This should be treated like a national emergency. This man is a former president of the United States. He incited a violent insurrection, a cold civil war, and now he has revealed himself fully. This is not a joke. This should have led the news on every broadcast across America last night. This actually qualifies as real “breaking news.” Every single elected official from town clerk to US senator who has taken an oath has a patriotic, moral and constitutional obligation to rebuke and repudiate this. What do you think?
I agree. It is an all-out declaration of war on the United States Constitution. Trump is a desperate outlaw and needs to be declared as such. He truly needs to be indicted, tried, convicted and imprisoned.
How about the DOJ charges him with treason for that statement alone? How about disqualifying him from running for an office that requires an oath to the Constitution?
I’m a retired City Clerk, serving for many years in that capacity in California. I condemn in the strongest possible terms the declaration by the former President of the United States. He can say it because of the First Amendment to the Constitution which, ironically, protects even this kind of insane speech. But in my view, every Republican, every Democrat, every American should repudiate and condemn him.
This is not protected discussion. It should be criminally investigated as an incitement to violence. Given all of the circumstances of the last three years, posing the directive in the form of a question shouldn't give him any cover.
I absolutely agree, the danger is real - this is Trump calling out to the Proud Boys, and the armed militia nuts. 'Tear up the constitution and install me into power immediately!' Madness. He is terrified of the Justice Department and is utterly desperate. I worry that we will see trouble from his armed followers even before Trump faces indictment for his crimes. If Trump is not denounced loudly from all quarters immediately then we are going to face much much worse than January 6th.
Every time Trump opens his mouth he exposes a dangerous, ugly underbelly of our country who he seeks to incite against the very foundations of our country.
Trump to this day continues to make a mockery of our justice system. And what about our justice system? Any other human being with this much evidence against them would have been charged, jailed, and bail set. And yet Trump continues to be a free man poisoning our well with his vile words from his delusional mind.
Trump and his dime-store lawyers have set a precedent. Criminals can do what they want without impunity if their attorneys set in motion all the tactics we have to stall and drag out legal proceedings.
I wonder if we will ever see justice served only to hear Trump's lawyers have appealed again and again and with frivolous arguments that would have disbarred any other attorney. Anyone harboring this criminal should be held liable and deemed toxic.
I am grateful we have Steve Schmidt, Heather Cox Richardson, Tim Hagan and the others to keep up appraised on the current situation. We must remain vigilant; our US Constitution demands it.
Donald Trump is a clear and present danger to the United States and must be stopped. The best way is through prosecution for the crimes he has committed.
He is either evil sociopath or needs a chapter 55 for psychiatric treatment against his will. I am leaning towards evil sociopath with psychopathic traits. Legal consequences are the only way to keep him from damaging others.
Trump exhibits near total mental derangement, and for the good of the country, the law of the US and our public welfare, Trump should be indicted, prosecuted, convicted and assigned to a maximum security prison.
I think we need boring BBC style delivery like we had when we were kids . " Just the facts" the BBC delivers news in a zombie like style but information is being delivered. Deadpan. The headline should be "Today the former prez is offering false information lets go to the xyz person at cyber election security and prof of political science at xyz university to explain how this is not a factual statement . John over to you in the field...
When I first saw this, I thought: "this guy is delusional". But then, I thought about how thirty percent of the country agrees with him, some will even take up arms for him. THIRTY PERCENT will vote for, follow, and break the law for this man. There are so many parallels to Hitler's rise.
He is driven by his narcissism which will never allow him to accept that he lost. He will do and say anything in his attempt to convince the world that he was cheated out of a victory. He is dangerous beyond words and will take the Republican Party down with him.
I am utterly and completely out of emotion. He has literally, millions of people who support him. They always have and they always will. That monster was thrown out / 86'd / banned from the New York city Brothels because he was a violent and unpredictable predator in the 80s. The. 80s. He has not ever been held accountable for anything, really. I'm just bereft of anything even resembling hope that someone will ever effectively stop him. Love you Steve.
HE needs no more airtime, but the news does need to frame this as where are R electeds? Where is their denunciation? We know who he is. The R 'party' needs to take a stand- and the news media is once again negligent if it doesn't demand answers like a dog with a bone. Follow up until you get an answer on the record.
The headline "FORMER PRESIDENT CALLS FOR TERMINATING THE CONSTITUTION" should be on every front page of every newspaper and on every rolling chyron of every news program in the country.
The fact that it isn't is the most frightening part of the story.
