In a USA Today article published yesterday, J.D. Vance made some rather peculiar comments, noting that he is absolutely ready to take over the presidency should something “very tragic” happen to Donald Trump. The statement comes as no surprise to conservative analyst Rick Wilson, who says that a “very very small circle of advisors” around Trump know that he is dying and are making plans already, no one more so than VP Vance. It is impossible to really know from the outside whether Trump’s health is failing at a rate that would put the Trumpverse inside the White House on notice, but if Trump is going downhill, it does make perfect sense that there would be serious jockeying for power behind the scenes. Wilson says this is exactly what is happening.
We have a report from Rawstory on Wilson’s Substack article:
“Slow or fast, he’s headed down. Rumors from the Trumpverse are that the circle who knows what’s up is very, very small and very, very paranoid.”
“J.D Vance knows, and he’s moving fast. Thursday’s ‘I’m ready to take over’ remarks are sure to rankle Trump, and set off more of the backstage muttering among the MAGA Hunger Games contestants,” according to Wilson. He added, “It’s about to get really, really ugly.”
Well, one can see how that would be true if there really is reason to question Trump’s health. Of course, we have seen the “cankles,” the severe bruising that is now declared to be an obvious consequence of an IV draw, and the weird gait. We also see a ton of “senior moments” when Trump’s mind seems to wander off on its own. So there are some signs. But it is hard to know whether Trump would even let the Vice President or his chief of staff know any really bad medical news. It sounds like they are working only with rumors themselves without certainty, perhaps rumors started by the White House medical team themselves, who might be very concerned.
Wilson also says that in 2027, Trump will force the entire GOP to pledge allegiance to him and that no one will run against him in any primary, and that Trump will then run again as if there is no Constitution at all. He predicts that whatever the actual vote comes to be, Trump will declare himself the winner at 10:30 on election night, say “Everyone knows it, the election is rigged, the votes are faked, everyone knows I won” and then order ICE or the National Guard and local law enforcement to “secure” the voting boxes and declare them to be “evidence” not votes. He will start one hundred lawsuits the next day, ensuring that no swing state ever gets around to certifying the election, and Trump will stay in office one way or another even if the election is so contested that it cannot be certified through the Electoral College and House Republicans will immediately elect Trump as Speaker and thus fall into the presidential position without having been elected.
It is a terrifying scenario, and yet if one thinks about it for only a few minutes, it does seem like it is impossible that Trump would respect any process that removes him from office and would have to be forced out, either with violence or by his own death. Perhaps that is why people in Trump’s inner circle are now talking about his health; perhaps there are concerns that might lead to Trump wanting to step down before he gets very sick in front of the entire country – he is vain enough to make that somewhat possible.
It also makes sense that the inner club of the GOP is already thinking about who comes next. After all, Trump is term-limited, and that will cause problems even if Trump circumvents the Constitution. More importantly, Trump is 79 and not a spry 79, either. He looks older in pictures. No wonder there is movement inside the club.
But be very very wary. The upper echelon of the GOP, along with their billionaire allies – Musk, Thiel, perhaps even Bezos and Zuck, they are all getting used to believing in one party rule in the United States for the foreseeable future. These meetings, if they are taking place (and they likely are), are all likely premised on the idea that no matter what happens to Trump, they are to rally around one person and keep the mission as is – permanent Republican rule.
Whether they can actually pull it off, whether there is the will to use the National Guard and disqualify all elections that go against them (Particularly in the House, where Trump is already calling for hand-counted paper ballots from people who pull the lever only, it is easy to see a scenario whereby Republican Secretaries of State or Republican Board of Electors refuse to certify certain elections in which the Democrat wins – do not put it past them). Trump knows that the key to retaining the White House in 2028 and beyond goes through the House of Representatives, and that is precisely why he demanded that Texas redistrict, and will likely now do so in other states. But do not count on them accepting an election in which Democrats take the House by 10 to 20 seats – a blue wave.
