Trump 45

[fraurosena]

Trump is screaming his socialist plan, y'all. 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Isn't this the truth?

 

[GreyhoundFan]

There are so many lies on which he could choke:

 

[WiseGirl]

Anyone else's skin crawl when you hear 45's voice? Just me? To protect myself when the voice comes on I am often yelling "you fucking liar" repeatedly.  

[smittykins]

I wish I could overdub Stephen Colbert’s version instead.

[SassyPants]

1 hour ago, WiseGirl said:

Anyone else's skin crawl when you hear 45's voice? Just me? To protect myself when the voice comes on I am often yelling "you fucking liar" repeatedly.  

At Sassy Pant’s house, when Trump talks and his voice is heard, the TV or radio is automatically muted. 

[GreyhoundFan]

54 minutes ago, SassyPants said:

At Sassy Pant’s house, when Trump talks and his voice is heard, the TV or radio is automatically muted. 

I wish I were a better application developer, I'd develop an app for smart TVs to mute the sound whenever Twitler, Faux, or any moronic Rs are speaking. I bet it would sell well.

[fraurosena]

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"Trump embarks on expansive search for disloyalty as administration-wide purge escalates"

Spoiler

President Trump has instructed his White House to identify and force out officials across his administration who are not seen as sufficiently loyal, a post-impeachment escalation that administration officials say reflects a new phase of a campaign of retribution and restructuring ahead of the November election.

Johnny McEntee, Trump’s former personal aide who now leads the effort as director of presidential personnel, has begun combing through various agencies with a mandate from the president to oust or sideline political appointees who have not proved their loyalty, according to several administration officials and others familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

The push comes in the aftermath of an impeachment process in which several members of Trump’s administration provided damning testimony about his behavior with regard to Ukraine. The stream of officials publicly criticizing Trump’s actions frustrated the president and caused him to fixate on cleaning house after his acquittal this month.

“We want bad people out of our government!” Trump tweeted Feb. 13, kicking off a tumultuous stretch of firings, resignations, controversial appointments and private skirmishes that have since spilled into public view.

The National Security Council, the State Department and the Justice Department are targets of particular focus, according to two administration officials, and there have recently been multiple resignations and reassignments at each of those agencies.

John C. Rood, the official in charge of Defense Department policy who had certified that Ukraine had met anti-corruption obligations, was let go this week. Victoria Coates, the deputy national security adviser who was viewed with suspicion by some White House aides, was removed from her post and was moved to an advisory position in the Energy Department.

McEntee spent part of this week asking officials in various Cabinet agencies to provide names of political appointees working in government who are not fully supportive of Trump’s presidency, according to administration officials.

The president instructed McEntee to find people in the administration who aren’t aligned with Trump and “get rid” of them, according to someone familiar with the president’s directive. Trump did not provide additional specificity on what exactly he wanted beyond a workforce that more fully reflects his instincts, the person said, and it is unclear what criteria are being used to determine an official’s fealty to the president. McEntee’s discussions with Cabinet agencies were first reported by Axios.

The 29-year-old former campaign aide is planning to prepare a presentation for Trump about what he has found. While Sean Doocey, the former director of presidential personnel, reported to acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney’s deputy, McEntee reports directly to the president, according to a senior administration official.

What began as a campaign of retribution against officials who participated in the impeachment process has evolved into a full-scale effort to create an administration more fully in sync with Trump’s id and agenda, according to several officials familiar with the plan. It is unclear whether civil servants will be targeted as well, but it would be harder to dislodge them than removing political appointees. Civil servants, however, could be sidelined in other ways.

As he became the third president in American history to be impeached, Trump seethed against his own appointees who defied White House lawyers to comply with congressional subpoenas and testify about his conduct. The process clarified for Trump and his top advisers that they had not focused enough on personnel in the early part of the presidency, creating a loyalty deficiency the president is moving quickly to correct, officials said.

The burgeoning effort was reflected in Trump’s decision this week to appoint Richard Grenell as the next acting director of national intelligence, placing a fiercely loyal but inexperienced ally atop an intelligence structure against which the president has frequently railed.

Mulvaney used a speech this week at the Oxford Union in Britain to inveigh against the “deep state,” and he lamented that the administration could not fire more agency employees who do not implement the president’s orders. He referred to some of testimony of the witnesses who participated in Trump’s impeachment inquiry.

Bureaucrats who want to make policy instead of implementing it “should put their name on the effing ballot and run” for office, he said during remarks to a group of several hundred people, according to audio of a speech obtained by The Washington Post.

Trump’s family members have been among the main champions of the effort to force out officials who have not proved their devotion to Trump.

Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and a senior adviser in the White House, has played a central in the push, concentrating more power in the West Wing and working to combat leaks, officials said.

Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. wrote on Twitter that the impeachment investigation was helpful in “unearthing who all needed to be fired.”

Cliff Sims, a former White House adviser who wrote a book titled “Team of Vipers,” about his time in the White House, has said Trump’s presidency has been repeatedly undermined by disloyal underlings.

“Loyalist shouldn’t be a dirty word,” he said. “Loyalty to the duly elected president and his agenda is exactly what we should expect from our unelected appointees.”

Brendan Buck, a longtime adviser to former House speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), said that while Trump is entitled to have political appointees who support his agenda, the purity tests could make it difficult to find qualified people.

“If they also insist on hiring only people who’ve never taken issue with something the president has done, it’s going to be slim pickings,” he said.

Trump selected Grenell, the ambassador to Germany, to lead the intelligence community in place of Joseph Maguire after becoming angry last week when he learned that a U.S. intelligence official had told lawmakers that Russia wants to see him reelected, according to people familiar with the matter.

Grenell has moved quickly to concentrate power within the intelligence agencies. Maguire’s deputy, Andrew P. Hallman, resigned Friday. Grenell hired Kash Patel, a National Security Council aide who has worked in the past to cast doubt on the FBI’s investigation into Russian election interference. Grenell has requested access to information from the C.I.A. and other intelligence agencies, the New York Times reported, citing two people familiar with the matter.

The moves reflect the skeptical view the president has had of the intelligence community after his campaign’s links to Russia were investigated and several of his associates were prosecuted.

The anger extends beyond the intelligence agencies, and Trump has also called for law enforcement officials who investigated his campaign to be investigated or prosecuted. Even some Trump allies are feeling heat over not being aggressive enough about taking on the president’s perceived enemies.

At a donor roundtable Tuesday at the Montage Hotel in Los Angeles, one participant pointedly questioned Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) on why he was not holding accountable people who were responsible for the Russia investigation.

“I see you on Fox News every night, and then you do nothing about it. What are you going to do about it?” the donor asked, according to an attendee.

“What a fantastic question!” Trump said.

Meanwhile, administration officials are conducting a search for the “Anonymous” author of a tell-all book about Trump titled “A Warning,” according to White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, who told CNN on Friday that the search had become a “vocation with everybody.”

McEntee, who lost his job in 2018 over concerns about his online gambling, has long expressed an interest in the personnel office despite having no previous government experience, two administration officials said. Within the West Wing, he is seen as fiercely devoted to the president and is well liked by first lady Melania Trump, the officials said.

Some within the White House have bristled at his lack of experience and aggressive approach to ferreting out “Never Trumpers.”

McEntee “does not have the relevant experience to do this job, unless the job is to purge Never Trumpers and reward loyalists,” one official said.

Another senior administration official countered that McEntee was talented and up to the task, with the key qualification of having the president’s confidence.

As he gears up for the reelection contest, Trump has moved to surround himself with longtime allies who have proved their devotion to him while pushing away those who have not earned his trust.

This month, Trump rehired Hope Hicks, one of his longest-serving aides and closest confidants.

During a podcast interview last week, Trump concurred when Fox News analyst Geraldo Rivera described the White House as “a nest of vipers and snitches and backstabbers and rats”

“I inherited a place with, you know, many different administrations, and they worked there for years and were civil service and with unions and all of it,” he said on Rivera’s “Roadkill” podcast. “You can’t do what you’d like to do.”

 

[GreyhoundFan]

We get to pay for Twitler to go to India for a huge pep rally. "Trump’s India trip mixes politics with policy, and offers the promise of his biggest rally yet"

Spoiler

“Namaste Trump.”

No, the president has not suddenly discovered the meditative glow of a good yoga session. He has, however, discovered the energizing power of a good political rally, Indian-style.

President Trump will almost certainly not complete a new U.S.-India trade deal during his two-day visit to the world’s most populous democracy next week. The trophy agreement has been repeatedly postponed amid trade tensions.

Instead, the centerpiece of Trump’s brief trip is a massive rally in Trump’s honor that his host, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has billed as “Namaste Trump.” The greeting loosely translates from Sanskrit as, “I bow to you,” which may appeal to Trump as much as the idea that the gathering Monday in Ahmedabad is expected to fill, or nearly fill, the world’s largest cricket stadium.

Never mind that the projected stadium capacity is perhaps 120,000, not “millions,” as Trump has exclaimed, and that it seems a stretch to estimate that a crowd approaching the population of New York City will line the streets for his arrival.

“We’re not treated very well by India, but I happen to like Prime Minister Modi a lot,” Trump said Tuesday, when asked about the dwindling likelihood that the trade pact would be ready. “And he told me we’ll have seven million people between the airport and the event. And the stadium, I understand, is sort of semi under construction, but it’s going to be the largest stadium in the world. So it’s going to be very exciting.”

