Michael Steele, the former chair of the Republican National Committee and current MSNBC host, referenced marijuana when asked about Eric Trump's political ambitions.
Chris Jansing began Monday, "So, Michael, there is so much confidence in the power of Trump and the Trump name, his son Eric's interview with the Financial Times ignited talk of a potential Trump dynasty."
Jansing read a portion of the report where Eric Trump claimed that "the political path" for a family dynasty "would be an easy one," opening the door for another Trump to seek office after his father leaves the White House.
"'I think I could do it," Jansing read Eric's words. "And by the way, I think other members of our family could do it, too."
Eric Trump's wife, Lara, who hosts a show on Fox News after a brief stint as head of the RNC, could make that dynasty a reality. Rumors have swirled that she'll run for Sen. (R-NC) Tom Tillis's seat in next year's midtermelections, since he announced he won't run again.
Eric Trump "also said he's wholly unimpressed by half the politicians I see," Jansing read, with Eric adding, "I could do it very effectively."
"You know, if Americans are drunk on stupid, yeah, Eric Trump is your next president," Steele said. "Put that one in your pipe and smoke it. That's not some good ganja, let me tell you!"
Steele continued, sarcastically, "Sure, why not? You know, let's expand the grift. Let's widen the opportunity!"
He then got serious.
"Look, this is all unserious stuff," Steele remarked before talking about the impact a Trump dynasty would have on "real people."
"It's on the members of my party, the Republican Party, that have agreed to cut programs that they told the American people they would not cut, to expand the reach and the depth and breadth of dollars for to the benefit of those who are much, far wealthier than those red districts that they that they represent. And they will have to now look those voters in the eye, and they'll either continue to lie to them, and the voters will buy it, or they won't, and they'll unelect them. That's the politics of this."
A writer for Salon noticed all of the aesthetic "ugliness" surrounding the Trump administration and came to one conclusion: Trump himself loves the grotesque, so his faithful followers deliberately make themselves as gaudy as possible to please him.
"The reality TV host has always embraced an aesthetic that is as hideous as it is expensive, from gold-plated everything to his vile haircut to his ill-fitted suits," wrote columnist Amanda Marcotte. "It's only grown worse in the decade since he first ran for president, as both the leader and followers compete to inject as much unsightliness as possible into the American field of vision."
Marcotte took shots at the people who surrounded Trump — both men and women — who have a similar look: botoxed and surgically enhanced, with makeup so thick it could "crack."
She surmised that the garish look and filler-heavy faces had more to do with "kissing up to Trump" than lacking self-awareness.
"I agree with Barnard professor Anne Higonnet, who told Mother Jones it's 'a sign of physical submission to Donald Trump,'" Marcotte wrote. "After all, the look requires doing everything wrong, in a way so thorough that self-abasement seems a big part of the point."
She cited the "Mar-a-Lago face," created through "aggressive plastic surgery, fake tan, and make-up spackled on so thick that it would crack — if the fillers hadn't already paralyzed their faces" as being to blame for the over-the-top looks of the likes of Kristi Noem, Lara Trump, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Matt Gaetz, and Trump's wife, Melania.
Marcotte wrote that a certain "ugliness" garners loads of attention, which is what Trump lives for.
"As a bonus, the weirdness 'triggers' the liberals, which is the goal above all others in Trumpland," she wrote. "But there's also an ideological project, however unwitting, in the uncanniness. Fascism, especially the 21st-century version practiced by the MAGA movement, is at war with reality."
"The hyperreality of the MAGA aesthetic is about power," Marcotte concluded. "Unable to create good or beautiful things, they express dominance by turning everything ugly."
Former President Donald Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump, whom Trump made co-chair of the Republican National Committee, announced on Saturday she is no longer in consideration for the role of Senator in Florida.
Trump team members openly floated the idea of Ron DeSantis appointing Lara Trump to replace Marco Rubio as a Senator in Florida. Rubio was appointed to a Cabinet position in Trump's new administration.
"After an incredible amount of thought, contemplation, and encouragement from so many, I have decided to remove my name from consideration for the United States Senate," she wrote on X. "I could not have been more honored to serve as RNC co-chair during the most high-stakes election of our lifetime and I’m truly humbled by the unbelievable support shown to me by the people of our country, and here in the great state of Florida."
