Trump doesn't have a sense of humor. He doesn't joke. He knows what he says is absolutely illegal.
He's not good with money. He's not good at negotiating. He's not a business man. He has no skills that are valuable to any other person. But he is extremely good at getting away with fraud.
One of the skills required to get away with lots of fraud is knowing that you can trust your accomplices. How do you do that?
You can't just ask someone, "hey, wanna do some crimes with me?" They could be against those crimes. They could get your arrested. Even talking about some crimes is a crime itself. You also can't just ask someone straight out, "how do you feel about, say, tax fraud? You know, hypothetically... for a friend."
You have to understand where they're at. You have to explore their boundaries and beliefs in a way that's actually plausibly deniable.
Pretending to joke is invaluable to people like Trump. He follows mob rules when getting things done. Joke, test the waters, then imply directions but never explicitly give them. It should always be possible to pull back and claim you didn't say a thing or mean it "in that way." Ambiguity and plausible deniability are critical. This criminal skill translates perfectly to politics.
The far right has used this tactic for years to pry open the Overton Window. Legacy media has been complicit in the right wing tactic by perennially platforming fascists.
Trump starts by making a "joke." He'll keep making the "joke" until enough people around him think he can get away with it, then it stops being a joke and starts being a policy. Once you've become normalized to the "joke," the Overton window has opened enough to talk about the reality.
When he "jokes" about deporting American citizens, he means he's planning to use ICE to kidnap protesters like he did in Portland at the end of his last term. But he will send them to a death camp in El Salvador instead of just intimidating them. He is telegraphing his next move. Get ready for it.
#USPol
Edit:
ref https://social.treehouse.systems/@AnarchoNinaAnalyzes/114302728431458606
Edit:
Nor is this hypothetical or "at some point in the distant future." High profile targets, like Sam Beard (organizer for Luigi's defense fund among other things), are being chosen now:
https://bsky.app/profile/partygirls.bsky.social/post/3lmdlnr2gac2q
#FreeLuigi
hex /
npub12z…7klxy
2025-04-08 20:28:14
Author Public Key
npub12zrzz8y9xq5ew26n6h4yafwa78r6amfse7mq9szahacxdecajf3qe7klxyPublished at
2025-04-08 20:28:14Event JSON
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"content": "Trump doesn't have a sense of humor. He doesn't joke. He knows what he says is absolutely illegal.\n\nHe's not good with money. He's not good at negotiating. He's not a business man. He has no skills that are valuable to any other person. But he is extremely good at getting away with fraud.\n\nOne of the skills required to get away with lots of fraud is knowing that you can trust your accomplices. How do you do that?\n\nYou can't just ask someone, \"hey, wanna do some crimes with me?\" They could be against those crimes. They could get your arrested. Even talking about some crimes is a crime itself. You also can't just ask someone straight out, \"how do you feel about, say, tax fraud? You know, hypothetically... for a friend.\" \n\nYou have to understand where they're at. You have to explore their boundaries and beliefs in a way that's actually plausibly deniable.\n\nPretending to joke is invaluable to people like Trump. He follows mob rules when getting things done. Joke, test the waters, then imply directions but never explicitly give them. It should always be possible to pull back and claim you didn't say a thing or mean it \"in that way.\" Ambiguity and plausible deniability are critical. This criminal skill translates perfectly to politics.\n\nThe far right has used this tactic for years to pry open the Overton Window. Legacy media has been complicit in the right wing tactic by perennially platforming fascists.\n\nTrump starts by making a \"joke.\" He'll keep making the \"joke\" until enough people around him think he can get away with it, then it stops being a joke and starts being a policy. Once you've become normalized to the \"joke,\" the Overton window has opened enough to talk about the reality.\n\nWhen he \"jokes\" about deporting American citizens, he means he's planning to use ICE to kidnap protesters like he did in Portland at the end of his last term. But he will send them to a death camp in El Salvador instead of just intimidating them. He is telegraphing his next move. Get ready for it. \n\n#USPol\n\nEdit: \nref https://social.treehouse.systems/@AnarchoNinaAnalyzes/114302728431458606\n\nEdit:\nNor is this hypothetical or \"at some point in the distant future.\" High profile targets, like Sam Beard (organizer for Luigi's defense fund among other things), are being chosen now:\nhttps://bsky.app/profile/partygirls.bsky.social/post/3lmdlnr2gac2q\n\n#FreeLuigi",
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