In recent days, many have remarked that there won’t be the same kind of audience for Donald Trump’s palace intrigue this time around. I’m not so sure – it seems more terrifying to think that Trump might staff the White House with low-drama professionals who get sh-t done, as opposed to staffing himself with an assortment of narcissists, clowns, incompetents, sycophants and Kellyanne Conway. Interestingly enough, Elon Musk has been camped out at Mar-a-Lago for the past week. He hasn’t left. Elon is in every meeting, Trump is putting him on calls with world leaders, and Musk is making staffing decisions too. Gross.
After all that election night excitement, it seems Elon Musk just doesn’t want to go home. Multiple sources have told CNN that amid the post-victory buzz around Mar-a-Lago, the Tesla CEO has been at Donald Trump’s Florida resort almost every single day over the past week, with Instagram posts under the location tag showing him dining with the president-elect and his wife on Sunday, as well as spending time on the grounds with his son over the weekend.
“Dining with him on the patio at times, today they were seen on the golf course together,” network anchor Katilan Collins said in a broadcast on Sunday. “Musk has been in the room when world leaders have called, and tonight we have learned he’s also weighing in on staffing decisions, making clear his preference for certain roles even. While Musk himself is still not expected to take any kind of formal position inside Trump’s administration, given how complicated it would be with his companies, what’s becoming clearer tonight is that he doesn’t really need to,” Collins added. “One source told me, Elon Musk is having just as much influence from the outside.”
Other commentators have noted that Musk’s persistent presence at the resort over the past few days appears to be unnerving some members of Trump’s transition team, who have reportedly already come to view the tech tycoon as something of the “guest who wouldn’t leave” after the party.
“He definitely inserts himself all the time, that’s his style,” tech journalist Kara Swisher told CNN on Monday morning. “I’ve heard from Trump people, calling me saying, ‘Oh, wow. This is odd’. And it is.”
Swisher goes further to speculate that Trump and Musk’s bromance likely won’t survive the pressure of two planetary-sized egos vying for space in the halls of power.
“They’re both narcissists, and there can be only one narcissist as head of the country, and that’s Donald Trump,” Swisher said. “Trump goes through people like tissues, essentially. And even if it’s Musk, they’re going to clash at some point.”
Pre-election, I remember someone saying that Musk and Peter Thiel were vying to see which of the Apartheid-loving fascists would become Trump’s favorite. What’s even crazier is that I agree with Kara Swisher – Trump will get tired of Elon’s BS really quickly. Elon will become the least favored Large Adult Son. Notice who they’re not talking about – where is the other surrogate Large Adult Son, JD Vance?
Meanwhile, Trump has made some staffing decisions. He will appoint Susie Wiles as his chief of staff, which would make her the first woman in history to take that role in the White House. Wiles is a longtime Republican strategist and she looks like the biggest Karen in history. Terrifying. Reportedly, Trump will tap Joseph Goebbels-wannabe Stephen Miller as his deputy chief of staff and chief policy advisor. Trump will also appoint Thomas Homan as his “border czar.” Last month, 60 Minutes interviewed Homan and he is a stone-cold psychopath who wants to deport every person with a Spanish-sounding surname.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.
