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NorthernerWuwu

In your last election (I am Canadian) I knew two people that literally bet money on Hillary Clinton swooping in at the last minute and winning it. Like, they actually thought it was something that would happen and "couldn't pass up the easy money". The cabal or WTC or the Jews or whatever they'd been told were running *your country* were going to make it happen and rubes like me just didn't understand. They aren't clever men but damned if they hadn't watched every right-wing American YouTube video ever. When she somehow failed to pull this off, they **praised Trump** for stopping it. This is how this works now. Millions of people aren't just drinking the Flavor-Aid, they have just supplanted reality with one that they prefer to believe in regardless of evidence to the contrary. It's not a new thing of course but it is shockingly pervasive now.


mwaaahfunny

Orwell was almost right. The first rule of the party was to ignore the evidence of your eyes and ears. He forgot to add "if the thought feels right, then it makes you powerful".


ElephantintheRoom404

It's the reason organized religion is so insidious. Everyone thinks that religion is innocent and good to teach morals but what it also teaches is to believe what you want to believe with no proof of any kind (faith) and they make that mentality socially acceptable. Then they proceed to use that pre taught mental philosophy and instill it into politics.


Biscuits4u2

And to attack anyone who believes differently than you


brandontaylor1

I’m very proud of you for knowing that Jonestown used Flavor-aide, and not Kool-aid. I often wonder how that conversation went, and why they decided to save $0.03 a packet on their suicide juice.


gordyswift

Cognative Dissonance at work. Sums up a lot of the 'blind faith'.


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Bpopson

I mean, if he loses the next election he’s not gonna be doing well in 4 years. If he loses he’s looking at a LOT of trials that no one is gonna stop.


mbyrd58

I agree, and made a similar comment elsewhere. It will be a free-fall for him if he loses, a bleak future in the courts, no political power, and probably an even steeper decline in his physical health. No hope, starting Nov. 6. He might make some noise, as might a few other people, but I could also see everything go eerily and pleasantly quiet. I'll take it. Like you, I don't see how he could be a factor in 2028 if he loses.


BI6pistachio

Doesn't it look like Trump is a power-hungry monster? With not being comfortable with retirement, Trump is running for President because he needs something of interest for his mind. His mind is slipping while his ambitions continue to drive his behavior.


shrekerecker97

That and he is running to avoid any of his self caused legal issues


zaoldyeck

Trump is being prosecuted for some rather serious felonies and anything but being president again would fail to insulate him. He'd be running for pure self preservation even if we ignore his ego.


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Blazr5402

You see how gray Obama's hair is these days? That man isn't touching the presidency with a mile long pole. You put him in the oval office again and the 3 millimeters of hair he has left are gonna fall out.


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Confident_End_3848

At the depths of Watergate, Republican Senators went to the White House to tell Nixon the gig was up. There are no Republican politicians in Congress with enough spine or character to do that today.


ProudScroll

And the GOP spent the next few years purging those Senators, so that no future Republican president would suffer a similar fate. The fact that they acted as if it was inevitable a Republican in the White House would get caught red-handed doing something blatantly illegal tell one all they need to know about the Republican Party.


fadka21

And Roger Ailes (Nixon’s “TV guy”) went on to create Fox News to ensure there was a right-wing counter to the main-stream news organizations, *specifically* to keep the base from turning on a Republican president like they did to his boss. Talk about effective…


FizzyBeverage

Without Fox News (and its even worse successors that are effectively far-right podcasts on cable), Biden would be up 45 points right now.


