Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2

[Rick Plant]

More and more cable companies are dropping this bogus conspiracy channel. 

Losing Verizon after losing DirecTV may be a 'death blow' for Trump favorite OAN: report



One America News (OAN) was dealt another major blow when Verizon announced that it would quit carrying the far-right cable news channel on its FiOS service, effective this Saturday, July 30. This comes after OAN being dropped by AT&T’s DirecTV in April.

Journalists Jeremy W. Peters and Benjamin Mullin, in an article published by the New York Times on July 26, stresses that between Verizon and DirectTV, OAN has lost access to millions of potential viewers. DirecTV has around 15 million subscribers, while Verizon FiOS has around 3.5 million.

“OAN’s remaining audience will be small,” Peters and Mullin explain. “The network will soon be available only to a few hundred thousand people who subscribe to smaller cable providers, such as Frontier and GCI Liberty, said Scott Robson, a senior research analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence. OAN also sells its programming directly to users through its OAN Live and KlowdTV streaming platforms, but those products most likely provide a fraction of the revenue generated by traditional TV providers.

By losing Verizon, the Times reporters note, OAN has lost a “a major stream of revenue: the fees it collects from Verizon.” Robson told the Times, “I really think this is the death blow for the network.”

Like its competitor Newsmax TV, OAN prides itself on being to the right of Fox News and Fox Business and even more pro-Donald Trump than those outlets.

According to Peters and Mullin, “While OAN doesn’t have the influence wielded by the much larger Fox News, the fees from its deals with Verizon and AT&T provided a substantial stream of income, about $36 million a year by some estimates. And once it is gone from millions of television sets, OAN will be in a weaker bargaining position with advertisers — fewer potential viewers most likely mean fewer companies willing to pay as much to promote their products on the network.”

Peters and Mullin note that losing Verizon after losing DirecTV “comes at a particularly bad time for OAN” because of the lawsuits it is facing from the voting technology companies Dominion and Smartmatic, both of which have also filed defamation lawsuits against Fox News and Newsmax. Following the 2020 presidential election, Fox News, OAN and Newsmax all promoted the Big Lie — which falsely claims that the election was stolen from then-President Trump.

“The voting technology companies Smartmatic and Dominion are suing OAN over false claims that their machines enabled Mr. Trump’s enemies to switch votes cast for him to President Biden,” Peters and Mullin observe. “One employee of Dominion, Eric Coomer, is also suing the network. Mr. Coomer received death threats after OAN named him in a report as an alleged collaborator of Antifa, the far-left movement…. For OAN, the litigation has so far not gone well, as judges have rejected its attempts to have the cases dismissed.”

The Times reporters add, “In one ruling, a judge concluded that OAN had acted “maliciously and consciously” in perpetuating falsehoods about Dominion, and that its chief White House correspondent, Chanel Rion, had failed to exercise even the most minimal journalistic scrutiny. In her report, Ms. Rion cited a conservative podcaster and activist, Joe Oltmann, who claimed to have eavesdropped on an Antifa conference call before the election. She reported that ‘Antifa-drenched engineers are hell bent on deleting half of America’s voice’ and referred to Mr. Coomer.”

Read More Here: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/jul/25/one-america-news-verizon-fios-drops

[Rick Plant]

Republicans won't be able to escape the 'stench' of Trump in the midterm election: analyst



Appearing on MSNBC's "The Katie Phang Show" on Sunday morning, longtime political analyst Jonathan Alter stated that revelations coming out of the House select committee investigating Donald Trump's actions during the Jan. 6 insurrection will weigh down Republicans in the November midterm election.

With host Phang stating responses from her audience showed a surprising number of viewers believe the hearings are an important inflection point, Alter said he agreed.

"Our Twitter followers said that the desire to preserve democracy has been driving the boat," host Phang began. "You mentioned this could be a call to action after a summer filled with stunning revelations for the Jan. 6 committee. How important will this issue be, come the fall midterms, these Jan. 6 public hearing disclosures?"

"They lend a stench to the Republican Party, which is not helpful to them," Alter replied. "There are some real indications that this will not be a red wave election. I've got a lot of polling data on my substack newsletter, which is very encouraging for the Democrats."

"We were talking about young voters," he continued. "Abortion is a huge issue for younger voters, it is not an abstraction for them. They want to be able to do family planning and have control over their own reproductive rights. They do not want to have somebody stopping them at the state line if they want to go somewhere else for an abortion."

"This issue is resonating out through the economy, and the power of the democracy issue is that it gives a kind of moral push to the Democrats, to get this MAGA hangover, as it has been called, which drove the last three elections," he elaborated. "The Democrats won the popular vote and did extremely well in Congress in 2016, 2018, and 2020 because of a dislike of Donald Trump -- that factor is still present. Many Democrats believe he is a threat to democracy and, most important, many Democratic activists are going to push for that turnout, and are really really concerned that we cannot trust Republicans."