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- Miami, FL – Tech CEO Elon Musk arrives at Carbone Beach to enjoy a 7:30 p.m. to midnight dinner event in Miami. Pictured: Elon Musk BACKGRID USA 4 MAY 2024 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Miami, FL – The presence of high-profile figures including Donald Trump and Jake Paul at the Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 6, Miami Grand Prix, Race Day in Miami, Florida, USA, underscores the event’s allure as a magnet for celebrities and motorsport enthusiasts alike. Pictured: Donald Trump BACKGRID USA 5 MAY 2024 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Doral, FL – Republican Candidate for President Donald Trump attends the Noticias Univision – Destino 2024 Town Hall at the Univision Studios Florida in Doral, Florida. Pictured: Donald Trump BACKGRID USA 16 OCTOBER 2024 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Former United States President Donald Trump makes remarks at the 2024 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Featuring: Donald Trump Where: Oxon Hill, Maryland, United States When: 24 Feb 2024 Credit: POOL via CNP/INSTARimages.com
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- 10th Annual Breakthrough Prize Ceremony at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles Featuring: Elon Musk Where: Los Angeles, California, United States When: 14 Apr 2024 Credit: Faye’s Vision/Cover Images
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- 10th Annual Breakthrough Prize Ceremony held at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Featuring: Elon Musk Where: Los Angeles, California, United States When: 13 Apr 2024 Credit: Abaca Press/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- Donald Trump rally at Madison Square Garden attracting many Trump supporters, causing many long lines and clashes with rigorous security provided by the NYPD Featuring: Elon Musk Where: New York City, New York, United States When: 27 Oct 2024 Credit: TheNews2/Cover Images
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- Former United States President Donald J Trump, the 2024 Republican Party nominee for President of the US, is joined on stage by his pastor Paula Michelle White-Cain while making remarks to the National Faith Advisory Summit at the Worship With Wonders Church Featuring: Donald Trump, Paula Michelle White-Cain Where: Marietta, Georgia, United States When: 28 Oct 2024 Credit: CNP/INSTARimages
Leopards. Face. Eating.
It is the only joy i have left- the self-inflicted pain and suffering and death of magats.
I feel exhausted having to point out that the Latino men who swung to Trump are US citizens. Undocumented people didn’t vote for any of this. It’s them, not Trump voters, who are going to suffer. Please don’t comfort yourself by imagining Latines deserve this as some kind of karmic justice for voting for Trump.
Trump voters of all racial groups chose him because, among other reasons, they were cool with these leopards eating undocumented people’s faces.
Also, it’s very likely that the first targets of the mass deportation plan will be undocumented Black people, more than Latines, because we know Trump is racist and his voters (white and nonwhite) are anti-Black.
All these staffing decisions are really disturbing. The people from his last administration who had some respect for the rule of law and desire to stay within democratic norms are all gone. The white supremacists and sociopaths and oligarchs and tech bros will be running the place. And they have no loyalty to the US. It’s incredibly worrying.
And it makes me wonder who they’re going to replace Stefanik with in congress and Rubio in the senate…not anyone less extreme thats for sure.
New York has to hold a special election to replace Stefanik.
And she is a horrible choice for that position but this is her reward for stabbing Liz Cheney in the back.
Yes. This is one of the scariest, most terrifying posts I’ve read on Celebitchy. It gives me the chills.
Stephen f*cking Miller for deputy chief of staff for policy!
It WILL be as bad as we have been screaming about for the whole election cycle. Imagine that. I utterly despise all the magat voters and non-voters alike.
Everything I cherish is at stake and we have all been pulled down with this ship.
Musk and the new female Chief of Staff have links to Putin, so Putin is running the show now.
So, something that is worth pointing out – even if not comforting, lol – is that I think many are sort of whitewashing his past administration. He pretended, at the outset, to surround himself with competent people. But that went away very quickly and the scandals piled up so fast that most of them people can’t remember. For example, remember the sketchy meeting with Tillerson (his first Sec of State) and the Russian ambassador? Remember how he fired Tillerson when he was in the bathroom? Remember how he fired Comey? And at the end of the day he had Mark Meadows installed as CoS who helped him with Jan 6 and helped him try to overthrow the vote count in Georgia? Remember Flynn and his work as a foreign agent? There are so many sketchy names that I can barely remember at this point.
He’s never surrounded himself with people who abide by the rules, or who even know what the rules are. So I’m not shocked by the names he’s putting forth now. I’m going to be shocked if some of them are still around in a year.
Agreed. But how much damage will they do, in the meantime?
Oh for sure, the bar was already very very low in the last admin. There were a few people who had been in government before though and a couple of generals who pushed back on the more batshit of Trump’s demands.
I don’t think he’ll get any pushback this time.
