Trump says he'll be a dictator only 'on day one' if elected
Donald Trump has said that he will not become a dictator if he becomes US president again except "on day one", after warnings from Democrats and some Republicans that the US was in danger of becoming an autocracy if he wins the 2024 election. Fuck, well at least he's honest on this statement
if the US actually re elect him they're fucked
Yup, and Trump doesn't have a choice. It's looking more and more likely that he's going to lose a lot of money and potentially face jail time. His only way out is to seize power. Since he's backed himself into a corner, he'll try everything to steal the next election, including another coup attempt.
I don't personally think it'll work, but on the slim chance it does many of us will be facing an existential threat which will require swift action. He's already publicly stated that he sees leftists as vermin which need to be eradicated, and I, for one, don't want to give him the chance to act on that threat.
Yeah and Donnie’s definition of leftist is anyone that isn’t actively deep throating his boot
Of course he has a choice.
He can choose facing the consequences of his actions.
If that's unappealing, he can also choose to, let's say, "pull an Epstein".
Let's not give him the benefit of saying this is the only "strategy" he has left, because that implies you can't blame him for trying. Like any reasonable person in his position would do the same thing.
And that's complete nonsense. He's not an animal stuck in a bear trap, he's a human being, who has been very open about his penchant for fascism long before he was charged.
We're all fucked, not just the states
This is the “best” America can push forward, we are already fucked. We were fucked 24 years ago.
The right wing in America has been sliding further right for a long time, and tending to drag the left along with it. (Nobody is under the impression that the US "left" isn't actually center-right.) In the last decade, that rightward silde has accelerated. Trump, being the presumptive Republican nominee for president, is the "best" that the lunatic far right - not America - can push forward.
The Democratic party, representing the left center-right, is no longer allowing itself to be dragged further right. And there remains a fairly large proportion of people who still call themselves Republicans who oppose the burgeoning fascism. Those are the people who feel politically homeless right now; they just need someplace to go and someone to vote for. Liz Cheney is floating a third party run, and I think she's easily able to consolidate "sane conservative" support.
I was predicting that the Republican party would split back in 2015. I had no idea they would drag on like this for so long.
We were fucked 24 years ago.
Exactly: that's when the first coup (the Brooks Brothers Riot) succeeded.
Let's not demonize Trump man, he really brought what a lot of people thought would be a culture war into an economic war, which you may think is bad, but it's actually brought a more muted epiphany for many across both sides that for many people jobs are very important to their lives, unlike in EU where places like Scandinavia, Spain or Greece see culture wars as mud to be stepped on and brushed off but economic sanction is a more realistic declaration of conflict of interest
I don't think the American people would ever let a Dictator get that far. If Trump gets nominated by the GOP you'll see so much violence that by election day the entire course of history in the United States will be forever changed. I personally believe the GOP will not let him be nominated and will reject him. Trump will run third party and split the vote and give the Democrats a huge win.
I wish that were true, but I suspect that the American people have become too passive to resist a dictator. He won't take over by force, but cloaked in legitimacy, just like Hitler and Mussolini did. Heck, you don't even have to go back that far. That's Putin's playbook, too. A Republican President also has a Supreme Court that favors very strong presidential powers and a permanently divided and largely impotent Congress. No real resistance there.
So, what's left? The police? American police would love having more power under a dictator. The public hates cops these days, and a dictator would restore their "rightful place" as respected and feared enforcers who will "clean up the streets".
The military? Well, that's a wild card. They may not support a dictator, but they also don't want to start a civil war. I think a US dictator will give himself enough legal cover and legitimacy to convince the military to hang back from interfering in politics.
The most likely source of resistance is from individual states. However, I'm not sure what they can do, realistically. Secession would certainly start a civil war, which would play right into the dictator's hands, giving him the perfect excuse to suspend rights and use the military for domestic purposes.
They literally had the chance to stop him during his second impeachment after the attempted insurrection. Anyone who didn't do it then, sure as hell isn't going to do anything now.
The last thing the GOP wants to do is piss off his supporters right before the next presidential election. The electoral college could have ousted him during the 2016 election (as people had floated around) too. There's just not enough people are willing or have the desire to reject him. Many would love to have him as a dictator, they just need the right pieces in the SCOTUS to say it's in the constitution.
