Thread by @dcpetterson

We keep hearing how Trump does what he wants, always succeeds and gets away with it, and there are no consequences.

All that is false. Every word of it. Trump is a complete failure, nothing he does works, and he has faced massive blowback.

I'll give some examples.

1/10

Trump University was forced to close. That grift had been a big moneymaker for the Don the Con. He was forced to pay a $25 million settlement to the people he defrauded.

2/10
nbcnews.com/politics/white…

Trump Foundation was dismantled. He had been cheating charities, and had to repay $2 million. This was while he was president. You may not have heard about it.

3/10
news.yahoo.com/trump-pays-2-m…

Every business he tries has failed. Trump airlines, Trump wines, Trump casinos, Trump Magazine, Trump Steaks--the list is endless.

4/10
rollingstone.com/politics/polit…

He failed in his reelection bid. He failed in his coup attempt. Those were both massive failures, and if you don't think being thrown out of office is a "consequence" for his crimes and incompetence, you're missing the point of democracy.

5/12

He is NOW in court on civil and criminal charges, and facing enormous fines, jailtime, and loss of both income and assets. Regardless of the results of these cases, the economic and PR costs of having to defend himself against the charges is huge.

6/12
justsecurity.org/75032/litigati…

Trump is enormously in debt. His properties are all failing--golf courses, restaurants, office towers, casinos. Everything he touches turns to crap. He has not =ever= succeeded at =anything=.

7/12

Totalitarian dictators must surround themselves with an air of infallibility, and a reputation for immunity from negative results. Trump loves to give this impression, but every part of it is wrong. He has always failed. He's in debt. He loses billions every year.

8/12

When people say "Trump never has any consequences!" they simply mean he's not in prison. He's a loser in every possible sense, nothing he does works. He's a laughingstock all over the world. When banks finally call in his debts, he'll be a pauper.

9/12

But when people say "Trump never has any consequences!" they're playing into the fascist totalitarian image Trump wants and needs you to believe. His only path back to power is to create an aura of inevitability. Don't help him.

10/12

Trump is a moron. Trump is a failure. Trump loses at everything. The consequences of that for him have always been hemorrhaging of his inherited wealth, loss of prestige, and ever-increasing legal judgements and peril.

11/12

He wants to be seen as an unstoppable and untouchable Mango Messiah, Savior of Savagery who strides, victorious, over all he surveys. But he's nothing of the sort. And the more people repeat the lie of his terrible teflon toughness, the more those people harm us all.

12/12

Someone said Trump is a weak man's idea of a strongman, a poor man's idea of a rich man, and a stupid man's idea of a smart man.

To become authoritarian dictator, Trump only needs to convince you he's a strongman who can do anything he wants, always wins, and never pays a price.

Don't buy it.

Don't buy bridges from a conman.