Donald Trump stunned the political world in 2016 when he became the first person without government or military experience ever to be elected president of the United States. His four-year tenure in the White House revealed extraordinary fissures in American society but left little doubt that he is a figure unlike any other in the nation’s history.
The Senate had a test vote this week that cast deep doubt on the prospects for convicting former President Donald Trump on the impeachment charge now pending against him. Without a two-thirds majority for conviction, there will not be a second vote in the Senate to bar him from future federal office.
Also this week, Politico released a Morning Consult poll that found 56% of Republicans saying that Trump should run again in 2024. As he left Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, he said he expected to be "back in some form."
So will he seek a comeback? And if he does, what are his chances of returning to the White House?
History provides little guidance on these questions. There is little precedent for a former president running again, let alone winning. But since when has the lack of precedent bothered Donald Trump?
1/28/21 by NPR
Web player: https://podcastaddict.com/episode/118398289
Episode: https://play.podtrac.com/npr-381444908/edge1.pod.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/fa/2021/01/20210128_fa_fapodthurs.mp3?awCollectionId=381444908&awEpisodeId=961636383&orgId=1&d=2853&p=381444908&story=961636383&t=podcast&e=961636383&size=45546408&ft=pod&f=381444908
‘Washington Post’ reporter Craig Timberg suggests some in the QAnon movement will become even more extreme now that Trump, their “messiah,” has left office. “There is a real danger that what we’ll see is a somewhat smaller but maybe more fervent and maybe more hateful and maybe more stealthy remnant that remains a force in our political life for years to come,” Timberg says. We talk about the impact of Trump’s ban from social media, the inception of the conspiracy theory/extremist group, and how the movement is responding to a new administration.
QAnnon is such a fascinating phenomenon as its really a bizarre cult. It seems like a vast group of people who suffer from mental illness or at least somebody playing on certain people’s troubled emotions.
What can we do as a society about this? It really is unclear as folks have freedom of conscience and speech but it sure seems like a lot of good lives are being destroyed by this predatory organization.
Most of the Americans surveyed in a poll released early Wednesday said that President Trump failed to "Make America Great Again," his signature campaign promise and slogan, during his four years in office.
In the Politico-Morning Consult survey, released as President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office at noon, 57 percent said Trump "definitely" or "probably" did not make the country "great again during his time as president." Approximately 4 in 10 — 39 percent — said he definitely or probably did, while 4 percent were undecided.