I’m choosing to laugh at all of these suckbaby Republican losers who cannot admit that they lost. I understand that many, many people are terrified, and I get that. It is legitimately scary to see a fascist regime cling to what’s left of their power and vow to take down everyone and everything in their collective delusion and hysteria. But it’s also just… so f–king stupid. These people are such an embarrassment and I don’t understand how those millions of Trump supporters are all this f–king stupid. But here we are. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was asked about the transition and his answer was: “There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration…”
There were some people suggesting that Pompeo was just being dry-sarcastic, but as his additional answers to the other questions show that he’s doing everything to avoid saying that Joe Biden won the election and that Joe Biden is the president-elect. What’s driving me especially crazy is that there really isn’t ANY argument. There is not one tipping-point state. There is not even one unifying theory about voter fraud or any legal argument to be made about why legitimate votes should not be counted. This is a nightmare. A stupid nightmare.
Also stupid and terrifying: the White House Budget Office “has instructed federal agencies to continue preparing the Trump administration’s budget proposal for the next fiscal year,” budget proposals which are typically issued in February. Everyone in the Trump administration is operating in this absolutely insane holding pattern of delusion, like America won’t f–king notice if they just refuse to accept the results of a free and fair election.
What’s the play here? To completely kneecap the incoming Biden administration and somehow “force” President Biden to fire every single person in the Trump administration because Trump is too much of a coward to admit that he lost the election? The destruction wrought from Trump’s fragile masculinity, my God.
Here’s Pompeo talking on Fox News last night like Trump could still “win.” He cannot.
Pompeo is on Fox News talking like the campaign isn't over and voters might still elect Trump. Trump already lost. This is madness. pic.twitter.com/CscwxwFFuv
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 10, 2020
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red.
I mean, I get that they’re trying to delegitimize the election and obstruct Biden from the beginning and all that. I get that.
But beyond that – do they realize how pathetic they look, that the rest of the world is laughing at them? Boris Johnson and Trudeau and Merkel and Macron all called to congratulate Biden. Everyone knows Trump lost, including Trump. The refusal to admit it is just sad at this point.
I guess when you go all in with Trump, all bets are off when it comes to choosing the decent route, at any point.
I also want to point out that my R governor gave a press conference yesterday (about COVID) and was asked about the Republican reaction here and he was pretty blunt in his assessment – yes they have the right to investigate allegations of voter fraud etc but there haven’t been any significant findings in that regard and it’s damaging their brand. In America we vote, we count the votes, and we accept the results and move on. He called Biden President Elect.
He’s 100% setting himself up for a 2024 run, but it was still so refreshing to hear those kinds of comments from an elected Republican official.
This is (somewhat) reassuring, thanks for sharing. I do wonder how many people across the Republican establishment are on board with burning it all down vs. promoting democracy.
@Sarah they’re cowards and are all for some stupid reason scared of Trump. Plus the senate race in Georgia. That actually is what ticks me off the most – McConnell 100% knows the results are legitimate and that Biden is the next president. He’s doing this so that Trump doesn’t attack him before the Georgia race (if trump isn’t president, what does Trump care about the senate? He doesnt). And also bc obstruction is McConnell’s middle name.
Yes, but your governor is a Republican running a Democratic stronghold. Not sure how representative that is of the party.
How ironic that the one leader who didn’t acknowledge Biden is…….Putin! Surprise, surprise, you can’t make this up!
Neither did Kim, or that one in So. America
Well, Kim and Trump “fell in love,” so there’s that.
he’s a nut case just like his orange boss why are they all afraid of trump come on Russia show us what if anything you have on this wanna be dictator
This is irresponsible and dangerous.
Absolutely dangerous. Trump keeps shooting himself in the foot with his stupidity. Imagine if the next one is actually smarter and more strategic about stoking fear and anger through propaganda.
This. This is the truly terrifying part. Who will they put up next?