Terrifying. Musk is so gross to me. I’m genuinely worried about his tech being a part of our military contracts and whatever else. This insecure baby is going to be making geo political decisions for the world. Kind of feels like russia won. Idk, it’s terrifying but I’m angry and just like well that’s what y’all voted for. But it sucks. There are innocent people who doesn’t deserve to suffer bc of these weak fools. But that’s where we are.
Musk is now putting his two cents in in the pick for Majority Leader for the GOP led US Senate. He has endorsed Rick Scott of FL for the spot. Musk is effectively a shadow president; he’s ineligible for the job of POTUS because he was not born in the US but by whispering in Trump’s ear he runs the country. Scary.
Trump will have Elon in one Ear Putin in his other ear and Vance at his butthole.
I’ve been screaming a this same thing also. I keep hearing, oh that’s not gonna happen….
Thiel backs JD Vance. I don’t think Vance being quiet is a good thing, since he’s “right there waiting.”
It’s all terrifying and awful, but I will still be giddy when Musk and T**** eventually have a super messy, bitchy, drama-ridden public split. We all know it will happen eventually.
Bingo. We already know that anyone (other than Ivanka) who gets involved with Trump comes away damaged in some way. And there’s no room for an ego as big as Elon’s to survive in Trump’s orbit for very long.
🎯
“You can hack anything.” – Elon musk tweet from the spring
“I don’t need your votes, I have the votes.” Trump, both at a rally and then again calling into Fox and Friends
“Mike and I have a secret weapon.” Trump speaking of Speaker Mike Johnson, tentatively and teasingly confirmed by Johnson
Bless you to anyone who whole heartedly believes the election outcome, but I do not. So here we sit with the hinkiest election outcome and Elon Musk driving policy because my party is, as ever, terrified of making waves.
May Elon get bored and decide to shoot himself at Mars. Go be as special and amazing there as you are here, Elon! Get it, ____!
Whether 90M miles into the atmosphere or 13,000 feet below the surface of the ocean, whether rocket ship or submersible, please send Musk and, honestly, every billionaire far far away.
I realize that the system that created the billionaires is still in place, but I can’t help think how much better we’d be without billionaires on the planet.
And truly, they’re such *exceptional* magical special people who can do anything they put their minds to: let’s send them to Mars where they will sure have the planet up and running in a matter of weeks, no? Let’s let them prove their worth!
The system is capitalism and we should always remind people of that. But you’re right that we’re not getting rid of capitalism anytime soon or ever, really.
Yeah there was a Chicago billionaire who recently died while racing his fancy car around a motor speedway and it just makes me realize how bored these guys are. Like, they have more money than they can ever spend in their lifetime, they don’t have to actually work so a lot of them gravitate towards thrill-seeking sports like sky diving, submersible expeditions, car racing etc. I think it’s the only way they can really *feel* something.
I have zero faith in the general American public to not vote like a-holes, but I was also paying attention to everything these narcissists were saying over the last six months and will go to my grave believing the outcome of this election was hinky as all get-out.
Because it is hinky as all get out. Does it pass the smell test, to anyone, that Trump somehow got more popular despite January 6th, Dobbs, his felony convictions, his adjudicated rape, his lackluster campaigning and airless rallies, his swaying for 40 minutes to music (!), that his campaign donations were down and were basically from a few very wealthy people whereas Harris was everywhere, her donations were insane and pretty much small donors, her rallies were energetic and well attended, so many people got on zoom calls that it broke zoom, she had a record number of volunteers, a record number of Republicans publicly saying that they could no longer stomach where their party was going and…. then nothing? an atypical number of people voting Trump and then nothing downballot?
No one’s going to mention all the missing mail ballots? Let’s look at Clark County in Nevada, the most populous county in that state. 1,413,864 ballots requested in total, 457,142 Democrat and 357,780 Republican. Of that 160,228 Democratic ballot were return, 92,487 Republican ballots returned. Some people may have decided not to vote at all, some may have instead voted in person but… does that really make any sense for 296,914 Democratic ballots to just poof?
Hinky as hell. And we’d better make noise because this isn’t a win or lose thing, this is an issue of whether we get to keep our democracy.
