Donald Trump has said that he will not become a dictator if he becomes US president again except “on day one”, after warnings from Democrats and some Republicans that the US was in danger of becoming an autocracy if he wins the 2024 election. Fuck, well at least he’s honest on this statement

    • enkers@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      Yup, and Trump doesn’t have a choice. It’s looking more and more likely that he’s going to lose a lot of money and potentially face jail time. His only way out is to seize power. Since he’s backed himself into a corner, he’ll try everything to steal the next election, including another coup attempt.

      I don’t personally think it’ll work, but on the slim chance it does many of us will be facing an existential threat which will require swift action. He’s already publicly stated that he sees leftists as vermin which need to be eradicated, and I, for one, don’t want to give him the chance to act on that threat.

      • NOT_RICK@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Yeah and Donnie’s definition of leftist is anyone that isn’t actively deep throating his boot

      • deweydecibel@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Of course he has a choice.

        He can choose facing the consequences of his actions.

        If that’s unappealing, he can also choose to, let’s say, “pull an Epstein”.

        Let’s not give him the benefit of saying this is the only “strategy” he has left, because that implies you can’t blame him for trying. Like any reasonable person in his position would do the same thing.

        And that’s complete nonsense. He’s not an animal stuck in a bear trap, he’s a human being, who has been very open about his penchant for fascism long before he was charged.

        • enkers@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          I’m speaking pragmatically. Perhaps ‘choice’ wasn’t the best word.

          He can choose facing the consequences of his actions.

          If that’s unappealing, he can also choose to, let’s say, “pull an Epstein”.

          I find both of these alternatives extremely unlikely, but here’s hoping.

      • DogWater@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        The leftists need to learn how to use guns and own them. SocialistRA and liberalgunowners are communities that welcome leftist gun enthusiasts and new comers who want to learn for whatever reason.

    • snekerpimp@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      This is the “best” America can push forward, we are already fucked. We were fucked 24 years ago.

      • grue@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        We were fucked 24 years ago.

        Exactly: that’s when the first coup (the Brooks Brothers Riot) succeeded.

    • YoBuckStopsHere@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I don’t think the American people would ever let a Dictator get that far. If Trump gets nominated by the GOP you’ll see so much violence that by election day the entire course of history in the United States will be forever changed. I personally believe the GOP will not let him be nominated and will reject him. Trump will run third party and split the vote and give the Democrats a huge win.

      • agent_flounder@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I wished I could be so optimistic. They have had endless chances to reject him and haven’t. It’s almost like Putin has some leverage on a bunch of em lol.

        He will get nominated, but hopefully my fellow Americans will not let him return to the white house.

      • sailingbythelee@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I wish that were true, but I suspect that the American people have become too passive to resist a dictator. He won’t take over by force, but cloaked in legitimacy, just like Hitler and Mussolini did. Heck, you don’t even have to go back that far. That’s Putin’s playbook, too. A Republican President also has a Supreme Court that favors very strong presidential powers and a permanently divided and largely impotent Congress. No real resistance there.

        So, what’s left? The police? American police would love having more power under a dictator. The public hates cops these days, and a dictator would restore their “rightful place” as respected and feared enforcers who will “clean up the streets”.

        The military? Well, that’s a wild card. They may not support a dictator, but they also don’t want to start a civil war. I think a US dictator will give himself enough legal cover and legitimacy to convince the military to hang back from interfering in politics.

        The most likely source of resistance is from individual states. However, I’m not sure what they can do, realistically. Secession would certainly start a civil war, which would play right into the dictator’s hands, giving him the perfect excuse to suspend rights and use the military for domestic purposes.

        • prole@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          The military? Well, that’s a wild card.

          Just want to mention Tommy Tuberville holding up military appointments. Unrelated I’m sure.

          Despite claiming he will stop blocking such appointments, he is still going to continue blocking the appointments of 3 and 4 star generals.

      • Omega@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        They literally had the chance to stop him during his second impeachment after the attempted insurrection. Anyone who didn’t do it then, sure as hell isn’t going to do anything now.

        The last thing the GOP wants to do is piss off his supporters right before the next presidential election. The electoral college could have ousted him during the 2016 election (as people had floated around) too. There’s just not enough people are willing or have the desire to reject him. Many would love to have him as a dictator, they just need the right pieces in the SCOTUS to say it’s in the constitution.

        He’s 100% going to be the nominee now. Even if he goes to jail, he’s still going to be the nominee. The time for anything different is LONG past.

      • prole@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        Why do you think there will be violence before the election, but after Trump’s nomination? In this scenario, in your mind, who are the ones that kick off this violence?

        • YoBuckStopsHere@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Historical evidence on the rise of Dictators. You have to opress your opposition through violence to look strong. I foresee Kent State style responses from Trump loyalists in law enforcement.

