“Do dictators even play golf?” Watters cracked, while suggesting that Trump isn’t “organized” enough to abuse power.
Donald J. Trump’s declaration Tuesday night that he would be a “dictator” only on “Day One” of his presidency wasn’t to be taken seriously, Fox News host Jesse Watters insisted Wednesday.
“It’s only a dictatorship for one day, guys,” Watters began, chuckling. “He’ll just sit and sign executive orders like Biden did.”
Trump, Watters claimed, “knows exactly what he is doing.”
“He’s teasing the press and they just took the bait,” he claimed, before playing clips of two MSNBC contributors who—unlike Watters—were not taking Trump lightly.
“Look how unhappy these people look. MSNBC needs to relax. And don’t you dare laugh at Trump’s jokes. They aren’t funny,” the Fox host said, before going to another round of clips, this time from the rival network’s Morning Joe show.
In 2016 I heard people say they like Trump bc he says what he means.
For someone who says what they mean, there sure is a lot of explaining intent coming from the right.
Every 4 years we get the summer Olympics, and yet the hurdles competition there still ain't in the level of MAGAts trying to walk back the latest Trump comment.
Republicans do not argue in good faith. They're willing to sacrifice our entire government to the will of this one man and nothing can change their minds. To them, there is no arguments to be had so they twist words and lie to your face just to get you to react.
It's not a test. There are no ifs. It's a message that got through to its audience. None of this back-peddling will or is intended to reach that audience. The message is sent and it seems well-received.
That didn't happen.
And if it did, it wasn't that bad.
And if it was, that's not a big deal.
And if it is, that's not my fault.
And if it was, I didn't mean it. <---- this one
And if I did, you deserved it.
It's Schrodinger's Joke. You say something awful and it's simultaneously a joke and not a joke until the people hearing it react. That collapses the wave function. If people get offended, then it was just a joke. If people cheer for it, then it was serious.
Joking about becoming a dictator would make you unelectable 20 years ago. Remember when Howard Dean got excited at a rally and screamed a bit too loud? That was 20 years ago and it completely sank his campaign. Though he didn’t stand much of a chance against John Kerry for the nomination, his campaign was doomed after that.
It wasn't the scream, it was the media gas lighting the electorate into thinking the scream was disqualifying. If he hadn't screamed, they would have used something else.
Very fitting quote. I can't believe they're trying to call it a "hoax".
"But Trump will have so much fun with this dictatorship hoax. Watch him start wearing a crown."
Oh isn't that so funny how he wants to restructure the government with only people loyal to him? Isn't that hilarious how he wants to throw out the election results and override the will of the people? Isn't that just an absolute gas how he wants to ignore term limits and appoint himself ruler for life?
No. That shit isn't a hoax and it isn't funny. Wtf is wrong with Fox News to even try to make a joke out of this?
One of the scariest things about parenting is how little control you really have over outcomes for your kids. I have watched my kid make bad decisions and there's just fuck all I can do but hope she learns from the experience and isn't too badly hurt by it while giving her all the love I can.
I'm not talking about falling down the stairs of course; certainly nothing safety related. But decisions with friends, academics .... you can model good behavior, your can inform, you can supply incentives, and consequences, but end of day, it's their life.
I mean my mom is a raging Qanon, Trump loving, anti-vax (recently), evangelical and I'd happily vote for Bernie and got my last round of boosters a few days ago, so it goes both ways I guess.
Ahh ha ha ha, ahh ha ha ha! Dictatorships are soooo freaking funny guys. Remember when the US backed Pinochet's military junta in Chile? God that was hilarious. Super funny when they started disappearing people. And the torture, good times, good times.
Oh, you mean the conflict that's glorified by right-wing terrorist groups today because it targeted leftists?
Fun reminder that the GOP today has the same enemies as the Nazis: sexual, ethnic, and religious minorities & leftists. Its not a coincidence, its a plan.
Yep, that's the one. Absolute hilarity! Let's not pretend there hasn't been plenty of dictator humor from the left also though. Unfortunately, supporting "leftist" ideals does not preclude your being a brutal "comedian".
I can only hope that the name Jesse Watters is lost to history, and not studied by future historians trying to figure out how the fuck we let Trump come to power a second time.
I can only hope history remembers that one time on his first day of his new job when his mom called him live on air to tell him not to do exactly the shit he is doing.
And before anyone says we're snowflakes and can't take a joke -- he's not joking. This was not a joke. Vote accordingly, and be warned, you do NOT want to be living in a dictatorship.
Literally tried to overthrow American democracy but somehow any mention of engaging in the actions of a dictator is supposed to be construed as an obvious joke.
Yeah, the end of America is just hilarious. Anyway, why would anyone believe these gaslighting assholes? They also claimed (and many continue to) that they have no plans to end abortion nationwide. Same with other rights like birth control and gay marriage.
He is actually known to be funny, that's part of the appeal for why people go to his events. We don't find it funny because they are often far right or authoritarian jokes which are not actually funny to the people who have justifiable fears of the jokes not being jokes at all.
That is part of why the right lets him off the hook for so much, until he actually does it its "just a joke" or "just saying it"
Just like how Palpatine said that "he was the Senate" hahah good times. Glad to see it was only a joke and he didn't userp the power of the entire galactic Republic and become an emperor /s
If only there was some way for a news organization that regularly interviews him to get a straight answer on the specific question of whether he intends to be a dictator for any period of time.
I don't think it was a joke as much as I think he doesn't really know what a dictator is. He just heard it a lot and said it because it sounds cool. Pretty confident that's how he uses most words.