Jesse Watters claims Donald Trump told him he is constructing the new White House ballroom as a “monument” to himself — and that he’s doing it “because no one else will.”
The Fox News host recounted the alleged conversation while speaking at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest, a multiday conservative conference and festival in Phoenix, on Saturday, Dec. 20. A video of the moment has since been posted on X.
I’ve been a salesmen in some fashion my entire life.
Trump is a salesman, not the best, not the smartest… but that has always been his game. He’s selling the idea of himself and he sold it to nearly half the population of the country.
The idea… of who he is… trump…
No one can walk in and take a shred of that power. Not even his kids with the trump name.
He sold the idea of himself and that’s what people bought. They aren’t going to say “and now jd Vance!”
I have no doubt maga will rally behind another but I don’t think anyone can predict who. And it will just be what’s left of the die hard cultist not the Republican Party itself.
The power dissolves when trump goes away.
They support him. That’s the product they bought.
100%, they are trying soooo very hard to find bottled lightning again for a repackaging, but Trump’s actual political capital, the base of armed nationalists, they hate politicians. They hate “fake” people.
And you can say what you want about Trump’s honesty, but he’s not “fake.” He’s genuinely a despicable, deplorable old sack of hate, and people, particularly dumb ones, are so desperate for something “real” that he makes them feel good. They are not going to get people to feel good about some career schlub like Vance or anyone else.
Honestly, the only person who had a remote chance of rallying the right back under one war-banner was Charlie Kirk, the right was grooming the fuuuuck out of him to be the next huge media darling, and he actually could have led a sizeable contingent of the midwest christian whites who are scared of anything with seasoning.
Anyone can be sucked into a cult.
Racism is a sign low intelligence.
Intelligent people can be tricked and walked down a road into crazy.
I’ve tried to save so of my friends from q- anon. “You want adrenichrome? I can buy it for you online right now, ship it to your door! No one is harvesting children for it, it’s widely available and doesn’t make you immortal!!!”
I’ve seen smart people devolve. That’s the real shame. Stupid people do stupid things. Trump made a lot of smart people stupid as well. Which isn’t good for anyone.
We’re an emotionally driven species that feels first, and thinks second, and those thoughts are just made up on the spot to explain the feeling.
This is a wildly vulnerable system that people have been exploiting for as long as we’ve had language, and it’s about to get so, so, SO much worse with things like mass surveillance and AI.
I have a very close family member, my last living family member, who fell down the Qanon/conspiracy pipeline hard, lost everything when people started panicking about Covid. Was real smart otherwise but now basically has nothing after predictably getting arrested for weapons charges and endangering minors and spending a year in prison and now lives in a halfway house making nutso videos that youtube won’t even publish. I cannot explain why some people fall so hard and deep and just lose all sense of logic and reason, and these are the people I am most afraid of, because I have no idea how many of them are around us, just barely holding it together.
There’s a good documentary called “the brainwashing of my father” or something like that. It’s very good.
You tapped into things I’ve thought about a lot. Being a salesman, being interested in cults and history (shout out to behind the bastards)
We a rationalizing machines not thinking machines. We have a hunch instantaneously and tend to fight to protect that hunch even when proven wrong. It’s a real problem.
My father went from making videos about the homeless needing help to “a million immigrants a day cross the boarder!!!”
It was tragic to see him fall. He died a a couple years ago. I rember him as the good man he used to be.
It’ll be whoever they put in front of them. They have controlling his base down to a science. Whoever Fox and OANN tells them to vote for. They’s say that whoever the competition is wants to take their houses, eat their food and educate their kids and they will never question any of it.
It’s not that easy.
First trump isn’t going to support anyone who comes after, he’s too selfish.
So the party will be picking alone without his support.
The thing is big money might run things if they could “just pick someone” they would’ve done this decades ago.
Again I refuse to compliment trump. He was a mediocre salesman and he “scratched an itch” enough people had. You can’t just throw a dart and replace him with who it hits.
People won’t buy that product.
I think a big part of it is he’s all their worst selves including being an absolute dupe. You get other politicians who are as vicious or shameless, but they feel like politicians. They were cutthroat climbers or people selling out to him. And they all kiss the ring. He would never kiss the ring but he’s just as brainwashed by the propaganda machine as they are. He’s just as obsessed with himself as they are.
Honestly the only one I’ve seen as virtueless as him is Erika Kirk
Tag this one, i’d be more than happy to eat crow after the next election. Things aren’t going to go down they way the did in ‘precedented’ times.
If I’m wrong crows probally going to be all us peasants can eat. If I’m right I’ll hug you not expect you to eat crow.
I hope I’m not just being optimistic but I do believe I am right.