GOP unity

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Unsurprising, disgusting, and frankly, insane Trump remarks

Donald Trump on Thursday called Milwaukee — where in a little over a month he will be declared the Republican nominee for president — a "horrible city."

Trump made the comment to House Republicans in a morning meeting on Capitol Hill to discuss campaign strategies, among other GOP priorities, ahead of the 2024 election.

[...]

"He never said it like how it’s been falsely characterized as," Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said in a post on X. Cheung said the former president was talking about crime and election issues.

  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

How does that make it any better?

I'm beginning to think Republicans like to be abused.  Trump is the quintessential abusive husband to the GOP's abused wife.  

There's no evidence to support that Wisconsin's election was tainted by cheating or fraud in 2020. The results have been confirmed by recounts in Dane and Milwaukee counties that Trump paid for, court rulings, a nonpartisan state audit and a study by the conservative legal firm Wisconsin Institute of Law & Liberty, among other analyses.

Trump lost the state to Biden.

[...]

Republican U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, who represents the state's 1st Congressional District, said: "I was in the room. President Trump did not say this. There is no better place than Wisconsin in July."

Steil later said Trump was "was talking about specific issues in" Milwaukee in the context of "a broad conversation about the challenges we face as a country, in particular the challenges that we've seen in Milwaukee."

So...he didn't say it, but when he DID say it, he was talking about something specific?  Got it.

Trump has repeatedly falsely claimed he won Wisconsin in 2020 and has at times blamed Milwaukee's election officials for the election outcome, baselessly claiming absentee voting in the state's largest city was rife with fraud.

U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, a freshman Republican who represents Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District in western Wisconsin, blasted Punchbowl's reporting, however, saying in a post on the social media platform X that the former president was "specifically referring to the CRIME RATE in Milwaukee."

Again, how does that make it any better?

"Once he's settled in with his parole officer, I am certain he will discover that Milwaukee is a wonderful, vibrant and welcoming city full of diverse neighborhoods and a thriving business community," U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, a Democrat who represents Milwaukee in Congress, said in a post on X.In response to Trump's description of Milwaukee, Mayor Cavalier Johnson said, "Donald Trump was talking about things that he thinks are horrible. All of us lived through his presidency, so right back at you, buddy."

UPDATE 04:23 pm:

I think we all know who the whacko is.

He's gonna need it

So then he can stop begging for money from the poor MAGA rubes.  Ha!  When Satan skates to work.

Oh, and...

JFC.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 10:10 am:

Because she doesn't have to pay Trump's legal bills.

UPDATE 10:24 am:  The twist...

Well, if he does, what a stupid thing to admit.

Former President Donald Trump claimed early Friday morning that he has "almost" $500 million in cash, undercutting his lawyers' claims that he would not be able to comply with the $464 million judgment against him and his co-defendants in the civil fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

[...]

Trump hasn’t contributed any of his own money to his presidential campaigns since 2016. He had floated in 2020 that he’d personally spend what it took to win re-election, but did not do so.

  NBC

Well, maybe that's a factor in why he didn't win?

Earlier this week, Trump's presidential campaign asked his supporters for money in a fundraising memo, which said, "Insane radical Democrat AG Letitia James wants to SEIZE my properties in New York. THIS INCLUDES THE ICONIC TRUMP TOWER!"

[...]

The former president must post the bond for the full amount he owes on Monday, or James can seize any of Trump’s bank accounts or properties, in any state, including Trump Tower and Mar-a-Lago, among many others. His lawyers, who have appealed the judgment, said in a court filing Monday that he has been unable to secure a bond to meet it.

UPDATE 02:51 pm:

And this is why you don't want a president with big debt.

UPDATE 03/24/2024:

Ooops.

Taking over the whole shebang

Future history books tracking the evolution of the Republican party will be interesting.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Bye-bye, Ronna

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

We're gonna need a bigger bus

After Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo asked, “How’s Ronna McDaniel doing?” Trump didn’t exactly offer his handpicked RNC chair a ringing endorsement.

“I think she did great when she ran Michigan for me. I think she did OK, initially in the RNC,” he said. “I would say right now there’ll probably be some changes made.”

[...]

[A]fter Trump chose her for the RNC role in 2017, McDaniel’s first election cycle was rough: The party lost 40 House seats and its majority in the chamber.

