Trump denies coup attempt in latest attack on Milley

[brooklynite]

Source: Politico

Former President Donald Trump attacked Gen. Mark Milley again on Thursday, this time over new reports that the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff sought to prevent Trump from perpetrating a government takeover reminiscent of Nazi Germany in the aftermath of the 2020 election.

In a more than 400-word statement issued from his post-presidential office, Trump denied that he had ever “threatened, or spoke about, to anyone, a coup of our Government,” calling the notion “So ridiculous!”

“Sorry to inform you, but an Election is my form of ‘coup,’” Trump said, “and if I was going to do a coup, one of the last people I would want to do it with is General Mark Milley.”

The statement from the former president came after excerpts published this week of a forthcoming book by Washington Post reporters Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker stated that Milley had compared Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election to “the gospel of the Führer.”

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/15/trump-deny-coup-mark-milley-499763

[PortTack]

1. Of course...lying is all he knows how to do

[ShazzieB]

30. LYING and DENYING! 🤣

[onetexan]

33. Yup, that'll show 'em

[olegramps]

63. Trump's denial is absolute proof of its validity.

[OAITW r.2.0]

2. You attempt a coupe with the Generals you have....

not the ones you need. More lying BS to cover his exposed ass.

[Lovie777]

3. I believe Miley .. .

[Botany]

4. IOW Trump was trying to do a coup. Trump, "and if I was going to do a coup, ...."

Trump just admitted to a coup. He did not say he didn't do a coup or he was against a coup but
he did say “and if I was going to do a coup."

Just like when asked about the pee pee tapes he said something like, "I know where they hide the cameras."

Or recently he said something like, "and now they will try to say Russia was flipping votes in the machines
to help get me elected."

[PatSeg]

44. He really doesn't know how to just deny something

He lies like an eight year old child, always giving himself away.

[Botany]

51. How could anybody support that cretin?

He openly admits his crimes.

[PatSeg]

54. Yes, everything with Trump is so in-your-face

and that seems to make his supporters love him more. What kind of people support an admitted liar and criminal? Maybe people who wish they could get away with it themselves?

[Botany]

56. The media doesn't cover this but many of the ...

Last edited Thu Jul 15, 2021, 07:09 PM - Edit history (1)

... Trumpers who show up @ his rallies both before and after the election are the same people time after time.

[PatSeg]

58. That's a good point

Some of them are like groupies who follow him all over the country.

[William Seger]

46. "one of the last people I would want to do it with is General Mark Milley"

Don't see any attack on Milley there -- it's a terrific compliment!

[Botany]

53. The man needs horse whipped.

What an un American piece of crap.

[The Magistrate]

5. When Under Police Interrogation, Sir

There's not much worse you can say than 'Now, if I was going to do it....'

[11 Bravo]

12. Trump went to the OJ Simpson school of disavowals, Sir.

[Botany]

15. One of Trump's lawyers told Trump if he testified himself that he would be wearing orange.

'Now, if I was going to do it....'

[samnsara]

6. he doesnt even know the meaning of the word

[samnsara]

7. I for one don't want this man to come anywhere near the white house again...if hes subpoenaed

...to testify before the Jan 6 commission I hope he zooms in. He can NOT be invited into our house again.

[LiberalFighter]

59. He needs to testify in person.

It would put more pressure on him and make it more difficult to weasel without looking bad.

[C_U_L8R]

8. Traitor Trump has said and done enough.

There is proof. There are witnesses. Isn’t it time this shitheel saw justice?

[Uncle Joe]

9. This insult against General Miley from the Pretender in Chief seems more like a compliment to me.

“Sorry to inform you, but an Election is my form of ‘coup,’” Trump said, “and if I was going to do a coup, one of the last people I would want to do it with is General Mark Milley.”

I believe it's because I have become accustomed to no U.S. President even contemplating staging a coup against our nation until Trump.

That's what the insurrection was all about.

What if Pence had been caught and hanged by the insurrectionists, or the Congress had become cowed to the point of abdicating its' Constitutional responsibility?

You wouldn't have to burn the Capitol to get the needed result.

Trump was silent for hours and I'm convinced it was only because he was waiting to see how it all played out.

Thanks for the thread brooklynite

[Justice matters.]

