It’s redundant to suggest that something very strange is going on with Donald Trump, but a video shared on social media Tuesday is causing a major online debate about whether or not the twice-impeached president-elect may have had plastic surgery.
The video in question shows Trump standing next to Twitter/X CEO Elon Musk as they watch a rocket launched by Musk’s SpaceX company.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched its giant Starship rocket to space from Texas on Tuesday, advancing the ship’s spaceflight abilities but botching an attempt to bring its booster back to land as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump watched from the company’s rocket facilities.
The roughly 400-foot-tall (122-meter-tall) rocket system, designed to land astronauts on the moon and ferry crews to Mars, lifted off at 4 p.m. CT (2200 GMT) from SpaceX’s sprawling rocket development site in Boca Chica, Texas.
Is that really Trump, or someone wearing a Trump mask, sort of like the ones you see in the “Mission: Impossible” movies? Or did Donnie visit Melania’s plastic surgeon and have some work done to make himself look younger as he prepares for another term in office?
Commentary varied from mockery to conspiracy theories.
Georgia Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said today on social media that if the House Ethics Committee report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz is released, she will release the “entire Jeffrey Epstein report,” along with all of the sexual harassment complaints that have been filed against members of Congress.
On Twitter/X, Greene posted a missive that began, “For my Republican colleagues in the House and Senate, If we are going to release ethics reports and rip apart our own that Trump has appointed, then put it ALL out there for the American people to see.”
She continued:
Yes..
all the ethics reports and claims including the one I filed
all your sexual harassment and assault claims that were secretly settled paying off victims with tax payer money
the entire Jeffrey Epstein files, tapes, recordings, witness interviews
but not just those, there’s more, Epstein wasn’t/isn’t the only asset
If we’re going to dance, let’s all dance in the sunlight.
I’ll make sure we do.
For my Republican colleagues in the House and Senate,
If we are going to release ethics reports and rip apart our own that Trump has appointed, then put it ALL out there for the American people to see.
Yes..
all the ethics reports and claims including the one I filed
Of course, Greene is just blowing smoke out of her ass because it’s doubtful she even has the full Epstein report, and even if she did, it would likely implicate prominent Republicans, including President-elect Donald Trump, who was buddies with Epstein for decades and had this to say about the late sex trafficker and pedophile in 2002:
“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it—Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”
Epstein later died under mysterious circumstances while in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons while Trump was in the White House and his hand-picked attorney general, William Barr, headed up the Department of Justice. Epstein’s death was later ruled a suicide by the DOJ.
Greene is also a hypocrite because there have been rumors of her own sexual infidelity while she was still married. Those included her having sex with numerous men, according to The Independent.
“The Georgia Republican reportedly carried on two affairs, one with a tantric sex guru named Craig Ivey, and another with a gym manager named Justin Tway, both in her home of Alpharetta, Georgia.”
So go right ahead and release all the files you want, Margie. But that blade cuts both ways.
Iraq War veteran Paul Rieckhoff dismantled GOP strategist Scott Jennings Monday evening on CNN during a discussion of Donald Trump’s plan to use members of the U.S. armed forces to round up and deport immigrants.
“It is really a sacred and terrifying prospect for anyone who’s been in uniform,” Rieckhoff explained. “You can send me to Iraq but to send me across from American protesters and situations like we’ve seen across America is wrought with a tremendous burden you’re going to put on men and women in uniform.”
That led Jennings to respond that the military would not be used against U.S. citizens, only illegal immigrants. “Which I think most people would agree is a national emergency, is a national security emergency.”
Jennings also claimed that National Guard troops had been deployed before on American soil, which led Rieckhoff to correct him: “To wildfires.”
“To the border,” Jennings insisted.
“To wildfires,” Rieckhoff said once again.
“No, to the border,” Jennings again noted.
Smiling, Rieckhoff replied, “In small numbers.”
Later in the discussion, Jennings told Rieckhoff to stop talking.
“You got to make your speech. Let me —”
Rieckhoff would have none of it.
“Is it a debate with you or am I answering questions with the host? Because every time I come on you want to sidetrack to take me into your talking points.”
