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Trump as a House Speaker is becoming a real threat — but it could backfire on the GOP
October 17, 2021
There's growing chatter that if Republicans can retake control of the House of Representatives in 2022, Donald Trump could bully his way into the speakership.
The once-farfetched nightmare scheme continues to be stoked by the dictator-in-waiting, as evidenced by reporting Saturday from National Public Radio (NPR). But as NPR also notes, Democrats could become energized at the notion of Trump sitting third in line to the Presidency.
"If the Republicans take the House back in the 2022 midterm elections, they get to pick a speaker, and there's no requirement that the speaker has to be an elected representative," NPR reports. "Even if it sounds wild, Trump hasn't shut down the idea when he has been asked about it, and it is causing people in both major parties to stop and think, since he remains the single most important Republican in the U.S. heading into next year's elections."
NPR contacted Trump spokesperson Liz Harrington for comment for its current piece and she hardly slammed the door on the eerie idea.
"We know a lot of people are talking about it," she told NPR. "A lot of people like the idea, but it's nothing Mr. Trump is thinking about,"
The report added: "But Trump was noncommittal when he appeared on Real America's Voice and host David Brody asked, "Is that something that you would seriously even consider?"
"Well, I've heard the talk and it's getting more and more, but it's not something that I would have considered. But it is — certainly, there's a lot of talk about it," the former president said.
"And when asked about the idea by conservative talk show host Wayne Allyn Root, Trump said, "You know, it's very interesting. That's so interesting."
Root responded, ""You become the speaker of the House, lead the impeachment of Biden and start criminal investigations against Biden. You'll wipe them out for his last two years, and then you'll be president. Do it!"
Still, as the report also suggests, that sort of ghoulish prospect might boil the blood of Democrats enough to backfire in a big way. Republicans in safe MAGA districts might love the idea, but those in swing districts certainly do not.
"The idea for some that Donald Trump could become the speaker of the House is almost as frightening as the idea of him becoming president again," said Democratic strategist Karen Finney. "That will potentially advantage Democrats — again, just the fear of it, just the very thought of it.
"Democrats would want to force every Republican House candidate to answer the question: If Trump wants the job, would they vote for him? Saying no would anger their MAGA base but saying yes would risk turning off swing voters who are exhausted with the former president. They'd be stuck, which is appealing to Democrats.
"I think it's totally fair game," said Democratic strategist Doug Thornell. "Look, like Republicans do this to Democrats all the time. To our front-liners, they say, 'Well, would you vote for Nancy Pelosi?' For Republican members, yeah, they should absolutely be on the record on ... would they vote for Trump as speaker."
Such insurrectionists as Steve Bannon and Rep. Matt Gaetz have been teasing audiences for months with the prospect of Speaker Trump. And since the creepy notion didn't vaporize back then -- and now with Trump continuing to welcome the speculation just a year out from the midterms -- it cannot be dismissed out of hand.
As NPR noted Saturday, if the Republicans could retake their majority in the House of Representatives in 2022 there are many reasons that the notion of a Speaker Donald Trump entices them. But none more chilling than this:
"There's the appeal of State of the Union night, when he would get to stand behind Biden, just like the current House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., stood behind Trump when he was president. It's a mass media performance opportunity Trump would revel in. And as some of his supporters have suggested, the speakership would be the perfect place for Trump to take political revenge from."
If that prospect doesn't rev up Democrats in 2022, nothing will.
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Chris Wallace asks Dr. Fauci why he's 'so controversial' after being demonized by Fox News
October 17, 2021
Fox News host Chris Wallace asked Dr. Anthony Fauci why he had become "so controversial," which can be partially blamed on the network where he was appearing.
The question from Wallace came at the conclusion of an interview with Fauci on Sunday.
“When this pandemic started, I think it's fair to say you were generally regarded as the authority on infectious disease," Wallace stated. "But as time has gone on, you've become a polarizing figure. Critics accuse you of sending mixed messages. There's allegations that you helped fund dangerous research at the Wuhan lab."
"Two questions: Why do you think you've become so controversial? And honestly, do you think there's anything you have done that has contributed to that?" the Fox News host asked.
Without specifically calling out Fox News, Fauci said that conspiracy theories were partially to blame for his sullied reputation.
"I have stood for always making science, data and evidence be what we guide ourselves by, and I think people who feel differently, who have conspiracy theories, who deny reality that's looking them straight in the eye, those are people that don't particularly care for me," he explained.
Rolling Stone pointed out that Fox News personalities have made Fauci a divisive figure by relentlessly attacking him on the air.
Watch the video below from Fox News.
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Trump's civil suit deposition on Monday could come back to haunt him: former federal prosecutor
October 17, 2021
According to a former federal prosecutor, answers that Donald Trump gives in a civil lawsuit deposition on Monday will likely be closely scrutinized by multiple prosecutors investigating the ex-president and could come back to haunt him in court cases yet to be filed.
Trump has been ordered by Justice Doris Gonzalez of the Bronx supreme court to give a videotaped deposition at Trump Tower on Monday that will be used as part of a "lawsuit brought by a group of demonstrators who said his security guard assaulted them during a 2015 demonstration outside Trump Tower," the Guardian has reported.
Speaking with MSNBC host Alex Witt, attorney and legal analyst Tali Farhadian stated that answers Trump gives about how the Trump Organization operates could become fodder for other investigations.
"It looks like this deposition is a go," host Witt began. "What do you think lawyers will ask Donald Trump?"
"Well, the question at the heart of this case is whether Donald Trump directed his security to assault the protesters who have brought this lawsuit," Farhadian replied before noting, "And, you know, it's interesting because it's a low-profile case from the presidential campaign, but it does represent the first time that Donald Trump is going to be asked a question like that under oath and I think that a world of lawyers, prosecutors, investigators, are going to be listening for that answer."
"Okay, so when you say whether the president directed them to rough these people up, how could that be verbally expressed?" host Witt pressed. "Because we've heard Donald Trump saying himself, in rallies over the years, he would like to knock somebody out, or he's going to rough somebody up. Is that the kind of thing that could get him into trouble legally here? Would it have to be 'I want you to beat them up'? How is that going to work, the interpretation of what he said?"
"Well, the protesters who have sued him are going to want to use the kind of evidence that you've just described, Alex, where we can impute to him the direction of his organization based on the stuff that he's said," the attorney explained. "What I think they would get into in the deposition is more trying to understand, how does he run his company, how regularly does he direct his security to do one thing or another? And those questions about how he runs his organization, what kind of manager he is, are really swirling around in a lot of the litigations and lawsuits that involve him."
"So depending on what he says and how he says it, come tomorrow, is there any way he could get into bigger trouble than where it stands right now?" the MSNBC host asked.
"Yes," Farhadian confirmed. "I think that, if he does in fact testify under oath, you know, give the deposition tomorrow, where the judge has said at the extremes he could have until the end of the month, then his next strategy, I anticipate, will be to try to keep whatever he said hidden, to keep it sealed and not disclosed, because as I said earlier, whatever he says there about how he directed his security could be really interesting to the people who want to know how else he runs his affairs."
"You know, Alex, I was just thinking, it would probably take us all afternoon to list all of the litigations and investigations that involve Donald trump right now, ranging from January 6 to the defamation suits by E. Jean Carroll and Summer Zervos," she added.
Watch below:
MSNBC 10 17 2021 13 52 31 youtu.be
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