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Donald Trump calls Kevin Rudd ‘nasty’ and says he ‘won’t be there long’ as Australia’s ambassador to US
In interview with Nigel Farage, Trump says ‘I hear he’s not the brightest bulb’ when asked about Rudd

Josh Butler
Wed 20 Mar 2024 07.17 CET

Donald Trump has taken a swipe at the former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd, calling him “nasty” and claiming he “won’t be there long” as Australian ambassador to the United States.

But the Australian foreign minister, Penny Wong, said the government would retain Rudd as American ambassador if Trump won November’s presidential election, backing him as doing “an excellent job”. Anthony Albanese, who appointed Rudd as ambassador, accused the Coalition opposition of a “cheap shot” attack over the comments, as the Liberal leader, Peter Dutton, said the government now needed to “repair” the US relationship.

Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, made the comments in an interview with the former British conservative politician Nigel Farage on GB News overnight.

Rudd, before becoming ambassador in March 2023, had been scathing of Trump. In a tweet still available on his X account, Rudd called Trump “The most destructive president in history”.

“He drags America and democracy through the mud. He thrives on fomenting, not healing, division. He abuses Christianity, church and bible to justify violence.” In another tweet, he called Trump “a traitor to the West”.

Asked by Farage about some of those criticisms, Trump at first appeared to not know who Rudd was, before then insulting him several times.

“I don’t know. He won’t be there long if that’s the case,” Trump said, in a clip of a longer interview posted on social media on Wednesday.

“I don’t know much about him. I heard he was a little bit nasty. I hear he’s not the brightest bulb. But I don’t know much about him.

“But if he’s at all hostile, he will not be there long.”



https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... ador-to-us

Trump’s latest campaign strategy: co-opt Biden’s claims about the threat to democracy
A month-by-month look at Trump’s evolving language as he attempts to assert it’s Biden who will endanger the nation – and not him

Rachel Leingang
Wed 20 Mar 2024 10.00 CET

On the cusp of the election year, Donald Trump made a decision: knowing Joe Biden would structure his campaign around the threat Trump poses to US democracy, Trump would use the same line back at Biden.

It was an unlikely bet, given that Trump is facing 88 criminal charges for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. But Trump started laying out that message last summer, sprinkling into his speeches the idea that the US president was “grossly incompetent” and that such incompetence posed a threat to democracy. As charges rolled in against the former president, none of them lodged by Biden himself, he added the claim that Biden was also using his power to shut down his opponent, threatening democracy by engaging in “election interference”.

As 6 January 2024 approached, three years after the insurrection, Trump ramped up his attempt to turn one of his liabilities against his opponent. On the 2024 campaign trail, Trump falsely claims to be a savior of democracy and, with increasing harshness, says Biden is the threat.

At a rally in Ohio this month, Trump predicted an end to US democracy if he doesn’t win the race.

“I don’t think you’re going to have another election in this country, if we don’t win this election … certainly not an election that’s meaningful,” he said.

The “threat to democracy” retort was Trump’s latest attempt at rebranding the truth, a practiced part of his effort to create an alternate reality for his disciples. In that mirror world, Trump is both the victim and the strongman, the only person who can drive out an underworld of deep-staters who control the country and have unjustly targeted him because he threatens their supposed dominance. The wealthy businessman casts himself as an everyman, the guy willing to say what others are thinking, no matter how uncouth.



https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng- ... cy-threats

Trump’s legal bills are expected to continue to balloon as the cases against him ramp up. The four criminal cases against the ex-president are still moving forward, with his trial over “hush-money” payments made during his 2016 campaign expected to begin in mid-April following a 30-day delay. Trump is also appealing rulings against him in his civil fraud and Carroll defamation cases, and will go to the Supreme Court in April as the former president asks justices to declare he’s “immune” from criminal prosecution.

$10.9 million. That’s how much Trump’s main campaign fund raised in February, according to its FEC filing, reporting $7.8 million in expenses and ending the month with $33.5 million in cash on hand. The Trump campaign is lagging behind President Joe Biden, whose campaign reported raising $21.3 million in February and went into March with $71 million in cash.

Trump’s PAC payments to his attorneys come in addition to the massive legal judgments the ex-president has separately been ordered to pay, which are so far not being paid using PAC money. Trump posted a $91.6 million bond earlier in March in response to Carroll’s defamation lawsuit, in which he was ordered to pay $83.3 million plus interest. He’s also days away from the deadline to pay the more than $454 million he owes in his civil fraud case, as New York Attorney General Letitia James is expected to start enforcing the judgment if Trump hasn’t posted bond by March 25. Trump has asked an appeals court to delay the payment while he appeals the case, but it hasn’t ruled yet on his request.

Trump spending PAC money on his personal legal fees is a legal gray area, Dan Weiner, former FEC counsel and director of the Brennan Center for Justice’s Elections and Government Program, told Forbes in February. The practice is “highly questionable,” Weiner said, though given the FEC’s history of not going after violations—particularly regarding any kind of gray area—it’s unlikely to take any action against Trump’s legal payments. “Because of lax enforcement, we have this kind of ‘Wild West’ campaign finance landscape, where there are a bunch of rules, but they are so unevenly enforced that people don’t have a good sense of what they can and can’t do, and that’s obviously a breeding ground for pushing the envelope,” Weiner said.

