 Welcome to American Issues Take One. I'm Tim Appichelle, your host, and today's topic or title is Trump's Lie. He'll be dictator for only one day. Last week on Sean Hannity's interview, Donald Trump was front and center. And to the question that Hannity asked was, Donald Trump, under no circumstances would you abuse power as retribution? And Trump's response was, the New York Times has said that I wanted to be a dictator. I didn't say that. I said I want to be a dictator for one day. And you know why? I want to be a dictator because I want a wall, right? I want a wall and I want a drill, drill, drill. Well, we've seen Donald Trump for eight years. I know what a dictator looks like. We've seen countless wars created by dictators. We have a whole history of dictators. And I've never known one dictator to be a dictator for one day. So what does that mean? Well, it means once again, Donald Trump is a liar. As president, he was associated and documented 30,000 lies during his presidency, blatant lies. So why would this be any different? Donald Trump wants to be a dictator for one day? I don't think so. And if you believe that, then you are on the ship of denial, on the river denial. So let's go with this topic. I'm going to introduce my two guests, my co-host Jay Fidel and our esteemed special guest, Chuck Crumpton. Good morning, gentlemen. Good morning. Good morning, Jay. You know the reason they were only 30,000 lies by Trump? They ran out of ink. No, he only had four years. Okay, good point. However, this show is not about Donald Trump's compulsive lie, ability to lie. It's about what he says that has passed off as, oh, Donald Trump is just joking, or Donald Trump doesn't mean that. And Jay, to you, when Donald Trump says he's going to be a dictator for one day, or he says he's going to suspend the Constitution as he did about six months ago, or he says that, you know, the Insurrection Act would be fine on first day. Do you believe him and should we believe him? Let me begin by saying that it's a kind of test. It has, within it, deniability. It has within it, the claim that it's just a joke. But it's a test. He's testing us to see what kind of reaction he gets. And if you look at some of the outrageous statements he's made since 2016 and before, you find that he's actually telegraphing his true intention, but he's retaining deniability just in case. And so I don't think he means that as a joke, although some people will say that, they're trying to join him in the deniability aspect. I think he means it as a test to the country to see what reaction he gets. And if he gets a really bad reaction, maybe he won't do it. If he gets no reaction at all, you know, an apathetic reaction or a complacency kind of reaction, which is what we give him most times. He'll say, I guess I can do that, I can get away with that. And so that's kind of a mandate for him to go ahead on it. I hope that answers your question, but I think it's real serious when he says these outrageous things. Well, I'd like to explore a couple of things, and that is the old scene, if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck. Let's look at some of the indications of things that he's done in the past that makes it look like a duck, quack like a duck, or in this case, a dictator. You know, let's talk about how he went drone on and on in 2016, 2020, about how the election was rigged before the election was held. He protested, he called foul play before the elections even took place back in 2016 and 2020. Yet, let's look what he did, what he said. And his ultimate goal was to stop the presidential electoral process, which he was successful for a few hours. Is that an indication of what dictators do? Tried to stymie an election. It goes back before that. It goes back to Kellyanne Conway on his campaign committee who invented this notion of alternative truth. It goes back to the question that the press asked him, are you going to agree with the result of this election? Yes or no? And he never answered that. What he said was, I'll see. I'll see how it goes. What he was really saying is that goes against me, I'm gonna contest it. And we should have been very, very concerned when he did that. Because it was telling us that he would contest it. And it was testing us to see what kind of reaction. And we didn't give him a hard reaction. Everybody said, everybody was back on their heels trying to figure out what did he mean by that and it's not outrageous. And they didn't really nail him on it. So I think- Because he had his enablers, his defenders, basically poo poo his comments. And I'm just gonna go through a few of them. Now this was before the 2020 election. And he made a lot of comments about, it's gonna be an unfair election. And here's what some folks said. McConnell said, there will be an orally transition just as there's been every four years since 1792. He says crazy stuff. He's always had a peaceful transition of power. That's not gonna change, said Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska. Mike Baum of Republican of Indiana said, this kind of talk is preposterous. He strokes the fire sometimes. If you took it seriously, it would be alarming. And I don't think that's the case. I mean, these are just a few comments from the Republicans saying, oh, don't pay attention to