These hucksters capitalize on the man and his controversies; the hell with winning elections!
Don’t we all Republicans want to win elections? You’d think so, but there’s a cadre of media talking heads and GOP activists and politicians for whom Donald Trump is good business regardless of whether Republicans win – and Trump knows how to play them, and us voters.
Let’s take the latest controversy around Kanye West, the musician/actor who has made anti-Semitic comments, bringing white nationalist Nick Fuentes with him to a dinner at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago.
Republican leaders and groups, along with Jewish organizations, are denouncing Trump and demanding he apologizes and distances himself from West and Fuentes. So far, as is normal for Trump, no apologies at all – just acting dumb and saying he invited West but didn’t know who Fuentes was.
This has been in the news cycle for a week, and that’s Trump’s aim in all of this – I don’t believe Trump is an anti-Semite, has been a great friend of Israel, worked with Jews in his business, and has a daughter, Ivanka, who married a Jew, and converted. However, he has many times before been cornered for accepting the support of wacko groups like Qanon, white supremacists like David Duke, and the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys.
Jonathan Tobin of Jewish National Syndicate, a right-leaning pro-Zionist news service an ardent trump supporter and backer, says Trump does this deliberately:
“Up until now, almost all of the attempts by Democrats to accuse him of antisemitism or of encouraging Jew-hatred have been highly partisan charges that didn’t stand up to scrutiny. The case for damning Trump as an antisemite or an ally of antisemites simply didn’t hold water.”
But, Trump who Tobin says “doesn’t believe in apologies, has a “savvy appreciation of how to deal with gaffes or kerfuffles that, in most cases, he made deliberately in order to gain attention or simply to generate outrage among media and political-establishment foes…He long ago came to the conclusion that the only response to being attacked was to ignore the brickbats and move on to the next dustup for maximum political advantage.”
Trump is essentially a showman and salesman. His view is any publicity, even negative publicity, is good because what it does is it gets his name into the news cycle over and over again. To be sure, his ardent backers love him, but he just moves moderate and swing voters to the Democrats in states Republican need to win majorities.
In addition, Trump has a number of enablers in conservative media and other circles who just ignored this incident on their shows rather than upset Trump and his base – and their bottom line.
These are people who make money no matter who is in power. In fact, there might be evidence conservative media benefits when the Democrats are in power because they are a convenient target, and conversely liberal groups benefit when Republicans control Washington.
At the top of the list are Fox News’ prime-time trio: Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity. So far, none of them have distanced themselves from Trump for the benefit of the GOP and conservative cause – and the Constitution. I guess they remember the revulsion among Trump viewers when the network declared Biden the winner in Arizona before all legal challenges were adjudicated. As a result, Trumpsters got mad and went to Newsmax, which is a big Trump enabler, too.
Data shows Newsmax ratings skyrocket when they air Trump’s rallies.
Other enablers include people like Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee. Gingrich is an astute observer of politics and yet, he blamed the recent Red Ripple that should have been a Wave on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, not Trump. He’s now having to testify to a grand jury on Trump’s alleged efforts to tamper with Georgia’s 2020 results.
Huckabee makes money off Trump and said his presidential announcement speech was “pitch perfect.” That Kids Guide to President Trump he hawks does cost but $2 shipping. My guess is Trump helps finance it.
Loads of other media talking heads profit off of Trump. This New Yorker article highlights how Dan Bongino’s podcast hit 8 million listeners in large part for being a Trump apologist. Steve Bannon’s War Room and Virginia’s own John Fredericks capitalize on the MAGA faithful. Most of the Trump-backed candidates Bannon hosted on his show lost.
Democrats know this and spent millions on ads to promote more Trump-like candidates so they would win GOP primaries and be weaker opponents. This worked in New Hampshire’s Senate race and at least five others.
This great TBE analysis by Hans Bader shows that in pivotal races, Trump’s support of those candidates was the kiss of death. My prediction is Herschel Walker loses the Georgia Senate runoff Dec. 3.