  MSN

And nobody's going to say that was because of Trump himself.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

They've upset baby

The RNC announced their 2024 debates, stating that their first will be held in Milwaukee in August 2023, the site for the 2024 RNC convention. The decision was announced Feb. 23.

[...]

Trump ranted that he wasn't consulted about the presidential debates for the 2024 cycle, and as such, he doesn't plan on attending

  MSN

He'll be there. He wouldn't pass up the chance to make fun of the others on the national stage. That is unless he's losing in all the many lawsuits he'll be fighting at the time. And why did he wait until now to complain?

"I see that everybody is talking about the Republican Debates, but nobody got my approval, or the approval of the Trump Campaign, before announcing them," Trump posted.

Must have the king's approval.

"When you’re leading by seemingly insurmountable numbers, and you have hostile Networks with angry, TRUMP & MAGA hating anchors asking the 'questions,' why subject yourself to being libeled and abused? Also, the Second Debate is being held at the Reagan Library, the Chairman of which is, amazingly, Fred Ryan, Publisher of The Washington Post. NO!"

Oh that WOULD be just too, too much.

Trump had such a poor performance in the 2020 presidential debates that the following weeks were filled with the press about his unhinged behavior. One report even noted that his own supporters were put off by it, and his campaign expressed concern about the fallout.

The second debate in Miami, Florida, in 2020 was canceled because Trump refused to participate. It was supposed to be a townhall style event with audience members asking questions of the candidates.

The Republican Party is a shell of its former self.

It could be bad for the Democrats if he doesn't participate and people get a chance to see what their other options are.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

THEY knew

But was Trump utterly convinced of The Big Lie anyway?  That will be pivotal in any attempt to hold him legally responsible for January 6.

[An] audio from Nov. 5, 2020, two days after the election, is surfacing as Trump again seeks the White House while continuing to lie about the legitimacy of the outcome and Democrat Joe Biden’s win.

[...]

The audio centers on Andrew Iverson, who was the head of Trump’s campaign in the state.

“Here’s the deal: Comms is going to continue to fan the flame and get the word out about Democrats trying to steal this election. We’ll do whatever they need. Just be on standby if there’s any stunts we need to pull,” Iverson said.

[...]

Wisconsin was a big part of Trump’s victory in 2016, when he smashed through the Democrats’ so-called “Blue Wall” in the upper Midwest, and his campaign fought hard to keep the swing state in his column four years later before his loss to Biden.

[...]

[T]wo days after the election, there was no discussion of Trump having won the state during the meeting of Republican campaign operatives.

Instead, parts of the meeting focus on discussions about packing up campaign offices and writing final reports about how the campaign unfolded. At one point on the recording, Iverson is heard praising the GOP’s efforts while admitting the margin of Trump’s defeat in the state.

[...]

“Say what you want, our operation turned out Republican or DJT supporters. Democrats have got 20,000 more than us, out of Dane County and other shenanigans in Milwaukee, Green Bay and Dane. There’s a lot that people can learn from this campaign.”

[...]

At one point, the operatives laugh over needing “more Black voices for Trump.” Iverson also references their efforts to engage with Black voters.

“We ever talk to Black people before? I don’t think so,” he said, eliciting laughter from others in the room.

[...]

It’s unclear whether the staff in Wisconsin coordinated their message directly with campaign officials in Washington.

[...]

Iverson is now the Midwest regional director for the Republican National Committee.

[...]

The former campaign official and Republican operative who provided a copy of the recording to the AP was in the meeting and recorded it. The operative is not authorized to speak publicly about what was discussed and did not want to be identified out of concern for personal and professional retaliation, but said they came forward because Trump is mounting a third attempt for the White House.

  AP

They created a monster

Donald Trump is dangling the threat of announcing he's running for president, and the GOP is panicking.

Republican leaders who worry that Donald Trump could hurt their midterm chances by announcing a presidential run too soon are hoping he'll be dissuaded from doing so by the prospect of losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal payments, according to an RNC official.

  ABC

WTF? Why is the RNC paying Trump's legal bills? He's not being sued for presidential activity. It's all personal crimes. So far.

According to the RNC's most recent financial disclosure to the Federal Elections Commission, from October 2021 through June of this year, the RNC paid at least $1.73 million to three law firms representing Trump, including firms that are defending him in investigations into his personal family business in New York. Last month alone, the RNC paid $50,000 to a law firm representing Trump in June.

