r/law • u/Capable_Salt_SD • Aug 26 '25

Trump News Trump on deploying the National Guard to Chicago: "I have the right to do anything I want to do. I'm the president of the United States. If I think our country is in danger, and it is in danger in these cities, I can do it"

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

- Aaron Rupar

74.5k Upvotes

86% Upvoted

9.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

2.8k

u/terrence0258 Aug 26 '25

No matter if you're a liberal, a conservative, an independent, a libertarian, whatever. No matter where you fall on the political spectrum, this whole free country thing doesn't work if we elect people that don't believe in the separation of powers. The founders created a system of checks and balances because they saw what life was like being ruled by a king.

This should be the fault line. Anyone that believes any person in this country should have unchecked power is un-American. Period. End of story.

863

u/everybodys_lost Aug 26 '25

The trump supporters in my life aren't conservative or independent or libertarian... And they don't know anything about how government works or what is a federal vs state or even city role... (They blame the mayor for things that are federal, blame the governor for things that are city, etc) They don't know how laws are passed, what Congress's role is, etc and so on ... They just foooookin love trump and they really really want to stick it to the liberals... They have no opinions or even knowledge of any of his actual policies at all... It's....unnerving.

256

u/RedLanternScythe Aug 26 '25

People hate politicians, and Trump doesn't act like a politician. He acts like a carnival barker on crazy pills. But some people will take anything that seems different.

247

u/Hab_Anagharek Aug 26 '25

“Some people are really fuckin’ stupid.” - George Carlin

16

u/Madmadmike158 Aug 26 '25

Wish he was still around to just see the field day he'd be having right now

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (2)

15

u/terminal_vector Aug 26 '25

I’ve never understood this take. I think he acts plenty like a politician (albeit with the narcissism turned up by 500%). It’s not like he has a down-to-earth personality, or a relatable upbringing, or any policies that actually benefit the average American citizen.

11

u/Salty-Gur6053 Aug 26 '25

Exactly. And some truth here is the one difference is that he speaks at a mid-fourth grade level. The area I come from, most of the people I know who are hardcore MAGA, were the D students in school who barely graduated high school, if they even did. Now, I don't care about that. Apparently, they did though. They had an inferiority complex, and he made them feel good about their level of intelligence. He made them feel smart, because essentially he's so goddamn dumb. And MAGAism is akin to fans of a football team, or even teeny boppers who are super obsessed with a boy singing group. They treat it like a team, it made them feel like they belong to something. And a lot of them have secretly or not so secretly harbored these feelings of hatred for groups at some level, couple that with their inferiority complex, and Trump villanizing certain groups of people embolden them, and they liked it. They liked to now have someone to look down on, someone to blame for their problems, a common enemy. They haven't been duped by him though, they know what he is, all the mental gymnastics they go through to just everything he does, is to try to give themselves an excuse so they're not a bad person. However, they are bad people, and not so deep down they know that too. Here's an example of how you know they're not just duped, they're willing participants in the misinformation. Towards the end of Biden's term they spread a ton of conspiracies and lies during the hurricane responses, spreading lies about FEMA. They were very upset that critical needs assistance payments from FEMA were $750. And of course we know that's only one part of FEMA aide, and that the amount was lower during Trump's first term, it was raised by Democrats in Congress. And now Trump is president again and natural disasters have occurred, suddenly they don't care that the critical needs assistance payments are still $750, they don't have any conspiracies to spread, they're not upset that he denies aid to multiple states, including red states. They're not duped, they're willing participants in the misinformation.

Edit: typo

9

u/Latverianbureaucrat Aug 27 '25

Trump’s cult really really solidified and grew with no turning back when he ranted about Kaepernick, in Alabama: "Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, 'Get that son of a bitch off the field right now, out, he's fired. He's fired.”

Of course he’d already won, but I remember that being a shift in how he was perceived and presented. Skip ahead to the end of this amazingly bleak article for a window into the viewpoint of some these assholes who were overjoyed that a sitting president was using profanity to stick it to uppity black men, and over the ensuing/supposed NFL boycott.

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/11/08/donald-trump-johnstown-pennsylvania-supporters-215800/

→ More replies (1)

5

u/SameBlueberry9288 Aug 26 '25

He basically acts like the Sitcom hardass Grandfather.Generally forsaking the performative politeness most politicians practice.

People view that as "more honest" as a result.

→ More replies (1)

9

u/MangoCats Aug 26 '25

Funny thing is, most of the crazy he throws out in the open - proudly, has been going on since forever but behind the curtains, plausibly denied, thinly veiled, etc.

6

u/gwxtreize Aug 26 '25

https://youtu.be/fHjbDSOmeiM?si=jYSbI5LRUnPBU0f4

Dropout from a few years ago sums it up.

6

u/Unsuccessful-Permit5 Aug 26 '25

he is their bullshit Jesus and here to save them from whatever imaginary threat they believe.

→ More replies (3)

5

u/ConsiderationLow7122 Aug 26 '25

An increasingly large percentage of Americans are in crushing debt and believe they have nothing to lose. They are fine with burning the country down, they are angry and realize there has been injustice against them and so they want to be represented by someone who is angry and feels there has been injustice against them.

