Steve Schmidt: How should we assess Trump in this moment...

[Nevilledog]

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Steve Schmidt
@SteveSchmidtSES
Today is the third day of profoundly stupid media coverage around the demise of the Trump blog. How should we assess Trump in this moment and specifically how do we gauge his relative power and influence? Some have posited that Trump’s loss, social media bans, and inability
4:38 PM · Jun 4, 2021

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Today is the third day of profoundly stupid media coverage around the demise of the Trump blog. How should we assess Trump in this moment and specifically how do we gauge his relative power and influence? Some have posited that Trump’s loss, social media bans, and inability

to sustain a blog are evidence of his decline, irrelevance and diminishment. Many of these people have argued that saying Trump’s name out loud is what fuels and sustains the Trump threat. All we need do, they claim, is to treat him like Voldemort, so long as no one speaks his

name out loud, no problem. These people are fools and their delusions are dangerous for the survival of American democracy. We are at an hour that requires people to wake up. Trump is powerful and he is a clear and PRESENT danger to our democratic society and national stability.

Trump has the ability to kill and destroy with the spoken word. His words; his lies, delusions and conspiracy theories have caused bloodshed. That is what happened on January 6th. His words will surely kill again. Trump is the leader of an authoritarian movement made up of

An eclectic mix of extremists including Proud Boy fascists, Neo Nazis, white nationalists, religious fanatics and conspiracy theorists. The Republican Party is the vessel of this movement and the membership of that party is overwhelmingly united around the cause of Trump.

Trump is not just the front runner for the GOP nomination he is the presumptive nominee. Trump is in command of the party lock, stock and barrel. The elected officials of the Republican Party are obedient soldiers in Trump’s cult of personality which can be measured in the tens

Of millions of people. This movement has become faithless to American democracy and it requires an almost Trumpian level of historical ignorance to not recognize it as one of the gravest threats the country has ever faced. Trump’s power and influence is both frightening and real

It has been said that there are no dumb ideas. There are. High on the list is the notion that Trumps failed blog evidences his waning power. It doesn’t. It means nothing. A Trump indictment will not kill off Trump or his movement, it will simply hasten his candidacy. When he

Becomes a candidate again Facebook and Twitter will lift their well earned bans. We are in the early years of a great struggle in this country that will last a long time provided the pro democracy side can win elections because we are one away from seeing the autocratic side

take power. They will not relinquish it again when they do. The GOP was not chastened by January 6th. It has grown more extreme and it is on track to take back control of the House in 22. The pro democracy coalition won a great victory when Joe Biden became President.

That victory has brought us some time but all the time in the world can’t cure a willful and delusional blindness to the great danger, resilience, ambition and authoritarianism of Trumps movement.
• • •

[soothsayer]

1. He is dangerous and frightening, that's for sure.

I’m not sure he’ll be allowed back on Facebook, or won’t last if they uphold their new rules. He can’t help himself. But it’s a troubling possibility.

[Rustyeye77]

2. Excellent.

Should be required reading.

[Mike Nelson]

3. Agree...

... it ain't over. They are redistricting and passing voting laws... they still want Crooked Donald as president.

[msongs]

4. one wonders if they believe this in the manchin on the hill nt

[Traildogbob]

5. Can someone explain

Why MSNBC is airing a News Max commercial pushing to have Facebook allow Trump back on and encourage viewers to sign up for his support? During the Racheal hour! What the Actual Fuck?

[cayugafalls]

7. Money

[Traildogbob]

8. Obviously

But I would bet Fox would not allow MSNBC commercials asking viewers to sign up to support Biden/Harris. For any price. Says a lot about MSNBC as “liberal” Media propaganda network. (Sarcasm)

[cayugafalls]

11. Corporations do not want democracy to win.

I do not trust any large corporate entity anymore.

They publicly wring their hands and then work to dismantle freedoms.

Time is short, if we lose in the next election, I feel it will be over.

[wnylib]

18. It won't be over. People will protest

when the authoritarians are in power. The protesters will be treated severely, worse than what happened in Portland last summer, worse than when the orange fascist did his Bible stunt in front of a church.

That will mobilize the democracy side to fight back. Civil war.

[Dan]

9. Cause like Germany in the 30s'

The rich people thought that they could control Hitler, and belatedly discovered they couldn’t.

And like in 2015-2016, the Media thought Trump was good for their bottom line, and being the nation that we are, anything for money. I guess the question that should be asked, is, what is the value of our Democracy? It’s apparent that for the bottom line, the Democracy’s for sale.

Fools, if Trump assumes power again in this nation, with a compliant GOP - he will be like Putin.

He is a threat to the POC, women, non-straight etc., and the dump asses that support him will discover like the SA, he will be a threat to them.

The Dems in Congress and the White House are playing with fire - they need to put Trump down like a rabid dog, in a figurative sense (smile).

[Traildogbob]

10. I am for that

I trust and have sympathy for a rabid dog more.
Once the fools realize Trump GQP is fucking their lives up, all those guns may not be so welcome by political criminals. May back fire. Literally.

[cayugafalls]

6. Not a single untrue word.

And yet, we falter.

I do not know what we can do with 2 in our midst that are not on democracy's side.

[AZ8theist]

12. Spot on, Steve.

Unless the DOJ starts arresting and imprisoning the leaders of the treason in the Repuke party, the Fascists will get the civil war they are drooling for....

[Deuxcents]

13. Why doesn't Nicole Wallace

Get him on her show?

[DallasNE]

14. Trump Has Herded The Republican Party Into A Box Canyon

And closed the gate behind them. They cannot get out. They are doomed. Right now they do not realize this obvious fact. The Republican Party cannont rise again. It will die in that box canyon. But something else will grow out from that and they may even try to call themselves Republican but it will be unreconizable - for the worse. Yes, a new era Jim Crow can be fostered and jurished in our current environment. White nationalism is what this is all about. And our oligarch billionairs are already heavy with dark money to get "the right kind of people" in office. This is not over and the outcome is in doubt.

[NoMoreRepugs]

15. I appreciate the wisdom of Schmidt and I too believe

we are at the precipice of the end of our Democracy. I simply do not know what is going to happen. What I think I know is that if there isn’t a true wake-up call among everyone other than the Deplorable base it’s a very real possibility.

[Warpy]

16. I hate to point this out, but the abandonment of his blog coincided

with the start of his sock puppet account at Twitter, one he's posting to from his Bedminster golf resort. I have't looked lately, but the damned thing was still up this morning.

I have to wonder if Dorsey or one of his honchos did a dirty deal.

He needs to be OFF all easy to access social media. Period.

[BSdetect]

17. Drumpf ought to have been arrested by now.

The evidence of his treachery and treason are abundant.

If they fail to get him on tax fraud etc there are other crimes to pursue.

He must be dealt with soon.

[oasis]

19. Since 2015, Trump has been planting millions of body snatching pods.

Trumpoids are going to be here with us for a long time.

[elleng]

20. 'The GOP was not chastened by January 6th. It has grown more extreme

and it is on track to take back control of the House in 22. The pro democracy coalition won a great victory when Joe Biden became President.

That victory has brought us some time but all the time in the world can’t cure a willful and delusional blindness to the great danger, resilience, ambition and authoritarianism of Trumps movement.'