The US presidential hopeful's outlandish remarks left military chiefs aghast but will delight supporters.

And so it begins. Nine months still to go before the next US presidential election and already the Republican party favourite and former President Donald Trump is sending eyes rolling skywards with his seemingly outlandish statements.

And yet they will delight many of his supporters.

Suggesting at a rally in South Carolina that he would “encourage” aggressors (for example Russia) “to do whatever the hell they want” with Nato countries that fail to pay their dues has prompted an immediate slap down from the White House. A spokesman called the comment “appalling and unhinged”, saying it was “encouraging invasions of our closest allies by murderous regimes”.

Nato Secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg has also responded forcefully, saying: “Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the US, and puts American and European soldiers at increased risk.”

  • rusticus@lemm.ee
    12·
    10 months ago

    If the US is stupid enough to elect this idiot a second time, then we deserve to become the banana republic we’ve instituted in countless other countries. I’m not too worried about it. He lost by 7 million votes in 2020 and about 1 million of his voters died with COVID. Plus I know at least a few percentage points of his voters that will not vote for him again. And I don’t know ANYONE that hasn’t voted for him before that are now interested in giving him their vote. It will take unprecedented election interference for Trump to win the electoral vote (there’s not a chance he wins the popular).

    • jwt@programming.dev
      6·
      10 months ago

      If the US is stupid enough to elect this idiot a second time, then we deserve to become the banana republic …

      “A banana republic, if you can keep it”

    • Sanity_in_Moderation@lemmy.world
      62·
      10 months ago

      I did the math a few years ago because I couldn’t find anyone else who had published it. This is rough and IANAM (mathmagicman).

      Every single day 8,000 boomers and above die, and 12,000 people turn 18 and those numbers are actually accelerating. If you use existing data to estimate conservative/liberal and likely voters within those groups it works out to a delta of 10,000 per day on a national scale. That’s 5,000 votes switching every single day. That might not seem like alot. Because it really isn’t. Out of 155 million votes cast, 10,000 is .006 percent. But here’s the thing. It’s cumulative. And it just doesn’t stop. It is relentless. it’s 300k a month, 3.6 million per year. And that pace is accelerating. Between 2020 and 2024 it’s a 15 million vote difference. By 2028 it’s 30 million.

      It used to be that people age into conservatism. But that is not happening with millennials. The demographics are changing, and changing quickly. The most conservative group in the country is dying. While the most liberal group is rising.

      We just have to hold on to democracy for a few more years. This will all be behind us. Another 10k today.