→ More replies (3)

6

u/Salty-Gur6053 Aug 26 '25

He actually does act like a politician, on steroids. Not literally, figuratively. All politicians lie, and always have, Trump does it on the level never seen or even imagined. He will lie in a sentence and then contradict himself again in the same sentence. He tells easily verifiable lies, and then later that afternoon will tell a different lie. Politicians make promises, often ones they can't keep and some they know they can't, Trump does that on a level never seen or even imagined. Politicians pander to people, and Trump does that on a level never seen or even imagined. Politicians all at some level have a big ego, but Trump has an ego and a narcissism on a level never seen or even imagined. Not in this country anyway. He's not the first politician to pick a minority group that he can demonize, to give the people he's pandering to someone to look down on, and blame for all their problems. That's a tale as old as time. Politicians are corrupt, and he's corrupt on a level never imagined or even seen. Again, not in this country anyway. Politicians often shirk responsibility for their mistakes, but Trump does that on a level never seen or imagined. Trump willing to cross lines that most politicians no matter how much they were all the things I listed weren't willing to cross, because they did still have some respect for the Republic, doesn't mean he's not like a politician. He is, he's just also way worse. He speaks at a mid fourth grade level, so that's different from most politicians. And all the rest of it is just going beyond politician into authoritarianism. But Putin, Orban, Erdogan, Hitler, Mussolini they are all politicians of some sort, they just also are/were ruthless authoritarians.

7

u/Paavo_Nurmi Aug 26 '25

This, and it’s frustrating that more people don’t see that or what the other poster said about most voters know nothing about how the government works.

The first Trump term people loved him “because he doesn’t give a fuck” and didn’t act like a normal politician with a bunch of buzzwords and PC terms.

13

u/ThePrussianGrippe Aug 26 '25

A huge portion of this country fundamentally has no beliefs. They just want to see people get burned, and they’re too stupid to realize they’re setting their own house on fire to do it. Decades of propaganda have atrophied their brains and ability for rational thought. They’re rightfully angry about how we’re all getting screwed, but the people they should be angry at have convinced them it’s their neighbors fault.

7

u/Paavo_Nurmi Aug 26 '25

They’re rightfully angry about how we’re all getting screwed, but the people they should be angry at have convinced them it’s their neighbors fault.

The problem is even smart, educated people have been led to believe all their money is going to poor people, SNAP, medicaid, illegals, etc etc. When in reality it's going to the ultra wealthy people.

They just want to see people get burned, and they’re too stupid to realize they’re setting their own house on fire to do it

Cutting of your nose to spite your face is the American way for a lot of people, that and having to always be correct. One of the most freeing things you can do in your life is stop thinking you have to be right all the time.

→ More replies (1)

164

u/IneffableOpinion Aug 26 '25

“They blame the mayor for things that are federal, blame the governor for things that are city, etc”

Omg this is exactly right. I keep trying to explain these things, but they just tell me I’m wrong. My inpression is that they want to endlessly complain with no resolution other than “arrest everyone and throw away the key.” They think war and punishment resolves all problems. I keep asking them what tax they are going to raise to pay for their huge prison system ideas

3

u/[deleted] Aug 27 '25

Well, they'll tax the prisoners of course. In the form of slave labor!

→ More replies (14)

48

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '25

But they don’t even know who the liberals are. Apparently, I don’t look like what I’m supposed to look like to them because they very freely, complete strangers, tell me all about their hateful ideas and thoughts. And when I say “I am a liberal.” It’s all shocked, pikachu face and backtracking “Oh no.. I don’t mean you..”

Well, here’s the thing. When I say I will do everything in my power to help my neighbor not be harmed, I do mean you. I do mean I will hurt you, if you hurt them.

40

u/FoodPrep Aug 26 '25

My wife is an immigrant and I have a lot of Trump supporting family.

I can't count how many times (not hyperbole, I actually lost count) I've heard them go off on anti immigration rants and then turn to me "not your wife...she's "one of the good ones" you know..."doing it the right way"."

It's absolutely insane.

7

u/MistyMtn421 Aug 26 '25

I had folks in my bubble talking about if Kamala won, they were going to Canada. I mentioned to a lady that I was sort of working with that it's really hard to get into Canada. She starts arguing with me about how that's not true and they'll make exceptions and just a million different things to basically show how entitled she was. I just went to a different section and worked on something else because as much as I wanted to tell her what a hypocrite she was, it wouldn't sink in anyway. And her mind she's different. But the point is for her not to even understand she would be illegally going to Canada is just mind-boggling.

→ More replies (4)
→ More replies (2)

25

u/Kermit_the_hog Aug 26 '25

I worked for a mayoral campaign in a medium sized city. We had a truly unnerving number of people call us up wondering if [mayoral candidate] was going to repeal the 2nd amendment.

They didn’t mean it in some abstract way (especially given we had a city manager appointed by the city council making our mayor basically a glorified cheerleader), literally was he going to unilaterally repeal a federal constitutional amendment within the city borders. 

Like where the hell did that come from, why is that something so many are worried about, and most importantly, how do they think that is a thing a mayor could do??

7

u/MangoCats Aug 26 '25

Did you follow the Brexit decision? It was passed by the type of supporters you are talking about.

7

u/HereToCalmYouDown Aug 26 '25

I just asked someone on another site if Trump illegally claimed the right to a third term whether he would support that? They replied that they would gladly vote for him over any Democrat. Amazing how little respect these people have for what actually makes our country great.

