5mo ago

Gunshots reportedly fired at Donald Trump rally - as former president rushed off stage

news.sky.com Trump rally shooting: Ex-president injured in assassination attempt at rally that leaves spectator and gunman dead

The former president ducked to the floor as shots rang out and was mobbed by Secret Service agents, while the sniper, who was killed by security forces, has been named as Thomas Matthew Crooks.

Video clip: https://x.com/Acyn/status/1812249329203286464

News @lemmy.world

Donald Trump apparently shot, 2 confirmed dead at rally - as former president rushed off stage

news.sky.com /story/shots-fired-at-donald-trump-rally-as-former-president-rushed-off-stage-13177651

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News @lemmy.world

Gunshots reportedly fired at Donald Trump rally - as former president rushed off stage

news.sky.com /story/shots-fired-at-donald-trump-rally-as-former-president-rushed-off-stage-13177651

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269 comments

You ever feel like you live in some sort of Murphy's Law parallel universe, where the worst possible outcome of every major event happens?
- Yes, that is exactly how if feels.
- How can I switch to the GOOD universe?
  
  Turn off the Large Hadron Collider. All this shit started back when they turned it on 😉
  
  Well, which circle of hell are you currently on? We need to ascertain that before you can formally appeal.
  Checks notes on Earth simulation categories
- That's my house everyday

If only Trump had a gun, this wouldn’t have happen-
Oh wait… he’s a felon, so he can’t have a gun- but can run for president. This is America now.
- He was surrounded by a lot of highly trained good guys with plenty of guns, the Secret Service, and even they couldn’t stop the bad guy, only respond to him.
  (I’m paraphrasing from the second season premiere of The West Wing, but the writers were dead on 24 years ago.)
  
  If they only had a teacher there with a gun, this wouldn't have been a problem at all

Holy shit, he had blood on his ear? If that’s true, he was about a foot away from assassination. That’s wild.
Edit: saw a picture of him and he was def hit in the ear. We won’t hear the end of this for a long time. “Radical democrats are so scared that I’m going to win” etc
Edit 2: let’s do count of “how many push notifications does the news junkie get?” I’m at 3 4 7 so far. Edit: it’s a lot more than 7 but I’m done counting
- He put his hand up to his ear before he went down and you can see blood on his face when Secret Service took him away. Whoever it was missed him by that much.
  
  Don't jump to conclusions. Unfortunately, it's often times worse than it seems.
  
  And yet, nobody in the crowd behind him was hit? That's... really hard to believe.
- In the video you can see him lifting the hand to the ear after the first bang
- It looks like a chunk of his ear is blown off. Fucking insane!
  
  Not like he ever listened to anyone anyway.
  
  I don't see any chunk missing.
  
  Best photo I could find, caution, blood.
  ::: spoiler spoiler (https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/68ab6623-0010-4175-a38d-43d06e715d3b.jpeg) :::![]
- Nobody in the crowd was hit with anything it seemed, so I don't think he was shot. If anything, the secret service takedown probably did whatever it was. He's never going to stfu about this. Wouldn't be surprised if this was staged.
  
  He was bleeding before secret service got to him. The video is literally linked for you by OP.
- He wasn't shot. Pure publicity stunt. Same shit as WrestleMania.

did the attenders draw their guns and stop the assasin?
- More likely someone fired at him in celebration in those rallies.
  
  just saw the news at it was kinda wierd. did not seem like anyone behind him got hit and he was hit in the ear and pumped his fist after ward. They said metal detectors are used so sounds like a sniper type thing. I sorta think they likely would figure out the origin. I wonder if they have him or are after them but don't want to update yet.

This is just going to further guarantee his victory. It's fucking over. This country is done.
- Shit’s pretty unpredictable. What happens if a MAGAt retaliates and whacks Biden?
  
  this is a terrible tragedy but we need to continue to work towards unity in the country so nothing will be done
  
  Civil war!
- That's my gut reaction too. It's done. That fucking photo where Trump stood up and did the fist pump with the blood on his face and the American flag in the background:
  https://i.headtopics.com/images/2024/7/14/timescolonist/trump-rally-shooting-is-being-investigated-as-an-trump-rally-shooting-is-being-investigated-as-an-56235AE0556FFDA67127295A88A54C8B.webp
  There's no beating that. That's literally like a movie poster. Whether Biden stays or goes, I really don't think it matters now.
  Also as an aside, I don't mean this as a compliment to Trump. I think he's a raging piece of shit and I hope he loses. But it's elections are all about perception and I really don't see Biden doing anything to top this.
  