Shhh. His own words are making him radioactive. Don't give him air. Most Americans, even those who voted for him, get what an oozing pusball he is now. He has finally dug the well of his own demise by saying the Constitution should be thrown out. He will play this charade as long as possible. Hopefully, DOJ will have the stones to indict him or leave it to Fani Willis who will surely get the job done. In the end, one gutsy Black woman -- and we know how Trump feels about Black women so it's righteous -- may save us. Fingers crossed. Meanwhile, there is real
I am writing to urge you, actually to demand, that you publicly and categorically denounce Donald Trump’s recent posting on his social network about the 2020 elections and his clear and unambiguous statement that President Biden was not fairly elected and that the election should be redone even if it means casting aside our Constitution. I further request that you urge your caucus to do the same. I am a retired USCG Officer and previously I had obtained your Senatorial endorsement to serve on the New Jersey Armed Forces Council, sharing with you a very nice conversation in your CMCH office. Throughout my life I have been a registered independent but mostly voted Republican. No matter how your party stands on the issues, I will never again cast another Republican vote until your “new” party totally rejects Donald Trump and those like him and clearly rejects his anti-democracy, conspiracy theory laden, MAGA movement. You and I have both taken an oath to Support and Defend our Constitution. If his recent posting isn’t enough to cause you to denounce his statements, I have no idea what would be. Throughout my 26 year military career I took my oath seriously. You must demonstrate the seriousness with which you take that same oath by unequivocally rejecting Donald Trump and clearly telling your constituents that you are doing so.
The only factor which allows me to keep my peace about this blatant xpotus outrage (which is getting plenty of exposure on Twitter) is that I believe it is Evidence. Quite honestly, xpotus is doing a remarkable job of proving he is a raving lunatic.
This is what I think: "This should be treated like a national emergency. This man is a former president of the United States. He incited a violent insurrection, a cold civil war, and now he has revealed himself fully. This is not a joke. This should have led the news on every broadcast across America last night. This actually qualifies as real “breaking news.” Every single elected official from town clerk to US senator who has taken an oath has a patriotic, moral and constitutional obligation to rebuke and repudiate this." I would add also that an investigation of Jared Kushner, his nepotism and that of his wife, and their involvement with foreign interests to influence the United States should be under way. This is a Sunday to meditate upon who are the Americans that divide our nation by destroying all that gives it its representative power, a Constitutional Republic Of the People, By the People, For the People.
No shit Sherlock he needs a jail cell--immediatly. He has played his hand as a continuous seditious conspirator to overturn the Republic's Constitution.
He is a traitor and criminal. That he ever was elected to the sacred office of the Presidency is an outrage and national tragedy. It will get worse as he gets more desperate. You are correct Steve.
We are a nation of laws. This really must be addressed by DOJ, hopefully immediately. If not then it will be clear that our country and constitution are at the mercy of faithless actors. We marched and marched to end the Vietnam war. How much more serious is this?
Is there NOTHING that the Federal Gov't can do when this is clearly a THREAT? Is it that no one with authority can take a stand at this point? Has he not violated enough laws? Even though it is now so apparently threatening, there are too many thoughtful, democracy lovin' citizens that will not stand for he and his thugs to take anything from us ..... believe it and never doubt we are the home of the brave!!
What is your recommended course of action by the Federal, State and local Governments to Trump's tweet? In your ooinion, what should ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox, and MSNBC do besides report that Trump issued the tweet? What should individuals do today to react to Trump's tweet?
IMO the branches of government at all levels should be on alert for any signs that any groups or individuals are taking up arms to attack governmental or other institutions in the media, education or religiously affiliated. I would hope they already are doing so, but many police forces and groups within the armed services are already aligned with Trump, so there also ought to be a thorough examination of these organizations and the Trumpists removed. But... not every Trump follower is an insustectionist and not everyone who likes Trump and reads his tweets supported the January 6th insurrection.
So what the media need to do when they report the tweet is find former Trump followers who have turned away from him for just this kind of tweet, for advocacy of anti-democratic actions. The media need to be part of the solution by advocating for democracy and against fascism. Rachel Maddow's podcast, Ultra, tells the history of how the Nazi's with powerful collaborators in the House, Senate and in State governments tried to take over in the US, but individuals acting on their own, like Lewis in CA, and specific prosecutors like Rogge, and Drew Pearson, in the press, allowed the story to get out.
As individuals we need to hold government and media to account for the above actions. Only dictators say that democracy is the ability to vote. It is not. Democracy only exists where members of the public give up their time to volunteer to be on local boards, be poll watchers, write columns and op-eds for publications, and in general be involved. Democracy looks like Town Meetings. Representative Democracy only works if people are involved. The problem with democracy in America can be seen in the low percentage of people who are involved.