I still gave Walker a donation, and still believe Trump did great things as president. I worked hard for Trump in 2016 and 2020 and was a National Convention delegate in both years.
Trump is clearly all about Trump and has no appeal beyond a hardened base of conservatives mostly in rural areas. Our party will never get beyond the 30-40% Trump base if we keep enabling him but embracing the America First agenda is a win.
If it’s your only desire to be entertained or be a RINO hunter, or keep thinking elections are being stolen like Trump acolytes Dinesh D’souza and Mike Lindell, then keep supporting him and be a dupe for the hucksters, including the Democrats and their TV commercials for the “Ultra MAGA” GOP contenders. Go be a gullible sap and vote for them.
But if it’s your desire to save the nation and Constitution from socialism, wokism, cancel culture, Big Government and censorship, we need to start backing better GOP candidates, especially in the 2024 presidential election.
And Donald Trump isn’t one of them.
43 comments
Trump was the best President this country has seen since Reagan. You poor babies don’t like someone who talks back, who won’t take any crap from Democrats, who never apologizes for mistakes? If you were injured in a car wreck and you were being fixed by an experienced doctor who questioned your poor driving to your face, would you want him to fix you and save your life or would you tell him to leave so you could find somebody nice? Wake up, RINOs. This country is in a political war with an enemy that takes no prisoners. Trump is only guy who knows how to fight back effectively. He loses billions while in office, creates peace in the Middle East, lowers and simplifies taxes, reduces the number of stupid regulations by the hundreds (at least), puts China and Korea in their place, reduces illegal immigration to a trickle all while facing a hostile press and Swamp BUT he didn’t personally review the guest list for a dinner in his home to make sure a very controversial young man wasn’t allowed to attend.
you really don’t believe any other republican can do what Trump accomplished? if so that’s sad because foe one thing Trump is approaching 80 years old and nobody lives forever. and he poisons gop chances. he’s not the be all and end all
“Trump was the best President this country has seen since Reagan. ”
You are out of your mind. And Reagan destroyed the middle class
I was and am part of the middle class my destruction is coming from RHINO’s and SOCIALISTS from the left who are destroying this nations economy with massive inflation and lies about it!
So you are LYING Reagan did not destroy the middle class!
As much as Reagan was a great president, both he, HW BUsh, plus Clinton and Bush 41, sat by while our industrial base was handed over to China, Japan and other nations in teh 1980s and 1990s. Neither Carter nor Reagan did a thing to help the steel industry, which was hemorraghing after 1977, nor the auto and consumer electronics industries — those jobs went overseas. The loss of blue collar jobs got worst with NAFTA (an HW Bush and Clinton deal) and Clinton supporting China in the WTO. Trump came along and blew the whistle for “Fair Trade” and he was making progress with China. There is finally bi partisan suspicion of China and support for reinvigorating high-wage manufacturing jobs. This is why it’s critical for Republicans to support Trump’s america First Agenda, but due to his personality, legal problems etc., he is just not suitable to be our champion any more
If this is not treason, then, there is no such thing as treason.
Former President Donald Trump on Saturday flat-out called for the “termination” of the United States Constitution so that he could be returned to the presidency.
Reacting to the news that Twitter in the runup to the 2020 election removed tweets that featured pornographic photos of Hunter Biden, Trump declared that the entire election had been stolen from him and demanded to be returned to the presidency.
“So, with the revelation of MASSIVE & WIDESPREAD FRAUD & DECEPTION in working closely with Big Tech Companies, the DNC, & the Democrat Party, do you throw the Presidential Election Results of 2020 OUT and declare the RIGHTFUL WINNER, or do you have a NEW ELECTION?” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution. Our great ‘Founders’ did not want, and would not condone, False & Fraudulent Elections!”
This is not the first time Trump has called for his reinstatement as president, although this is the first time he has acknowledged that doing so would require the United States to shred its own Constitution on his behalf.
I can’t think of a time in the United States when a former president (and would-be future president) has called for suspending the Constitution to let him seize power. Even after all the shocks of the last few years, this one is remarkable.
