From Badlands Media Brief, by Ashe for America:
Trump’s vows for revenge take on new seriousness
President-elect Trump’s vows to seek revenge have brought a renewed sense of alarm to those who have crossed ways with him now that he’s returning to the White House.
Trump routinely calls for adverse actions against his perceived enemies and often makes veiled threats — a dynamic present during his first term in office that accelerated as he battled for reelection.
After his inauguration, Trump will have new avenues to make good on those calls. He’s also assembling a team that would be well-positioned to carry out any vows for retribution.
Trump nominated former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) to serve as attorney general and several lawyers on his criminal defense team to fill out other top leadership posts at the Department of Justice.
And Trump is likely to be bolstered by his allies in Congress. House Republicans who kept their majority have also vowed to investigate Trump adversaries.
Their potential targets are nervous. — The Hill
And …
‘Kissing the ring?’ MSNBC ‘Morning Joe’ hosts meet with Trump to reopen lines of communication
MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, fierce critics of President-elect Donald Trump, say they traveled to Mar-a-Lago for a meeting with him to reopen lines of communication that would better serve their morning show viewers.
With feelings still raw two weeks after the election, their journey to Trump’s Florida home hasn’t gone over that well with many fans and critics of “Morning Joe.”
The show’s anchor team had been so critical of Trump that, in September, Scarborough said that “it’s not a reach” to compare him to Hitler. MSNBC pulled “Morning Joe” from the air the Monday after the assassination attempt on Trump this past summer.
On Monday’s show, the hosts said they had reached out to Trump last Thursday and met with him the next day. “It was the first time we have seen him in seven years,” Brzezinski said.
She said Trump was “cheerful, upbeat,” even as the three of them discussed issues they disagreed on.
“What we did agree on was to restart communications,” she said. Her father, the late Zbigniew Brzezinski, the national security adviser in Jimmy Carter’s administration, often spoke with world leaders he disagreed with, and she said that’s a job for journalists and commentators too. — AP News
Our Take: “I will be your retribution.”
This is possibly one of President Trump’s most misunderstood and misinterpreted statements, but America is about to realize what it means. Of course, if you’ve been paying attention, you already know.
Trump’s first inaugural address from 2017 reveals the plot:
“Today’s ceremony, however, has very special meaning. Because today we are not merely transferring power from one Administration to another, or from one party to another – but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the American People.
For too long, a small group in our nation’s Capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost. Washington flourished – but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered – but the jobs left, and the factories closed.
The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country. Their victories have not been your victories; their triumphs have not been your triumphs; and while they celebrated in our nation’s Capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land.
That all changes – starting right here, and right now, because this moment is your moment: it belongs to you.”
This is the entire point, the driving strategy between the first Trump administration and the Biden Pause. We are about to enter the third act.
Trump’s appointments were decided long ago. There is nothing Joe and Mika can say to POTUS to change their fate. There is a plan — it’s playing out before our eyes.
The revolution is not televised, it’s podcasted and blogged, and those who repeatedly, nefariously betrayed the American people are about to receive a justly deserved penalty. — Ashe in America
