News
‘Cult’: Poll Finds Trump-Supporting GOPers Who Believe He Committed Crimes Outnumbers All DeSantis 2024 Voters
A new New York Times/Siena College poll finds that even after two criminal indictments and ahead of possibly two more, Donald Trump is “dominating” the entire GOP presidential primary field, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis “by a landslide 37 percentage points.” Trump, the poll shows, currently has the majority of likely Republican primary voters. Some experts point to “racial anxiety” and “GOP hostility to changing gender roles,” some to “the loss of white straight male privilege,” and some are calling it a “cult.”
“Mr. Trump held decisive advantages across almost every demographic group and region and in every ideological wing of the party, the survey found, as Republican voters waved away concerns about his escalating legal jeopardy,” The Times’ Shane Goldmacher reports. “He led by wide margins among men and women, younger and older voters, moderates and conservatives, those who went to college and those who didn’t, and in cities, suburbs and rural areas.”
Donald Trump is dominating his rivals for the GOP presidential nomination, leading his nearest challenger, Gov. Ron DeSantis, by a landslide 37 percentage points among Republican primary voters, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll. https://t.co/X4YFK4HM9d pic.twitter.com/gYXYS7egcY
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 31, 2023
Calling the results “ominous” for the Florida governor, the Times reports the “poll shows that some of Mr. DeSantis’s central campaign arguments — that he is more electable than Mr. Trump, and that he would govern more effectively — have so far failed to break through. Even Republicans motivated by the type of issues that have fueled Mr. DeSantis’s rise, such as fighting ‘radical woke ideology,’ favored the former president.”
Norman Ornstein, a contributing editor for the Atlantic and emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, weighed in on the poll, writing: “This comes as no surprise, but it is still stunning. Republicans in the country lineup behind a serial grifter, liar and narcissistic sociopath, inciter of a violent insurrection and obstructor of justice. Cult to the max.”
The Times also quoted several Trump supporters, including a 69-year old retail manager in New Hampshire, whose remarks have spread across social media.
“He might say mean things and make all the men cry because all the men are wearing your wife’s underpants and you can’t be a man anymore,” David Green said of Trump. “You got to be a little sissy and cry about everything. But at the end of the day, you want results. Donald Trump’s my guy. He’s proved it on a national level.”
Senior CNN political analyst Ronald Brownstein, pointing to that quote, notes: “Reminder that Trump taps not just racial anxiety but GOP hostility to changing gender roles.”
Sirius XM host Michelangelo Signorile says the David Green quote “really says it all about the MAGA male voter, grieving the loss of white straight male privilege.”
Calling it “truly grotesque,” independent American journalist based in Europe, Chris O’Brien says, “Trump is only a reflection of a vast machine pushing a war around gender and identity that has infected the US and the UK.”
Other aspects of the Times report also garnered attention from political experts, like Daniel Nichanian, Editor-in-chief and founder of Bolts magazine, which reports “on the local elections and obscure institutions that shape public policy but are dangerously overlooked, and the grassroots movements that are targeting them.”
Nichanian writes, “the line that stood out in the new GOP poll: ‘Mr. Trump still received 22 percent among voters who believe he has committed serious federal crimes — a greater share than the 17 percent that Mr. DeSantis earned from the entire G.O.P. electorate.'”
Pointing to the Times’ summation of Trump carrying “almost every demographic group and region and in every ideological wing of the party,” Boston Globe opinion columnist Renée Graham observes, “White supremacy is a hell of a drug.”
And Lincoln Project co-founder Mike Madrid says simply, “It’s a cult.”
Not everyone focused on Donald Trump, however.
“Wow. This poll shows that a liar, a sociopath, a huckster, a hypocrite, a charlatan, and a criminal get about 30 percent of the Republican vote. Everyone else supports Donald Trump,” wrote historian Moshik Temkin, an associate professor of history and public policy at Harvard’s Center for European Studies.
Beyond Politics podcast host Matt Robison, a public policy expert and former chief of staff and legislative director for three members of Congress sums up the Times poll, saying: “Reminds me of the seminal 1950s study from Leon Festinger ‘When Prophecies Fail.’ Where the term ‘cognitive dissonance’ came from. Cult members cannot abide any evidence that might disapprove their fanaticism. Their response is to simply double down. And here we are.”
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Donald Trump came to the aid of embattled Republican South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, whose story about shooting to death her 14-month old German wirehaired pointer named Cricket has been denounced by Americans on the left and right for weeks.
