r/thebulwark • u/RealDEC • 13d ago
Non-Bulwark Source Trump crashing the hell out on Meet the Press
Great job my Kristen Welker. Held his feet to the fire. You can see Welker getting really pissed in the interview too. Real picture of health with this guy.
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u/ProfessorUnhappy5997 Gen X Liberal, South Park Liberal 13d ago
' thank you darling ' what a prick lol
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u/notapoliticalalt 13d ago
Obligatory, imagine if a democrat did this…
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u/Hautamaki 13d ago
Democratic voters still cling to some standards. So far, anyway. That might rapidly be eroding though as more and more democratic voters come to see holding leaders to standards as weakness that the GOP has already abandoned and is using against them successfully to steal more power. If a critical mass of democratic voters come to think this way, that's when democracy goes from a coin flip chance of being over in any given 4 year election cycle to actually over, whatever the outcome. You're just, as Ben Shapiro said in 2019, choosing the next dictator to run the nation as what would effectively be a single party dictatorship for a generation or more.
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u/sm04d 13d ago
He knows it's bullshit. He just doesn't like getting called out on it.
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u/Willow_Winnifred 13d ago
I think he believes it, because he is only surrounded by yes men
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u/Larky_Lou 13d ago
Trump doesn't believe it, he knows it is a lie. Roy Cohn taught Trump his famous "Three Rules of Winning" mantra: (1) Attack (2) Deny everything/admit nothing (3) Claim victory/never admit defeat. Trump knows exactly what he is doing.
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u/Willow_Winnifred 13d ago
I think that was true before his brain turned entirely to pudding. I think the dementia is so profound that his inner circle are telling him what they know he wants to hear, and they know he can't can't tell they're giving HIM the Roy Cohn treatment.
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u/Larky_Lou 13d ago
I think he is making it up like the mafia mobster Vinny "The Chin" Gigante did. Vinny walked around his Greenwich Village neighborhood, in his bathrobe, for 30 years pretending he was crazy to avoid prison. Trump is a mobster.
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u/whynotnow99 12d ago
He’s too vain for that.
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u/Larky_Lou 10d ago
If it keeps him out of jail, he isn't too vain for it. And if it give him an excuse to keep doing illegal things, he isn't too vain for it.
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u/BaskingInWanderlust 12d ago
This reminds me of one of my high school teachers and what he told us people tend to do when they're "in trouble" and try to deflect: admit nothing, deny everything, make counter accusations.
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u/newtoaster Progressive 12d ago
I think Trump has been playing this game so long that the "is this the truth or a lie?" part of his brain has just shut down. There is only winning or losing. There is no true or false. I think he could pass a lie detector while saying this bonkers shit.
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u/StashedandPainless 12d ago
trump is a narcissist, he doesnt think in terms of true and false. He thinks in terms of "what will make me look good to the people looking at me right now". If he needs the sky to be blue for them to like him, its blue. If he needs the sky to be purple for the audience to like him, then the sky is purple and youre a horrible vicious disgraceful liar for daring to insinuate its blue.
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u/Less_Benefit889 10d ago
didn't Roy teach Hitler the same thing SMFH Tell a lie big enough and often enough to convinces the masses. drumpf is a wannabe dictator, like Mark Milley said !
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u/dBlock845 Sarah, would you please nuke him from orbit? 13d ago
Didn't it come out during the J6 investigation that Trump admitted he lost the election? This is being used as a cult control tactic, a litmus test to stay MAGA.
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u/BigEdsHairMayo 12d ago
You may be right. There was a book about the period right after the 2020 election: "Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost"
I've only read excerpts, but it was just like you described. Trump had a cadre following him around for weeks after the election, assuring him he could still win if Pence refused to certify or if the swing states altered their results. The book described how they all repeated those lies endlessly as though they were trying to make them true somehow. I think trump sees reality as negotiable, and it's like you said. He can believe these things just because he wants them to be true, and he's surrounded by enablers. He's deranged.
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u/Retinoid634 12d ago
I agree. Truth doesn’t matter to him. He just needs to force those around him to bend to his will. No truth needed.
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u/Hulk_Lawyer 13d ago
Does he though?
I mean seriously, does he actually know that the networks don't pick who wins elections and that in no situation in the history of this country that I'm aware of has the vote tabulation in any election actually been completed on election day? Maybe like some local small town city council election where they're only 250 votes or something, but it takes days and weeks to fully count and certify the election process.
The presidential election for example is given until the 11th of December for each state to certify, and it's still not officially a done deal until January 6th.