He's 100% going to be the nominee now. Even if he goes to jail, he's still going to be the nominee. The time for anything different is LONG past.
You can only become a dictator one time, after that you are a dictator.
So he'll only "become" a dictator on day one, the rest of his life hell just be a dictator.
And let's not entertain the fantasy that his heath will catch up to him sooner rather than later, remember he has access to better healthcare than 99% of the population and it's entirely state funded.
We'll be stuck with him for at least a decade, but I wonder who will inherit the throne when he's gone?
The golden one? Probably Eric. He seems like the type that would need a golden throne.
evil people tend to live longer too. it took kissinger a hundred years before he did anything decent with his life.
"It is with great reluctance that I have agreed to this calling. I love democracy. I love the Republic. Once this crisis has abated, I will lay down the powers you have given me!"
--Chancellor Palpatine
Has there ever been a dictator who relinquished power after "fixing" things? Yeah guys, I'm going to need some extra judicial powers and have the military become my personal army, but it's just temporary, I swear.
Yes, the original roman ones. This is the origin of the word. They were appointed for emergencies with a lot of power.
They all gave up their position after a while except for Caesar. When Caesar was appointed as a lifelong dictator, he was shortly after assassinated by most members of the senate. But the turmoil led to the Roman Empire not being "democratic" anyway.
Slight correction, he wasn't assassinated by most of the senate. There were about 60 conspirators out of 200-300, and only a dozen or so actually participated in the assassination (and only 5 actually confirmed to have stabbed him while still alive). Regardless, it's still true that they came to that conclusion after Caesar was declared dictator for life and started taking away senate power
Despite his relatively old age, [Cincinnatus] worked his own small farm until an invasion prompted his fellow citizens to call for his leadership. He came from his plough to assume complete control over the state but, upon achieving a swift victory in only 16 days, relinquished his power and its perquisites and returned to his farm.
The original office of dictator as defined in the Roman Republic was exactly that,
It was literally the office of "we have tried literally everything else and still have a problem, you there, you seem like a not idiot person, you can do basically anything you want for the next six months or until you solve the problem, after that we'll make cool statues of you if you do a good job."
I'm so happy that a fellow history nerd came here and said it before I could.
Honestly it’d probably work better than our current system.
Just give one random guy carte blanche to run everything. Get immortalized if you do a good job. Get executed if you don’t.
And I’m sure lots of people would take it up, and think that they’d do a good job. And more than likely, they wouldn’t.
I've heard the term 'benevolent dictator' before, but it might be philosophical. It doesn't seem to me that anyone capable of assuming the role could remain benevolent long.
In Roman times
Cincinnatus is always the classical example, as a senator who was named dictator twice and in both cases relinquished his power as soon as the crisis was resolved.
What’s less often mentioned is that the second “crisis” was just a prominent plebeian undermining the prestige of the Senate by providing cheap grain to the poor during a famine—Cincinnatus presided over the plebeian’s extrajudicial murder, and it’s that as much as his subsequent resignation that made him an eternal hero to the Senate.
George Washington
Washington was elected in 1788 and re-elected in 1792. However both were unanimous, unopposed, and done solely by the electoral college. Adams/Jefferson in 1796 was the first proper election, after Washington set the 2-term precedent and relinquished power. That precedent was maintained until FDR served four terms during the First World War sequel, which led to the drafting of the 22nd Amendment to the US constitution limiting presidents to two terms in 1947. It was ratified by 36 of the 48 states in 1951.
Also while trying to remember the dates I read Section IV of the 20th amendment. What the fuck is this word salad? Is this the original “Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like??”
The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.
Pakistan's Pervez Musharraf?
He was facing heavy domestic and international pressure as well as sanctions on the country. He didn’t do it out of honor.
Ah yes, the "just the tip" of fascism.
Lol and his fans are still totally fine with him saying dangerous crap like his. It's unbelievable.
That's because they like the idea of a Trump dictatorship. They simply assume they'd be on the side that's going to do the dictating.