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[Rick Plant]

Brian J. Karem @BrianKarem

I am tired of people who weren't there and didn't cover the previous administration telling me what I saw.
- 1/6 was an attempted coup
- Trump told ME to my face he wouldn't accept a peaceful transfer of power
 
Investigate. Indict. Prosecute. Everyone involved.
Including Trump.

https://twitter.com/BrianKarem/status/1553800074853056519

[Rick Plant]

Even Trump supporters are tired of hearing him whine about being wronged all the time: NYT reporter



New York Times reporter Jeremy Peters spoke to MSNBC on Monday about his recent report that the Fox network and Rupert Murdoch outlets are pushing Donald Trump away.

Quoting the piece Nicolle Wallace on "Deadline White House" noted that Trump hasn't been interviewed on the network for 100 days.

"Fox has largely avoided showing him live and instead has boosted other Republicans," said Wallace, noting that the network has resisted showing Trump's events live.

Peters explained that the Fox network never makes decisions that aren't based on their audience.

"By not showing Donald Trump understand that their audience will be fine with not seeing Donald Trump on an endless loop as he was shown for so many years during his White House and his two presidential campaigns," said Peters. "I don't think that means Fox has broken up with Trump and he's been complaining about this because they've been putting on Ron DeSantis. Ron DeSantis was on Fox interviews twice in less than five days and that kind of stuff drives Trump crazy because as much as he may like to pick fights with media, Fox included, he ultimately needs them. And where he prefers to be is at the center of the news cycle and that's not where he is right now."

He went on to say that the main reason that the Murdochs have moved on from Trump is that he won't stop talking about the 2020 election being stolen from him. While Trump has persuaded his followers to promote his conspiracy, it's a small percentage of the American public.

"What I think the Murdochs are on to is that most swing voters, the vast majority of the swing voters that you have left, and the Independents and even many Trump supporters, don't want to hear him complaining all of the time," Peters explained. "They don't want to hear him make this all about him, how he's been robbed and he has to go and avenge this grave injustice perpetrated [against him]. They do tire of hearing his whining and that's what the Murdochs have zeroed in on."

Former Republican strategist Tim Miller explained that they're not going to do anything to make Trump disappear but if they could snap their fingers and make it happen, they would.

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[Rick Plant]

'Nothing is off limits': Trump has convinced his followers that they're in a 'fight to the death'



In a column for The Atlantic, a former speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan and both Presidents Bush made the case that Donald Trump has convinced his most ardent followers that the country will collapse into chaos and "savagery" if he is not reinstated into his rightful place as president of the United States.

As Peter Wehner, a frequent critic of the former president sees it, Trump has led his fans to believe that "nothing is off limits" when it comes to the "America First" ideology that led to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Using Trump's speech before the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) last week as a jumping-off point, Wehner wrote that the former president's "disordered personality" was on display, writing, "What he cares about is the performative part of politics, inflaming people’s passions, creating chaos and conflict."

According to the columnist, Trump is a master at ramping up "fear, hate and grievances" which he has put to good use last week and at his recent rallies.

"Trump used his speech to portray his opponents as not just misguided but wicked and therefore suitable objects of hate," he wrote and cited the foirmer president telling the AFPI crowd, "“Despite great outside dangers, our biggest threat in this country remains the sick, sinister, and evil people from within," and then warning, "“But no matter how big or powerful the corrupt radicals that we’re fighting against may be, no matter how menacing they appear, we must never forget this nation does not belong to them. This nation belongs to you, the American people."

Adding that what Trump has done "in the eyes of his supporters is to set up a clash of epic, almost biblical proportions," the columnist added that to them it is a battle between "the children of light versus the children of darkness, patriots versus traitors, the decent versus the depraved. In an existential conflict such as this, everything is permissible; nothing is off limits."

Suggesting, "This is a fight to the death," the conservative author said of the 2024 presidential election, ,"Whether Trump wins or not, he has left an imprint on the Republican Party. In 2016, Trump was the outlier, a political freak. Today his inclinations, his enmities, his style of politics define the GOP."

"Whoever leads the Republican Party in the years ahead, the fear, grievances, and hate Trump poured into the cauldron won’t dissipate anytime soon. If and when the GOP finally does break away from the dark, fanatical, cultlike qualities that now characterize it, it will do so because the people who compose and define it seek—even if imperfectly—what is true and good and honorable," he wrote before concluding, "For the Republican Party, the only way out is the way up."

Read More Here: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/08/trump-america-first-speech-analysis-gop/671004/

[Rick Plant]

Trump welcomed Cassidy Hutchinson on his post-presidency team despite claims he didn't: report



Business Insider has obtained documents that they say show Cassidy Hutchinson was working with former President Donald Trump even after he left office.