  You said it better than I could have done myself. It is time to start preparing the resistance now. Civil disobedience is the only way forward.
- Absolutely it will. Fuck.
  
  C'mon dude, just post your demoralizing articles and give it a rest - there is no need to further betray your intent with additional words.
- From abroad, for the love of everything please go vote. Everything in the US seems to leak out and global warming is well, global.
  
  My vote is irrelevant. I live in a deep blue stronghold. Nothing I can personally do is going to change what is coming, and the path that we are on. It is time to prepare for the worst.
- Ah yes, I wanted to vote blue, but now that the felon's ear got shot, I'll vote for the fashists.
  This is US politics and it makes sense.
  
  No, it's more like:
  "I wasn't going to vote because I don't care about or follow politics. Now I see they are trying to kill this guy so I am going to vote for him because clearly the powers that be want him gone. So, he must be doing something to fight the system like JFK."
  Nobody who was going to vote Dem is changing their vote. It's all the people who weren't going to vote that now will because they either think he is badass for surviving an assassination attempt, or because of the web of new conspiracy narratives that are sure to be born from this that further serve to frame Trump as the savior of the common man from the clutches of the evil deep state.
- Sounds pretty dramatic. With the new cycle the way it is, it will be forgotten in a month.
  
  [X] DOUBT
  
  You know these are the people who still claim he won in 2020, right?
- It's horrifying that our best hope is that a MAGA nutter kills Biden in retaliation and Harris wins in a landslide because of it.
- I don't see it, the lines have been firmly drawn for years. The maga crowd will vote for him regardless of anything and the rest of us wouldn't piss on him to put out a fire.

Damn this is worst case dude is going to be made a maytr for this bs.
- If only he were a martyr from this, but he survived. You have to die to be a martyr.
  
  That distinction won't matter to him or his followers.
- He'll make himself into one if they're not fast enough.
  
  His base will embrace it. The question is will the center. I know I am not, as a centrist. But I only speak for myself.
- Stop saying "he'll be a martyr."
  This gets touted any time any consequence could come to him. Saying this makes it a lose lose situation. Either we let him get away and do whatever or "he's a martyr." No. He reaps whatever consequences come to him for his actions. It shouldn't come as an assassination, but he has to have some consequence for what he does.

I wonder how Trump's public image will change after this event. Will the MAGA crowd radicalise even more? Or will he have to drop out of the presidential race for safety concerns?
Either way, the aftermath will be interesting.
- Radicalize. Every time.
- Trump's going to milk him being a victim and come out looking like he's super tough and cheated death. Nothing could have been better for the Trump campaign than a failed assassination attempt in which Trump was hit and survived practically fine. I think things are about to get pretty bad. This is terrible terrible news for the country.
  
  This is worse than terrible. Now Trump gets to play martyr and it rallies up his base, even the ones who were in doubt after his conviction.
  And as the chaos ensues, Putin is laughing at his throne.
  
  Yep. Absolutely fucked.
- May you live in interesting times.
- Come on, bruh. He’s their god king.
- ~~interesting~~ more insane
- Well, public rallies will be a no-no.

I love how this is a "heinous act" even though the dipshit in charge of 25 basically said theyd kill the left if they were against them

Grand.
I wonder what the shooter’s politics are.
Liberal: commie assassin
Conservative or other: oh, just mentally ill.
E: shot looked like it came from the left. I wonder if the shooter was outside the rally area at a distance. Anybody else hit?
- A conservative shooting at Biden would end up giving the keynote at CPAC.
  
  Maybe it was Cheney. He’ll make trump apologize.
  
  "We Are All Terrorists"
- I saw a video where they panned to the right, and it looked like a hydraulic line on a nearby lift was hit.
  