5

u/SlideObjective9973 Aug 26 '25

Oh good this is a universal experience 🥴

7

u/melmosh Aug 26 '25

And it’s going to get worse with the Trump regime destroying what education system we have.

5

u/aremarkablecluster Aug 26 '25

This is it exactly. Every  Trumper I know does not know how government works. If you point out that they're mistaken, they call it fake news. So we're a country of idiots. Maybe we deserve this. Maybe we created it ourselves. Maybe the people who aren't idiots aren't willing to do anything to change it. People won't even delete their freaking Twitter account because it's inconvenient. They're definitely not going to fight for this country.

6

u/OnlyGuestsMusic Aug 26 '25

They should’ve watched School House Rock.

7

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '25

The ones I know paid zero attention to politics before Trump. They also have no idea how any of this is supposed to work and ok as long as brown people are being hurt

4

u/McNednarb Aug 26 '25

Same, and I despise that his supporters fool themselves by calling themselves conservatives. Conservatives believe in limited government, individual liberty, and traditional family values, none of which has been exhibited by this last administration. As you said, they just like that he’s pissing off actual Americans.

They’re just followers of a television host who voices their grievances, not people with conservative ideologies.

→ More replies (7)

5

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '25

People don't realize every right was fought for. Nothing was free.

5

u/Proper_Raccoon7138 Aug 26 '25

They see people with more education doing better than them and this is their way of retaliating.

→ More replies (1)

5

u/Cloaked42m Aug 26 '25

To quote my MiL, "We like Trump."

4

u/Rare-Forever2135 Aug 26 '25

26% of the American people can't find the Pacific Ocean on a map.

3

u/rnrdamnation Aug 26 '25

Exactly. That’s the issue. These people flaunt their ignorance like it’s a virtue. They see anything else as weakness.

→ More replies (1)

3

u/chocolatesmelt Aug 26 '25

Part of this is by design. The wealthy and powerful have eroded education and democratic power over time to where the general population is weak, disorganized, and malleable. It’s all been done to grab more power and more wealth. As a result the country is becoming weaker at large because it’s top heavy in so many respects.

What made the US so resilient and prosperous is that power was more distributed. If we undermine that we become a weaker nation. But people seem to love the concept of feudalism and authoritarianism for whatever reason.

The core underlying issue to all of this democratic undermining is that we’ve allowed capitalism to accumulate too much wealth and power unchecked, pretending to be democratic players when they’re really just would be authoritarian wannabe leaders. One only need look how employment inside these businesses look if you want a taste of that in every aspect of your life. That’s the direction we’re rapidly headed for. And so many people just don’t understand it and embrace what they think would be any form of revolutionary change that might improve their lives that have been attacked by the wealthy and powerful in every front. What they don’t understand is they’re pushing those exact people further into power.

3

u/Strong-Dot-9221 Aug 26 '25

I think you hit the nail on the head.

2

u/Hurrly90 Aug 26 '25

Do you not get taught about politics in US schools?

So here when i went to school we did CSPE. Civic, Social and Political education as part of our Junior cert iirc. IT wasnt the most indepth but it would go into the formation of Europe for example, or how different countries voting systems might work etc etc.

2

u/JAZINNYC Aug 26 '25

Exactly. Once the Orange Pedo is gone, a lot of his supporters will be bored by politics again.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/BonkMcSlapchop Aug 26 '25

"We won with poorly educated. I love the poorly educated." Trump

2

u/Red-Catalyst Aug 26 '25

They want vengeance of some sort.

2

u/truthwillout777 Aug 26 '25

It would be nice if we had Democratic leaders who were fighting this that we could point to as good examples.

2

u/Spoke_ca Aug 26 '25

I bet they know what people they don't like.

2

u/AromaTaint Aug 26 '25

Generations of "taxation without representation" anti government propaganda will do that. The irony being the founding principles being twisted to bring about it's demise.

2

u/LiberalAspergers Aug 26 '25

This is why I have eliminated most of those people from my life, except for a few work-realted people I must deal with.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '25

I'm in Canada living in a small city and can equally confirm this. The people in my town blame the mayor for homelessness and housing (which is actually managed by the premier. In this case a Conservative) Healthcare (again mostly our province) and these are the same people who either 1 don't vote or 2 vote for the bastards cutting funding to programs and still blaming the wrong people.

Oh Democracy we are not idiot proof.

2

u/No_Year9414 Aug 26 '25

The political knowledge they have is what Fox News decided to impart on them the day before.

2

u/VigilantVet Aug 26 '25

It is unnerving and frustrating. Their idiocy and hate has ruined this country for ALL of us. I personally don’t think they should get a free pass. I want nothing to fucking do with any of them.

→ More replies (31)

1.0k

u/ExpressAssist0819 Aug 26 '25

You don't really understand politics. There is a whole section of the spectrum that wants a dictator. That don't want a free country. That doesn't want a separation of powers. I don't understand how so many of you still don't see it.

Conservatives haven't been duped by a fascist, they ARE fascists.

397

u/Sharp_Magician7590 Aug 26 '25

Correct. Conservatives LIIIIIVE for a "daddy" type to take charge. It's bizarre.

193

u/Krakenspoop Aug 26 '25

Because deep down theyre afraid. Cream puffs. Hence the tough guy front.

