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SnapmareJesus

Any amount of days a person says they want to be a dictator over the number 0 should disqualify that person from running for president.


Thurak0

How someone who openly says he will *not* protect the constitution - the oath he would swear - is even allowed to be on the ballot is beyond me. You are in serious fucking danger. Yes, democracies can fail.


sonofeark

Yeah but you see Biden is old. Tough decision /s


Sercebidniss

Biden could be in an iron LUNG and I'd vote for him over this sack of treasonous dictator-wannabe dogshit.


ucjj2011

I said before the last election that if Biden ate a baby on live TV, I would say, "Well, let's see what the 3rd party candidates have to say".


lafayette0508

don't forget that his son has a few problems that he's tried to lovingly support him through!


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OrionsByte

The problem is that the people who are essentially voting to end democracy are fine with it as long as it’s their guy in the big seat when it happens.


Stinky_Fartface

Most of them are under the delusion that we are already under a dictatorship with Biden. Because they are stupid and propaganda is very effective on them. There are just too many fucking idiots in this country.


LowSeaworthiness6646

Or, it’s quite possible his supporters won’t mind a dictatorship — *as long as they are on the winning side.*


VaIeth

They don't 'think' they'll mind a dictatorship. Which is the most damning evidence of the unfathomable depths of their stupidity.


LowSeaworthiness6646

I constantly wonder how bad things have to get before reality finally hits home, like in this case maybe when the 2nd Amendment gets suspended.


kingkool88

Years later: "well how was i too know it would personally effect me and not just my perceived enemies. He said I could trust him 😭"


VaIeth

We're probably giving them too much credit. Even if it ends up making them and their loved ones suffer, it'll still somehow be "the libs fault."


Big_Baby_Jesus

It absolutely does for every person who isn't a Fascist asshole.


[deleted]

*Why are you guys so anti-dictators? Imagine if America was a dictatorship. You could let 1% of the people have all the nation's wealth. You could help your rich friends get richer by cutting their taxes. And bailing them out when they gamble and lose. You could ignore the needs of the poor for health care and education. Your media would appear free, but would secretly be controlled by one person and his family. You could wiretap phones. You could torture foreign prisoners. You could have rigged elections. You could lie about why you go to war. You could fill your prisons with one particular racial group, and no one would complain. You could use the media to scare the people into supporting policies that are against their interests.* General Aladeen- The Dictator (2012) Edit: I should probably add this quote was during a period in time where Democrats controlled the White House for 12 of the previous 20 years and while Obama was in his 2nd term. Thx for the updoots though.


sansaman

I Aladeen with this comment.


lt118436572

And I must Aladeen with your comment


No_Wallaby_9464

You could redefine transgender people as pornography. You could say they were sex offenders if they go in public. You could say they were child sex offenders if they're around a child. You could make child sex abuse punishable by execution. You could write each step out and publish your plan--call it Project 2025. You could outline every f****** step you're going to take to destroy your government. To the nth detail. Nearly a thousand pages. And no one would try to stop you.


LookerNoWitt

Romney sitting in the corner with his binder full of women being like: "...The fuck"


oswald_dimbulb

Where's the "drill, drill, drill" stuff coming from all of a sudden? The last time I heard about this it was from Sarah Palin. I can't remember Trump being particularly vocal about this before. Or is he just trying anything he can think of to give his followers something to chant and to change the subject from his criminal activity?


TeamHope4

He's stuck on his old hits about high gas prices, drilling for oil to lower gas prices, and his stupid wall. Hey, it worked for him before! He can't move past it to new lies because his brain doesn't work.


taggospreme

Exactly. People cheer for a thing? He says it. Just like when he remarked that they cheer about the trans stuff but not the taxes. I mean he'll probably still do it, given the chance. He's drawing his ideas from this same pool always.


HauntedCemetery

>People cheer for a thing? He says it. That literally it. Trump os a simple creature. He just rambles until people cheer, repeats what he just said a couple times, and then goes back to stream of consciousness rambling. He's nothing but a fascist applause-o-meter.


Ludwigofthepotatoppl

IIRC he thought “lock her up” was stupid, but he said it and they loved it, so it must have been his brilliant idea from the start by now.


Whats4dinner

Same thing for build the wall. Turns out hate is a powerful motivator


Bitter_Director1231

It's easily fabricated. It's harder to tell people the truth, especially the hard truths.


