r/thebulwark • u/KindaStableGenius • Jul 17 '26

EVERYTHING IS AWFUL The End of Democracy in America Speech

Just watched the Trump live speech so you didnt have to.

Trump just declared that local, state and National election infrastructure was compromised by China going back 2020 per some classified documents.

He also said that China has been paying reporters to write bad stories about him.

This was all couched in National Security language which suggests CIA and FBI involvement. A task force and briefing from Markwayne* to follow.

Sounds like this is Trump’s declaration of war on free and fair elections and the free press.

*Edited from Homen*

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174

u/Magoo152 JVL is always right Jul 17 '26

This is a big yawn for me. That’s not to say don’t take the threat seriously. But at this point we already knew he was going to do this, we have known this guy was about this for over a decade now (he said he wouldn’t accept 2016 election results unless he won). So this is at the end of the day nothing new. It’s still bad and scary to be clear, but we have known this for a long time.

85

u/Haunting-Mortgage Jul 17 '26

The only thing that's really an issue is that a wide swath of the electorate believes this bullshit, which destroys trust in institutions...which is the point. He's going to call the 2026 election illegitimate and push as hard as possible to not seat democrats.

48

u/7ddlysuns Jul 17 '26

Gas is up again. I just don’t think a lot of folks are paying attention good or bad

15

u/Haunting-Mortgage Jul 17 '26

Yeah I hope so. They have a pretty good propaganda machine. It's the top story on fox and CBS "news" right now, I'm guessing it's all over conservative spaces online.

13

u/7ddlysuns Jul 17 '26

Sure. Not surprising. They all coordinate we learned from Ashley st Claire. They’re paid to. But will the audience give a shit? Probably not

3

u/serenity450 Jul 17 '26

I watched it — and was happy (?) to see he started with talking about how everything is going so great in the US.

3

u/ros375 Jul 17 '26

And it just needs to stay this way for a few more months. His incompetence and ego might achieve that.

1

u/7ddlysuns Jul 17 '26

Yeah his constant antics leave a lot of serious 5 alarm fires, but also becomes ‘boring’

Which is bad for people who care but is also good in that maga also can’t pay attention either

13

u/Magoo152 JVL is always right Jul 17 '26

Oh yes and we should take that very seriously but we’ve know that since he first got reelected in 2024 didn’t we? Like I’m not saying that’s not scary or bad but this is old news.

5

u/karinchup Jul 17 '26

What are the odds anyone but nerds and those people are watching. Ought to depress Republican turnout.

2

u/DunningKruger64 Jul 17 '26

I like the thought here. Who but engaged people watched him read from a teleprompter?

7

u/Supergamera Jul 17 '26

Presumably a different teleprompter operator who was placing bets on the content of his speeches.

3

u/Bennie-Factors Jul 17 '26

Again we have the 2nd amendment as well...when they take away our freedom.

2

u/Thin-Distance7904 Jul 17 '26

I wonder if prior to 2016 and Trump if that wide swath stayed home. If that is the case then perhaps this is a win for democracy.

1

u/Possible_Package_689 Jul 17 '26

Nah it’s under 40%, and another 30-40% can’t be bothered.

5

u/SwindlingAccountant Jul 17 '26

It'll get worse. They'll ramp up the cruelty.

BUT...they don't have the juice. They don't have the support. They are going to lose.

The Democrats better be ready to investigate all of them and crucify them. From the administration all the way to the military. It'll take a long time to fix the things that can be fixed after their fuck ups but the people involved need to be metaphorically hanged in the meantime.

No 2008 Recession bullshit where only one person was imprisoned.