“You Have To Take Him At His Word”

This topic came up in literally the last 60 seconds of “Washington Week” last night.

Is it a stretch to imagine those things actually happening? And that this is more than his usual rhetoric?" he asked. 

"It's not a stretch at all. This is how Stephen Miller, likely to be one of Trump's cabinet secretaries in a second term, described the second term to me. He specifically described day one to me: 'On day one, when we win, it will be a shock and awe blitz.' You have to take him at his word," 

Taylor said. "What does Stephen Miller mean by that? He means in a second go-around, there won't be years of delay and indecision about whether to moderate Trump's position so he can win a second term. It will be throwing the kitchen sink at American democracy and doing all the things he's wanted to do by abusing federal power." Taylor went on to say that his biggest worry is the potential weaponization of the national security community. 

"If you look anywhere in history you see the most grievous abuses of power is when the army or domestic security forces are used against a leader's political enemies. And those are things that aren't just forecasts of what Trump could do. He's talked about weaponizing the spy community, to spy on his adversaries. He has talked about creating his own mercenary force within the community so he doesn't have to go through a chain of command that he worries would disobey him. He's talked about using the Department of Homeland Security to intimidate his opponents in democratic sanctuary cities and to make sure that blue states don't get aid and red states do when there's natural disasters. This is laid out very clear. We know what will happen."

Chuck Todd spoke for the D.C. journalism establishment when he said, in as many words as he was allowed (so that it wasn’t a direct answer. He knew better than the former President of UPenn.), that Trump was just being a politician making promises to his supporters he had no intention of fulfilling. Trump is not, in other words, to be taken seriously, nor especially at his word.

Which is what Chuck Todd and the D.C. establishment media are worth. I’m sure they will continue to maintain Trump was never a serious threat after he is defeated (again). The establishment must never be perturbed and, like the rest of us, can’t really imagine its own death.

UPDATE:

Which religion is “our religion”? https://t.co/weomCgcuag

— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) December 9, 2023

Chuck Todd is sure Trump means our “national religion,” and that he’s just making promises to win votes. Really, nothing to see here.