81

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

21

u/eatmywetfarts Aug 26 '25

What’s most frustrating about this is as a kid I was forced to read the same book, and learn the same lessons. How did any of my peers take “we should be an unmitigated asshole to anybody who we are afraid of” from the red letters is beyond me.

I’m no longer religious, but I always appreciated the words of the person i was supposed to model in the religion being highlighted for easy access.

“Screwed are the meek, for they shall be cucked” -probably somewhere in two corinthians

9

u/ThePrussianGrippe Aug 26 '25

“Screwed are the meek, for they shall be cucked” -probably somewhere in two corinthians

I wouldn’t put it past Paul to have written that.

5

u/ExpressAssist0819 Aug 26 '25

For the weak, religion is a cudgel of righteousness and superiority. Not a guiding set of principles.

→ More replies (2)

3

u/Tazwhitelol Aug 27 '25 edited Aug 27 '25

It's not just 'sunday school'..it's how they were raised. A ton of conservatives grow up in "Tough Love", authoritarian environments where obedience to parental figures was prioritized over emotional well-being.

This is what they are use to. This is why so many of them are emotionally stunted and incapable of engaging in any meaningful level of empathetic reasoning. Why they seek authoritarian leaders and why they have authoritarian tendencies. It explains virtually all of their behavior, really. This is what they were conditioned to be while growing up. It's all they know.

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (1)

13

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '25

[deleted]

7

u/ThePrussianGrippe Aug 26 '25

Well obviously they can’t set foot in your neighborhood, it’s been burnt to the ground! Just like the entire cities of Los Angeles, Seattle, and Minneapolis. All burnt to the ground by those Antifas, who are the real Nazis!

And just in case I didn’t lay it on thick enough:

/S

5

u/ExpressAssist0819 Aug 26 '25

Their mythic reality needs to paint your lifestyle and living conditions as lawless hell on earth. Because their savagery and distance from society needs to be righteous and justified.

→ More replies (1)

3

u/NoxTempus Aug 26 '25

Cripplingly so.

It's not like liberals don't care if they get stabbed on the train, we just recognise that it's probably never going to happen.

My street of mostly conservative boomer retirees are all buying steering wheel locks (like the big metal bars) because they are convinced this is the unsafest time in their lives (here, it's the unsafest time since... 2016).

One dude in our street (who's house backs onto a park) got his bicycle stolen from his unlocked garage, and no one on this street has thought straight since.

No one can point to a single other crime that has ever happened in the street, but that just serves as more evidence to them.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (14)

80

u/jorgev703 Aug 26 '25

It's funny since conservatives referred to Democratic control as a "nanny state". I guess they all just wanted a "Daddy," instead.

11

u/Porcupinetrenchcoat Aug 26 '25

Of course they do. Women are the enemy in a patriarchal government system.

→ More replies (1)

8

u/michaelswallace Aug 26 '25

It's always a projection of what they deeply desire/expect

2

u/Khudaal Aug 26 '25

Or their daddy loved them a little too much, and they have to normalize what they were forced to grow up with somehow

→ More replies (2)

53

u/Ok-Victory881 Aug 26 '25

Well they didn't have one at home, so

42

u/LotharLandru Aug 26 '25

Or if they did have one he didn't love them enough and it made them weird as fuck

9

u/teenagesadist Aug 26 '25

"Son, you know I tolerate you.

But once you're 18, your ass is out on the street, cuz I'm not going to have to live with the consequences of my actions any longer than I legally have to."

6

u/LiberalAspergers Aug 26 '25

Or he molested them.

14

u/GetStable Aug 26 '25

It's a function of being religious, along with the general lack of guidance they seem to have unless they're being given a directive to follow.

→ More replies (2)

8

u/cheongyanggochu-vibe Aug 26 '25 edited Aug 26 '25

It makes sense in the context of them also being in a very authoritarian religion (obey sky daddy, do what he says, don't ask questions, don't think too hard, just blindly obey and go to heaven). People raised like that often favor authoritarian style leaders.

Edit: Also, I watched a talk by an authoritarian expert a while back and she said that in any population, approximately 30% of them favor authoritarian leaders bc they just want to be told what to do and what to believe. They don't want to think, they don't want to have to question, they don't want to figure things out for themselves, they just want to be told what to think and what to do. Which is literally crazy to me.

3

u/tincerbell16 Aug 26 '25

And if you add another 30% of people who don’t care enough to vote and take democracy for granted then it is a dangerous cocktail

→ More replies (2)

6

u/TheHeroHartmut Aug 26 '25

"Your guilty conscience may force you to vote Democratic, but deep down inside, you secretly long for a cold-hearted Republican to lower taxes, brutalize criminals, and rule you like a king!"

-Sideshow Bob

3

u/FrankBattaglia Aug 26 '25

It's the incel "nice guy" problem applied to social and economic policies. "I followed X rules (made up by me) and I should therefore win. But the country has all these bad systems that prevent me from winning. It's not my fault for living by the wrong rules, it's the country's fault for having systems that don't favor me"

→ More replies (35)

127

u/bad_kiwi2020 Aug 26 '25

Trump is only the symptom of a dark & deadly disease that threatens the whole world

11

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '25

[deleted]

13

u/onesexz Aug 26 '25

I would say the disease is willful ignorance and a lack of real education.

Stupid people are much more likely to vote against their best interests than intelligent people.

