• PugJesus@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    I had to look up the first guy

    On May 15, 2024, Harris joined a Zoom call court hearing from his phone while he was behind the wheel. Since June 2023, Michigan’s “hands-free” state law makes it “illegal to manually use a cell phone or other mobile electronic devices while operating a vehicle on Michigan roads.”

    Presiding Judge J. Cedric Simpson straightforwardly asked the defendant, “Mr. Harris are you driving?” To which Harris replied, “Actually, I am pulling into my doctor’s office,” adding, “so just give me one second, I’m parking right now.”

    Nearly a minute later, Harris informs the court that he is stationary.

    After looking through the paperwork, which includes Harris’ record, Simpson says, “Okay, so maybe I don’t understand something, this is for driving while license suspended?”

    “That is correct, your honor,” the defendant’s lawyer, Washtenaw County Assistant Public Defender Natalie Pate confirmed.

    “And he was just driving. And he didn’t have a license,” Simpson said. He appears to smile and hold back a laugh.

    Moments later, Simpson shook his head in disbelief, saying, “I don’t even know why he would do that. So, defendant’s bond is revoked in this matter.” He added that Harris must turn himself in to Michigan’s Washtenaw County Jail that evening.

    C’mon, man, it would’ve been better to be late by a few minutes than to show yourself driving with a suspended license to the goddamn judge.

    • umbrella@lemmy.ml
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      6 months ago

      on the other hand how is one supposed to live without being able to drive in the us?

      • jj4211@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        Even if he “had” to cheat and drive, he could’ve chosen to be like a minute later and call from anywhere except a driver’s seat of a moving vehicle.

          • FreddyDunningKruger@lemmy.ml
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            6 months ago

            You know what’s funny? You calling him dumb, when it was probably someone exactly like you, with your subpar reading and comprehension skills, that made the clerical error showing his license was still suspended when it had actually been restored.

      • spongebue@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        It’s pretty damn hard, no doubt. But that doesn’t mean everyone should be able to drive by default and we should just do away with driver’s licenses (or whatever you may be suggesting)

        Also, it’s pretty stupidly easy to get a license here, and easier yet to keep it.

        • umbrella@lemmy.ml
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          6 months ago

          if i’m suggesting anything it would be public transit.

          if some guy is prohibited from driving but has no alternative to go to the doctor, he will just risk it and drive anyway. makong the punishment ineffective and possibly turning it into a snowball for the driver.

      • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago
        1. It very much is possible, and this coming from someone who walks with a cane.

        2. That doesn’t excuse driving with a suspended license, unless you’re at the level of “Abolish driving licenses” Libertarian Party style; licenses are a basic safety precaution and suspending one is supposed to reinforce the seriousness of the offense of unsafe and illegal driving.

        3. You can drive in the US without livestreaming it to your judge (shocking, I know).

    • atmur@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Watching his lawyer and the judge trying so hard not to laugh is the funniest goddamn thing.

      Also these two:

    • AbsentBird@lemm.ee
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      6 months ago

      Apparently his license had been restored in 2022, but due to a clerical error it was still listed as suspended. That’s part of the reason for the hearing.

      • Leate_Wonceslace@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        5 months ago

        Incase anyone reading hasn’t heard yet: the dude never had a license. He had a “suspended license” but getting that doesn’t actually mean you ever had a real license. He’s also renewed his ID every year. He’s just never gotten his license for no good reason.

    • SuperSaiyanSwag@lemmy.zip
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      6 months ago

      Maybe the guy just might be way too used to driving everywhere without thinking, almost like a muscle memory at this point.

        • Rolando@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          https://www.wxyz.com/news/hear-from-the-man-caught-driving-during-virtual-court-hearing-for-suspended-license

          7 News Detroit asked Harris what was he thinking when he made his appearance in court via video where he was seen driving.

          “What was I thinking? I was thinking about about getting my wife medical help. That’s what I was thinking,” Harris said. “I wasn’t thinking about the fact that I got a suspended license. I don’t care about all that.”