She added, "I have read so many of your kind messages and I cannot thank you enough. I do have a big announcement that I’m excited to share in January, so, stay tuned. I remain incredibly passionate about public service and look forward to serving our country again sometime in the future. In the meantime, I wish Governor DeSantis the best of luck with this appointment."
Former President Donald Trump's daughter-in-law has a new project going, according to her social media — but it appears she was the victim of hackers.
On Tuesday, Lara Trump, who currently holds a senior leadership position in the Republican National Committee took to X to discuss a cryptocurrency venture she and her husband, Eric Trump, had been working on.
"I'm excited to finally be able speak on World Liberty Financial, the project I have been working on alongside my husband @EricTrump," Mrs. Trump wrote. "I would first like to discuss what we are trying to build. Our goal at World Liberty, is to utilize our governance token on Solana, $WL, to support our DeFi lending protocol."
"This is to ensure the American people are in full control of their finances, with no single point of failure," she continued. "We want to take power away from the centralized banks, and give it back to the people. We want the people to have better lending and borrowing rates. We want the average person to thrive on taking charge of their own finances."
Shortly after this, however, Eric Trump took to his own account to warn followers that this post is a scam from hackers who broke into her account — as well as the account of his younger sister Tiffany Trump.
"This is a scam!!" he wrote, adding that their X profiles were "compromised."
But the correction came after many commenters on social media had already widely mocked Mrs. Trump's "project."
"Will your husband funnel this money to other purposes too like he did his charity?" wrote national security attorney Bradley Moss — a reference to the fact that Eric Trump's former foundation has been accused of skimming off money intended for pediatric cancer patients for his personal business ventures.
"Less than 70 days until Election Day and the head of the RNC is launching a money making scheme," wrote James Singer, the rapid response adviser for Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign.
"Hunter Biden, we hardly knew thee," wrote conservative anti-Trump attorney George Conway, referring to how Republicans spent the last several years trying to make a congressional investigation and impeachment out of accusations that President Joe Biden's son at various points tried to use his family name to benefit his personal business ventures.
Former President Donald Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump, the newly-minted co-chair of the Republican National Committee, was ridiculed on social media on Sunday after threatening to prosecute "illegal citizens."
Lara Trump, who once vowed that the RNC will "physically handle the ballots" in the upcoming election, was interviewed on Fox News.
"If you're a person who is attempting to cheat in our elections or you’re an illegal citizen attempting to illegally vote in our elections, we will find you, track you down and prosecute you to the full extent of the law. We're watching everything, we're filing lawsuits when necessary, and we have people everywhere," the Trump relative said Sunday.
The internet was perplexed by who Lara Trump could mean when she said "illegal citizens."
Columbia University School of Professional Studies lecturer Ted Perlmutter said, "Republicans of the Trumpian stripe have been trying to attach 'illegal' onto everything concerned with immigration, so it comes as no surprise that Lara has landed on the ultimate oxymoron 'illegal citizen.'"
Former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann, responded, saying, "There's a lot of illegal stupid in the [Lara and Eric Trump] household."
Chris Coble, who famously lost three children in a car accident, said, "The oxymoron of 'illegal citizen' aside, people who are here illegally really don’t want to shine a flashlight on themselves by committing a felony to illegally vote."
"This entire segment is for show," Coble added.
Artist Sarah Burgess said, "Time and time again, Lara shows how absolutely stupid she is. What is an illegal citizen?"
Trump's official announcement Monday afternoon used "JD."
So did Republican National Committee Vice Chairwoman Lara Trump. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), is also on Team "JD" — even if he's in no way a supporter of the man who could become vice president.
But in an email to supporters, the National Republican Congressional Committee went a different route, urging supporters to "congratulate J.D. Vance" with an online message and political donation.
Make America Great Again Inc., a flagship pro-Trump super PAC, also employed punctuation in J.D.
Vance himself doesn't help clarify matters.
His best-selling book "Hillbilly Elegy" lists "J.D. Vance" as the author.
An image of the cover of Hillbilly Elegy, written by J.D. Vance, Donald Trump's newly named vice presidential nominee. (HarperCollins)
His official U.S. Senate page says "JD Vance."
And Vance has it both ways on X, formerly Twitter, where his account names him both as "J.D." and "JD."