By the time an ebullient Trump spoke at a “Keep America Great Again” rally in Colorado on Thursday, the promised crowd had grown.

“I hear they are going to have 10 million people,” he said.

The population of Ahmedabad, the largest city in Modi’s home state of Gujarat, is roughly 5.5 million. In Trump’s defense, the scale of a country with 1.3 billion people can be hard to fathom.

Whatever the numbers, Trump will draw a crowd that may be his largest ever. In addition to bragging rights, he hopes that popularity abroad can translate to votes back home. Although the Indian American diaspora of roughly 2.4 million people tends to vote Democratic, Trump has argued that his pro-business agenda and entrepreneurial background should be a draw.

“I am a big fan of Hindu and a big fan of India,” Trump said at a 2016 campaign rally in New Jersey that was partly sponsored by the pro-business Republican Hindu Coalition.

Karthick Ramakrishnan, a professor of public policy and political science at the University of California at Riverside, directs the National Asian American Survey. He said that Indian Americans have been among the most liberal subset of Asian American voters.

“The Democratic Party had a lot more credibility as being seen as the party of anti-discrimination, more welcoming to immigrants, to Indian Americans,” Ramakrishnan said. “That’s made it very challenging, even before Trump, in terms of making inroads with the Indian American community.”

Ramakrishnan said he does not discount the value of symbolic events such as Trump’s participation in a huge rally in Houston for the visiting Modi last fall, or the larger lovefest Modi has promised to Trump in India. But he said the effect on voters is likely to be slight.

“Whatever charm offensive that Trump engages in, it’s going to have limited impact, just given the accumulated weight of other factors that have played out over time,” he said.

Against the appeal of Trump’s naming of Indian Americans to prominent government positions — such as Nikki Haley to the post of U.S. ambassador to the United Nations — voters of Indian extraction will weigh “statements that have ranged from racially insensitive to outright racist” as well as an end to a visa program that benefited some Indian families, Ramakrishnan said.

Many Indian Americans live in the solidly blue states of California and New York, but there are also significant voting populations in Texas, Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia, all states Trump thinks he can win this year, as well as wealthy potential donors in states that won’t go for Trump.

Richard Rossow, an India scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the outreach effort may be worthwhile “if the Trump administration feels they can tap into that vein, as they did in the major engagement in Houston, as they’re doing with the big rally and the bonhomie that they’re trying to develop and rapport with Prime Minister Modi.”

Trump’s affinity for Modi underlies the striking decision for a homebody president seeking reelection to travel halfway around the globe for a largely ceremonial social call.

Modi is a Hindu nationalist with whom Trump shares a nativist governing philosophy and a flair for showmanship. It doesn’t hurt that Modi has also shown a knack for pushing his own nation’s agenda while stroking the U.S. leader’s ego.

“His name is familiar to every person on the planet,” Modi said as he introduced Trump in Houston last year.

Trump appeared to have a delightful time in the unaccustomed role of second fiddle, marveling at the visiting Indian leader’s popularity with Indian Americans, including many who had traveled long distances. He likened Modi to Elvis Presley, and the two leaders held hands.

Trump apparently took note when Modi flattered him with assurances that he is popular among Indians in India.

Trump is more popular in India than he is in many other nations, including traditional allies such as Germany and Britain. And whereas popular opinion of Trump has declined in many quarters overseas since he took office, he has roughly quadrupled his support in India since 2016, according to the Pew Research Center. About 56 percent of Indians have a positive view of Trump now, Pew’s survey found. Supporters of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party were more likely to hold a favorable view of Trump.

British protesters flew a mocking “Baby Trump” balloon in London, and crowds raised middle fingers to Trump’s passing motorcade during the president’s elaborate state visit to Britain last year.

The U.S.-India relationship has grown more important and more stable over the past decade, and the potential for widening trade, military and tourism ties appeals to Trump’s business sensibilities. The Trump Organization has real estate holdings in the country, and Trump will hold an event in New Delhi aimed at drumming up business for U.S. firms.

Friction over India’s purchase of a Russian-made missile shield system hangs over Trump’s visit, atop frustration on both sides that months of fitful discussions failed to produce a final trade pact. The two countries had hoped to have the pact completed for Modi’s U.S. visit last September.

Trump told crowds last week that he wants to have a heart-to-heart with Modi over tariffs and a trade imbalance, and he hinted at a trade announcement, if not the full deal he had confidently predicted was at hand months ago. He suggested to reporters Tuesday that the full agreement might not come until after the U.S. presidential election.

“We got to talk a little business. They’ve been hitting us hard. They give us tariffs — one of the highest in the world is India,” Trump said in Colorado.