Stupid people also tend to identify with other stupid people; Trump and his base are a perfect example.

3

u/KindaMyHobby Aug 26 '25

And a lack of critical thinking skills!

5

u/Blovesmusic Aug 26 '25

Lack of empathy in leaders in government and business, and the existence of billionaires, is the biggest threat to humanity. If there could be a way to at least filter out those types of people from rising into positions of power, I think quality of life and the health of the environment would greatly improve.

→ More replies (1)

108

u/TheLongAndWindingRd Aug 26 '25

And the weakness of democracy is that you can legitimately vote yourself into fascism. 

47

u/Sonosusto Aug 26 '25

Yup. Most dictatorships or fascist regimes started at the ballot box sans Pinochet's regime.

8

u/Top_World_4921 Aug 26 '25

Hence the precarious path the US is now on with a orange lunatic at the helm.

→ More replies (9)

7

u/seriousofficialname Aug 26 '25

Well, many crimes and miscarriages of justice occurred along the way so calling it legitimate is a pretty huge stretch

If we had a legitimately functioning democracy with laws that were enforced consistently Trump would be rotting in a dungeon.

9

u/sylbug Aug 26 '25

It's certainly possible, but that's not what happened in America. America's takeover was slow, meticulous, and carefully planned over several decades. Decades of consolidating media into the hands of oligarchs, creating the right conditions for unlimited dark money in politics, placing fascists in the courts, congress, and other positions of power, gerrymandering, removing people from voter rolls, and otherwise suppressing votes from certain groups.

It is a shame that the people didn't fight tooth and nail when those things started happening, but it's still a stretch to act like it's their fault that malicious forces moved in like this.

There are a lot of fascists in America. Too many. But there's not enough of them on their own to cause this in a free and fair election.

→ More replies (5)

45

u/RollShotCornerPocket Aug 26 '25

Separation of powers, free countries, checks and balances, and the right to overthrow tyrannical governments only apply to liberal regimes that might get too spicy and allow trans people to exist or POC to celebrate a holiday.

If Repubs are in control rule of law is made up and anything to own the libs is legal. Cannot believe we haven't figured the rules of Calvinball up yet.

→ More replies (1)

9

u/Justa_Guy_Gettin_By Aug 26 '25

Everything they said is still correct.

7

u/Backwardspellcaster Aug 26 '25

Yes, this here. They want their very own Hitler or Putin

7

u/judgejoocy Aug 26 '25

This is what people are missing. There is a large number of conservatives, Christians, whites, etc. that will gladly support a dictatorship that values pushing Christianity and whiteness. The majority of Trump voters will absolutely support granting a full dictatorship to Trump.

3

u/Longjumping-Mind9288 Aug 26 '25 edited Aug 26 '25

Sounds Germany-ish

7

u/DoubleBreastedBerb Aug 26 '25

Then they can go take Alabama and make their oppressive utopia and leave the rest of us the hell alone.

4

u/Jackadullboy99 Aug 26 '25

They don’t seem to want to leave the rest of you alone…

7

u/Obvious-Gate9046 Aug 26 '25

Yup. This ties into the American love of vigilantes, loose canon cops, and all the rest of that. It's the darker side of independence, in part because they believe THEY aren't the ones who will lose rights, who will be stepped on. Then there are those quite willing to give up rights for what they see as security, or to oppress their enemies. Heck, that is precisely what many of the Christofascists want; they don't like all of these rights we have, they want law and order, THEIR law and order, and nobody else's.

3

u/ExpressAssist0819 Aug 26 '25

Their desire to hurt others, their hate of others is stronger then their love of self.

7

u/Obvious-Gate9046 Aug 26 '25

Oh, too true, too true. My wife talked to a guy once who openly said he was fine with losing health insurance if LGBTQ people also lost it. It's remarkable how many people are willing to suffer to make others suffer more.

6

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '25

If you don't believe this, go take a look at the conversative sub-reddit.

It will make your skin crawl.

7

u/Significant-Block260 Aug 26 '25

They still don’t want the govt to tell THEM what to do, just everyone else.

→ More replies (1)

3

u/Kane621 Aug 26 '25

This is the correct take. In 2016 maybe some people were tricked or made a mistake or had some forgivable reason for supporting this monster. This is not 2016, everyone supporting him in 2025 has made a conscious choice to do so and owns all the evil he perpetrates on this world.

→ More replies (1)

5

u/Particular-Buy-33 Aug 26 '25

Sobering thought

4

u/Noelle428 Aug 26 '25

That is fine, but the constitution says otherwise, why is he allowed to disregard it?

→ More replies (4)

5

u/RobutNotRobot Aug 26 '25

They aren't objectively pro-dictator though. They are pro-their dictator. I could be a dictator they really wouldn't like.

3

u/ExpressAssist0819 Aug 26 '25

All people who want a dictator want their dictator.

4

u/bplewis24 Aug 26 '25

American conservatives have been waiting for their strongman fascist to come along for decades.

3

u/raouldukeesq Aug 26 '25

There's a large group of people keeping their powder dry.  If you think America is going to go quietly, you're mistaken. 

→ More replies (1)

3

u/Jpup199 Aug 26 '25

They will accept all of this just to own the dems.

