Both buyer's-remorse conservatives getting their faces leopard-eaten because they thought they were at the top of the social hierarchy AND the "Stop overreacting" white dudes with surprised Pikachu faces every. single. fucking. time. they are proven wrong about what they condescendingly mansplain/whitesplain/cissplain to marginalized people he can't or won't. They ALL seem to labor under the same assumption. He can't/won't/wouldn't/couldn't do "that."
Actually, he telegraphs every single move.
Exactly. Precisely.
I mean, he lies. So there's that. If his mouth is moving, he's lying. This is a guy who says he's taller than Obama (he's not), insisted that Kansas City is in Kansas (it's in Missouri), and used a sharpie on a National Weather Service infographic because he insisted a hurricane was going to make impactful landfall in Alabama (it wasn't, and didn't). And, of course, he says he hasn't even heard of the playbook literally put forward by all of HIS people for exactly what THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH intends to do to keep liberals from even being a roadblock to oligarchical and bigoted agendas.
Even though he only mentioned his ignorance of Project 2025 once he found out it was wildly unpopular even on the right, and despite the fact that to even REMOTELY believe that bullshit, you would have to accept that a bunch of trusted advisors and aides surrounding him during his campaign didn't run their GRAND plan past the ONE person that was absolutely integral to its success with so much as a, "This cool with you?" But sure. He never heard of it. Right.
But he IS a liar. That's demonstrably true without even breaking a sweat. He said he'd build a wall and didn't. He says he's got the most beautiful plan for healthcare and doesn't have the first clue where to even begin. He says he won golf tournaments he didn't. That he nearly boarded helicopters he didn't. That he saw things he didn't. That people said things to him who didn't. He lies about not really knowing Michael Cohen. His golf scores. The size of his….inauguration. He breaks promises. He claims he's the smartest person on Earth and makes up people who think so.
He's just….a liar.
He's just….a liar.
So I can see there being some confusion about what truth even MEANS to a person like this—if he even has enough of a sense of reality to express truth. I can see why someone who hadn't been through four years of Trump might believe he was full of piss and wind. Like maybe nothing he says can be trusted, so why trust his threats against marginalized communities?
But there are patterns to his "alternative facts." He also floats political ideas as throw away statements and then starts banging on them if he doesn't get pushback. He has the "tells" of a shitty poker player. He uses not-at-all-slick coded language to couch his racism and bigotry, most recently saying DEI when he means non-white or women or disabled or non cishet.
And it's really clear, after you watch him for a while, who he's about to go after.
He showed us exactly who he was nine years ago when he was running. He told us who he wanted to hurt. He told us who he hated and who he was pissed off at. He told us how important it was to hurt them. He revealed his racism over and over again. Then for four years he never wavered in being exactly the person he showed us he was.
They said he would disclose his financial records. They were wrong.
They said he wouldn't go after Roe v. Wade. They were wrong.
They said he wouldn't have a major impact on the Supreme Court. They were wrong. (He got three appointments.
They said the CIA would never "let" him do any REAL damage to national security. They were wrong.
They said he wouldn't give massive tax cuts to the rich. They were wrong.
They said he wouldn't send the military into space. They were wrong.
They said he would take a global pandemic seriously. They were wrong.
They said he wouldn't contest the results of a democratic election. They were wrong.
They said he wouldn't leak secrets to Russia. They were wrong.
They said he wouldn't leak secrets to Russia. They were wrong.
They said he wouldn't run the presidency for his personal profit. They were wrong.
They said he COULDN'T politicize the justice department. They were wrong.
They said he couldn't blatantly obstruct the Muller investigation. They were wrong.
They said he wouldn't pardon people who had attacked police and staged an insurrection. They were wrong.
They said he COULDN'T pardon himself. They were wrong (thanks to those three appointments).
They said he wouldn't dangle the Ukraine military aid in exchange for a quid pro quo investigation into his political rivals. They were wrong.
They said someone would stop him if he was found to be guilty of a quid pro quo with Ukraine. They were wrong.
They said he would never openly work with neonazis. They were wrong.
They said he wouldn't pardon people who had attacked police and staged an insurrection. They were wrong.
They said he COULDN'T pardon himself. They were wrong (thanks to those three appointments).
They said he wouldn't dangle the Ukraine military aid in exchange for a quid pro quo investigation into his political rivals. They were wrong.
They said someone would stop him if he was found to be guilty of a quid pro quo with Ukraine. They were wrong.
They said he would never openly work with neonazis. They were wrong.
They said he respected democracy and wouldn't fire whistleblowers or bar access to the media. They were wrong.
They said they didn't think he would start trade wars that raised the price of everything. They were wrong.
They said they didn't think he would deport the law-abiding people doing menial jobs that no US citizen wanted to do. They were wrong.
They said they didn't think he'd deport their undocumented spouses. Or the people that voted for him. They were wrong.
They said his party would stop him if he went TOO far and wouldn't enable his most outlandish bullshit.
They said his party would stop him if he went TOO far and wouldn't enable his most outlandish bullshit.
They. Were. Wrong.
And apparently they aren't yet tired yet of being so utterly completely wrong.
People just keep thinking there's some adult in the room that's going to tell him no. Tell him how unpopular his policies are. Slow his roll. Stand up with arms akimbo and say, "Executive orders can't do that. You have overreached! Stand down, servant of the public. Stand DOWN!!" There isn't an adult in that room. He's fired them all. He's surrounded himself with lickspittle sycophant flunkies because those are the only people his narcissistic fragile ego can handle.
His learning curve is hardly Machiavellian, but he will do what he said he would. He has hit some speed bumps because he's comically incompetent. He will need to fire some people who've said no to him…purge some agencies that investigated his allies…. Undermine the power of the judicial branch. Edge congress out of lawmaking. Put his people everywhere..
But he will. He will do what he intends to and there's no restraining force outside of resistance to talk him down. Project 2025. Pull out of treaties. End critical aid to countries ravaged by colonialism. Trash NAFTA. Trade wars. Target the LGBTQ+ community. Assist in the genocide of Gaza. Let the world burn. Start wars. Go for a third term.
Everything.
