Balloon Juice | Trumpery Archives

Late Night Cheapjack Horrorshow Open Thread: In Palm Beach, the RNC Kisses the Ring

by Anne Laurie| April 11, 20211:47 am| 65 Comments

This post is in: GOP Death Cult, Open Threads, Repubs in Disarray!, Trump Crime Cartel, Schadenfreude

NEW: Republican officials are flocking to Mar-a-Lago this weekend, allowing Trump to continue his lucrative business of renting rooms to party leaders who want his blessing. https://t.co/uDrowqlvS7

— David Fahrenthold (@Fahrenthold) April 9, 2021

Take heart, fellow Democrats! If not for human decency, basic intelligence, and a rudimentary sense of self-preservation, you too could be spending your time and money kissing up to a senile criminal at his subtropical lair…

… Since Trump left office, at least six Republican candidates have held fundraisers at the former president’s Florida properties. This weekend, at least six more events will be put on by GOP-allied groups.

The events show that Trump has maintained his status as the party’s central figure, even after the violent effort by supporters to overthrow the election results on his behalf, and a post-presidency exile in which he has rarely left his own property.

That control has allowed Trump to continue his unprecedented and lucrative business relationship with his own party. Republicans will pay Trump just to be where he is — or even, in some cases, where they hope he might be…

And what do the hopeful donors get for their money?

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Trump said everyone should be calling it the “Trumpcine” (instead of vaccine) and deemed Mitch McConnell a “dumb son of a bitch” during his RNC remarks at Mar-a-Lago tonight, per person in the room.

— Kevin Liptak (@Kevinliptakcnn) April 11, 2021

Per CNN:

Former President Donald Trump repeated familiar lies about the 2020 election and insulted Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell Saturday when speaking to Republican National Committee donors gathered for the first time since Trump’s defeat, a person in the room told CNN…

Trump went through an extensive recounting of debunked claims the election was stolen from him, including detailed complaints about individual states, and insisted the results were rigged, the person in the room said. In addition to insulting the Republican Senate leader — which received huge applause — the former President was highly critical of Dr. Anthony Fauci and once again took aim at former Vice President Mike Pence, whom he said had failed him in certifying the Electoral College results, according to the same person in the room.

The former President spoke generally about party unity, lamenting that Republicans don’t stick together as well as Democrats, the person said…

With the party completely out of power in Washington for the first time in four years, GOP donors have been eager to hear from leaders about how Republicans can win back the House and Senate in 2022 and the White House in 2024. But the question of how big a role Trump will and should play in the GOP future looms…

While the Palm Beach location was a concession of convenience to Trump, the presence of other Republican White House hopefuls is meant to signal the RNC’s official policy of neutrality toward the 2024 primary.

The potential candidates include three of Florida’s top elected officials: Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, both of whom may also run for president, spoke at the retreat too.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has been making moves that suggest a White House run, was scheduled to appear but did not.

Most of the donors attending the retreat were both staunch Trump backers — one was spotted on Friday walking out to the Four Seasons pool deck donning a blue “Make America Great Again” ballcap — and faithful Republicans looking to build the party back.

That endeavor is more complicated for the sizable number of GOP donors who are not so enamored with Trump but want to help the party regain power in Washington…

TFG’s no tiger, but he is a big, mean, stupid, potentially poisonous predator. Maybe the new RNC motto should be You can ride the Komodo dragon, but can you dismount?

The invitation-only event is taking place at the Four Seasons Resort, and the RNC reserved the entire hotel.

While Timken, former Ohio GOP chair, was invited to the event “because she is a major donor” — Mandel was not, so he was asked to leave

— Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) April 10, 2021

Late Night Cheapjack Horrorshow Open Thread: In Palm Beach, the RNC Kisses the RingPost + Comments (65)

Late Night GOP Venality Open Thread: Grifters Gonna Grift

by Anne Laurie| April 4, 20211:57 am| 36 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Republican Venality, Show Us on the Doll Where the Invisible Hand Touched You, Trump Crime Cartel, Media Mudlarks

buy the ticket, ride the ride https://t.co/pIsLnsNnGc

— kilgore trout, a student of martial arts (@KT_So_It_Goes) April 4, 2021

A reassuring indicator that The Former Guy is truly Former — The NYTimes is now willing to tell us that he (and his party) would happily steal the pennies off a corpse’s eyes:

… Facing a cash crunch and getting badly outspent by the Democrats, the campaign had begun last September to set up recurring donations by default for online donors, for every week until the election.