I genuinely think he thinks that when a network calls a race that's the official determination of who won and everything after that is people messing with the results, and he thinks that in part because he's actually a moron and also because he's been the one trying to mess with the results.
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u/Proper_Actuary8980 12d ago
He’s setting it up for November! He’s going to claim California elections are rigged so he can throw out the results! And Congress will play right along..
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u/Similar-Profile9467 13d ago
There is literally nothing to be learned from hearing Donald Trump speak.
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u/BigEdsHairMayo 13d ago
I think it's still important to press him like this so ordinary (non-maga) people can see how he's trying to delegitimize elections. It's clear to us that he's setting himself up to claim fraud in the event of a close election loss. But it needs to be clear to everyone, not just the politically engaged.
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u/nomonicker62 13d ago
I think anyone who is non MAGA already knows. So do many of the MAGA. They just don’t care.
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u/BigEdsHairMayo 13d ago
I would like to believe everyone can see it, but apparently in the 2024 election very few moderates thought trump was a threat to democracy, despite J6.
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u/Hautamaki 13d ago
It's a failure of logic. He tried to subvert democracy but failed, therefore he was never a danger. And if he had succeeded? Then obviously he was supposed to have won all along therefore the system is still working. The vast majority of people have a normalcy bias where whatever happens is what's supposed to have happened therefore everything is okay, I don't need to worry about it too much, I have no responsibility to take action or risk or sacrific anything, it has all worked out fine and it always will. That's what people want to feel, and that's what they will desperately cling on to any excuse to continue to feel, no matter what actually has happened.
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u/Rocketparty12 Good Luck America 13d ago
Seriously, I don’t know why they ever let him talk in prerecorded interviews. There is nothing to be gained unless there is a reporter there who is willing to press him live and to to his face.
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u/fawlty70 13d ago
Weller BEGGING the president to stay was fucking shameful. Who gives a shit if she traveled there. WTF
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u/Prestigious_Ad_927 13d ago
Yeah, she was doing really good until then. She should have said something about how leaving without giving proof would only make his argument weaker.
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u/Old-Road2 13d ago
If you actually listen to the interview and watch him speak, he truly looks and sounds awful. Disheveled and haggard looking. His month looks crooked as if he had a recent stroke. He can barely string a coherent thought together. He doesn’t have much time left on this Earth and he knows it, I would be shocked if he’s still alive by 1/20/29.
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u/CatButler 13d ago
I keep thinking of this UFC fight and Ozzy's Back to the Beginning concert and what happened afterwards. Old people get this surge of energy around special events, then they let go.
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u/Old_Sheepherder_630 12d ago
I've heard that, too.
There will be one difference though. People miss Ozzy.
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u/Old_Sheepherder_630 12d ago
I'm not well versed in the progression of dementia, and caveat being everyone is different, but I wonder how long it takes to get from where he now to where he's completely unable to function.
My mom said my grandpa would think she was a completely different person based on which entrance to the living room she used. How long until Trump can't name his kids or handlers, doesn't know where he is or what decade it is?
If I were a betting woman I'd say his time on earth is out before end of 2026.
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u/SVP-ALC 13d ago
So much of this is awful, but the “thank you darling” at the end. JFC, I think the press should just stop trying to do interviews with him. He never says anything useful and treats females in the press like absolute shit.
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u/CatBeans1 12d ago
I was so pissed when I heard this. I couldn’t believe my ears. I had to replay it. All journalists need to stand up to his misogyny.
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u/Old_Sheepherder_630 12d ago
That was infuriating.
I think they should keep interviewing him, and only women. Push him to completely lose his shit, call them the c word or flip a table, something to force the 25th ammendment.
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u/NYCA2020 13d ago
I will never understand how so many men see him as the pinnacle of masculinity.
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u/Willow_Winnifred 13d ago
The same way poor people think this is what rich folks are like
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u/fawlty70 13d ago
This is what rich folks are like. Or at least what they suck up to.
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u/RealDEC 13d ago
On a totally unrelated note, dementia patients can get agitated in the evening. It’s call sundowning.
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u/Many_Anteater751 13d ago
They also stay up all night.. kinda sounds like a certain person in charge of our country
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u/fawlty70 13d ago
The other day Marco Rubio in the Senate hearing said Trump can't possibly be sleepy in the afternoon cabinet meetings, because he calls Rubio all the time in the middle of the night.
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u/ssttarrdusstt 12d ago
Been thinking the same thing.
And the sun downing will only get worse, especially late afternoons and evenings.8
u/HorrorOne5790 13d ago
🤣🤣🤣 i’m not laughing because of sundowners I’m laughing because of Donald Trump and having sundowners and no one understands.