  It's about 15 seconds into this video
  https://x.com/The_Nomad_News/status/1812252572755144900?t=AJ3ZsQZ50WBWWh7pF0vnew&s=19
  
  Hydraulic lift was the most innocent bystander of all.

Worthless asshole just gave him the election.
- He should've practiced more

Looks like the bullet grazed his ear. He was about to get Kennedy'd.
- (I hate the source, F this guy) but here’s him being ushered off the stage after… https://x.com/stillgray/status/1812250467071885730
  Edit: his base is going to be insanely fired up now. I’m genuinely scared about what’s going to happen now. I can see it already “the deep state tried to stop him and God saved Trump!” ugh.
  
  The potential for backfire is massive. Of course in our timeline, Trump gets grazed in the ear. Stop teasing us.
  
  Can't wait for the amped up christian nationalism...

Maybe having so many guns in this country is a bad thing.
- Assassinating problematic politicians that want to be a king is sort of the point of the 2nd amendment.
  
  Yep, dude who did this. Has used the 2nd for the correct purpose.
  
  Not really. The second amendment is about states protecting themselves from the federal government. That’s why it’s talking about militias, not lone gunmen.

Violence begets violence, and Trump is responsible for no shortage of violence. Is this for the violence of Jan 6, or the violence against the women in his life, or some other time? I want to find out.

Biden's official statement:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/07/13/statement-from-president-joe-biden-6/
He's in a video conference now.
"I have been briefed on the shooting at Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania.
I’m grateful to hear that he’s safe and doing well. I’m praying for him and his family and for all those who were at the rally, as we await further information.
Jill and I are grateful to the Secret Service for getting him to safety. There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it."
- You know what's sad about this?
  If the roles were reversed, Trump would be offering the shooter a posthumous pardon and probably a medal. And no, I'm not joking. Trump would never be seen giving someone else the respect he demands from others.
  
  I want Dark Brandon in the next debate "Let me say it again, in your good ear this time..."
  
  Which is why Trump hasn't answered Bidens call...
  
  Exactly right.

When he yells "fight", what does he mean to fight for? Fight against freedom? I wonder the same thing when it comes to Qbert and Empty-G. Fight? What are they fighting for, exactly? More tax cuts for billionaires? More special privileges for xtians?
I was told today that someone we know is going to vote for donnie - because "economy". What. The. Actual. Fuck. They said that the economy was better under donnie. I just can't even. And this is someone that will be a target under fascist rule.
- Their potato chips and beer have gone up a lot in the past few years, therefore we were in the economic golden age under Trump. Life is pretty simple for some people.
  
  Yeah, I see that all the time for people that don't even have to think about being targets - read: xtian white cishet males that are cons...this was someone that would definitely be in the crosshairs of the Project 2025 types. Repeating Bullshit Mountain style propaganda about "the economy".
  The economy won't mean shit if you are a political prisoner or made a second class citizen.....or even worse.

Ugh. Why can't we just get one win?

NYT photographer got the photo of the bullet, it seems that TMZ's reporting that it was glass from the teleprompter is not correct:
https://x.com/spectatorindex/status/1812293722832318726
- Well that certainly blows up any argument it was staged. You don't fake shoot a real bullet past your fake targets head.
- That isolated tweet with the pic doesn’t claim to be from NYT or a NYT photographer. I’ve never heard of this “spectator index”. Here is the AP collection of photos from the event.
  If I do assume that’s a bullet, let’s test if the size of the streak makes sense. A bullet travels at about 750m/s. That streak (using Trump’s head for scale) is about 50cm long, or 1/2 meter. A 750 m/s bullet travels 1/2 meter in 1/1500 seconds. When you consider projection effects (we might not be looking with a line-of-sight perpendicular to the bullet’s trajectory), we expect the length and time used in my above calculations to be lower bounds, with the true answer probably being within about a factor of 3 of that bound. This means that this image only makes sense as a bullet if the shutter speed is between 1/1500 and 1/500 seconds. That lines up with this website’s recommendation of 1/1000 second exposure time for bright outdoor shots.
  Either a very good fake that considered the kinematics, or this is a real image of the bullet.
  
