Trump’s increasingly erratic and corrupt behavior condemns Republican leaders who continue to support him.
asserted
who → condemn → him
At 8:00 last night, he posted on social media his longest entry ever: an emotional 1,323-word screed attacking late-night host Bill Maher.
asserted
he → post → Maher
While the screed was directed at the comedian, it seemed really to be a cry of fury at his loss of control over his base and over the country.
asserted
it → direct → country
Giant turnout for rallies by former president Barack Obama in Ohio and Michigan on Saturday illustrated the changing mood of the country.
asserted
turnout → illustrate → country
In Cleveland, Obama rallied voters behind Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Sherrod Brown and gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton.
asserted
Obama → rally → Senate
In Michigan he rallied voters for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson, Michigan’s current secretary of state, and Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed.
asserted
he → rally → Senate
Obama told attendees that El-Sayed is “fighting for change, real change, that will get money out of politics and put money in your pocket” and would “finish the job we started with the Affordable Care Act and guarantee quality, affordable healthcare to every single American.”
asserted
we → tell → American
He called out Trump’s corruption, “enriching himself and his family” and “selling favors.”
asserted
He → call → favors
Obama’s jokes were even more calculated to get under Trump’s skin.
asserted
jokes → get → skin
As Joseph Gedeon of the Guardian reported, Obama mocked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s fascination with testosterone levels and asked: “How much time do you think this man spends in front of the mirror every day?”
asserted
man → report → mirror
He belittled Trump’s fight with “that well-known evil empire, Canada,” a poke reminding listeners that President Ronald Reagan had called Russia an “evil empire” while Trump is now in league with that regime.
asserted
Trump → belittle → regime
And Obama poked fun at Trump’s White House projects, saying “he should be on HGTV,” a cable network that focuses on home improvement and interior design.
asserted
that → poke → improvement
Perhaps even more galling to Trump were the images that circulated on social media of Obama’s packed venues, comparing them to the dwindling crowds at Trump’s.
asserted
that → circulate → Trump
Trump’s post about Maher listed Trump’s own triumphs, beginning with The Apprentice, and claimed that Maher has been “DESPARATELY” [sic] begging him to come on his own show.
asserted
Maher → list → show
Trump then tore into the idea that Trump’s popularity has dropped so far that even Republicans are abandoning him, reiterating that a CNN poll showed “I’m at 98 and 99% support within the Republican Party, an All Time Record High,” higher even than Reagan’s high-water mark.
asserted
I → tear → mark
The post felt frantic.
asserted
post → feel → ?
In fact, the CNN poll to which Trump referred measured his popularity among his own base of self-identified MAGA Republicans, not the Republican Party as a whole.
asserted
Trump → refer → whole
Trump went on to post videos to reinforce his claims.
uncertain
Trump → go → claims
Trump’s determination to keep Republicans in control of Congress seems to be about more than his refusal to accept that he isn’t always the winner.
asserted
he → keep → refusal
Since January, he has been warning that if Democrats take control of the House of Representatives, they will impeach him.
asserted
they → warn → him
Increasingly, it seems he is concerned about what such hearings will uncover.
asserted
hearings → seem → what
On Saturday the Washington Sun reported that the White House has been evaluating whether to issue a blanket pardon for all junior staffers.
asserted
House → report → staffers
Such a move would take away their incentive to cooperate with investigations, but it would also remove their ability to refuse to speak under their Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination.
asserted
it → take → incrimination
The administration is already trying to hide documents, emails, and texts between Trump’s hand-picked Kennedy Center director Matt Floca and Trump’s executive assistant Natalie Harp about Trump’s sabotage of the Kennedy Center.
asserted
administration → try → Center
They are also trying to shield messages between Floca and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick about the Kennedy Center when Lutnick was acting for Trump in discussions about the performance center.
asserted
Lutnick → try → center
Zach Everson of Public Citizen noted that Trump’s hotel in Washington, D.C., opened ten years ago today, and Republicans’ refusal to condemn the flood of money into that enterprise to buy his goodwill convinced him that there would be no repercussions for grifting off the presidency.
asserted
refusal → note → presidency
Everson notes that at the opening Trump said, “Today’s a metaphor for what we can accomplish in this country,” and now, ten years later, he has made more than $1.4 billion off crypto while investors have lost $4.8 billion.
asserted
investors → note → billion
On Thursday a shareholder of a publicly traded U.S. crypto company sued Trump and his family’s World Liberty Financial crypto company.
asserted
shareholder → trade → Trump
The lawsuit accuses Trump and the company “corruptly profiting” off more than $2 billion in crypto deals, including a deal that violates the Constitution’s prohibition on accepting gifts from foreign countries: a $500 million investment made by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is the brother of the current president of the United Arab Emirates and who manages a UAE sovereign wealth fund.
asserted
who → accuse → fund
Today Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee released a report saying that a “growing body of evidence demonstrates that Donald Trump was an active participant in Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of young women during the mid-to-late 1990s.
asserted
Trump → release → 1990s
The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are doing everything they can to keep the American people in the dark about it.”
asserted
they → do → it
The report offered new information from Beatrice Keul, a former Miss Switzerland, who says Trump used a pageant at the Plaza Hotel in New York City as a “hunting ground” to prey on young victims and that Trump raped her there in 1993, leaving her bleeding and bruised.
asserted
Trump → offer → her
At a rally yesterday, Trump told attendees if the Democrats win the midterms, “you will only have yourselves to blame.”
asserted
you → tell → yourselves
And so, he and his allies are trying to put their finger on the scales against Democratic voters.
asserted
he → try → voters
Bill Allison and Dana Hull of Bloomberg reported on October 22 that billionaire Elon Musk, whose companies depend on U.S. government contracts, has poured at least $445 million (not a typo) into the Republican effort to keep control of Congress.
asserted
companies → report → Congress
That money is swamping Democratic candidates, who nonetheless are holding on to a significant percentage of the vote.
asserted
who → swamp → vote
So, last Thursday, the Trump administration sued the state of Alaska and its election officials personally to try to stop the certification of the U.S. Senate election there if Democrat Mary Peltola wins.
asserted
Peltola → sue → election
Unless the Republican incumbent, Senator Dan Sullivan, wins, the Department of Justice says, state officials must not accept the results.
asserted
officials → win → results
The Republicans’ complaint is that a candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan is also on the ballot, and they are currently claiming that if the Republican incumbent loses it will be as a result of voter confusion.
asserted
it → name → confusion
But the Alaska Supreme Court has already rejected a Republican attempt to get Daniel J. Sullivan removed, and the Alaska Republican Party chose how to identify the two Sullivans: the incumbent is listed as the Republican incumbent while the other Sullivan is listed without a party affiliation.
asserted
Sullivan → reject → affiliation
…and 16 more, not listed.
The Aporia