Contributors had to wade through a fine-print disclaimer and manually uncheck a box to opt out.

As the election neared, the Trump team made that disclaimer increasingly opaque, an investigation by The New York Times showed. It introduced a second prechecked box, known internally as a “money bomb,” that doubled a person’s contribution. Eventually its solicitations featured lines of text in bold and capital letters that overwhelmed the opt-out language.

The tactic ensnared scores of unsuspecting Trump loyalists — retirees, military veterans, nurses and even experienced political operatives. Soon, banks and credit card companies were inundated with fraud complaints from the president’s own supporters about donations they had not intended to make, sometimes for thousands of dollars…

The sheer magnitude of the money involved is staggering for politics. In the final two and a half months of 2020, the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee and their shared accounts issued more than 530,000 refunds worth $64.3 million to online donors. All campaigns make refunds for various reasons, including to people who give more than the legal limit. But the sum the Trump operation refunded dwarfed that of Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s campaign and his equivalent Democratic committees, which made 37,000 online refunds totaling $5.6 million in that time.

The recurring donations swelled Mr. Trump’s treasury in September and October, just as his finances were deteriorating. He was then able to use tens of millions of dollars he raised after the election, under the guise of fighting his unfounded fraud claims, to help cover the refunds he owed…

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Unlike ActBlue, which is a nonprofit, WinRed is a for-profit company. It makes its money by taking 30 cents of every donation, plus 3.8 percent of the amount given. WinRed was paid more than $118 million from federal committees the last election cycle; even after paying credit card fees and expenses like payroll and rent, the profits are believed to be significant.

WinRed even made money off donations that were refunded by keeping the fees it charged on each transaction, a practice it said was standard in the industry, citing PayPal; ActBlue said it does not keep fees for refunded donations. WinRed’s cut of the Trump operation’s refunds would amount to roughly $5 million before expenses. (Archived versions of WinRed’s website show it added a disclaimer saying it would keep its fees around when refunds surged.)…

Republicans widely hailed WinRed as one of the standout successes of the 2020 cycle, and in a memo last October the company declared itself the “trusted, recognizable platform” for Republican giving. “Scam PACs, shady operators and outright fraud is unfortunately a common occurrence in the online political donation world — particularly on the right,” the memo stated. “WinRed helps civilize the Wild West of the G.O.P. donation ecosystem.”…

Now WinRed is exporting the tools it pioneered during the Trump re-election across the Republican Party, presaging a new normal for G.O.P. campaigns.

Today, the websites of various Republican Party committees and top congressional Republicans, including Representative Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, and Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, include prechecked yellow boxes for multiple or recurring donations…

I do remember Democrats, at the time, pointing out that this was ethically questionable, if not actually illegal. But it’s certainly a useful tool for a party that’s committed itself to fewer, but dumber ‘more loyal’ members. (And that’s even before they sell their mailing lists to a bunch of non-political scammers!)

This is a perfect way to frame it. He robbed supporters blind so he'd have the raw cash when he needed it, expecting he could refund it when he didn't.

If it isn't a crime, it frigging should be. https://t.co/L77Vs0MXxU

— Zd (@Zeddary) April 3, 2021

you could have just donated to a soup kitchen. big sad for you. get rekt.

— Peloton InfoSec Analyst (Incident Response) (@CalmSporting) April 4, 2021

Late Night GOP Venality Open Thread: Grifters Gonna GriftPost + Comments (36)

Late Night Open Thread: Media Mudlarks Stick to What They Know

by Anne Laurie| April 2, 202112:48 am| 38 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Dog Blogging, Open Threads, Trump Crime Cartel, Media Mudlarks, Our Failed Media Experiment

The Government Accountability Office has issued a damning report about Ivanka Trump’s Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative. https://t.co/5fxEoUA0xt

— POLITICO (@politico) March 31, 2021

Our very serious Presidential Media doesn’t understand administration or accounting any better than Jarvanka… but piles of poo, *that* they feel fully qualified to report.