Donald Trump. He's harmless. But we know January 6th was not a harmless event. So it's not just what Donald says, but it's people to reinforce that Donald is harmless. And his words are just words and Donald is just being Donald. What do you think about that? It's a loving, those people try to allow the country into thinking that it isn't going to happen. But we know better. I'm sure you have a list somewhere of all the things he said that are alarming. Most recently, I'm gonna be a dictator on day one. That's alarming. I'm gonna go after anyone who criticizes me. That's alarming. I'm gonna go after the press. I'm gonna go after the FBI. I'm gonna go after the Department of Justice. I'm gonna hollow out agencies and institutions of the government. I am going to undo democracy. I'm going to disregard the Constitution. These are alarming statements. These are statements that Adolf Hitler would have made. These are statements that go in the direction of dictatorship and autocracy and worse. I'm gonna develop camps and put people in camps. And I could go on. There are other things too. But we should be very alarmed. The Republicans who love us are really out of school, but who will remember them? They will be gone. And the Democrats who don't take it seriously, who make jokes about the jokes, we have a reality show which is comedic. And the Democrats join in that. And let me say that if I see one of their quote contributors saying the same thing, this goes to what Chuck was saying before we began the show. If I see one of their quote contributors saying the same thing, making fun, then I get these emails that make fun of Trump. That's not it. It's real serious. And he really means it. And we have to understand that. And if there's anybody who can do media, they ought to get out there and point out to the public that he means it. And this is what people do. And I'm happy to say that Think Tech is doing that. We are pointing out this is serious. We are pointing out that if he wins, he will do these things. He will trash the Constitution and civil rights. He will trash our leadership in the world. He will trash NATO, the United Nations and the EU. And he will screw up the geopolitics everywhere. He as much as said that before, now if he has a mandate and he has a whole government full of acolytes, he will do these things. And it's as sure as it can be. It's also reasonably sure that he's going to win. So we're on the precipice, man. This is the most dangerous time in our lives. Certainly the most dangerous time in this democracy. So what I'm saying is you can lull us. Some of us will be lulled. But the guys who see clearly what's going on know that Trump is serious and we could make a list of the things he has said he would do and those things would wreck our lives. Not just the country, not just the world, but us individually. My point well taken, especially about making jokes of the joke. Very good point, Jay. Chuck, in light of what Jay just said, I wanna read you one of Donald's quotes that wasn't that long ago and get your reaction to it and see, you know, get your thoughts on it. And he said the following. This was on the Veterans Day speech and he said that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country. Now, I don't know. I did read some of Adolf Hitler's excerpts from Mein Kampf in high school and college and this sounds like it's right out, almost plagiarized out of Mein Kampf. Again, to Jay's point, should we take these words seriously? Is it a joke? And what do we do to say it's not a joke and put a spotlight that Donald Trump is not kidding around? Yet everyone thinks, oh, Donald's just being Donald. Your thoughts. Okay, three things. Number one, let's just stick with the truth because truth is the only and best antidote to Trump and solidarity of those who defend and stand up for the truth is the only route to an alternative. Number one, Trump's the one trick pony. The only verb and the only noun in his vocabulary is attack. He attacks everyone who does not like him but even more importantly, everyone who is not like him in his view, both of them, okay? So unless you really think you're like him and that's how he keeps his base, they do. They're wrong, but they do. Second, at least the MAGA GOP is a two-trick pony. Deceit and distraction, okay? You've talked about lies and deceit. Is this a joke? That's a lie. It's not a joke, okay? It's serious. But number three, the most important of all that I alluded to in the beginning, alliances of people of conscience, character, courage, to stand up for truth, to stand up for choice and put that choice in front of the American people every single day, black and white. Trump will do this and the MAGA Republicans. Biden and the Democrats will do this. You choose factual, irrefutable on the economy. Trump will do this and the MAGA Republicans will do this. The Republicans will do, the Democrats will do this other thing. On healthcare, on education. Trump is attacking higher education institutions at a level and in ways nobody has ever seen. He put Elise Stefanik, his little minion out there, to set up and attack three women university presidents, including one of color for one and one reason only because she had the bully pulpit and she bullied them for hours until they finally misspoke and then