The latest tally tops the $1.6 million maximum figure that the Republican Party's executive committee reportedly voted to cover for Trump's personal legal bills during an RNC meeting last year.

[...]

But an RNC official told ABC News that as soon as Trump would announce he is running for president, the payments would stop because the party has a "neutrality policy" that prohibits it from taking sides in the presidential primary.

Which they could change if they actually wanted to.

This isn't the first time that legal bills have been seen as possible leverage over Trump.

According to the book "Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show," by ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl, in the final days of Trump's presidency, Trump told [RNC Chair Ronna] McDaniel he was leaving the GOP and creating his own political party -- only to back down after McDaniel made it clear to Trump that the party would stop paying his legal bills for his post-election challenges and take other steps that would cost him financially.

Both Trump and McDaniel have denied the story.

Ha.

"The RNC needs Trump or Trump surrogates or Trump's likeness to raise money, and Trump wants them to continue paying his bills and be as pro-Trump as possible," [Republican donor Dan] Eberhart said. "So neither is in a hurry to cut the umbilical cord."

[...]

"Everyone thinks it'll scramble the midterms and we could potentially destroy the advantage we have" if Trump would announce too early, Eberhart said.

[...]

"Other Republican candidates seeking the Republican nomination for president have good reason to worry that the party apparatus is rigged against them in its unwavering support for Trump," echoed Craig Holman, government affairs lobbyist at the progressive government-watchdog group Public Citizen.

[...]

The RNC is reportedly not covering Trump's legal bills related to the House special committee's investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. But as previously reported by ABC News, Trump's leadership PAC, Save America, and his presidential committee-turned-PAC Make America Great Again PAC have been footing legal bills for witnesses involved in legal battles related to the events of Jan. 6, which has raised concerns about witness coercion from Jan. 6 committee members and legal experts.

I would think that would be a more legitimate use of money than paying his personal legal bills.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Well

The Republican National Committee voted unanimously on Thursday to withdraw from the Commission on Presidential Debates, saying the group that has run the debates for decades was biased and refused to enact reforms.

“We are going to find newer, better debate platforms to ensure that future nominees are not forced to go through the biased CPD in order to make their case to the American people,” the committee’s chairperson, Ronna McDaniel, said in a statement.

  The Guardian

Actually, I'm ok with doing away with this bullshit debate format. But I don't trust the RNC to come up with something better.

Give it back to the League of Women Voters.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Suckers

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

GOP, criminal enterprise

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

When the monster you created turns on you

Just in the past few weeks, Trump declared at the Conservative Political Action Conference that the “only” way to give to Trump-aligned candidates was through Save America, his leadership political action committee, circumventing the party campaign arms devoted to electing Republicans. He has criticized the party for how it spends donor money, and his attorneys have sent cease-and-desist letters to GOP committees demanding they stop using his name in fundraising appeals.

In case his message wasn’t clear enough, Trump followed up this week by proclaiming that “no more money” should be given to “RINOS” — Republicans in Name Only. On Tuesday, he said in another statement that sending cash to his PAC would be "doing it right."

The offensive underscores Trump’s determination to maintain his hold over the GOP, even out of the White House. By urging givers to route [...] money through his political vehicle, the former president is attempting to monopolize the Republican Party donor base — and bend the GOP to his will by depriving it of cash.

  Politico

Hard to have any sympathy for the GOP.

“Everyone else is cashing in on his popularity with the base, and he wants to control that money. Trump wants to have influence, and one of the greatest ways to have influence is to control the cash,” said Mike DuHaime, a former Republican National Committee political director.

Trump wants to line his pockets and destroy people who don't bow down. That's what Trump wants. Tim O'Brien, the biographer who spent months with Trump and probably knows him better than anyone, says Trump only has two modes: self-aggrandizement and self-protection. I think that's probably right.

The RNC, which has the closest connection to Trump of any official party committee, has rejected the cease-and-desist demand, arguing that since Trump is a public figure it has every right to fundraise off his name.

Which is why he's telling people to give their money to his PAC instead.

Tony Fabrizio, the chief pollster on Trump’s 2020 campaign, recently conducted a survey of more than 1,200 GOP voters which concluded that a majority believed the party should “continue to be led by Trump.”

