The following NBC News report shows how Trump strives to win back the W/H and then levy havoc across
the nation after he wins in 2024 with his revenge campaign. The story headline:
“Trump, looking to regain 2016 magic, moves away from the
Republican brand”
Trump is still selling an “us vs. them” snake oil brand of politics.
But, in a callback to his 2016 campaign, it's not just about the party divide.
However, Trump has all but dropped a key word from his
vocabulary: Republican.
He didn’t say the word Republican when he met with supporters — including a January 6 defendant — at the Red Arrow Diner in Manchester, NH last month.
During his remarks to a packed ballroom at the Double Tree Hotel earlier in the day, Trump said Republican only in praising some GOP governors and their work during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since he hit
the campaign trail in early March, according to an NBC review of Trump’s
speeches, interviews, video posts, and face-to-face interactions with voters, he
has used the party name he seeks to represent in sparing fashion — and
typically to disparage other party luminaries.
Steve Bannon, host of the “War Room” podcast and the CEO of Trump’s
2016 campaign, told NBC News: “Fox
News and [Senate GOP leader] Mitch McConnell and the Republican donors have
basically signed a pledge to stop Trump at any opportunity. So, why should he
be touting the Republican Party? He shouldn’t be loyal to the Republican Party.
They haven’t been loyal to him — they’ve scheduled 10 primary debates to wound
him.”
In essence, and according
to advisers and allies like Bannon, Trump is returning to the
anti-establishment themes of his successful 2016 bid for the presidency that
rallied voters to slay the favorite totems, orthodoxies, and candidates of both
parties.
Jason Miller, a Trump
campaign senior adviser who worked on both of the former president's prior bids
said: “Yes, there’s the Republican primary still, but some of the
strategies and tactics in regard to how we’re engaging Joe Biden will look a
lot more 2016 than 2020.”
Another Trump
campaign adviser who requested anonymity in order to discuss internal strategy
said: “It’s a recognition that it’s not just an R versus D — it’s about the
current state of the country and who, on Day One, is going to fix it. Whether
that’s the “Uniparty, the Deep State, or World Government,” there is most
definitely a recognition amongst the electorate at large that there is an “us
versus them component in all of this.”
Trump’s shift away from acting like the GOP’s standard-bearer comes after a year in which he waded into countless GOP primary contests, promoting some candidates who aligned with the Republican establishment and some who did not.
He was able to knock out many of
his loudest Republican critics, including Reps. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Rep. Tom
Rice (R-SC).
But there appears to be an acknowledgment in Trump’s approach now that he can’t win the general election without expanding his reach outside the overlapping Venn diagram circles of his existing base and the Republican electorate.
He lost in both the Electoral
College and the popular vote in 2020, after winning the former — and the White
House — in the more anti-establishment, less rah-rah-Republican 2016 campaign.
When Trump talks about the Republican Party, it is often to
blast rivals, the GOP establishment, or both. At the March rally in Waco, TX, Trump
took a moment to laud House Republican allies, including Reps. Jim Jordan (OH)
and James Comer (KY) by name and party.
He then also took aim and hit FL Gov. DeSantis, pending his expected 2024 announcement saying: “I will protect, unlike DeSanctus, Social Security and Medicare for our great seniors, defending them from both the radical left and the Paul Ryan-Republican establishment.” (Trump said, referring to DeSantis by a nickname and to Ryan, the former Speaker from WI).
The spokesperson for
the DeSantis-aligned Never Back Down super PAC, Erin Perrine picked up that
ball and ran with it too, saying: “It's cute to see the Trump team
acknowledge that the person who can win the game and general election is Ron
DeSantis, their admitted QB.”
One sign of Trump’s
commitment to running against the establishment of both parties — despite his
status as the last GOP president — is his refusal to pledge his support to the
eventual nominee if he loses the primary.
Trump said when asked about a Republican National Committee proposal to require candidates to sign a loyalty pledge in order to participate in debates: “There are probably people that I wouldn’t be very happy about endorsing who are running, so we’ll see.”
The RNC’s debate committee, which
is headed by former Trump aide David Bossie, announced plans for its first
televised matchup of the candidates — a debate in Milwaukee in August — without
securing Trump’s agreement to participate.
FYI: Trump is considering skipping that debate and
the next one, people aware of his thinking told NBC News. The dispute between
his team and the RNC over the first debate may foreshadow a more fractious
relationship as he recasts himself as an outsider.
Bannon concluded his praise for the man who pardoned him for his “Build the Wall” scam saying: “Rather than the last war, he is intent on fighting a central battle of the 2016 election. He’s there to beat the administrative state and the uniparty, which is their political appendage. You’re seeing a reversion to the original Trump.”
Added to all that above is this amazing ending – hope you agree – here it
is:
Former Attorney
General Bill Barr eviscerated Trump when he was asked by Geraldo
Rivera from FOX NEWS on whether Donald Trump is “fit to be president while
in Cleveland, OH at the City Club on May 5 2023, where Barr spoke about his
time working in the Trump administration.
Geraldo asked precisely: “Is he fit to be president of the United
States? Is Donald Trump fit to be president?”
Barr’s answer has
been reported across many major outlets: FOX; C-SPAN; NEWSWEEK; MEDIAITE; WASHINGTON EXAMINER; et al and it is totally
astonishing (my emphasis added):
“I WILL ANSWER THAT
THIS WAY. IF YOU BELIEVE IN HIS POLICIES, WHAT HE IS ADVERTISING, HE IS THE
LAST PERSON WHO COULD ACTUALLY EXECUTE THEM AND ACHIEVE THEM.”
“HE DOES NOT HAVE THE
DISCIPLINE, HE DOES NOT HAVE THE ABILITY FOR STRATEGIC LINEAR THINKING OR
SETTING PRIORITIES. OR HOW TO GET THINGS DONE IN THE SYSTEM.”
“IT IS A HORROR SHOW WHEN HE'S LEFT TO HIS OWN DEVICES.”
“YOU MAY WANT HIS POLICIES, TRUMP WILL NOT DELIVER TRUMP POLICIES.”
“HE WOULD
DELIVER CHAOS AND IF ANYTHING, LEAD TO A BACKLASH THAT WILL SET HIS POLICIES
MUCH FURTHER BACK THAN THEY OTHERWISE WOULD BE.”
My 2 Cents: I don’t think Trump
can run effectively let alone win in 2024 no matter who the GOP fields against
him. He has too much baggage as the expression says plus a lot of civil and
criminal on-going investigations and forthcoming trials.
Trump’s hardcore base may well stick with him, but sticking with a felon – I think not likely nor possible. They may be loyal, but hopefully they are not brain dead and/or totally dumb, but we shall see.
Thanks for stopping by.
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