Gov. Noem not only chose to put the story in her memoir, but has repeatedly defended her decision to drag the dog into a gravel pit and shoot her, killing her with one bullet without even warning her child, who asked when they returned home from school, “Where’s Cricket?”
Trump, speaking Tuesday on “The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show,” the successor to the late Rush Limbaugh’s talk radio program, did not appear to have a full grasp of the story or the massive outrage and upset Gov. Noem caused.
“I’m sure you’ve seen some of the Kristi Noem story. She might be the only person getting worse press than you on the left right now with the dog shooting story,” Clay Travis told Trump. “Is she still in the mix as a VP? Have you thought maybe she’d make more sense in a cabinet? How do you analyze stories like that as you go about making a choice?”
READ MORE: Johnson Would Contest 2024 Election Results Under the Same ‘Circumstances’
Noem, until the dog shooting story came out, was widely believed to be on Trump’s short list as a vice presidential running mate.
“Well, until this week, she was doing incredibly well and she got hit hard, and sometimes you do books and you have some guy writing a book and you maybe don’t read it as carefully,” Trump offered as a defense of the governor whose dog-shooting story came out weeks ago. “You know, you have ghost writers, do they help you? And they this case didn’t help too much.”
“Now, she’s terrific,” Trump continued, lavishing praise on Noem. “Look, she’s been a supporter of mine from day one. She did a great job of governor, as governor. And you know, you look at South Dakota numbers. She’s really done a great job.”
Trump did not say what numbers specifically, nor did he say on what Governor Noem did a great job. he also did not answer the question Travis posed about North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, nor did he bring up any of the other controversies surrounding the book.
“And in some form, I mean, I think I think she’s terrific. A couple of rough stories. There’s no question about it. And when explained the dog story, you know, people, people hear that and people from different parts of the country probably feel a little bit differently, but that’s a tough story. And, but she’s a terrific person. She said she had a bad, she had a bad week.”
Watch below or at this link.
Donald Trump defends South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) shooting her dog:
“She’s terrific … Couple of rough stories … When explained, the dog story, y’know, people hear that and people from different parts of the country probably feel a little bit differently.” pic.twitter.com/EVE7ZTjazl
— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) May 14, 2024
READ MORE: ‘Mouths of Sauron’: Critics Blast ‘Mobster Tactic’ of Trump Surrogates ‘Violating’ Gag Order
In his remarks outside the courtroom Tuesday, Donald Trump demanded Judge Juan Merchan rescind the tailored gag order placed on him that was designed to ensure the sanctity of the trial and the safety of witnesses, jurors, court staff, and their families.
“The gag order has to come off,” Trump told reporters Tuesday morning, adding his frequent “never been anything like this in the history of our country” claim.
Judge Merchan just last week reportedly cited Trump’s own words from his own book when defending his decision to keep the gag order in place and not modify it.
“When you are wronged, go after those people, because it is a good feeling and because other people will see you doing it. Getting even is not always a personal thing. It’s just part of doing business,” Trump’s book passage reads.
But as The Washington Post reported Monday, Trump’s surrogates are saying “the forbidden stuff for him.” They “have helpfully stepped forward to offer a timely and convenient service: lodging those same attacks, while appearing at the trial in support of him.”
READ MORE: Trump Wails His Judge Was Appointed by ‘Democrat Politicians’ – That’s False
“Republican lawmakers have appeared at Trump’s trial — even entering and exiting the courtroom with him — and proceeded to say precisely the kinds of things he’s not allowed to.”
Because the “kinds of things he’s not allowed to” say violate the gag order.
Politico reports, “Trump’s surrogates continue launching verbal attacks that would violate gag order if Trump said them himself.”
But according to the text of Trump’s gag order, he is “directed to refrain from”:
“Making or directing others to make public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses concerning their potential participation in the investigation or in this criminal proceeding; Making or directing others to make public statements” about attorneys “in the case other than the District Attorney,” “members of the court’s staff and the District Attorney’s staff, or the family members of any counsel or staff member” or “any prospective juror or any juror in this criminal proceeding.”
The prosecution has not indicated it will, but it could ask the judge to examine the “directing others to make public statements” portion of the gag order.
On Tuesday, one of the most powerful elected Republicans in the country, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, became the most high-profile Trump surrogate on the planet.
RELATED: ‘Campaigning for Trump at His Criminal Trial’: Johnson Blasted for Going to NYC Courthouse
Critics are blasting Speaker Johnson, who is second in line to the presidency, for attending the trial Tuesday and for delivering remarks some are calling false, in support of the indicted ex-president and 2024 GOP presumptive nominee.