  Confirmed by the NYT:
  https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/14/us/politics/photo-path-trump-assassination.html?unlocked_article_code=1.7E0.MIMo.hHa1HBenusYm

There it is again, that funny feeling…
- Is it that feeling of being in the lead of up of the scary times?
  I feel it in my gut
- Everything is fine.

The shooter was a Republican
Has me wondering if this was an attempt to start a race war, like a bunch of past mass shootings, attempts to knock out power by shooting transformers, etc.
- Who knows. Someone that would take it upon themselves to do something like this could have all kinds of flawed thought processes, as well as mental illness.
  I mean, the Republicans have a habit of constantly casting each other out for various forms of apostasy, real or imagined, and declaring the apostate a "RINO". With the way they talk about non-Republicans, that unperson is then a lower lifeform not worthy of empathy...if that's the kind of thing that led to this, it wouldn't be that surprising, I guess. I mean, look at how they view Liz Cheney. Liz. Cheney.

TMZ is reporting the bullet struck Trump's teleprompter and the shattered glass hit him in the ear.
https://www.tmz.com/2024/07/13/donald-trump-appear-shot-pennsylvania-rally-president-election/
- The world needs thinner teleprompter screens.
- Thanks
- Honestly, this seems more likely than what he's saying. The angle he was standing at didn't seem likely that he would have been hit unless someone was in the stands behind him, which didn't seem like the case from the video.

Finally someone uses their gun for its constitutional purpose.
- Like the founding fathers would have wanted

CNN is confirming gunfire.
Edit CNN is quoting local authorities confirming the shooter + 1 attendee are both dead.
2nd attendee severely injured.
- CNN: shooter is dead and one bystander is dead as well.
  
  Yup. CNN interviewed a witness who stated one man was shot in the head and killed instantly while a woman hit in the forearm and hand.

I'm eager to hear the motivations of the shooter. It's possible their motivations are highly irrational, and not what we assume.
- The guy who shot Reagan was trying to impress Jodie Foster. It wouldn’t be unprecedented if it was motivated by something bizarre.

Have they learned nothing? You need to have a second shooter.

MSNBC is reporting the shooter is a 20 year old Pennsylvanian.
They are also reporting he had no ID on him.
If he had no ID, how do they know he was from Pennsylvania?
- There's a name and photos floating around now of this person on Twitter but it's not confirmed. I won't post it here.
  
  CNN is speaking to Evan Perez, Senior US Justice Department Correspondant, confirming the information first reported by the New York Post.
  Also on Reuters:
  https://www.reuters.com/world/us/fbi-identifies-thomas-matthew-crooks-subject-involved-trump-rally-shooting-2024-07-14
  NBC:
  https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-rally-shooter-identified-rcna161757
- Fingerprint search found him on crime database?
  
  Or military. White Republican with a AR-15 makes the military more likely than being arrested. But it's all on the table at this point.

He got shot and he says "let me get my shoes" wtf? Didn't he notice that somebody (supposedly) wanted him dead?
- Tbh that's the most characteristic thing about Trump. Saying things so outrageously stupid, so far outside common sense and so detached from reality that people end up thinking about them more than they should.

All the mass casualty events we have to suffer and here we have a psychopath who can't aim. Such a shame.

This should seal the deal on Biden dropping out of the race. His odds of winning already weren’t good, and now he’s completely lost control of the popular narrative.
The assassination attempt will be all everyone’s talking about until something extremely big replaces it. The only possible story that can shift people’s focus is Biden’s deeply patriotic decision to sacrifice his second term for the good of the country.
Devise a framework where negative ads are not allowed, and debates are civil and informative to the public. Find the best candidate the old fashioned way.
- seriously, at this point the Democrats have got to do something bold. the combined trajectories of this election and the country are not promising.
  edit to say... my bold move would be:
  biden steps aside (powerful good of the country speech and all that - huge opportunity to remind everyone what a shitbag trump is)
  kamala sanctions this process by somehow transitioning funds to a diff general account.
  dems flood the news cycle with a mini primary (flash campaign and debates) all the way up to the convention with a diverse selection of candidates... showcase the big tent and range of ideas.
  don't know how they deal with delegate votes for a nominee, but the dems have to take over the news cycle and keep the focus on them with at least the veneer of something vagely democratic and energizing, otherwise I think we get king klepto-fascist.
  this is likely a pipe dream and I am going to shut up now.
  
