Politics

Trump, an ‘Authoritarian,’ Could Actually Win the Presidency

THE NEW ABNORMAL

Why there’s a “50-50” shot Trump could become president. Plus! Legal analyst Melissa Murray talks through what could become of all these looming Trump indictments.

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A photo illustration of former President Donald Trump.
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty

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Donald Trump posted a video to his Truth Social account Thursday that hosts of The New Abnormal politics podcast Andy Levy and Danielle Moodie say is a preview of what another MAGA presidency will look like.

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“If you fuck around with us, if you do something bad to us, we’re gonna do things to you that have never been done before,” says Trump in the video, as eerie music plays.

“Does he mean, like, invade the Capitol and defecate in the halls? Does he mean, like, steal from former Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi’s office? Does he mean, like, beat the crap out of police? What do you think he’s talking about, Andy? What is it that we’ve never seen before?” jokes Danielle on this episode of the show.

“If the Bible lays out the case for God and the New Testament lays out the case for Jesus, this is Trump just laying out the case right here for what another four years of a Trump presidency would be like,” Andy says of the video.

Still, Danielle tells Andy that she does believe Trump has a chance of winning the 2024 presidential election, and he agrees.

“What is new,” Danielle adds, “is that we’ve never faced an outright authoritarian in America that has a 50-50 toss-up chance of winning the presidency.”

In addition to going deeper into how this Trump 2024 campaign is different, the two discuss Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s display of Hunter Biden’s nudes, and how despite her declaration of discomfort, she seemed and acted pretty comfortable.

Also on this episode:

Melissa Murray, professor of law at NYU, MSNBC talking head and legal analyst, and co-host of Strict Scrutiny, breaks down the possible indictments that could come down against Trump, including other charges that could stem from bigger allegations. Because as Murray tells Danielle, “this man gets indicted the way cheetahs get spots.”

Sarah McLaughlin, senior scholar, global expression at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Expression (FIRE), spars (kindly!) with Andy about religious freedom of speech and explains why the United Nations Human Rights Council’s resolution that supports the prosecution of blasphemy won’t be so “pretty” in practice. And she has an example from another country to back that claim up.

The Daily Beast updated this piece to reflect Judge Aileen Cannon announcing a date for Trump’s classified documents trial.

Listen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Stitcher.

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