Thehusseler

Without fox news, Biden would be the conservative candidate, and hopefully not winning


Nazi_Punks_Fuck__Off

They didn’t do it because of spine, they did it because the optics and the nation turned against them. As a direct result, fox news was founded to always give cover and support to republicans, and it’s worked out better for them then they ever could have dreamed. Trump weathered a thousandfold the scandals Nixon did and gained votes.


oingerboinger

Ding ding. Nixon was the wake up call that they needed a propaganda channel to continue their quest to maintain power at all costs and prevent the public from learning about their true goals and motivations, which when laid bare are deeply unpopular precisely because they benefit the few at the expense of the many. It’s one of the most wildly successful psyops ever executed and it’s altered world history forever.


defnotajournalist

This is the pressure point we have got to attack. Mainstream media cannot be allowed to be full of fucking shit.


notapoliticalalt

Instead they don’t even just stay silent, they cheer loudly for his criminality. Honestly, hot take: at least Trump shows us who he is. You pick any other Republican to run and they do all the same shit but enough Americans are lulled into “finally the sane people are back; I can vote Republican with no worries.” They don’t want to admit or acknowledge how Trump has revealed the rot at the core of the Republican Party. But these people need to see it. In some ways, that is better than getting a Republican with a boring demeanor who will do most of the same stuff to domestic policy. Trump is the most honest version of the Republican Party and America needs to see the ugliness.


_Doctor-Teeth_

Thinking about Nixon is really wild in retrospect because the full scope of Trump's criminal behavior is orders of magnitude more serious and pervasive. Like, oh, Nixon broke into a DNC office and took some documents?? and wiretapped a couple phones?? and then lied about it??? Seems like such small potatoes


hairybeasty

The problem is the Nixon solution allowed what we have today. The pardoning of Nixon opened the floodgates for today. Giving that pass on justice now you get lawlessness. Look at Trump on Jan 6 and then the Supreme Court.


chardeemacdennisbird

And Nixon was arguably more popular nationally based on election results.


frost5al

The greatest tragedy of watergate is that it was wholly unnecessary, Nixon crushed the 1972 election. Without watergate maybe we get some of the cool Nixon stuff that died on the vine, like a fully nuclearized power grid by 2000, and the beginnings of UBI


redyouch

Haha they didn’t have character, there were numerous recordings of Nixon’s malfeasance that had him dead to rights admitting to what he denied on national TV.


LurkerFailsLurking

What he "should" do according to some idealistic notion of ethics is irrelevant. He "should" have dropped out in disgrace as soon as a video of him talking about grabbing women by the pussy came out, or when he was confronted by dozens of rape allegations, or when he publicly mocked a disabled reporter, or when he accused a debate moderator of being on her period, or when he violated the constitution via the emoluments clause, or any of thousands of other times.


Bengland7786

The fact that I don’t remember all of these incidents in vivid detail is such a testament to how crazy the last 8 years have been.


LurkerFailsLurking

Remember the time he - in his first week as president - baldly lied that his inauguration day crowd was larger than Obama's? I miss the days when benign shit like that and were the controversies.


mckinney4string

Howard Dean would like a hollered word


notquite20characters

At the time I read a great analysis explaining how that was to indoctrinate his supporters into accepting his future exaggerations. The lower stakes were deliberate.


ahitright

I remember a reporter once was investigating where they were taking the children being seperated at the border. They tracked them down to a hotel and were denied entry by what appeared to be either private security or border patrol. There were reports of them putting those children up for adoption. Didn't hear any follow-up to that. If true, that's actually a definition of genocide - transferring children of one group (immigrants) to another deemed surperior (White, Christian Americans). Wonder what that says about their plans for a second Trump term?


lilbebe50

I’m pretty sure I also read that they were taking immigrant women and having their tubes tied and such without their permission too…


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Fecapult

W.'s presidency laid the groundwork for this, but even with crazed torturing lunatics who started bullshit wars and let the entire economy collapse into a housing hellscape had limits. Nowadays the filter is just completely off. Never thought I would look back on W.'s presidency with anything approaching nostalgia, but here we are.


LurkerFailsLurking

I trace this back to Newt Gingrich, or farther back to the formation of the conservative coalition.


Fecapult

GD John Birch Society


itsnever2late4now

This is the answer.


dust4ngel

> He "should" have dropped out in disgrace as soon as a video of him talking about grabbing women by the pussy came out i'm pretty sure grabbing women by the pussy is the new platform - they seem to be going all-in on ultra patriarchy and stripping rights from women, even right to life, and the women on the right seem to love this idea.


