Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2

[Rick Plant]

Trump pollster's campaign autopsy paints damning picture of defeat

The 27-page report pins Trump's loss on voter perception that he was untrustworthy and disapproval of his pandemic performance




Former President Donald Trump has blamed the election results on unfounded claims of fraud and malfeasance. But at the top levels of his campaign, a detailed autopsy report that circulated among his political aides paints a far different — and more critical — portrait of what led to his defeat.

The post-mortem, a copy of which was obtained by POLITICO, says the former president suffered from voter perception that he wasn’t honest or trustworthy and that he was crushed by disapproval of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. And while Trump spread baseless accusations of ballot-stuffing in heavily Black cities, the report notes that he was done in by hemorrhaging support from white voters.
The 27-page report, which was written by Trump chief pollster Tony Fabrizio, shows how Trump advisers were privately reckoning with his loss even as the former president and many of his supporters engaged in a conspiracy theory-fueled effort to overturn the election. The autopsy was completed in December 2020 and distributed to Trump’s top political advisers just before President Joe Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration.

It is unclear if Trump has seen the report.

The findings are based on an analysis of exit polling in 10 states. Five of them — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania — are states that Trump lost after winning them in 2016. The other five — Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas — are states that Trump won in both elections.

The report zeroes in on an array of demographics where Trump suffered decisive reversals in 2020, including among white seniors, the same group that helped to propel him to the White House. The autopsy says that Trump saw the “greatest erosion with white voters, particularly white men,” and that he “lost ground with almost every age group.” In the five states that flipped to Biden, Trump’s biggest drop-off was among voters aged 18-29 and 65 and older.

Suburbanites — who bolted from Trump after 2016 — also played a major role. The report says that the former president suffered a “double-digit erosion” with “White College educated voters across the board.”

The picture of the election presented in the report is widely shared by political professionals in both parties, if not by Trump and his legions of his supporters. Trump never offered a concession to Biden, and up until his final days in office, he clung to the debunked idea that the election had been stolen.

Fabrizio declined to comment on the post-mortem. A Trump spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump’s personal behavior, the autopsy makes clear, contributed to his defeat. “Biden had a clear edge over POTUS on being seen as honest & trustworthy,” Fabrizio writes.

Trump’s response to the pandemic was also critical. The autopsy says that coronavirus registered as the top issue among voters, and that Biden won those voters by a nearly 3-to-1 margin. A majority registered disapproval of Trump’s handling of the virus.

Most voters said they prioritized battling the coronavirus over reopening the economy, even as the president put a firm emphasis on the latter. And roughly 75 percent of voters — most of whom favored Biden — said they favored public mask-wearing mandates.

The report also indirectly raises questions about the reelection campaign’s decision to pause advertising on TV over the summer and save resources until the fall. According to the findings, nearly 9-in-10 voters had made up their minds about whom to support by the final month of the race.

Fabrizio isn’t the only Trump adviser who has presented a post-mortem since Nov. 3. John McLaughlin, another Trump pollster, published a report on the conservative Newsmax website the week after the election.

Within Trump’s inner circle, Fabrizio had long espoused the belief that Trump needed to prioritize the pandemic in order to win reelection. Last summer, he penned a 79-page memo arguing that Trump needed to focus first on dealing with the pandemic rather than reopening the economy and recommending, among other things, that he should have been encouraging people to wear masks rather than mocking the practice.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/01/trump-campaign-autopsy-paints-damning-picture-of-defeat-464636

[Joe Elliott]

You can just look at poll numbers as well. Only 56% of Republicans want him to run again. 34% do not want him to.

Yes, that’s true. But on the other hand, 97% of the Democrats want Trump to run again.

[Joe Elliott]

Maybe there’s a reason why the San Francisco Giants lost in the playoffs in 2016.
Maybe there’s a reason why the San Francisco 49ers lost the Superbowl in 2020.
Maybe there’s a reason why the owners of the Golden State Warriors are Joe Lacob and Peter Guber. And their head coach is Steve Kerr.
Trust the Plan.

