Today Donald Trump released a video of a Truck bearing a tailgate wrap-around that showed President Biden being tied up as if being kidnapped.
Oh, but it gets worse because this shot was apparently taken through the front window the Trump’s Presidential motorcade on the road from Long Island to New York for the wake of Officer Jonathan Diller.
And that truck and it’s driver have been identified.
Before going to the wake, Trump’s motorcade and the various other Trucks and cars festooned in Trump regalia spent time heckling the Kathy Griffin show on Long Island.
[This account was locked on Xwitter for several hours — Now I know why.]
This Xwitter poster may have even interviewed the Kidnap Truck driver because in his other tweets, he does say he “talked to him.”
Just to be clear, Kathin Griffin’s photograph with a paper-mache Donald Trump head was intended to be a joke about “Blood coming out of his wherever” which was what he said about Megyn Kelly after she challenged him about how he repeatedly demeans women. That got her fired from CNN and tanked her career for several years — plus a visit by the Secret Service.
I think we can all agree, including Kathy, that that joke flopped and was in extremely poor taste.
So, their reaction to Kathy Griffin with a severed head — which they claim is awful and going too far — is to have Biden tied up in the bed of a truck? Is violent imagery going too far or is “turn about fair play?” Which is it?
Apparently during the drive to New York Dan Scavino shot and posted the video of the Truck. Trump found an image of another truck with the same tail-gate wrap around and added his own picture in front of it with a “Thumbs up.” So is the Secret Service guy who was sitting next to Dan Scavino driving the limo gonna ask him “what’s up with the truck pics?” Because, well, that would be balance wouldn’t it?
And that image isn’t a “one-off” — someone is selling these in bulk.
In fact, in a single google search I was able to find one of those sellers right here.
Let’s Shop Kidnapped Joe Biden Funny Truck Tailgate Decal Sticker Wrap – Tied Up Biden Vinyl Graphic Decal Bumper Sticker!
They’re on sale for $12.49 off at $49.95. [The’ve taken this down now. Ha ha.. .ho ho...]
There’s also video from inside the truck — which was apparently driven by Vincent Franco along with Ernie Caramanico.
And they have been identified by online Sleuths.
Trump and the GOP have been making a big deal about Biden not attending this wake — saying that only Trump is truly "Pro Police” — but what they haven’t mentioned is the New York Governor Kathy Hochul also tried to attend the wake but was turned away.
As reported by Newsmax (link warning)
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's visit to pay respects to slain New York City Police officer Jonathan Diller took an unexpected turn Friday, marked by a brief but tense encounter with another attendee, the New York Post reported.
Hochul's presence at the Massapequa Funeral Home on Long Island for the second day of viewings was marred by a confrontation captured on video.
Witnesses observed a clash between Hochul and a man in a black suit, prompting a response from law enforcement personnel outside the venue, who applauded as the individual departed, the Post reported.
Supposedly, the family — who are rumored to be Trump supporters — asked for Hochul to leave because they didn’t want the event to be “Politicized.”
Ok, then exactly why was Trump there?
Here’s more from the local CBS station where they describe anger from local residents over cash bail reform since the killer of Officer Diller had a long rap sheet.
Studies indicate that eliminating cash bail does not increase crime.
ALBANY, N.Y. (May 25, 2023) — New York’s bail reform law had a negligible effect on crime, a study by a recent PhD recipient and a professor in UAlbany’s School of Criminal Justice (SCJ) found.
Bail reform has been a hotly debated issue in New York and throughout the United States, with proponents arguing that a cash bail system is unfair to poorer defendants and opponents arguing that setting bail for those arrested deters crime. In 2019 New York lawmakers passed a law eliminating bail for most misdemeanors and some non-violent felony charges, with the accused allowed to go free until a court hearing or released with conditions such as electronic monitoring. An amendment that went into effect in July 2020 rolled back some aspects of the reform, expanding the list of offenses eligible for cash bail.
In all this, we have to recognize the pattern. Like when Trump showed a picture of himself with a baseball bat next to New York DA Alvin Bragg, while calling him an “animal" that needs to be removed.
And there was the time he retweeted a video of CNN being run down by.a Train.
This happened not long before Super-Trumper Cesar Seyoc sent pipe bombs to various media outlets including CNN and Democratic politicians.
Cesar Altieri Sayoc, aka “Cesar Randazzo,” “Cesar Altieri,” and “Cesar Altieri Randazzo,” pled guilty today to a 65-count Superseding Information in Manhattan federal court before U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff. In connection with the guilty plea, Sayoc admitted to mailing 16 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to 13 victims throughout the country, including 11 current or former U.S. government officials, and that he intended to use the IEDs as weapons and to cause injuries. Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers for the National Security Division, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman for the Southern District of New York, Assistant Director Michael McGarrity of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division, Assistant Director in Charge William F. Sweeney, Jr. of the FBI’s New York Field Office and Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill of the NYPD made the announcement.
And also there’s all this:
- July 2017: During a speech to law enforcement officers in Long Island, New York, Trump seemingly encouraged police officers to be rough with people they were arresting, per ABC News. "Please don't be too nice," he told the audience.
- August 2017: In the aftermath of the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, Trump failed to unequivocally condemn the violence and said "many sides" were to blame, failing to distinguish between those who participated in the "Unite the Right" rally and those who showed up in opposition to it.
- October 2018: While speaking at a Montana campaign rally, Trump publicly praised Montana's then-Rep. Greg Gianforte (R) — the state's current governor — for previously assaulting a reporter. "Any guy that can do a body slam, he is my type!" Trump said.