          … Harris told us that he never should have been charged with driving on a suspended license last fall, and he blames the mix-up on Saginaw Friend of the Court.

          “They were supposed to have been lifted it two years ago, but they didn’t,” Harris said.

          Secretary of State records show Harris’ license was first suspended in 2010 for unpaid child support in Saginaw County.

          Then in 2022, court records show that a judge rescinded that suspension, allowing Harris to drive again. But it appears that information never got to the Secretary of State where even as of Thursday afternoon, Harris’ license is still listed as suspended — the same records police and the judge were going by.

          …“Always double-check behind these workers because they will say that they will do something and they don’t do it,” Harris said.

          • Twista713@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            Wow… thanks for more context! So a state agency error results in the judge and prosecutor not having the correct information, but how does the defense attorney not look that up? Maybe overworked, but I would hope for more… And Harris should’ve spoken up himself that the suspension was lifted on this date by this agency! He could’ve also just said- I’m driving legally right now. That would have allowed the lawyers to look into it more.

  • Linkerbaan@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    Whoa that’s insane.

    Nobody would ever vote for a criminal. Now imagine the president supported a straight up Genocide! Adolf Hitler style! Everyone would jump ship to a third party!

    • III@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      You make a good point. Trump is both a criminal and also has said out loud that he supports genocide. Thanks for bringing that up. Sometimes I forget which president has openly stated their support for genocide. So being reminded that it was Trump and only Trump is helpful.

    • werefreeatlast@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Like, let’s say you stole a lot of money from a lot of people vs you went to a place and stole the same amount of money from less people. You get shot for one and you get to run for the other.

      3 years of prison for each count? Never gonna happen. That guy is Teflon.

      • JasonDJ@lemmy.zip
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        6 months ago

        He’s poisoning our water supply?

        He’s very sensitive to scrapes from metal objects and burned carbohydrates?

        He’s owned by a corporation and licensed out to several others?

      • orcrist@lemm.ee
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        6 months ago

        Who told you that? People who support those two parties? The corporations that fund those two parties? Maybe you’ve been played.

        • Leate_Wonceslace@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          6 months ago

          I’m reading this and can’t discern if you’re serious. On the one hand, the argument is insane and doesn’t address the actual calculus behind strategic voting. On the other hand, it reads exactly like what someone would say if they hadn’t thought about it other than deciding that voting is a moral evil a-priori and blurted out the first justification.

          • orcrist@lemm.ee
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            6 months ago

            I feel the same way about what you wrote.

            Where is the substance? Nothing you wrote actually addressed the issue, and your speculation was inaccurate as well. Meh.

    • Leate_Wonceslace@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      6 months ago

      I’ve been thinking about your weird claims about IDF bots on social media promoting Biden, and frankly it doesn’t make any sense. So let’s just grant this idea that there’s this large Israeli presence doing what Russia is doing in addition to the widely verified lobbying operations. Why would they encourage people to vote for Biden? Israel’s goals are better facilitated by a Trump presidency than a Biden presidency, so why dedicate resources to getting Biden elected that don’t make him compliant?

      Frankly, it’d make more sense for them to encourage people to vote third party so Biden loses. Incidentally, that’s exactly what you’re doing. Even if you’re not doing it on purpose, you’re using the bodies of dead Palestinians to justify a position that hurts them; for all your moral posturing, your actions are supporting genocide more directly than someone who votes for Biden in silence.

      • Linkerbaan@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        Who is the biggest AIPAC lobby recipient again?

        Also you don’t have to theorize this. Multiple heavy IDF shills (the non subtle kind) actively defend Biden.

        • Leate_Wonceslace@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          6 months ago

          biggest AIPAC lobby recipient

          Doesn’t matter.

          As I alluded to in my previous comment, lobbying ensures compliance by creating a sense of dependancy or potentially gratitude; lots of lobbyist donate to people who they don’t prefer in an attempt to influence them. It doesn’t make sense to support the same kind of clientele with online bot accounts, so you need to show that Israel is likely to prefer Biden over Trump for it to make sense that a hypothetical bot team would even support Biden.