We’ll be cleaning up after the Trump Crime Cartel for the next twenty years (assuming the world doesn’t change out of recognition in the meantime), and there’s a nontrivial percentage of Our Failed Media that will never understand why, much less how.

Today, Biden’s dog pooped on the floor and a GAO investigation reported that Ivanka’s $265 million pet policy project was a catastrophe of planning with no clear execution.

Same-same. https://t.co/JJ7i7OyGQF

— Peter W. Singer (@peterwsinger) March 31, 2021

We have officially had more coverage of Major and Champ misbehaving than of private email use in the Trump administration. Almost as though the idea that email use was the single most important thing in the world was reporters being very well-trained lapdogs of the GOP. https://t.co/aRU1N70Ppc

— Alex Hazanov. (@alexhazanov) March 31, 2021

Gaetz has a major minor problem, while Biden has a minor Major problem.

— Jim Trailmaster (@jim_sidewalk) March 31, 2021

Late Night Open Thread: Media Mudlarks Stick to What They KnowPost + Comments (38)

Late Night Horrorshow Open Thread: They Walk Among Us

by Anne Laurie| March 27, 202112:20 am| 65 Comments

This post is in: GOP Death Cult, Open Threads, Trumpery

You know what would be a great rule to stop all these jackasses? If you can get their gun off them, you get to keep it. Just walk up behind em with a pair of scissors, snip the strap, and the gun is yours. And if they chase you to get it back you can shoot them in self-defense. pic.twitter.com/6Wjd483Wje

— Cathedral ?? Engineer ? (@owenrumney) March 25, 2021

And they would tell us, in all sincerity, that they mean no harm…

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Late Night Horrorshow Open Thread: They Walk Among UsPost + Comments (65)

Schadenfreude Open Thread: Infrastructure Week, But On-Line!

by Anne Laurie| March 23, 20219:17 pm| 72 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Repubs in Disarray!, Trump Crime Cartel, Schadenfreude

It's been five years and people are still writing stories based on assumption that things Trump spokesmen say have any predictive value. https://t.co/YfCjyeMKzL

— Alex Hazanov. (@alexhazanov) March 21, 2021

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you know they’re fucked when the “2 weeks or so” timeframe they usually promise expands to “soon” https://t.co/pDbc25pyKp

— kilgore trout, trump social media director (@KT_So_It_Goes) March 22, 2021

Paul Waldman, at the Washington Post — “Trump considers adding a social media network to his list of failures”:

… It’s of course possible that Trumpbook, or Trmpr, or whatever it might be called, will turn out to be as much a figment of the imagination as the spectacular health-care plan Trump kept promising as president. But let’s assume for the moment that this actually comes to pass.

I for one look forward to watching it fail miserably…

For years, we heard that Trump might try to form his own media company, a cable network that would be everything Fox News is, but Trumpier. It never happened, probably because as soon as he started to consider what would be involved, he realized it was just too daunting a challenge.

It would certainly be simpler to start a social media platform, but it’s not something he has any experience in. For him to succeed in a new line of commerce he’d never been involved in before, he’d have to bring around him some smart, competent people who knew a lot about the technical and business aspects of this endeavor.

And his track record on hiring leaves something to be desired. His White House was without doubt the most incompetent in modern times: It leaked like a sieve, it could barely issue a news release that wasn’t full of typos, and he went through four chiefs of staff and seven communications directors.

So who’s going to create and run Trmpr? Jared Kushner? Good luck with that…

That’s why Twitter worked so well for him: Because it’s the place where journalists congregate (along with a few hundred million other people), he could leverage it to achieve much wider attention than simply speaking to the like-minded people who followed him there.