X account for Sen. J.D. Vance. (X)
Raw Story joins various publications including the New York Times and Los Angeles Times in using "J.D." in its articles. CNN and Fox News, which agree on little, both employ "JD."
So, Raw Story put the question to the Trump campaign: For the purposes of the Trump-Vance ticket, which style do you prefer?
"JD (no periods in between letters)," Trump spokesman Steven Cheung emailed back.
Either way, Vance's "J.D." or "JD" are the initials of "James David."
One of the heads of the Republican National Committee is in hot water with fellow conservatives after releasing a July 4th video in which she appears working out to a rap song.
Lara Trump, the daughter-in-law of former president Trump who is carrying out his wishes within the Republican party, posted the video on Friday. Her caption included a reference to Independence Day, but there was no discernable theme to the video other than her working out and occasionally dancing.
The video didn't land well with several supporters of Trump.
The Republican party is worried about 2024 losses that could occur as a result of election fraud claims pushed by Donald Trump, a GOP strategist said Sunday.
Republican strategist Susan del Percio, who has a history of working with Republican candidates and in Rudy Giuliani's administration, appeared on MSNBC on Sunday, where she was asked about Lara Trump's recent claim that her father-in-law had accepted the election results from 2020.
"What does it mean if this is the person who is running the [Republican National Convention]?" the host asked.
"There are a few things in play here," said del Percio. "Republicans are worried about the stealing of the election claim, they saw what happened in 2022. Given the stories that we are seeing here now in 2024, Republicans know that it is a vulnerability for them."
She added that Lara Trump "is nothing but a show for her father [in-law]."
"She should probably just spend her time in the recording studio because she is doing more harm than good as far as being the head of the R.N.C. She does not know what the job is," the strategist said Sunday. "She only knows what she is told to do."
WASHINGTON — Some of former President Donald Trump’s fiercest allies in Congress may be multi-millionaires, but that doesn’t mean they’re opening up their wallets for the reality TV star turned contestant for America's most indicted.
“There’s only so much money,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) told Raw Story.
With creditors demanding a $454 million bond as his appeals slowly wind through the courts, Trump’s personal deficits have been the talk of the Capitol in recent days.
“Hopefully, I never get into that problem myself,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) told Raw Story while riding an elevator in the Capitol.
“You’re not planning to cut him a check?” Raw Story asked.
“No. I don't have enough. Mine would be just a blip,” Tuberville — who’s been estimated to have a net worth of around $20 million — said. “But if I could help, I’d help, maybe.”
Most Republicans on Capitol Hill now parrot the former president’s rhetoric, dismissing Trump’s legal problems as “lawfare” — think lawsuits instead of bullets — by the left and presenting him as a modern day martyr.
“Listen, I’m sympathetic with the lawfare that is being waged against him. Actually quite sympathetic. This is the price he's paying for being involved in politics and running for the office again,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) told Raw Story. “You could argue it's grossly unfair for him to have to pick up the full tab, so I personally don't have a problem with him explicitly asking for support.”
“Are you gonna donate?” Raw Story asked the former CEO worth an estimated $78 million.
“I've paid my price,” Johnson — who the Select Jan. 6 Committee implicated in helping carry out Wisconsin Republicans’ fake elector scheme in 2021 — said through a smile and chuckle.
While Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) is estimated to be worth more than $300 million — making him the wealthiest sitting U.S. senator — Trump shouldn’t come shaking his tin cup around the former chief executive of the Sunshine State.
“I’m optimistic he’ll figure it out. He's a pretty resourceful guy,” Scott (R-FL) told reporters just off the Senate floor Thursday.
“Would you donate?” Raw Story asked.
“He's a resourceful guy,” Scott answered with a laugh before heading into the chamber to vote.
Personal and political money troubles collide
Trump hasn’t directly asked his Senate allies to chip in to help him pay his civil penalties, fines and lawyers, which now top half a billion dollars — including interest, which Forbes reports is ticking up at $111,984 a day.
But the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee finds himself in a potentially cataclysmic financial mess that mixes both his personal fortune and the finances of his presidential campaign.
During the past two years, Trump’s political operation has spent upward of $80 million on legal fees — an astounding sum for anyone, let alone a presidential candidate. Every dollar Trump’s political machine spends on his four separate criminal cases and various civil court matters is a dollar not spent on attacking Democrats or boosting Republicans.