This, to me, is the bigger concern. I think the Atlantic or Vox had an article titled something like “the next one won’t be so inept.”
Yes it is. I think everyone needs to be watching this very carefully because I don’t think this is over by a ling shot.
Pompeo and McConnell are catering to his ego, sure, but they are MOSTLY catering to Trump voters so that they stay engaged when they bring in the next one. Pompeo wants to be president. Anyone with political ambitions as a Republican is working to snow Trump’s base that their right to the White House was fought for. It’s a performance to ease Trumps wounds, sure, but it is mostly about political survival in the party lead by Trump, because HE brought out the extreme conservative people who didn’t vote regularly. He energized them. They know Biden won, but the voters they want to keep think like Trump.
He did laugh when he said it, but then as you said he doubled down on this more than once. His smirky and unserious demeanor is unsettling, like he thinks all of this is just so funny. Apparently he’s already relishing the impending rapture he believes he is helping to precipitate.
He likes others was performing to one person only – he’s buttering up Dump for ‘favour’s.
So i think Pompeo is an asshole and this is one more example of that. He laughed because he knew exactly how people would react to his comment.
It’s funny to them because they don’t care about democracy. Never have and never will.
Batshit crazy or pathetic, I can’t decide. Both?
Absolutely both. Also childish, embarrassing, stupid, and Ill conceived.
@ KBeth and Giddy, perhaps they are trying to delay the inevitable of being brought up on charges for committing crimes against The Hatch Act and all of the other crimes that will come to the surface once Agent Orange and his criminal actors are out of the WH?
Guys, check history. At some point, there were people laughing about Hitler too. This is not a joke. American democracy is at risk and with that, many other democracies, because this model of action can be and will b repeated in other countries. The first one that comes to my mind is my own country, Brazil. Bolsonaro likes to copy Trump on everything and our institutions are not as strong as american ones. As someone whose country dealed with a dictatorship, this is no joke. If american institutions and the people don’t be carefull, Trump and his people will leave USA in chambles before admitting the defeat. And even on that, they will not admit it. The propaganda is strong. There are a considerable amount of people believing on his retoric. Be carefull. More than 70 million voted on him. Trump and his fascism must be destroyed and buried as quick as possible.
There are too many checks and balances on the presidency for anyone to legally declare himself dictator in the US, like Hitler did in Germany. The only way to do so in the US would be military force. Of course, Trump does have a lot of gun-toting followers who might be willing to declare a civil war. What is ironic is that these same people claim to be enamored of freedom and are afraid that Biden will take things away from them.
The checks and balances are in serious peril, as evidenced by the fact that it got this far. The system operates on all parties acting in good faith, which they do not and will not. And he’s got the Senate and packed the courts. It *can* happen in the US – it’s already in motion.
The courts are laughing him out of the room. They’re not even filing their complaints properly.
@Sarah The checks and balances are still in place. Like I said, it can’t happen LEGALLY. The only way for it to happen is for the Senate and Court to completely ignore historic precedent and law. If they do that; it is frightening to think what will happen.
The courts are still stacked against progress. Republicans didn’t launch a decades launch takeover, resulting in hundreds of lifetime appointments for nothing, including 3 Supreme Court justices. Regardless of whether election suits gain any *legal* ground, fundamental rights are still very much in danger for generations.
@Sarah – the stacked courts are scary for the bigger picture, of course. But at this precise moment, for this issue, the judiciary branch is holding. That doesn’t mean we don’t have a long road ahead of us for many other issues.
I’ve been waiting for these written in stone checks and balances to kick in for four years and he’s ignored them all with the full support of the GOP and a sizeable number of voters – by what miracle are these suddenly dependable now?
I hope to god I’m dead wrong, but I don’t get this sudden optimism that we’re out of the woods because of the checks and balances in our system.
Not all the GOP backs him anymore. I think a lot of them are happy to be getting rid of the embarrassment of having him in power.