  Exactly. Trump threw out the playbook and won. Biden got by with old politics and won, but it’s not going to happen again. Not after today.
  The Democrats need to finally establish a cohesive identity. Introduce someone who can tell you what voting Democrat will deliver for your family.
  And maybe please involve James Carville in the process. He consistently has his finger on the pulse of economic issues, which are what actually matter right now for “swing voters.”

Dammit! So close!
- Trump is just a symptom. There's even more deranged people coming up behind him.
  
  Who cares? I'm perfectly fine treating the symptoms until we can develop a proper course of treatment.
  
  A symptom ppl rally behind. Gop will hopefully tear itself apart more if he was out of picture.
  
  That doesn't make it ok. It also is even more of a reason to stop him.

Maybe he was an early adopter of the Neuralink chip.
- More likely a user of SSRIs.

Tip of the hat to the US Secret Service who know they have to take a bullet for that moron.
- No they don't
- I don't think any of them have a problem, pretty sure they are magas and would love nothing more.
  https://www.vox.com/23274533/secret-service-text-messages-january-6
  https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/secret-service-deleted-text-messages-jan-6-previous-day-homeland-secur-rcna38332

New York Post is the first to identify the shooter. Not linking it here because, well, New York Post... but it is being floated out there on non-social media.
Edit CNN is speaking to Evan Perez, Senior US Justice Department Correspondant, confirming the information first reported by the New York Post.
Also on Reuters:
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/fbi-identifies-thomas-matthew-crooks-subject-involved-trump-rally-shooting-2024-07-14
NBC:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-rally-shooter-identified-rcna161757
- TBF, an earlier version of a New York Post story mentioned it was thought to be a BB gun, so....
  
  Yeah, BB guns don't go 150 yards.

Video clip: https://x.com/Acyn/status/1812249329203286464
- Imgur mirror: https://imgur.com/a/TqPqVVn

Seal Team 6 sucks.

Pinning for visibility, there was another thread I had pinned, then I saw this one was first and has more engagement.
Watching the coverage right now, as the (shots?) rang out, he grabbed his right ear just before the Secret Service took him down and hustled him off.
Official statement:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/secret-service-rushes-trump-stage-shots-fired-pennsylvania-rally-rcna161735
"An incident occurred the evening of July 13 at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania. The Secret Service has implemented protective measures and the former President is safe. This is now an active Secret Service investigation and further information will be released when available."
Audio reads "shooter is down" and there are reports of someone in custody.
Edit Definitely blood on his right ear. Just got a better look at it, top of his right ear.
Edit TMZ reports the bullet hit the teleprompter and the shattered glass hit Trump in the ear.
https://www.tmz.com/2024/07/13/donald-trump-appear-shot-pennsylvania-rally-president-election/

BBC has a guy saying they saw the shooter on the roof of a house nearby: https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cljy6yz1j6gt?post=asset%3Af88c1daf-9e5f-4329-b540-8766997ff778#post

Karma needs more target practice

Trump's statement on Truth Social:
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump
"I want to thank The United States Secret Service, and all of Law Enforcement, for their rapid response on the shooting that just took place in Butler, Pennsylvania. Most importantly, I want to extend my condolences to the family of the person at the Rally who was killed, and also to the family of another person that was badly injured. It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country. Nothing is known at this time about the shooter, who is now dead. I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening. GOD BLESS AMERICA!"
- There is no way in hell he wrote that statement, it's way too coherent.
  
  I also don't see Trump expressing remorse for anyone else.
- It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country.
  Is it though? There have already been 290 mass shootings in this country this year, so far. And this shooting does not even count among them.
  
  Not even that... this is the third Presidential assassination attempt in my lifetime.
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attempted_assassination_of_Gerald_Ford_in_Sacramento
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attempted_assassination_of_Ronald_Reagan
- It just feels wrong coming from the person who enacted Jan 6th. He caused something just like this and someone died.