Conversations in conservative circles have often focused on fundraising for Trump’s legal defense instead of beating President Joe Biden, which has some Republicans fearing the GOP will suffer up and down the ballot come November.
And while it’s still early in this general election and Trump’s poll numbers have looked decent, his fundraising has been anemic. Similarly, Biden’s poll numbers are lagging, even as his campaign coffers are overflowing.
Biden’s warchest is currently triple that of Trump's. The latest Federal Election Commission filings show Biden’s campaign and joint fundraising committee are sitting on $155 million compared to the $41.9 million cash on hand at Trump’s disposal. Such figures don't include money raised by committees the candidates don't directly control, such as supportive super PACs.
Trump may have had a good fundraising month in February, netting upward of $20 million in tandem with his joint fundraising committee, but he still found himself outraised by $3 million by former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC) before she dropped out of the GOP presidential primary — withholding both her endorsement and her dollars.
“I think we just have to look at the hard math. Democrats are hitting on all cylinders in terms of fundraising, so we've already got a structural challenge where we're not raising as much as them,” Sen. Tillis of North Carolina said as he entered an elevator in the Capitol. “These races are big races. They cost a lot of money. You gotta mobilize voters, so I'm sure it's a concern for them, too.”
Besides begging for longshot loans, selling off assets and engaging in other creative monetary maneuvers, the former president is now leaning on the sale of $399 gold sneakers and a GoFundMe with an eye-popping $355 million goal.
It’s still unclear if Trump can wiggle out of the straight jacket ensnaring him through the newly announced merger between his fledgling social media company, Truth Social, and Digital World Acquisition Corporation. While the deal could eventually net Trump some $3 billion, his hands are currently tied by an agreement constraining him from selling his shares for the next six months — when the earliest of 2024 early votes are slated to be cast.
Instead of focusing on his reelection, Fox News hosts, such as Laura Ingraham and Mark Levin, have been pushing their massive audiences to donate to Trump’s legal fund.
They’re not the only ones thinking about Donald’s debt these days.
'Trump’s a movement'
Per his usual, Trump has his fierce defenders who say everything’s fine.
“Trump’s a movement. It’s not just the candidate. He’s a movement,” Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) — who served as Trump’s first Interior secretary until scandals ended his tenure in the executive branch — told Raw Story. “I'm not worried.”
“You gonna cut a check for his legal fund?” Raw Story inquired.
“I’ll support my president,” Zinke — who’s estimated to own assets topping $30 million — said.
Other rich Republicans also aren’t entirely slamming the door shut on providing future legal aid to Trump.
“I am confident the [former] president will be able to figure out how to manage his campaign and finances to be successful,” Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) told Raw Story while walking through the Capitol.
While he may not be as wealthy as his Senate counterparts, Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) has made millions through his gun store and firing range, which means he can’t give Trump in-kind donations because it’s illegal for the former president to even “receive” a firearm or ammunition while under felony indictments.
Budd’s not looking to arm Trump for warfare though.
“Oh my goodness, it's complete lawfare,” Budd (R-NC) told Raw Story on his way to a Senate vote.
The freshman senator dismisses fears from some in the GOP that Trump’s legal fundraising is handicapping the party ahead of November.
“No. Completely separate,” Budd said.
Many in the GOP are banking on Biden foiling his own reelection bid. They expect the grassroots to be there for Trump — no matter the mind-numbing sums he’s scrambling to raise — just as they’ve been there for him in past fundraising appeals.
“I think that his support that he has at the grassroots will give him the money he needs,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) told Raw Story. “And I think that there's a big anti-Biden movement. A downturn in money's not going to make a big difference.”
Other Republicans are indifferent or awkwardly distancing themselves from the troubled Trump — and the entire GOP through him, the party’s defendant-in-chief — brand.
“I haven’t thought about it at all,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) told Raw Story.
“I didn't know about that either,” Collins said in reference to the “bloodbath” earlier this month when Trump ousted Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and installed his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, as Republican National Committee — or RNC — co-chairwoman.
“Oh, yeah?” Raw Story asked. “Are you still a Republican?”
“It’s not uncommon when there's a new chair for there to be a major staff turnover,” Collins replied without answering our question.
