politics

Donald "Boogie Man" Trump said what?

This is absolutely an example of the media - and you, the internet - making the wrong point out of context.

He was speaking to a conservative Christian group making the point that if he were elected he would "fix" it so there wouldn't be any reason for Christians to vote any more. Meaning everything they care so much about would be done. It would be like if a Democrat "fixed" climate change, gun safety, the Supreme Court, consumer protections, health care, etc.

Yes - it's batshit crazy because: (1) they believe he has the power to do everything they want him to do, (2) what they want him to do is unconstitutional, (3) he doesn't give a shit about anyone but himself and even got booed on the same stage for saying he supports limits to abortion, (4) just because the government passes "all" the legislation you support does not mean you should stop participating in democracy.

Was he "joking"? Not the word I would use but I can see how it was chosen.
Does he want to be Supreme Ruler and kill off democratic elections? Possibly.
Was that the intent of this particular sound bite? No.

For me, it's just really frustrating when so much noise is generated, even with good intent, around misinformation. It obscures the things that are really meaningful.

This is a distraction.

The conversation that should be had around this statement is: what exactly is it that Christians want him to do so they'd never have to vote again.

A responsible journalist would take his statement and investigate what it means. Instead, what we get are headlines that generate an emotional reaction so we click on sites that profit not from educating the public but from serving advertisements.

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Edit: Here's an example of what I'm talking about. Raw Story states that "the comment raised alarms that Trump was hinting he would refuse to leave office, or cancel elections." and fails to actually put the statement in context or offer a reasonable explanation for it. Instead of explaining that Trump was offering a campaign promise to Christians, they look at whether he would leave office at the end of his term - entirely unrelated and frankly difficult for me to wrap my head around the jump. "Raw Story", ironically, fails to link to a source for their article.

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Raw Story: Trump scrambles to explain what he meant that voting won't be necessary in four years.

Former President Donald Trump triggered outrage when he told supporters at an event in Florida last week if he's elected, “You won’t have to do it anymore."

"Four years, it will be fixed, it will be fine," he said. "You won’t have to vote anymore. In four years, you won’t have to vote again.”

The comment raised alarms that Trump was hinting he would refuse to leave office, or cancel elections.

In an interview with Fox News' Laura Ingraham on Monday, Trump tried to clarify his words a bit, and walk back any possible implication of that.

You won't have to vote in four years, he said, "because the country will be fixed, and frankly, we won't even need your vote anymore."

"I thought everybody understood it," Trump added.

Ingraham proceeded to ask him if he would leave office voluntarily after four years. "I did last time," said Trump. "I keep hearing it, he's not going to leave, he's not going to leave. Look, they are the threat to democracy."

Trump was at the center of a scheme to deny the certification of President Joe Biden's election victory in 2020, which culminated in a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump is currently under federal indictment and state indictment in Georgia over these efforts. Both cases are on hold until after the election.