On Trump’s Last Day In Office Why Were Sensitive Documents Allegedly In Such Disarray
At the end of Donald Trumps presidency, his team returned a large batch of classified FBI documents and other government records to the Justice Department in such disarray that a year later — in a letter to lawmakers — the department said it still couldnt tell which of the documents were the classified ones.
The documents came from the FBIs controversial probe in 2016 looking at alleged links between Russia and Trump’s presidential campaign. Trump tried to make the documents public the night before he left office, issuing a declassification memo and secretly meeting with conservative writer John Solomon, who was allowed to review the documents, Solomon told ABC News this past week.
But for reasons that are still not clear and to the great frustration of Trump and his political allies none of the documents were ever officially released, and the Justice Department said Thursday it’s still working to determine which documents can be disclosed.
he Justice Department has … failed to declassify a single page,” Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., complained to the attorney general in February.
Political Activities Up To 2015
Trump’s political party affiliation has changed numerous times. He registered as a Republican in Manhattan in 1987, switched to the Reform Party in 1999, the Democratic Party in 2001, and back to the Republican Party in 2009.
Trump first floated the idea of running for president in 1987, placing full-page advertisements in three major newspapers, proclaiming “America should stop paying to defend countries that can afford to defend themselves.” The advertisements also advocated for “reducing the budget deficit, working for peace in Central America, and speeding up nuclear disarmament negotiations with the Soviet Union“.DCCC chair Rep. Beryl Anthony Jr. told The New York Times that “the message Trump has been preaching is a Democratic message.” Asked whether rumors of a presidential candidacy were true, Trump denied being a candidate, but said, “I believe that if I did run for President, I’d win.” In 1988, he approached Lee Atwater asking to be put into consideration as Republican nominee George H.W. Bush‘s running mate. Bush found the request “strange and unbelievable.” According to a Gallup poll in December 1988, Trump was the tenth most admired man in America.
Research Suggests That The President Is More Intuitive Than Analytical
As Democrats gear up to take on Donald Trump in the 2020 election, the party should be thinking about the qualities that make him so popular with many Americans. While liberal pundits remain baffled by the president’s following, studies from the field of psychology continue to shed light on the phenomenon.
A study published in the journal Translational Issues in Psychological Science suggests that Donald Trump stands out amongst other politicians, including fellow Republicans and past presidents, as being exceptionally low in “analytic thinking.” By using intelligent text analysis software to interpret language data from speeches, debates, and written documents, the researchers estimated the point where Trump falls on an analytic-narrative continuum. This finding raises the interesting question of whether a low-analytic thinking style could be contributing to the president’s popularity.
The analytic-narrative continuum provides a way to objectively measure someones thinking style and whether it’s analytic, which is characterized by careful deliberation based on logic and reason, or narrative, which is characterized by more gut reactions grounded in intuition and personal experience. While an analytic thinking style is evidence-driven and statistical, rather than anecdotal and emotion-based like narrative thinkingthere is no doubt that the latter resonates with many people.
This article was originally published by Raw Story.
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Despite Drift Toward Authoritarianism Trump Voters Stay Loyal Why
Despite his authoritarian tendencies, President Donald Trumps supporters have stayed with him because of a complex interplay of economic, cultural and racial factors, resulting in a fierce, almost cult-like loyalty, said scholars at the University of California, Berkeley.
More than a month has passed since the fiercely contested U.S. presidential election, and the nations institutions are moving day-by-day toward acceptance of the outcome that made Democrat Joe Biden the winner over incumbent Republican Donald Trump. But Trump is neither conceding nor moving on and, it appears, the same is true for millions of his supporters.
The numbers, presumably, dont lie: Results certified by officials from both parties show Biden defeated Trump by more than 7 million votes. Since the polls closed, however, Trump has blitzed the nation with unproven claims that he was robbed of victory by widespread fraud, and today only 15% of his 74.1 million voters say Bidens win is legitimate.
Nevada Court Hears Of USPS Witness Obstruction, Flawed Machine Inspections, And Deceased Voters
Donald J. Trump
Some suggested that generations of creeping economic insecurity have inspired deep anger, compelling many voters in the white middle and working classes to embrace Trump, flaws and all, because he challenges the American status quo.
Adam Jadhav, Ph.D. student in geography
How Rational Ignorance Shapes Our Politics
To understand why so many voted to re-elect Trump after four years of historic political turmoil featuring a failed pandemic response, a devastating economic shock and a crisis in racial justice its necessary to understand the forces that propelled him to victory in 2016.
In recent publications, Berkeley scholars have suggested that Trump won with an unconventional coalition of white working class and middle-class Americans who were motivated by resentment: The culture and economy gave them no recognition and no respect for their work. Their industries were changing, their jobs were shifting overseas or lost to automation. They perceive that Black, Latinx and Asian people, and immigrants, are advancing at their expense.
Trump supporters massed for a rally in Washington, D.C., days after Democrat Joe Biden emerged as the winner of the U.S. presidential race.
