2024 U.S. election of President and Vice President

[TopHatter]

DeSantis may yet fix his pre-Primary problem with Trump with an offer to give Trump a Ford/Nixon-like Federal pardon on the conditions that (a) Trump withdraws from his run, (b) Trump throws his support to DeSantis, and (c) that DeSantis wins the main event election. That would not only silence Trump's criticisms of DeSantis, but would also incentivize Trump's active efforts in trying to get DeSantis elected.

I dunno about that....I don't see Trump making a deal of that magnitude, especially when accepting a pardon would mean he's done something wrong.

[TopHatter]

'Bogus,' 'ridiculous,' and 'made-up crap': DOJ veterans throw cold water on Trump's claim that he 'sent in the FBI' to help Ron DeSantis

• DOJ veterans shot down Trump's claim that he "sent in" the FBI to help Ron DeSantis win the 2018 Florida gubernatorial race.
• One former official called Trump's statements "bogus," while others said they were "nonsense" and "made-up crap."
• The feds are now investigating if "Stop The Steal" protests surrounding the 2018 Florida election served as a roadmap for the Capitol riot.

Seething from the rise of an emergent Republican rival, former President Donald Trump took to social media on Thursday to try to take credit for the first election of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

In Trumpian style, the string of posts on Truth Social gave the newly reelected Republican a nickname — "Ron DeSanctimonious" — and noted the former president's endorsement that elevated DeSantis from "desperate shape" to the governorship. But in another post, Trump went beyond simply relitigating the 2018 election to making a new, remarkable claim about his past support for DeSantis.

"After the Race, when votes were being stolen by the corrupt Election process in Broward County, and Ron was going down ten thousand votes a day, along with now-Senator Rick Scott," Trump wrote, "I sent in the FBI and the U.S. Attorneys, and the ballot theft immediately ended, just prior to them running out of the votes necessary to win. I stopped his Election from being stolen.…"

For several former Justice Department officials, Trump's evidence-free assertions caused more than raised eyebrows. It prompted eye-rolling, and with some, public denials that the Justice Department and FBI ever investigated 2018 election fraud at Trump's behest.

"Never happened," tweeted Sarah Isgur Flores, who served as a top Justice Department spokesperson in 2018.

In interviews, four former FBI and Justice Department officials told Insider that Trump's claims were almost certainly false, calling his assertion "bogus," "ridiculous," "complete nonsense," and "made-up crap."

"No possibility. Secondly, if it had happened, I cannot believe we wouldn't have heard about it long before now," a former senior FBI official, who asked for anonymity to discuss the issue candidly, told Insider. "It just looks like a rant."

In the 2018 election, Democrats retook the House majority but faltered in Florida, where Scott and DeSantis narrowly won their respective races. DeSantis prevailed over Andrew Gillum, then the Tallahassee mayor, by about 30,000 votes.

In Scott's race, his lead over Democratic opponent Bill Nelson was so slim that it led to a recount in several locations, including Broward County.

In the days after the election, Scott alleged without evidence that the slow pace of the recount allowed for illegally cast ballots to be counted. Trump and other high-profile Republicans also falsely suggested that Democrats were trying to steal the election.

On November 9, three days after Election Day 2018, scores of pro-Trump and pro-Scott demonstrators held a "Stop The Steal" demonstration in Broward County, demanding that election officials stop the recount. Scott eventually won his race by 10,000 votes.

Four years later, Trump appeared to be referring to that allegation with his Truth Social post asserting — similarly without evidence — that there was "ballot theft" and that the election was nearly "stolen."

But, as The Washington Post's Philip Bump pointed out, DeSantis' race was not as close as Scott's, and the aftermath of his election lacked the same drama. DeSantis' race had already been called by the evening of November 6 — Election Day in 2018.

So while Scott's victory was uncertain in the days after the election, there was no reason why DeSantis would not have had "the votes necessary to win," Bump noted.

Activities surrounding the 2018 Florida elections have attracted federal scrutiny — but not for the reasons the former president spouted off about on social media.

According to The New York Times, prosecutors are investigating if the Broward County "Stop The Steal" protest, and others in south Florida, served as a roadmap for the deadly Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.

The Times reported that the Broward County protest in particular drew support from members of the far-right, including the Proud Boys, the longtime GOP strategist Roger Stone, and Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz.

Members of the Proud Boys are set to stand trial next month on charges stemming from the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. That proceeding, featuring a seditious conspiracy charge, will follow on the heels of the trial of Oath Keepers founder Elmert Stewart Rhodes and four other members of the far-right group, who face accusations they plotted to forcibly prevent the peaceful transfer of power from Trump to then-President-elect Joe Biden.
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Trump didn't actually admit to ordering federal officials to interfere in a state election....did he?

[statquo]

Trump didn't actually admit to ordering federal officials to interfere in a state election....did he?

Sounds more like he blatantly lied about doing it which I don’t know if is worse

[statquo]

Gotta admit it’s kinda deja vu. Just like 2016, here we are 6 years later and Trump is feuding with Fox News and a (past) governor of Florida.

[TopHatter]

Sounds more like he blatantly lied about doing it which I don’t know if is worse

The man would lie about a cold blooded murder if he thought it would somehow help him.

[TopHatter]

The Real Reason Trump Runs
Pride and profit are bigger factors than policy—but there’s an even bigger reason.
Former President Donald Trump is expected to announce tonight that he will be a candidate for the presidency again in 2024. Two obvious questions come to mind: Why do it? and Why announce now?