I remember people desperately touting the line about checks and balances after the 2016 election, too. Mostly people who refused to vote for Hillary based on their “principles” while expecting the rest of America to carry them to the right decision where they could sit back comfortable and smug in their choices.
Then Dump won and all of a sudden it was “checks and balances, checks and balances, it will be fine, checks and balances.” It wasn’t fine and 2016-now had shown us that phrase don’t mean shit.
I agree!
I agree, scary and I don’t put anything past him. Please read an article in the Washington Post written by Fareed Zakaria written in September detailing what is actually happening now. Trump is going to challenge all these states cause chaos and do this all legally. I tried to provide the link but it is not imbedding for me.
“Of the nine swing states, eight have Republican legislatures. If one or more decide that balloting is chaotic and marred by irregularities, they could send what they regard as the legitimate slate of electors, which would be Republican.”
Nettie – this is my nightmare scenario. In fact, Lindsey Graham and Tucker Carlson brought this up on Fox News last week – Democrats took this threat seriously and sent an army of lawyers down to the PA legislature to cut this line of attack off.
But this is literally keeping me up at night. I’m very worried about these electors going faithless (that’s what it’s called).
I’m petrified as well. Trying to stay calm and deal with so much else on my plate right now but this has me so scared.
Agreed @Tati We see it, many of us saw it back in 2016 and this is a real and present danger.
It may be a futile hope, but I am hoping that enough Republican voters in Georgia see this and are offended by Trump’s GOP approved coup attempt. I know it’s not very likely, but it’s possible enough people will be disgusted enough switch their votes for the runoff election. At least that’s what I tell myself to push down the rage.
I hope the same thing. Clearly the GOP election officials and Lt Governor are pissed about this. And I know Stacey Abrams and her crew are working hard to get people who turn 18 between now and then to get registered and ready to go.
Enough people weren’t offended by Trump in the general so…
Donate to Fair Fight and boost as many signals as you can, everywhere you can for GA.
I have relatives in GA. They are unswayed by the results thus far and believe the election was “stolen” by illegal democrat ballots. I wish for the days that nobody cared which side of the aisle you were on. I’m so sick of the nastiness on both sides, frankly.
No both sides. If someone kept being nasty to you, at some point do you just stop “taking the high road” and give it right back. I used to be on the both sides argument too, but then it just got to the point I couldn’t justify that anymore and be neutral.
The Republicans have destroyed their brand for me. The only way they can ever think that I (a normally independent swing voter) would consider voting Republican anything in the future is if they crawl back from this dump they’re in now and restore the mess they did in their hungry grab for power.
I need to see them stand up to Trump and to stand up for decency. Otherwise, I want every single one of them who supported him or didn’t stand up to him voted out, kicked out, fired or in jail.
Nastiness on both side?
Please don’t both side this issue.
From outside the USA, I can definitely say the world is observing nastiness from one side.
DO NOT “BOTH SIDES” this.
there is one party who ran on a platform of hate and “othering” and is trying to kill people with COVID, one party that tries to keep as many people from voting as possible, make it very hard for some people to vote, and is trying to undo a free and fair election.
the other side is the opposite of that. so don’t give me that “both sides” BS.
‘Both sides’.
Way to tell on yourself.
I have two specific acquaintances who – like me – are blue all the way. One of them has been more vocal and her posts on FB are meant to incite people. OTOH, I have acquaintances who are die hard reds and a few of those are behaving like the toddler-in-chief and are in denial. I have no intention to pile on to either posts.
Nobody likes sore winners or losers. Let’s be adults. And for the record, I didn’t say anything incorrect.
Screw nastiness, this is about freedom.
Your friend on Facebook is a random civilian posting about an election. These are actual officials in positions of power sowing doubt and fear into the population regarding the electoral process in this country after they tried to suppress votes through various mechanism and are now riling up an electorate that has already proven dangerous through misinformation and false claims. One of them is significantly more dangerous than the other, and it’s frankly beyond irresponsible to suggest this is a “both sides” issue.