Tecumseh’s curse is coming back.
It stumbled in 1980, as Reagan was shot, but survived. George W Bush wasn’t affected. Now Trump has been shot, but survived.
It’s gonna kill whoever is president in 2040.
- Yeah, but Trump wasn't elected in 2020...
  
  Tecumseh thinks the 2020 election was rigged.

Reminds me of the George Wallace shooting

I'm so scared of its global consequences.

Can we all just calm down. Things are getting too crazy. Violence is not the way to go.
- You're only allowed to be violent if you're a right winger. If you're a leftie, the voting booths and protest signs are over there.
  Good luck.

Okay, this settles it: Biden is gonna be the nominee. Nobody else on the Dem side is gonna want to be the sacrificial lamb going up against Trump after today.
- Would you stop with this shit. There is no scenario where the fact that you are so hated that somebody wants to kill you is a good thing.

They get the fucker?
- Nah, only grazed his ear.
- CNN is quoting local authorites saying the shooter +1 attendee are both dead.
  +1 other attendee severely injured.
  
  So, no.😞
- Shooter is reported dead.
  
  🤦🏿‍♂️
  
  I'm confused how the shooter who was said to be a sniper on a rooftop several hundred yards away AND a bystander dies at the same time?
- There's an extended video that shows a lift spewing hydraulic fluid with one more gunshot. I'm guessing homie moved and the secret service donated a bit more lead.
  Edit. He was firing the left of the stage from our viewpoint, so he probably did hit the poor lift.
  
  I saw that, was that not a water mister to keep the crowd cool?

aah oldest trick in the book, unfortunately also wildly effective

Are we placing bets on this being entirely staged?
Edit: Clearly, given the evidence now, that's a bet I would have lost.
- Yes it's stage. Because we all know. If you going to staged an assassination. You do a head shot. 🤦‍♂️
  
  It's pretty easy to cut your ear and get blood. They do it in wrestling all time.

Lots of people seem keen to jump to this being staged. That makes zero sense: Trump was already winning before this, especially with Biden (his preferred opponent) looking to hang on to the nomination.
- Trump was already winning before this
  Do you just not understand how elections work? You don't "win" before votes are cast.
  
  Are you being wilfully pedantic, or do you not know that it's possible to tell someone is ahead in a contest?
  
  winning in the court of public opinion
- conspiracy theorist in me sees several venues where it is Very beneficial to POTUS45 to stage this:
  finally come out as victim
  frame Biden/CIA/FBI as villains
  come out as "defiant" hero and rally support to the point where it's a landslide win, where he would be able to go after anybody and anything he doesn't like.
  more wicked stuff comes to mind but I think above is sufficient . Fact that bullet grazed him and nobody around him in a tight setting is kind of strange, with his bravado on display with fist shaking. One can only dream for this election campaign video to be run on repe 24/7 on fox and other outlets, giving him more air time, and now that Biden asked everyone to read project2025 entire nation will be watching nothing but POTUS45. Still could be some morron that didn't get his signature at the rally pulling out his Beretta..
  
  Witness statement was that another attendee was shot in the head and killed and a 2nd in the forearm and hand.
  
  There is no scenario where this helps Treason Trump. Now the entire world knows that Convicted Criminal and Sex Offender Treason Trump is so widely hated that people literally want to kill him. And now Treason Trump knows it too.

A lot of deep haters here in the comments. Trump derangement syndrome is live and well in many coddled minds. I was a Trump fan back then but I realized that Trump was not getting anything done as president that Trump campaigned on during 2016 and ever since then, was no longer a fan and was quite dissapointed. Came to realize Trump was an egomaniac at best.
However I do not wish for voilence. I do not see him as a good option as president in 2024 due to his track record of getting nothing done during his first term. However for lefties to hate Trump because "The TV told me so" and being spoon fed with the opinion that "Trump is the next Hitler" is such mental gymastics. Look lefties, Trump is not a threat to your woke agenda, he did not drain the swamp in 2017, he hired the swamp. I am sure if he wins in 2024, he will hire the swamp in 2025 again and it will just be four years of fuck all nothing.
Chill the fuck out.

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