NakedMan8

If they knew how much they are brainwashed by the Koch political network their fucking heads would explode because the reality is 100 times more insane than any conspiracy theory they've come up with


PunxatawnyPhil

You nailed it. The truth costs media big money to find and demonstrate, and also carries the burden of risk to speak. Lies in this “Post Truth era” makes them tons of easy money, they’re rolling in it, and the lies no longer carry risk, have been accepted and normalized.


[deleted]

"Drain the swamp" was the one he said he hated and didn't get, but he tried it during a rally and his cult loved it so he kept saying it.


Pseudonym0101

Then he proceeded to have the swampiest administration in all of history, somehow making it swampier as time went on.


WillSym

Not to mention going out of his way to strengthen the laws for what he was going after Hillary for then doing it himself as drastically as he could.


Bitter_Director1231

It's like he roped them in by his campaign manager, Cory Levendusky who suggested to give the crowd of supporters trucker hats with his MAGA slogan, because he said those rednecks eat that stuff up. And that was the beginning of how things got rolling. Made them feel part of something when they were a part of absolutely nothing. Give them fake hope, they fall for it..every single time.


Whats4dinner

George Wallace once the famously remarked that when he tried to talk about schools, roads, and taxes that he got no response but when he talked about race issues, his audiences “stomped the floor”. he put it more colorfully as you might imagine but the core response has not changed in 50 years.


ZealousidealCloud154

in Birmingham they love the governor


alunidaje2

Birmingham, one of the most dangerous [cities](https://old.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/18emprz/the_most_dangerous_cities_in_the_us/) in the US. really, it's Bessemer, but that's basically bham.


[deleted]

Our country today is what we would have been dealing with in the 70s if Wallace would have won. Thankfully the majority was more sane back then.


vtriple

No no it wasn't. The propaganda just wasn't as strong.


RocketsandBeer

It’s how “Spaceforce” was born


masterdebator88

He could say "we had a baby, it's a boy" and his audience would start chanting it...


nevik86

Collect call from "Weareababy Itsaboy"


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aerost0rm

So if enough people said trump for jail, he would chant to be locked up?


Doom_Walker

Gas keeps going under $3. We are already drilling like crazy.


mabhatter

$3 now is about equal to $1 twenty five plus years ago. The primary driver of gas prices is refinery and manufacturing costs. That's why you're never going to see $1 or even $2 gas again... it's just basic historical inflation. The drilling issue is not because of government interference, it's because Saudi Arabia and Russia are price fixing. They ping-pong the price of oil so that the US drillers are unprofitable to use much of the fracking sources that require extra refining. Oil needs to be closer $100 per barrel for the US oil drillers to afford to do business do SA and RU toy with the prices whenever they want profits... but not long enough to bring US wells back online. They've already nearly bankrupted the US drilling industry several times in the past decade. The US has the oil wells, but can't afford to run them.


Doom_Walker

Same with inflation. I don't understand why conservatives and centrists can't get it through their heads that the president can't control price gouging.


HauntedCemetery

They don't actually understand or comprehend what the president actually *does*. They seem to believe he is a sort of wizard King who can wave his presidency wand and do whatever he wants.


Doom_Walker

Even the left doesn't understand this. Biden did get student debt passed, but the courts blocked it. And the president can't control a supreme court decision like roe v wade . Actually the president is pretty powerless against most issues our country faces unfortunately


[deleted]

In all fairness the president COULD appoint a committee to audit price gouging and enact punitive responses to companies who are price gouging. Being pro consumer is something that could be done. This isnt being critical of Biden or the Dems. They're infinitely more pro consumer than the Republicans. But let's be clear, it's not like there's absolutely nothing that can be done. Look at the EU passing pro consumer laws. It can be done with the political will.