The U.S. trade deficit with India reached $24.1 billion last year, according to statistics compiled by S&P Global. U.S. exports to India are rising, but the growth in Indian exports to the United States was nearly double the growth of U.S. exports to India last year.

Trump will be the fourth consecutive U.S. president to visit India, a major Asian economic power that is a regional counterweight to China. India is also a potent military power, and Trump is likely to try to close two significant arms deals while he is in New Delhi, said Jeff Smith, a South Asia research fellow at the Heritage Foundation. He will also point to a growth in energy cooperation, Smith said.

“I actually think this administration has quite a bit to celebrate in terms of adding the building blocks” of the two countries’ economic and strategic relationship, Smith said.

Trump administration officials who outlined the 36-hour trip for reporters Friday said Trump will address alleged human rights abuses in Kashmir and U.S. concerns that Modi is discriminating against non-Hindus. Analysts have predicted that any real criticism on those issues would be delivered in private.

“President Trump will talk about our shared tradition of democracy and freedom of religion in his public remarks and certainly in private,” one official said. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record.

A light presidential touch on human rights has worried some on Capitol Hill.

Four senators, two Republicans and two Democrats, sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this month requesting an assessment of the human rights situation in Kashmir and of the rights of religious minorities in India.

“We write as longtime friends of India regarding some of the troubling actions taken by the current government,” wrote Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.); Todd C. Young (R-Ind.), Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) and Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.)

“India has now imposed the longest-ever Internet shut down by a democracy, disrupting access to medical care, business, and education for seven million people. Hundreds of Kashmiris remain in ‘preventive detention,’ including key political figures,” the senators wrote.

In an interview, Van Hollen said the senators had not yet received a response. If Trump fails to take a firm stand against Modi’s policies, the silence can be read as acquiescence, Van Hollen warned.

“When you look at the president’s foreign policy generally, he’s been AWOL on human rights issues. Obviously when you look at human rights issues more broadly, he’s a very imperfect messenger, given that he’s stoked religious and ethnic divisions here at home,” Van Hollen said.

Young said that shared priorities on countering China do not give India a pass on other issues of importance to the United States.

“Recent events have raised a number of concerning issues, most notably being the crackdown in Kashmir and the growing trend of Hindu Nationalism in India’s political system,” Young said in a statement to The Washington Post. “As the President visits India, I hope he will deliver a message rooted in our values and that India’s leadership will stand up to defend the basic freedoms and human rights for all.”

The trip may be Trump’s last trip abroad before the presidential election this year that isn’t associated with a meeting of international leaders, Smith and others said. Trump intends to travel heavily within the United States as he campaigns for himself and Republicans.

As he does, Trump may be wistful about his India whirlwind.

“Prime Minister Modi said we will have 10 million people greet you. Here’s my problem,” Trump told what he said was a “packed house” and overflow crowd in Colorado.

“It’s going to look like peanuts from now on,” he said, to laughter.

“I’ll never be satisfied with the crowd if we have 10 million people in India. How can they be satisfied if we fill up like a 60,000 seat stadium? Big deal. See, I’m getting spoiled.”

 

[thoughtful]

On 2/21/2020 at 11:27 AM, fraurosena said:

"But you know what, you know what I'd have? I'd have about three people in the front row." He says this directly after the previous sentence I quoted, almost in the same breath. I have no idea what he's trying to say. 

I think he may have meant that, if he was "presidential," he'd only have a few people at his rallies.

It's all about show business and being The Most Popular Boy, to him.

[WiseGirl]

Why is he in India anyway? For a rally? How much were people paid to attend? I know my sister-in-law would love to be part if that rally (*/sarcasm) you know as more and more of her job is being outsourced to India. Fuck him.

[GreyhoundFan]

"India rolls out the MAGA carpet for Trump"

Spoiler

AHMEDABAD, India — There were women in glitzy Indian garb dancing, Bollywood stars singing and an eclectic mix of music blaring in time to flashing lights.

And when President Donald Trump finally appeared on stage at the world’s largest cricket stadium, the sun-soaked crowd burst into a deafening, rapturous applause.

It was exactly the scene the TV star-turned president wanted.

“Namaste Trump!” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shouted to the crowd, which repeated it back to a beaming Trump.

Standing alongside Modi, Trump on Monday inaugurated the brand-new Motera Stadium, lined with 110,000 orange, yellow and blue seats — all filled. Trump is ostensibly in India to help mitigate a long-standing trade dispute while tightening U.S.-Indian relations, but Monday's mega-rally was also designed to appeal to Indian-American voters as Trump heads into his reelection campaign.

“The First Lady and I have just traveled 8,000 miles around the globe to deliver a message to every citizen across this nation: America loves India — America respects India — and Americans will always be true and loyal friends to the Indian people,” Trump said in a speech that was translated into Hindi on a large video screen in the stadium, which sits along the Sabarmati River in Modi's home state of Gujarat.