- October 2019: A New York Times report outlined various strategies Trump had allegedly deliberated to keep migrants away from the U.S. southern border, including a water-filled trench with snakes or alligators and shooting migrants in the legs to slow them down.
- May 2020: Trump used violent rhetoric when referring to protests in Minneapolis in the wake of George Floyd’s killing, tweeting, "when the looting starts, the shooting starts." The phrase has a racist history going back to police brutality against Black Americans in the 1960s, per the New York Times.
- June 2020: Trump threatened to use the U.S. military to quell Black Lives Matter protests across the country. "If a city or state refuses to take the actions necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them," Trump said.
- August 2020: Trump expressed interest in sending the National Guard to Portland, Oregon, to confront protesters, per Vox. "We could fix Portland in, I would say, 45 minutes," Trump said.
So yeah. Stochastic Terrorist.
Please check out the new Stochastic Terrorism Task Group, you can kosmail me or G2geek if you want to join, contribute or suggest a dairy to be added.
You can also get early access to new posts by Subscribing for free to My Substack.
As noted in the comments, the apparent “bullet hole” at the center of the forehead doesn’t appear on the for-sale version of the wrap. It’s only on the image of the grey truck that Trump decided to use to put his “thumbs up” picture on. So he’s not just advocating that Biden be kidnapped, he’s specifically advocating for him to be assassinated.
Paging the Secret Service.
Former Prosecutor Shan Wu says the DOJ should be looking into this shit.
Former federal prosecutor Shan Wu, who previously argued that Judge McAfee was "losing control" of Trump's criminal case in Georgia, appeared on CNN to talk about Trump's legal troubles. Specifically, the host asked Wu about Trump's recent posting of an image featuring Biden bound and gagged in the back of a pick-up truck.
Wu said that, if it were anyone else sharing that same image, they'd likely earn themselves a threat assessment visit from the Secret Service.
Wu noted that, while Biden had a "very political response," that's because they "can't tell DOJ or law enforcement to do something because they want to appear hands off."
"But really the DOJ should make an inquiry," he added. "They should make sure that these things as are being checked out. And frankly, they could talk to the former president's campaign and say, hey, this kind of thing is very dangerous, doesn't mean they're investigating him, are bringing charges, but that's a proper thing for them to do to keep the peace."
Copies of the truck wrap are still apparently available on Facebook Marketplace from a woman by the name of Ashley Smith. Nice price, but only 2.5 stars rating. Womp womp. [This listing has been removed. Yay.]
Found another one at a site called Flagwix. This image has fewer ropes, so slightly less “Shibari.”
Republican on Republican violence talk.
Marc Lotter, who also served as a press secretary to Vice President Mike Pence and then became president of a communications firm, appeared on CNN to discuss Trump's latest actions.
Specifically, he was asked about the recent instance in which Trump, Lotter's former boss, posted something that included an image of President Joe Biden bound and gagged in the back of a truck with a bullet hole in his forehead.
"I mean, I think so much is being made of a video posted on social media. That's literally what..."
Former Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-VA) interrupted him.
"Your former colleagues at the White House, people who've spoken out against Donald Trump, have gotten attacked, people sometimes show up and attack them at their home or threaten them, threats are made against them," Comstock said. "So this is a real..."
"If we want to have a serious discussion about political violence, and I think we should, but... I would also remind you that you had the speaker of the house, Nancy Pelosi, and a squad member talking about unrest in our streets. You had entertainers who've talked about assassinating President Trump, blowing up the White House..."
Wow really, we’re bringing Madonna — and I think that’s a reference again to Kathy Griffin — into this? And “unrest in the streets” is not a call to violence, it’s a call to protest. Don’t “Both Sides” this shit.
He added that "we need to talk about political violence on both sides, and when that is only attacked and questioned on one, it rings hollow."
"We have not had a President of the United States who has said he would pardon people who have attacked our Capitol police and said he would let them free and we've had people excuse that. And that's coming from Donald Trump," Comstock said.
"The host called it "two Republicans having a very real debate, a very passionate one."
Medhi Hassan points out that people who say “Calm Down” about the danger of Trump need to understand that next time it won’t be Mark Esper blocking the order to “Shoot Protestors” — it’ll be Kash Patel or Sebastian Gorka. They’ll obey the order. The threat that Trump presents is real.
Ruth Ben-Ghiat argues that the life-sized image of Biden as a hostage is continuation of the attempted Coup of Jan 6.
Kathy Griffin has some words for Trump.
"I am not sure it is important to differentiate Kathy Griffin's mask wearing from Trump's effigy post (they both are heinous), but if I were to, I would start with only the latter is out on bail on 4 criminal cases, and has a [standard] bail condition that he not engage in a crime," Andrew Weissmann, who was one of special counsel Robert Mueller’s top deputies in the 2016 election investigation, wrote on social media.
But now, Griffin herself has weighed in.
"I would like Donald Trump to be put through what I was put through by him," she said on Threads. "He would crumble."
She then continued.
"Absolutely crumble. I, on the other hand, am in the middle of a FORTY city tour and will be playing Carnegie Hall in the fall."
Griffin noted that she was "extremely grateful" to be "finally coming out the other end of all that b-------."
"Because that's what it was. It was b-------."
Found another Tailgate Sticker on Facebook, this one being sold by Charles Burnett.
P.S. Threatening a President is a crime.