“When asked for his worldview when Mike Johnson became Speaker of the House and nobody knew anything about him he said, ‘you want to know my worldview? Go read the bible, that’s what I stand for,'” MSNBC’s Willie Geist said Tuesday. “And now today he’s at the courthouse defending the guy who’s on trial for allegedly paying off a porn star for the alleged affair he had while his wife was home with their infant son.”
“When he became Speaker.. he said… go read the bible, that’s what I stand for. Today he’s at the courthouse defending the guy who’s on trial for allegedly paying off a porn star for the alleged affair he had while his wife was home with his infant son” pic.twitter.com/uBYAuH968x
— Acyn (@Acyn) May 14, 2024
Johnson and U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) are among those who went and said what the judge told Trump he could not.
Johnson strongly defended Trump Tuesday morning. And following the Trump playbook, he attacked the prosecutor, the judge, and the judge’s daughter, which could be deemed a violation of Judge Merchan’s gag order against Trump if he decides Johnson’s remarks came at Trump’s request.
Speaker Johnson attacking the judge, prosecutors, and the current witness Michael Cohen who is currently testifying pic.twitter.com/ftgOhBreBD
— Acyn (@Acyn) May 14, 2024
Award-winning journalist Laura Bassett, the former editor-in-chief of Jezebel, responded to that video, writing, “The guy who admitted that he and his son monitor each other’s porn intake is out here publicly lying on behalf of a man who cheated on his wife with a porn star and paid to cover it up.”
Speaker Johnson talking about the judge’s daughter pic.twitter.com/LrzKzddUPE
— Acyn (@Acyn) May 14, 2024
Calling it “Craven,” and “lawless,” Bloomberg Opinion Senior Executive Editor Tim O’Brien remarked, “House Speaker Mike Johnson is outside the NY courthouse right now and essentially helping Trump sidestep the court’s gag order by acting as his proxy by attacking the integrity of the trial and judicial process. He’s even targeting Justice Merchan’s daughter.”
READ MORE: Johnson Would Contest 2024 Election Results Under the Same ‘Circumstances’
Congressman Donalds, who is on the short list to become Trump’s vice presidential running mate, also attacked the judge’s daughter on Tuesday, from outside the courthouse.
Donalds going after the judge’s daughter pic.twitter.com/ayDVO4oUln
— Acyn (@Acyn) May 14, 2024
Political commentator Bob Cesca observed, “If you’re wondering why Vance, Tuberville, and Johnson are there, it’s because of the gag order. They’re Trump’s voice. The Mouths of Sauron,” he wrote, referring to the near-entirely evil creature from J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings.”
“BTW, asking surrogates to attack witnesses and the judge’s daughter is a violation of the gag order,” he added.
Former Denver Chief Deputy District Attorney Craig Silverman remarked, “Note how Trump gets Vance and Johnson to violate the gag order for him. Mobster tactic. Make your Trump champions violate the law right along with you. Once they are in for a dime, they are in for a dollar and stuck with MAGA.”
Watch the videos above or at this link.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is the latest high-profile Republican to travel to the Manhattan Criminal Courts Building in New York City to show his support for Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee facing a total of 88 criminal charges, including 34 felonies in his election subversion, falsification of business records case, better known as the “hush money” trial. Johnson holding a news conference Tuesday morning from the courthouse in support of the indicted ex-president.
Earlier Tuesday morning from the courthouse (video below) Trump was asked by a reporter, “are you directing surrogates to speak on your behalf?” Trump avoided the specific question but claimed, “I do have a lot of surrogates and they are speaking very beautifully, and they come from all over Washington and they’re highly-respected and they think this is the greatest scam they’ve ever seen.”
Johnson’s grip on his job has been challenged by the far-right extremists in his own caucus, led by U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) but his travels to Mar-a-Lago to see and be seen with Trump have fortified his hold.
As NCRM reported Monday, during the early days of the Trump New York criminal trial many noted the ex-president was alone. He was sitting, and at times, snoozing, alone in court, unsupported by family members or friends. That changed as the weeks went by, and now his son Eric Trump is a regular face in the courthouse, and GOP lawmakers, generally in twos, are showing up daily to act as campaign surrogates inside and outside the courthouse.
RELATED: ‘Grave Danger’: Trump’s ‘Raw Display’ of Power at Court Alarms Conservative
On Monday, U.S. Rep. Tommy Tuberville (R-GA) and U.S. Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) were the latest pair to attend the trial. Sen. Vance attacked the judge’s daughter, which prosecutors may decide to bring up to the judge as it may have violated Trump’s gag order if the ex-president directed him to do so. Congressman Tuberville, a white Christian nationalist, followed the Trump playbook, attacking the judicial system, and the jurors, whom he suggested were not U.S. citizens.
