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Why isn't Trump's mishandling of classified material the straw that breaks the elephants back?

For years I heard people say that there is nothing Donald J. Trump could do that would cause him to lose support from his base. But I always thought - no there must be something and I figured his mishandling of secret documents would be it but so far it doesn't seem to be the case. 

Trump's former press secretary has said that while Trump was in the WH he demonstrated an unnerving carelessness with national security information. It happened so many times that I was able to put together a Top 10 examples of the phenomenon:

#10. In May 2017, Trump had a chat with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in which the Republican shared information about dispatching two nuclear submarines off the coast of the Korean peninsula. By one account, Pentagon officials were “in shock“ over Trump’s willingness to share such information. “We never talk about subs!” three officials told BuzzFeed News, referring to the military’s belief that keeping submarines’ movements secret is key to their mission.

#9. In September 2019, during a photo-op at an event along the U.S./Mexico border, the president seemed eager to boast to reporters about detailed technological advancements in border security. It fell to Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, the acting head of the Army Corps, to interject, “Sir, there could be some merit in not discussing that.”

#8. In July 2019, Trump had an unsecured conversation with U.S. Ambassador to the E.U. Gordon Sondland, while the ambassador was in a Ukrainian restaurant within earshot of others, in which Trump sought information on Ukraine helping target the president’s domestic political opponents. Larry Pfeiffer, a former senior director of the White House Situation Room and a former chief of staff to the CIA director, said of the call, “The security ramifications are insane.”

#7. In February 2018, Trump ignored the pleas of many U.S. officials and recklessly declassified information from the so-called “Nunes Memo” in the hopes of advancing a partisan scheme.

#6. In February 2017, Trump discussed sensitive details about North Korea’s ballistic missile tests with the prime minister of Japan at a Mar-a-Lago dining area, in view of wealthy civilians/customers.

#5. In early October 2019, Trump publicly discussed American nuclear weapons in Turkey, something U.S. officials have traditionally avoided disclosing and/or confirming.

 
 

#4. In August 2019, Trump published a tweet about a failed Iranian launch, which included a detailed photo. As MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell reported, it wasn’t long before experts marveled at Trump’s recklessness with classified material.

#3. In October 2019, Trump needlessly blurted out all kinds of tactical and operational details about the al-Baghdadi mission in Syria. As NBC News reported at the time, “A few of those colorful details were wrong. Many of the rest were either highly classified or tactically sensitive, and their disclosure by the president made intelligence and military officials cringe, according to current and former U.S. officials.”

#2. In 2020, Trump disclosed the existence of a secret nuclear weapons program to Bob Woodward, to the surprise of national security insiders.

#1. Just four months into Trump’s presidency, he welcomed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergei Kislyak into the Oval Office — at the request of Russian President Vladimir Putin — for a visit that was never fully explained.

Posted - July 5, 2023

Responses

  • .

    8039
    Biden  had documents in his garage as well, where is the furor over that?

    Joe and his son Hunter have a long list of shady dealings, especially with China but I am too lazy to dig up the list.  I do read the news online everyday, there may be one or two stories, the media ignores their darkness.


    This post was edited by . at July 6, 2023 6:41 PM MDT
      July 5, 2023 8:29 AM MDT
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  • 10945
    Whataboutism is not going to protect the life's of the people that Trump put in danger with his mishandling of secret documents. A couple of days ago Trump posted Obam's  address on Truth Social shortly after that a Trump supporter showed up in the area with a gun. So I think that shows Trump doesn't care who he puts in danger. 
      July 6, 2023 8:42 AM MDT
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  • 33803
    That is (D)ifferent, don't you know...
      July 6, 2023 6:59 PM MDT
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  • 13277
    Because the straw breaks the camel’s back.
      July 5, 2023 8:34 AM MDT
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  • 10945
    The symbol of the Republican party is a elephant not a camel.
      July 6, 2023 8:24 AM MDT
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  • 13277
    But the expression is “the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
      July 6, 2023 8:29 AM MDT
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  • 10945
    I know what the expression is but in this case a elephant is more suited. And using it instead of a camel is pretty creative if I do say so myself. 
      July 6, 2023 8:49 AM MDT
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  • 5451
    The two main factions in the USA are the liberal Democrats and the conservative Republicans and neither side has any furor for anything that politicians on their own side do.