Yes, they are likely in a small war among themselves for positions at the top, and J.D. Vance is in a prime position, and that is why he is comfortable saying that he is ready to assume the top job. Trump may know that his health is in question; it would explain his rather stunning statement that he is trying to get to heaven. But it is hard to see any circumstance under which Trump honors a Democratic congressional victory in either chamber. It is even harder to see Trump accepting a Democratic win in 2028 – and he will likely have the military in control of the country by then anyway, certainly in Washington D.C., he will force people to take real action against him (I cannot condone violence as a first measure, only if needed to fight back defensively).
Accept this reality. The Republicans believe in dictatorship and one-party rule without regard to where the voters are. They are perfectly content to maintain total control of this country with only 33% of the voter support. Moreover, Democrats are losing part of their base – the youth vote. Many of the younger voters support Trump; they really don’t know anything different than Trump dominating the political scene, and they like what he’s doing with strong-arm tactics (Speaking very broadly). So it will be even harder to garner a strong movement against Trump, something so broad that it cannot be ignored, cannot be waived away as “faked” (though they will try), generally it is the younger voters who can be most counted on to rebel and organize movements – not so with this generation, not yet, anyway.
Making things even more difficult, Trump has cast aside the people who aggregate the numbers on the economy. Expect any bad news published by any entity, whether a poll, non-profit, big banks, anything – expect all bad news to be labeled as “fake” and that Trump and his cohorts will scream that the economy has never been better and America is the “hottest” country in the world. You will hear it over and over.
So this club knows all of that and knows that it will be subservient to Trump so long as he is standing. They just might have some information that leads them to believe that it is time to consider that Trump may not be standing much longer. They are preparing to carry out one-party rule with or without Trump. Bank on it.
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These techers’ are on the cyber and other special committee’s in the military now. sure want to know wtf they r up 2.
“Particularly in the House, where Trump is already calling for hand-counted paper ballots from people who pull the lever only, . . . .”
Um, just from the simple mechanics involved, it doesn’t work that way.
As explained via Google’s AI Overview (following a Google search asking, “Is there a paper trail for mechanical lever voting machines):
“No, standard mechanical lever voting machines do not produce a paper trail for individual votes. Their inherent functionality involves a system of internal mechanical counters, not the printing of ballots or receipts.”
Further,
“Here is a more detailed breakdown of why these machines lack a paper trail:
Mechanical tabulation: A voter’s selection is registered when they pull a small lever, and the large handle is pulled to close the privacy curtain. This action advances an internal, odometer-like mechanical counter for each candidate or issue.
No individual record: The vote is recorded as a tally within the machine, not as a tangible ballot. At the end of Election Day, officials open the machine to read the totals from the counters.
Difficulty with recounts: Without a physical ballot for each vote, a true manual recount is impossible. The only audit is to re-read the final totals from the internal counters. This has led critics to argue there is an increased chance for undetected fraud or malfunction.
A “paper audit” variation: Some models, such as the AVM Printomatic, could be equipped with a non-carbon paper accessory. This allowed election officials to create a printed record of the machine’s counter totals before and after the election. It does not provide a record of individual votes, but rather a summary of the machine’s final tallies.”
And, lastly:
“The lack of a voter-verifiable paper trail is one of the main reasons why mechanical lever machines have been replaced by modern voting equipment in many places. The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002 essentially outlawed their use in federal elections. Today, most jurisdictions use paper ballot systems, which are either filled by hand and counted by optical scanners or printed with a voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) from an electronic ballot-marking device.”
So, if Drumpf is expecting “paper ballots from people who pull the lever only,” he’s not going to get anything.