But a platform solely populated by his supporters will probably suffer the same problem sites such as Parler had: With only conservatives in attendance, even those who went there enthusiastically at the beginning didn’t find it all that compelling. If you own the libs on your social media site but no libs are there to hear it, have the libs actually been owned?…

So maybe his ambitions are modest. Rather than starting a platform that will succeed so spectacularly it will drive Twitter out of business and restore Trump to gold-plated glory, he may just want to grab whatever he can get while he can. A bottom-feeding operation meant to squeeze as much money as possible from his most gullible supporters would be completely in character…

Probably a good idea, as he has millions of followers, but…

1) There’s competition from Gab & Parler dividing the audience.
2) There will be no advertising, only subscriptions and donations.
3) It will just be an echo chamber. You can’t troll if everyone agrees with you. https://t.co/OGsQUpIBAe

— Sleeping Giants (@slpng_giants) March 21, 2021

Hey, remember Brad Parscale’s ‘Death Star’?…

the service will be named death shart https://t.co/6VcHQBgjRD

— kilgore trout, trump social media director (@KT_So_It_Goes) March 23, 2021

Grift then once, shame on Parscale. Grift them twice, lmao

— la parka fan club (@DubyaArgh) March 23, 2021

*All* the Trumpist grifters are desperate, apparently:

The main news here is Jason Miller still has a job and I’m guessing despite this he is still way behind on child support owed to @AJDelgado13 https://t.co/GdvVB7K7YU

— Liz Mair (@LizMair) March 21, 2021

(Jack Ohman via GoComics.com)

Schadenfreude Open Thread: <em>Infrastructure Week, But On-Line!</em>Post + Comments (72)

Late Night Gleeful Schadenfreude Open Thread: Soon to Be Pining for the Fjords!

by Anne Laurie| March 14, 202110:57 pm| 109 Comments

This post is in: GOP Death Cult, Open Threads, Trump Crime Cartel, Schadenfreude

President Trump is looking better than ever before!! He’s getting in shape for 2024 and the liberals are freaking out!! pic.twitter.com/7sDfG9warL

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 14, 2021

Fair (trigger) warning: I’ve tucked all images of The Former Guy below the fold, so DON’T BLAME ME if you click through.

Now that the miserable sumbich is safely out of power & the limelight, we (or, at least, I) can take pleasure in the suffering of his whole pack of lampreys…

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Apparently, the word went out to say "he's looking great!", which might suggest that they know he's not looking all that great. pic.twitter.com/jA0LnezRsa

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) March 14, 2021

Dispatch from DC, via the Guardian, “Trump’s Washington hotel echoes to silence of missing Maga crowd”:

Once it was like a second White House for the Maga crowd. Now it is in danger of becoming a white elephant.

Clobbered first by the coronavirus pandemic, then by its owner’s election defeat, the Trump International Hotel in Washington is reeling from a huge loss of income and prestige. For critics of the former US president, it is welcome proof of how quickly the city is moving on without him.

“It used to be the hub of Trump World but I can’t imagine who goes there now,” said Sally Quinn, a local author and journalist. “We don’t even have tourists yet in Washington. I can’t imagine most people staying there when they come. I don’t know anybody who goes there or has gone there.”…

Dismissed by Sally Quinn, like a common Clinton! You *know* that’s gotta hurt — not just the Former Guy, but also his social-skidmarking offspring.

president trump is losing weight and looking like a proctologist finger condom filled with mashed potatoes left under a 7-11 heat lamp and it’s driving the liberals insane

— kilgore trout, ted’s travel agent (@KT_So_It_Goes) March 14, 2021

i make it a point not to mock people’s appearance because staying in shape is hard but lol low key just between you and me grim reaper is coming for this mother fucker like sharpish. count the days, homie. omar comin’ pic.twitter.com/06nDx3Zj8X

— Peloton InfoSec Analyst (Incident Response) (@CalmSporting) March 14, 2021

Trump was supposed to be a political Godzilla in exile. Instead, he’s adrift. – POLITICO https://t.co/dLj9KzNU5V

— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) March 14, 2021

Politico, of course, doesn’t know whether to mock or mourn:

He backed away from creating a third party and has soured on the costly prospect of launching his own TV empire or social media startup.

His vow to target disloyal Republicans with personally-recruited primary challengers has taken a backseat to conventional endorsements of senators who refused to indulge his quest to overturn the 2020 election.