Can't dictate from a burnt down house. Can't dictate with a bullet rattling around your head. I don't know about the rest of you'se, but I'm not going to be dictated by any rat fuck righties. They can have, and lose, their second civil war.
The scary thing is they literally don't even hear it. It doesn't get played on Fox News, and hearing it from any other source will make them prejudge it and ignore it as liberal propaganda.
You know your country is a failure when the perpetrator of a previous coup attempt is allowed to run for office again like nothing happened.
Can you use those 2A rights to defend against tyranny anytime soon or does that only cover school shootings and gang violence?
This is exactly what the Second is intended to take care of, but no part of the constitution will have any meaning if Trump installs himself as a dictator. Unfortunately the average right winger doesn't seem to understand that. This is literally the moment they have claimed to be waiting for but they're on the enemy's side. He's going to cancel their gun rights and they're going to cheer for it.
This is exactly what the Second is intended to take care of
Not it isn’t. The idea that the 2a is supposed to prevent government overreach is revisionist history.
The intention of the 2a was to make a standing federal army unnecessary. Madison didn’t want a federal army, but knew the nation would need some form of military, so he wrote militias into the constitution.
(He changed his tune when the War of 1812 showed him how necessary a true military was.)
It’s laughable to think that people in power wanted others to be able to overthrow them with guns. In fact, rebellions were attempted with guns in the years after the revolutionary war. And they were put down. Never did George Washington say, “Ah, these men with guns seem to think we are being tyrannical. We should reconsider.” No, he said, “Pay your fucking taxes.”
Slaps knee
Both sides, am I right? /s
He will be worse than last time.
Yeah the fact that he doesn't have a lawful reelection to consider is concerning. Also concerning when you think about the fact that he clearly thinks being the president shields him from a lot of legal ramifications.
So he doesn't have to temper his behavior to get reelected in any way. He has a shitload of grudges. Pursuing those grudges would likely be various shades of illegal. He thinks staying in office will protect him from the consequences of his actions. That is a recipe for a constitutional crisis if I ever saw one.
Just the tip, I swear I won't put it all the way in.
The guy who says he should be allowed to serve three terms because the Democrats supposedly obstructed his agenda? The guy who says we should re-do the 2020 election after losing? That's the guy you're going to trust to be a 1-day dictator, huh?
He'll only be a dictator for one day. In completely unrelated news, Dictator Trump has proclaimed that every day is his first day in office. Since his second day in office never officially arrives, he can remain a dictator and not have to worry about his term ending. /s
Remember: Trump mocked a disabled person on national television, he raped a 13 year old girl and settled out of court, he called for all of the violence on January 6th 2021 and the overthrow of the American government's peaceful transition of power, he ordered the use of MOAB, he wasted billions upon billions of taxpayer dollars building a sham wall that hasn't kept out undocumented immigrants, he moved the American embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, he's cheated on every single wife he's ever had, he's currently charged with 91 criminal charges related to rampant tax fraud, he destroyed Atlantic City, he saluted an enemy general in North Korea, he asked for Russian hackers to perform cyberattacks on his political rivals, he illegally attempted to blackmail Zelenskyy by demanding dirt on the Bidens in exchange for military aid, he ordered law enforcement to open fire on protestors, he gave tax breaks to the rich and increased the taxes on the working class, he brags about sexual assault, and he just told everyone he will be a dictator.
Better vote for him? Don't Americans watch the news?
"he just says what's on his mind! He's just like me!" - my parents probably.
He's a known liar. Vote Biden, imprison Trump.
Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up!
Vote Biden, let the judicial system come to its own conclusion based on the overwhelming evidence against Trump, without political interference.
Tbf, I don’t think he’s lying about his explicit desire to a dictator.
It's just diet dictatorship. So don't worry about it, it'll be fine...
Day two: tyrant
day three: despot
Trump can't even be a decent person for one day, what makes them think they would be a decent dictator for only a day?
Because he attacks the people that MAGA hates. That's the only metric that they use. If Dictator Trump goes after Democrats/liberals/LGBTQ people/black people/etc then he'll be "a good dictator" in their eyes. If he starts to go after straight, white, Christian men, then he'll have become a "bad dictator." Of course, by that point there will be nobody left to speak out against Dictator Trump since the rest of us would have already been rounded up.