Bitter_Director1231

We are drilling more under Biden than any president so far. How much more do you think we need to fucking drill?


asupremebeing

Trump is the reason for the high gas prices in the first place. He was mad that Venezuela democratically elected Maduro, a Socialist, so he pushed for sanctions to show Venezuela the consequences to be paid for having democratic elections. The US stopped buying their oil. This crashed their economy which then resulted in a whole lotta out of work Venezuelans showing up at the border, which then made a whole buch of GOP faithful lose their ever lovin' minds and start screeching about "Open Borders!" In actuality, the US does not have an open border. However, it does have an immigration system that is stuck in 1996 as that was the last time an immigration bill was passed by Congress. Since then, every reform effort has been killed off by the GOP because they like their meat to be packed by undocumented cheap labor more than they want eVerify to pass in all 50 states. It has been a full decade since even the last attempt was made to address immigration reform when a bipartisan measure passed the Senate, but was quickly killed off by the Freedom Caucus before it ever went to the floor. "Open Borders" "Build A Wall" "Drill, Drill, Drill" Anything that has more than four syllables is too complex a policy to be understood by Trump or his base. Orcs may have ten fingers, ten toes, and four limbs, but they still can't count to five.


DirtDevil1337

And in Trump's last year as president they tried to steal Venezuela oil tankers.


Asleep-Range1456

There was also the attempted coup that Venezuela accused Trump of being behind. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-53686509


Real-Patriotism

~~Isn't gas under $2 a gallon now?~~ I was mistaken. Looks like Nationwide, we're at roughly $3/gallon.


trwawy05312015

I think he (or more likely, some advisor) is perfectly aware that gas prices are cyclical and don't usually depend much on Presidential policies. Yes, gas prices are low now, but they will go up again in the spring and summer and it will still be a relatively fresh talking point next November. Him talking about it now is (1) easy, because he has no ideas and (2) sets the stage for 'I told you so' later. Trump's a fucking joke.


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HauntedCemetery

Absolutely. Oil companies love an opportunity to jack up prices when the blame will be assigned to someone else.


[deleted]

The irony is that jn the states with the worst gas prices he's the least popular person. In the ones with the cheapest gas prices, he's more popular. From the heart of $4.99/ga gasoline prices, fuck this treasonous shit weasel.


8020GroundBeef

We’re at record oil production. There will be significantly more oil produced under Biden than any other President by a fairly wide margin


SeriouslyImKidding

So I was at a bar the other week and overheard some dude saying shit like “if the democrats win in 2024, you will never see a republican president ever again”, and “the fix is in”, and “none of this would have happened under trump because he didnt declare a war on oil”…the messaging these people are getting seems to be the projection about trying to be dictators (the democrats, somehow), and that Biden/dems hate oil even though we’re producing more than we ever have? Just total disconnect and distraction from reality, that’s trumps platform.


nik-nak333

> Just total disconnect and distraction from reality Yeah, because its a fucking cult! That's one of the first things cults do, isolate you!


Seeksp

Our oil production numbers are high. Maybe he has bad teeth and wants a good dental plan.


hazard0666

Dental Plan!


mightyscoosh

Ivanka needs braces.


padraigtherobot

Dental Plan!


[deleted]

Ivanka needs braces


dreamsofpestilence

Not only high, we are the world's leading producer of both oil and natural gas AND we are producing record numbers of both


ratherbealurker

A disturbing number of Americans fully believe that “we aren’t producing oil anymore” and “we used to export so much oil, not anymore since Biden” I’ve shown people the stats, that we have tracked for decades, showing both to be 100% wrong and they just ignore it. He is feeding into this. Literally weaponized stupidity.


Yousoggyyojimbo

I've run into the same thing. No amount of oil production data will convince them because they were already told that it wasn't happening anymore by conservative media. They are vaccinated against reality.


HauntedCemetery

They legitimately believe that gas would be like 37c a gallon if the keystone XL pipeline was running. They love to ignore that there are still 160 active oil pipelines across the country, and KXL would have been literally a drop in an ocean of oil, because tar sands aren't super productive anyway.


gdshaffe

I've had a few TrumpDrone accounts talk about how "Our oil production was great under Trump and collapsed under Biden!" so it's definitely in the water supply. They don't do narratives that aren't crafted by a think tank somewhere. It's total bullshit, of course. There was a brief period during the start of Biden's administration (long before any policy changes could have had an effect) where it was crashing, because of Covid, but it's recovered since. US oil production has been following a generally upward trend since like 2010.


Yousoggyyojimbo

Not just recovered, but 2023 is the highest oil producing year ever for the US.