20. An election? Calling Secs of States to change the numbers in his favor...

in exchange for *maybe* future personal rewards is his definition of 'an election'

Lock.him.up.with.his.deranged.domestic.terrorists.

[Prof. Toru Tanaka]

52. "Trump was silent for hours"

which is a crime right there, as far as I am concerned. Any other president would have ordered backup, reinforcements or whatever to stop the insurrection.

You are right, he was waiting to see the result. And he has not said anything whatsoever negative against the insurrectionists to this day. Instead, he said they "were loved and very special". WTF??????

[Denvermosaic]

10. He instigated a coup on Jan 6. This fact won't change.

[Midnight Writer]

11. Looking forward to reading "If I Did It" by Donald J Trump

[JohnSJ]

13. The more he opens his mouth, the more he validates its accuracy

Last edited Thu Jul 15, 2021, 04:36 PM - Edit history (1)

[William Seger]

41. Sorta, "If I Did It -- I wouldn't have trusted Milley to destroy democracy"

[JohnSJ]

42. He would have used Flynn's brother

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. Self-coup:

A self-coup, or autocoup (from the Spanish autogolpe), is a form of coup d'état or putsch in which a nation's leader, having come to power through legal means, dissolves or renders powerless the national legislature and unlawfully assumes extraordinary powers not granted under normal circumstances. Other measures taken may include annulling the nation's constitution, suspending civil courts, and having the head of government assume dictatorial powers.[1][2]

Between 1946 and 2020, an estimated 148 self-coup attempts have taken place: 110 in autocracies and 38 in democracies.[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-coup

The citation for that number of attempted self-coups is the Washington Post, Jan 5th 2021:

Trump’s strategy represents a brazen attempt to overturn or “steal” the election, historians and political scientists agreed. Some said he is tiptoeing toward an “autogolpe,” a Spanish term popularized in Latin America to describe a “self-coup” attempted by leaders who came to power legally and acted outside the law to try to maintain it.
...
Since the end of World War II, there have been 583 coup attempts across the globe, of which 288 were successful, according to new research for a forthcoming book, “Historical Dictionary of Modern Coups d’État.” About 96 percent were led by the military, while most of the others were carried out by civilian elites, said John Chin, research coordinator at the Institute for Politics and Strategy and one of the book’s co-authors along with Joseph Wright and David Carter.

Chin said the data are less reliable for autogolpes — which do not have an agreed-upon academic definition — but he estimated a separate 148 autogolpe attempts since 1946, of which 110 took place in autocracies and 38 in democracies. In most cases, the leader has attempted to suspend a constitution or discredit judicial or executive branches of government.

Only five times, Chin said, has a leader targeted an election winner, and in only one case did that happen in a democracy — in 1948, leading to the outbreak of the Costa Rican civil war.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-election-coup/2021/01/05/26afcfc0-4f6c-11eb-bda4-615aaefd0555_story.html

[ancianita]

23. Thank you. I'd never heard of an autocoup or autogolpe.

[2Gingersnaps]

16. Right, he went to his coup with Mike Flynn,

because that was the best he could do. He did get a little back up help from Flynn's brother, but that was only enough to get the unsupported Capitol police's heads busted by those family picnic loving Patriot Constitutional scholars.

[Lulu KC]

17. We watched it on TV, Dude n/t

[sanatanadharma]

18. TFG is willing to do a coup, but Milley is not his type.

He prefers Generals who don't coup and tell.

[bucolic_frolic]

19. Don't read his lips just watch the video of the speeches and insurrection

and follow the prosecutions, cell phone records, arms flow, plane tickets, hotel rooms, and the planners in the hotel suite.

[-misanthroptimist]

21. Hey, you! Trumpy the Clown.

You lost the election. You lost it badly. In addition to losing the popular vote for the second straight time, you got beat easily in the Electoral College. A grown man would have accepted reality with grace and dignity. Of course, those things are beyond your childish ability to understand.

You failed in your coup attempt. You've left those that rioted on your behalf twisting in the wind. You don't even have the character to admit that they were acting on your behalf. That is because you are frightened child.

You matter to approximately 1-in-6 or so Americans. The rest of us wish you walk faster and more recklessly, preferably in traffic.