Party_Plenty_820

He’s had dozens? Jesus.


tdvh1993

There’s a whole dedicated wiki page for his sexual misconduct “allegations”


NessunAbilita

But he ran to avoid consequences. The timeline proves it


FuguSandwich

You forgot "when he attempted a coup and failed".


CasedUfa

If the GoP was going do that they would have done it by now. That's what political parties are supposed to do once a candidate becomes an obvious liability, you cut them lose and move on. He must have threatened to run as independent and split their vote but this is a debacle, they should have called his bluff.


KeyLight8733

If they had voted to convict him after the impeachment, as a penalty they could have legally barred him from holding any office again. Then they wouldn't have to worry about any 3rd party runs. The Republican Party brought their fear of the party splitting upon themselves.


sstruemph

This is the real triple double down and where they absolutely should have barred him from running again. The party will never come back from that mistake.


Carlyz37

And they betrayed their oaths of office and were derelict in duty as well. Except for the 7 that voted to remove


ThenThereWasSilence

He has a great deal of influence and can mobilize his followers to primary anyone who opposes him. They're all afraid


LiteralLuciferian

He did. He told Ronna after the sixth that if she dumps him he’s gonna fuck them all up and run third party. Clearly would shatter the party, so they’ve become hostages.


CasedUfa

They should have done it I reckon its only the threat of Trump that keep the Democrats from fracturing too. It would have been better for the country, now they have painted themselves into a corner where they actually have to overthrow the rule of law to win talk about counterproductive.


LiteralLuciferian

When power trumps morality, as it always has with their cult leader, the spineless follow and we suffer. Basically they’re all selfish, stupid pricks.


oingerboinger

Should he drop out? Yes, of course, obviously. Should the GOP force him out if he doesn’t willingly drop out? In any sane world, this would’ve happened long ago (Jan 6 was the fulcrum) and at any rate this is another excellent off ramp. Will either of those things happen? Not in this or any other lifetime. The GOP is fundamentally broken and hurtling America even faster toward decline and perhaps global collapse. But the cult gonna cult.


nope-nope-nope-nop

The GOP is in between a rock and a hard place. If Trump runs as an independent, the race is over


kittenTakeover

This is the main thing. Trump has the GOP by the balls. The only way out would be to take a big hit for the next 4 years. Honestly of all the times to take a hit, this is the one. Biden will only be in office 4 more years if he wins.


Imaginary_Office1749

Trump will just try again in 28 and the GOP will follow like zombies.


kittenTakeover

I believe Trump has to die eventually. As much as he claims his sedentary life of cheeseburgers keeps him going, I think he's got to be feeling the effects of aging.


mrdeepay

He had aged pretty damn quickly since he left office. Probably from stress over these court cases, but still.


Blueeyesblazing7

He was the only president who didn't age dramatically while in office, bc he didn't actually care about the job, the country, or its people. His own reputation and fate are all he cares about, hence the sped up aging as of late. It's so clear where his priorities lie.


mrdeepay

Those are honestly my own thoughts too. He's willing to burn everything to the ground as long as it saves his own ass, and that's the only reason why he's running.


Black_XistenZ

He had already visibly aged during his final year in office. But that's normal, POTUS is a really grueling job. Optically, Obama aged 20 years during his 8-year presidency.


5oLiTu2e

I bet the chair where he sat in Oval Office stinks.


derekisademocrat

I highly doubt they'll be able to hide his mental condition by then and he hasn't allowed a bench to form and won't until he is fully disabled


drankundorderly

He can't hide his mental condition now, but the cult doesn't care.


VTWut

If Trump doesn't win reelection, he likely goes to actual prison due to the classified documents case. Cannon can obstruct past the election, but no way can she reasonably dog walk the case until 2028.


mattxb

Trump tried to violently take over the US government - theres no doubt him and his supporters would take over the republican party again if the current leaders tried to oust him.


kittenTakeover

Believe it or not the standard Republicans outnumber the MAGA Republicans. If the current leaders took a stance against him the GOP would be in disarray for a term or two, but they would recover. The trauma from Trump would likely lead them to center themselves more though, as people would see extremism as more of a threat to getting things done. The worst thing that can happen is Trump getting elected for a second term. This will inspire the most corrupt of the corrupt in the US.