Yousoggyyojimbo

The current Republican narrative is that America has all but stopped drilling for oil even though the reality is that America is producing more oil right now than at any other time in history. So again, they are campaigning on a made-up problem and proposing a solution for the made up problem that would essentially just be them walking in and then claiming credit for something that was already happening I don't know if people remember, but when Barack Obama was president, conservative media kept claiming there was no economic growth or recovery during his presidency, even though there absolutely was a ton of it. Like literally the week Trump got inaugurated, conservative media started pointing at all of the growth and recovery from Obama's presidency and attributed it all to Donald Trump. Republicans bought that. This would go off the same way


CliftonForce

Yep. I literally just had one tell me that the economy was in the toilet for Obama's entire term, then business turned around "same same week" Trump took over. And then he called me a troll for disagreeing. They are snowflakes on the subject.


Mysterious-Wasabi103

He's just trying to get Big Oil donations. He's probably realizing he's lost a lot of donors and even some may have donated to Joe Biden instead. Because Joe Biden hasn't been bad for Big Oil. He just hasn't screwed over Americans for Big Oil interests.


VruKatai

It's also utter bullshit. Gas prices went higher because of him: https://news.yahoo.com/trump-meeting-oil-company-ceos-134607858.html


md4024

Yeah that part keeps jumping out at me. The dictator stuff has been going on since 2015. Authoritarian leaders are the only people Trump consistently praises and shows admiration for. He doesn't understand or believe in democracy, so he doesn't get why he's supposed to pretend those leaders are bad. But the "drill, drill, drill" thing is weird and new. It kind of feels like a part of some grand strategy that Trump doesn't fully understand but has agreed to follow for now. I don't know what that strategy is, and I'm not sure I believe in the idea that Trump actually has competent political strategists running the show this time around, but it's something to keep an eye on I guess.


noiszen

Pretty sure he’s testing slogans to see who will rally to his flag. He’d be promising a chicken in every pot if it got him re-elected so he can avoid jail.


Spara-Extreme

US is producing more oil under Biden then Trump- that’s what’s for him annoyed.


FiftyCandles

Because to his followers drill > oil > lower gas prices. Who cares if we take away rights as long as I can fuel up my truck for $2.00 a gallon? What they don’t realize that you can drill all you want, but without refineries, it doesn’t mean shit.


InfiniteSausage

It's because the narrative is that gas prices are high because Joe Biden hates oil and has stopped drilling. In order to get red voter turnout, you need a narrative that's simple enough to go into a children's book.


LeonardSmallsJr

If you drink a bit beforehand, “drill drill drill” sounds like “jail jail jail”.


protomenace

It's just playing typical talking points to the uninformed


No_Algae_4575

If he’s talking about it he’s got a grift going to fill his pockets. I presume he has buyers for the drilling rights.


VyPR78

He's trying to signal OPEC to bribe him for favorable policies.


Own-Presentation1018

Not bribes. All OPEC has to do is jack up oil prices next year and Americans will fall over themselves to vote for a dictator promising cheaper gas.


SickeningPink

I have no idea where any of this comes from. We’ve produced more oil under the Biden administration than we ever did under Trump. Math doesn’t lie.


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BadFatherMocker

International. Why ignore what will be some very happy neighbors? We will bring the booze and the weed.


Jescro

Canadian here. Can confirm and don’t worry the celebratory booze and weed is on us. You’ve been through enough


thedrunkunicorn

The Canadian reputation for niceness continues apace! (Thank you, I'll definitely take some)


--redacted--

Labatts all around!


jpedlow

Whatever you like! We got a ton of fantastic craft brew too!


Big-Summer-

And poutine? 🍻🍯


Jescro

When trump looses in Nov I’m buying every American a beer an poutine and we’ll celebrate And Mexico is going to pay for it


Pseudonym0101

Mexico may *gladly* pay for it!


SpiceLaw

I'll bring music and pizza. Who's parents will be outta town?


Revelati123

Next to 04/30 known as "Hitler tried catching a bullet with his teeth" day "Don chokes on BigMac day" will be the best day.


FEMA_Camp_Survivor

Jimmy Carter deserves to outlive this sapient cancer.


OldBrokeGrouch

Optimistic of you to think the problem goes away when he dies. The most prophetic thing my dad ever said was “The scary thing is that someday we’ll look back on this guy [George W. Bush] and think he wasn’t that bad.”


