Lest we forget, Trump started the rumor that he was going to be arrested last Tuesday.

[kentuck]

And some talking heads on cable television picked up on it and it monopolized the coverage for a few days.

But, the message that Trump was going to be arrested never came out of the Manhattan DA"s office, as far as we know.

It was a propaganda ploy by Donald Trump to focus on the misdemeanor, rather than the felonies.

He is a master of media manipulations.

[Turbineguy]

1. He can now up the threat.

"they're coming to take me away hah hah."

[niyad]

2. And 1.5 million richer.

[Ocelot II]

3. And it wasn't just the media; a lot of people took the bait - including many on DU,

who, when it didn't happen, announced with great certainty that it was never going to happen.

[kentuck]

4. True.

DU is not exempt from propaganda.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

7. Oh yeah,

especially in this thread.

https://democraticunderground.com/100217755552

[BlackSkimmer]

9. I never thought it would happen,

I still don’t.

[Hortensis]

19. Yes. Which came first for some -- "believing" tRump (!) or

looking forward to having negative expectations about government fulfilled when it didn't (would never!) happen?

Thinking traps.

[Ocelot II]

20. In many cases the latter.

There might also be some malign social media influences...

[Hortensis]

21. "Might" for sure.

Literally thousands of repetitions of the pattern every week. Those trapped in negative thinking syndromes aren't going to realize what they've become part of.

[bucolic_frolic]

5. And the networks increased ratings

It's political-media symbiosis

[ProfessorGAC]

13. Did It?

I know the media likes to talk about how TFG was good for ratings.
But, aggregate viewership is pretty much the same in 2015, 2017, 2019 and now.
There was a dual bump in 2020 because of both the election & COVID.
So, the media apparently continues to lie to themselves.
Despite Moonves' statement in 2016, TFG was really not better for business than most other high profile politicians. (Admittedly, Faux is an modest exception. )

[lastlib]

6. If you don't like the rumors you're hearing, start your own........

That's pretty much what FOOL* did--I wonder what rumors he was hearing that he didn't like?

(*FOOL: Former Office-Occupying Liar)

[BlackSkimmer]

8. He sent DU into an uproar.

I had no idea so many people here would believe anything that comes out of his mouth.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

10. I found it hilarious at how many here and in the real world

fell for his bullshit proclamation and then when it didn't happen, had a meltdown.

It Was Epic.

[Ocelot II]

12. It was both epic and disheartening.

1. TFG pulls nonsense about being arrested out of his fat orange rump and posts it on his fake Twitter thing.
2. 24-hour cable news outlets, with nothing better to do, report on it.
3. Said cable news outlets invite multiple pundits to opine on TFG's gaseous rectal emissions.
4. The pundits speculate without evidence and reach conclusions, also without evidence.
5. People hang on every word from MSNBC, and eagerly await the indictment and TFG's arrest on Tuesday.
6. TFG is not arrested on Tuesday as he predicted because it wasn't ever going to happen as he predicted.
7. The cable tv pundits backtrack and point out that maybe it won't happen this week after all.
8. People fall into a frenzy of despair because TFG wasn't arrested on Tuesday.
9. People predict that TFG will never, ever be indicted or arrested because it didn't happen on Tuesday.
10. People are angry at being reminded that there was no reason to believe TFG because there never is.

[ProfessorGAC]

14. Quite Succinctly Summed Up! (nt)

[MarineCombatEngineer]

15. Yep,

exactly right.

[BlackSkimmer]

23. Lol, well stated!

Perfect.

[BlackSkimmer]

22. It really was.

Sadly, the ones who fell for it are exactly whom I expected to do so!

[ripcord]

11. One thing is for sure, he is living rent free in a number of people's heads

[MichMan]

16. A bunch of people here were posting it too

Some saying it was going to be the greatest day of their lives

[Mr. Ected]

17. He was probably told to expect an indictment as soon as the next week

He made up a day and ran with it. In the interim additional evidence and testimony changed Bragg's trajectory and timeframe. We all know an arrest is imminent. I know there's a lot of naysayers but they're only saying that to protect themselves against the pain of yet another disappointment.

He's going down. Soon. And often.

[sarcasmo]

18. Trump raised 1.5 million, and gave MSNBC a week of "What if" programming.

[choie]

24. Some talking heads?

Pretty much everybody, from talking heads to Twitter so-called experts got suckered by the trump generated rumor.

[IcyPeas]

25. It was a trial balloon. He wanted a snapshot of what his base would do and the media gobbled

It up. I'm getting tired of the panels of experts on cable news too. IT'S ALL SPECULATION and WHAT IFS.