I dont understand American politics, but how can this cunt even be allowed to run for president after all the illegal shit he has been found guilty for?
He hasn't been found guilty of anything yet.
Doesn't matter. Eugene Debs ran for president from jail.
Because America isn't a country, it's a bunch of corporations in a trenchcoat.
Literally. America started as the Massachusetts Bay Company, the Virginia Company, the Plymouth Company, Hudson's Bay Company, the Ohio Company, etc. The Constitution is a corporate charter, voting rights were originally limited to company stake holders, it's all office politics.
Because America let's a lot of things fly to see if it works, kind of like rolling dice at a casino. Just not at a trump casino
He hasn't been found guilty of anything yet.
Dollar store orange Julius geezer
At which point he can change the rules
Can we like ... put it in a contract?
And can we like ... add a clause that we are allowed to chop of his head if he refuses to give up his dictatorship after a day?
Because Trump is famous for honoring his contracts.
He’ll just use his dictator powers to appoint the next dictator, John Barron
Donald Trump has said that he will not become a dictator
ron_burgundy_mode
I don't believe you
Riiight... so what has happened to make the Great Orange Hope magically more competent at fascism than he was during his first stint at the Waffle House?
His best trick (so far) was to sicc a white lynch mob on the capitol that was so incompetent it only managed to lynch some of their fascist besties (ie, police).
Trump is more dangerous outside the Waffle House than he is inside it - all the traction the fascists got out of Trump essentially ended when he became SCROTUS.
Trump doesn't want to be the head honcho - he wants a mass of foaming MAGA hive-mind stroking his ego while he rants at them from a podium - and it's much easier to achieve that while he is running for pres than actually being the pres. That is when Trump is at his most dangerous.
And, of course, liberals will do nothing to stop all this except to try and get their "good cop" into the Waffle House... but they will be sure to heckle antifa and BLM from the sidelines when these movements do the actual necessary work of physically confronting the white supremacists and their fascist besties (ie, the police) in the streets.
the answer is more republican backing, the Republican Party has purged its self of a lot of its internal opposition
The inmates are running the asylum. Even McCarthy wasn't enough of a lapdog.
It's exponentially easier to be a fascist dictator than a conscientious democratic leader. One gives you ultimate power and authority, the other forces you into meetings where you have to weigh the pros and cons of policy and how the economy will perform on an international scale.
It’s exponentially easier to be a fascist dictator than a conscientious democratic leader.
I wouldn't know... I've never been either. I do have experience being subject to the former, but not the latter.
He can have a little salami dictatorship, right?
"If Trump wasn't running, I'm not sure I'd be running. But we cannot let him win,"
I’d personally say letting a different Democrat campaign would’ve helped with that… but whatever, let’s hope it still works out.
Would the jarring changing of guards be better or worse for Democrat voter confidence?
Honestly, I’m guessing the majority of Democrat voters nowadays aren’t voting Biden because of who he is, but because of who he isn’t. Any other person that isn’t a direct threat to democracy would probably be enough for them.
That being said, I’m not American and I don’t know who the other candidates could be: I know in 2020 Bernie could’ve done well but in 2024 he’ll be way too old.
This guy is swirling the drain mentally. Another 11 months of this is why I think these polls are currently worthless.
Which begs the question why is he not in prison?????????????
Good thing that won’t happen.
Don't know... I hope you are right, but too many people were saying the same in 2016
A reminder to all: register to vote! Do mail in if you have to; it's fairly simple (at least for the state if NJ)
I see no direct quote in that, so looks like fear mongering to me.
It’s not fear mongering. Trump is an aspiring dictator. Why would this come as a surprise to anyone is beyond me.
Around 47s mark in this video Trump says that Hannity was asking him if he would be a dictator and Trump answers himself by saying only on day one. Plain as day. What’s most concerning is Hannity never even mentioned the word ‘dictator’ the question was about whether Trump would use the presidential office to seek retribution. Trump is saying the quiet part out loud again.
In context, this is no different than what Biden did with the plethora of EO's he signed in his first days in office. Que the naysayers.