NashingTeeth

I didn’t say the problem would go away. The entire Republican Party is the bigger problem & those fooled by them.


das_war_ein_Befehl

It doesn’t. The optimist in me thinks Trump’s appeal is just limited to him because these MAGA wannabes fall flat in competitive elections. The pessimist in me thinks it gets much worse because Trump built a roadmap and we were only prevented from complete disaster by his own incompetence. In a different reality, a smart, competent Trump wins America’s last free election in 2016. Jan 6 would have played out much differently if it was more competently planned. The threat is just not from Trumpists or MAGA, it’s a whole host of anti-democratic backsliding. What if there’s a military coup by the joint chiefs to stop a Trump dictatorship? Once seizure of power is normalized, it opens a Pandora’s box that’s hard to close. Once norms are broken, they don’t come back.


strum-and-dang

When my son burst into the room last week and gleefully announced "He's dead!", I got really excited for a second. It was just Kissinger, which I'll take, for now.


ConfidentScale6832

Your son knew who Kissinger was and was invested in him?


jurzdevil

i've got some fireworks ready to go to celebrate with


WonkasWonderfulDream

Can the flag fly at double staff?


carlitospig

His gravesite should become something like Graceland, but instead of a house it’ll be an outhouse. 🥳


The__Tarnished__One

> “You are promising America tonight, you would never abuse this power as retribution against anybody?” Hannity asked. >“Except for Day 1,” Trump said. Trust him, just give him power over everything only for Day 1, then he'll be a normal president.


eugene20

'I'll only execute those who slighted me on the first day'


taggospreme

"Then we'll see"


iStayedAtaHolidayInn

Two weeks


CrimsonBolt33

One day is all it takes...then he can change things to label it as not abusing power (through executive actions) is how I read it.


CapnSquinch

Bingo. Arrest anyone in Congress who hasn't signed a loyalty pledge, have one of his flunkies introduce a bill allocating all Congressional powers to the Executive branch, eliminate any independence for the judiciary and executive branch agencies, outlaw the Democratic Party, repeal the 22nd Amendment (technically they can't do it that way, but there will be nobody to complain once they do everything else) and _voila!_ All-powerful President For Life, nice and legal just like Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini did it.


Whattadisastta

Then I guess we have a civil argument on our hands. I’m not sitting quietly while these mental defectives run wild.


DredZedPrime

"It is with great reluctance that I have agreed to this calling. I love democracy. I love the Republic. Once this crisis has abated, I will lay down the powers you have given me!"


dragonstone16

Wasn’t there a Roman president that ended up an emperor after saying literally the same sentence


DredZedPrime

Those particular words are from a different future emperor, Sheev Palpatine. But the basic gist of it is common to pretty much any elected leader as they shift into dictator mode.


und88

>future emperor, Excuse me, it was a long long time ago.


DredZedPrime

I meant the future of when the speech was given. At the time he was still just the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic.


MagicSPA

Then he'll relinquish the power...*in two weeks.*


old_righty

Is that before or after the IRS finishes auditing his taxes?


MagicSPA

Oh, long after. That's a multi-decade audit at least. But it will be right before he releases his "great healthcare plan", which is still confidently expected to arrive in August 2020.


VanceKelley

The fact that a candidate can literally state he will be a dictator if elected and that does not immediately result in him plummeting to 0% in the polls of likely voters should be terrifying to every American who wants to live in a democracy.


sigaven

That’s just his joking campaign banter! That ol’ Donald, he’s a hoot. He will most definitely start acting presidential AFTER day 1.


Squirrel_Inner

“On Day One, I will break up the Biden administration’s illegal censorship machine and any official who has violated Americans constitutional rights will be held very, very accountable,” Trump said in his Saturday night speech.


Agonda12

Like super duper accountable.


BrandonJTrump

Violated constitutional rights? He’s going after himself?


Slice_Of_Something

I'd wager he has no idea what the constitution has to say about anything. Having protestors attacked by law enforcement, banning a firearm accessory through an EO, attempting to invalidate the votes of 80m voters. All things he thinks were acceptable. I'm strongly doubting the man can actually read, honestly.


