Former President Donald Trump appears to be pulling the old Republican shadow presidency to play down the president-elect's foreign policy card.
This is an old Republican trick. they've been doing it since Nixon, and they've gotten away with it because the Democrats have historically been too timid and overmatched by the Machiavellian maneuvers of people who seem willing to prolong the war if it's a political advantage for them.
This is what is happening.
Trump spoke privately with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the New York Times reported this week. What about? They don't say.
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On Thursday, we learned that Jared Kushner had a secret meeting with Israel's far-right Prime Minister Netanyahu on December 21.
“Netanyahu's diary, released due to legal proceedings, reveals a meeting he has not reported before. The Prime Minister of Israel hosted Jared Kushner in Tel Aviv on December 21.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) told Greg Sargent in The New Republic that the relationship between Trump and Saudi Arabia is “absolutely crying out for serious scrutiny.”
Given that Ruskin also just exposed the way that Rep. James Comer (R-KY) is helping Russia attack America by laundering their disinformation through a US House “investigation,” the situation is even more alarming.
It is also quite obvious. And it would be great if we could stop pretending we don't see what's happening right in front of our faces. We already know that Trump is using House Republicans to block the President of the United States on foreign policy as it relates to Ukraine. We know that Trump is pushing House Republicans to block the president's border policy because Trump thinks it will help him win if the border is in chaos.
Voters are not getting the full benefits of their elected president. They are being robbed again because the Republicans don't care what the voters want. Donald Trump and his Republican Party do not care about the will of the people.
Based on Trump's history in 2016, his efforts to get Ukraine to investigate a political opponent while he was president, and current facts, it is likely that Trump is purposefully undermining United States foreign policy for personal political gain.
There is little, if any, reason to suspect that this is not true. That's how Donald Trump operates, that's how the Republican Party has operated for decades, and we've recently had several cases of foreign principals and meetings between Trump and his surrogates.
“Trump, in his own brazen fashion, is likely participating in a corrupt Republican tradition of sabotaging US foreign policy while opposing narrow partisan interests. Dem tradition is to ignore it, with predictable consequences,” Brian Beutler wrote on Off Message.
How should President Biden handle this if it is indeed happening?
If there's one area where Democrats can grow and expand in the Trump era and post- Roe landscape, it's their messages.
While not everyone can be John Fetterman (D-PA) and still win their district, the Democratic base is hungry for it. backbone and a fierce embrace of all the powers granted. They are tired of electing Democrats only to have them give in to a Republican takeover.
For too long, Democrats have allowed the belt to tighten for them to “work with Republicans,” which too often means allowing Republicans to hold the country hostage, deny them adequate government, and rob them of basic human rights. Democrats have rightly worked with Republicans to save the country, but they must not submit to Republican authoritarianism. There is no legitimate middle ground between democracy and autocracy.
The base needs to know that the power they work so hard to give their candidates will pay off; that their interests and rights will be strictly protected, including their right to elect a president and let *that* person's foreign policy be what they get.
Voters should get the foreign policy of the person they elected. Anyone who interferes with this is defying the will of the American people.
The current facts are that Donald Trump's actions are undermining the United States. He is a danger to the USA. He is a threat to freedom. He is a threat to democracy. He tried to steal the most basic right from the majority of Americans. He stole classified documents and left them in places accessible to his paying guests. He shared military secrets. He has waged a deadly rebellion against the United States in an attempt to hold on to a power the voters did not give him. He recently pleaded guilty to fraud and rape.
This is not a man known for his honesty, integrity or character. We have no reason to assume the best of this man.
Let's not have a repeat of 2016, where Democrats sat on their knowledge of what Trump was doing with Russia. When running against a powerful person, special care must be taken not to make that person appear weak, so how this information, if indeed it happens, is shared with the public.
The message should be:
Donald Trump is weakening America for his own political gain, and he thinks the American voters are too stupid to understand what he's doing.
What do you think, voters? Will you let him get away with this again?
Donald Trump is a cunning backstabber. He cannot be trusted.
What do you think, voters? Will you let him get away with this again?
Donald Trump thinks that betraying his country will help him get elected.
What do you think, voters? Will you let him get away with this again?
If Democrats want to succeed against encroaching authoritarianism, they need to be bolder. They must convey strength and power while upholding the egalitarian values of the Democratic Party.
It's time to take the “temporary*” page out of the Republican's playbook.
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