The real story here is not Trump’s panic about his fading relevance and his legal exposure; it’s that Trump remains the presumptive presidential nominee for the Republican Party in 2024. The leader of the Republican Party has just called for the overthrow of our fundamental law and the installation of a dictator.
The American Constitution is a sacrosanct document that for over 200 years has guaranteed that freedom and the rule of law prevail in our great country. The Constitution brings the American people together—regardless of party—and elected leaders swear to uphold it. It’s the ultimate monument to all of the Americans who have given their lives to defeat self-serving despots that abused their power and trampled on fundamental rights. Attacking the Constitution and all it stands for is anathema to the soul of our nation, and should be universally condemned. You cannot only love America when you win.
But Republicans are silent on Trump’s profound attack on the Constitution, the basis of our democratic government.
You have no issues with the conspiracy between the swamp and media to violate millions on Americans constitutional rights but I bet you were all over the Trump Russiagate lie!
2020 was stolen and so was 2022!
moron
So name calling? Typical, do you even acknowledge the conspiracy or are you going to continue to lie?
Talking about Trump? Biden has kicked Americans in the teeth from the beginning. The Biden Mafia is more their style. Didn’t realize we have so many upside down Americans.
We don’t their votes are being canceled through fraud!
I’ve been saying this since Trump became a thing, and was roundly criticzed by the resident genius commenters who were here back in 2016, and since, and had my pieces rebutted by other TBE authors.
Toldy’all so.
The real issue is the fraud! Until voting machine counting and vote traffickers are arrested this country is doomed to a socialist death!
OMG. Cant you move on from 2020? Do you really believe everytime a Republican loses, even if it isnt close, then there must be fraud? This is the kind of retro thinking Trump wants you to believe, and its not productive.
It isn’t just 2020. It happened again in 2022. It will happen again in 2024.
There is no confidence in election integrity and fraud keeps being exposed but it takes time.
So if I rob your back and escape for 4 years you would urge the police to move on?????
Perps in 2022!!! https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/12/shocking-huge-exclusive-georgias-raphael-warnock-received-24-million-money-mules-unemployed-gave-small-amounts-358000-donations/
oh stop. Good God
Oh look for yourself GOOD GOD! Anyone with an ouch of common sense and willingness to seek the truth can find it! JUST LOOK!
Congrats you were right. But some of us were also right, he was a good President.
Anytime you want to write a post, we’d love to have you here.
Lmfao, nowwwwww they’re hucksters?!???! 3 months ago he was the 2nd coming to all y’all and by God don’t dare say a word otherwise. Just one question: how much cheap, Chinese made Trump crap do you have stashed in your closet for his resurrection day when you need to fall in line again?
Still hating on Trump? I seem to be one of the few that ignores him. Bad publicity can be better than none at all.
You’re right — ignore him. The point i was trying to make is — GOP activists and those who are committed to our party regaining a majority in Washington should get beyond Trump and realize when they’re being played. Not just by him, but a number of enablers out there, many of whom I hope will also ignore him and move on — if they can find a new bottom line to pursue
“Out there”. Really, out there? What about right frigging here? Don’t now try to act like this place was anything other than Trump central and expect to not get called out on it. “Should get beyond Trump”? Easy now isn’t it? Not so easy when it’s time to step up and be an actual leader what, 3, 6 months, maybe a year or two ago is it? But last I checked, that’s what leaders are supposed to do. Lead.
From “about the Bull Elephant”: “ with the idea that all benefit from listening to opinions that challenge their own perspectives”. BS
A few tried to express concern. Nope, no dissenting voices here. Not allowed. Commence w the name calling. Who’s the rino now? Ya boy and he always has been. You made him and reveled in it so sure distance yourselves now but don’t act like this is some great epiphany that you’re in the forefront on. You are them and didn’t care until it started biting you in the ass.
