Project 2025: How to Start a Fascist Takeover in 180 Days!

[Ralin]

I don't see any particular connection between those things

One is prefectly legal, a future leader talking to foreign leaders.
The other is a private citizen talking to foreign leaders, which is called "conspiracy with foreign powers" and considered 'spying'.

And that has...what to do with anything I said, exactly?

[aerius]

I don't see any particular connection between those things

One is prefectly legal, a future leader talking to foreign leaders.
The other is a private citizen talking to foreign leaders, which is called "conspiracy with foreign powers" and considered 'spying'.

Seriously? You actually have a law that says your private citizens talking to foreign leaders is literally spying and treason? I'm not saying I don't believe it since your country is full of retarded bullshit, but I'd like to see a citation of the relevant laws on this one.

[Gandalf]

If private citizens talking to foreign leaders is treason, how do US media people interview foreign leaders?

[Patrick Ogaard]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan_act
To quote Wikipedia:
The Logan Act (1 Stat. 613, 18 U.S.C. § 953, enacted January 30, 1799) is a United States federal law that criminalizes the negotiation of a dispute between the United States and a foreign government by an unauthorized American citizen.

[Batman]

How would that even work? A private citizen is BY DEFINITION not authorized to negotiate on the government's behalf.

[Patrick Ogaard]

Negotiating with private citizens has a long tradition when it comes to acquiring colonial holdings. One could assume that a suitably powerful nation could use such an agreement as a lever, a sturdy cudgel, or a casus belli.
Of course, the Logan Act is notoriously difficult to apply to anything, except possibly when printed out, mashed and applied as a poultice.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

How would that even work? A private citizen is BY DEFINITION not authorized to negotiate on the government's behalf.

Trump never got that memo, claiming he'd "sort out" Ukraine within 24 hours of being elected.

[Batman]

Of course he would. He'd just GIVE it to Russia.

[Elfdart]

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/20 ... of-health/

First thing to do when setting up your fascist machine: purge all the intellectuals and anyone who opposes you! Doctors and educators must go!

Though in this case, it looks like the dude is literally just bat shit crazy… which is why Trump loves him of course.

[Elfdart]

True, although IIRC it wouldn’t have been as nearly as lopsided as it is now (IIRC Americans were actually expecting Canadians to put up a fight versus today we probably wouldn’t last an hour). Believe it or not Canadians actually had an invasion plan of their own just incase they needed to do a preemptive strike to try and slow down an American attack. Never going to win, but they figured they could give a good bloody nose on the way out I suppose.

Not that it needs to come to a conventional war - between the total economic dominance and the ability to lend heavy support to whatever faction they desire, it wouldn’t be that hard to install a puppet regime. Well, I mean more of a puppet regime than we have right now anyways.

Only reason why I can think of why there would be a potential conventional war between Canada and the US is if Trump decided he wanted to flex the US military might and show off by pounding a defenceless “socialist” neighbour into the ground. I mean, Trump being Trump it’s not an impossibility with him, but not very likely either. Much easier just to install a puppet.

He's more likely to go after Mexico. That's where all the "Brown People" and Immigrants are coming from, after all. Plus, he can point out that Mexico is lawless with all the murders and drug cartels in power.

That could be fun to watch if he decides to go after the cartels

It's an obvious ruse to justify the ethnic cleansing of millions of Hispanics. If the US is at war with Mexico, then Mexicans* can be deported, according to Il Douchebag's logic.

* By which he means "Brown People" whether they're immigrants or natural born US citizens. One thing these fascists crave almost as much as cops killing black people with impunity is ending birthright citizenship guaranteed under the 14th Amendment. After all, Trump still denies that Obama was born in America.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Of course he does, he doesn't accept that Obama was born two years after Hawaii became USA's 50th state

[Elfdart]

How would that even work? A private citizen is BY DEFINITION not authorized to negotiate on the government's behalf.

It's meant to stop private citizens from meddling in disputes between the US and foreign governments:

Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

This section shall not abridge the right of a citizen to apply, himself or his agent, to any foreign government or the agents thereof for redress of any injury which he may have sustained from such government or any of its agents or subjects.

Accusing political opponents of being agents of a foreign power without evidence is a long-standing tradition among mouth-breathers, sore losers and dullards. For example:

Trump has recruited a Russian spy as his intel chief

Citation needed.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

How would that even work? A private citizen is BY DEFINITION not authorized to negotiate on the government's behalf.

It's meant to stop private citizens from meddling in disputes between the US and foreign governments:

Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

This section shall not abridge the right of a citizen to apply, himself or his agent, to any foreign government or the agents thereof for redress of any injury which he may have sustained from such government or any of its agents or subjects.

Accusing political opponents of being agents of a foreign power without evidence is a long-standing tradition among mouth-breathers, sore losers and dullards. For example:

Trump has recruited a Russian spy as his intel chief

Citation needed.

Would Tulsi Gabbard bring a pro-Russian bias to intelligence reporting?

Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence rejects accusations that she has been an apologist for the Russian and Syrian regimes.

Days after Russia launched an unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with missiles and artillery rounds raining down on Kyiv and other cities, former Democratic lawmaker Tulsi Gabbard posted a perplexing video message.

“It’s time to put geopolitics aside and embrace the spirit of aloha, respect and love, for the Ukrainian people by coming to an agreement that Ukraine will be a neutral country—i.e. no military alliance with NATO or Russia,” the former Hawaii congresswoman wrote on social media. Such an arrangement would “allow the Ukrainian people to live in peace. Aloha.”

Unlike her former colleagues in Congress and the leaders of Western democratic countries, Gabbard offered no condemnation of Russia and no reference to the unprovoked nature of the attack.

For Gabbard’s critics, the video message reflects an alarming pattern of siding with Russia and other authoritarian regimes, raising questions about whether she should serve as America’s top-ranking intelligence official. Her selection has alarmed lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, though most Republicans have refrained from public criticism.

If confirmed by the Senate as President-elect Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence (DNI), Gabbard would oversee 18 spy agencies and have the final say over what intelligence is delivered to the commander in chief.