In my county, voting machines aren’t connected to the internet. They look like giant iPads but they are self contained and data gets stored on a flash drive. I don’t think you can hack a machine like that unless you have physical access to it. I assume this is true of most voting machines.
This breakup is going to be spectacular to watch
Meanwhile, Kristi Noem and Marco Rubio are getting cabinet positions
I just read about Kristi Noem, and my heart has been pounding ever since.
Noem shot her puppy. I’ll never forget!
Halfway terrified that Noem will be named Head of Wildlife Control.
What’s surprising is that the media is surprised that Trump and his sycophants are not following norms and rules. When have they ever? You know that Leon is going to be reading classified documents regularly.
What’s just as disturbing is that Trump seems to be making his cabinet picks by drawing names out of a hat. Kristi Noem for Homeland Security? Wtf? I guess any dogs crossing the border will be shot on sight. And there is no official job of “border czar” except in their xenophobic imaginations. But after they insisted for years that Kamala is Biden’s “border czar”, we will actually have one. But does he work under Kristi Noem who heads Homeland Security, or does he just free lance? This is gonna be wild. It already is.
Duck the useless media. The entire “liberal media” is corrupt from the top to the bottom and they are, probably even more so than the right wing media, why we are where we are. They both sides’d, they sanewashed, they couldn’t bring themselves to say how well Biden shepherded us through the dark days post Trump, they cannot bring themselves to do their jobs.
We need a liberal billionaire to buy a media outlet or we’re going to keep getting lapped. Most people do not tune in. People have the rather reasonable expectation that the media will report on things as they truly are, but that’s not where we are.
I’m not sure that would even change anything. Because it’s pretty clear from the exit poll data that a lot of the people who came out for Trump are not Fox-news watchers but primarily get their news from social media, podcasts, youtube etc. A lot of young men aren’t super politically-minded but they listen to Rogan, Barstool Sports, Theo Von and other Manosphere talking heads. They tune in to listen to them talk about gaming, wrestlers, sports etc and are introduced to politics like a kinda Manosphere gateway drug.
At the end of the day, I think we’d make more gains by following that model. Think Hasan Piker, but more popular and less political.
People blaming Trump’s resurrection on bad Democratic messaging don’t seem to understand that the message doesn’t matter if large swaths of voters don’t hear it. That appears to be what happened here. People don’t read or hear news anymore from the mainstream media. Unfortunately, they have replaced news consumption with social media consumption which is full of disinformation and outright propaganda, much of it foreign in origin. The result is an electorate stewed in lies. Any messages Democrats tried to send got swamped by the disinfo.
I am so burnt out on the analysis because it’s never-ending. Like, SO many things are true all at once and the big takeaway for me is that there was no silver bullet answer on how Kamala could win. I do think the Harris campaign made some unforced errors but I also agree that the RW media disinformation machine is massive, impressively influential, and almost impossible to combat.
Ultimately, Trump won on vibes, not policy. He won because he’s still seen as a political outsider and anti-establishment and The Change Candidate, which is fucking WILD and beyond frustrating.
But he owns that lane as well as the economic message, which is ultimately what tipped the election in his favor. I think a LOT of young men really gravitate to this idea of a fighter with an Us V Them mentality plus all the in-group/out-group psychology that makes people want to be on the winning team.
I’m really scared how his re-election will influence young men and TBH men in general because it’s clear that they view Republicans as cool and Democrats as lame dorks. And in male-dominated spaces you could see how dudes would see all their friends voting for Trump, all their idols endorsing Trump and do the same just to not be left out.
(I just articulated that terribly but hopefully people get what I’m trying to say…)
People need to stop using twitter and any of his products. I’ve stopped using twitter for ages and I’m so glad that my son’s school have stopped using it as well since last year and other schools in the trust have also stopped using it and moved to other more efficient methods of communicating. I’m not buying from Amazon if I can help it. It’s just a drop in the bucket but I’m voting with my attention and money.
Agreed.
It’s time to circle the wagons and start taking care of our own (with “our own” being anyone who thinks like us. I’m done feeling like we should be rescuing people who keep shooting at themselves).
