At the first Republican presidential debate, what was striking about Trump’s absence was how his influence was nevertheless ubiquitous.
The Elephant Not in the Room
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There’s a Republican primary debate tomorrow with seven candidates, but nobody cares about them. Everyone is up in arms over how Trump is set to be a no-show. He’ll be the elephant NOT in the room.
Democrats Augur the End Times
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Every single election, Democrats say the same exact thing: This is the most important election of our lifetime. Democracy itself is at stake. This is a vital time for us to come together and fight the Republicans because, this time unlike any other, they are dangerous and unreasonable. They would have more credibility were they to say, on occasion, that that wasn’t true.
Civics 2023
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Clinton was impeached over lying about oral sex, Trump was impeached twice, Biden will likely be impeached soon and Trump faces 78 felony counts on various rounds of charges. Lawfare as political combat has become normalized to the point that, in the future, elections will matter less than the courts to politicians.
58% of Americans Aren’t Sure Trump Can Get a Fair Trial
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Only 42% of American voters believe that Donald Trump will be able to get a fair trial in Georgia. As for the rest of them? When it comes to Trump, many Democrats view unfairness as a feature rather than a bug.
What About Disrespect? Would That Work?
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When major political parties ask young people what they need and want from them, the answer is always the same. But the parties are always unwilling to do what’s needed to get, and keep, support from younger voters.
What, If Anything, Did the President Think?
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During the Watergate scandal, a recurring question was asked: What did President [Nixon] know and when did he know it? Special Counsel Jack Smith’s January 6th-related charges against Donald Trump prompt a similar question, albeit one that is fundamentally unknowable. If he truly believed that Biden cheated him out of the 2020 election, his efforts to reverse the results were nothing of the sort, but merely his attempt to set things right.
Dragnet Ain’t the Same
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As if Twitter were secret, Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office executed a search warrant against Donald Trump’s Twitter account, searching for “evidence of criminal offenses” related to January 6th. Twitter unsuccessfully objected to an attached nondisclosure order that ordered the company not to tell Trump.
Highly Strategic Consulting
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Donald Trump’s Save America PAC paid over $108,000 for the first six months of 2023 to Hervé Pierre Braillard, a French-American fashion designer who is Melania Trump’s stylist for years, for “strategy consulting.” What kind of consulting justifies such high compensation?
Plausible Insanity
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Can Special Prosecutor Jack Smith convince a jury, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Donald Trump didn’t believe his own lies when he suggested to his lawyers and subordinates that he’d been cheated out of the 2020 election, all with a Richard II-sized dollop of plausible deniability?