The job of the DNI is to provide the president with the unvarnished truth as best as the intelligence community can ascertain it. But current and former intelligence officials fear that Gabbard would refuse to relay intelligence reporting that doesn’t fit in with her — or the president’s — worldview.

“Would that predisposition translate into pressure on analysis to fit the administration’s policy goals?” one senior former intelligence official said. “We’ll see.”

Previous administrations have clashed with the CIA and intelligence agencies over assessments that didn’t support their policy agendas or their views about a particular threat or an adversary’s intentions. George W. Bush’s administration was accused of cherry-picking intelligence that backed up its assertions about Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s weapons programs.

However, Gabbard would pose a potentially unprecedented dilemma for U.S. intelligence agencies — a top official who may not share an underlying premise about which countries are America’s major enemies.

The DNI’s job “is to define the world as it is, as opposed to advocating for a world as you want it to be,” the former intelligence official said.

Former U.S. intelligence officials and lawmakers also worry that Gabbard and the new Trump administration might decide to scale back intelligence sharing with Ukraine, possibly in an attempt to force Kyiv to agree to a peace deal.

Such a move would be devastating for Ukraine’s war effort, which is heavily dependent on American intelligence. Trump and those he has picked to serve in his administration have expressed skepticism about continuing to provide large-scale military aid to Ukraine, but have stopped short of saying they plan to withhold intelligence from Kyiv.

Gabbard has rejected accusations she is a mouthpiece for Russia or the Syrian regime and has portrayed herself as a target of interventionist hawks trying to silence her. Her office did not respond to a request for comment.

During her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, Gabbard told an audience in New Hampshire that she would be prepared to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin or Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to help avoid conflict. But she said America’s political culture has become hostile to the idea of diplomacy.

“I think it’s dangerous that we are in a place now where our media culture and political culture are openly and roundly criticizing diplomacy,” Gabbard said. “This is one of the reasons why we find ourselves in a perpetual state of ongoing regime change wars.”

But lawmakers and former intelligence officials say some of her comments, and a secret visit in 2017 to meet Syria’s Assad, have cast doubt on her judgment and raised questions about whether she is inclined to make excuses for foreign adversaries.

Gabbard’s past comments related to Russia and Syria suggest “somebody who’s predisposed to conspiracy, somebody who’s predisposed to disparaging fact-based information,” another former senior intelligence official said.

Gabbard has posted on social media about U.S. “bio labs” in Ukraine, which she described as dangerous. But her critics say her post closely echoed Russian disinformation falsely claiming the existence of American biological weapons labs in Ukraine. In fact, Washington has supported civilian Ukrainian biological research laboratories to promote public health, not weapons labs.

Gabbard later sought to “clarify” her statements, saying she was only referring to bio research and not weapons labs.

Trump’s selection of Gabbard for DNI and his pick for attorney general, Matt Gaetz, who has vowed to go after perceived enemies of the new administration, have caused dismay and alarm among some employees in the intelligence community, current and former officials said. But most intelligence officers would wait and see how the new leadership performs and try to make them successful, they said.

“They are going to toe the line,” the former intelligence officer said. “Their goals are going to be to make sure those new leaders are well informed, well briefed, and that they understand the complexities.”

He added: “I think all they’ll ask is that their analysis be presented to the president.”

As director of national intelligence, Gabbard would oversee the budget for America’s array of powerful intelligence agencies, decide what material should be declassified and manage the president’s daily intelligence briefing. The director usually attends the presidential briefing in person.

However, Gabbard would not have authority over covert operations and America’s spying network. Those activities rest with the CIA.

The Hawaii native has been accused of aligning herself with autocrats, including Putin, Assad and Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. She met Sissi on a visit to Cairo in 2015 and praised him for showing “great courage and leadership” in the fight against “extreme Islamist ideology.” Two years earlier, Sissi presided over attacks on protesters that killed hundreds.

Gabbard also has friendly relations with nationalist Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his supporters in the U.S. Modi has faced criticism from human rights organizations and Western countries for his government’s treatment of India’s Muslim minority. The former congresswoman received thousands of dollars in campaign donations from prominent pro-Modi expatriates in the U.S. tied to far-right Hindu nationalist organizations.

Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said he had “deep questions about where her loyalties lie” and “her long-standing affinity” for autocrats and U.S. adversaries.

“We get a lot of intelligence from our allies, and there I would be worried about a chilling effect,” Crow told NBC News.

He said he was especially concerned that the other members of the so-called “Five Eyes” intelligence alliance — the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand — might be unwilling to share sensitive information “because they’re concerned about sources and methods being protected, or what will happen with that intelligence.”

[wautd]

I don't see any particular connection between those things

One is prefectly legal, a future leader talking to foreign leaders.
The other is a private citizen talking to foreign leaders, which is called "conspiracy with foreign powers" and considered 'spying'.

Seriously? You actually have a law that says your private citizens talking to foreign leaders is literally spying and treason? I'm not saying I don't believe it since your country is full of retarded bullshit, but I'd like to see a citation of the relevant laws on this one.

Having Musk, an unelected oligarch with political power, having private phone calls with hostile regimes like Iran and Russia is pretty worrying and problematic at best. I don't see how this can be legal.
The faster Musk gets kicked out from Trump's orbit, the better. One less narcissist grifter to worry about

[Elfdart]

Would Tulsi Gabbard bring a pro-Russian bias to intelligence reporting?

This article reads like something the Birchers would have puked up around 1955. Someone wants diplomacy instead of wars or other violence? Clearly an agent of the Kremlin, with pockets filled with Moscow's gold!

Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence rejects accusations that she has been an apologist for the Russian and Syrian regimes.

Days after Russia launched an unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with missiles and artillery rounds raining down on Kyiv and other cities, former Democratic lawmaker Tulsi Gabbard posted a perplexing video message.