AOC had a TikTok that I saw on the subreddit Something Is Wrong 2024 (the person completely misunderstood the subtext of what AOC was saying) in which she basically said get off line to some extent and begin making physical connections close to you. A knitting circle, a church (ELCA Lutheran churches are pretty notoriously liberal af), something, anything. We will need to have groups of like minded people and we will need to be beyond propaganda.
Did you replace it with a different platform or…?
I’m looking to leave soon but because Twitter has become a cesspool of hate, but I admittedly enjoy the engagement I get with progressive-minded folks so I’d like a decent alternative.
Over the last few days I have noticed that the progressive people I follow on Twitter are moving over to BlueSky or Threads or both.
I just joined Bluesky and I feel so weirdly relieved. The platform, at a quick glance, reminds me of Twitter circa 2012. Thank you all for the recommendations!
Spoutible.com is a good site.
The most powerful statement all of us can make in the next four years is to go highly ascetic in our lifestyle, especially women. Do not engage with a country that does not respect your rights. Do not buy anything that isn’t necessary. Reduce spending dramatically where you can. He’s going to crash the economy eventually, so we’re all going to need emergency funds, anyway.
Exactly! Buckle up!
My Aunt is a nonce and is paying the stupid $100 or however much, for the “Premium” because he “runs an unbiased true free speech platform” I can’t even!!
Hi Kitten, I kept my instagram and facebook but don’t regularly use it anymore. My son’s school have got an app that keeps parents’ updated about their child’s work and progress and we get messages/reminders as well on it.
Might sign up to threads. I have spoutible but not active on it. The social media landscape is just exhausting to navigate at times.
The parents’ app sounds great. It’s smart to focus on and engage with community right now. I know I’ll be getting more micro and less macro, probably start volunteering and organizing in local races.
Ok yeah I heard both Bluesky and Threads are decent. I’ll have to check them out–thanks.
Kitten, I got rid of X when he took over. I’m one Threads and love it. Yes, trolls are there but blocking them is so easy. I found lots of like-minded left-leaning people there.
Stephen King was kicked off Twitter for calling Elon “the First Lady,” so he’s just there performing his wifely duties.
Free Speech.
Unless it’s about Apartheid Clyde. Then… not.
King is on Blue Sky. He might be on Threads too.
I haven’t been on any social media platform before today. Just signed up on Blue Sky because I need to be as informed as possible to prepare for what’s ahead. I hate Zuckerberg so threads will most likely stay a “no” for me. Also you have to have an instagram account to join threads.
Blue sky seems great so far.
Stephen King is still on twitter.
We are headed for some very dark days. My biggest worry is that the Trump and super far right will try to rig the system permanently so elections will not even matter because they will not be fair and uncontrolled. I suspect Starlink will be appointed as the official satellite system to upload votes. We all know that they did it this time and many think votes were changed or suppressed. Also, the election was followed by some of their satellites suddenly falling from the sky. Suspicious much? States need to count ballots by hand from now on to keep it away from Elon’s tech. If we still have somewhat of a democracy we should be able to crawl out of this abyss in 4 years. That is a big “if” though
So, Musk has found a very comfortable place for himself — for now. As an influential voice whispering in Trump’s ear, I’m guessing that he won’t have to undergo any scrutiny from any sources, yet will have open access to what should be highly classified information with none of the background checks and lie detector tests that someone actually hired would have to undergo. If the outcomes are horrible, his hands will stay clean — since he won’t have been officially appointed to anything and won’t be accountable to anyone, including the American people. Wonder if he’s got a bolt hole in New Zealand?
Really interested in what comes of EPA, HHS, DHS, and Education. Kristy Noam will be names DHS secretary. She’s a governor that is used to governance. Will she REALLY wind down DHS. Once Robert Kennedy looks under the hood to HHS, will he really wind down NIH when they also have bioweapons in their building? HHS is A LOT of stuff, not just vaccines. I mean they straight up managed smoking cessation programs in public health spheres. That’s bad?