Trump and his allies have set their sights on attacking Hutchinson after she testified to the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack and the effort to overthrow the 2020 election. Hutchinson was previously working with a lawyer paid for by Trump's political action committee, but several months ago, it was revealed she switched to her own counsel. It turned commentators to suspect it meant she was walking away from Trump World to cooperate with the committee. Up until that point, she had been quietly on the team.

Pro-Trump Trump lawyer Stefan Passantino was previously the one representing Hutchinson and he was paid by political donations.

"Federal Election Commission reports show that his legal compliance firm received more than $1 million from Trump-related political action committees in the 2021-22 election cycle, and that in the previous cycle Marjorie Taylor Greene, a staunch Trump loyalist and a House candidate at the time, paid him more than $93,000 for his services," New York Times, reporter Robert Draper wrote in July.

Insider reported that documents from the General Services Administration (GSA) show that Hutchinson was working for Trump's post-presidency office, formally known as the "Presidential Transition Support Team, 2021 Outgoing Transition." She worked on the efforts until April 2021 and was salaried at $90,000 annually. Giving an annual salary would indicate that a person would be working for more than a month.

Sunday evening it was reported by Rolling Stone that Trump's lawyers were already at work trying to beat criminal charges that they anticipate will likely come from the Department of Justice. A significant piece of information in the piece said that the Trump legal team kicked their efforts into high gear after Hutchinson testified in the public hearings.

Following Hutchinson's testimony, Trump attacked her, saying that she wasn't mentally sound and calling her "crazy." He never fully disputed her claims, however.

Trump's former deputy chief of staff, Tony Ornato, who now works at the Secret Service, was among those named by Hutchinson as present during many of the discussions about Jan. 6. After her testimony, the Secret Service said that Ornato and other agents would testify publicly that she was lying, but they still haven't done so.

The GSA documents showing the short employment of Hutchinson are part of Trump's ongoing attacks on her testimony, where he questioned why she went to work for him after Jan. 20 "if she felt we were so terrible." It's the same question activists have asked in the wake of her testimony: if she felt like Trump was so terrifying, why she stay at the White House after Jan. 6?

However, the same question could be used to question Trump's attacks on her. The ex-president claimed that he hardly knew Hutchinson, who was pictured with him on several occasions, and that he turned her down for post-presidency work. The GSA documents prove that wasn't true. In fact, he paid her until April 1, 2021.

"I understand that she was very upset and angry that I didn't want her to go, or be a member of the team. She is bad news!" said Trump in a post on his social media network. If he "didn't want her to be a member of the team," it's unclear why he paid her a salary and continued to pay for legal fees.

Hutchinson was never part of Trump's circle until the final year of the administration when she came to the White House with Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. Details about Hutchinson prior to her testimony describe her as Meadows' shadow, present at all of his congressional meetings and

CNN reported in June that Trump was "nervous" and "blindsided" by Hutchinson's testimony.

While Hutchinson cooperated with the Jan. 6 committee, she is now also cooperating with the Justice Department.

Media outlets reached out to Hutchinson through a friend. But she is not speaking to the media.

Read the GSA documents at Business Insider below:

https://www.businessinsider.com/cassidy-hutchinson-work-for-trump-january-6-attack-select-committee-2022-8

[Rick Plant]

Former FBI official says Matt Gaetz and Roger Stone know they're 'screwed' without Trump's pardon

Over the weekend, it was revealed that a documentary crew following Roger Stone recorded a conversation between him and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) about using members of congress to ensure he got a pardon for keeping his mouth shut in Robert Mueller's investigation.

Speaking to the audio and video posted by the Washington Post, former FBI official Frank Figliuzzi said that videos like this show the mafia-like operation within Trump world.

Figliuzzi pointed out that at one point Gaetz even tells Stone that he doesn't have a defense. Gaetz also read the formerly redacted pieces of the Mueller report and he's not supposed to talk about it. But Gaetz was more than willing to give Stone the details.

"The larger ramifications here, you know, are hinted at with regard to Stone saying, I'm going to be counting on you and about a dozen others, right?" Figliuzzi quoted. "A dozen others? Really? Who are going to lobby the president of the United States on a criminal's behalf and try to get a pardon for themselves and for you, Roger? It's a much larger conspiracy than I think even those of us who followed it every day could have imagined."

He also said that there is a consistent mentality of "we're all in this together" reflected among those in Trump's circle.

"You know, the Cosa Nostra, the Italian mafia, translates as 'this thing of ours,'" Figliuzzi said. "That's all I keep hearing here. We're all in this together. I've listened to court-authorized wiretaps of mobsters talking to each other and it sounds like this. There's better food around, by the way, but it sounds just like this. And they're part of a criminal enterprise, Nicolle. It's a criminal organization. They know it. They know they're screwed with regard to legality, and they know the only way out is for the boss to get them out of it."

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