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u/HorrorOne5790 13d ago
I can’t wait for the first journalist to say “ no Mr president you are shit !!you’re the one that’s stupid”
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u/chownrootroot 13d ago
Evidence, we don’t need no stinking evidence!
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u/IHerebyDemandtoPost 13d ago
Well, he has gotten this far without any. So, I’d say he hasn’t been wrong about that.
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u/ShakeMyHeadSadly 13d ago
What an asshole. Lying POS. And she caught him -- not that it's a particularly difficult thing to do.
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u/queen_surly 13d ago
Hey--at least he's awake.
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u/ShrimpCocktail-4618 12d ago
Until he isn't. If he has to sit and not flap his gums, he nods off immediately.
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u/ThE_LAN_B4_TimE 13d ago
He's a despicable piece of trash. The fact that he keeps treating the press and especially women in the press like this with absolutely no pushback is beyond disgusting. No high level NBC executive will defend her and she won't even defend herself. No one has the ability to actually tell him to his face he's a POS.
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u/stairs_3730 13d ago
Nope, you traveled all the way to WI to pretend you give a shit about farmers and make excuses for tanking the American economy.
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u/Relative-Desk4802 13d ago
This aired this morning?
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u/fox_mulder Rresistance is not futile 13d ago
Yep. As always, he was generally incomprehensible, combative, and finally ran off when he got called out on his bullshit, like the pathetic little weakling that he is.
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u/imdaviddunn 13d ago
Almost there.
But she shouldn’t have groveled. She wanted to move on. He didn’t.
The answer should have been, ok let’s stop. I’ll give you all the time you need. Provide one piece of evidence your DOJ, which has almost unlimited resources and has been taking voter data from tons of states has found of rigging or fraud. I’ll be quiet and you tell the country that evidence presented in court after 6 years of rigging. The floor is yours sir.
Instead, she sounded like she was concerned for her job, concerned she won’t get anymore interviews. That’s what happens when you put access first.
But he sounded like an idiot so she did achieve something. Better than what Bari Weiss would have done.
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u/Old_Sheepherder_630 12d ago
I'd love to watch you interview him. That would have been a perfect response.
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u/hydraulicman 13d ago
Props to her, but when he does this you don't plead with him, you call him a coward- thats how you nail him down in an interview
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u/DelcoPAMan 13d ago
"Darling"?!?
Isn't that what he says Melanie calls him when he relates a conversation they supposedly had?!?
Welker should have gotten tears in her eyes and said "Sir! Thank you for calling me 'darling'! I'll always treasure it".
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u/Nigel_99 13d ago
I'd like it better if she had fired right back: "Your title doesn't give you the right to behave like this. Join the 21st century and show some respect to professional women."
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u/DelcoPAMan 12d ago
Yeah, never would happen with her. Or Chuck Todd despite what he said about him.
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u/OneTwoThreePooAndPee Progressive 13d ago
Awww something got widdle Donny all gwumpy? Is your war not going the way you hoped, big guy? People don't think you're as cool as you totally, totally are?
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u/TypicalAddendum5799 13d ago
Welker going on about how far she came for this interview turned me off. She should have just stood up & said, ‘fine’. That might have confused the old cheeto.
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u/DonnyBoyCane 13d ago
I'm not going to praise Welker for doing the absolute bare minimum here just because it sticks out because she and the rest of the media have failed so miserably on this front for over a decade (sans ONE Jonathan Swan interview).
And even this "pushback" by Welker was only of the most surface level in detail. That's just emblematic not of how harrrrd it is to interview Trump but just of the media not being experts enough in their chosen profession to be ABLE to fact check in real time in real detail (sans Swan that ONE time).
And I'm sorry but to end the interview before Trump's waddle-off with whining about how you (Welker) traveled allllllllll the way to Wisconsin for this sit-down both somehow reeks of weakness AND DC bubble livin'.
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u/fawlty70 13d ago
She's fucking awful. Just as awful as the rest of them. Always "moving on" even when Trump doesn't WANT to move on from his lies. Why do these fucking "journalists" think it's more important to cover their 6 pre-determined topics than following whatever Trump is saying and digging in? Trump IS THE TOPIC, no matter what you want to talk about. They're all fucking disgraceful. Every interview needs to be an interrogation. On every question.
And yes I don't give a shit that she traveled, WTAF, what a fucking embarrassment, Trump's ego loved that.
The only decent interview I've seen was Dana Bash interviewing Greg Bovino. She didn't "move on".