We also have a massive fraud issue! 2000mules.com exposed 56,000 people trafficking votes and being paid!
my response is — let’s get our own “mules” in the GOP and do the same thing! We can’t get anywhere bitching and litigating about elections AFTER they happen. We have to be prepared to win them . And, we don’t have TDS on this site; just a sense of reality
Thanks for showing those who come here that you are giving criminal activity a free pass! If this is how the GOP plans on doing business you can say goodbye because the people will revolt!
We certainly allow dissenting views! You’re commenting, aren’t you?
One thing, in my opinion those people being played by Trump, don’t they know that they are being played but just do not care? All they care about is that no matter what Trump does it is better than the Democrats. And, I would really like to know exactly what are those great things Trump did while in the White House? How can you blame Trump supporters for being played if Trump really did do great things? Why shouldn’t they support his re-election so he can do more great things as you say?
Everything about Donald Trump is nothing but a lie. He destroys all those around him. Biden, just as bad, but I do not have to listen 24/7 365, every minute, everyday, what Biden is doing. I did not vote for either.
good points. it’s hard for many to separate the accomplishments from the man himself and I think you’re right that many of these people want a sovereign to worship and don’t seem to care about the consequences.. especially for gop candidates. I feel it’s up to longtime Trump backers like me to lead us out if this personality cult. ie by writings like this
I agree! I have great respect for what you’re doing. Thank you!
If not Trump, then who. I don’t want any more McCains, Romneys or Bushes.
Why stick with the McX for leadership? We badly need new blood advocating a positive agenda. We do not need more of the same. We inspire no one to vote for republicans. (The my pillow guy knows how to sell and we certainly need that.)
If election fraud is not number one for our new house leadership, then it doesn’t matter who we nominate. We will lose in a big “surprise”.
Who? DeSantis is good, Kristi Noem, Ted Cruz. anyone but trump .
I remember when rinos said anyone but Cuccinelli or Gillespie, both of whom were better than their democrat opponent. Keep splitting the party Keen, pure genius.
You are correct. We have a GOPe versus a GOPbase problem. The base wants Amerca first conservatism. The elite embrace the socialist international agenda. The elite, namely the McX three, are apparently in charge and have made mess after mess of our politics and elections. They talk a good game but it is either a con job or they are incompetent.
When was the last time a one term republican gave us 3 conservative justices?
That would be NEVER! Because the GOPe and the Democratic Socialists all want the same thing, total control of the population by self appointed elites! Those 3 conservative justices are all that stands between them and their goal!
They are already rigging elections in most states and when their system is totally in place they will no longer need anyone and we will all be useless people as Yuval Noah Harari https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMDlfNWM1fA&t=33s
In his speech he says “The useless class with have no military or economic usefulness and therefore no POLITICAL POWER” Funny I thought that in a Republic or Democratic system everyone has political power by their votes, but that seems to not be part of the plan!
Im not “splitting the party.” We all can criticize the GOP in whatever manner we weant as long as we unify for the fall, as I did with GIllespie and Romney and a number of candidates I didn’t care for personally.
How about addressing the other questions.
The 900 lb gorilla isn’t Trump but what ideas and leaders will move us successfully forward. Doing more of the same with more of the same people seems to be insane and certain to fail. If you want the GOP base to shrink, pick the McX crew to remain in place.
And election fraud is a real issue not just silliness – if there is a blind spot it is that those who refuse to see will not see. The situation in Arizona ought to cause every Republican to go as nuts as the folks in Brazil. By going “ho-hum” the courts won’t look at this we are allowing massive election fraud to continue unchecked. This has to be fought with every idea available and all republicans should be on board.
No the 900 pound gorilla is organized vote fraud!!
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/12/shocking-huge-exclusive-georgias-raphael-warnock-received-24-million-money-mules-unemployed-gave-small-amounts-358000-donations/
900 lbs of democrat lies.
apparently, you will believe anything, no matter how ridiculous
My but the pot sure is calling the kettle! The lies coming from the left and main stream media are so thick you could walk to the moon on them!
Are all the writers on this site covert democrats? It sure appears so. THE ISSUE IS THE DESTRUCTION OF OUR NATION AT THE HANDS OF THE GLOBALISTS! You TDS people are giving aid and comfort to them.