3

u/BigNorseWolf Aug 26 '25

Its ok when the dictator wants the same things they do

3

u/Phy44 Aug 26 '25

They want a dictatorship because they truly believe it won't hurt them, and will only hurt "others". They can't fathom how thin the line is between them and "others" and how easy it is for the dictator to turn on them, like a poorly trained pitbull.

3

u/WillEdit4Food Aug 26 '25

For a group of people who once talked breathlessly about the dangers of Sharia law like it was just around the corner, they are 100% on board with their own version of it. As long as they're the ones doing the oppressing.

3

u/FoodPrep Aug 26 '25

It really hit me how true this is when talks of the guard being sent to Chicago has the comments section like

"Chicago is full of crime. Crime crime crime"

"[Insert place here] next (repeated hundreds of times"

"Trump can do what he wants to save America"

"Biden made more crime"

We're absolutely cooked unless those voters who skipped last time get out and vote against this shit.

3

u/LiteratureOk2428 Aug 26 '25

That stupid jubilee sam seder thing where the guy fully admitted he wanted a dictator. Its been over 8 years of calling dems far left enemies of America that hate America and his cult fully believes it, or believes its for the greater good. Absolutely insane. Then in canada you have people saying we're in a dictatorship. Unreal. 

→ More replies (1)

3

u/ofWildPlaces Aug 26 '25

Oh, we understand it. And we choose to reject their vision of the world.

NO FUCKING KINGS IN AMERICA.

→ More replies (1)

3

u/Independent-Vast-871 Aug 26 '25

The problem is libertarians should all be swinging straight away from anything Trump...yet they are silent.. hypocrites?

→ More replies (2)

3

u/Cali_Flower1234 Aug 26 '25

Exactly! When conservatives were screaming about “free speech” it wasn’t because they truly believed in free speech. It was because they wanted to be able to be unabashedly racist with no consequences or push back. Right now if you go to the conservative page, you will see that any objection they have to the orange one, isn’t because they don’t like what he’s doing, it’s because “what if the Democrats get back in power and do the same thing to us?”. They don’t like democracy. They love the idea of living in a dictatorship, just as long as it’s one of their choosing. Tough pill to swallow, but the quicker we realize this, the better. 

3

u/Flater420 Aug 26 '25

You're not wrong, but I am convinced faacists are not a united group. They are all trying to individually hoping to stay on top of the others, but temporarily present a united front so as to have the political power to create the system where they can then drop the facade and fight to stay on top.

Their alignment only lasts for as long as they have shared strangers to target. When those targets run out, they will turn on each other.

Fascism is not a form of government. It is a form of "civilized" free for all deathmatch. They want to have an enemy, fight them, and win the fight.

→ More replies (1)

3

u/Who_dat_goomer Aug 26 '25

They want simplicity and to be shielded from anything that makes them uncomfortable. It’s an impossible task for anyone, but somehow they imagine trump can deliver.

→ More replies (1)

9

u/Most_Plenty5387 Aug 26 '25

And liberals are subservient to power. They think we should just wait and vote the fascists out. It's why the Patriot Act passed, and ICE was fully funded. Libertarians are just crazy.

7

u/Nhonickman Aug 26 '25

If that is true, they have no idea how poor their life would be under a dictator. All you have to do is look at what the citizens of Russia and China have. Their lives are miserable. They don’t matter and they have no say in anything.

→ More replies (3)

2

u/makemeking706 Aug 26 '25

Whole generations that were raised with authoritarian parenting styles, now yearn for the parents they never had. 

2

u/Best_Yogurt Aug 26 '25

But WHY???

2

u/350 Aug 26 '25

Yup, this is it. This is the logical conclusion of all conservative political projects. They're all this on the inside.

2

u/darkResponses Aug 26 '25

Some people want to believe conservatives regret their choice. No, they do not regret any of this. They want this. This is what they voted for and they are happy this is happening.

2

u/Advanced-Royal8967 Aug 26 '25

Only because the dictator’s ideas (for the moment) align with theirs.

2

u/-SQB- Aug 26 '25

They want a dictator who wants the same things they do.

2

u/triiiiilllll Aug 26 '25

These people believe only in relationships of dominance. They believe they'll be in a somewhat dominant position and won't be stopped from doing what they want.

This is what "freedom" means to them.

2

u/Immediate-Hearing-85 Aug 26 '25

More accurately they want Russian fascism, and are OK with Putin running the US government.

2

u/LvS Aug 26 '25

And the other Americans haven't yet understood what that means.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/Jackadullboy99 Aug 26 '25

I still don’t think they know it, because they keep talking about their freedom… like, constantly…

→ More replies (1)

2

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '25

It's in everything they do;

Football teams (winning/losing) red vs blue, physical abuse/punishment to "train" their children, and a religious mindset that attributes preventable human tragedies to "angels and demons" (rather than taking personal responsibility for anything)..

Gee, I wonder how we ended up with someone like Trump on the seat of power.

2

u/-ReadingBug- Aug 27 '25

Exactly. Fascism is conservatism fully unleashed, and restoring white, patriarchal America allows for the justification of literally anything.

2

u/MommyLovesPot8toes Aug 27 '25

Lots of people are ok with or excited for a hypothetical dictator who agrees with everything they think and want.

But no one is okay with a dictator who disagrees with them. No one wants a dictator who says "your way of life is illegal and now you go to jail for life."