Recognition of this situation led to the Republican Strategy of taking control of politics at local levels. They filled a vacuum. Pro-democracy citizens need to replace those Trumpists who support insurrection.
I don’t expect any strong (or maybe any) negative reaction from GOP leadership. The only reactions will be support from the lunatics like MTG and Jim Jordan.
As A former NY’er I still can’t believe he was elected! But I agree he must be repudiated in the strongest terms, by the media and his party. I have little actual hope that either will happen.
We are going to end up in a civil war, radical right with MAGA against the rest of us. It is the only way this can end. Read your history. Trump and the Trumpicans are following the same play book Hitler did. They started by taking over the education system in Germany, quietly.
I have been ranting about this Orange 🪳 for years...to no avail. I sound crazier than him sometimes. Honestly. The cult that still supports him and the Republican Congress who do not condemn him, scare me more.
I was appalled by his post. If it doesn’t give the entire nation pause, we’re in trouble. He wants to be like North Korea or China. He dreams of being a dictator and having an entire country under his rule…and further punishing those that don’t fall in line. That is the tell. No conspiracy needed.
Perhaps this is an ignorant question, but I'll ask anyway. Is it plausible that the republicans will elect Trump as speaker of the House? If that were to occur, it plausible that President Biden and Vice President Harris will be removed, in one way or another, so that Trump is installed as President again?
I agree. It is an all-out declaration of war on the United States Constitution. Trump is a desperate outlaw and needs to be declared as such. He truly needs to be indicted, tried, convicted and imprisoned.
How about the DOJ charges him with treason for that statement alone? How about disqualifying him from running for an office that requires an oath to the Constitution?
I’m a retired City Clerk, serving for many years in that capacity in California. I condemn in the strongest possible terms the declaration by the former President of the United States. He can say it because of the First Amendment to the Constitution which, ironically, protects even this kind of insane speech. But in my view, every Republican, every Democrat, every American should repudiate and condemn him.
This is not protected discussion. It should be criminally investigated as an incitement to violence. Given all of the circumstances of the last three years, posing the directive in the form of a question shouldn't give him any cover.
Dear God...where is his family? He needs help...he needs to be institutionalized. He's completely out of his mind...
He is a clear and present danger.
I absolutely agree, the danger is real - this is Trump calling out to the Proud Boys, and the armed militia nuts. 'Tear up the constitution and install me into power immediately!' Madness. He is terrified of the Justice Department and is utterly desperate. I worry that we will see trouble from his armed followers even before Trump faces indictment for his crimes. If Trump is not denounced loudly from all quarters immediately then we are going to face much much worse than January 6th.
This is not a drill! We cannot stand silent again. Our elected representatives must take a stand now.
tfg is a clear and present danger to our democracy.
Every time Trump opens his mouth he exposes a dangerous, ugly underbelly of our country who he seeks to incite against the very foundations of our country.
Trump to this day continues to make a mockery of our justice system. And what about our justice system? Any other human being with this much evidence against them would have been charged, jailed, and bail set. And yet Trump continues to be a free man poisoning our well with his vile words from his delusional mind.
Trump and his dime-store lawyers have set a precedent. Criminals can do what they want without impunity if their attorneys set in motion all the tactics we have to stall and drag out legal proceedings.
I wonder if we will ever see justice served only to hear Trump's lawyers have appealed again and again and with frivolous arguments that would have disbarred any other attorney. Anyone harboring this criminal should be held liable and deemed toxic.
I am grateful we have Steve Schmidt, Heather Cox Richardson, Tim Hagan and the others to keep up appraised on the current situation. We must remain vigilant; our US Constitution demands it.
Agreed that this should have led every national media publication or broadcast. This is a serious threat to our Democracy!
Donald Trump is a clear and present danger to the United States and must be stopped. The best way is through prosecution for the crimes he has committed.
He is either evil sociopath or needs a chapter 55 for psychiatric treatment against his will. I am leaning towards evil sociopath with psychopathic traits. Legal consequences are the only way to keep him from damaging others.
The GOP is incapable of doing what needs to be done because they cannot bear the eternal shame of having supported and elected this fraud.
Trump exhibits near total mental derangement, and for the good of the country, the law of the US and our public welfare, Trump should be indicted, prosecuted, convicted and assigned to a maximum security prison.