Former President Donald Trump is facing mounting financial difficulties in his campaign — to the point where he is reportedly being forced to triage which states he can afford to hold rallies in.

According to a new CNN report, Trump was planning to hold a rally in Arizona last weekend, on the same day he rallied in Ohio to support his endorsed Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, but backed out at the last minute.

"On Wednesday, Biden was in Arizona to announce $8.5 billion going toward a new Intel chip processing plant outside of Phoenix, returning to a state he visited twice in the second half of last year," reported Edward Isaac-Dovere and Kristen Holmes.

p0rtia wrote: ↑Thu Mar 21, 2024 11:08 am I'm quite sure the forces of evil will continue to funnel money to fuckhead & crew till the day he dies, but it is still fun to watch the the bucks fly into that sinkhole.

RTH10260 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 20, 2024 7:00 am

Donald Trump calls Kevin Rudd ‘nasty’ and says he ‘won’t be there long’ as Australia’s ambassador to US
In interview with Nigel Farage, Trump says ‘I hear he’s not the brightest bulb’ when asked about Rudd

Josh Butler
Wed 20 Mar 2024 07.17 CET

Donald Trump has taken a swipe at the former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd, calling him “nasty” and claiming he “won’t be there long” as Australian ambassador to the United States.

But the Australian foreign minister, Penny Wong, said the government would retain Rudd as American ambassador if Trump won November’s presidential election, backing him as doing “an excellent job”. Anthony Albanese, who appointed Rudd as ambassador, accused the Coalition opposition of a “cheap shot” attack over the comments, as the Liberal leader, Peter Dutton, said the government now needed to “repair” the US relationship.

Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, made the comments in an interview with the former British conservative politician Nigel Farage on GB News overnight.

Rudd, before becoming ambassador in March 2023, had been scathing of Trump. In a tweet still available on his X account, Rudd called Trump “The most destructive president in history”.

“He drags America and democracy through the mud. He thrives on fomenting, not healing, division. He abuses Christianity, church and bible to justify violence.” In another tweet, he called Trump “a traitor to the West”.

Asked by Farage about some of those criticisms, Trump at first appeared to not know who Rudd was, before then insulting him several times.

“I don’t know. He won’t be there long if that’s the case,” Trump said, in a clip of a longer interview posted on social media on Wednesday.

“I don’t know much about him. I heard he was a little bit nasty. I hear he’s not the brightest bulb. But I don’t know much about him.

“But if he’s at all hostile, he will not be there long.”



https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... ador-to-us

keith wrote: ↑Sat Mar 23, 2024 1:38 am
[context]:
Rudd's comments were years ago, during Turnip's Presidency. This was when Rudd was not in any office at all, he was not Prime Minister any longer and he had not been appointed an Ambassador or any other official position.
[/context]

‘It’ll be bedlam’: how Trump is creating conditions for a post-election eruption
As the ex-president fans the flames of violence, experts and insiders say November will be a brutal test for US democracy

David Smith in Washington
Sat 23 Mar 2024 12.00 CET

Abloodbath. The end of democracy. Riots in the streets. Bedlam in the country. Donald Trump has made apocalyptic imagery a defining feature of his presidential election campaign, warning supporters that if he does not win – and avoid criminal prosecution – America will enter its death throes.

The prophecies of doom, repeated ad nauseam at rallies and on social media, have raised fears that the former president is making an electoral tinderbox that could explode in November. While there has been much commentary assessing the implications of a Trump win, some experts warn that a Trump defeat could provide an equally severe stress test of American democracy.

“Regardless of whether Donald Trump wins or loses, there’s going to be violence,” said Michael Fanone, a retired police officer who was seriously injured by pro-Trump rioters at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021. “If Donald Trump loses, he’s not going to concede and he’s going to inspire people to commit acts of violence, just like he did in the weeks and months leading up to January 6 2021.

“If he wins, I also believe that there’s going to be violence committed by his supporters, targeting people who previously tried to hold him to account, whether it was members of the press, average citizens like myself, Department of Justice officials, state and federal prosecutors. I believe him when he says that he will have his vengeance.”

Trump has long sought to sow distrust in the electoral system while using rhetoric outside the boundaries of modern political discourse, dehumanising opponents and immigrants and portraying the US as a nation on the verge of collapse.



https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... s-election

New Turtle wrote: ↑Sat Mar 23, 2024 1:23 pm Let them cry about it. The people who gassed them up might not get held to account, but they know if they show up on a live stream or security camera, they could be arrested at any time if they cross the line.

AndyinPA wrote: ↑Sat Mar 23, 2024 3:15 pm What do they call a failed coup? Practice.

Quick Reaction Force – $200 million to create a dedicated Quick Reaction Force to augment the Capitol Police. This would be a ground force equivalent of the 113th Wing within the District of Columbia Air National Guard at Joint Base Andrews, which defends National Capital Region airspace. This funding is consistent with the recommendations of the Capitol Security Review. (Defense Subcommittee)

("New") 538's guesses as to who will win his veepstakes:

Tim Scott; Kari Lake; Kristi Noem; Elise Stefanik; Nikki Haley; Marsha Blackburn; Marjorie Greene; or Sarah Sanders.

My personal guess is Noem.

Slim Cognito wrote: ↑Tue Mar 26, 2024 6:47 pm That’s my view. She’s sufficiently subservient, and she knows how to keep her head down.