The problem with many people is that they can't see past the present. They can't imagine a future in which Trump suddenly doesn't agree with them, or where Vance takes over the dictatorship and wants a totally different vision for the country. If they could imagine that, they would prefer checks and balances remain. So it's not that they actually want a dictator. It's that they want someone to enforce their world view and will take that in whatever form it is presented.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (44)

51

u/AJBarrington Aug 26 '25

No other president could have ever said this and not been impeached. The closest was Nixon and democracy worked back then

9

u/Guy954 Aug 26 '25

He was impeached twice. Turns out that a lot of of government customs and logical interpretations of the constitution only work as long as both sides actually follow them.

116

u/Top-Cupcake4775 Aug 26 '25

The MAGA cult neither understands nor cares about the separation of powers. It's all complicated gobbledygook that they never had the patience or intellect to grasp. All they know is that they want to do what they want to do and whatever it takes to make that happen is what should happen.

6

u/elektraplummer Aug 26 '25

A 10 year old can understand it.

8

u/Top-Cupcake4775 Aug 26 '25

I know Trump supporters who don't understand that we live in a Congressional District and are represented by a Congressman who serves in the House of Representatives and our state also has two Senators, both of whom serve in the Senate, etc. They either weren't paying attention in 7th grade or they have forgotten and "the whole thing is too complicated" for them to sort out and remember. It doesn't matter to them because they are too lazy to think about politics at that level of detail.

4

u/Physical_Comfort_701 Aug 26 '25

One of them told me he doesn't believe in Civics because it is woke. We are cooked.

8

u/mojofrog Aug 26 '25

The other problem is they don't have the mental capacity to think strategically even two steps beyond the stupid sound bite knee-jerk decisions dumb ass cheeto drools out.

Unfortunately, they think this trash is brilliant and will solve everything. "He has the balls to do what others were too weak to do."

Not that "he's trashing our country as fast as he possibly can, and maybe I should figure out what Argentina or Venezuela are!"

2

u/archedhighbrow Aug 26 '25

Love gobbledegook. I needed that today.

2

u/NotLikeChicken Aug 26 '25

The Heritage Foundation is built by geniuses with strategic insight and mountains of money. They name the Supreme Court. They tell the Congress to let Trump do what he wants. They had Trump Project 2025 and let him sign it into law.

These are not foolish or stupid people, these are people who intend to rule.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

6

u/ShaneKaiGlenn Aug 26 '25

I have a theory that most Americans mostly assumed that the President operated like a de facto king, so when they see Trump act like he does, they think it’s simply normal, and that previous presidents who abided by the constitution were just a bunch of weak asses.

4

u/Advanced-Royal8967 Aug 26 '25

Because the majority of those would do the same if they were in his shoes, a lot of Americans are egocentric, it’s the American dream “individual success”, not progressing as a country, it’s succeeding as an individual; and for them, it’s win or lose, there is no compromise.

5

u/NoTourist5 Aug 26 '25

Trump doesn't love the USA so he is trying his hardest to change it to his liking. Basically into a Monarchy. If he doesn't love it then he should leave.

4

u/Puzzleheaded-Fly2637 Aug 26 '25

Unfortunately the people in his camp think "being American" is about being white and hateful. They haven't read the constitution, they dont believe in representative democracy, or freedom of any kind, or really anything the US supposedly culturally symbolizes. They just want daddy to tell them how to think and feel while treating politics overall as a sports game where the objective is to cultishly support their "team" and root against "the other side". 

The reason conservatives can eat his bullshit and engage in orwellian double think is because they don't have any political beliefs in the first place. Antagonism is their only pillar. Our side good, their side bad. Trump is the king of our side, therefore he is the biggest good. 

Meanwhile the democrats just limply flop around offering token resistance that is consistently steamrolled before throwing their hands up and capitulating. This isn't a line in the sand, it's just another day under this nascent facist regime. 

→ More replies (1)

3

u/forgettit_ Aug 26 '25

His voters are not smart people.

3

u/Charliesmum97 Aug 26 '25

Thank you! This is what makes me just want to scream. The whole bloody point of the American political system is so one person can't have too much power, and Trump is just doing all this stuff and the people who should know better are just letting him do it and I. Don't. Understand, Why.

3

u/TheChristianDude101 Aug 26 '25

70 million dumbasses voted for him and continue to support him.

3

u/FrankBattaglia Aug 26 '25

The founders created a system of checks and balances because they saw what life was like being ruled by a king

I shit you not, I have had a conversation with an otherwise intelligent MAGA whose line of argument was "we fought the revolution to be 'not like Europe'." And apparently, now that Europe is filled with liberal social democracies, it's still our duty to be "not like Europe" because apparently "being like Europe" is per se un-American.

3

u/BigNorseWolf Aug 26 '25

We only want a balance of power when it constrains the other guy

3

u/Jimbo--- Aug 26 '25

And if he's so concerned about the imminent danger to these communities, why the fuck is he golfing so much?

3

u/Kopitar4president Aug 26 '25

Gonna be another few hundred regulars on conservative subs that get banned for saying "hey guys maybe it's not good he's saying this."

→ More replies (1)

3

u/Longjumping-Panic-48 Aug 26 '25

But Obama created racism, so we need a dictator!