          IDF shills

          Not relevant.

          Just for a second, let’s assume you’re both honest and correct. It makes sense for people who happen to both be Zionists and prefer Biden to argue in favor of Biden while entirely disregarding the genocide. Merely noticing these people does not show that the Israeli interests prefer Biden, even if we already assume the IDF bots not only exist but are present in large numbers.

          Notice how I’m granting a lot that I don’t need to while still showing you don’t have a good argument for your previous claim.

          • Linkerbaan@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            What you don’t factor in is that these people are not trying to turn Democrats into trump supporters.

            Israel owns both sides of the two party system a threat for them would be a third party. Your logic is entirely dependent on pretending that Trump would be so much better for israel while in fact it cannot get much better than Biden for israel.

            so you need to show that Israel is likely to prefer Biden over Trump for it to make sense that a hypothetical bot team would even support Biden.

            Have you never seen this yet?

      • Linkerbaan@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        The OG Hitlers.

        Fun fact for those that don’t know; Hitler was heavily inspired by how America Genocided all the Natives and filled the land with white people.

        Fuckcars moment

        • 11111one11111@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          Whoa whoa whoa you ignorant fuck. America wasn’t even a country when most indigenous tribes were wiped from the Americas. We have the Spaniards and French to thank for that. But even still, 90% of the native population was slautered during colonization of the America’s. The Trail of Tears was really America just taking credit for it all.

        • DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social
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          6 months ago

          Right, but the point of the displacement-style genocide is partly deniability.

          You’re still eradicating a culture and people, but the camp guards don’t kill themselves or spend the rest of their lives drinking themselves to death.

          You’ll even find chuds defending it a hundred years later because “it was mostly disease that killed them” and such.

  • demizerone@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    I know people with a single non-violent felony and are destitute. This mother fucker has 34 and has a chance at being president. Dying empire led by bad people is exactly right.

    • EatATaco@lemm.ee
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      6 months ago

      Even if we ignore the whole “suspended license” part of it, he still showed up to court breaking MI law by using a cell phone while driving. Thinking he is going to avoid ridicule for this is a pipe dream.

    • 11111one11111@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Jesus fuck the laundry list of shit you could pin him with is endless so why the fuck would you need to make shit up? They literally did not find him liable for rape. He was found liable for sexual abuse. Why fuel the fire of misinformation when it’s the fire the person you are speaking out against thrives on.

    • orcrist@lemm.ee
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      6 months ago

      It’s also about the justice system. If you are I commit multiple felonies, will get locked up. If we tried screwing around in court that much, if we were held in contempt multiple times, the same result would occur. But he’s rich and famous, at least for now, so he gets away with it, or at least he gets away with it for a lot longer.

      • 11111one11111@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        The constitution is written to protect the people from the government. Whether or not it should still be taken at face value is another conversation. The reason a felon cannot vote but can run for office is to keep legislation honest and prevent, for example a power hungry sitting president or any official, from passing laws that would be used to incarcerate the opposing candidates. It’s to keep Trump from saying anyone with a last name rhyming with riden is a convicted felon and cannot run for office. It’s what Putin does year in and year out.

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    Bruh…

    His license was suspended and the hearing was to delay his reporting to jail by 4 weeks…

    And he didn’t show up to the courthouse like he was supposed to, then face timed in while driving…

    He was already sentenced to jail, he just didn’t have to report yet.

    Like, the court date wasn’t just for driving with a suspended license. It was for whatever caused him to already lose his license and get sent to jail.

    So the judge ruled against his request for delay and ordered him to report to jail that evening.

    • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Pretty sure the hearing wasn’t about asking for an adjournment, and the public defender tried to end the hearing by asking for an adjournment because her client was a dumbass.

      I assume he was there to get a summary ruling on the misdemeanor- or maybe try and convince the judge to let it be a fine or something.

      Which the judge ignored, because he ain’t stupid either.