It was a political-style rally like no other. Even Trump’s popular MAGA rallies couldn’t compare to the size and scope of the “Namaste Trump” rally.

Attendees, some wearing matching shirts from schools, companies or groups and others visiting from the United States, gradually streamed into the heavily secured stadium starting at 8 a.m., hours ahead of the rally’s start time. Traditional, folk and patriotic songs blasted from the loudspeakers, keeping things upbeat under the unrelenting sun. A pair of jumbo video screens showed Trump’s motorcade moving through the city.

Nearly everyone was wearing white baseball caps provided by organizers that featured a Namaste Trump logo across the front and both countries' flags on the brim. Even if the crowd started streaming out before the speeches were over because of the intense heat, the stadium was consistently filled with adulation for the U.S. president.

“Trump is my favorite,” gushed Gautam Patel, wearing a “Trump, Make India Great Again” baseball cap. “I like Trump. He’s straightforward, outspoken. … He’s got the verbal diarrhea but that’s okay. … He tells how it is. I love him.”

Patel, a businessman who grew up in India but now lives outside Chicago and planned his vacation to India around the rally, said he supports Trump because he helped push through the 2017 tax cuts and his opposition to illegal immigration. “I elected him and I will elect him again,” he said.

The event was more than twice the size of the “Howdy Modi” rally both leaders headlined in 2019 at a cavernous football stadium in Houston, billed as the largest event in the U.S. for a leader of a foreign nation.

“My friends, my family, maybe every Patel likes Trump,” quipped Suresh Patel, 67, who splits his time between Jersey City, N.J., and Anand, India. A green card holder, he isn’t able to vote but his wife and three adult children are all U.S. citizens and voted for Trump.

“I’m feeling proud,” he said in Hindi. “It’s the meeting of the world’s oldest democrat and the world’s biggest democracy.”

Hundreds of police officers in beige uniforms and black berets surrounded the stadium. Construction materials from the newly built stadium sat in piles outside. Near the VIP entrance was a huge sign that read “Welcome to India Donald and Melania Trump.”

As Trump’s motorcade slowly made its way to the stadium, the Indian music gave way to Trump’s rally playlist, including “Macho Man” and “Tiny Dancer.”

“People over here think he’s very powerful,” said Rashi Sharma, 20, a college student from Ahmedabad studying marketing and entrepreneurship. “I’ve always heard of him. He’s a strong leader. I’m following him on Twitter.” She said “watching him live and listening to his speech is an honor for us.”

At times, it felt a little like one of Trump’s MAGA rallies in the U.S. Some attendees went out of their way to criticize journalists, blast the mainstream media and praise Fox News. Trump and Modi even exited the stage to The Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” Trump’s closing song at rallies since his 2016 campaign.

“We are registered Democrats but we have changed our views lately,” said Daksha Dalal, 66, a federal government retiree from Kansas City, Kan., who was spending the winter in India and attending the rally with her husband. The couple volunteered they used to watch CNN but switched to Fox News after a “negative” report on Modi. “We thought we could never watch Fox because we are Democrats.”

By the time the two leaders arrived after 2 p.m. local time, temperatures had soared and attendees were desperately fanning themselves with anything they could find. In their speeches, Trump and Modi, who both rode to office on a wave of populist rhetoric, heaped praise on one another in their speeches.

"Trump's visit is a new chapter in the relationship between the U.S. and India, a chapter that will document the progress and prosperity of Americans and Indians," Modi said in Hindi.

Trump talked about the economy — his usual topic — but this time he spoke about India’s economy. And he mentioned a landslide election — another usual topic — but this time he was describing Modi’s 2019 victory and ascendance from humble roots as a tea seller’s son.

“You are proof that Indians can accomplish at all, anything they want,” he said in his 27-minute remarks in which he mispronounced several Indian names and cities but name-checked well-known cricket players and Bollywood stars.

Modi began his political career in Gujarat, where he served as chief minister. As prime minister, he has enjoyed widespread popularity at home, though his reputation has taken a hit recently over over a new citizenship law that favors all religions over Islam. The move has sparked widespread protests around the country.

In his speech, Trump notably praised all religions.

Before appearing at the rally, Trump made a stop at the Sabarmati Ashram, the humble home where Mahatma Gandhi lived for a dozen years as he helped push India to gain independence from Britain. At one point, Modi could be seen explaining to Trump how to use a charkha, a traditional spinning wheel used by Gandhi. A makeshift VIP building had been hastily constructed for Trump and Modi in recent days, and the White House had been quiet about the visit ahead of time.

