AIBU To Be Horrified By Thought Of Trump As POTUS Again

[TheShellBeach]

I am terrified and shocked that Donald Trump (probably) intends to to run for president again in 2024.
He says he's about to make a statement on the subject in a few days' time.

Considering all he's done, I think he has a cheek even to consider being the Republican nominee. He had no idea how to run America and yet - he has a huge fan base, who don't seem to care about the insurrection he incited on January 6th 2021.

AIBU to wish he'd be indicted, convicted and imprisoned?

They talked about Fox's desertion of Trump on today's The Rest is Politics podcast. Interesting discussion about how the media can make or break a candidate.

Biden has a lot of faults, but he did the job he needed to do in 2020. It had to be a clear enough win for even opportunistic Republicans to understand there was no point trying anything Florida 2000 style, that their best interests lay in admitting defeat and keeping clean hands. There wasn't any other Democrat available who could've done that two years ago. I agree though, not an ideal or inspiring situation.

Yes this is a very interesting angle

I’m thrilled - not because I like Trump but I can see him running as an independent if he doesn’t get the Republican nomination. And I think he probably won’t get the nomination- it will be DeSantis I think. If trump runs, he’ll split the republican votes which gives the democrat nominee a much better chance.

That's a valid point @DevilinaCardigan. Trump is narcissistic enough to just run anyway, though would be want to bank-roll a Presidential campaign himself?

From what I can see the Trump campaign spent $1.91 BILLION in the 2020 campaign and most of that will have been from Republican coffers. If he runs as an independent he'll need to either fundraise heavily or pay out of his own pocket.

www.npr.org/2020/05/20/858347477/money-tracker-how-much-trump-and-biden-have-raised-in-the-2020-election

All the money has moved to De Santis, I wouldn't worry. Trump isn't coming back

I am though continually amazed about how much Trump still riles people. If you rationally look back, he didn't do anything terrible when he was president - his policies did no harm. His demeanor, yes, but actual impact on anyone's lives (particularly if you live here), there really wasn't any was there?

No impact on people's lives?? Policies that did no harm?? Come on! Stacking the Supreme court with right wing Judges leading to the overturning of Roe v Wade; his inept handling of Covid (yes, our response was also far from perfect); the scrapping of numerous environmental regulations, etc.

www.pewresearch.org/2021/01/29/how-america-changed-during-donald-trumps-presidency/

Given that he's never accepted Biden's win then he's currently halfway through his second term anyway 😂

Oh calm down. He won’t get it. Just enjoy the sideshow. The democrats are a mess right now. Biden is an embarrassment. I definitely think he Republicans will win in 2024, but not with Trump.

Covid is a weak argument

Roe v Wade is not his fault

Environmental policies - I dunno, but I'm guessing a lot of people in the UK would be happy to have had a similar approach to his 'America First Energy Plan' so arguably a good policy

At least DeSantis is a politician - worked his way up through the ranks and is young.

Biden is looking old - the Democrats need to be careful with this one as I am not sure that an 86 year old is up for job. They need to be careful because a young vibrant Republican candidate could make all the difference.

And I am not sure what effect Trump as an Independent would have - the States that are likely to show support are so Red it probably doesnt matter. The swing states however wouldnt necessarily vote for him

Trump is so jealous of De Santis, it's hilarious.

But he mostly didn’t handle covid; that was up to the individual states who set their own policies. Other than spunking billions of tax dollars on the making mRNA vaccines through operation warp speed.
During his presidency, unemployment was low, especially for black people, gas and food prices were much lower, and America was energy independent (or working that way). China wasn’t fucking with Taiwan and Russia was leaving Ukraine alone, and for once America wasn’t bombing its way through the world map. He is intensely unlikeable and very thin-skinned personally, and his appearance is a joke, but overall his presidency was more successful than Biden’s.

I could not care less

In fact he was right about China!¬

Can you explain why Covid is a week argument and how he didn’t affect Roe v Wade?
And pulling out of the Paris climate agreement affected all of us.

Trump attempted to steal the 2020 presidential election. It wasn't for want of trying that he failed. If he'd have succeeded, there's no way that wouldn't have had a detrimental impact on us in the UK.

Of course he did some positive things too, he didn't start any wars for example.

I honestly think Biden is worse than Trump.

He is a very ill man, can hardly remember where he is, what he is saying. It's unfortunate, but that is more dangerous than Trump - literally anything could come out of his mouth. And Harris, Christ on a Bike, she is unbearable.

De Santis is pretty good, although I do get a bit perturbed by his macho entourage at press conferences - it's maybe a USA thing but imagine Rishi rocking up to the podium surrounded by a load of heavies

You cannot change it so dont worry

I voted for Biden in the democratic primary last time out not because he was my favourite candidate but because I thought he was the democrat most likely to beat Trump.
He didn’t excite or offend. No one was going to vote against which made it a straight yes or no to Trump.

I would feel the same this time the Democrats need someone competent who doesn’t repel voters and let reproductive rights, democracy and Trump be the issues.

Every country fucked up Covid - Trump did the same as almost every leader around the world. Nothing notably different

Trump may have claimed personal credit for Roe vs Wade, saying it was his “great honour” to have made it possible. But he has always lacked any strong religious or moral convictions about abortion or anything else. It's just his narcissism claiming he played a role in it. He couldn't care less.

On the Paris agreement, it's a tough one because arguably many voters in the UK would support his America First policy particuarly when faced with the energy costs we now have. My point overall is that people seem unable to see the wood for the trees with Trump, he most definitely was not the monster, policy wise, that people seem to assume he was. Yes, personally he is a narcissist for sure, but he is not the end of the world, there are many narcissists in positions of power. I rather liked he made friends with Kim Jong-un for example.

I’d just be happy if they can elect someone who doesn’t have a creepy history around women and girls, actually has a background in politics and still has all their faculties remaining.

Covid is interesting as all the talk I’ve heard is of DeSantis building on the benefit of keeping Florida more open.

He seems very politician ready, good credentials etc and youthful of up against Biden.

Yes, he appears to have done. The US had a much more polarised response than we did here, so people had a choice in a way they didn't in the UK. There are some states like New York and California that went completely batshit at times and I think Florida built on that. There are people who moved there due to covid restrictions.

He does also appear to have benefitted from not being a Trump candidate too. They did really badly outside of safe seats last week.

It is very entertaining in a grim way, yes. Do you think Trump's 'play' could be that he knows they'll pick De Santis and then he (Trump) can forever say, 'they shoulda picked me, I'd have won, I'd have won better, I'd have built another wall, I'd have kicked men outa women's sports, I'd have controlled inflation, my family's beautifuler, piece of ass, piece of ass, I'd have been the better guy'?

Although I had hoped he might be in jail by now. Oh well.

I see Ivanka has had enough of justifying the humumgous consultancy fees for ten second phone calls to the Trump Empire and being sniggered at by G7 leaders.

Nah, I don't think he's that sophisticated. I think it was a waaaaah. Which isn't to say that he won't behave like that if and when they do pick De Santis.