Trump Tries Walking Back Talk Of Who’d Staff His Second Term

Lately we been hearing and reading quite a bit about what a second Trump administration would look like. To say the picture being painted is disturbing, frightening even is an understatement. From the likes of Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller, Kash Patel and others (not to mention finding roles for the Mike Lindell types) if you combined the talents of artists from Da Vinci to Picasso (and so many others) I don’t think it’s possible to create the kind of hellscape the country Trump, with the kind of people he’d have around him if given a second stint in the Oval Office would create.

So now, according to (among others) The Hill Team Trump is trying to walk this back. On Friday senior advisors Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita put out a lengthy statement that said “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.” Ok. So it didn’t say THAT. But that was the general message. Here however are some actual parts of what they had to say:

“Let us be very specific here: unless a message is coming directly from President Trump or an authorized member of his campaign team, no aspect of future presidential staffing or policy announcements should be deemed official,” Wiles and LaCivita said.

“Let us be even more specific, and blunt: People publicly discussing potential administration jobs for themselves or their friends are, in fact, hurting President Trump … and themselves. These are an unwelcomed distraction,” they added.

Really? If that’s the case why did you (Trump and the campaign) let the better part of two weeks of regular speculation go by before finally speaking up? Yesterday! I think it’s far more likely that Trump was tossing red meat to his MAGAs showing them he DOES plan to become a Dictator and not on “the first day” as he told Hannity. (Rommel back in WWII was tasked with fashioning the formidable defenses along the “Atlantic Wall” – the French coastline of the English Channel to repel the Allied invasion Germany knew would one day come. Speaking of when that day would happen he remarked that the first 24 hours would be decisive, and that it would be “The Longest Day”) That made me think back a long way in history, and think that Trump’s first day when he admits to intending to be a dictator and exact retribution will be one loooooooong day. A LOT longer than 24 hours! No, Trump will do all he can to turn us into a full-blown dictatorship and if there’s a next time around there won’t be, as pundits have noted with alarm any “adults in the room” to rein him in. Instead it will be dark, evil people urging him on!

MAGA’s have gotten the message. They can’t wait. They’ve got visions of running around and on Trump’s behalf engaging in individual acts of retribution against those who offend them by being less than worshipful of their Orang Turd Emperor.  Still, the statement released yesterday makes me think Trump himself might think he’s said too much. Iin addition to ho-hum b.s. about being solely focused on the Iowa primary it also includes this:

“Let us be even more specific, and blunt: People publicly discussing potential administration jobs for themselves or their friends are, in fact, hurting President Trump … and themselves. These are an unwelcomed distraction,”

Trump isn’t wise or even smart. Never has been. Sadly, one trait he does possess is marketing savvy and enough people (Trump is a news junkie) were talking about this that HE has gotten worried. More specifically he’s worried that he’s said too much to advisors that has spread beyond his inner circle about his plans and who he will count on to implement them. He has grown fearful that too much is already out there. That WE know and worse can use it during the general election campaign. His MAGAs will stick with him no matter what, but they don’t even make up the bulk of the GOP.

What has Trump worried is that while not wide there have been cracks appearing in his armor. He has after all been responsible for GOP losses in 2018 and 2020 of control of both chambers of Congress and the WH. And thanks to his SCOTUS appointments and most of the 2020 candidates he endorsed losing their races the predicted “red wave” was barely a trickle. Yes, the GOP regained the House but as you know with too slim a majority (given all the crazies) to accomplish anything other than putting on a sh*t show all year. Not to mention loss after loss at the state level in other elections.  Without MAGA he’s nothing and he knows it so he has to keep them ramped up. The trick is not to so disgust the non-MAGA Republicans who just want low taxes and less regulation and Trump has enough problems there that one of those cracks in the armor could bust wide open.

It only takes a couple percent of Republicans who have held their nose and voted for him anyway to stay home, or just not vote on the President line of their ballot to do him in. They don’t have to do a Liz Cheney or Chris Christie and vote for Biden if Trump is the nominee, just leave the President part of their ballot blank. That would spell doom for Trump and here’s the kicker. Knowing that unlike last time there would be NO guardrails around Trump that couple percent could grow to five percent. Or more. THAT is what I think entered Trump’s thinking.

He let the cat out of the bag and initially was loving the reaction from MAGA but realized the media had started to harp on it. Even freaking HANNITY fed him a softball to help him walk it back. You don’t think that got Trump’s attention? That even Hannity was in effect telling him to ramp down the dictator talk? I sure as hell think it got Trump’s attention, hence the campaign’s statement yesterday.

But he’s already told us who is is and what he intends to do. It’s up to us to remind everyone we can on a regular basis of it. AND that even Trump knows he said too much too soon and is trying to cover up his intentions.

(Back to the game)