Another 100,000 people, largely hand-picked, spent hours in the sun waiting to wave small U.S. and Indian flags and cheer as the presidential motorcade drove passed. Some waved or gave a thumbs up. Along the route, artists from all 28 states performed at pop-up stages.

The leaders of China, Japan and Israel have all visited Ahmedabad since Modi became prime minister. But Trump is the first U.S. president and most high-profile visitor to date — even if he’s staying for less than two days.

Ahmedabad, a largely industrial city that bills itself as the land of Gandhi, features large swaths of crowded, low-income neighborhoods and more than its share of litter and cows roaming the streets. It has been furiously preparing for Trump’s visit for days — sprucing up the city, repairing roads, erecting flags and building a wall to hide a poor area along the route of the presidential motorcade.

Hundreds of signs — some in English, some in Hindi — have popped up, featuring photos of Trump and Modi with phrases that read “two dynamic personalities, one momentous occasion,” “the world’s largest democracy meets the world’s oldest democracy” and “a historic milestone for a historic friendship.”

The signs lined the lighted bridge across the Sabarmati River, where larger-than-life photos of Trump and Modi were also erected — Trump in his trademark dark suit tie, flashing a thumbs up.

Before Trump left Washington, he spoke about the crowds he expected to see in India, telling reporters that Modi promised him five to seven million people would line the streets between the airport and stadium. By Thursday, in Trump’s recalling of his conversation with Modi, the number had ballooned to 10 million.

It’s not unusual for the former reality TV star to be ever mindful of the optics. He often boasts about the size of his audiences and mocks his opponents, Republicans or Democrats, for what he deems lackluster support at events.

But in the days before Trump’s arrival, Ahmedabad officials announced 100,000 Indians had been selected and registered to stand along the motorcade route. While it was nowhere close to the 10 million people the president had predicted, the crowds were undoubtedly enthusiastic.

Trump posted on Twitter Saturday that he was looking "so forward to being with my great friends in INDIA!” while retweeting a clip from the popular movie Baahubali showing himself as the lead character and savior, riding on a chariot with the first lady.

He will leave for the capital city of New Delhi Monday night after first taking a detour for a private tour of the Taj Mahal.

I didn't realize that "Macho Man" is on Twitler's klan rallys' playlists. I couldn't roll my eyes any more.

[GreyhoundFan]

 

[Alisamer]

7 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

"India rolls out the MAGA carpet for Trump"

  Hide contents

AHMEDABAD, India — There were women in glitzy Indian garb dancing, Bollywood stars singing and an eclectic mix of music blaring in time to flashing lights.

And when President Donald Trump finally appeared on stage at the world’s largest cricket stadium, the sun-soaked crowd burst into a deafening, rapturous applause.

It was exactly the scene the TV star-turned president wanted.

“Namaste Trump!” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shouted to the crowd, which repeated it back to a beaming Trump.

Standing alongside Modi, Trump on Monday inaugurated the brand-new Motera Stadium, lined with 110,000 orange, yellow and blue seats — all filled. Trump is ostensibly in India to help mitigate a long-standing trade dispute while tightening U.S.-Indian relations, but Monday's mega-rally was also designed to appeal to Indian-American voters as Trump heads into his reelection campaign.

“The First Lady and I have just traveled 8,000 miles around the globe to deliver a message to every citizen across this nation: America loves India — America respects India — and Americans will always be true and loyal friends to the Indian people,” Trump said in a speech that was translated into Hindi on a large video screen in the stadium, which sits along the Sabarmati River in Modi's home state of Gujarat.

It was a political-style rally like no other. Even Trump’s popular MAGA rallies couldn’t compare to the size and scope of the “Namaste Trump” rally.

Attendees, some wearing matching shirts from schools, companies or groups and others visiting from the United States, gradually streamed into the heavily secured stadium starting at 8 a.m., hours ahead of the rally’s start time. Traditional, folk and patriotic songs blasted from the loudspeakers, keeping things upbeat under the unrelenting sun. A pair of jumbo video screens showed Trump’s motorcade moving through the city.

Nearly everyone was wearing white baseball caps provided by organizers that featured a Namaste Trump logo across the front and both countries' flags on the brim. Even if the crowd started streaming out before the speeches were over because of the intense heat, the stadium was consistently filled with adulation for the U.S. president.

“Trump is my favorite,” gushed Gautam Patel, wearing a “Trump, Make India Great Again” baseball cap. “I like Trump. He’s straightforward, outspoken. … He’s got the verbal diarrhea but that’s okay. … He tells how it is. I love him.”

Patel, a businessman who grew up in India but now lives outside Chicago and planned his vacation to India around the rally, said he supports Trump because he helped push through the 2017 tax cuts and his opposition to illegal immigration. “I elected him and I will elect him again,” he said.