she pilloried them including with their own people and their own people bought into it. What the hell? Where is truth? Where is choice? It's not there. If you're not gonna stand up to it for your own people, then go home. Yeah, Scott Bach. If you're not gonna stand up to truth, get out of there, get off of the board, right? Okay, well Chuck, to your second point about the GOP, our master's at deceit and distraction. It seems to work. I don't think they're masters, but it's all they got. Okay, it worked in 2016. It almost worked in 2020. So at what point, let me rephrase the question. At what point do we convince Democrats? At what point do we convince independence and moderate GOP, those that are left, that we gotta take Donald Trump's words seriously and not fall into that, as Jay properly said, be lulled into a sense that Donald's really not serious. He likes to agitate the libtards. He likes to get under the skin of liberals. When do we wake up and say that's not what it's all about? He is telegraphing exactly what his administration is gonna do on day one, and it won't stop with day one. He'll be a dictator on day two. I mean, is this a five line fire, or is it just words that we can bypass and ignore? I mean, that's a loaded question. I know it's loaded. It's not a disinterested question, but it is the question I'm asking. Okay, but it's not the point. The point is, what is the better strategy? And that strategy for the Democrats has to be based on a credo of two words, truth and choice. They have to put truth and choice up there in front of the American people every single day. Big neon lights, every single day. They need to put up the people who are respected for being beacons of truth and choice in front of the people. Make that choice exactly what people see every... Forget freaking Trump, right? If somebody could turn off his damn microphone, shut him up, turn off his video, delete him. Well, that's a big if. That's a huge if. Okay. And until that microphone is shut off, does he not run the airways? No, because who gives it to him? The media give it to him. Democrats give it to him. Everybody gives it to him, because when he attacks, they react in exactly the way he wants. Trump's message is very simple. The vermin speech, all the stuff you quoted today, it means one and only one thing. Everybody that does not like me and is not like me, screw you, I'm taking you down, I will destroy you. Is that the fear? Hell yes. It is absolutely the fear. It's absolute fascism. It's not only dictatorship. It's dictatorship that has nothing to do with the welfare benefit of the people. Why not? Because he's a narcissist. He doesn't give a rat's behind about the people. Well, you speak with a lot of conviction on this and I think you're spot on. Here's the question. Do independents think you're spot on? Do certain Democrats think you're spot on? Because they don't act like they do. Donald Trump's a punchline. He's a joke on the late night comedy shows. To Jay's point, if we start taking these words seriously and not try to ignore them, I know you wanna take away the microphone, but what he's saying is something that we should all be aware of months and months prior to an election, which is now about 11 months away. I don't agree. I absolutely disagree. Okay. Screw that awareness. Delete the guy. Ignore him. Pay attention only to the message of truth and choice. Okay, so it's- Understand that message. Understand that choice. Understand it's available. And be an independent and make that choice. Go into the privacy and the confidentiality of the voting booth and make a choice for truth. Okay, so you're, I like that. And you're making a point that a lot of political pundits and advisors make and that is- No, nobody makes it. Well, wait, in a sense they do because they say focusing on dinner table, bread and butter issues to the American public that they're concerned about. Inflation, the price of gas. Policies and interests that affect Americans' lives every day, not the fact that Donald Trump is waving the dictator flag above and beyond everyone's head. So you are saying that to a degree. You're just saying it with a different point and that is truth and choice. And that's a great moniker and I like it. But where do we go from here when that is not getting in the airways? Yeah, I'm not saying that in a different way. I'm saying a different thing. And the different thing is make the narrative that gets to the public, however you can do it through alternative media, through social media, through community stuff in the schools, in the communities. Do what Apple did with computers. Get to the students, the teachers, the communities because those communities are everybody. They're the doctors and the lawyers and the busboys and the servers and the chefs and all that stuff. That's the people. Get the message to those people. Get it to them through learning institutions because if you can't, then we really are dead. Okay, do we have time for that between now and election day 2024? We better because if we don't, we're gonna lose it. Okay. This is America, love it or leave it versus America, change it or lose it. Oh. Jay, your response, your reaction. I like what Chuck's saying. I'm just worried that time is of the essence and I kind of perceived that maybe we were