Effort to manipulate killing of Alex Pretti collapsed after footage torpedoed ‘domestic terrorist’ claim – could this be a turning point?

Facing a widespread backlash from the public, Democrats and even his own Republican party, Trump was forced into a partial retreat, distancing himself from efforts by aides such as Stephen Miller and Department of Homeland Security secretary, Kristi Noem, to demonise Pretti, and shuffling leadership of immigration operations in Minneapolis.

For once, the president’s reality distortion field – which promised Mexico would pay for his border wall, claimed Covid would disappear “like a miracle”, insisted the 2020 election was stolen, and rewrote the history of the January 6 insurrection – had met its match.

Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post warned: “Mr President, the American people didn’t vote for these scenes, and you can’t continue to order them to not believe their lying eyes.”

    • InvalidName2@lemmy.zip
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      2 days ago

      20 or 30 years ago, I would have agreed, maybe. In 2026, we’re at least a couple decades past the point where removing or making any reasonable dent in Fox news propaganda would be even remotely enough to counteract what’s going on.

      • vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works
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        You’d be surprised while the propaganda mill may be thick it also relays through multiple levels. While it wouldn’t do too much by itself if combined with some head hunting of folks within the right wing media circuit from Carlson to Shapiro to Tate you could destabilize it quite severely. Probably should also burn down some radio stations, y’know what just fucking destroy anything related to iHeart radio.

  • lennybird@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Krasnov really tried to test the 5th Avenue comment I guess.

    Though I’m honestly still skeptical. My fellow Americans have proven to have goldfish memory. After all, we all said the J6 fallout was the final nail in the coffin, but they had gaslit reality within fucking weeks.

    • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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      J6 ain’t over by a long shot. Those charges were set aside, not forgotten. You can bet that Jack Smith will be happy to pick up where he left off.

      • lennybird@lemmy.world
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        I’m glad I’m not the only one hopeful of this.

        I would much rather Garland/Smith take their time and not screw up with a “Not Guilty” verdict than do it slow but right and either suspend charges and Trump is never wrongfully exonerated, or convict at a later date.

        That said, we all sadly know he’s going to self-pardon everyone his final day in office of Federal charges, so I assume it will have to be state charges.

        • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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          IF the Dems can take our country back, we have to resolve this unprecedented situation in an unprecedented way. Among other things, like declaring MAGA a National Security Threat and prohibiting it from existing, we have to do a deep investigation into the 2024 election, uncover the election fraud that stole the election. Then we can declare the second MAGA administration invalid, and roll back all MAGA legislation, EOs, appointments, and PARDONS. Everyone he pardoned will voluntarily return to prison to serve out their sentences, or 10 years will be added.

          Then Presidential Pardons will be amended to be invalid if they were determined to be a mechanism in breaking the law or covering a crime.

          THEN convict him of his treason, sentence him to life in prison, and confiscate his entire fortune as a fine. Then go after every single one of his henchmen, including his billionaire friends. ESPECIALLY his billionaire friends.

    • FenrirIII@lemmy.world
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      Americans watch too much television. TV is controlled by the wealthy and friends of Trump. All this will be drowned out by bread and circuses in a week.

      • PalmTreeIsBestTree@lemmy.world
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        J6 was a symptom not a movement. The movement was started around 2014 via social media algorithms pushing people to vote for someone like Trump in the first place, the decades of propaganda from conservative talk radio/talk shows, and Hillary being the liberal bogey woman for 30+ years at that point had made poorer whites feel apathetic to voting democrat ever again because they abandoned the working class in the 90s in response to Reagan’s success in the 80s.

        • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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          Well sure, there’s wider context behind J6 as a single flash point, but I don’t think you should overlook the event itself. It’s the most successful single day of protest that I can think of - yeah they got arrested and jailed for a while, but in the end they got literally everything they wanted and were entirely vindicated. The J6ers were transformed into political prisoners and martyrs, becoming a rallying flag for their movement. I think Trump’s victory owes a lot to their contribution.

  • BenderRodriguez@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    People know Trump lies. It’s Congress that they believe.

    “We need to stop Trump!”

    Votes to approve his budget, cabinet, won’t vote to impeach and remove from office

    • NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml
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      and yet congress has had even lower approval ratings than the president for the last couple of administrations.

  • Optional@lemmy.world
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    Good news: Teh Graniuad is able to print the word “lies” in relationship to trump

    Bad news: they still chicken out and apply it to a faceless organization

  • the_crotch@sh.itjust.works
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    The only saving grace of the trump administration is that he came along during a period of history where everyone has a video camera in their pocket

    • Jankatarch@lemmy.world
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      Tbf I don’t think he would have become the president without twitter and the overall tech billionare’s help.

  • Rothe@piefed.social
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    2 days ago

    So, what repercussions for the murderer, and for the people who ordered him to go out and murder? How much does this “beaten back” agenda involve?

    Just words?