There are any number of reasons Trump might have decided to try for something only Grover Cleveland has achieved before and retake the presidency after a term out of office. It’s hard to believe that he has any policy aims driving him, or that he feels he in any sense owes it to the Republican party or the MAGA faithful.

But it’s not at all difficult to believe that Trump may be driven by ego, pride, and the competitive instinct; he hates to lose and seems most energized when attacking his potential rivals. He also craves attention, wants to be center stage, and fears losing his place to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who proved a big winner in last week’s election while Trump—via his many failed endorsees—proved a big-time loser. He’s desperate to get the blame off his back and onto someone else’s.

And then there is greed. Trump is constantly looking for ways to mix politics and profit, and it’s likely that a “potential future president” can cut better deals than a mere “disgraced former president.” Yesterday, on the eve of his pre-announced announcement, news broke that his company signed a lucrative contract with a major Saudi developer to brand a golf-housing-hotel development in Muscat, Oman, with the Trump name.

For all the merit of those explanations, though, they pale in comparison to another: He’s scared witless at the possibility of prosecution. It seems likely that indictments are on their way from Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis (over Trump’s interference in the 2020 election in Georgia) and from Attorney General Merrick Garland (over Trump’s purloined national security secrets taken to Mar-a-Lago).

By formally becoming a presidential candidate, Trump thinks he’ll get an edge on prosecutors. He craves his narrative: “Dems are trying to take down an announced Republican candidate for President. UNPRECEDENTED!”

Translation should be unnecessary: “I’m a martyr! Defend me! Go after them.” Of course, it won’t matter to Fani Willis or the DOJ. He’s in their sights, and they’ll do what they do.

The possibility of spending time—perhaps even his last years—in prison has got to be an enormous motivation for Trump to run. If he gets convicted in Georgia, even if re-elected, he can’t pardon himself for a state conviction. Only the State Board of Pardons and Paroles has that authority in Georgia. And guess who appoints its five members, and who they might want to please? Governor Brian Kemp, with whom Trump has a long-simmering feud over Kemp certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 win in Georgia. Trump may take solace in the fact that a jury pool in Fulton County might well have a few of his true believers on it. One or two might slip in among the twelve jurors, and they could hang the jury, however strong Willis’s case.

As for federal indictment, any trial of Trump will be brought in Washington, D.C. The Justice Department has a perfect record there in convicting the only three January 6th insurrectionists to try their luck before juries.

Not to mention that in July, a D.C. jury took three hours to convict Trump crony Steve Bannon of contempt for stiffing the House January 6th Committee about testifying. Three hours is warp speed for a verdict, barely enough time to get the jury-room coffee brewing and elect a foreperson.

In Trump’s shoes, who wouldn’t be scared? His fright is what explains his rejecting a laundry list of sound political reasons he had not to announce now, as aides and Republican leaders had counseled.

First, the country just sent an unmistakable message that his brand is burnt, at least for now. In a midterm election where the sitting president’s party always suffers massive losses, Trump’s marquee “election-denier” candidates were losers—Mehmet Oz, Don Mastriano, Kristina Karamo, Kari Lake.

Second, Republicans are angry at Trump, blaming him for their poor showing in the midterms. Allowing time for the heat to drop would serve him well.

Third, money again: The Republican National Committee already announced that it would stop paying Trump’s legal bills if he formally became a candidate. Because he is being investigated on so many legal fronts, those bills are not pocket change.

And fourth, by formally announcing his candidacy, Trump loses the ability—legally at least!—to spend $100 million in PAC money however he wants. By law, the spending must not be associated with his campaign.

Trump giving up a dollar sooner than he has to is sure confirmation of fear. He hears the heavy footfall of the constable closing in behind him. He can’t stay still. He has to run.
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Well, guess we'll find out tonight what the big announcement is....

[TopHatter]

Welp, it's official. Hardly a surprise, what else can he do?

Donald Trump files federal paperwork for 2024 presidential run
Minutes before his scheduled 9 p.m. announcement from Mar-a-Lago,Trump filed a paperwork with the Federal Election Commission saying he was running for president in 2024, and setting up a fundraising account.
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[Albany Rifles]

The grift is in!

[TopHatter]

New candidate for Trump's VP pick: Kari Lake.

Not like she's got a lot on her plate right now anyway

[Albany Rifles]

New candidate for Trump's VP pick: Kari Lake.

Not like she's got a lot on her plate right now anyway

I was thinking Tulsi Gabbard actually

[Firestorm]

I was thinking Tulsi Gabbard actually

Gabbard is politically finished. Burned all bridges with the Dems and has too many unacceptable positions for the Repubs (abortion, drugs, single-payer healthcare, climate, financial regulation, etc.)

[Albany Rifles]

Gabbard is politically finished. Burned all bridges with the Dems and has too many unacceptable positions for the Repubs (abortion, drugs, single-payer healthcare, climate, financial regulation, etc.)

Didn't say it was a conventional choice. But considering its Trump who the hell knows who he picks! Did we really see John McCain picking Sarah Palin in 2008?

[DOR]

The American “Boris” should team up with Natasha !

[Firestorm]

Didn't say it was a conventional choice. But considering its Trump who the hell knows who he picks! Did we really see John McCain picking Sarah Palin in 2008?

To be honest I wasn't clued in to US politics back then so I don't exactly know how big of a surprise that was. But Palin, as ridiculous as she was, still had the "correct" views about all the stuff Republicans care about. And she was Christian unlike Gabbard.

[TopHatter]

I was thinking Tulsi Gabbard actually

She's definitely on the short list