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4bonhoffer

(278 posts)
Fri Jul 17, 2026, 08:48 AM Yesterday

He wasn't talking to any of us

He was talking to his white domestic terrorists. The ones that know that he will pardon them for ANY crimes they commit.
He was talking to election deniers , some of whom are in positions of authority in state offices.
He was talking to fringe judges.
He is letting everyone know that just as he put out a call on Jan. 6 , he will be putting out a call for the midterms in Nov.
He knows that it doesn’t have to be national wide. Just enough disruption and violence in a number of locations will suffice.
He was talking to the generals he didn’t fire. Get ready to obey unlawful orders.
He is letting everyone know that the midterms in Nov. will make Jan. 6 . Look like a walk in the park.

He is counting on MSM to act like this is hyperbolic, and to continue to treat the republican party as normal.
He is counting on people being upset about his lies, knowing that while everyone is talking about his lies, no one will be planning for his violence.

Best idea I’ve heard to overcome this is still, show up in overwhelming numbers to vote.



19 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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mopinko

(74,366 posts)
1. remember this about j6-
Fri Jul 17, 2026, 09:01 AM
Yesterday

it wasnt ‘spontaneous’. it wasnt some outpouring of misplaced civic engagement.
it was organized. it was instigated. it was FUNDED. and for the most part, it was done in broad daylight.

imho, there was a major failure of the j6 committee to follow the money. i guess it was a bridge too far to trace the payment for the buses back to ginny thomas.

blue state law enforcement had best b watching the info channels where these plans get hatched and b ready. if steve bannon starts organizing rallies, load the rifles.

Tim S

(407 posts)
2. But most of all, he was talking to Republicans in Congress. By pressurizing constituents,
Fri Jul 17, 2026, 09:15 AM
Yesterday

Trump hopes those “enraged citizens” demand that their legislators pass the (doomed) SAVE voting bill.

TNNurse

(7,571 posts)
7. How many Republicans in Congress
Fri Jul 17, 2026, 11:11 AM
23 hrs ago

are really with him or are they afraid of the repercussions for going against him? I am not just talking about election issues, I mean violence, fraudulent charges against the congress person and/or their family. He has thugs that do his bidding.

Tim S

(407 posts)
8. I agree about the thugs. But I believe he has blackmail material on virtually everyone thanks to...
Fri Jul 17, 2026, 11:38 AM
23 hrs ago

The Russians and NSA. If you annoy him, he just sees what leverage he has on all your intercepted “private” communications and has a quiet word with you.

We knew back in George W’s admin that the NSA had taps at the central Internet exchanges with on both coasts (Anyone remember Project Echelon? This has been going on for over two decades now. How is AI currently re-indexing all of this gathered material to better weaponize it?)

And to think that we used to joke about the USSR keeping tabs on its citizens.

Fiendish Thingy

(24,914 posts)
3. He is an incompetent moron
Fri Jul 17, 2026, 09:27 AM
Yesterday
He knows that it doesn’t have to be national wide. Just enough disruption and violence in a number of locations will suffice.


This is a myth disproven by actual election results over the past 18 months.

When 2024 Trump +20 districts are swinging 15-30 point towards Dems in place like FL, TX and GA, there can be no strategic targeting of any particular area with “just enough disruption and violence” to affect the outcome, at least not without affecting the outcome for Republican candidates too.

He was talking to the generals he didn’t fire. Get ready to obey unlawful orders.


Please quote the section of last night’s speech that indicates he will order troops to enter polling places, seize ballots or fire on civilians.

Every other serious, rational analysis of last night’s speech, even by sympathetic news outlets, did NOT come away with the impression that you did.

Instead, they reported, accurately, the lie-filled rantings of a demented octogenarian who knows that, despite gerrymandering and voter suppression, his party is going to lose big in the midterms, and who knows there is little else he can do about it except whine and complain.

Consider the possibility that your amygdala, like many others’, has been overstimulated in the Trump era, and a catastrophizing fear response to anything he says has become automatic.

More importantly, never forget this one absolute truth:

Trump is not omnipotent, and the states and the people are not powerless

Trump continues to lose case after case in court related to his election demands. The states have refused to comply, without consequences, and all he can do is demand congress pass the SAVE act.

That’s it.

Nothing can stop the Blue Tsunami.

MadameButterfly

(4,391 posts)
17. I think we have to take the speech in the context of other things he's said
Sat Jul 18, 2026, 08:36 AM
2 hrs ago

The outrageous threats he makes have a tendency to play out. We know what he wants to do. What we don't know is whether he has the power to do it or whether institutions can/will resist.

What we know is he is desperate. He knows how to choose which areas to disrupt. The bomb threats in the 2024 election were targeted on Democratic districts in swing states. It just wouldn't be that hard to have vigilantes and or ICE making it dangerous for people of color to vote in targeted places.

Threats to prosecute election officials for not playing into their scam to purge voters should not be taken lightly.
It's not just one thing that will do it: it's the combination of things whittling away the Democratic margin.

i take heart in reports from Democratic leaders that there is a lot of planning being done, considering every angle of what might happen and how they can respond. Will Trump's efforts fizzle?-- or corrupt the election in ways we couldn't imagined?

We need voters who never voted before. We need numbers that can't be whittled down. We need people to vote in person and early. We need Democratic states to go above and beyond to protect voter rolls and the count.