      Edit- it was just a misdemeanor, unless he hurt someone while driving. So it would have been a max of 93 days and/or max of 500 bucks. Almost certainly less than that- and at least here, it’s a “pay this standard fine or you can go to jail.” (I’m not in Michigan, mind,)

    • xantoxis@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Yeah to be real, that first guy definitely fucked up bad. I’m not gonna pretend he’s some kind of poster child for anti-maga.

      I’m still against carceral punishment though.

  • volvoxvsmarla @lemm.ee
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    6 months ago

    I hate Trump with a passion but I’ll play devil’s advocate here.

    Not all felonies are equal. And I bet all of you have different feelings about different convictions. For some, bribing a pornstar to keep quiet about an affair just doesn’t seem like a big thing, a morally ultra wrong thing, something that would disquality you from running for presidency of a country.

    Einstein cheated on his wives and was a huge asshole. That doesn’t make his accomplishments as a scientist any less valid. Should we denounce the theory of relativity because he was morally or ethically corrupt?

    Let me tell you Trump’s story from the eyes of a Trump supporter here: The guy had an affair long time ago and he knew that this getting public would make him look bad despite being a genuine guy with good intentions for his country. So he did what every red blooded American would do, he asked the mistress not to tell anyone. He paid her for that. He had to get that money from somewhere so he had to falsify some books.

    I understand how disgusting this is, but for an average Joe this can be very well understandable and morally forgivable. You might disagree (you might also know more details and context than the average Joe) but at the end of the day everyone’s moral compass is different. And affair and hush money might just not be that big of a deal in the grant scheme of things. It might not be something that big that it should keep you from voting for a candidate. He didn’t murder someone! after all.

    And honestly, in some way I agree: Trump did so much bad shit that he should be in prison for, but the hush money thing is just not the Big One I want to see him convicted for.

    As others pointed out, convicted felons should be able to run for presidency to avoid political imprisonment of opponents. This is literally what happens in Russia all the time. You want to run for something? Either you filed some paperwork wrong and cannot run as a candidate, or you get thrown into jail because of corruption or extremism or taxes, or you get assassinated. Often one follows the other.

    Apart from that, I firmly believe in rehabilitation. Fuck Trump, but I’ll be damned if in a couple of years some amazing dude could not be running for president because he was thrown to jail for drugs or stealing popcorn or some other crap when he was 18. Even for major crimes. If you have served your sentence and show remorse you should be able to integrate yourself back into society with somewhat of a clean sheet. We fuck the lives over of ex felons big time and it is such a shame.

      • Bytemeister@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        Some say he has the best affairs I heard some people, many people, the best, people, say it.

      • volvoxvsmarla @lemm.ee
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        6 months ago

        Yeah I seem to do that a bit too well I guess. Apart from the last part about rehabilitation of criminals - which I do strongly believe in but which is unrelated to Trump, so it was probably misplaced in the comment - I just tried to answer the question “why do republicans still want to vote for Trump after this” to my best guess, trying to follow their absolutely flawed “logic”. Let me be very clear: I do 100% think his conviction in this case is very important and severe and it is not “just an affair” or hush money. This is huge. At least to me.

        I think somehow I made the impression that I actually think it’s unimportant or not a big deal.

        (Also I came to realize that scientific achievements and politics are probably not a good comparison. But then again, probably would fit the logic of an actual Trump supporter.)

    • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Einstein made astonishing and real contributions to science. You cannot invalidate his contributions because they’re, well…scientific. Yeah, he did some shitty things, but those things were limited to the scope of his immediate family. Not apologizing for him, just offering this for comparison.

      We have to make these adjustments any time we discuss the work of some artist, scientist, or leader we place on a pedestal.

      The real test is how much damage they do to others. Infidelity? Well, it sucks, but it’s not uncommon (not dismissing it, just observing the fact). Did a scientist create a wheat variety that withstands pests and drought, feeding millions, yet also create a profitable chemical that has caused widespread cancer or environmental destruction? Maybe a popular, famous and groundbreaking artist was a real piece of shit and beat his wife and kids, say maybe putting one of the kids in a wheelchair? Maybe a world leader that’s done a great number of amazing things but still dropped bombs on civilians?