          • prole@sh.itjust.works
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            1 year ago

            Before the election? Why would they do it before the election? I don’t really understand what you’re saying.

            • Mirshe@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              If you prosecute violence against your opposition, publicly and with great force, you run a good chance of terrifying large portions of your opposition’s voting base into not voting for fear of implied violence.

              • prole@sh.itjust.works
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                1 year ago

                Yes, and Jan 6 happened after the election…

                They will be fine (as fine as these nutjobs can be) until the results are announced. If Trump loses, then they go crazy. If he wins, they’ll be very happy (but also go crazy because these people are insane).

  • MeekerThanBeaker@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    “It is with great reluctance that I have agreed to this calling. I love democracy. I love the Republic. Once this crisis has abated, I will lay down the powers you have given me!

    –Chancellor Palpatine

  • Chainweasel@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    You can only become a dictator one time, after that you are a dictator.
    So he’ll only “become” a dictator on day one, the rest of his life hell just be a dictator.
    And let’s not entertain the fantasy that his heath will catch up to him sooner rather than later, remember he has access to better healthcare than 99% of the population and it’s entirely state funded.
    We’ll be stuck with him for at least a decade, but I wonder who will inherit the throne when he’s gone?

  • Ann Archy@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    You know your country is a failure when the perpetrator of a previous coup attempt is allowed to run for office again like nothing happened.

    Can you use those 2A rights to defend against tyranny anytime soon or does that only cover school shootings and gang violence?

    • grue@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Why wouldn’t they be fine with it? A dictatorship is exactly what those traitors genuinely want.

    • ReallyActuallyFrankenstein@lemmynsfw.com
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      1 year ago

      The scary thing is they literally don’t even hear it. It doesn’t get played on Fox News, and hearing it from any other source will make them prejudge it and ignore it as liberal propaganda.

  • dangblingus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    1 year ago

    Remember: Trump mocked a disabled person on national television, he raped a 13 year old girl and settled out of court, he called for all of the violence on January 6th 2021 and the overthrow of the American government’s peaceful transition of power, he ordered the use of MOAB, he wasted billions upon billions of taxpayer dollars building a sham wall that hasn’t kept out undocumented immigrants, he moved the American embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, he’s cheated on every single wife he’s ever had, he’s currently charged with 91 criminal charges related to rampant tax fraud, he destroyed Atlantic City, he saluted an enemy general in North Korea, he asked for Russian hackers to perform cyberattacks on his political rivals, he illegally attempted to blackmail Zelenskyy by demanding dirt on the Bidens in exchange for military aid, he ordered law enforcement to open fire on protestors, he gave tax breaks to the rich and increased the taxes on the working class, he brags about sexual assault, and he just told everyone he will be a dictator.

    Better vote for him? Don’t Americans watch the news?

  • Furbag@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    The guy who says he should be allowed to serve three terms because the Democrats supposedly obstructed his agenda? The guy who says we should re-do the 2020 election after losing? That’s the guy you’re going to trust to be a 1-day dictator, huh?

    • TechyDad@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      He’ll only be a dictator for one day. In completely unrelated news, Dictator Trump has proclaimed that every day is his first day in office. Since his second day in office never officially arrives, he can remain a dictator and not have to worry about his term ending. /s

  • masquenox@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Riiight… so what has happened to make the Great Orange Hope magically more competent at fascism than he was during his first stint at the Waffle House?

    His best trick (so far) was to sicc a white lynch mob on the capitol that was so incompetent it only managed to lynch some of their fascist besties (ie, police).

    Trump is more dangerous outside the Waffle House than he is inside it - all the traction the fascists got out of Trump essentially ended when he became SCROTUS.

    Trump doesn’t want to be the head honcho - he wants a mass of foaming MAGA hive-mind stroking his ego while he rants at them from a podium - and it’s much easier to achieve that while he is running for pres than actually being the pres. That is when Trump is at his most dangerous.

    And, of course, liberals will do nothing to stop all this except to try and get their “good cop” into the Waffle House… but they will be sure to heckle antifa and BLM from the sidelines when these movements do the actual necessary work of physically confronting the white supremacists and their fascist besties (ie, the police) in the streets.

    • dangblingus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 year ago

      It’s exponentially easier to be a fascist dictator than a conscientious democratic leader. One gives you ultimate power and authority, the other forces you into meetings where you have to weigh the pros and cons of policy and how the economy will perform on an international scale.

      • masquenox@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        It’s exponentially easier to be a fascist dictator than a conscientious democratic leader.

        I wouldn’t know… I’ve never been either. I do have experience being subject to the former, but not the latter.

    • orrk@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      the answer is more republican backing, the Republican Party has purged its self of a lot of its internal opposition