“It’s time to put geopolitics aside and embrace the spirit of aloha, respect and love, for the Ukrainian people by coming to an agreement that Ukraine will be a neutral country—i.e. no military alliance with NATO or Russia,” the former Hawaii congresswoman wrote on social media. Such an arrangement would “allow the Ukrainian people to live in peace. Aloha.”

Unlike her former colleagues in Congress and the leaders of Western democratic countries, Gabbard offered no condemnation of Russia and no reference to the unprovoked nature of the attack.

Maybe that's because the attack wasn't unprovoked. Being provoked doesn't excuse Russia's conduct, but claiming NATO and Ukraine didn't provoke them is silly.

For Gabbard’s critics, the video message reflects an alarming pattern of siding with Russia and other authoritarian regimes, raising questions about whether she should serve as America’s top-ranking intelligence official. Her selection has alarmed lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, though most Republicans have refrained from public criticism.

By this logic, the fact that Obama wanted no part of confronting Russia over Crimea, Georgia or Syria means he was "siding" with Russia. This kind of lunacy used to be exclusive turf of crackpot outlets like National Review, who accused almost everyone of being Russian agents. They even claimed that the reason Obama had a black father and a white mother was because of a plot hatched by (brace yourselves!)....

TEH RUSHINS!

If confirmed by the Senate as President-elect Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence (DNI), Gabbard would oversee 18 spy agencies and have the final say over what intelligence is delivered to the commander in chief.

The job of the DNI is to provide the president with the unvarnished truth as best as the intelligence community can ascertain it. But current and former intelligence officials fear that Gabbard would refuse to relay intelligence reporting that doesn’t fit in with her — or the president’s — worldview.

“Would that predisposition translate into pressure on analysis to fit the administration’s policy goals?” one senior former intelligence official said. “We’ll see.”

Speculation from an anonymous coward does not a case make.

Previous administrations have clashed with the CIA and intelligence agencies over assessments that didn’t support their policy agendas or their views about a particular threat or an adversary’s intentions. George W. Bush’s administration was accused of cherry-picking intelligence that backed up its assertions about Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s weapons programs.

However, Gabbard would pose a potentially unprecedented dilemma for U.S. intelligence agencies — a top official who may not share an underlying premise about which countries are America’s major enemies.

Good! Our so-called "intelligence" agencies have spent almost eighty years propagandizing the American people into believing that the reason other people in other lands take issue with the Empire is that they are vile and wicked beyond redemption and being evil, hate us because they just can't stand to see so much goodness in one place. Therefore, when we rob, rape, torture and kill them, it's for their own good!

Someone who isn't brainwashed by the National Security State cult would be a BIG improvement.

The DNI’s job “is to define the world as it is, as opposed to advocating for a world as you want it to be,” the former intelligence official said.

Former U.S. intelligence officials and lawmakers also worry that Gabbard and the new Trump administration might decide to scale back intelligence sharing with Ukraine, possibly in an attempt to force Kyiv to agree to a peace deal.

Are these U.S. intelligence officials employed to serve the USA or Ukraine? Last time I checked, there were still only fifty stars on our flag and none of them represent Ukraine.

Such a move would be devastating for Ukraine’s war effort, which is heavily dependent on American intelligence. Trump and those he has picked to serve in his administration have expressed skepticism about continuing to provide large-scale military aid to Ukraine but have stopped short of saying they plan to withhold intelligence from Kyiv.

Trump was elected fair and square. I don't like it one bit, but if there's one thing I really despise it's the idea of spooks who've read too many Tom Clancy novels as anything other than low comedy who think they should have more of a say in who the chief executive appoints than the president himself.

Gabbard has rejected accusations she is a mouthpiece for Russia or the Syrian regime and has portrayed herself as a target of interventionist hawks trying to silence her. Her office did not respond to a request for comment.

Considering that most of the animosity aimed at Gabbard stems from her endorsement of Bernie Sanders in 2016, and that NBC brought a known serial rapist by the name of Harvey Weinstein on the air to smear Bernie (on the grounds that he has "issues" with women), I'm not surprised Gabbard wouldn't give them the time of day.

During her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, Gabbard told an audience in New Hampshire that she would be prepared to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin or Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to help avoid conflict. But she said America’s political culture has become hostile to the idea of diplomacy.

“I think it’s dangerous that we are in a place now where our media culture and political culture are openly and roundly criticizing diplomacy,” Gabbard said. “This is one of the reasons why we find ourselves in a perpetual state of ongoing regime change wars.”

My god! What a monster!

But lawmakers and former intelligence officials say some of her comments, and a secret visit in 2017 to meet Syria’s Assad, have cast doubt on her judgment and raised questions about whether she is inclined to make excuses for foreign adversaries.

Gabbard’s past comments related to Russia and Syria suggest “somebody who’s predisposed to conspiracy, somebody who’s predisposed to disparaging fact-based information,” another former senior intelligence official said.

More innuendo from anonymous cowards.

What's hilarious about this particular smear is that US "intelligence" didn't just meet with Assad, they used his regime as a sub-contractor for kidnapping and torture. When the CIA abducted Maher Arar, they sent him to Syria to be worked over. But Gabbard is a villain for talking to him.

Gabbard has posted on social media about U.S. “bio labs” in Ukraine, which she described as dangerous. But her critics say her post closely echoed Russian disinformation falsely claiming the existence of American biological weapons labs in Ukraine. In fact, Washington has supported civilian Ukrainian biological research laboratories to promote public health, not weapons labs.

Gabbard later sought to “clarify” her statements, saying she was only referring to bio research and not weapons labs.

I gather that "echoed Russian disinformation" is the new version of "being a fellow traveler", a favorite smear by McCarthyites.

Now it is a real fuck-up on her part and she deserves a good roasting for it. However, I don't remember so many hysterical comments from these sources about Biden's claim that he saw forty beheaded babies from the October 7th raid, or his (and Harris') claims about Hamas mass-raping Israeli women last October, when 13 months later not a single victim has been produced. I guess echoing only some countries' agitprop is OK.

