Former president tells Glenn Beck he would have ‘no choice’ but to lock up opponents ‘because they’re doing it to us’

  • ReluctantMuskrat@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    To be fair and accurate, he lied to the country about the seriousness of the outbreak. He’s on recording in Feb 2020 flat-out telling Bob Woodward it’s going to be bad, it’s much more deadly than the flu. At the same time he’s publicly calling it a hoax, that its going to go away, like a miracle.

    The people that trusted him didn’t take it serious because he told them not to, and then accused everyone taking it serious to be fools or intentionally trying to create a panic and steal their liberties. Had he simply allowed the scientists and the CDC to speak candidly and deferred to them, thousands upon thousands of lives would have been saved.

    • Clown_Tempura@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Oh I don’t mean to imply he is not responsible or try to make light of his disastrous incompetence, the absolute shithead definitely got many people killed by insisting the biggest public health crisis in recent memory was no big deal. A solid quarter of the US population to this day still hangs on his every word. I’m just saying that with or without him, a good chunk of people were going to refuse to get vaccinated or practice social distancing no matter what. This undercurrent of contrarian mental illness in America is not new.

      • Wilibus@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        And deliberately normalizing that behavior is the issue. Same thing with racism, Trump doesn’t create or promote racism, he just normalizes the racist behavior.

        • Clown_Tempura@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          Well that goes without saying. These people were always like this, but social norms forced them to be more quiet about it. Career conman and karma Houdini Trump comes along and shows his people that not only can they be be open and proud of their worst qualities, they can get away with their behavior in nearly all cases.

            • Clown_Tempura@lemmy.world
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              10 months ago

              Well if our system does what it’s supposed to and brings the dumb bastard and his enablers to justice, we’ll get our wish. But if it doesn’t, and the system continues to prove that much of its mechanisms merely ‘work’ on an honor system and those who operate in bad faith can continue to ignore it, you can expect a constitutional crisis of epic proportions. Trump belongs in a cage.

      • orclev@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        This undercurrent of contrarian mental illness in America is not new.

        Sadly, you’re correct, this is very much not new. That’s a political flier from 1955 put out during the height of the red scare and McCarthyism. I’d say conservatives need new material, but it’s very clear that the old material is working just as well today as it was 70 years ago.