• Nougat@fedia.io
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    6 months ago

    I don’t think he’d have lost a single vote if he just admitted he paid a pornstar for sex. Hell, with the way Republicans act he probably would have gained votes.

    In hindsight, this is absolutely true. At the time, however, on the heels of the Access Hollywoo tape, it may have been a one-two knockout. Unfortunately, as we have since learned, anything Republicans say or do is perfectly fine with their voters. The political process in the US is forever changed for the worse.

    • Nightwingdragon@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      anything Republicans say or do is perfectly fine with their voters.

      No. Anything Donald Trump says or does is fine with their voters. Other members of the GOP aren’t always given such leeway. See Kristi Noem as a prime example. There are limits, but only for those not named Trump.

      • Nougat@fedia.io
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        6 months ago

        Noem felt confident enough to talk about shooting her dog, and then double down on it after the backlash, and still has a career as an elected politician. She will be elected to the Governor’s office in South Dakota again, and handily.

        I agree that there are still limits for Republicans not named Trump (Noem is less likely to be Trump’s VP pick, for example), but even those limits are wildly more lenient than they’ve ever been in US politics.

        • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          Yep. IOKIYAR. A Democrat would have been hounded by everyone across the spectrum, including their own party, until they stepped down.

          My favorite example is: Al Franken. Guy made a goofy pose - was made to step down, and even to this day, there are certain women that will fly off the handle at the mere mention of…Al Franken.

          Ronald McDonald BRAGS about sexually assaulting women, brags about busting into dressing rooms of underage women at “his” pageant, is credibly accused of actual rape, and…he still has a political career and virtually no one in his party is hounding him to step down, step aside, etc.

          • Nougat@fedia.io
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            6 months ago

            … is credibly accused of actual rape, …

            Was found liable for sexual assault which is colloquially known as rape.

        • Nightwingdragon@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          Noem felt confident enough to talk about shooting her dog, and then double down on it after the backlash, and still has a career as an elected politician. She will be elected to the Governor’s office in South Dakota again, and handily.

          I don’t follow South Dakota politics, so I’ll have to take your word on that. I know she’s been banned from every tribal land in the state; how does that impact her re-election chances? Does losing the Native American vote matter enough? And what about the possibility of another Republican rising up and challenging her? (I know there’s no chance in hell of a Democrat winning in SD.)

          I agree that there are still limits for Republicans not named Trump (Noem is less likely to be Trump’s VP pick, for example), but even those limits are wildly more lenient than they’ve ever been in US politics.

          Oh, absolutely. But even after taking that into consideration, the “limits” for Trump, if there even are any, are even more wildly lenient. Noem at least somewhat hit the limit with the controversy about shooting her dog. If it were Trump, he’d rile everybody up and convince them that the entire breed needs to be exterminated.

          • barsquid@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            Repubs see her banned by groups they despise and understand that as her making them angry and “owning the libs.”

      • Delusional@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        I think it varies wildly with republicans. They very nearly elected a known pedophile in one election (not talking about trump).