The event was more than twice the size of the “Howdy Modi” rally both leaders headlined in 2019 at a cavernous football stadium in Houston, billed as the largest event in the U.S. for a leader of a foreign nation.

“My friends, my family, maybe every Patel likes Trump,” quipped Suresh Patel, 67, who splits his time between Jersey City, N.J., and Anand, India. A green card holder, he isn’t able to vote but his wife and three adult children are all U.S. citizens and voted for Trump.

“I’m feeling proud,” he said in Hindi. “It’s the meeting of the world’s oldest democrat and the world’s biggest democracy.”

Hundreds of police officers in beige uniforms and black berets surrounded the stadium. Construction materials from the newly built stadium sat in piles outside. Near the VIP entrance was a huge sign that read “Welcome to India Donald and Melania Trump.”

As Trump’s motorcade slowly made its way to the stadium, the Indian music gave way to Trump’s rally playlist, including “Macho Man” and “Tiny Dancer.”

“People over here think he’s very powerful,” said Rashi Sharma, 20, a college student from Ahmedabad studying marketing and entrepreneurship. “I’ve always heard of him. He’s a strong leader. I’m following him on Twitter.” She said “watching him live and listening to his speech is an honor for us.”

At times, it felt a little like one of Trump’s MAGA rallies in the U.S. Some attendees went out of their way to criticize journalists, blast the mainstream media and praise Fox News. Trump and Modi even exited the stage to The Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” Trump’s closing song at rallies since his 2016 campaign.

“We are registered Democrats but we have changed our views lately,” said Daksha Dalal, 66, a federal government retiree from Kansas City, Kan., who was spending the winter in India and attending the rally with her husband. The couple volunteered they used to watch CNN but switched to Fox News after a “negative” report on Modi. “We thought we could never watch Fox because we are Democrats.”

By the time the two leaders arrived after 2 p.m. local time, temperatures had soared and attendees were desperately fanning themselves with anything they could find. In their speeches, Trump and Modi, who both rode to office on a wave of populist rhetoric, heaped praise on one another in their speeches.

"Trump's visit is a new chapter in the relationship between the U.S. and India, a chapter that will document the progress and prosperity of Americans and Indians," Modi said in Hindi.

Trump talked about the economy — his usual topic — but this time he spoke about India’s economy. And he mentioned a landslide election — another usual topic — but this time he was describing Modi’s 2019 victory and ascendance from humble roots as a tea seller’s son.

“You are proof that Indians can accomplish at all, anything they want,” he said in his 27-minute remarks in which he mispronounced several Indian names and cities but name-checked well-known cricket players and Bollywood stars.

Modi began his political career in Gujarat, where he served as chief minister. As prime minister, he has enjoyed widespread popularity at home, though his reputation has taken a hit recently over over a new citizenship law that favors all religions over Islam. The move has sparked widespread protests around the country.

In his speech, Trump notably praised all religions.

Before appearing at the rally, Trump made a stop at the Sabarmati Ashram, the humble home where Mahatma Gandhi lived for a dozen years as he helped push India to gain independence from Britain. At one point, Modi could be seen explaining to Trump how to use a charkha, a traditional spinning wheel used by Gandhi. A makeshift VIP building had been hastily constructed for Trump and Modi in recent days, and the White House had been quiet about the visit ahead of time.

Another 100,000 people, largely hand-picked, spent hours in the sun waiting to wave small U.S. and Indian flags and cheer as the presidential motorcade drove passed. Some waved or gave a thumbs up. Along the route, artists from all 28 states performed at pop-up stages.

The leaders of China, Japan and Israel have all visited Ahmedabad since Modi became prime minister. But Trump is the first U.S. president and most high-profile visitor to date — even if he’s staying for less than two days.

Ahmedabad, a largely industrial city that bills itself as the land of Gandhi, features large swaths of crowded, low-income neighborhoods and more than its share of litter and cows roaming the streets. It has been furiously preparing for Trump’s visit for days — sprucing up the city, repairing roads, erecting flags and building a wall to hide a poor area along the route of the presidential motorcade.

Hundreds of signs — some in English, some in Hindi — have popped up, featuring photos of Trump and Modi with phrases that read “two dynamic personalities, one momentous occasion,” “the world’s largest democracy meets the world’s oldest democracy” and “a historic milestone for a historic friendship.”

The signs lined the lighted bridge across the Sabarmati River, where larger-than-life photos of Trump and Modi were also erected — Trump in his trademark dark suit tie, flashing a thumbs up.

Before Trump left Washington, he spoke about the crowds he expected to see in India, telling reporters that Modi promised him five to seven million people would line the streets between the airport and stadium. By Thursday, in Trump’s recalling of his conversation with Modi, the number had ballooned to 10 million.