Trump’s selection of Gabbard for DNI and his pick for attorney general, Matt Gaetz, who has vowed to go after perceived enemies of the new administration, have caused dismay and alarm among some employees in the intelligence community, current and former officials said.

Given the crimes and atrocities some of these creeps have committed, it would be a welcome purge, though I doubt Trump would do it except for those who annoy him personally.

The Hawaii native has been accused of aligning herself with autocrats, including Putin, Assad and Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. She met Sissi on a visit to Cairo in 2015 and praised him for showing “great courage and leadership” in the fight against “extreme Islamist ideology.” Two years earlier, Sissi presided over attacks on protesters that killed hundreds.

The same Abdel Fattah el-Sisi that US "intelligence" services encouraged to overthrow the elected Morsi government at the same time that Obama himself was trying to support democracy in Egypt?

Gabbard also has friendly relations with nationalist Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his supporters in the U.S. Modi has faced criticism from human rights organizations and Western countries for his government’s treatment of India’s Muslim minority. The former congresswoman received thousands of dollars in campaign donations from prominent pro-Modi expatriates in the U.S. tied to far-right Hindu nationalist organizations.

She has some nerve! Didn't anyone explain to Gabbard that if you're going to get campaign contributions from folks who get off on terrorizing Muslims, you're supposed to get them from AIPAC?

Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said he had “deep questions about where her loyalties lie” and “her long-standing affinity” for autocrats and U.S. adversaries.

“We get a lot of intelligence from our allies, and there I would be worried about a chilling effect,” Crow told NBC News.

He said he was especially concerned that the other members of the so-called “Five Eyes” intelligence alliance — the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand — might be unwilling to share sensitive information “because they’re concerned about sources and methods being protected, or what will happen with that intelligence.”

This is awfully rich, coming from a paid Israeli agent whose campaign received over $218,000 from AIPAC and other fronts for a country currently perpetrating genocide. Being accused of suspect loyalty by this Israeli fifth columnist is like being called a pervert by Jeffrey Epstein.

[Zwinmar]

Maybe that's because the attack wasn't unprovoked. Being provoked doesn't excuse Russia's conduct, but claiming NATO and Ukraine didn't provoke them is silly.

The only thing provoking Russia is Russia. All they had to do was stay in their own borders but they would rather make a resource grab and try to commit genocide doing it.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Wrestling's Linda McMahon and a vaccine sceptic: Who Trump has chosen for his top team so far?

President-elect Donald Trump has nominated the billionaire co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Linda McMahon as the next education secretary.

Days after he secured a historic win against Kamala Harris in the US election on November 5, the president-elect has started making key appointments.

With the Republicans controlling the Senate, White House and House of Representatives, Trump now has the power to swiftly fill cabinet positions and push forward his political agenda for the next two years.

During the campaign, Trump avoided confirming names for his top team but often hinted at his preferred choices.

He seems to be appointing those who stayed loyal to him after his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, as well as those who align with his policies on immigration, the economy, and foreign affairs.

His previous US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and former director of the CIA Mike Pompeo have not made the list.

So who has Trump selected so far?

Whilst McMahon is relatively unknown in education circles, she's served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year starting in 2009 and spent years on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University in Connecticut.

“Linda will use her decades of Leadership experience, and deep understanding of both Education and Business, to empower the next Generation of American Students" Mr Trump said in a statement.

Before entering politics, McMahon ran World Wrestling Entertainment, or WWE, with her husband Vince McMahon.

McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump's first presidency, and she supported his campaigns with financial contributions and her leadership of outside groups.

Dr Mehmet Oz is a former television talk show host and heart surgeon and appeared on Oprah's chat show as a health expert.

If confirmed by the Senate, Oz would be responsible for the programs — Medicaid, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act — that more than half the country relies on for health insurance.

“Dr. Oz will be a leader in incentivising Disease Prevention, so we get the best results in the World for every dollar we spend on Healthcare in our Great Country,” Trump said in a statement.

“He will also cut waste and fraud within our Country’s most expensive Government Agency, which is a third of our Nation’s Healthcare spend, and a quarter of our entire National Budget.”

The man who said "there was no climate crisis" and drank fracking fluid on camera in 2019, Chris Wright, is set to play a key role in Donald Trump's push for America's global "energy dominance".

As Energy Secretary, Wright will be responsible for advancing America's energy, environmental and nuclear security.

Trump described the CEO of fracking company Liberty Energy in a statement on November 16 as a "pioneer".

"Chris has been a leading technologist and entrepreneur in Energy. He has worked in Nuclear, Solar, Geothermal, and Oil and Gas," he said.

"Most significantly, Chris was one of the pioneers who helped launch the American Shale Revolution that fueled American Energy Independence, and transformed the Global Energy Markets and Geopolitics."

Wright, a vocal critic of climate change policies, told CNN in 2023 that "the world runs on oil and gas, and we need that," and dismissed plans to phase out fossil fuels within a decade as "an absurd time frame".

Global leaders will be keeping an eye on Wright's work in the first months of Trump's presidency following promises by the president-elect to "drill, baby, drill" to scale up oil and gas production and ditch green energy initiatives.

Trump has chosen the former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker to serve as the US ambassador to NATO.

The president-elect described him as “a strong warrior and loyal Patriot” who “will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended," in a statement on November 20.

"(Whitaker will) strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability," Trump added.

Whitaker has been a staunch critic of federal criminal cases against Trump.

Lutnick will have a key role in carrying out Trump's plan to raise and enforce tariffs as commerce secretary, Trump said.

Outside of politics, Lutnick is the head of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and is said to be a cryptocurrency enthusiast.

The nomination would put Lutnick in charge of a department that is involved in funding new computer chip factories, imposing trade restrictions, releasing economic data and monitoring the weather.

It is also a position in which connections to CEOs and the wider business community are crucial.

Lutnick has donated to both Democrats and Republicans in the past, and once appeared on Trump’s NBC reality show, “The Apprentice.”

Duffy is a former member of Congress who represented a Wisconsin district for nine years.