But some Berkeley scholars suggested that for many voters, support for Trump or any leader is a more passive choice that takes shape in a subrational sphere.
Gabriel Lenz, an expert in political psychology, is the author of Follow the Leader? How Voters Respond to Politicians Performance and Policies . He sees political opinion shaped by a force that is almost prosaic: an apathetic lack of awareness.
Gabriel Lenz, UC Berkeley political scientist
Lenz and other political scientists call it rational ignorance.
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The Numbers Are Clear: Its Still Trumps Party
The simplest barometer of whether Trump still dominates the party is the 2024 presidential polls. And by that metric, Trumps grip is pretty hard to question.
The RealClearPolitics poll average has Trump leading the field by an average of 26.2 points. All but one national poll cataloged by FiveThirtyEight in July had Trump beating DeSantis by a similarly large double-digit margin .
Granted, any challenger against an incumbent like Trump probably wouldnt pop up on many voters radars this far ahead of an election. But much of the Trump is slipping coverage skips past all this vital context. For example, the New York Times recently ran a write-up of its poll with Siena College headlined Half of G.O.P. Voters Ready to Leave Trump Behind, Poll Finds. And indeed, the poll did find that 51 percent of Republicans would vote for someone other than Trump if the primary were held today.
Yet the headline is misleading. The Times poll found that Trump still commanded 49 percent support in the party his next closest rival, DeSantis, garnered a mere 25 percent. In the article, reporter Michael Bender notes that the results show that Mr. Trump maintains his primacy in the party, contradicting the pieces headline.
But weve been here before. Remember when Fox famously went to war against Trump during the 2016 primaries, culminating in a fight between Trump and Megyn Kelly? We know how that played out.
A Substantial Number Of Republican Voters Dont Just Want Trumpism They Still Want The Man Himself
Since early June, when the House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 attack held its first prime time hearing, a growing number of commentators have argued that Donald Trump is losing his grip on the Republican Party. They point to the declining number of Republicans who support a third Trump presidential bid in 2024. They mention the rising popularity of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. They cite focus groups that would like to move past the former president. They name the GOP primaries where Trumps candidate lost. They note that the Jan. 6 Committee has prompted conservative media outlets such as the Washington Examiner, New York Post, and Wall Street Journal to publish editorials calling Trump unfit for office. All this, the pundits conclude, is evidence that Trumps days as Republican leader are numbered. Either he wont run in 2024 or he will lose the GOP nomination.
That is what Washington hopes for. Yet Trumps political career has been declared dead many times over and Trump somehow keeps his fortunes alive. There is little evidence that his current situation is any different. At this writing, Trump hasnt announced he is running for president. He may ultimately decide against it. But he gives every indication that another campaign is in the works. Republicans who pine for a Trumpism without Trump will have to wait. The original article isnt going anywhere.
Trump is coming back.
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Trump Should Not Run For President In 2024 Majority Of Americans Say
As former President Donald Trump considers launching another bid for the White House, more than six in 10 Americans do not want him to run in 2024, according to a new PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll. And while Trumps possession of more than 10,000 government documents at his Florida home seems not to have changed the minds of his steady supporters, a plurality of Americans think he has done something illegal.
The level of support for another Trump campaign remains virtually unchanged from December 2020, the month after he lost the presidential election and weeks before a mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an effort to stop the certification of the Electoral College votes.
His numbers dont move. Theyre locked in, said Lee Miringoff, the director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion. The good thing for former President Trump is his numbers dont drop. The bad thing is hes only talking about a third of the electorate who are in his corner.
Graphics by Megan McGrew
Thats not a great place to launch an election campaign, he added.
Just 28 percent of independents believe Trump should run again, this poll found, while two-thirds say the former president should sit out the next election. According to 2020 exit polling, 41 percent of independents had voted for Trumps reelection, suggesting a significant cratering of support since.
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Graphic by Megan McGrew
The Decline Of Authoritative Institutions
News organizations, universities, nonprofits, and think tanks are vital to democratic systems, yet they are under attack as experts are discredited and organizations whose missions are to hold leaders accountable and support democratic values fall under attack. There are threats to academic freedom that make it difficult for professors to transmit knowledge to the next generation and help students learn valuable critical reasoning skills. By delegitimizing knowledge sector organizations, these attacks weaken accountability and harm system performance. The undermining of civil society makes it difficult to address basic problems such as gun safety, climate change, and income inequality.
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Trump Still Wont Shut Up Hes Doing Democrats Running For Office A Huge Favor
Trump is framing the midterms as a referendum on his continuing influence over the Republican party even as polls show most voters want him to go away
The beginning of May before midterm elections marks the start of primary season and six months of fall campaigning. The conventional view this year is that Democrats will be clobbered in November. Why? Because midterms are usually referendums on a presidents performance, and Bidens approval ratings are in the cellar.
