Report: Trump Thinks His Attempts to Steal the Election Are Rip-Roaringly Hilarious

[babylonsister]

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/09/donald-trump-2020-election-laughs

Levin Report
Report: Trump Thinks His Attempts to Steal the Election Are Rip-Roaringly Hilarious
Undermining democracy is a real gas.
By Bess Levin
September 25, 2020


As you’ve likely heard by now, Donald Trump has spent months trying to undermine confidence in the election, a plot that reached a crescendo this week when he refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power and called for “the ballots” to be thrown out so that he can just be declared the winner. Obviously, the remarks were deeply disturbing to people who don’t want to live under an authoritarian regime reminiscent of Turkmenistan. But for Trump? Well, apparently he thought they were a real gas.

The Daily Beast reports that, according two people familiar with the matter, Trump was glued to the cable-news coverage in the hours after he made his comments to the press and remarked privately how amusing it was that his suggesting he’ll stay in office no matter what was vexing the media and liberals. “He seemed to get a real kick out of it,” one of the sources said, adding that Trump seemed to relish making the press, in his words, “go crazy” over his disdain for democratic norms. “[The president] wasn’t going to be playing by their rules on this just to make them feel comfortable,” the source said.

Of course, it’s not the media and liberals’ “rules”; a peaceful transfer of power is actually dictated by the Constitution, and it’s one of the ways you can tell the difference between the United States and countries where dictators rule. And while Trump and his sycophants might think it’s hilarious to sow doubt about the validity of the election and whether or not he’ll accept the outcome, not everyone is so tickled. Per the Daily Beast:

Outside the confines of Trumpland, few were laughing. Some of the president’s own former senior administration officials said they were appalled by the comments, finding them both utterly believable indications of intent and further evidence that the man they once served wasn’t just unfit for office, but a threat to public safety. “I continue to be concerned that the President’s reckless rhetoric will incite violence from fringe extremists,” said Elizabeth Neumann, a former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security for counterterrorism and threat prevention who has since endorsed Joe Biden. “All leaders must understand how precarious a moment we are in, which has been noted by multiple law enforcement and intelligence briefings. They have a responsibility to be careful with their words.”

According to a Justice Department prosecutor, there is internal concern in some department circles that Attorney General William Barr will join postelection lawsuits on behalf of the Trump campaign or its allies…. Any Justice Department intervention in election-related lawsuits would have “tremendous practical effect,” the prosecutor said. In addition to the quality of its lawyering—particularly within the solicitor-general’s office, should any case reach the Supreme Court—the attorneys hold prestige in federal appellate courts. Appointing a ninth Supreme Court justice to fill the seat held by the recently deceased Ruth Bader Ginsberg would likely act as a firewall should crucial election decisions reach the high court—something Trump and his vice president have mused about openly.

A Justice Department spokesperson did not response the Daily Beast’s request for comment, but as the prosecutor put it, Barr “is without limit to what he’ll do.”

[Zoonart]

1. Psychopath.

[Maeve]

2. He thinks it's a fucking reality show

Nothing is real, there are no consequences for bad behavior, just higher ratings

[Blue Owl]

9. Produced by Vlad Putin

n/t

[iemitsu]

3. Scary times.

I hope we all survive this.

[bdamomma]

5. we will

he won't. He's a wanna be. He's a freaking coward.

[iemitsu]

7. And a loser.

Crazy how many are willing to follow such an idiot.

[soothsayer]

4. Can't wait to be rid of him

[Thomas Hurt]

6. owning the libs...play it up for the base.

Try to cover it up as a joke. He still means to try no matter what he says now.

[zackymilly]

8. He reminds me of one of those original Star Trek episodes...

...where some powerful alien toys with people on a planet for his own amusement. We find out later that the alien was just some bratty child whose parents beam back home to be punished.

[smirkymonkey]

10. He doesn't take any of this seriously.

His entire life is just one big reality TV show and the bizarre thing is that there are people who will willingly get behind what ever bat-shit crazy thing he proposes. It is complete insanity. I honestly can't believe that this is the United States in 2020.

It's all a big joke to him, and he's laughing at everyone who is doing his bidding. We can't believe what he is getting away with, and I don't think he can either. His enablers and lackeys are the true villains here. They are the ones who are enabling him.

[Solly Mack]

11. I want that man gone. Sooner the better.

I'm not panicked by his remarks. I feel no despair. I'm as always - angry. Have been for years.

I don't put anything beyond his sick mind. He'll do or try to do anything he can do. There is nothing he wouldn't say to garner attention.

He's just one more asshole added to the list of assholes who have screwed Americans, America, and others. Maybe one day justice will finally prevail.