Trump Vows to Terrorize America for At Least Another Four Years - Vanity Fair

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Unfortunately for humanity, he’s not going anywhere. 

By Bess Levin

March 1, 2021

If Donald Trump had any capacity for shame, the day he left the White House in January would have been the last time anyone heard from him for months if not years. In addition to causing his party to lose control of both the presidency and the Senate in 2020 and the House in 2018, Trump, you may recall, incited a violent insurrection that left five people dead because he was upset about the results of the 2020 election, and fellow one-term presidents like George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter have gone into political exile for far less. But Trump, of course, has no shame. Or integrity. Or morals. Or decency. Or respect. Most importantly, he lacks the ability to say the words “I lost,” both to the public and to himself. And so instead of spending his remaining days at Mar-a-Lago planning his presidential library/theme park or playing with his grandchildren or cheating at golf, he’s decided he’ll terrorize the Republican Party and, in turn, America for all eternity or, at the very least, the next four years.

Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Sunday, the ex-president gave a preview of what the next half decade will look like. Attacking GOP members who had the audacity to speak out against his attempted coup, Trump vowed revenge on the Liz Cheneys of the world, calling the representative from Wyoming, who voted to impeach him last month, a “warmonger,” saying her “poll numbers have dropped faster than any human being I‘ve ever seen.” Going down his hit list, Trump singled out, among others, Representative Adam Kinzinger and senators Ben Sasse and Mitt Romney, upon whom he suggested revenge was coming. “The RINOs that we’re surrounded with will destroy the Republican Party and the American worker and will destroy our country itself,” he said, referring to the phrase “Republicans In Name Only,” adding that he would be “actively working to elect strong, tough and smart Republican leaders.”

Apparently seeking to sic his fascist mob of followers on the Supreme Court like he sicced them on Mike Pence, Trump, lying about the results of the election, said the nine justices, three of whom he appointed, “should be ashamed of themselves for what they’ve done to our country,” adding that the court “didn’t have the guts or the courage to make the right decision,” the decision being to overturn the results of the election that there isn’t a shred of evidence he won.

Building on the Big Lie that he won the November election, which a terrifying three-quarters of Republicans believe, Trump said he “may even decide to beat [Democrats] for a third time,” adding, “With your help, we will take back the House. We will win the Senate. And then a Republican president will make a triumphant return to the White House. And I wonder who that will be.” Not surprisingly, Trump‘s eldest son, who apparently only receives a biannual hug from his father, loved the line about winning for “a third time.”

A straw poll of conference attendees showed overwhelming support for the 45th president, with fewer people certain of whether or not he should run again in 2024. (Thirty-two percent said he should not run or that they were unsure if he should.) That, of course, hasn’t stopped major members of the party from backing him on the off chance he does make a third run for the White House; last week, for instance, Mitch McConnell said that he would “absolutely” support Trump as the party’s nominee, despite saying just a few short weeks ago that he was “practically and morally responsible” for the Capitol attack. Of course, knowing Trump, a reality-TV-show hack who teased a presidential bid for years before he actually ran, it’s unlikely that he’ll actually make anything official until the very last moment. For now, though, he’s clearly happy to ride the grift train all the way to the bank. Per The New York Times:

Mr. Trump made a specific pitch for people to donate to two committees associated with him, a notable move given that he has been the Republican National Committee’s biggest draw for the last four years.

Andrew Cuomo is “truly sorry” you can’t ask an employee if she f--ks older men without it being “misinterpreted” as sexual harassment

After being accused by two former aides of sexual harassment in the span of a week, with one of the women claiming he asked her if she’d ever slept with older men, Governor Andrew Cuomo has decided to say he’s sorry—sorry you can’t ask a subordinate intimate questions about her sex life, that is! Per The New York Times:

In a statement released on Sunday evening, Mr. Cuomo, 63, said that he had not made advances or “inappropriately touched” anybody. The governor, however, did address his own behavior, conceding that he had often teased and bantered with his underlings, “being playful” while working in what he called “a very serious business.”

“I now understand that my interactions may have been insensitive or too personal and that some of my comments, given my position, made others feel in ways I never intended,” he said. “I acknowledge some of the things I have said have been misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation. To the extent anyone felt that way, I am truly sorry about that.”

Unsurprisingly, not everyone has accepted Cuomo’s no good, very bad apology. One of the women who accused the governor, former aide Charlotte Bennett, said Cuomo “has refused to acknowledge or take responsibility for his predatory behavior,” and she encouraged other women with similar experiences to speak out. Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has never been a fan of his colleague upstate, said Cuomo’s statement was “not an apology,” but instead an attempt to get “himself off the hook,“ adding: “He seemed to be saying, ‘Aw, I was just kidding around.’ Sexual harassment isn’t funny. It’s serious and it has do be taken seriously.” De Blasio also suggested Cuomo should be out of a job, opining: “If someone purposely tried to use their power to force a woman to have sex with them? Of course, that’s someone who should no longer be in public service.”

The sexual harassment allegations against Cuomo came just days after Assemblyman Ron Kim claimed Cuomo threatened to “destroy” him for speaking out against the governor’s nursing home scandal. A spokesperson for the governor insisted Kim lied about the conversation.

Well that’s nice for them

Elizabeth Warren proposes a tax on “ultramillionaires“

A wealth tax proposed on Monday by Elizabeth Warren, along with representatives Pramila Jayapal and Brendan Boyle, has almost no hope of passing, though that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be a good way for the government to raise money to pay for stuff! Per Bloomberg:

Warren...said the tax they unveiled Monday, dubbed the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act, would create a “fairer” economy with a 2% annual tax on households and trusts valued at between $50 million and $1 billion. All net worth over $1 billion would be taxed at 3%. The measure—like wealth tax proposals Warren has offered in the past—is unlikely to garner the support needed to pass, particularly in the evenly divided Senate. But it could serve as a marker for progressives in Congress and is a reminder of the restiveness on the party’s left flank.

According to Warren, Jayapal, and Boyle, the taxes would generate “at least $3 trillion in revenue over 10 years,” citing a University of California, Berkeley study. “The ultrarich and powerful have rigged the rules in their favor so much that the top 0.1% pay a lower effective tax rate than the bottom 99%, and billionaire wealth is 40% higher than before the COVID crisis began,” Warren said in a statement. “A wealth tax is popular among voters on both sides for good reason: because they understand the system is rigged to benefit the wealthy and large corporations.”

Elsewhere!

Biden to allow migrant families separated under Trump to reunite in the U.S. (Politico)

How Pro-Trump Forces Pushed a Lie About Antifa at the Capitol Riot (NYT)

New York COVID-19 Variant Drawing Concern From Fauci, CDC (Bloomberg)

Texas power company files for bankruptcy after storm that left millions in the dark (NBC News)

Bitcoin is at a tipping point and could become “currency of choice” for global trade, Citi says (CNBC)

New York attorney general warns cryptocurrency industry: “Play by the rules or we will shut you down” (CNBC)

Fact-checking CPAC: Speakers make false claims about the election, the Capitol attack, immigration, COVID, and the Muppets (CNN)

Biden backs right of Amazon workers to attempt to organize (Politico)

Ex-French President Sarkozy Found Guilty of Corruption (Bloomberg)

Schitt’s Creek Mansion Returns to Market With Price Reduction (Bloomberg)

“I really love weed”: Seth Rogen brings his cannabis company, Houseplant, to U.S. (NBC News)

Doctor appears in court video call while performing surgery (AP)

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Trump Vows to Terrorize America for At Least Another Four Years - Vanity Fair
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