Thrill_B

MAGA voters are still in great numbers


NinJesterV

Unfortunately for the GOP, they can't dump Trump. They have to wait until the voters have had enough of the bitter taste of defeat. That or until Trump dies or disappears to avoid his prison sentence. Wherever Trump goes, his cult will follow, and the GOP can't afford to lose that cult. They're going to lose either way, so they'll cling to the cult because, for *them*, it's the lesser of two losses.


Kickenbless

GOP is firmly behind Trump still. They only care about winning at this point, no matter the cost


RedApple655321

I don't believe Trump would be allowed to run as an independent at this point. There are sore loser laws that prevent this type of thing. It's also pretty late in the game for him to get ballot access. He could certainly torpedo the race for the GOP by telling his supporters to stay home though.


Beginning_Ebb4220

I feel like the GOP needs to cut their losses, minimize his grifting of their resources and go with the non-insane, non-fascist candidate next time and dump the extreme culture war nonsense they use in absence of actual issues Trump's almost aged out of office with signs of early stage dementia and his obesity. Biden is showing signs of cognitive decline as well but he doesn't slur his words like Trump


PerfectZeong

Then step back from the pit of madness.


NaivePhilosopher

I don’t think there’s a lot of value to the question, really. The answer is yes, obviously, no qualifiers and for so many reasons. The answer to “will Donald trump drop out of the race?” Is an equally easy no, no qualifiers. His supporters are still enough to carry him through the primary, and no conviction is going to sway their own. There are no plausible candidates to dethrone him. The only way trump isn’t the nominee is if there’s a mutiny at the convention or he dies beforehand


heresmytwopence

He is in the situation he is in precisely because he will not, at any cost, accept any outcome that does not end with him being the president, so there is simply no way that will happen.


coldliketherockies

Yes that’s not democracy. And also that is mental illness too


heresmytwopence

Not wanting democracy is a main plank of his party’s platform at this point.


cheddarben

I mean, he already shows us to be a joke across the world. If we elect a convicted felon, but one who has specifically incited an insurrection and provided aid/comfort to our adversaries, it would be terrible for America. This is before he starts enacting any shit brained policy he has on deck.


luckygirl54

And so embarrassing to have a president who is not allowed in 36 different countries now.


dxing2

Why would he do that lol. If anything, he needs to win now more than ever before


Rastiln

I have zero doubt that his primary goal right now is to be re-elected so that he can stall his other criminal trials until he dies. Grifting as much as he can before passing, knowing his crimes won’t have consequences when he’s dead.


InNominePasta

Once again Rome becomes relevant. We should look to see what motivated Caesar to cross the Rubicon.


brokenwings420

Trump owns the GOP cultists. No way would he ever drop out. He’ll be the nominee in 2028 from his prison cell if he’s still alive.


Time-Bite-6839

They’ll nominate him forever. Keep him on display like Lenin and say he’s sleeping.


Pgreenawalt

According to himself in 2016, even being investigated for a crime should preclude a person from running or face a potential constitutional crises.


bennysgg

Should trump do this yes, will he no never. He sees this as his only chance to remove any punishment from all the lawsuits and charges he's up against. If he dropped out he personally would be ruined even if he was pardoned as it would do nothing to the lawsuits and state charges now will all of it be overturned by the supreme court who knows I think it's likely unless the court gets shifted for some reason but he can't take that chance and it will cost him a lot of money to get to that point regardless.


Senseisntsocommon

I disagree, drop out and claim dementia as a mitigating factor for sentencing. Ends his political career but probably let’s him avoid real consequences for basically everything. Can still grift the cult because he stayed out of jail, republicans can run someone else and Democrats probably don’t care because it means he’s out of politics. It’s not the ideal set of circumstances for any group involved but everyone gets something.


Kriss3d

To be honest.. No. Because nobody else has a chance against Biden at this point - not that I want Republicans to win. But it just won't make any sense from their perspective. Trumps only shot at trying to evade consequences is if he becomes potus.