And now the Speaker of the House of Representatives, second in line to the presidency, is at the Criminal Courts Building in lower Manhattan, effectively stumping for the indicted leader of his party.
Critics are expressing outrage.
Former Chicago Tribune editor Mark Jacob, who comments on politics and the media on Substack, blasted Speaker Johnson.
“MAGA Mike Johnson is showing up at the Trump trial today to show his support for cheating on your wife with a porn star, paying her hush money, and then falsifying business records so the voting public doesn’t find out the truth,” Jacob wrote, adding: “This is Mike Johnson’s version of Christianity.”
Jared Ryan Sears, who writes The Pragmatic Humanist at Substack, lamented, “This is what half of American politics has become. It is embarrassing. There could be bills trying to solve price gouging, the border, poverty, homelessness, worker pay, or addressing any other real and current issue.”
“Instead members of Congress waste their time making a show of going to a trial for someone who had affairs, paid hush money, and covered it all up to mislead the public ahead of a close election,” Sears continued. “Then they will get in front of the cameras and say phrases like ‘weaponized justice’ and ‘lawfare’ when they know full well no such thing is happening. All so that their dear leader doesn’t mean tweet about them.”
READ MORE: Johnson Would Contest 2024 Election Results Under the Same ‘Circumstances’
Journalist Marcy Wheeler, who writes about civil liberties and national security, served up a damning indictment of Speaker Johnson: “It is newsworthy NOT just [because] the entire GOP is pro-crime, but ALSO that a man who would dictate reproductive choice and other life choices to others is backing a guy whose cover-up for f*cking multiple sex workers (without a condom!!) was charged as crime.”
Appearing to focus on the media, she added: “Speaker Mike should be GRILLED about whether he supports extramarital affairs during pregnancy. Don’t give him this stunt for free.”
Journalist Jonathan Ford of Ford News called it “an absolute disgrace,” while observing, “You don’t see Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries showing support for Senator Menendez.”
“Last week,” The Nation’s John Nichols notes, “most House Democrats voted with most Republicans to save Mike Johnson’s speakership. This week, Johnson is in a NYC courtroom to support Donald Trump. Democrats need to STOP providing cover for the most extreme Speaker in American history.”
Former Obama chief strategist and senior White House advisor David Axelrod commented, “As if this weren’t already a bizarre reality show, now we have celebrity guest courtroom gallery appearances of acolytes looking to punch their card with the Boss.”
Watch Trump’s remarks, with Speaker Johnson in the background, below or at this link.
As Trump walks into the courtroom, Speaker Johnson comes into focus and nods approvingly at Trump pic.twitter.com/ArAA53FRow
— Acyn (@Acyn) May 14, 2024
READ MORE: Trump Wails His Judge Was Appointed by ‘Democrat Politicians’ – That’s False
‘Campaigning for Trump at His Criminal Trial’: Johnson Blasted for Going to NYC Courthouse
‘Mouths of Sauron’: Critics Blast ‘Mobster Tactic’ of Trump Surrogates ‘Violating’ Gag Order
‘Terrific’: Trump Defends Kristi Noem After Shooting Her Dog to Death
‘Terrific’: Trump Defends Kristi Noem After Shooting Her Dog to Death
‘Mouths of Sauron’: Critics Blast ‘Mobster Tactic’ of Trump Surrogates ‘Violating’ Gag Order
‘Campaigning for Trump at His Criminal Trial’: Johnson Blasted for Going to NYC Courthouse
Trump Wails His Judge Was Appointed by ‘Democrat Politicians’ – That’s False
‘He Wasn’t Thinking About Melania’: Cohen Reveals Trump’s Fears in ‘Hush Money’ Testimony
OPINION2 days agoJohnson Would Contest 2024 Election Results Under the Same ‘Circumstances’
OPINION2 days ago‘Grave Danger’: Trump’s ‘Raw Display’ of Power at Court Alarms Conservative
News1 day agoTrump Wails His Judge Was Appointed by ‘Democrat Politicians’ – That’s False
News2 days ago‘He Wasn’t Thinking About Melania’: Cohen Reveals Trump’s Fears in ‘Hush Money’ Testimony
News20 hours ago‘Campaigning for Trump at His Criminal Trial’: Johnson Blasted for Going to NYC Courthouse
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