But I think we are kidding ourselves if we think this just comes down to how we are doing in the polls.

Fiendish Thingy

(24,914 posts)
19. Except there are far more examples of his threats dissipating into thin air than actually becoming reality
Sat Jul 18, 2026, 09:31 AM
1 hr ago

How do you think the term TACO came into being in the first place?

He is, at his core, a coward.

What we know is he is desperate. He knows how to choose which areas to disrupt. The bomb threats in the 2024 election were targeted on Democratic districts in swing states. It just wouldn't be that hard to have vigilantes and or ICE making it dangerous for people of color to vote in targeted places.


This is a strategy suggested by many, but its effectiveness is not supported by the evidence from actual election results over the past 18 months.

In elections over the past 18 months, solid red 2024 Trump +20 districts have been swinging 15-30 points towards the Dems in places like FL, GA, and TX. Democrats have won races that would have been mathematically impossible without crossover votes from republicans.

Knowing that, just how would somebody “strategically” choose which areas to disrupt? Dems are projected to flip anywhere from 20-40 seats (it’s getting closer to 40 daily), and those seats involve thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of precincts and polling places. On top of that, there are formerly “safe” Republican districts where the races are narrowing rapidly.

I would suggest that any “strategic” disruption of polling places, would first of all be met with a show of force by the states. Secondly, any successful disruption carries the inherent risk of disrupting the election of republicans as well as democrats, even in solid blue districts. Not just in congressional races, but statewide races as well.

That’s the thing with these Doomer dystopian fantasies- they never include the details of precisely how the evil deeds would accomplished, and they never, ever include an examination of the potential response or reaction by the states, the courts, the congress or the people.

They are generally presented with the framing of “I don’t know how they will do it, but they will do it”.

Such scenarios cannot be taken seriously.

Meanwhile many states are collaborating in “war gaming” out reality-based scenarios where these details are examined, and they have developed detailed response plans.

We need voters who never voted before. We need numbers that can't be whittled down. We need people to vote in person and early. We need Democratic states to go above and beyond to protect voter rolls and the count.


On this we agree, and usonian has posted links to excellent resources to make one’s efforts most effective.

Here it is:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10115179

hamsterjill

(18,133 posts)
4. He is hoping for violence. That's what he's always wanted. He gets off on it.
Fri Jul 17, 2026, 10:39 AM
Yesterday

We know this about him from the information gleaned from past associates and what has been said about him with regard to Epstein. He likes to watch other people suffer. It makes him feel powerful. When he sees his minions actually fighting "for him", he probably has an erection. He's deviant.

He's an asshole, and wants to be a dictator.

In every thread like this, we ultimately get the same posters insisting that when it's time for him to leave, he's going to smile, shake hands and ride off into the sunset. We know from January 6th NOT to assume this.

YES, ABSA-FUCKINGLUTELY, the best idea is to show up in overwhelming numbers and vote.

But being prepared for something like January 6th is not foolish. It occurred. We witnessed it. It was real.

It happened, and it can happen again. No one knows the future and whether it will actually happen or not. But not preparing for it would be NOT having learned our lesson last time, and being over confident in anything right now, is just plain stupid.

The Blue Tsunami is not a given. We aren't there yet. There was great confidence that Hillary was going to be a given. Guess what? She wasn't. There was great hope that Kamala was going to win. Guess what? She didn't.

I think it is prudent and rational to talk about this. But some on DU can't stand the idea that we even bring it up. That is naivete at its finest in my opinion. They are caught up in polling and what they THINK is going to happen. Again, overconfidence is not something we need.

You can't point to specific words that Trump says in a speech. He speaks in code to his followers. He knows how to push THEIR buttons and the hot points to rile them up. So someone asking for specific points, just doesn't get the concept.

Trump is an idiot in many ways, but riling up his followers and knowing how to do that and get them to blindly try to save their king is something he knows full well how to do.


Katcat

(689 posts)
15. Actually
Fri Jul 17, 2026, 11:27 PM
11 hrs ago

Pretty sure that Trump won the last election with elons help. He said on numerous occasions that “Elon knows the voting machines very well

Hieronymus Phact

(803 posts)
6. Thank you!
Fri Jul 17, 2026, 10:53 AM
Yesterday

I've been saying this for years.
As we laugh and point and titter at the stupidity.
They are communicating, and they ARE NOT TALKING TO YOU.

Response to 4bonhoffer (Original post)

relogic

(480 posts)
10. "He is counting on MSM to act like this is hyperbolic, and to continue to treat the republican party as normal."
Fri Jul 17, 2026, 02:40 PM
20 hrs ago

That was theirs and millions of peoples’ mistake eleven years ago. The normalization of comfy, warm, soothing waves of mousy sounds spewing forth from a bombastic clown are still with us.

Prairie_Seagull

(4,945 posts)
14. If current trends hold true then
Fri Jul 17, 2026, 09:01 PM
13 hrs ago

It's popularity will continue to wane. If this becomes more like a given then what will his most likely response be. This is perhaps the most petrifying and real patriotic moment since what... Kent State.

Time for courage will soon be upon us.

We got this.

IMO

MadameButterfly

(4,391 posts)
18. I say vote in person and vote very early
Sat Jul 18, 2026, 08:38 AM
2 hrs ago

They are trying to mess with mail in ballots and the PO is on board with that.

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