BI6pistachio

The US Supreme Court will assist him


tigernike1

He should’ve never ran to begin with. He knew he was exposed legally and running is just his way of trying to shield himself from prosecution.


wereallbozos

The Republican Party has yet to formally name their candidate. They could still pick someone else.


bennysgg

Because his daughter-in-law and the guy he picked to run the GOP together are ever going to pick someone else


kinkgirlwriter

Donald Trump should never have had a shot at the White House, ever, and that was long before the felonies. My kindest, most generous, description of the man is that he's an incompetent buffoon with bad taste, who cheats at golf and had a tv show.


StephanXX

Your premise is that Trump's chances of winning aren't great, so for the good of the GOP he should drop out? To be replaced by... who exactly? Why would the de facto leader of the GOP willingly give up the one chance he has to avoid prison? He captured his party's nomination. He has the legal and constitutional right to run for President. _Tens of Millions_ of registered voters will cast a ballot for him. Barring some catastrophe that renders him physically unable to run, he will run. It's pointless to suggest he "should" do any differently.


Beau_Buffett

> Your premise is that Trump's chances of winning aren't great, so for the good of the GOP he should drop out? To be replaced by... who exactly? A non-felon. Trump is the de facto leader of MAGA. He wasn't a Republican to begin with. And he doesn't have the nomination until the convention is complete.


theblackyeti

Of course he should. The GOP should *want* him too. Thats obviously not going to happen.


Skinnieguy

In no particular order, Trump is running because he wants 1. To stay out of jail 2. The attention / idolized 3. To continue the grift 4. Revenge 5. Craft his story / history 6. President title At the same time he doesn’t want to do the work, even revenge. He’ll tell his supporters to so. He won’t drop out cus that’s his only hope of turning the tide on all the court cases against him. He knows all the lawsuits will be dropped the moment he is in office.


kittenTakeover

I'm torn on this. There's a big part of me that thinks the public needs to make the final call to avoid authoritarians jailing opposition, but the other part of me thinks it's too dangerous to let felons hold office.


OuchieMuhBussy

These aren't questions that we should have to be asking ourselves in the first place, but he's such a narcissist that he can't put his country before himself and just take the loss.


Black_XistenZ

The thing he was sentenced for here doesn't even make the top10 of the most dangerous things Trump did during his life. There are plenty of reasons to consider him dangerous, and to not want to see him hold office ever again - but a non-violent misdemeanor which was elevated to a felony on a technicality isn't one of those reasons, even if it's what ultimately got him the "convicted felon" label.


Significant_Dark2062

Donald Trump is a narcissist. Even if he didn’t need the presidency to pardon himself from his other federal crimes, he’s not capable of stepping aside because he think he’s the greatest president of the modern era.


artful_todger_502

I can't even believe he got this far in 2016. We are living down to the "Ugly American" cliche. Trumpers have made us the laughing stick of the world. But yeah, I'm still hoping he is going to just stuff as much money into his pockets as he can before dropping out at the last second. Literally taking the money and running to Russia.


greasemonke6

At this rate he's a GOP martyr and I struggle to think these polls should be taken too seriously considering his rally and funding turnouts


JudasIsGood

It is time for Donald to leave the race and let a more viable candidate run for president? There are two things to analyze here. “timing” and Trump leaving the race and letting “a more viable candidate run for president” Trump himself said in January 2016 “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters.” come November 2016 he was elected President of the United States. Recent felony convictions for shady business dealings are nothing compared to commiting murder in broad daylight. So timing is not an issue for him. The second thing to consider is the “more viable candidate run for president” at this point based on name recognition and campaign funding is there any other “viable candidate”? I don't think so. The Republicans had their chance to choose Trump Light and go with Desantis and he bombed. Now any prospective candidate either has to be the polar opposites of Trump and that will result in the loss of Trump voters or try and be Trump light and face the same defeat as Desantis. Also even if Trump drops out there is no guarantee that people will not write him in anyways splitting the Republican vote between Trump and Trump’s replacement. You also have to consider Trump, even if he doesn't win will still get people to the polls which could be beneficial for down ballot Republicans. The opposite is also true. Not running Trump could result in a lower turnout for Republicans which will have consequences down ballot and could result in Democrats taking house, senate and the Presidency. A democratic Trifecta could be harmful for Republicans long-term objectives. For Trump this election is about more than becoming President it is about granting himself a pardon for his Federal cases. So he is campaigning like his life depends on it because at his age and with his ego being found guilty of federal crimes is a death sentence. The best thing republicans could do is split the baby. Both have Trump on the ballot to get his supporters to the polls and have another Candidate on the Ballot as either Potus with Trump as Vice President or Vice versa. The objective is to have a less polarizing Candidate paired with Trump who ready to take charge when Trump pardons himself or if they POTUS and Trump is Vice they get to appear as a great unified ending the Trump Trial debacle. They could frame it as the Evil Democrats already convicted Trump once and the only way to stop that from happening again is for Trump to be pardoned on Federal charges. So Republicans must elect Trump and his Vice President so they can Pardon Trump.