      Now what? Is this the price of greatness? How much do you accept or turn a blind eye to? How much real harm did they do?

      As far as felonies go, there’s obviously different levels, and that’s up to the law, and FBFW the judge…as we’ve seen affluenza and being a rich POS lets you skip out on a lot of punishment thanks to judge’s biases. Our “feels” shouldn’t be what counts.

      You say you “hate trump with a passion”, but:

      and he knew that this getting public would make him look bad despite being a genuine guy with good intentions for his country.

      Say what?

      As far as “moral compasses” go, I think it’s been pretty well established that the pro-trump morality is willfully ignorant and shored up with personal prejudices and hatreds. You have to deliberately choose not to believe in many things to support trump, and that means ignoring laws, the rights for and respect of your fellow humans, science, and many other things. Believing in a Flat Earth has the same validity as supporting trump.

      • volvoxvsmarla @lemm.ee
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        6 months ago

        I hope it was clear that the paragraph in italics was what I meant a Trump supporter would say, definitely not me. I most certainly don’t regard him as a “genuine guy with good intentions for his country”.

        You have to deliberately choose not to believe in many things to support trump, and that means ignoring laws, the rights for and respect of your fellow humans, science, and many other things.

        I 100% agree with you here.

          • volvoxvsmarla @lemm.ee
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            6 months ago

            Yeah I think I didn’t point out the italics stuff because it seemed obvious in my head that this would be like a fake quote. I should have pointed it out. Now a huge bunch of people assume I somehow defend Trump, think his conviction doesn’t matter, or think the thought process of a supporter makes sense/is correct. Of course it doesn’t/isn’t.

            I also should not have put three different theses in one comment (the discrepancy between an individual as a moral person and his achievements, Trump supporters thinking - with the help of media - that it’s not that big of a deal, and rehabilitation of felons/criminals). It got confusing. Not the best comment I’ve written in my life.

            Anyway, my bad.

    • fine_sandy_bottom@discuss.tchncs.de
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      6 months ago

      Ok firstly, you missed out the part about getting spanked with a magazine which I particularly enjoy.

      Secondly, he has shown absolutely no contrition and is extraordinarily likely to commit the same crime in a larger fashion if given the opportunity.

    • Raiderkev@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Yeah, but stealing classified documents to sell to the highest bidder is pretty fucking serious, and the clown judge that he hired did everything in her power to get that trial pushed til after the election when he could hopefully throw it out as commander in chief. The fact that they pulled that shit makes me want NY to throw the book at him.

    • ???@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      You totally lost me with your arguement at “so he had to falsify some books”.

      Generally I agree that not all crimes are equal and that what you have written good be a good interpretation of how Trump supporters may trivialize the matter.

      • Sidyctism@feddit.de
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        6 months ago

        You held on longer than me. I was done when he asked wether we should reject the theory of relativity because einstein was asshole.

        The way one views other people is irrelevant for physics. Its a cornerstone of politics.

        • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          Implying Trump has ever done anything even close to as beneficial as Einstein’s contributions to physics. Or that a dead man’s reputation is comparable with a corrupt fascist possibly winning power.

    • NeptuneOrbit@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      I just lost brain cells. It’s campaign finance violations, not an affair. Also, the government doesn’t just get one shot to convict someone. It’s not “the big one” but he’s still under threat for other actions he chose to take.

      • zarp86@sh.itjust.works
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        6 months ago

        It’s campaign finance violations, not an affair.

        Thank you.. I blame the media for this. Every article and talking head referred to it as the “hush money case” instead of “campaign finance fraud.”

        • volvoxvsmarla @lemm.ee
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          6 months ago

          I absolutely agree. Please don’t take my comment above as my actual opinion on Trump. My point is exactly this - for a Trump supporter it is easy to see this as the “hush money case” as you call it and just state it’s not that big of a deal even when he’s convicted. And the media is very much to blame for that.

  • spujb@lemmy.cafe
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    6 months ago

    to be fair plenty of liberals and other non-abolitionist folk probably also had the top reaction 🙃