[padah513]

22. Attacks Miley, but doesn't say anything against Putin

[world wide wally]

24. Funny how EVERYBODY lies about Trump and he alone tells the truth.

Who'd have thunk it?

[ShazzieB]

32. Yeah, what are the odds? 🙄

[orangecrush]

25. LIAR

[halfulglas]

26. If he's denying a coup attempt

Then why is he (and they) trying to turn Ashli Babbitt into Horst Wessel? Poor innocent Ashli breaking 200 year old glass to crawl in and unlock the doors for the horde. A martyr to the cause.

[ad121rome]

27. Eyes

Let’s see, do I believe my own eyes? Yes, generally.
Was there a gathering of Trumpians whom DJ Trump encouraged to March on the Capitol on January 6th, 2021? Yes, I saw it with my own eyes. No doubt about it.
Were Trump flags waved inside the House and Senate chambers after the rioting crowd broke through security and stormed a session of Congress? Yes, again. I saw it with my own eyes.
Did Trump denounce this insurrection and storming of the Capitol? Nope
So, in summary. Whom should we believe? The guy who lies for a living and lied his way into the Presidency or our own eyes. My vote is my own eyes.
Trump should be tried for conspiracy and treason. I hope he meets that fate soon.

[Stuart G]

55. There Ain't No More "The guy who lies for a living" vs."Our Eyes" vs "A General"

The liar vs..."Our Eyes", plus..."A General"...The liar hasn't got a clue..

[DallasNE]

28. But Miller Doesn't Know What Is Going On

Inside of Trump’s head so he should stop pretending that he does.

[Efilroft Sul]

29. "It's not a coup if I'm trying to keep power!"

Because that's how he'd rationalize it.

[Xipe Totec]

31. post-presidential office? WTF does that even mean?

[gab13by13]

36. I mean, really.

[Justice matters.]

34. Where's Milley or has he denied that or confirmed it yet? (n/t)

[samsingh]

35. the truth is always opposite to what the traitor says.

[ProfessorGAC]

38. Beat Me To It!

He says, "I wasn't attempting a coup.". This means he WAS attempting a coup.

[nuxvomica]

37. Y'all burying the lede: TFG confirmed the book is accurate

He has taken Leonnig and Rucker's words as true and attacked what they attributed to Milley, a tacit confirmation that their book is accurate.

[Harker]

39. To paraphrase the recently dead Rumsfeld...

"You do a coup with the army you have, not the army you want, or might wish to have at a later time."

[JohnSJ]

40. In case anyone missed it, he just validated General Milley's assessment of trump by saying he

would use others to execute it

[Harker]

43. As though he were insulting the general.

What a piker.

[Politicub]

45. So many people (not DUers) are treating these revelations as "meh," when they

should be concerned. Our democracy is under attack, with an assist by the Russians to stage a coup. It’s unreal, but being treated as just another day.

Trump and the people he placed in charged probably gave the Russians millions of pages of confidential information about our military and infrastructure.

This is not a normal time, yet it feels like everyone is still asleep.

[Botany]

50. Remember that Trump fired 2 heads of cyber security..

... for the federal government prior to the Russian hacks.
I wonder if Donny did that to pay off some of what he owes Russia?

I have no doubt that Russia is busy pumping up the anti vaccine idiots and feeding stories to Fox News.

[aggiesal]

47. What would you expect from a pig but a grunt? n/t

[truthisfreedom]

48. 45 looks weak and on his heels.

Exactly what triggers him. Keep it up folks!

[Jon King]

49. He tried a coup, and the military brass told him no.

Several Generals made statements before Jan 6th that the military would not get involved. Trump wanted a coup and the military told him no.

How this guy is not being investigated under Garland is beyond me. Playing nice is a recipe for a repeat.

[Evolve Dammit]

57. Spot on Jon King.

[bringthePaine]

60. ok, let's go to the video tape!...crazypants needs to be denied the media circus machine

[mdbl]

61. Trump is a big fat Fu&&ing Liar!!

i know everyone has already said that but I needed to.

[GB_RN]

62. He's Right.

Milley IS the last person he could have tried to attempt a coup with because Milley had already set things up to keep him from pulling one off. tRump is a complete and utter moron.