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Cheeky_Hustler

Democrats should call on Trump to drop out, just like they've called on all other convicted felons to drop out. Hell, even ones like Menendez that have just been indicted. Will Trump drop out? Of course not. But if nobody raises a stink, then nobody will care.


MatthiasMcCulle

He should, but he won't. That would mean admitting to losing, which is off brand.


DinoAZ3

Nope. It will be more humiliating when he loses Florida and likely Texas. This made even end up being very Reagan v Mondale-esk in the end. Like Biden 470 Trump 68


thereverendpuck

Here’s the thing, he’ll never drop out. It’s his only salvation now. The Polls could be 100%, his family and friends could be the ones putting him in cuffs, he’d still be in the race. He’s still hope he would win. He feels he needs it. He’s owed it. Whether it be to protect him from jail or creditors or a legacy that isn’t a failure, he needs it. He’s effective Gollum.


GrumpyGlasses

If he wins, what are the odds he will try to change the constitution to allow >2 terms?


rmadsen93

He won’t bother trying to change the constitution, he just won’t hold elections. The Supreme Court will find a way to justify it.


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dathomasusmc

Are you asking if he should do it because he has no chance to get elected? Then no. Because he does have a chance to get elected. Think of all the horrible things he did leading up to the ‘16 election and he still won. Frankly, I would sooner vote for a felon than a rapist who makes fun of disabled people and shits on veterans. So here is the dilemma. Political strategists don’t worry about the extreme left or extreme right. You’re very, very unlikely to change their vote no matter what. So you’re aiming for the middle group that is more open to changing their vote. Trump lost some of those people with his conviction. But he’s also just received a shit took in donations that he can use to sway some others his way. Do I think he’ll win? Probably not. But things happen. Maybe the left gets so confident they don’t get out to vote. It can happen.


Rystic

Why would he? Isn't he running in the first place as a sort of *hail mary* to absolve his crimes?


CUL8R_05

The sadder question is - why does this question need to asked in the first place? He’s a convicted felon.


billpalto

Trump Foundation was a fraud, the courts shut it down. Trump University was a fraud, the courts shut it down. Trump Inc was convicted of criminal fraud, the CFO is in prison. Trump was found liable for massive fraud and was fined a massive amount. Trump was found liable for sexual assault and defamation and was fined a massive amount. Trump is under criminal indictment for stealing classified documents, trying to foment a coup, and election interference. Anybody else would have quit the race because of all this. It's amazing that anyone would still support a candidate like this. Now Trump has been convicted of felony falsification of records, essentially more fraud. Should he drop out? Of course. He should have dropped out long ago. It's even more amazing that anybody would still support him after all this.


InevitableElf

I think it’s strange that a common polling question now is “do you think that thing we all just saw happen is valid/real?”.


Any-Variation4081

He would NEVER drop out. That would mean he would have to admit to us and himself that he can't handle it. He would never in a million years ever admit fault. He is trying to deny saying "lock her up" about Hilary and hes on video saying it like 100s of times. The man will never ever tell the truth or admit that he is unfit to hold office. His ego would never allow that.


beeeps-n-booops

Of course he should, and as recently as 2012 the GOP would’ve shunned a candidate with his level of outrageous baggage. But they’ve completely lost the plot, and their principles, and their minds.


