Just how deep does this run?
Everyone knows that Donald Trump started the stolen election nonsense long before the election ever took place. Thanks to the Guardian, we also now know that Trump decided to declare himself the winner before the votes were even tallied. What a conceited, narcissistic pile of poop. Thanks to Mother Jones, an audio tape from Steve Bannon revealed Trump’s ridiculous plan. Declaring himself the winner obviously did not make it so, but since when has Trump cared about the truth? According to Mother Jones, Bannon told his associates on October 31 of Trump’s plan to declare the election stolen.
Trump planned to take advantage of the fact that Democrats far outweighed Republicans in casting mail-in ballots. As such, his plan was to declare victory and then claim fraud once the mail-in ballots were tallied. In Trump’s mind (such as it is), this would bolster his claims of voter fraud, and for some people, that’s all it took. In other words, Trump planned all along to con people. It is unfortunate that so many fell for his cons and even more unfortunate that some still do. At least someone at Fox “News” is pointing out that what we’re learning about the days following the election and leading up to January 6 is “breathtaking.”
The Independent reported on Jonathan Turley’s analysis of the House Select Committee revelations. Turley was shocked by the disclosures coming from the hearings. In reference to Pat Cippolone’s testimony, Turley said: “It’s damaging. The account of that meeting in the [Oval] Office is breathtaking. It’s very disturbing.” It must be for anyone affiliated with Fox to say so, and he went even farther. According to Turley, it sounded as if a fight was about to break out. He also said that these facts “should disturb everyone.” Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) called Trump’s tweets about the January 6 “rally” “a call to action,” while Jamie Raskin (D-MD) believed the tweet “electrified and galvanized” Trump’s supporters. That is exactly what it did, and that is precisely what Trump intended for it to do. Trump has lived his life in chaos, and it was to his advantage to create chaos on that day. He got exactly what he wanted.
People directly involved in Trump’s meetings and bad ideas have had much to say about them. Cassidy Hutchinson called the meeting “unhinged,” while White House lawyer Eric Herschmann called Sidney Powell’s ideas “nuts.” Herschmann went on to say that people were “screaming” at each other. According to the Independent, this crazy meeting went on for six hours until Pat Cipollone came in to break up the meeting. Cipollone did not believe one word of Powell’s nonsense, repeatedly asking: “Where is the evidence?” Of course, evidence meant nothing to these crazies, and despite it all, Trump moved forward with his tweet, inviting his supporters to Washington on January 6. The rest, as they say, is history. Donald Trump is nothing more than a twice-impeached, shamed president who did nothing but lie while in office. His followers need to accept that and move on.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years