I think they will ultimately reprogram EPA and Education dollars to the deportation efforts in coordination with local law enforcement. I wait with baited breath for the first lawsuit of racial profiling of an American citizen. It’s gonna be a party kids.
Lawsuit? Lawsuit that might eventually reach the current Supreme Court? That kind of lawsuit? My guess is that the end will be found to justify the means. Black and brown American citizens are constantly racially profiled as it is. I’m not sure what difference one more will make.
In Phoenix Arizona, a Black man who is deaf and has cerebral palsy was recently punched and tasered by police. The charges were dropped for the original alleged incident that supposedly prompted the police intervention. There’s so much wrong with this incident that I’ve included a link below, since I can’t adequately describe the multiple injustices meted out by the police officers involved. All of which is to say that I don’t have a lot of confidence in how lawsuits are likely to be resolved. I’m guessing that ICE and police forces will only become more emboldened going forward.
I also question the wisdom of putting an ex-long term heroin addict with zero medical training in charge of health care for the rest of us, but that rant deserves a separate post.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/16/us/phoenix-police-tyron-mcalpin-bodycam/index.html
LONG TERM HEROIN ADDICT??? I did not know this. OMG.
@Nicole, here’s an article where he describes his “addictive mind” and some of his history with addiction and recovery.
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2024-06-20/robert-kennedy-addict-reform-plans
I wouldn’t be surprised if Musk is hanging around trying to ingrate himself with trump to stop the tax credits for EVs being cancelled or the tariffs being implemented. He knows that’ll destroy his smoke and mirrors business and hopes by being trumps best friend he will not do it.
Since Vance and Musk are both backed by Thiel, I suspect they’re currently vying for position with Trump right now. I agree with my friend: I would not be surprised if Musk tries to grab it all. He’s the kind of insane narcissist who would. He’ll run the country into the ground and pillage what’s left of its corpse, but it won’t matter to him. He’s a cruel man with a lot of cruel friends in high places.
Trump is superior to Musk as a manipulator. So far, everyone who has done the dirty work for him before has been damaged. Reputation, finances and absolute loss of trust. Musk will suffer the same fate. The awakening will be terrible.
Musk is more brutal. I think Trump is afraid of Musk and Trump is poorer compared to Musk.
Let’s enjoy this gals, and our new secretary of state (it’s hard to use caps these days).
I really believe he’s going to be the republican’s next presidential candidate. Terrifying. Only because I know some MAGAs, they will do any and all mental gymnastics needed to worship the next one too, regardless of anything he says or does. They are not reasonable.
he wasn’t born here he can’t be president.
@Lalala, in Vance, they already have someone that I believe will do whatever he’s told — or paid — to do. And Musk would probably prefer to be the influence behind the President — rather than have any formal responsibilities or vetting.
I do not believe this was a legitimate win. They found another way to steal the election. I told my hubby all summer that I hope the Dems have a way to safeguard the election and make sure they don’t hack it; especially after Musk got involved. I knew from that moment that Trump was going to win. This was stolen – and I don’t know what happens now.
“Trump goes through people like tissues, essentially. And even if it’s Musk, they’re going to clash at some point.”
My bag of Pop Secret is *already* in the microwave.
He’s is so foul. I smell that photo.
I can’t wait for Musk to get the heave ho, along with all the federal funding for TESLA, since Trump hates electric cars and the newly elected car dealer turned Senator is already jockeying with Trump to get rid of all that.
Was already worried about this – weeks before the election. You have the South African billionaires clan and the Australian billionaires clan(another one moving to the US permanently – which is interesting as his move comes rt after the election). And then of course Putin. This is what I mean when I was worried about outside influences. Have read a biography about Musk 10 years ago, he was also bullied throughout his childhood and high school days in SA – and one of those incidents where he almost died because of it. As an adult , you are prob not getting any sympathies from him.
Though I think one day MAGAs are prob going to realize they have been betrayed.
I remembered @kaisers blog on warnings about the Anglophile of the US a year ago. And in a way here we are.