    If one faction is blind to the sins of their own guy, how could anyone possibly think that the other faction won’t also be blind to the sins of their own guy?  That’s why politics is so eye-rollworthy.


    This post was edited by Livvie at July 5, 2023 6:38 PM MDT
      July 5, 2023 8:40 AM MDT
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  • 10945
    You would think there would be a point were either of the factions would look at their guy and say - YICKS or danger danger Will Robinson. Cheers!
      July 5, 2023 8:54 AM MDT
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  • 5451
    I get the opposite thought from reading the political discussions on here.
      July 5, 2023 10:51 AM MDT
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  • 10945
    Yeah it is like that on most sites. But it seems to me that there are less die hard Trump supporters then there was a year or so ago. And in part  that could be thanks to me. Cheers! 
      July 6, 2023 8:17 AM MDT
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  • 5451
    It probably has more to do with Trump’s own sins.  I thought he was losing net support well before the 2020 election.  Either that or his online supporters just moved to dark web forums.
      July 6, 2023 11:05 AM MDT
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  • 10945
    Its too bad that someone doesn't invent Scratch and Sniff web browsing. That way a person could read about Trumps BS and smell it too. Cheers! 
      July 6, 2023 11:34 AM MDT
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  • 10052
    That's a sweeping generalization. I personally know a few Republicans who had never voted anything other than GOP in their lives and refused to vote for Trump. They quickly recognized him for what he is. They voted against him twice. 

    For some people, character counts.


     
      July 5, 2023 5:24 PM MDT
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  • 10945
    Big buck donors are starting to donate their money to anybody but Trump. So I think that is a sign that points to the end of the road for Donald J. Trump. Cheers!
      July 6, 2023 7:32 AM MDT
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  • 5451

    I think my generalization is generally true and yes, there are people who can recognize their own side’s sins and condemn their own guy for it, but from my point of view they’re a minority.

    Anyway, looking back through Answermug discussions, I’m all the way up to finding two users who posted stuff critical of their own side, there might be more, one’s from another country, the other’s a Democrat who hates Donald Trump but was still critical of Joe Biden.  

    So far from the conservative Republican side, I’ve found plenty of negative stuff about RINOs, but nothing really negative about Donald Trump.  It might exist, I just haven’t found it yet.  I might look some more later.

    This post was edited by Livvie at July 6, 2023 8:29 PM MDT
      July 6, 2023 1:06 PM MDT
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  • 13277
    That’s basically m2c, and I guarantee you won’t find it.
      July 6, 2023 1:26 PM MDT
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  • 5451
    I try to be fair.
      July 6, 2023 2:36 PM MDT
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  • 13277
    You still won’t find it.
      July 6, 2023 3:02 PM MDT
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  • 5451
    I should make finding it the next Answermug challenge. 
      July 6, 2023 3:39 PM MDT
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  • 33803
    The search on this site is busted.  So good luck. Finding s old one. But you can look below. 
      July 6, 2023 7:18 PM MDT
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  • 33803
    I have criticized  Trump's tax plan and his appointments  (he trusts the GOPe too easily....that has not changed either. He defended Lindsey Gramham just days ago) 
      July 6, 2023 6:46 PM MDT
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  • 10052
    I agree that most people make excuses for 'their side'. 

    Maybe that's why I don't identify as a democrat or republican... I am free to criticize them all. 

    ;) 
      July 6, 2023 8:09 PM MDT
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  • 10683
    Some people are in such deep denial that even if Trump were caught red-handed selling our national secrets to the highest bidder, they would start babbling about Biden's garage and Clinton's emails. And to be clear, seeing Trump for what he is, a lifelong criminal, does not mean closing my eyes to what other elected officials have done or are doing.
      July 5, 2023 5:40 PM MDT
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