“This data suggests that any party committee leader that wants to play chicken with Trump very likely would end up as political roadkill,” Fabrizio said.

[...]

Top Republicans say they are determined to extinguish whatever tensions exist between the former president and the party’s campaign apparatus and stress that they have been working to get Trump focused on defeating Democrats rather than exacting revenge on fellow Republicans.

Good luck with that. He's not interested in doing anything that isn't either self-aggrandizing or self-protecting. He doesn't see any "fellow" Republicans. He sees worshippers and enemies.

[I]t’s not the first time that there’s been tension between Trump and party leaders over fundraising. Top Senate Republican officials complained ahead of the 2020 election that the former president wasn’t doing enough to financially help them. Trump also frustrated party officials by sending out fundraising appeals focused on the January Georgia runoff elections, which directed proceeds toward Trump’s PAC rather than the GOP candidates, who were narrowly defeated.

[...]

During a Tuesday appearance on Newsmax, [Ronna] McDaniel dismissed talk of tensions with Trump, calling him “the most supportive president of the RNC, I think, in history. The things that he did when I was chair while he was in the White House, and the things he continues to do to support the party — we've never seen anything like it.”

Way to suck up, Ronna. Maybe he'll choose you as his running mate in 2024.

 ...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

When the monster you created turns on you

Former President Trump asked supporters in an email Monday to donate directly to his PAC and not other Republicans — hours after the Republican National Committee rejected his demand to stop using his name and likeness to fund-raise.

[...]

Trump is seeking to control the use of his name and image "as he aims to position himself as the undisputed leader of the GOP," AP notes.

Of note: RNC chair Ronna McDaniel stated earlier Monday that Trump had personally approved the use of his name for fund-raising.

What he's saying: "No more money for RINOS [Republican in name only]," Trump said in his statement.

  Axios

I'd like to know the story behind McDaniel's claim. It's quite possible he did just that, and then pulled the rug out from under her. That would not be unprecedented.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

He may not still be president

But he'll always be a grifter.  And the GOP will help him out.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

No press allowed here in the United States of America

On Aug. 24, Republican delegates are scheduled to gather in Charlotte, N.C., to formally vote to make Trump the GOP nominee. The vote itself will reportedly be livestreamed.

The move was reportedly made to reduce the amount of people present to avoid the spread of the coronavirus. The vote was already scaled down from 2,550 to 336 delegates, or one person per every six delegates.

"Given the health restrictions and limitations in place within the state of North Carolina, we are planning for the Charlotte activities to be closed press Friday, August 21 – Monday, August 24," a convention spokeswoman told the outlets in a statement Saturday.

[...]

A Republican National Convention official told CNN that Trump is not expected to accept the nomination with a public speech. If he is physically present at the convention, he will most likely thank delegates in private, without press present.

  The Hill

They don't want any images to get out to the public that look bad. Such as crowd size.  Or protests.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

D'oh!

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, which runs the 40th president’s library near Los Angeles, has demanded that President Trump and the Republican National Committee (RNC) quit raising campaign money by using Ronald Reagan’s name and likeness.

“It was simply handled with a phone call mid-last week to the RNC, and they agreed to stop,” Reagan Foundation chief marketing officer Melissa Giller said in an email Saturday.

What came to the foundation’s attention — and compelled officials there to complain — was a fundraising email that went out July 19 with “Donald J. Trump” identified as the sender and a subject line that read: “Ronald Reagan and Yours Truly.”

The solicitation offered, for a donation of $45 or more, a “limited edition” commemorative set featuring two gold-colored coins, one each with an image of Reagan and Trump. The coins were mounted with a 1987 photograph of Reagan and Trump shaking hands in a White House receiving line — the type of fleeting contact that presidents have with thousands of people a year.

  WaPo

And that's not all. It's a typical Trump grifting project:

“Friend,” the fundraising email purportedly from Trump said, “I just saw our new Trump-Reagan Commemorative Coin Sets and WOW, these coins are beautiful - I took one look and immediately knew that I wanted YOU to have a set. These aren’t any ordinary coins. They symbolize an important time in our Nation. This year, in addition to being re-elected as YOUR President, it also marks the 40th anniversary of our Nation’s 40th President, Ronald Reagan. Unfortunately, we already sold out of the first batch we had in stock. But I liked these coins so much that I asked my team to rush order another batch for my TOP SUPPORTERS ONLY.”