Your Trump supporting friends can log out of Facebook if they don’t want to see posts they don’t agree with. Americans can’t log out this nightmare unfolding across the country. We can’t “not care” about what’s across the aisle when the other side is a literal fascist regime attempting a coup.
Whatever.
“Whatever”?
You’re comparing a democrat friend posting about politics to an elected official who took an oath to uphold the constitution and protect it from all threats both foreign and domestic.
This isn’t a both sides issue and it’s beyond gross that you’re trying to make it out to be – or that you honestly can’t tell the difference between an elected official making wild BASELESS claims that damage our democracy and a random person on facebook.
Your “whatever” just proves to everyone here that you couldn’t back up what you said and have resorted to dismissive comments now that you got dragged.
“I’m so sick of the nastiness on both sides, frankly.”
“Whatever”
GTFO CarifuckBean.
Nah, I think I’ll stick around. I stand by my comments. You can GTFO SeraFuckQuill 🙂
“ they are good people on both sides.: – Trump on the Nazis in Charlottesville versus people protesting against white supremacy/nazis
You have more in common with your relatives in Georgia than you think, Caribbean. Do us all a favor & walk into the sea with them 👋 🌊
Let’s put that hope in action and donate in Georgia to defeat these loons! We can start here: https://fairfight.com/ or ……
donate to the TWO Senate run-off elections.
https://electjon.com/
https://warnockforgeorgia.com/
If we win these two seats we will be in a much better place. You don’t have to donate a lot….eery little bit helps. Let’s turn Georgia’s Senators BLUE and move one step closer to the democracy we used to enjoy in the US.
We are in a very troubling time and we need to take this situation seriously and do everything we can to change it.
Done! Thanks for the links.
This is so embarrassing and terrifying imo. We’d be checking other countries for stuff like this and it feels like no one is taking the situation seriously.
People think democracy failing “can’t happen here” and it’s so frustrating because it’s happening right before our eyes.
This is not a joke and I wish people would quit acting like it was one.
This monster is staging a coup right in front of our faces and everyone is like, but he could never do that like the rule of law that he has ignored over the past four years is suddenly going to kick in and come to the rescue. He has installed loyalists in positions at the Pentagon and he has the backing of most of the GOP. You can say all you want about them humoring him (which is pathetic enough that we have to baby a 74 year d man like a cranky 6 year old) but what is really happening here is that they are testing the waters at best and at worst, they have completely lost control of the monster they created.
We are entering extremely dangerous territory. I’m terrified.
I am too. This is a coup and GOP leaders are part of it
There is no reason to be terrified. Plenty of reason to be angry but not terrified. Joe Biden will take office, it’s just gonna be hella messy because the Orange Menace administration aren’t being cooperative and want to make it as difficult as possible.
They are bitter and petty but most of all, they are terrified of pissing off baby hands because he probably has dirt on all of them and they are trying to get out of this situation without going to jail.
You need to be scared when Trump just fired top brass at the pentagon and put in his supporters. This is serious.
Anybody who isn’t a white, straight, Christian man has plenty of reason to be terrified. Don’t be dismissive of this very real fear.
It doesn’t really matter what people he has in the Pentagon; what matters is the soldiers who do the actual fighting. They can refuse an order that is illegal or immoral, no matter who it comes from.
I think the Pentagon is more about intelligence than preparing for a coup. That’s terrifying in a different way – I think they’re trying to erase some of their tracks or steal intelligence so Trump has something to sell down the line – but I don’t think it’s about a coup.
As a non-American who has seen what the US military does in the rest of world on non-US soil, this makes my blood run cold.
@Becks1 Your theory sounds more plausible.
Yeah his moves in the past few days are reminiscent of how Hitler seized power – they are planning a coup but from what I understand the military have already stated that they will not be interfering in the election. However saying that, the GOP and his stooges will try and force them to turn on the American people.
