* Trump tells his base supporters that he is being prosecuted on their behalf. They believe him. It’s what followers of any cult leader—whether Trump or the Rev. Jim Jones—do.
* Trump will be forced to pay a $364 million fraud fine. He’s already looking for new sources of revenue. Exhibit A: High-top, gold-glossed, stars-and-striped “Trump Sneakers”: only $399.
* Jan. 6 rioters are not “political prisoners.” But they are stupid, insurrectionist, criminal punks.
* “I just love you (Trump).”–That was Sen. Tim Scott again giving sycophancy a bad name.
* The family man: Trump is pushing for his daughter-in-law Lara to co-chair the RNC.
* “People need to start coming together and working together. But right now, none of that is happening because (Nikki Haley) is still out there stoking the anti-Trump fire.”–Former Trump adviser David Urban. In short, hang in there, Haley. It would be helpful, if unlikely, if a Hillary/Bernie-like, infighting scenario counterproductively impacted the GOP this year and undermined party unity and the 2024 election.
* “Nobody should be playing politics with the border … Trump shouldn’t be telling Republicans, ‘Wait until the election, because we don’t want this to help Biden win.’”–Nikki Haley again, concerned about “America First” or “Trump First.” Or maybe “America Alone.”
* “Trump doesn’t regard Europe’s defense as a vital American interest.”–William Golston, WSJ.
* It should be worth noting–especially in a zero-sum, partisan political context–that (former President) Trump’s “populist” tax cut added more than $2 trillion to the federal debt. Maybe some Tea Partiers have noticed.
* 2020 Forecast reminder: “If Biden wins, you’re going to have a stock market collapse the likes of which you’ve never had. You will have a collapse.” It still hasn’t happened, but we know what Trump is rooting for.
* “Because they (investors) think I’m going to be elected.”–Trump’s take on why the stock market is doing well.
* The 2006 version of Trump the faux populist weighing in on the approaching housing-market crash (of ‘08): “I sort of hope that happens because then people like me would go in and buy.” America first?
* In a court of law, Trump can be found legally guilty or not guilty. “Innocent” he’s not.
* Low-caliber pandering: According to the NRA, Trump’s recent speech was his eighth to the gun rights organization.
* “Donald Trump is great, and he has great policies, but I feel—and I know a lot of people feel this way—that DeSantis was a once-in-a-generation, true conservative candidate that could have brought the party back into a different direction.”–Brittany Lyssy, president of the Tampa Bay Young Republicans. Sobering.