I think we need boring BBC style delivery like we had when we were kids . " Just the facts" the BBC delivers news in a zombie like style but information is being delivered. Deadpan. The headline should be "Today the former prez is offering false information lets go to the xyz person at cyber election security and prof of political science at xyz university to explain how this is not a factual statement . John over to you in the field...
When I first saw this, I thought: "this guy is delusional". But then, I thought about how thirty percent of the country agrees with him, some will even take up arms for him. THIRTY PERCENT will vote for, follow, and break the law for this man. There are so many parallels to Hitler's rise.
He is driven by his narcissism which will never allow him to accept that he lost. He will do and say anything in his attempt to convince the world that he was cheated out of a victory. He is dangerous beyond words and will take the Republican Party down with him.
He is intent on destroying democracy in this country and horrifyingly, he is terribly close to succeeding.
You are spot on, sir. Spanky tRUmp is not a joke. Hitler pulled this 💩. tRUmp belongs in prison NOW. 😡
Once more the quiet part out loud, but this time very loud. And clear.
I am utterly and completely out of emotion. He has literally, millions of people who support him. They always have and they always will. That monster was thrown out / 86'd / banned from the New York city Brothels because he was a violent and unpredictable predator in the 80s. The. 80s. He has not ever been held accountable for anything, really. I'm just bereft of anything even resembling hope that someone will ever effectively stop him. Love you Steve.
Not only should this disqualify him from ever holding office again, I would argue he should be disqualified from even running for any office.
Every journalist and anchor should be asking each and every GOP official and elected Republican if they denounce this statement.
HE needs no more airtime, but the news does need to frame this as where are R electeds? Where is their denunciation? We know who he is. The R 'party' needs to take a stand- and the news media is once again negligent if it doesn't demand answers like a dog with a bone. Follow up until you get an answer on the record.
The headline "FORMER PRESIDENT CALLS FOR TERMINATING THE CONSTITUTION" should be on every front page of every newspaper and on every rolling chyron of every news program in the country.
The fact that it isn't is the most frightening part of the story.
Shhh. His own words are making him radioactive. Don't give him air. Most Americans, even those who voted for him, get what an oozing pusball he is now. He has finally dug the well of his own demise by saying the Constitution should be thrown out. He will play this charade as long as possible. Hopefully, DOJ will have the stones to indict him or leave it to Fani Willis who will surely get the job done. In the end, one gutsy Black woman -- and we know how Trump feels about Black women so it's righteous -- may save us. Fingers crossed. Meanwhile, there is real
trouble in the House.
The language of this tweet is extraordinary. Why isn’t the media covering this?
I just sent this to my Congressman-
Congressman,
I am writing to urge you, actually to demand, that you publicly and categorically denounce Donald Trump’s recent posting on his social network about the 2020 elections and his clear and unambiguous statement that President Biden was not fairly elected and that the election should be redone even if it means casting aside our Constitution. I further request that you urge your caucus to do the same. I am a retired USCG Officer and previously I had obtained your Senatorial endorsement to serve on the New Jersey Armed Forces Council, sharing with you a very nice conversation in your CMCH office. Throughout my life I have been a registered independent but mostly voted Republican. No matter how your party stands on the issues, I will never again cast another Republican vote until your “new” party totally rejects Donald Trump and those like him and clearly rejects his anti-democracy, conspiracy theory laden, MAGA movement. You and I have both taken an oath to Support and Defend our Constitution. If his recent posting isn’t enough to cause you to denounce his statements, I have no idea what would be. Throughout my 26 year military career I took my oath seriously. You must demonstrate the seriousness with which you take that same oath by unequivocally rejecting Donald Trump and clearly telling your constituents that you are doing so.
The only factor which allows me to keep my peace about this blatant xpotus outrage (which is getting plenty of exposure on Twitter) is that I believe it is Evidence. Quite honestly, xpotus is doing a remarkable job of proving he is a raving lunatic.
100% This man will ruin us
This is what I think: "This should be treated like a national emergency. This man is a former president of the United States. He incited a violent insurrection, a cold civil war, and now he has revealed himself fully. This is not a joke. This should have led the news on every broadcast across America last night. This actually qualifies as real “breaking news.” Every single elected official from town clerk to US senator who has taken an oath has a patriotic, moral and constitutional obligation to rebuke and repudiate this." I would add also that an investigation of Jared Kushner, his nepotism and that of his wife, and their involvement with foreign interests to influence the United States should be under way. This is a Sunday to meditate upon who are the Americans that divide our nation by destroying all that gives it its representative power, a Constitutional Republic Of the People, By the People, For the People.