Where is Pelosi? She needs to step and do something before it’s too late and Baby Fists threaten to nuke the nation unless they let him steal the election. GOP are pretty much broadcasting that they are going to ignore the results and carry on like they still have all the power. Moscow Mitch is behind this – he wants total power just as much as Dump does.
I don’t know if anything has made me as angry as Pompeo’s stupid face when he said this. 😠 It is going to be a loooong couple of months.
Precisely Grabbyhands. Van Jones (attorney, former White House advisor to Obama, author, etc.) has a Ted Talk video on YouTube about a president not conceding. I wish everyone would watch it. Popular vote and electoral vote winners can still be denied. The Constitution says nothing about peaceful transitions. We have always trusted the character of those elected. Shit stain isn’t trustworthy, never has been and he’s stacking sycophants in strategic positions across our government. Even if nothing happens regarding an overturn, he will burn it down and kneecap Biden. I want to breathe. I want to revel in the Biden/Harris win and I do. But we can NOT sit down. We can laugh later, this shit is happening right now. I’ve never been a nihilist. But I’m worried.
I’ve never been a nihilist either, but after four years of watching every insane thing he’s done and said be approved by the GOP, I’m mystified by the faith that NOW suddenly everything is going to go by the book.
I have to agree. The institutions and “checks and balances” have done nothing to limit the insanity so far. Assuming they will now, at the last possible second, is wishful thinking. Hoping for the best with a heavy dose of reality.
@grabbyhands I’m mystified by the faith that NOW suddenly everything is going to go by the book.
Same! Point me in the direction of the facts that show where the Trump team has ever had any respect for or fear of rules that get in their way?
Do you know how many times I gave my abusive spouse the benefit of the doubt and had it work out well for me? Zero. Let me also tell you how many times the “rule of law” got in his way and he’s an average person with no special privileges other than a lack of a conscious.
People have to have hope, and if it’s helping people not panic I can appreciate that, but it’s pretty obvious where this is headed.
Except the checks and balances HAVE held over the past four years. Trump has lost in court. Many things he wanted to see happen didn’t even get a vote in the House or Senate. He didn’t get to repeal Obamacare bc of McCain and the Dems. Yes he abused EOs and Barr has been a fairly terrifying AG, and McConnell has been so laser focused on the Supreme Court that he ignores everything, but we’re still here. Trump isn’t the dictator he wanted to be. He doesn’t even have the wall he wanted!
I get why people are freaked out right now, I do, but like I said above I think the biggest threat here is what happens in a few years when they run someone just as authoritarian but less repulsive and inept. I dont think this is the running up to a coup, not at this point at any rate.
If I’m wrong, then we’ll be in a dictatorship where being wrong about this won’t matter. But I hope I’m right.
There’s a reason why that wall is around the WH. And why it hasn’t been removed. And why he’s putting his loyalists in place at the Dept of Defense.
On one end I’m afraid that he is staging a coup and what will come of it. OTOH I want him to try it because I want it public exactly the type of person he is – and to watch it fail.
He put his cronies in defense because the protests are about to start and things such as curfews etc will be put in place. The checks and balances only work when people play by the rules and they aren’t. My parents left a country when things got bad-I’ve sen this before…
100%. I take this very seriously. The GOP is totally down with the coup and the end of democracy. They don’t expect this coup to work, but they will big smile if it does, no problem.
Pompeo was a keynote speaker at the Values Voter Summit. He’s as mean and despicable as the rest of them and knows exactly what he’s doing.
What is happening right now isn’t funny in the slightest. These are some of the most powerful people in our government stoking anger and fear and doubt around a presidential election.
Now would be a great time for Trump to go to a Putin tea party, wouldn’t it?
I’ll be mother 😊
So much for that oath to protect the constitution…Pompeo and his trashy wife are gross.