[Richard Smith]

Yes, that’s true. But on the other hand, 97% of the Democrats want Trump to run again.

None of them voted for Harris.  She couldn't even make it to the primaries before dropping out.  And she will have four years of China Joe's failures to defend.   So Trump has 74 million voters and Harris has zero.  A good starting point for 2024 when voters will have to show up at the polls to vote.

[Martin Weidmann]

None of them voted for Harris.  She couldn't even make it to the primaries before dropping out.  And she will have four years of China Joe's failures to defend.   So Trump has 74 million voters and Harris has zero.  A good starting point for 2024 when voters will have to show up at the polls to vote.

So Trump has 74 million voters

Correction; he had 74 million voters.

[Rick Plant]

None of them voted for Harris.  She couldn't even make it to the primaries before dropping out.  And she will have four years of China Joe's failures to defend.   So Trump has 74 million voters and Harris has zero.  A good starting point for 2024 when voters will have to show up at the polls to vote.

Delusion at its finest. Seditious Donald lost in an election blowout. The GOP is going to lose even worse in 2022 and 2024 after the right wing GOP Senate protects and covers up his illegal coup and insurrection. People are angry and Republicans are leaving the party in droves. The GOP threw everything they had at Democrats in 2020 and got swept out just like I said they would. There's no way they are going to find any new voters to make up the difference in the next two elections. The GOP is done.

[Rick Plant]

Trump left a trail of dirty money for investigators to follow -- and it could put him behind bars
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-crime/

[Joe Elliott]

'Almost ended in a physical fight': Axios reporter describes Trump meeting

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/almost-ended-in-a-physical-fight-axios-reporter-describes-trump-meeting/vi-BB1djZ7g?ocid=msedgdhp

The most shocking part of this report is about Lieutenant General Michael Flynn trying to persuade President Trump to use the military to overturn the election.

Michael Flynn was a Lieutenant General. That’s a pretty high rank. He went through the usual progression of Brigadier general, Major General, Lieutenant General. Only half the officers receive a promotion to the next level. Very few officers ever get promoted to Brigadier General, and only half of them became Major Generals and only half of them become Lieutenant Generals. After three years of service, there is a 50-50 chance the general will be promoted to the next level. And a 50-50 change that he will be forced into retirement.

That is our system. Seems like a bad system, on the surface. We lose a lot of excellent officers. But maybe there is a danger of having senior officers who feel they were unfairly passed over for promotion, still in some command. These kinds of feelings was a factor in building up the resentment of Benedict Arnold who was eventually promoted to a very high rank, but this promotion came very late and his attitude had already hardened.

Flynn was just one promotion away from getting the rank of “General” which is the highest rank in the army for the last 60+ years. As a “General”, he would have a high enough rank to be appointed as the Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staffs. Although there are currently 34 four-star generals, plus this position can be held by an Admiral. But if Flynn had gotten one more promotion, Trump might have been able to maneuver Flynn into the position of Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff.

The military needs to do a better job of decided who gets promoted. General Colin Powell said getting a promotion is very competitive. The least flaw will end a general’s career, by preventing the next promotion. According to Colin Powell, having a wife who doesn’t get along with the other officer’s wives is a common reason for ending a career. I think the military needs to adjust their priorities and make loyalty to the Constitution something to consider. Does the officer in question have political views that might be undemocratic?

Lieutenant General Michael Flynn is one of the greatest traitors in American history. Of senior rank involving the military, he ranks with Major General Benedict Arnold and Secretary of War John B. Floyd.

I understand Flynn is not on the active list and so cannot be court martialed. But I understand he can be recalled to the active list and then is subject to court martial. I think this should be done. A strong message needs to be sent about treason.

I wonder if, under military law, the testimony of civilians can be used. I am almost certain it can be. If so, there does appear to have been witnesses to the December 18 meeting in the White House who could testify against him. The Pardon Trump gave him was given before December 18 so it would not protect him, I believe.