But the conventional view could be wrong because it doesnt account for the Democrats secret sauce, which gives them a fighting chance of keeping one or both chambers: Trump.
According to recent polls, Trumps popularity continues to sink.He is liked by only 38% of Americans and disliked by 46%. And this isnt your normal sort of like, sort of dislike polling. Feelings are intense, as theyve always been about Trump. Among voters 45 to 64 years old a group Trump won in 2020, 50% to 49%, according to exit polls just 39% now view him favorably and 57%, unfavorably. Among voters 65 and older only 44% now see him favorably and more than half unfavorably. Perhaps most importantly, independents hold him in even lower regard. Just 26%view him favorably 68% unfavorably.
Relax A Trump Comeback In 2024 Is Not Going To Happen
Weve seen this presidents type before. They always fade away.
Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
12/10/2020 04:30 AM EST
Altitude is a column by POLITICO founding editor John Harris, offering weekly perspective on politics in a moment of radical disruption.
Donald Trump lost the presidency, but his opponents so far have not achieved the victory they want most: A fatal puncturing of the Trump movement, a repudiation so complete that it severs his astonishing grip on supporters and leaves him with no choice but to slink offstage and into the blurry past.
For now, Trump dominates conversations about both present and future. His outlandish claims that he won the election except for comprehensive fraud have helped raise more than $200 million since Election Day. Many of his partisans share his dream of recapturing the presidency in 2024. For those who despise him, to paraphrase a famous Democratic speech, it seems clear the work goes on, the cause endures, the fear still lives, and the nightmare shall never die.
Except it will die most likely with more speed and force than looks possible today.
There are three primary reasons to be deeply skeptical that Trumps moment of dominating his party and public consciousness will continue long after Jan. 20.
This brings the mind back to the figure who is the most vivid antecedent of Trump: Joe McCarthy.
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Portraying Himself As Hero Of The Forgotten American Besieged By Enemies
Besides his ability to exploit Americas structural problems, Trump remains influential because of his populist style, his mendacity and the amplification of those traits by social media.
Since his 2016 election, Trump has portrayed himself as the hero of the forgotten American besieged by enemies.
Those enemies include Congressional Democrats, traitorous Republicans In Name Only , social and economic elites, the deep state, the liberal media, immigrants, foreign powers , and even the pandemic itself.
That portrayal appeals to some because of its simplistic good and evil narrative. It is also a lie.
Systematic lying was a defining feature of the Trump Presidency. It began with the lie that his inauguration crowd was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration.
According to The Washington Post, Trump made a total of 30,573 false or misleading claims during his presidency.
Trumps lying was a clever propaganda campaign. Saturating the public sphere with lies led some to become cynical about the truth. Some Americans perceptions of reality changed. They doubted whatever did not fit their preconceived beliefs. Rather than think critically about inconvenient facts, they rejected anything at odds with their worldview.
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Social media amplifies traditional forms of lying and propagandising. Social medias business model is built around user engagement. Outrage generates engagement.
Baggage Is As Baggage Does
There are three things which could, in principle, make Mr Trump less formidable: the depredations of age, legal sanctions and political misjudgments. On the first, at 76 a sudden, severe deterioration in health is obviously possible. That said, the former president appears hale and hearty.
His legal jeopardy seems more acute. The fbis dropping by Mar-a-Lago is only one of his problems. His business dealings are under investigation in New York. The House Committee on Ways and Means is making progress in its efforts to look at his tax records. State prosecutors in Georgia have empanelled a grand jury that is investigating his exhortation that Mr Raffensperger find 11,780 votes somewhere in the state in order to overturn his election loss. It has already issued subpoenas to compel testimony from allies such as Rudy Giuliani, Mr Trumps lawyer, and Lindsey Graham, a senator from South Carolina. Investigators at the Department of Justice are closely following the work of the January 6th committee and have been seizing mobile phones and documents from those most closely involved in the efforts to keep Mr Trump in power.
The possibility of indictments may hasten Mr Trumps announcement of his candidacy, the better to play the victim. Casting the prosecution of a presidential candidate as a deep-state conspiracy is peculiarly compelling.
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A Majority Of Republicans Want Trump To Stay In Politics About Four
Overall, roughly three-in-ten Americans say Donald Trump should remain a major national political figure, while two-thirds say he should not. However, there are wide partisan divides on this question. About six-in-ten Republicans and Republican leaners say the former president should continue to play a major role in national politics, while nearly all Democrats and Democratic leaners say he should not.
The share of Republicans saying Trump should continue to be a major national political figure has declined slightly since September 2021 .
The 63% of Republicans who would like to see Trump remain a major figure include 39% who would like to see Trump run for president himself in 2024. The remainder say while they would like Trump to remain a national political figure, they would prefer he use his position to support another presidential candidate that shares his views.
Although Republicans and Republican leaners generally say Trump should remain a major national political figure, there are demographic differences within the GOP on this question.
Moderate and liberal Republicans are less likely than conservative Republicans to say Trump should remain on the national political stage .