I hate these people. Between being held hostage by this stinking virus and then these good-for-nothing politicians who get off on standing in the way, I am just worn out and sick of everything. Nothing can be smooth and productive thanks to these clowns.
They are deluded fools but also dangerous ones. What they are doing is tantamount to a coup. They are probably testing the waters and seeing if they can get away with it. Be vigilant! As someone from a country who’s had a dictator rule it not that long ago and who’s garbage family are already back into positions of power, democracy is a very fragile thing.
I’m scared but I’m also getting f$&@ing pissed off about it!
Pompeo, Barr and McConnell need to be charged with sedition once Biden takes office.
Wouldn’t that be glorious!?
I love this!
If he keeps at it he will transition into jail.
Wrong spot
The nerve of these criminals. Wow. No pardon and no plea bargains for anyone in that administration.
Saw Joe’s comment about this and he was laughing while saying Pompeo’s name.
Politico and Morning Consult surveyed Republicans about the election result and 70% of responders believed the election results were fraudulent. There are 70 million people in the US who live in an alternate reality and will not accept Biden as a legitimate president. Trump and his Republican cronies know exactly how to throw fuel on the fire and that’s what they’re doing. Having lived through a couple of dictatorships, I can tell when a country is sliding towards one. Trump might not seize power but, as others have pointed out, smarter and more competent people are taking notes in the wings.
se·di·tion
noun
conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch.
Add Pompeo to the list of Trump lackies that belong in prison
I sure hope Biden has a plan to deal with this because Trump and his cronies are not playing by the rules. I am really scared.
They are behaving exactly the way we thought, and all of us should be prepared for it to get worse over the next two months. I highly recommend we all read up on potential actions we can take if worse comes to worse: https://wagingnonviolence.org/
I have one word for Pimpeo (misspell intended): snake. No, viper.
He was being snarky, but read the room dude. Not the time. No one laughed at his joke, so he had to walk it back.
Trump’s taking pages from Ferdinand Marcos’ playbook.
1. Creating rampant corruption and suppression of democratic processes.
2. Lying about his war record.
3. Insisting that communist and subversive forces had taken over so opposing leaders were fired or jailed and the armed forces became an arm of the regime.
4. Enacting martial law so he could assume extraordinary powers, including the ability to suspend the writ of habeas corpus.
5. Supporting rampant government corruption, economic stagnation, and the steady widening of economic inequalities between the rich and the poor.
Unlike Marcos, I don’t want to see Trump assassinated, that would only make him a martyr, but the US MUST come to its senses and not let him hamstring the country with time-wasting and frivolous litigation, firings and grudge matches.
Y’all, these losers can’t even book the Four Seasons Philly correctly. They used a sex offender as a “witness.” Another “witness” recanted when investigators questioned him. Then said he was tricked and didn’t really recant. They’re getting filings returned as incomplete.
They’re not going to successfully pull off a coup. They’re Keystone cops, not Nazis.
True; they cannot pull off a coup. Besides, they don’t need a full-on coup – they’ve given big tax breaks to the rich, and packed the Federal courts and the Supreme Court. Next play will be to somehow blame the Democrats for all of the havoc that will be wrought by these courts. Easier to do with Biden in office.
Supposedly, Pompeo’s performance was for Dear Leader, who is annoyed that Pompeo didn’t do more to help him during the campaign. Pompeo has 2024 ambitions and thinks this will ensure he gets Trump’s assistance with motivating his cult. (Which of course is a total fricking joke: Pompeo doesn’t have a prayer of being the candidate and Trump helps no one but himself.) It’s political theater and gross.
america would have been firing off sanctions and military threats at any other nation who adopted the attitude Republicans are clinging to. the US is the Zimbabwe of the 1st World
Wow this is the truth @boobra
Yeah, these goons need to go to jail.
Hope he dont leave.
Hope he refuse to go.
Giddily awaiting him being escorted out