RNC shakeup sends shivers through old Republican guard
Campaigns are more than dollars and cents though, and Trump’s ongoing personal shakeup of the RNC has unsettled many veteran Republicans.
Among country club Republicans and critics alike, this is just par for Trump’s political course.
“I don't think there's any norm or barrier that former President Trump won't be ready and willing to cross if it's in his personal, financial or egotistical interest,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) told Raw Story while walking to a vote on the Senate floor.
Romney is dismissed as a disloyal “Never Trump”-er by many in his own party. Besides McDaniel being his niece, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee is retiring at the end of this term.
Romney may be a critic, but he says he’s not given up on his party yet, even as the Republican Party has morphed into something unrecognizable from his time as the GOP standard-bearer.
Romney says he loves his party and fears Trump’s self-serving moves will be felt by conservatives for decades.
“The party has to exist beyond and after Donald Trump and I are gone, and so weakening the party, making it a personal appendage, is not a good thing,” Romney — who’s estimated to be worth more than $170 million, making him one of the top 10 wealthiest senators — said.
Even though he lost to then-President Barack Obama in 2012, Romney credits the RNC with helping turn out his supporters.
“It was a very helpful organization in turning out the vote, so it helped raise money for me and it turned out the vote. To win elections, it’s all about organization. Ground game still makes a difference,” Romney said. “Once I became the presumptive nominee, we worked hand in glove.”
Romney did that without placing any of his children at the helm of the RNC.
“Having family members serve in the administration looked like nepotism. Didn't seem to bother him. Didn't seem to bother the voters who put him there,” Romney said.
Not all Democrats are dancing
On the other side of the proverbial aisle, many liberal talking heads are giddy watching Trump scramble for millions and millions of pennies. But Democrats in tight races this fall know they can’t count on Trump’s legal woes to win.
Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) is fighting for his political life in Montana. He’s raised upwards of $5 million four quarters in a row now, and he’s not letting up just because of Trump’s mounting legal bills.
“I don’t know that it makes a lot of difference, actually,” Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) told Raw Story.
Democrats also have other fears.
“Depends on whether he’s busy raising money for his legal fees instead of for his campaign, but it does concern me that it will be added financial pressure compromising him,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) told Raw Story on his way to meetings on the Senate side of the Capitol Thursday.
Schiff, who recently clinched a spot on the ballot in California’s U.S. Senate general election in November, is a Harvard educated lawyer who was the impeachment manager for Trump’s first impeachment.
“He’s always been all about the money,” Schiff said. “But now there will be even greater risk that he trades American interests for money.”
For many Republicans, the party's recent decision to make Donald Trump's family member one of its leaders was a step too far.
Trump has encouraged the addition of his daughter-in-law, Lara, to the leadership team at the Republican National Committee. For her part, Lara Trump has stood beside her claims that Republicans want to fund her father-in-law's vast legal bills.
But for certain rank and file GOPers just trying to hold on to the party they've always associated with, the decision smacks of nepotism. Some of them are choosing to leave the party, just as many longtime members did when Trump won the primary this week.
U.S. Army Iraq War Veteran Peter Henlein vowed to withhold future donations in light of the installation of Lara Trump.
"Lara Trump is now Co-Chair of the RNC. After a lifetime of donating to every GOP nominee and multiple down ballot candidates every cycle….I’m out," he said Friday. "I donated to help win elections, not to maintain the lifestyle of a billionaire. No point donating now."
Conservative Navy veteran Dan Stilwell concurred: "I will not donate another penny to the GOP as long as she is involved in its leadership."
@Noaharkmoney had a similar thought: "MAGA [GOP] not getting a dime from me ever again. Good luck trying to raise money for Trump's legal issues."
"I will focus on down ballot races this year," Gen Z conservative Republican Ayden David Marietta said in response to the news. "But if these idiots aren’t ousted or they don’t wake up nationally in 2024, I will see to it they will. We must RECLAIM THE PARTY OF LINCOLN, COOLIDGE, AND REAGAN!!"
"For the last 40 years, I've supported the GOP," @Cheley5588 wrote on Friday. "Sadly, I will not send another dime to the RNC, but will contribute to conservative candidates directly."
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An image of the cover of Hillbilly Elegy, written by J.D. Vance, Donald Trump's newly named vice presidential nominee. (HarperCollins)
X account for Sen. J.D. Vance. (X)
