And so it begins. Nine months still to go before the next US presidential election and already the Republican party favourite and former President Donald Trump is sending eyes rolling skywards with his seemingly outlandish statements.

And yet they will delight many of his supporters.

Suggesting at a rally in South Carolina that he would “encourage” aggressors (for example Russia) “to do whatever the hell they want” with Nato countries that fail to pay their dues has prompted an immediate slap down from the White House. A spokesman called the comment “appalling and unhinged”, saying it was “encouraging invasions of our closest allies by murderous regimes”.

Nato Secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg has also responded forcefully, saying: “Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the US, and puts American and European soldiers at increased risk.”

  • dhork@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    But we are going to elect him anyway, because the other guy forgot a thing once. Just like we elected him 8 years ago, because the other one ran her own email server.

    • twistypencil@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Not if we beat the drum about him being insane, instead of letting him get away with it as just another wacky thing

    • NobodyElse@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      We’re going to get Trump again (barf) because the DNC insists on running shit candidates and refuses to acknowledge that they are bad, instead insisting that the voters are just too ignorant to understand how good their candidates really are.

      Hillary Clinton was a horrible candidate: immensely unpopular even with the Democrat base, running on a status quo platform right in the wake of disappointment with Obama’s failure to deliver on “hope and change”, and acting as if she was somehow entitled to the position.

      Biden is not as bad as Clinton in most ways, but is utterly lackluster and feels more like a moderate Republican. His unwavering support for Israel during their campaign of atrocities is despicable and shameful. The fact that he’s totally ancient and losing his mind isn’t helpful in the least. Why can’t we have a more compelling candidate from the DNC?!

      This post will get modded down and ignored, as will the incredibly common and widespread sentiment that it expresses, and we will get Trump again as the nation and the DNC acts shocked yet again. It’s so predictable and infuriating.

    • A_Very_Big_Fan@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I mean, the people did elect her. She won the popular vote, but as I understand it, the electoral college had different plans.

    • crusa187@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Despite how abhorrent Trump is, what if he actually got elected again simply because Americans are that fed up with establishment politics status quo? Maybe Americans are desperate for change, anything but the same abuse by corporate overlords we’ve suffered since the 1970s, even if we know it’s going to do more harm than good?

      Also, if you think the main reason Hillary lost is because of email-gate, consider that your own point of view may be compromised by Republican framing.

    • AnneBonny@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 year ago

      But we are going to elect him anyway, because the other guy forgot a thing once

      Are you going to pretend the genocide being carried out in Gaza is a non-factor?

  • fidodo@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Did Trump mean what he said? Probably not. This is typical Trump fare. Say something provocative, grab some headlines, outrage your critics and thrill your fans.

    Oh bull fucking shit, don’t downplay his idiocy and danger

  • twistypencil@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Can we all agree to say Trump has dementia, and constantly hound him, his supporters and gop about this, beating the drum non stop, instead of just pointing out his wild statements when they come up, we need to question his sanity constantly like they do about Biden senility. If rather have a forgetful old man, than a bonafide lunatic

  • ItsMeSpez@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Why should we, America, carry the burden of defending Europe when it won’t pay for its own defence?

    I love this sentiment simply because the idea that the US would be spending less on the military if they weren’t in NATO is ridiculous. There’s no stopping US military spending without absolutely crippling the US economy. Other NATO members spending more on their militaries will not save the US taxpayer a dime.

    • Dozzi92@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I’m actually okay with the idea that perhaps Europe ought to be more interested in bolstering their own defenses. The part about urging Russia toward aggression I think any reasonable person can see what’s wrong with that.

      But the military presence worldwide, in more instances than not, exists to protect corporate interests. I’m almost okay with the idea of scaling it all back. Tax money shouldn’t go to line pockets of the wealthy. The obvious issue is the immediate effect on the economy, but where do we draw the line? I know this site leans towards stopping the global corporatocracy, but I don’t know that anyone’s ready for things to really grind to a halt.

      So I guess we will just have to wait til next January and then we will see what happens!

      • ashok36@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Trump wants to sell weapons to Russia so they can take over Europe. I honestly think Trump just doesn’t like that there’s no many countries and leaders in Europe to keep track of and wishes it was all just run by one guy he can try him art of the deal bullshit on.

  • rusticus@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    If the US is stupid enough to elect this idiot a second time, then we deserve to become the banana republic we’ve instituted in countless other countries. I’m not too worried about it. He lost by 7 million votes in 2020 and about 1 million of his voters died with COVID. Plus I know at least a few percentage points of his voters that will not vote for him again. And I don’t know ANYONE that hasn’t voted for him before that are now interested in giving him their vote. It will take unprecedented election interference for Trump to win the electoral vote (there’s not a chance he wins the popular).

    • Sanity_in_Moderation@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I did the math a few years ago because I couldn’t find anyone else who had published it. This is rough and IANAM (mathmagicman).

      Every single day 8,000 boomers and above die, and 12,000 people turn 18 and those numbers are actually accelerating. If you use existing data to estimate conservative/liberal and likely voters within those groups it works out to a delta of 10,000 per day on a national scale. That’s 5,000 votes switching every single day. That might not seem like alot. Because it really isn’t. Out of 155 million votes cast, 10,000 is .006 percent. But here’s the thing. It’s cumulative. And it just doesn’t stop. It is relentless. it’s 300k a month, 3.6 million per year. And that pace is accelerating. Between 2020 and 2024 it’s a 15 million vote difference. By 2028 it’s 30 million.

      It used to be that people age into conservatism. But that is not happening with millennials. The demographics are changing, and changing quickly. The most conservative group in the country is dying. While the most liberal group is rising.

      We just have to hold on to democracy for a few more years. This will all be behind us. Another 10k today.