Donald Trump, who attempted a coup against the United States government and remains unindicted for any of it, held a "campaign rally" in Waco, Texas, on Saturday. The event coincides with the 30th anniversary of the deadly federal standoff at the compound of the arms-hoarding child-raping Waco cult dubbed the "Branch Davidians;" the odds that the Trump camp was not sending a message to the violent anti-government far-right militia crowd whose help he already solicited in his previous coup attempt are vanishingly low.
Trump's been all but promising that his followers will engage in mass violence if American law enforcement dares lay a hand on him in response to any one of his suspected crimes, so the nods to violent militias have been coming hard and heavy in recent weeks—including a heavy push of antisemitic conspiracy theories lifted from neo-Nazi groups.
As for the actual substance of Trump's Waco event? Don't worry, there wasn't any. It's been a while since we've done one of these but Trump hasn't learned any new tricks, he assembled the usual gaggle of two-bit conspiracy theorists and sedition backers to goose the crowd, and if you're wondering how the Donald Trump fan club has been doing of late, after Dear Leader mounted an attempted coup, then slithered off to Florida to surround himself with yet another layer of outlet mall lawyers to fend off yet another wave of investigations into his crimes?
Oh, they're all in fine form, don't you worry about that. Fine form.
Can you imagine living next to that guy. Can you imagine being the poor sap at the printing shop who had to help this doofus turn this junior high clip art into an enormous 6-foot tall homage to a reality TV star turned national traitor. I bet his children not only don't talk to him, they've all moved at least three states away.
You can't tell me this one isn't a stand-up comic just pranking the interviewer. I mean, come on:
Donald Trump's attacks on those who dare prosecute him have been having his desired effect. Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg has been getting death threats.
So there's your crowd. Then there's the usual Trump preshow. Trump has been doing this, too, since 2016; the premise has been "the people who come to my rallies are mostly children, but I don't have a monster truck so this will have to do."
Blasting "Danger Zone" while a private jet does a lazy turn above the crowd is not what makes this art. What makes this art is our assumption that while Trump's jet was doing this flyover, Trump was on the toilet the whole time.
Do you think he wouldn't do that?
So it's the same-old same-old, but this time with a heavy tinge of implied violence and a bunch of people onstage who, by definition, think that rallying a crowd to attack the U.S. Congress is a valid Republican response to getting sad news on an election day.
Marjorie Taylor Greene was there to regurgitate antisemitic tropes from whatever neo-Nazi propaganda flier she last swallowed:
Then there's this canker.
As for Trump himself, the man will never learn a new trick. Not ever. He is fueled by grievance and paranoia. Everyone he's ever met is a big guy with tears in his eyes who thinks he's Palm Beach Jesus or whatever.
He'll just go off on whatever tangent he wants to. Did you know he wants to regain the presidency so that he can vanquish his enemies and design better buildings? Of course you do, he keeps saying this crap.
Imagine hearing this and still putting a "TRUMP OR DEATH" flag on your SUV.
You might not know this but Donald Trump is the big cheese in his Florida assisted living facility.
It's all just horseshit from top to bottom. How did any of these people even drive to the rally venue. Did their moms have to drive them? How the hell do they dress themselves?
Seriously, these people shouldn't be allowed to own hair dryers, much less weapons.
So that was that. There was no big announcement that everyone should grab their guns and come gun down Trump's latest enemies. There was sex trafficker Matt Gaetz, because of course there was. But mostly Trump was just the treasonous ball of crap he's always been, a man with grade-school solutions to every problem and who only really cares about problems that stand between himself and his imagined future greatness.
Boooooooring.
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It's just barely springtime in an off year, but there's been loads of election news lately, so co-hosts David Nir and David Beard have a super-sized roundup on this week's episode of The Downballot. The Davids recap the first round of voting in the race for Jacksonville mayor (which saw Democrats do unusually well) and the collapse of an effort to recall New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell before turning to big batch of 2024 updates.
On tap for the Senate: The GOP's desperate effort to compete with Democratic fundraising enthusiasm by recruiting self-funders; why Republicans are afraid the guy who succeeded John Boehner in Congress will try to challenge Sherrod Brown; and how Democrats' plans to clear the field in Michigan may not succeed. Plus developments in the battle for New Hampshire's governorship, a key House seat in Wisconsin, and the saga of Tennessee's answer to George Santos.