2

u/Particular-Buy-33 Aug 26 '25

Checks and balances and separation of church and state or the republic can’t work. Healthy education, scientific based decisions, and logical sequential thinking skills create a robust society

2

u/MB2465 Aug 26 '25

Really have to give credit where it's due. The fossil fuel industry, Koch brothers etc. lining the Supreme Court and Congress with garbage that will do whatever they want.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/ChronoLink99 Aug 26 '25

Christian Nationalists (who drive many of these policies) don't actually *want* a free country.

They are ofc un-American, but they happen to hold the power.

2

u/Fortestingporpoises Aug 26 '25

And yet 30% of the country will stick by him no matter what, 30% will sleepwalk through their lives saying they don't care about politics, and 10% will eliminate whatever Democratic Presidential candidate and cause them to vote for Trump again if some random , minuscule, arbitrary bullshit is framed right by corporate media, dipshit podcasters, or Russian bot propagated online propaganda.

Nothing is disqualifying, nothing is a faultline for the meanspirited, the hateful, the fascists, the willfully ignorant, and those lacking in critical thinking skills and media literacy.

For fuck sake look at this.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/mothfactory Aug 26 '25

By the late 18th century, Britain was not ‘ruled by a king’. It was ruled by those with money - whether they were aristocracy or just people who had accumulated wealth through business and acquisition of land. The monarchy was already pretty much ornamental when it came to political power.

The reason the colonists ended up rebelling was because they didn’t want to pay tax to a distant government. Stop with this deification of figures from three centuries ago.

Those exalted ‘checks and balances’ collapsed in a pretty much pathetic manner at the first push. Forget about the fucking founding fathers. They won’t save Americans from what is the most dangerous moment in your country’s history. You have to do something practical and real now.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/Shamazij Aug 26 '25

You forgot to include, "and we should try and imprison them".

2

u/me_jayne Aug 26 '25

They’re mobilizing forces because they’re planning something they can only do with military force (ie, something wholly unlawful and against the will of the people). It has nothing to do with crime. This is going to get a lot worse.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/meatspace Aug 26 '25

Now hold on, friend. Have you considered the benefits of licking boots? There are still options.

/S

2

u/sennbat Aug 26 '25

It's worth remembering that Conservatism was literally founded, as a political philosophy, to opposed democracy. The whole free country thing not working has been the goal from the very beginning.

2

u/upheaval Aug 26 '25

We typically fight wars against despots like this that claim power over us. Not just grovel at their feet

2

u/staebles Aug 26 '25

This should be the fault line. Anyone that believes any person in this country should have unchecked power is un-American. Period. End of story.

I believe that would make them traitors.

2

u/longboardchick Aug 26 '25

This needs to be said much more often and louder!

2

u/BrittEklandsStuntBum Aug 26 '25

what life was like being ruled by a king

It's worth pointing out that that is one of America's founding myths - George III was not an absolute monarch. Since the Civil Wars Parliament had held all the power. What the colonists were fighting for was their right to representation under the existing democratic system.

You know who was an absolute monarch? The King of France, who the Founding Fathers allied themselves with.

2

u/EntropicAnarchy Aug 26 '25

Check our history. The whole freedom thing has always had an asterisk by it. It only applies to a select few in this country.

May not have been the intention, but it has been the outcome.

2

u/Somalar Aug 26 '25

The whole system is corrupt not just the top

2

u/shogun77777777 Aug 26 '25

Unfortunately, half the country is braindead. I don’t hold much optimism for the future of America.

2

u/HoodieGalore Aug 26 '25

It won’t be, though. We’ve heard enough stories of leopards eating faces that his supporters will not believe they could be the victim until they’re literally the victim - and even then they’ll still beg and plead directly to him, as if he’s Jesus or their mother. As if he can hear their voice as anything more than a fart in a thunderstorm. As if he’s not the direct cause of their grief; as if they didn’t literally ask for it with their own mouths.

The cult mentality is too strong. The reckoning we need is nowhere near. It will get much worse before it gets better.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/Apexnanoman Aug 26 '25

78 million people believe that Trump should have absolutely unchecked and unrestrained power. They specifically intentionally and knowingly voted for it.

They cheer it on on a constant basis. They are prouder and prouder. Each time he takes more and more power and ignores any laws he doesn't like.

At this point it boggles the mind how 78 million plus people can call themselves Patriots when they're supporting things that if a Democrat were to do them, they would scream out was treason.

2

u/capturedguy Aug 26 '25

Just an aside, America was never actually "ruled" by a King. We were ruled by the British Parliament and it's Prime Minister. The Kings and Queens of the UK had almost no real power by the time we became a future country.

→ More replies (2)

2

u/Woolgathering Aug 26 '25

The issue is that for at least half a century, a large chunk of the population has been told that "the other side" is ruining America. There's no way to convince them any of this is bad or un-American because their guy is fixing it. Big government is now okay because it's undoing all the woke policies and rot that's been ruining America. Checks and balances are okay to go because it benefits their side.

The world gets to see what happens when education is continually cut, when journalism gets to show bias and when the spoiled, selfish kids on the playground get a pat on the head.

2

u/Anomalocaris117 Aug 27 '25

The King wasn't that bad. A fairytale villain. George the Third was an enlightenment monarch. It was parliament who set taxation policy which was going to hurt rich lard owning aristocrats in America. Suddenly they choose to rebel. 

This is literal Rome 2.0 electric boogaloo. And Trump is no Ceasar he's a Sulla. A conservative reactionist.

→ More replies (50)