One step away from the Nigerian Prince scam.

It cautioned: “I’ve authorized a very limited production of these iconic coins, which is why I’m ONLY offering them to our top supporters, like YOU. This offer is NOT available to the general public, so please, do NOT share this email with anyone.”

This isn't the first time they've pulled this racket.

Proceeds from the coin sales went to the Trump Make America Great Again Committee, a joint fundraising operation that benefits both the Trump campaign and the RNC.

[...]

When Reagan Foundation officials were made aware of the Trump email solicitation, they decided “within seconds” to put a stop to it.

[...]

The foundation is looking into how many people might have seen the email and how many of the coin sets were sold, and may still decide to get lawyers involved.

[...]

In July 2019, [Trump] shared as “Cute!” a fake quote by Reagan that was making its way around social media. According to the apocryphal story, Reagan upon meeting Trump supposedly said: “For the life of me, and I’ll never know how to explain it, when I met that young man, I felt like I was the one shaking hands with the president.”

Trump continued to spread the made-up quote, even though Joanne Drake, the chief administrative officer of the Reagan Foundation, had already told the fact-checking website PolitiFact that Reagan “did not ever say that about Donald Trump.”

[...]

RNC communications director Michael Ahrens said in an emailed statement. "Given that the Reagan Foundation just recently hosted the Trump family to raise money for its organization and has not objected to us using President Reagan’s likeness before, their objection came as a surprise. Even though we believe our use of the image was appropriate, we will stop emailing this fundraising solicitation as a courtesy.”

Apparently the Reagan Foundation has had all it can take of the Trump family.

And now they have even more reason...

As of Saturday afternoon, it appeared that the coin sets were still available on the joint fundraising committee website.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:  He noticed

Interestingly, he doesn't mention the Mercers.

Unwelcome

A group of attorneys in Jacksonville, Fla. filed a lawsuit on Wednesday to block the Republican National Convention from taking place in the city next month.

The lawsuit, filed in Duval County, points to several arguments why the city should not host the event as Florida’s case numbers continue to spike, saying the convention would be "a nuisance injurious to the health (and) welfare" of the community.

[...]

The attorneys filed the lawsuit days after Florida set a record for the most COVID-19 cases confirmed in a single day in a state during the pandemic, with 11,458 cases on Saturday.

[...]

The attorneys request that the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena should only admit no more than 2,500 people, leaving at least 12,500 seats of the arena “isolated or roped off” to ensure social distancing.

The convention was originally scheduled to take place in North Carolina, but the president moved his acceptance speech for the Republican nomination to Jacksonville after sparring with North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) over coronavirus restrictions.

[...]

The city announced last week it would mandate people to wear face masks in public indoor locations where social distancing is not possible.

  The Hill

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:  Speaking of Republican conventions...

Shut 'er back down

I hope Miami-Dade is ready for an insurrection.

Because, also, too...

Florida is shutting down bars in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus, after the state reported a single-day record of new infections.

The announcement did not come from the office of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), but from Halsey Beshears, the secretary of the agency that regulates Florida bars, who made the announcement via tweet.

Beshears said that on-premise alcohol consumption will stop immediately, effectively moving the state back to an earlier phase of reopening.

  The Hill

Protecting deSantis.

The move comes just days after Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said he would not move backwards to impose more restrictions to stem the spread of the disease.

[...]

DeSantis has resisted a statewide mandate for people to wear masks, and has argued that the state has plenty of hospital capacity available to deal with the surging number of cases.

He has also sought to downplay the significance of rising infections because the virus is targeting younger people.

[...]

Florida shattered its single-day record of new coronavirus cases reported on Friday, adding an additional 8,942 confirmed infections, according to the Department of Health.

The state broke the previous record of 5,508, which was just set two days ago.

[...]

Florida is now the second state to reimpose restrictions, after Texas announced just a few hours earlier that it would close bars.

And what a shame....

The Republican National Committee relocated its convention to Jacksonville, after President Trump said North Carolina would have imposed too many restrictions.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Who cares what Jacksonville voters want?

It's hard to beat something you don't even acknowledge.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.