“By all means have at it, my friend. You’re the expert,” Jennings sneered.
Rieckhoff finally asked Jennings, “Have you served in uniform?”
“I have served as a United States citizen,” Jennings replied.
“Have you been to the border?” Jennings asked Riekhoff, to which he replied he had not.
“Oh! So you’re not a genius. Go on. By all means. Have at it.”
Earlier today, the New York Times published an interesting article by Neil Vigdor entitled, “No, Trump Cannot Run for Re-election Again in 2028.”
According to Vigdor, Donald Trump is barred from seeking a third term in the White House because the U.S. Constitution was amended in 1951 to bar such a thing from happening. This came after Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to four terms in office.
Kimberly Wehle, who teaches constitutional law at the University of Baltimore and wrote a book titled “How to Read the Constitution — and Why,” said that the measure left no ambiguity and was intended to place a check on the president.
“There was a concern about entrenching power in a kinglike manner,” she said.
Trump cannot run a third time for the presidency, right? Well, when you consider that he has willfully violated just about every existing rule already, is it safe to assume he wouldn’t try to buck the Constitution itself and make himself president for life?
Legal experts weighed in on the issue, with many noting that Trump thinks the law applies to everyone but him.
The Constitution also says he requires the "advise & consent" of the Senate to approve his nominations.
Joyce is right to be skeptical. Criminals find ways around inconvenient laws, and in Trump’s case, the Constitution. He violated the Emoluments Clause with no consequences. He’s getting away with violating criminal laws because of SCOTUS. But (continue to next)
Sounds like a potential future case for the U.S. Supreme Court, doesn’t it? However, it’s currently controlled by a 6-3 conservative majority that recently gave American presidents criminal immunity for “official acts.” Does anyone think they’d rule against Trump?
Maybe Trump will simply declare himself Supreme Dictator and then fulfill his wish of being the 21st century’s Adolf Hitler. What could possibly go wrong?
After officially taking office on January 20 of next year, Donald Trump will again have full presidential pardon power, meaning he can give anyone convicted of a federal crime a clean slate and release them from prison if they’re still incarcerated.
Perhaps the most famous (and infamous) person currently in federal custody is rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, who is charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. If convicted, Combs faces decades behind bars.
So, would Trump pardon Combs? The two have been acquaintances for decades and once traveled in the same social circle.
A bodyguard who was employed by Combs in the 1990s doubts that Trump would hand the rapper a get-out-of-jail-free card, according to Newsweek.
Gene Deal, who served as a bodyguard for Combs in the 1990s when the star was known as Puff Daddy, has expressed doubts that Trump will take any such action on behalf of the hip-hop musician, given his past criticisms of the onetime real estate mogul.
During a recent appearance on hip-hop interview channel The Art of Dialogue, Deal said that Combs “wasn’t even good with Trump like that [anymore]. He was going against Donald Trump.”
Deal added that he expects Trump would ask the following question: “Why should I help this mother****** when he talks s*** about me?”
“Donald Trump probably wouldn’t p*** on Puff if he was on fire,” Deal added. “At one point, they was going at him. So why would he help? … I don’t believe he’s gonna help him. Not at all.”
In 2012, however, Trump sounded like a fan of Combs, remarking, “I love Diddy. You know he’s a good friend of mine. He’s a good guy.”
Combs returned Trump’s love in 2015, telling the Washington Post, “Donald Trump is a friend of mine, and he works very hard.”
But two years later, Combs wasn’t so enthusiastic.
“I think that to be honest, we don’t really give a f*** about Trump, because [black people are] in the same f*****-up position. So that’s not what we’re on. The tomfoolery that’s going on in D.C., that’s just regular everyday business to black folks. That’s not surprising.”
Combs also revealed that he had voted for President Joe Biden in 2020.
“When you look at it, we don’t have no choice. Say what you want about Biden, I can’t say I love the pick either. But we’ve got to get him in office, and then we’ve got to hold him accountable.”
Trump and Combs are the same in one regard: Both have been accused of horrific sexual crimes and both appear to be sexual predators. Too bad they can’t share a prison cell together.