As Transportation secretary, Duffy will oversee a complex system of pipelines, railroads, cars, trucks, airlines and mass transit systems, as well as funding for highways.

Trump in a statement praised Duffy as a “tremendous and well-liked public servant” and said he was “a respected voice and communicator in the Republican Conference” during his time in Congress.

“He will prioritise Excellence, Competence, Competitiveness and Beauty when rebuilding America’s highways, tunnels, bridges and airports."

Duffy served in the US House of Representatives from 2011 to 2019, representing Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District.

He most recently was co-host of a Fox Business programme after first joining Fox News as a contributor in 2020.

Duffy becomes the President-elect's second appointment with links to the Fox News network.

Trump has nominated Robert F Kennedy to be in charge of the US Department of Health - an agency overseeing areas including drug, vaccine and food safety, medical research and the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

Kennedy is a long-time vaccine sceptic, who has repeated false claims that some vaccines cause autism in children. He is also an attorney, who has launched lawsuits against major pesticide and pharmaceutical companies.

The former Democrat ran as an independent candidate in this year's presidential election, but abandoned his bid after Trump promised to give him a role in health policy if he won the race to the White House.

Kennedy has pushed for tighter regulations around ingredients in foods, vowing to “Make America Healthy Again" while campaigning for Trump.

He has also suggested that fluoride, a mineral that helps prevent tooth decay, should be removed from drinking water.

In a post on X, Trump said: "I am thrilled to announce Robert F Kennedy Jr. as The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services.

"For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health."

The former Representative for Hawaii, Tulsi Gabbard, was picked by Trump on November 13 to be the next Director of National Intelligence and oversee the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Gabbard, 43, a former Democratic congresswoman, ran for the party's presidential nomination in 2020 but left the party in 2022.

She endorsed Trump in August and even helped him prep for his September debate against Harris.

“I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community, championing our Constitutional Rights, and securing Peace through Strength,” Trump said in a statement.

She somewhat believes in a US isolationist foreign policy. In 2017, she had a meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad and in 2019 said he was "not an enemy of the United States.”

In early 2022, she echoed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rationale for his invasion of Ukraine by pinning the blame not on Putin but on Biden's failure to acknowledge “Russia’s legitimate security concerns regarding Ukraine’s becoming a member of NATO”.

Trump's choice of Matt Gaetz as Attorney General means he will oversee America's top law enforcement agency - the Justice Department - the same agency which conducted a years-long investigation into the congressman for sex crimes.

However, the Justice Department ultimately decided last year not to pursue criminal charges against Gaetz.

On November 14, Trump said in a statement: "Few issues in America are more important than ending the partisan Weaponization of our Justice System.

"Matt will end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations and restore Americans’ badly-shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department."

Gaetz has been a bastion in the fight against the so-called "weaponized government".

In an X post, he said: "(There needs to be a) full court press against this WEAPONIZED government.”

“And if that means ABOLISHING every one of the three-letter agencies, from the FBI to the ATF, I’m ready to get going!”

If Gaetz is confirmed as Attorney General by the Senate, he would oversee both the FBI and ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives).

Republican congressman Max Miller of Ohio, in an interview with Politico, described Gaetz as “a reckless pick” with “a zero percent shot”.

The son of Cuban immigrants, Senator Marco Rubio, has been nominated to become Trump's Secretary of State.

Rubio, known for his tough stance on China and strong support for Israel, would be the first Hispanic American to serve as the US Secretary of State if confirmed.

“Marco is a Highly Respected Leader, and a very powerful Voice for Freedom,” Trump wrote in a statement on November 14.

"He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries."

In a post on X, Rubio said: "As Secretary of State, I will work every day to carry out his foreign policy agenda. Under the leadership of President Trump we will deliver peace through strength and always put the interests of Americans and America above all else."

Rubio ran for president in 2016 but ultimately lost to Trump. The president-elect used to call him “Little Marco,” while Rubio responded by insulting the size of Trump’s hands and calling him a “con artist”.

Pete Hegseth, a Fox News Channel host who served as an Army National Guard officer in Iraq and Afghanistan, has been picked as nominee for his secretary of defence.

In a statement, the president-elect described the 44-year-old as "tough, smart and a true believer in America First".

The appointment reportedly shocked those at the Pentagon, as Hegseth lacks senior military or national security experience.

Hegseth could bring sweeping changes to the military, as he is defiantly opposed to "woke" programmes that promote equity and inclusion.

He also questioned the role of women in the military and has backed moves to pardon service members who have been charged with war crimes.

“Everything about men and women serving together makes the situation more complicated, and complication in combat, that means casualties are worse," Hegseth said during an interview on The Shawn Ryan Show podcast.

He said diversity in the military is positive as both minority and white men perform equally well, but he does not believe the same is true for women.

Hegseth displays his hate for the "woke" on social media, even going as far as to advertise an "anti-woke" grenade-shaped soap that is said to be "patriot" scented.

Once his position is confirmed by the Senate, he will oversee Russia’s war in Ukraine and Israel's conflicts with Hamas and Hezbollah.

The world's richest man, Elon Musk, will lead a new "Department of Government Efficiency (Doge)" alongside former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

Trump's appointing Musk a role comes as no surprise after he was reported to have donated $200m (£157m) to his election campaign.

Despite its name, the Doge is not a government agency, Musk and Ramaswamy would advise the White House from outside government, and work with the Office of Management and Budget to “drive large-scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before".

In a statement on November 12, Trump said: “Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies."

Doge refers to an internet meme of a Shiba Inu dog, which became a viral sensation in the early 2010s. A cryptocurrency named after the dog, Dogecoin, was later created in 2013 - and has since been supported by Musk.

Trump's nomination of the former Governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee, illustrates the president-elect's aim to be a staunch defender of Israel and its interests.

“Mike has been a great public servant, Governor, and Leader in Faith for many years. He loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise, the people of Israel love him. Mike will work tirelessly to bring about Peace in the Middle East!” Trump said in a statement.