Complete crickets from the entire swamp.
No shit Sherlock he needs a jail cell--immediatly. He has played his hand as a continuous seditious conspirator to overturn the Republic's Constitution.
He is a traitor and criminal. That he ever was elected to the sacred office of the Presidency is an outrage and national tragedy. It will get worse as he gets more desperate. You are correct Steve.
So. For the sake of argument this would mean the 2nd amendment would be gone. Am I right?
We are a nation of laws. This really must be addressed by DOJ, hopefully immediately. If not then it will be clear that our country and constitution are at the mercy of faithless actors. We marched and marched to end the Vietnam war. How much more serious is this?
Amen, amen Steve... Do you think we can feel hopeful about Jack Smith? Or will it simply be Mueller redux?
Absolutely. His “dancing around the edges” deeply held desire to be a dictator is now crystal clear.
The msm has failed us with this man child since the beginning.
I believe pressuring complicit Republican “leaders” is futile.
They have already shown us who they are. We must vociferously rattle the media demanding their continued attention to this dire threat.
Is there NOTHING that the Federal Gov't can do when this is clearly a THREAT? Is it that no one with authority can take a stand at this point? Has he not violated enough laws? Even though it is now so apparently threatening, there are too many thoughtful, democracy lovin' citizens that will not stand for he and his thugs to take anything from us ..... believe it and never doubt we are the home of the brave!!
Steve,
What is your recommended course of action by the Federal, State and local Governments to Trump's tweet? In your ooinion, what should ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox, and MSNBC do besides report that Trump issued the tweet? What should individuals do today to react to Trump's tweet?
IMO the branches of government at all levels should be on alert for any signs that any groups or individuals are taking up arms to attack governmental or other institutions in the media, education or religiously affiliated. I would hope they already are doing so, but many police forces and groups within the armed services are already aligned with Trump, so there also ought to be a thorough examination of these organizations and the Trumpists removed. But... not every Trump follower is an insustectionist and not everyone who likes Trump and reads his tweets supported the January 6th insurrection.
So what the media need to do when they report the tweet is find former Trump followers who have turned away from him for just this kind of tweet, for advocacy of anti-democratic actions. The media need to be part of the solution by advocating for democracy and against fascism. Rachel Maddow's podcast, Ultra, tells the history of how the Nazi's with powerful collaborators in the House, Senate and in State governments tried to take over in the US, but individuals acting on their own, like Lewis in CA, and specific prosecutors like Rogge, and Drew Pearson, in the press, allowed the story to get out.
As individuals we need to hold government and media to account for the above actions. Only dictators say that democracy is the ability to vote. It is not. Democracy only exists where members of the public give up their time to volunteer to be on local boards, be poll watchers, write columns and op-eds for publications, and in general be involved. Democracy looks like Town Meetings. Representative Democracy only works if people are involved. The problem with democracy in America can be seen in the low percentage of people who are involved.
Recognition of this situation led to the Republican Strategy of taking control of politics at local levels. They filled a vacuum. Pro-democracy citizens need to replace those Trumpists who support insurrection.
These are my recommendations.
Maybe we’ll get an appropriate reaction from DOJ.
I don’t expect any strong (or maybe any) negative reaction from GOP leadership. The only reactions will be support from the lunatics like MTG and Jim Jordan.
As A former NY’er I still can’t believe he was elected! But I agree he must be repudiated in the strongest terms, by the media and his party. I have little actual hope that either will happen.
Every day it gets worse and worse. The idea that there are persons who buy into this nonsense is appalling!!!
Not only should this disqualify him from ever holding office again, I would argue he should be disqualified from even running for any office.
We are going to end up in a civil war, radical right with MAGA against the rest of us. It is the only way this can end. Read your history. Trump and the Trumpicans are following the same play book Hitler did. They started by taking over the education system in Germany, quietly.
I have been ranting about this Orange 🪳 for years...to no avail. I sound crazier than him sometimes. Honestly. The cult that still supports him and the Republican Congress who do not condemn him, scare me more.
I was appalled by his post. If it doesn’t give the entire nation pause, we’re in trouble. He wants to be like North Korea or China. He dreams of being a dictator and having an entire country under his rule…and further punishing those that don’t fall in line. That is the tell. No conspiracy needed.
Mr. Schmidt,
Perhaps this is an ignorant question, but I'll ask anyway. Is it plausible that the republicans will elect Trump as speaker of the House? If that were to occur, it plausible that President Biden and Vice President Harris will be removed, in one way or another, so that Trump is installed as President again?
Thank you,
Leslie