It’s not unusual for the former reality TV star to be ever mindful of the optics. He often boasts about the size of his audiences and mocks his opponents, Republicans or Democrats, for what he deems lackluster support at events.

But in the days before Trump’s arrival, Ahmedabad officials announced 100,000 Indians had been selected and registered to stand along the motorcade route. While it was nowhere close to the 10 million people the president had predicted, the crowds were undoubtedly enthusiastic.

Trump posted on Twitter Saturday that he was looking "so forward to being with my great friends in INDIA!” while retweeting a clip from the popular movie Baahubali showing himself as the lead character and savior, riding on a chariot with the first lady.

He will leave for the capital city of New Delhi Monday night after first taking a detour for a private tour of the Taj Mahal.

I didn't realize that "Macho Man" is on Twitler's klan rallys' playlists. I couldn't roll my eyes any more.

"Macho Man" and "Tiny Dancer"? Whoever is making his playlist is either intensely clueless or trolling him.

[GreyhoundFan]

56 minutes ago, Alisamer said:

"Macho Man" and "Tiny Dancer"? Whoever is making his playlist is either intensely clueless or trolling him.

It reminds me of this fabulous John Oliver piece. The first 90 seconds are exceptional:

 

[JMarie]

https://www.inquirer.com/politics/clout/rick-santorum-paul-pogue-donald-trump-pardon-20200218.html

Quote

Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum helped secure a pardon Tuesday for a member of his national finance committee from his 2016 presidential campaign.

President Donald Trump issued a full pardon to Paul Pogue, a construction company owner from McKinney, Texas, who pleaded guilty in 2010 to filing false tax returns.

Pogue underpaid his taxes by 10% for three years, according to the White House, and was sentenced to three years of probation, a $250,000 fine, and $473,604 in restitution.

Santorum told Clout he mentioned Pogue’s case to Trump “in passing” and felt the felony tax charge “sort of stunk.”

“He paid 90% of his taxes,” Santorum said. “It’s not like he didn’t pay taxes. He admitted he didn’t pay it because he thought he was paying too much. So he took a hit for it.”

In 2015, Pogue and his family contributed $11,000 to Santorum’s 2016 campaign.

Pogue’s son, Ben, now runs the family business. Ben Pogue last year contributed $147,442 to the Republican National Committee and $85,000 to Trump Victory, a joint effort of Trump’s reelection campaign and the RNC.

Santorum cited charity work in the United States and other countries done by Pogue and his wife, Judy, echoing reasons listed by the White House for the pardon.

“He’s just one of the most genuine, decent, generous, upright guys that I’ve ever met,” Santorum said. “I don’t think I’ve ever pushed for a pardon for anyone. I generally don’t do that.”

Maybe we should all be paying just 90% of our taxes. And then appeal to Santorum.

[GreyhoundFan]

Gotta stuff money into Dear Leader's pockets:

 

[JMarie]

Yeah, like this will happen.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-says-sotomayor-ginsberg-must-recuse-themselves-cases-related-him-n1142651

Quote

President Donald Trump said two Supreme Court justices appointed by Democratic presidents should recuse themselves, apparently because of a recent dissenting opinion authored by Justice Sonia Sotomayor and years-old remarks Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg made about the president during the 2016 presidential campaign.

"Well, it’s very obvious. I mean, I always thought that frankly, that Justice Ginsberg should do it cause she went wild during the campaign when I was running," Trump said during a news conference in India on Tuesday morning, adding, "she said some things that were obviously very inappropriate, she later sort of apologized, I wouldn’t say it was an apology but she sort of apologized."

"And then Justice Sotomayor said what she said yesterday, you know very well what she said yesterday, it was a big story," Trump said. "And I just don’t know how they cannot recuse themselves to anything having to do with Trump or Trump-related."

He said Sotomayor was seeking "to shame" justices who had a different view into voting her way.

Quote

Trump's call for the judges' recusal comes as Justice Clarence Thomas' wife, Ginni Thomas, has worked to provide Trump with suggestions of whom to fire in his administration, as well as who should replace them. The New York Times reported that since the impeachment trial concluded, Trump has taken a closer look at the recommendations as he seeks to remove those from government he views as disloyal.

 

[WiseGirl]

45's great plan to stop Coronavirus.  Oh wait..

But I do like the idea of keeping him quarantined in India.

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

 

Edited February 26, 2020 by WiseGirl
Add text

[WiseGirl]

Have we crossed the line?

[GreyhoundFan]

Twitler is only worried about the coronavirus epidemic because of the impact to the stock market. His buddies are just as bad:

[GreyhoundFan]

"Caronavirus"?

[Dandruff]

1 hour ago, GreyhoundFan said:

"Caronavirus"?

He's in the Bro Gary category of spelling and general coherence.  Just what we need.

[SassyPants]

An example of the best and brightest he is not!