Huckabee shares Trump's perspective on Israel, even once stating that there is “no such thing as a Palestinian."

On November 13, he said in an interview with Israeli Army Radio that it was “of course” possible for the US to support the Israeli government if it attempted to annex the occupied Palestinian West Bank.

"I won’t make the policy, I will carry out the policy of the president," He explained. "But he has already demonstrated in his first term that there’s never been an American president that has been more helpful in securing an understanding of the sovereignty of Israel.

“From the moving of the embassy, recognition of the Golan Heights and Jerusalem as the capital. No one has done more than President Trump. And I fully expect that that will continue.”

Trump selected South Dakota governor Kristi Noem, who faced criticism after her memoir recounted the killing of her pet dog for being "untrainable", to oversee his hardline immigration plans.

“Kristi has been very strong on Border Security,” Trump said in a statement on November 13. "(She) will guarantee that our American Homeland is secure from our adversaries."

A staunch Trump loyalist, Noem was a defiant opponent of Covid-19 safety measures such as masking and closing of businesses.

She once told a National Rifle Association (NRA) event that her 2-year-old grandchild had multiple guns.

Tom Homan, former director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under Trump's first administration, has been chosen to be nominated as the "Border Czar".

Homan will be "in charge of our nation's borders, including, but not limited to, the Southern Border, the Northern Border, all Maritime, and Aviation Security," Trump said in a post on November 10.

The 62-year-old has been tasked to carry out Trump's plan to execute the largest deportation operation in US history.

Democrats have criticised Homan for defending Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy on border crossings during his first administration, which separated thousands of parents and children seeking asylum at the southern US-Mexico border.

Trump said on Tuesday that the real estate investor Steven Witkoff "will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE, and make us all proud".

The 67-year-old Witkoff, a golf partner of Trump, was at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on September 15, when the former president faced a second attempted assassination.


Trump picks Elon Musk to lead government's new 'cost-cutting' department

Trump wins Arizona, claiming victory over all swing states in US election

The president-elect said he was "honoured" to nominate Republican representative Elise Stefanik as the United Nations (UN) ambassador.

“I am honoured to nominate Chairwoman Elise Stefanik to serve in my Cabinet as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter,” Trump said in a statement on November 11.

Choosing Stefanik signals a more combative US approach towards the UN.

Stefanik has frequently criticised the international organisation, particularly over its treatment of Israel.

Last month, she said the Biden administration should consider a “complete reassessment” of US funding for the UN, if the Palestinian Authority continues to push to revoke Israel’s membership.

A retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, Mike Waltz was chosen to be Trump's national security advisor on Tuesday.

In a statement, Trump said: "Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!”

He is seen as hawkish on China and called for a US boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, citing China's role in the origin of COVID-19 and its mistreatment of the Muslim Uighur minority.

Trump appointed his campaign manager Susie Wiles as the White House Chief of Staff on November 8, becoming the first woman to ever hold the high-profile position.

“Susie is tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected. Susie will continue to work tirelessly to Make America Great Again," Trump said in a statement.

Based in Florida, Wiles has a long-running successful career as a campaign manager and political strategist.

She ran Trump’s campaigns in Florida in 2016 and 2020, as well as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' successful campaign in 2018.

She also worked on Ronald Reagan's campaign before his 1980 election.

Trump has picked John Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman who served as director of national intelligence during his first administration, to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

“I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation’s highest Intelligence positions,” Trump said.

He described him as "a fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans” and someone who would ensure “the Highest Levels of National Security, and PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH".

Ratcliffe has been critical of Biden's Middle Eastern policy and advocated for a tougher stance on China.

Although Trump has picked Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, Zeldin lacks experience in environmental issues but is a longtime supporter of the president-elect.

In a statement on November 11, Trump said the former Republican Congressman: "Will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses.

"While at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet.”

Zeldin has set out his aims for the position, saying on X "We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI".

“We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water,” he added.

[Elfdart]

She fits right in since Trump himself claimed that polio vaccines make kids retarded.

[bilateralrope]

Trump’s FCC chair is Brendan Carr, who wants to regulate everyone except ISPs

Carr says he wants to punish broadcast media and dismantle "censorship cartel."

Jon Brodkin – Nov 19, 2024 6:20 AM

President-elect Donald Trump announced last night that he will make Brendan Carr the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Carr, who wrote a chapter about the FCC for the conservative Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, is a longtime opponent of net neutrality rules and other regulations imposed on Internet service providers.

Although Carr wants to deregulate telecom companies that the FCC has historically regulated, he wants the FCC to start regulating Big Tech and social media firms. He has also echoed Trump's longtime complaints about the news media and proposed punishments for broadcast networks.

Trump's statement on Carr said that "because of his great work, I will now be designating him as permanent Chairman."

"Commissioner Carr is a warrior for Free Speech, and has fought against the regulatory Lawfare that has stifled Americans' Freedoms, and held back our Economy," Trump wrote. "He will end the regulatory onslaught that has been crippling America's Job Creators and Innovators, and ensure that the FCC delivers for rural America."

Carr is a sitting FCC commissioner and therefore no Senate approval is needed to confirm the choice. The president can elevate any commissioner to the chair spot.

Carr wants to punish broadcasters

Carr thanked Trump in a post on his X account last night, then made several more posts describing some of the changes he plans to make at the FCC. One of Carr's posts said the FCC will crack down on broadcast media.

"Broadcast media have had the privilege of using a scarce and valuable public resource—our airwaves. In turn, they are required by law to operate in the public interest. When the transition is complete, the FCC will enforce this public interest obligation," Carr wrote.

We described Carr's views on how the FCC should operate in an article on November 7, just after Trump's election win. We wrote:

A Carr-led FCC could also try to punish news organizations that are perceived to be anti-Trump. Just before the election, Carr alleged that NBC putting Kamala Harris on Saturday Night Live was "a clear and blatant effort to evade the FCC's Equal Time rule" and that the FCC should consider issuing penalties. Despite Carr's claim, NBC did provide equal time to the Trump campaign.