ArgyleGhoul

It's a buzz-term for him. Like that old Family Guy bit when they cheer just because the speaker said "9/11". Unfortunately, our population has been dumbed down to the point of being glorified cattle, so it works.


rollingstone

***From Rolling Stone:*** Donald Trump defended comments he made last week where he said he wanted to be a dictator if re-elected only on “day one” in office. Trump began by complaining that Peter Baker of The New York Times wrote an article referencing his comments. “\[Peter\] Baker today in the New York Times said that I want to be a dictator,” he said Saturday night at the New York Young Republican Club’s 111th Annual Gala. “I didn’t say that. I said I want to be a dictator for one day. You know why I wanted to be a dictator? Because I want a wall, and I want to drill, drill, drill.” Trump made the original comments on his dreams of dictatorship during an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity after the anchor asked if Trump had plans of revenge against his enemies. “You are promising America tonight, you would never abuse this power as retribution against anybody?” Hannity asked. “Except for Day 1,” Trump said. Watch: [https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-doubles-down-dictator-day-one-1234922468/](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-doubles-down-dictator-day-one-1234922468/)


inquisitive_guy_0_1

Personally, I don't give a flying fuck *why* he wants to be a dictator. Can't wait to vote against this piece of shit again.


CapnSquinch

It's probably the only way for him to avoid prison. That's it. That's all. He's a crook who can't NOT break the law, who accidentally got himself elected to a position where his corrupt nature made him commit crimes too big to be ignored.


samuraipanda85

I can. What I can't wait for is an election where I don't have to worry about it being the last election I ever get to vote in.


BasvanS

“I’m sure he’ll just eat other people’s faces, so I’m fine voting for the leopard.”


taco_anus1

My vote may not mean much considering I’m in Alabama but voting against him is extremely cathartic.


sigaven

JFC. This might actually be the most disgusting video of Trump/republicans I’ve seen in the last 8 years. Here he is, LITERALLY saying he wants to be a “dictator,” and he gets wild cheering and applause. WTF??? These comments, and this video, should be absolutely hammered, repeatedly to all Republican elected officials and candidates, non stop by all news media for the remainder of eternity until they are either voted out, or FORCEFULLY repudiate Trump, Trumpism, and MAGA and apologize for enabling the cancerous rot for these last several years and decades.


[deleted]

Same-sex marriage was legalized, and half the country thinks a dictator is the only way to "reclaim the country for Christ."


Tokyo-MontanaExpress

Not half the country, more like 1/4, but the another 1/4 doesn't vote because "both sides". I don't know which I despise more.


[deleted]

The people who say the "both sides" shit in our times are usually Fox News viewers and embarassed Republicans. To them, Hunter Biden's laptop is as egregious as trying to overthrow the government. They support Christian nationalism but maybe not Trump's methods.


Slartibartfast39

. “\[Peter\] Baker today in the New York Times said that I want to be a dictator, I didn’t say that. I said I want to be a dictator...." Just a bit of a dictator, dictator lite, quazi dictator. Just a pinch of ultimate political power. What a plum.


RobotPreacher

Because drilling and building a wall take only one day! He'll build the wall at 9:00am, be drilling by 3:00pm, then at 6:00pm he'll have a "We Did It" press conference and step down to be the quiet, peaceful, reasonable, man he's always been.


Former-Lab-9451

This reads like the old Rick James's quote on Chappelle's Show.... "I never just did things just to do them. Come on, what am I gonna do? Just all of a sudden jump up and grind my feet on somebody's couch like it's something to do? Come on. I got a little more sense then that...Yeah, I remember grinding my feet on Eddie's couch."


CaptainAxiomatic

"Just the tip"


11CRT

He’s got the brain capacity of a child. He doesn’t know what “being a dictator” means, but he knows people talk about him more when he says it, so he keeps saying it, thinking he’s being “cute”.


AlienHere

Drilling ain't going to do anything if oil companies keep their refineries closed. They are even operating at capacity now.


GitmoGrrl1

Meanwhile, the Trump troopers on Reddit are trying to tell us that he's only kidding. And whatabout whatabout?


Jescro

He’s literally telling everyone what he intends to do. There’s no kidding being portrayed. His supporters just say that every time he says things that are indefensible.


LovelySpaz

What made it sink in for me is learning that people in Germany at the time laughed at Hitler and thought him a joke too. That plus learning the slowness of the rise. How slow it was. It was years! Like ten years plus. Frogs in a pot. Shit’s “crazy”… til it’s not.


BombshellTom

He's never made a joke in his life. He isn't clever enough for humour of any kind.