And though he was supposed to build a massive political apparatus to keep his MAGA movement afloat, it’s unclear to Republicans what his PAC is actually doing, beyond entangling itself in disputes with Republican icons and the party’s fundraising arms.

“There is no apparatus, no structure and part of that is due to a lack of political understanding on Trump’s behalf,” said a person close to the former president, noting that Trump has struggled to learn the ropes of post-presidential politicking…

“For any normal politician, it would look like he’s trying to have it both ways but really he’s trying to have it his way,” said a former Trump White House official. “He only cares about maintaining his power and his stranglehold over the Republican Party and it doesn’t matter to him how any of the moves he makes affect the long-term success of institutions or individuals other than himself.”

Trump has always been an impulsive figure who demanded loyalty from those around him. But those traits have come with positions of power: whether atop a real estate empire, as a media celebrity, or — in his last iteration — as president of the United States…

Jarvanka not in evidence, you’ll notice! Just the spouse of much-mocked lesser spawn Eric, a lady who’s valiantly (desperately) grifting away at a much reduced level…

Jesus. What a headline.

The Trump family steals from kids with cancer (and paid $2m fine)

They steal from dogs in shelters.

Dog Rescue Charity Linked To Lara Trump Funneling Money Into Donald Trump’s Pocket https://t.co/DjAwxlVzB7 via @Yahoo

— Don Winslow (@donwinslow) March 13, 2021

Who wants to start the rumor that Young Prince Jared is off recovering from yet another round of plastic surgery, hoping to disassociate himself from some part of the upcoming gotterdammerung?

It's like he's in stage 4 or 5 of a 10 stage process of becoming Stephen Miller. Wish him luck with his transition. https://t.co/SnL5y7itiL

— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) March 13, 2021

Late Night Gleeful Schadenfreude Open Thread: Soon to Be Pining for the Fjords!Post + Comments (109)

Open Thread: Cease & Desist (Griefing the Grift)

by Anne Laurie| March 7, 20214:30 pm| 156 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Open Threads, Repubs in Disarray!, Trumpery, Schadenfreude

Repubs in disarray!

The GOP Death Cult’s internal warz are much more entertaining, now that I don’t have to pay attention…

Keep this in mind as the investigations move forward. Trump & his circle won’t hesitate 3 seconds to blame everything on the Republican Party https://t.co/4n2Skas0Gy

— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) March 6, 2021

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Open Thread: Cease & Desist (Griefing the Grift)Post + Comments (156)

debbie on J&J Pause (Apr 13, 2021 @ 4:41pm)

Ruckus on New U.S. Plan in Afghanistan: Get Out (Apr 13, 2021 @ 4:40pm)

Roger Moore on Press Briefing: Jen Psaki and Dr. Fauci (Apr 13, 2021 @ 4:39pm)

Geminid on New U.S. Plan in Afghanistan: Get Out (Apr 13, 2021 @ 4:39pm)

Adam L Silverman on New U.S. Plan in Afghanistan: Get Out (Apr 13, 2021 @ 4:37pm)

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Nevertheless, she persisted.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Something seems odd about that, but i have been drinking.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

All your base are belong to Tunch.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Shocking, but not surprising

This blog goes to 11…

Saul Alinsky is my co-pilot.

Tick tock motherfuckers! Tick fucking tock!

We are aware of all internet traditions.

Just a few bad apples.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Naturally gregarious and alpha

Han shot first.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

This is all too absurd to be reality, right?

It was down to kool-aid drinkers and next of kin at the trump White House

Not all heroes wear capes.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Fuck if i know. i just get yelled at when i try it.

Late Night Cheapjack Horrorshow Open Thread: In Palm Beach, the RNC Kisses the Ring

Late Night GOP Venality Open Thread: Grifters Gonna Grift

Late Night Open Thread: Media Mudlarks Stick to What They Know

Late Night Horrorshow Open Thread: They Walk Among Us

Schadenfreude Open Thread: Infrastructure Week, But On-Line!

Late Night Gleeful Schadenfreude Open Thread: Soon to Be Pining for the Fjords!

Open Thread: Cease & Desist (Griefing the Grift)