Another way of looking at it is the lever-voting machines have dozens of miniature tally counters or counter clickers (examples at https://www.amazon.com/tally-counter/s?k=tally+counter ) and each time a lever is pulled for an office–or party-line vote–the internal “clicker” advances a digit but there’s no record for a voter who pulls those levers to PROVE their vote or challenge if they think something’s gone wrong (see the bottom as an example of what could go wrong). But, then again, Drumpf isn’t known for his intellect; a bowl of mashed potatoes has more intelligence than Drumpf–and that’s actually underselling the intellect of the potatoes.
YOu are 100% correct in that it is not likely. But he is calling for the paper hand ballots only, and he is doing so as a premise to reject any election results he doesn’t like. Your breakdown of how the voting process works is exquisite and very much appreciated (You put a lot of work into it), and that is the way it is done. But just don’t count on it moving Trump at all.
He is already manuevering in a way to toss out all election results he doesn’t like. It is an absolute tragedy that the vote itself is now at risk bc he’s trained people to not believe their own eyes and ears, only what they “think” is true.
So it is going to be rough. No matter what happens, we cannot expect an easy lawful transition to a Democratic House or Senate.
Thanks for your input,
jason
Good god people! This site was already on shaky ground (according to you), now you’re turning it into satire with all this conspiratorial bullshit.
Apparently you can make this shit up.
Why would he demand an unprecedented five new seats in Texas? Why would anyone trust a man who denied the obvious election results in 2020 and basically started a war on the Capitol? It seems as though your memory is a little shaky. This is the same guy who is already selling hats that say Trump 2028, already talking about being able to run for a third term. Why would anyone trust him to honor election results he doesn’t like?
He has fired a BLS Commissioner who signed off on a jobs report that was mediocre. He fired everyone insufficiently loyal to him in the Joint Chiefs. He just fired the general who was responsible for compiling the Iranian bomb damage assessment – not leaking it, just preparing it according to the military standards. Trump fires people that put out honest information that he doesn’t like.
So why would you trust him to honor the Constitution and election results? He already ordered Texas to redistrict – something they also did in 2021. There has never been any study/investigation that showed there is any tampering with the vote, nor has there ever been any investigation/study that shows that non-citizens vote. Yet he is sounding off as if the Democrats only win through illegal voting.
Time and again he has attacked the trusted sources of true information, preferring to create his own “reality” – and his supporters love it. No Democrat ever did this and you would be howling if one ever did.
Tell me honestly. If there is a blue wave (as predicted by history), do you believe Trump will simply honor the vote? Or will he take every measure to pressure every secretary of state and legislature to not certify it? I will bet all five pennies that I have that he won’t honor a regular old American vote.
You only trust him bc you want the same results he does. And there is no basis at all to trust him with democracy. Some of us remember January 6th and it wasn’t a day for heroes. It was one of this country’s lowest points, and he pardoned everyone who attacked people on his behalf. I think you need to wake up to reality.
jason
something Wilson doesn’t seem to have considered is the the long standing belief that trump wants to start a dynasty and be succeeded by one of his spawn. if he tryst to set that up before kicking off then everything up to this point says that most of his top people, his cabinet certainly, would support that absolutely. the project 2025 people on the other hand would back Vance who is kind of supposed to automatically get the job what with being vice president. and yes I know junior played a part in picking him but trump never seemed to really like him and has no doubt noticed that he’s a perpetual fuck up. at any rate, that could be interesting.
also, the Texas redistricting deal is actually trumps way of keeping things legitimate for as long as possible. yes I know it’s cheating but he doesn’t see it that way. child trump wants to declare himself dictator now so he can execute all of his perceived enemies but vought and the 2025 people want to keep things looking democratic for as long as they can while they consolidate their power. one problem is that they want everyone in government to pledge fealty to trump personally. when he dies I don’t think anyone is going to inherit Maga so who knows what will happen.
Republicans can nominate Trump Speaker if they like, but he would have to forfeit his candidacy as President to accept, allowing his challenger to become President. The Constitution isn’t going anywhere. These assclowns are big talkers, but they aren’t shit.