Previous chairs defended free speech

Previous FCC chairs from both major parties have avoided punishing news organizations because of free speech concerns. Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel, the current FCC chairwoman, last month criticized Trump's calls for licenses to be revoked from TV news organizations whose coverage he dislikes.

"While repeated attacks against broadcast stations by the former President may now be familiar, these threats against free speech are serious and should not be ignored," Rosenworcel said at the time. "As I've said before, the First Amendment is a cornerstone of our democracy. The FCC does not and will not revoke licenses for broadcast stations simply because a political candidate disagrees with or dislikes content or coverage."

Former Chairman Ajit Pai, a Republican, rejected the idea of revoking licenses in 2017 after similar calls from Trump. Pai said that the FCC "under my leadership will stand for the First Amendment" and that "the FCC does not have the authority to revoke a license of a broadcast station based on the content of a particular newscast."

Carr believes differently. After the Saturday Night Live incident, Carr told Fox News that "all remedies should be on the table," including "license revocations" for NBC.

We've pointed out repeatedly that the FCC doesn't actually license TV networks such as CBS or NBC. But the FCC could punish affiliates. The FCC's licensing authority is over broadcast stations, many of which are affiliated with or owned by a big network.

Carr targets “censorship cartel”

Carr wrote last night that "we must dismantle the censorship cartel and restore free speech rights for everyday Americans." This seems to be referring to making social media networks change how they moderate content. On November 15, Carr wrote that "Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft & others have played central roles in the censorship cartel," along with fact-checking groups and ad agencies that "helped enforce one-sided narratives."

During his first presidential term, Trump formally petitioned the FCC to reinterpret Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in a way that would limit social media platforms' legal protections for hosting third-party content when the platforms take down content they consider objectionable.

Trump and Carr have claimed that such a step is necessary because of anti-conservative bias. In his Project 2025 chapter, Carr wrote that the FCC "should issue an order that interprets Section 230 in a way that eliminates the expansive, non-textual immunities that courts have read into the statute."

Carr's willingness to reinterpret Section 230 is likely a big plus in Trump's eyes. In 2020, Trump pulled the re-nomination of FCC Republican member Michael O'Rielly after O'Rielly said that "we should all reject demands, in the name of the First Amendment, for private actors to curate or publish speech in a certain way. Like it or not, the First Amendment's protections apply to corporate entities, especially when they engage in editorial decision making."

Carr to end FCC diversity policies

Last night, Carr also said he would end the FCC's embrace of DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) policies. "The FCC's most recent budget request said that promoting DEI was the agency's second highest strategic goal. Starting next year, the FCC will end its promotion of DEI," Carr wrote.

The FCC budget request said the agency "will pursue focused action and investments to eliminate historical, systemic, and structural barriers that perpetuate disadvantaged or underserved individuals and communities." The Rosenworcel FCC said it aimed to create a diverse staff and to help "underserved individuals and communities" access "digital technologies, media, communication services, and next-generation networks."

Carr dissented last year in the FCC's 3-2 decision to impose rules that prohibit discrimination in access to broadband services, describing the rulemaking as "President Biden's plan to give the administrative state effective control of all Internet services and infrastructure in the US."

Another major goal for Carr is forcing Big Tech firms to help subsidize broadband network construction. Carr's Project 2025 chapter said the FCC should "require that Big Tech begin to contribute a fair share" into "the FCC's roughly $9 billion Universal Service Fund."

Media advocacy group Free Press said yesterday that "Brendan Carr has been campaigning for this job with promises to do the bidding of Donald Trump and Elon Musk" and "got this job because he will carry out Trump and Musk's personal vendettas. While styling himself as a free-speech champion, Carr refused to stand up when Trump threatened to take away the broadcast licenses of TV stations for daring to fact-check him during the campaign. This alone should be disqualifying."

Lobby groups representing Internet service providers will be happy to have an FCC chair focused on eliminating broadband regulations. USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter issued a statement saying that "Brendan Carr has been a proven leader and an important partner in our shared goal to connect all Americans. With his deep experience and expertise, Commissioner Carr clearly understands the regulatory challenges and opportunities across the communications landscape."

Pai, who teamed up with Carr and O'Rielly to eliminate net neutrality rules in 2017, wrote that Carr "was a brilliant advisor and General Counsel and has been a superb Commissioner, and I'm confident he will be a great FCC Chairman."

Trump Tags Brendan Carr To Dismantle What’s Left Of Broadband Consumer Protection At FCC

from the here-we-go-again dept
Mon, Nov 18th 2024 12:22pm - Karl Bode

Surprising exactly nobody, Donald Trump has appointed Brendan Carr to lead the nation’s top telecom and media regulator. As we noted last week, there’s zero daylight between Carr’s policies and the policies of unpopular telecom giants like AT&T and Comcast. Carr is as close to the dictionary definition of “regulatory capture” as you’re going to get (with a few additional wrinkles we’ll get to down below).

You might recall that Trump’s team promised it would “blacklist” any participants in Project 2025, back when it was pretending to distance itself from the unpopular policy platform. That promise is already out the window, given Carr wrote an entire Project 2025 chapter on how he planned to use the FCC to harass any tech and media companies that didn’t adequately bend the knee to Trump authoritarianism.

Carr’s top priority will be dutifully dismantling all remaining FCC broadband consumer protection efforts, whether that’s net neutrality, the FCC’s recent inquiry into shitty broadband usage caps, broadband consumer privacy protections, efforts to stop broadband “redlining” (read: racism in fiber deployment), good faith efforts to help the poor afford broadband, and efforts to stop your cable, phone, wireless, or broadband provider from ripping you off with shitty fees.

FCC’s consumer protection efforts have been on shaky ground for a while, but Trump 2.0 (read: “populism” that isn’t actually all that popular) will be the absolute death of them. The Trump-corrupted Supreme Court has already set the stage for telecoms (any U.S. company, really) to declare that absolutely any effort to protect consumers is a violation of the law. I wish I was being hyperbolic.

