beesornot2beesthatisthehoney* - he's probably considering where he and his money can bolt to. But again, he may risk staying to continue getting the 'adoration' from his fan base.
Absolutely this. He only wanted to be president because it's a high ticket bucket list item for a rich old white dude to tick off. He doesn't actually give a shit about any of his presidency - just likes the fact he's achieved his goal, likes being the ultimate Mr Important. If there was a President of the World, that would be his next aim.

He has no idea how to actually run a country.

He'll likely have one long mantrum right up until the time he has to leave, then do a flounce, and spend the next 4 years publicly bitching about everything Biden does. Hopefully he'll flounce straight into all his impending lawsuits and jail.

boatyardblues · 11/11/2020 13:19

Reporting in.

I was wondering at what point this stops being Trump ### and becomes a Biden thread or even a general US politics one. It will be fascinating to keep track of the situation in the US to see how institutions and norms are rebuild after the Trump administration’s wrecking ball approach. Are we talking 20 Jan or sooner?

Roussette · 11/11/2020 13:21

@HoneysuckIejasmine yes, I thought so too. It was gobsmacking for me.

I'm just going to link it again as it was on the previous thread and some posters might've missed it

www.benjaminlcorey.com/could-american-evangelicals-spot-the-antichrist-heres-the-biblical-predictions/

52andblue · 11/11/2020 13:31

I also echo @Echobelly

Trumps problem was always that he loved the adulation but hated the work. Much like a certain someone this side of the pond ...

TheNorthWestPawsage · 11/11/2020 13:33

Trump will not/cannot change the electoral college. He will leave the WH on Jan 20th. If the presidency is not formally resolved then Pelosi becomes acting President on Jan 20th.

On Dec 14th the electoral college votes will be cast and Biden will be declared President Elect. THE GOP KNOW THIS. The rest is just theatre from the GOP.

From Washington Post:
To summarize: Six pre-election and seven post-election lawsuits by the Trump camp have all been tossed out. They are, as President-elect Joe Biden’s deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield said, “noise.” Campaign counsel Bob Bauer cautioned that what is going on is “theatrics, not lawsuits.” Judges have described claims that the mail-in ballot system is rife with fraud as “fiction" or entirely based on speculation. None of the allegations about excluded poll watchers have been supported by facts. None of the social media memes about changed ballots or other shenanigans have stood up in court.
Interestingly, Trump’s lawyers refuse to say before a real judge that they have found fraud or other reasons to overturn results. (Keep in mind that, since 2000, only a few thousand votes have ever been changed by virtue of a statewide recount.)
Clearly, the plot to “steal” an election exists only in Trump’s twisted mind. There is no “there” there. But what is going on is something equally sinister: Trump is receiving support from a range of Republican figures, including Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who says congratulations to Biden are premature; a flock of members of Congress from Georgia, who baselessly attack their state’s Republican secretary of state and inexplicably claim their own election victories valid while Biden’s is fraudulent; Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who declares the transition will be to a “second Trump administration”; and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who perpetuates the fiction that the outcome is in dispute. The aim is not to steal an election, but to sow doubt about the legitimacy of our democracy — just as the Russians intend. These Republicans aim to keep their base in a constant state of anger and crazed denial. Right-wing media fan the flames; right-wing social media groups pour gasoline on the fire.

It is no consolation, indeed it is worse, that McConnell and the rest almost certainly know Trump’s claims are a joke and incapable of overturning an election. They apparently are willing to damage democracy and further divide the country so as to cast the lawful winner as an illegitimate president and avoid Trump’s wrath.
...
The good news is that voters are not falling for it, according to a Reuters-Ipsos poll conducted after the race was called on Saturday reports. Reuters reports: “Nearly 80% of Americans, including more than half of Republicans, recognize President-elect Joe Biden as the winner of the Nov. 3 election after most media organizations called the race for the Democrat based on his leads in critical battleground states.” The bad news is that Republicans are hoodwinking 20 percent of voters, many of whom seem to be confused about the results: “13% said the election has not yet been decided, 3% said Trump won and 5% said they do not know.”

OP posts:
PerkingFaintly · 11/11/2020 13:35

BrewBrew and more Brew.

We'll need it.

Thank you for fabulously titled new thread, and for fabulous other title suggestion which we must use next time.

Jaichangecentfoisdenom · 11/11/2020 13:39

Hello, and thank you for the new thread @TheNorthWestPawsage. I have the BBC on my mind but haven't caught up with the last thread, so apologies if there was the same link on it.
This is an interesting analysis of the BBC's famed "balance" as applied to Trump, and how wrong it has been. Love the example of CNBC which just switched him off the other night and said, effectively, he's off his trolley and talking rubbish, just ignore him!
bylinetimes.com/2020/11/10/us-election-2020-the-power-of-populist-lies-and-the-bbcs-failure-to-expose-them/?fbclid=IwAR1vaXyimS6If725laigdFOtVJBPBPInexQUIG8H53m1zNfH9Q0qwAypsdY
I also think this began when the BBC allowed Farage to take over its airwaves in 2015 and 2016, before the referendum, when he was constantly allowed to put his Brexit point of view totally unchallenged and unquestioned by BBC staff or anybody from the "Remain" side.
I'm biding with Biden, I have every hope he will effect a smooth transition and by January 21st, we'll be saying "Trump? Who's Trump?!"

PerkingFaintly · 11/11/2020 13:41

He only wanted to be president because it's a high ticket bucket list item for a rich old white dude to tick off

Oh god, this.^

It's basically what Chris Wylie said about Alexander Nix and his Cambridge Analytica pals: that they were so immensely rich and privileged that taking over countries just for fun was just their next piece of entertainment.

BruceAndNosh · 11/11/2020 13:42

I read a summary of the SCOTUS deliberations yesterday on ACA.
Can't pretend to have understood half of it, but did get the impression that it's not going to be the automatic slam dunk complete dismantling of Obamacare that Trump was planning. It's by no means safe, but I'm sure he was hoping that the first day was going to be "why are we trump appointees even discussing this? Chuck it in the bin"

pinkearedcow · 11/11/2020 13:43

Thank you maggiethecat