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.

  • DefiantBidet@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    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.

    • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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      11 months ago

      “you can’t take him literally, but you have to take him seriously.” actual MAGoo quote.

    • CosmicTurtle@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      2016 was two things at the same time:

      • “He says what he means.”
      • “That’s just locker room talk.”

      Often said one right after the other.

    • Daft_ish@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      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.

      • Ook the Librarian@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        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.

    • xor@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      11 months ago

      It’s Schrödinger’s douchebag

      If you agree with him it’s real, if you disagree it was a joke, stop being so uptight

  • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    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.

    *arrow mine. may it find Trump’s knee.

  • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Of course they did. a tan suit is far beneath the office, but joking about being a fascist is not. Makes perfect sense

  • dtc@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Oops hahah the guillotine went off haha it was just a joke, stop rolling away haha lmao.

  • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    Trump always lies about what he’s done.

    He never lies about what he wants to do.

    If he says he wants to be a dictator, then that’s exactly who he wants to be.

    • TechyDad@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      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.

  • TheMusicalFruit@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    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.

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    11 months ago

    “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”

    ― George Orwell, 1984

  • Mercival@lemm.ee
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    11 months ago

    The only Jesse Watters clip I can get behind is the one where his mom tells him how disappointed she is in him for lying to people for profit.

      • Cylusthevirus@kbin.social
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        11 months ago

        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.

      • DarkenLM@kbin.social
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        11 months ago

        Unfortunately, this happens way too often. Despite their family’s best intentions for them, money speaks louder.

  • Im14abeer@midwest.social
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    11 months ago

    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.

    • Zombiepirate@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      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.

      • Im14abeer@midwest.social
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        11 months ago

        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”.

        • Zombiepirate@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Well yes, one can be an idiot on the left and wish for a Reign of Terror.

          But the left doesn’t really have a problem with paramilitary groups advertising that they’re training for a civil war while trying to overthrow elections and invoking that imagery.

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    11 months ago

    I fear it’ll take blood in the streets before people really see what this is all about.

    • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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      11 months ago

      There’s already been blood in the streets.

      A Nazi from a Nazi march ran down an innocent woman and killed her. Trump said that there are ‘fine people on both sides.’

  • Zink@programming.dev
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    11 months ago

    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.

    • OrangeJoe@lemm.ee
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      11 months ago

      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.