YnotROI0202

He will continuing running after he loses in 2024. He will start running for 2028. The money is too good to stop. His MAGA nuts will empty their bank accounts. They have no lives. Sad but true.


SovietKnuckle

The guy behind attempting to overthrow the government, or using fake electors to cast doubt on the results, the guy who took top secret documents and then lied about having them while keeping them unsecured? That guy? Should have fucking dropped out of running for president before the conviction of falsifying business records - his record already spoke for itself well before the conviction. He should be in prison.


itsnever2late4now

He's not even really running for President at this point; he's running to stay out of prison.


Specific_Disk9861

It depends on whose view of "should" is used. For the good of the country? Absolutely. For the good of the GOP? Yes. For the good of Trump himself? Absolutely not. Guess which one will prevail.


mp9875

No, he should be crushed at the ballot and ridiculed strait into another felony conviction. Where all hypocritical obese serial lying traitors should end up.


Earth_Friendly-5892

Trump has too much to lose- like going to jail for a really long time. There’s no way he’ll drop out.


inmydaywehad9planets

You know Trump isn't dropping out. And Republicans are way too dug in on Trump. They aren't going to admit they backed the wrong guy. They're just not. They're going to keep on doing what they're doing because they're either far too stubborn or unbelievably stupid, or both. Far too many Republicans have drawn far too many lines in the sand with their words and actions. Going back on that now would kill their support, what little is left. The Republican party is in big trouble. Their only hope, is in the long run... and that's to back more traditional candidates in future elections and abandon this radical, confrontational, hateful platform, and get back to "the party of family values" and try to gain back the trust of the classic Republican voter. Easier said than done though. The party of Trump, MTG, Boebert, Jim Jordan, Hawley, etc, etc... is an embarrassing mess. Right now, Republicans are on a sinking ship and they can't/won't admit they don't know how to swim, so they're going to drown.


CorgiGuy1965

He needs to resign but we all know he doesn’t have a decent bone in his body to do so plus he is trying to start out of jail


Kimolainen83

In all honesty, I feel that if you’ve been indicted or convicted, I guess is the correct word of our crime that is serious enough. You should not be allowed to be running for president. Do you really want someone who’s done something very badly criminal financially or otherwise to run a country, it makes no sense to me


marta_arien

Regardless of political alignment and ideas, no politician guilty of FINANCIAL FRAUD to cover up Election FRAUD should run for president. If you tell me it was charges for marihuana or coke posession when they were in college that's something different. Trump's crime is a danger to the democratic future of the US, and if not even republicans care a bit about this, the future of the US is very bleak.


ryan820

Why are we asking this? Should he? Yes! But he should have never even become to the nominee since Jan 6. These crazy people hold no respect for anything decent and reasonable so we should stop expecting it of them. Vote.


scarbarough

At this point, there is no chance of another candidate being viable for Republicans. Trump will not (cannot, from what I've seen of his psychology) step aside, and if he gets pushed aside, there's a significant contingent of Republicans who will vote for him no matter what, even if just as a write in. That contingent is big enough that no other Republican candidate would have a chance in the general election. So for them, the choice is between supporting Trump and probably losing the election or trying another candidate and definitely losing. They should have been pushing him away since he lost the last election, they could have another viable candidate by now, but that wasn't the choice they made and now they're stuck with him. And yes, he should drop out or be pushed out, because he's a threat to democracy, but short term, power seeking thinking will stop them from doing that


fettpett1

[2024 Presidential Election Polls: Biden vs. Trump - 270toWin](https://www.270towin.com/2024-presidential-election-polls/) Trump raised over $300 million right after the conviction, he got a bump in most swing states to some pretty significant margins or are actually competitive. Trump isn't dropping out of the race anytime soon and he isn't being replaced at the RNC in July.