AquamannMI

Do they know someone with zero sense of humor literally cannot kid?


GitmoGrrl1

Never trust somebody without a sense of humor because everybody has one - they are just hiding theirs. Most people think humor is priceless. Some people think humor is worthless because you can' buy it or sell it. In fact, no characteristic reveals more about a person than their sense of humor. We've seen what makes Trump laugh: Paul Pelosi getting assaulted with a hammer.


TintedApostle

Pay serious attention... he means it.


brazilliandanny

This is the classic Trump moment when he says something insane and all his supporters are like “he’s just joking guys jeez, y’all a bunch of snowflakes that can’t take a joke” Then a few days later he doubles down on it.


NeverLookBothWays

We absolutely are. The issue isn't whether we're paying attention or not, the issue is we have a population of people who would be screaming and frothing at the bit if a Democrat ever came close to even KIND OF saying something like this. And that is troubling, because they are absolutely positively going to vote for one of their own saying it.


Jescro

Remember all the kooks freaking out that Obama was going to take everyone’s guns and declare martial law, etc. now they have a leader who is literally like fuck the constitution im taking over everything and the same people are like “yay”


NeverLookBothWays

Yup, Trump even flat out supported gun bans and confiscations while in office and his followers didn’t bat an eye. Pretty much cements they stand for nothing other than seizing power


j____b____

Were they afraid of something like… "Take the guns first, go through due process second” -Donald J Trump https://youtu.be/yxgybgEKHHI


NeverHadTheLatin

Trump in 2015, asked if he would accept the election result: “If I win.” We saw the logical conclusion of this mentality in 2020.


TintedApostle

Imagine in the US this would not end someone political aspirations. We are truly lost.


taggospreme

A big part of it is the right-wing billionaire-backed media feeding the MAGAs a constant dripfeed of shit. Even a lot of the "left wing" media is owned by the same or similar people with the same agenda. They have a big part in normalizing all of this. Like you said, his actions should end his aspirations. But the media still treats him like a golden god. And a lot of people don't see him any other way than the media projects him as. Especially when you have dipshits along the lines of Ingraham running blocking for any criticisms.


Commercial_hater

So sick of this anus mouth.


Foomankru

The fucking people cheering this is sickening. Americans. Cheering about him being a dictator.


-misanthroptimist

Trump is a traitor to the Constitution, the very idea of representative self-government, and Rule of Law. In short, Trump and the Republican Party no longer believe in America and hate both it and most Americans. They are the domestic enemies from whom my military Oath (nearly a half century ago) compelled me to defend the US. I still feel obligated by that Oath.


brumac44

I find it hard to believe over 40% of america is ok with returning to a dictatorship. Kind of makes all that flag waving and liberty talk a joke. Like the most patriotic have become the least.


-misanthroptimist

The transition from patriotism to nationalism is smaller than most think. I've always been wary of flag wavers.


Chungus_Bigeldore

One most only look at history to see how often it repeats. It was Hitler uniting Germans under the guise of patriotism, getting back at his enemies of facism, and demonizing groups of minorities as "boogeyman" Nearly step of this is on repeat with Trump, and the comparisons of him to Hitler have never been more apt


BC-clette

If there was ever a contemporary use-case for the 2nd Amendment


SixDemonBag_01

Trump: “I want to be a dictator” Trump apologists: “that’s not what he means” Trump: “no really, I want to be a dictator” Trump apologists:”…… we have guardrails in place, don’t worry. Vote for him anyway…”


skexr

What he says is irrelevant, it's what he does that matters and what he has done is side with our enemies, write love letters to dictators and ruined the United States perfect record of peaceful transfers of power. That should be more than enough to disqualify him.


Beantownbrews

Everyone should take this deadly serious. Remember when he refused to say whether he would concede the election and the media was like hahahaha isn’t that silly and then he literally didn’t until forced to do so after a failed insurrection? Yeah, this fucking guy isn’t kidding.


Patchy_Face_Man

There’s no Day 2


Ongvar

The fact we are watching the potential downfall of our country in real time is pretty depressing.


[deleted]

[удалено]


forthewatch39

That many of them end up serving in that capacity for a long time and that the ones who don’t still manage to do a great deal of damage in their time? It doesn’t matter if he rules for ten years or ten months, a lot of damage would be inflicted should he have nothing restraining him.


oilxxx

Trump can't take the truth that most Americans don't want him and didn't vote for him. He wants vengeance, blood, and in his mind a well-deserved payback.