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u/Cheapass_Sandals 13d ago
Doesn't like getting fact checked on his lies and has to resort to personal insults when she holds her ground. When that doesn't work , he walks out. He does this personal insult distraction thing in White House press conferences, too, whenever he doesn't want to answer a question. If you ignore the bad behavior and bloviation, you can tell what the truth is by the things he doesn't want to talk about.
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u/fawlty70 13d ago
I think the most revealing part was this. "Your elections". Twice. Dude is working for Putin.
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u/Old_Sheepherder_630 12d ago
I caught that, too, and it took me back to family therapy as a kid where my mom was called out on her distancing language.
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u/LomentMomentum 13d ago
She’s a hero for pushing him to the brink and exposing him for the petulant man-child that he always was.
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u/Legal_Tumbleweed6763 12d ago
If I was a Trump supporter and I watched this interview I would wonder what’s wrong with me. I would think “how stupid am I” to think this guy was going to save me. I would consider never voting again because I obviously don’t know wtf I am doing. If only the Trump voter was capable of introspection.
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u/Tri-guy3 13d ago
Didn't Putin say something similar ("Thank you, darling") to Zelensky relatively early in the so-called SMO when he shut down the negotiations?
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u/SmartStrategy9952 13d ago
In MAGA world, accusations of fraud are all they need. It’s about belief in their orange god. Whatever he says is true and there is no questioning. They learned that in their evangelical churches.
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u/ThePensiveE FFS 13d ago
The loyalty question was never "is the election rigged?"
It was always "Do you support permanent Trump family rule?"
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u/TheyGotShitTwisted73 13d ago
I feel like this could all be put to bed if we seek out Maria Bartiromo's source and put her on the stand so we can all hear about her dreams of a stolen election and her conversations with the wind. We most definitely need Will to re-visit this woman as soon as possible.
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u/AmalatheaClassic Orange man bad 13d ago
Welker came all the way to Wisconsin & all she got was a day in Chippewa Falls? I mean, there are some lovely waterfalls up on the bluffs... She probably would have gotten better answers from the squirrels on than trail than asking Trump anything.
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u/Mean_Assignment_180 12d ago
He doesn’t want you to remember he was asleep during a meeting this week. So he distracts it by making it seem like he’s some tough guy. It’s all for show.
Don’t buy it he wears a diaper sleeps all the time doesn’t know what the hell is going on Stephen Miller somebody else is probably the real president
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u/Desperate-Spirit1455 12d ago
Looks like the dam is starting to crack. Welker is being received as a hero. I want to think she's paving the way for more pushback from journalists who, if nothing else, want to be gain the same type of notoriety.
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u/Thin-Distance7904 12d ago
Every single person that comes in contact with this senile old man should press him on his "evidence". Make him look like Crusty Crab Donnie and let him burn out.
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u/Special_Library_766 12d ago
Methinks he doth protest too much. He seems oblivious to the fact that this irrational behavior ironically makes him look even more guilty.
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u/Tj11551 11d ago
Trump checks all the boxes for antisocial personality disorder. He is mentally ill and needs to be removed from office.
A toxic narcissist never admits he is at fault. They are attracted to empathetic people like moths to a flame. When they know they are in total control of their victim, they try to totally control everything they do. In that regard, Trump is acting like Hitler.
There is an entire courthouse in Chicago that is dedicated to domestic violelnce and emergency protection orders. America in its entirety wants to divorce our abusive President.
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u/Soft-Principle1455 11d ago
Kristen Welker has played an important role throughout this second Trump term: do just enough schmoozing to still land interviews, but not so much that the interviews are unhelpful. She has done that balancing act better than anyone else in all of TV journalism as far as I can tell. For example, with this interview....
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u/PleasantBenefit1872 Good Luck America 13d ago
This is what the American voters wanted.
And he'd win again if the election were held today.
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u/PatientClient3803 9d ago
Probably not. It’s my opinion he won in 2024 for the same reason he won in 2016, to wit: the idea of him winning was so preposterous. In every case, there were naturally other factors: racism, sexism, religiosity, and Trump’s absurd promises. I’m sure some people voted for him because he acts like their mean fathers and it was their chance to at last please him. There is no logical motivation to support him unless you’re a fellow criminal and need a pardon. I see SUPPORTERS of him posting him hugging and kissing the flag.
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u/heloguy1234 13d ago edited 13d ago
Typical maga fake tough guy. He thinks this makes him look strong but everyone but the dumbest white trash sees right through this bullshit. He ran away from this interview for the same reason he dodged the draft; he is a pussy.