Trump: “Maybe we like a dictator”

[Ladle Ghoulash 52,515]

46 minutes ago, PartySick said:

I'd argue the SCOUTS is the real knife in the neck rn, not Trump

Biden was "overstepping his authority" by reliving student debt but Trump can unilaterally abolish one government program after another and appropriate the funds to do whatever the hell he wants with it

But again, a lot of those reappropriation/impoundment efforts have actually been overturned in court. I agree that SCOTUS is clearly applying double standards to Trump, but they’ve also checked his authority in surprising ways imo. I’m not saying I trust many of em as far as I could throw em, but I also think the only justices that fully buy into the idea of Trump as a dictator are Alito and Thomas. The others surely, as @Morphine Princestated, likely have their eye on the prize long term in setting the stage for a much much slower bloodless coup over the next decade or two. That’s not to say that we aren’t in real danger in the present moment, but I just think we’re not necessarily in endgame authoritarianism.
 

I think Heritage is hedging their bets, seeing how much they can get out of Trump as a bull in China shop and hoping they can maybe either morph MAGA into a semi “normal” technocratic movement via Vance or maybe they’ll even double down on a more competent Trump in Carlson, but I honestly think the framing of things like Project 2025 as something that could be implemented within the first 180 days of Trump’s term (or even over the course of his term) is more about setting long term goals and shock and awe than it is about setting practical or achievable goals. 

[Lord Mayhem 3,415]

If a Democratic President joked about being a dictator, Republicans would be up in arms...

How can a US President even entertain such a concept??? This country has all lost its backbone...