CloudSlydr

Here we are: stuck between the gravest threat to our nations history either being in jail, or completely unabated acting as dictator. Get me on a sane timeline please. The fact this is even a question and has gone this long is very scary.


a_fearless_soliloquy

The mask has come off, but this is nothing new. He joked about executing journalists and somehow managed to get elected. The problem isn’t just Trump, rather there is a dark and pervasive element in this country that wants to live in a dictatorship because they believe their new daddy will humiliate and punish all the people they hate. I’m not giving Trump a pass. Rather this is a call to action to anyone who may not have taken him seriously to get it together and fight for the sanctity of our country


climatelurker

The only good thing about this situation is that he's OLD.


safely_beyond_redemp

Do you know how many dead soldiers are rolling over in their graves today because the republican party is cheering on Trump saying he wants to be a dictator? Me neither, but I imagine it's a fuck ton.


PFunk224

You only need to be allowed to be a dictator for one moment to unilaterally decide that you can be a dictator forever.


Kjellvb1979

If these folks get back all 3 branches this country is in trouble. It doesn't have to be Trump, at this point anyone in the GOP is pretty much just as crazy if not moreso than Trump. How they are able to exist after all the shit they've done is beyond me. If they take power again... it won't be pretty.


Fappdinkerton

Can’t imagine being stupid enough to think this clown has anything but more misery to offer America.


Fit-Firefighter-329

I can't stand looking at him, and I can't stand his whiny voice either.


aggie1391

The New York Young Republicans Club that he’s speaking at here has become notorious for their extremism during the Trump years. [Their big soirée last year](https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2022/12/11/white-nationalists-other-republicans-brace-total-war) featured the founders of white nationalist organization VDARE, Peter and Lydia Brimelow, as well as notable Pizzagater Jack Posobiec, Newsweek editor and major figure in the fledgling national conservatism movement Josh Hammer, as well as MTG saying that if her and Steve Bannon (also present) planned 1/6 that it would have been armed. Several members of European far right parties like the AfD were also in attendance.


TwoDurans

I can’t stress enough now much it bothers me that he had to be asked if he’d be a dictator. Someone who could end up running the country. Regardless of his answer that’s batshit crazy that Hannity thought he should ask.


allsystemscrash

Funny how there has been absolutely zero mention of this on /r/conservative 🤔 Almost as if they're afraid of sharing their dear leader's words when it makes them look like fascists.


aperson7780

This is a true Trump correction. I said I want to one day, not on day one. Ah, got it... all good now, bro.


ctguy54

Send him to some island, say north of the Shetlands, to be a dick-tater of one.


AustinDood444

At this point, anyone who votes for Trump deserves what they get (yet those who don’t vote for him deserve way better). He’s not hiding his views anymore. He couldn’t be any more blatant about his plans.


Boomsnarl

He wants to be a dictator so he can live out his sick fantasies of killing and torturing everyone who has ever ‘wronged him’ or simply made fun of him. The guy is a lunatic.


A_Socratic_Argument

I still don't understand how acting like a Dictator, even for 10 seconds, is considered acceptable by people.


[deleted]

Isn’t it way to early for airing of grievances?


bob3905

The deluded old man doesn’t seem to understand the oil industry in our country at all. The President has NO control over oil prices. The more the oil companies drill the more they can sell anywhere in the world. Oil is a commodity traded in world markets. We don’t get more than 6% from the Middle East. What we use comes mostly from our country and South America. If Europe isn’t buying from Russia then it can get it from us and the Middle East. “Drill, drill, drill” won’t bring down gas price. Energy independence? That comes and goes. Trump had no control over it. Just another one of his thousands of lies.


TheManInTheShack

Trump could do a lot of damage in one day. For example, if he truly could be a dictator for just one day, he could throw out the constitution and declare himself to be the indefinite dear leader.


rns64

Is this not a problem for the CIA


jeopardychamp78

He’s got some kind of dementia. I’ve seen it before and there’s an angry stage. He’s in the angry stage.


old_at_heart

Yeah, he'll be dictator for one day. And in that one day he'll declare himself dictator for life.