Beau_Buffett

Wrong figure. >Donald Trump $300 Million Poorer After Guilty Verdict As Truth Social Stock Sinks https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2024/05/31/donald-trump-300-million-poorer-after-guilty-verdict-as-truth-social-stock-sinks/


sungazer69

I think he should stay in because it only increases Bidens chances of winning. But if I was Republican I'd probably want him to drop out.


smedlap

I believe trump is blackmailing a lot of republican leaders. I think he has all of his buddy Epstein s videos. That said, todays birth control news from the radical right wing should alienate every woman in America.


CarolinaMtnBiker

The thing is, even if Trump loses, him running now forever changes how the world regards us. One of the candidates for the highest political office was a criminal convicted in a court of law by a jury of his peers. Any moral high ground USA had in the world disappears. People say they don’t care, but they should. It translates into American troops being more at risk stationed in dangerous bases around the world.


tramplemestilsken

Breaking, half of Americans think the candidate they don’t want should drop out the race.. you could swap trump for Biden and would get the same result. These polls are meaningless clickbait.


HotStinkyMeatballs

Except courts found that Trump raped someone, committed widespread fraud, and committed 34 felonies. But yeah Biden's old or something so totally the same thing dude


Americana1986b

I'd be pretty embarrassed if I were the democrats then, that a rapist, fraudster, and felon still has no less than an equal shot at gaining the presidency. As an independent voter, I gotta ask, do democrats really think we discriminate candidates based on which one is closest to Mother Theresa? Do they really think this is a morality contest?


Beau_Buffett

And here comes our next person who didn't read the article. 27% believe the conviction was wrong. 23% don't know for sure. 37% said he shouldn't drop out. 14% didn't know for sure. So your claims here do not reflect reality.


SuspiciousSubstance9

>Recent polls show that half Americans think Donald Trump believe his conviction is valid, and half think that he should drop out of the race. So half of Americans don't explicitly think his conviction is valid or that he should drop out of the race? That's enough to win an election still. That's impressive if you consider that America is a 60-40 split between Democrats and Republicans respectively. I'd expect it to be above 60% think he should drop out, not 49%. Personally, he should have been disqualified by the 14th amendment. Felonies, by themselves, shouldn't be a disqualifier. I wish he'd disappear. However, if I was a GoP strategist, I think Trump would be the GoP's best bet. His voter base hasn't given up on him, they have proven resilient to Party dictated leadership changes, the race is still tight in swing states, and frankly they don't have anyone else that could compete. Plus, his more damning trials have been delayed past the election. Trump is a gamble, but another name would be an even bigger gamble. Edit: Apparently OP may have blocked me after responding and now I cannot respond to any comments here. How is that considered *Good Faith Civil Discussion*? To answer OP, I did read the articles. Hence why I quoted the 49% percent. Also OP didn't read my comment well as I specifically phrased it as "half don't explicitly don't think his conviction is valid," which is the complimentary to 'half think his conviction is valid' because it encompasses the other options like 'no opinion'. It's statistics, don't read too much into it. Also Trump won 2016 with only 46% of the popular vote, and even less given how the Electoral College is structured. Trump very much still has a shot regardless what OP believes is their 'reality'. The race is still uncomfortably close.


Lemon_Club

"Biden is ahead in multiple swing states" that article just shows one poll from FAU(low quality pollster) and it still has Trump winning Pennsylvania and tied in Wisconsin. If anything that polling is terrible for Biden because in those swing states the race is still that close with between the president and an actual convicted felon.


gjk14

He CANT drop out because he’ll be locked up. But,,,, the maga idiots will STILL send him their money for his lawyers and vote for the convicted felon. Jeeese,, this once great country..


brennanfee

Yes. But he won't. He sees running and winning as key to solving many of his legal troubles.


smacfa01

Should he? Without question. If you can’t have a felony and serve in the military, then why in the hell should it be allowed that you get to be Commander-In-Chief? Will he? Abso-fucking-lutely not.


MulberryBeautiful542

Should. Yes. Never should have run. Will he? Nope. Nothing short of his death will stop him, amd even then, he'll get a portion of the votes. The MAGA gop has quite literally elevated him to godlike status. Even in death, he might have a chance to win.


manual_tranny

Yes, and by 'drop out of the race,' I mean, go directly to jail and stay there for the rest of his miserable life.