All fights over these sorts of issues now head to the state or local level, bogging the court system and regulatory reform down indefinitely (the entire point). If you live in a state that couldn’t care less about corporate oversight or consumer protection, you’re shit out of luck for the foreseeable future. Thank a Trump voter when the myriad impacts start to materialize. You may need to use pie charts.

Carr’s extremely likely to rubber stamp terrible media and telecom mergers, ensuring that your prices skyrocket and service quality suffers. He’ll also take a hatchet to whatever’s left of media consolidation limits, which Trumplicans only pretend to care about when they’re spreading bigoted conspiracy theories. The result of both will be higher prices, more harmful consolidation, and lower quality services.

Carr’s primary pet project on the telecom front will be to try to impose AT&T’s long-percolating plan to tax tech companies (read: you) in order to throw billions in new telecom subsidies at AT&T and Comcast. Subsidies, if his track record holds, he’ll fail utterly to ensure are spent intelligently. This will be framed as good faith reform by both Carr and gullible press outlets, starting sometime next Spring.

Mainstream media journalism is already sanewashing Carr. The Washington Post, as just one example, spends its first four opening paragraphs parroting the false Republican claim they’re being “censored,” and at no point really makes it clear to readers that the entirety of broadband consumer protection is on the chopping block. The New York Times breakdown of the appointment barely thinks Carr’s primary appointment goal — to make life easier on AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast — is worth a mention.

You’d think, were you a journalist paid to inform readers, you could work in a mention somewhere that Carr is the exact opposite of the “populist” leadership Trumpists deluded themselves into voting for. A status quo captured regulator whose primary function is to coddle telecom monopolies.

Carr does differ from traditional Republican and Libertarian mindless “deregulation” orthodoxy in a key way: he supports the Trump fascism project. That means he’s going to talk a lot about “small government” when it’s convenient to coddle and enable corporate Republican allies (AT&T, Comcast, Walmart, Oracle), then pivot on a dime to abuse government authority to harass companies authoritarians don’t like in the very next breath.

That means harassing journalists and media companies even lightly critical of Trumpism, or any tech companies that try and do the bare minimum to stop the spread of race-baiting Republican propaganda on the internet. Since their actual policies are routinely dogshit, a cornerstone of modern Republican power is the use of propaganda across old and new media to ensure that a disgruntled electorate has no idea what they’re voting for beyond the racism (I’d say that’s going pretty well, don’t you?).

Carr’s top job will be to protect that apparatus, and I suspect he’ll pursue it with the usual zeal reserved for sniveling sycophants in Donald’s orbit. I’d suspect Trump FCC 2.0 will be notably worse than the Ajit Pai era, given that Trumpism now has the backing of the Supreme Court (which can easily appear corrupted with a Winnebago), and potentially both houses of Congress, putting historically terrible legislation in play.

Again, Trump voters think they voted for status-quo disrupting populism, but you really can’t get any more unpopular status quo than Brendan Carr. He’s a water boy for the telecom industry’s least popular companies, and the end result of his tenure absolutely will not be inexpensive or subtle.

It sounds like he will try to be Trump's chief censor.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Matt Gaetz, Trump's controversial pick for attorney general drops out

Matt Gaetz has withdrawn as President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for Attorney General following continued scrutiny over a federal child sex trafficking investigation.

The 42-year-old's announcement came days after an attorney for two women said his clients, one of whom was 17 at the time, told House Ethics Committee investigators that Gaetz paid them for sex multiple times, starting in 2017 when he was a Florida congressman.

Gaetz said in a statement on Thursday: “While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition.

"There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I’ll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General. Trump’s DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1."

Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing and said last year that the Justice Department’s investigation into sex trafficking allegations involving underage girls had ended with no federal charges against him.

He would have overseen the same agency, the Justice Department, had he been confirmed as attorney general by the Senate. He also would have controlled the FBI and ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives).

Trump, in a social media post, said that Gaetz has a "wonderful future".

“I greatly appreciate the recent efforts of Matt Gaetz in seeking approval to be Attorney General. He was doing very well but, at the same time, did not want to be a distraction for the Administration, for which he has much respect," he said.

"Matt has a wonderful future, and I look forward to watching all of the great things he will do!”

Gaetz’s withdrawal could undermine Trump’s efforts to appoint loyalists to his incoming administration and signal potential resistance from other Republicans

When he was announced as Trump's pick of the attorney general, Republican congressman Max Miller of Ohio, described Gaetz in an interview with Politico as “a reckless pick” with “a zero percent shot”.

[Raw Shark]

"Matt has a wonderful future, and I look forward to watching all of the great things he will do!"

People used to say that exact thing about me a lot, and we all know what a shitbird I turned out to be.

At least I'm not a cho-mo like he is, though. Guess I've got that going for me.

[bilateralrope]

Lets see how Trump reacts to Gaetz refusing his offer.

[Raw Shark]

Lets see how Trump reacts to Gaetz refusing his offer.

He'll call him a patriot. True citizen. American hero.

Anything to defend a fellow pedophile.

[Broomstick]

On a hopefully unrelated note, I saw speculation the other day that Trump will come through for his people for once by pardoning the January 6th insurrectionists. And that they might end up forming the nucleus of a proper Brownshirts.

I doubt Trump is going to pardon the Jan 6 people because they're losers, they didn't succeed in overturning the vote and the government in 2021. The only exceptions might be a handful who Trump has some special interest in, but I doubt even that.

After all, you can only Pardon a crime someone was convicted of.

Untrue. President Ford set the precedent when he pardoned President Nixon despite Nixon never having been convicted of anything.

[Ralin]

I doubt Trump is going to pardon the Jan 6 people because they're losers, they didn't succeed in overturning the vote and the government in 2021. The only exceptions might be a handful who Trump has some special interest in, but I doubt even that.

It would be a deviation from his past behavior, yes, but someone could convince him that it would make him look strong or that he stands to gain enough to bother. He's had years now to see the consequences of not having thug power loyal to him personally that he can order around.