talking about institutional changes of changing how we educate people, but maybe Chuck's right. Maybe we can get this done between now and election day. What do you think? Who's we? Is it you, Tim? Is it me? Is it Chuck? Who's we? We have a country of people. A lot of people are stupid, sorry. We have a country of complacence who don't know which end is up. Stop somebody on Bishop Street and ask them questions about what's going on and they won't know. Is it apathy? This is the greatest apathy we've ever seen. I think Trump is genius in terms of commanding the airwaves, in terms of displacing and sucking the oxygen out of every other voice. What this election is, what it is every day, every day is about Trump. It's not about Joe Biden. The only part of it that's about Joe Biden is where Trump criticizes Joe Biden and tries to bring him down. So can you, Tim, or Chuck, or me, can we change that? We can talk ourselves blue here on Think Tech. You're talking about hundreds of millions of people. Where do they stand? The ones who are not Republican, the ones who are not on the right side of things, you know, who are not conservative or not watching. Furthermore, I can't remember the name of the chair of the Democratic Party. I forget it because I never hear about it. I never hear about any cohesive organized effort on their part, anywhere. And so what I'm telling you is the Democratic Party is not up to it and the Democratic community is not up to it and the media community is not up to it. Who is we? There is no we. And I'm telling you- Is the DNC waiting for a magic date and time that they begin their campaign? They've already outrated. One of the biggest problems is that Joe Biden is old. It's more than that. He may not last until the election. And if he is elected, he may not last beyond that. And then the president would be his vice president who he assures us would become a Harris who is not up to the job. So, you know, you get this whole thing about timing. In fact, there are several states where the door has already closed on submitting your papers to run for president. So if I'm Tim Apachele and I want to run for president because I'm more than 35 and I understand these things, it's too late for you in several states. What's his name Shapiro out of Pennsylvania wants to run or handsome winsome out of California wants to run? I think it's too late. Joe Biden has not let anybody else in the door. This is a huge mistake. This is the kind of mistake that Ruth Bader Ginsburg made to allow, you know, to allow Trump to appoint someone else. So what I get here is it really is Biden against Trump. Trump understands PR. He understands the national United States psychology. He understands how to aggravate groups and divide groups. He's proven it. He's like a genius at that sort of thing. Forget all about his acolytes. He's a genius at it. And I don't think that we, whoever we is, can stop him. Now, if I were gonna suggest a strategy, I would be very careful about repeating, you know, one of the problems in Chuck's solution, sorry Chuck, I'll apologize in advance. And he said, he said, it's boring. It's very academic is even intellectual, but it's boring. So you want to make these arguments every day in every media, you know, people aren't gonna watch that. They're interested in a reality show. They're interested in Trump beating up on people. They're not interested in this, you know, this matrix of arguments on both sides. They're gonna hear it once and they're gone. They're out of there. They're not gonna listen. Boring does not win elections ever. So what I'm saying is that, you know, you'd have to refine that, Chuck, if you want to do that. You'd have to hit different issues on different days with different people. I think one of the problems in cable is that, you know, as I mentioned before, you get these contributors. It's always the same people. You could predict what they're gonna say. If you know that, you know, this is out of Emil Zola. It's the human experiment. You know the basic environment and you know what all of these people are gonna say, every one of them are boring. You've got to get different faces. You know, I'm reminded of what goes on in Israel now. Israel is finally figuring out that they have to respond, you know, to the public relations campaign and propaganda of Hamas and the Palestinian organizations by bringing the hostage families on, by having them talk one at a time, one every day, by having not only the generals, you know, speak about strategy, but by having a number of people get on strategy. If you look at YouTube today, and I think YouTube is part of this conversation honestly, because, you know, the cost is so low in order to get these matrix of arguments on there. If you look at YouTube, you see different reports now from different generals and different prognosticators and different think tank people every day different. And they're very credible. And that's an example of how Israel figured it out and, you know, is trying to understand what reaches people. I don't know, it may be too late with the Palestinian propaganda, but at least it's a valiant effort. So I think the effort that Chuck is talking about has to be nuanced, it has to be valiant, it has to be across the board, lots of people, it has to be organized, and it cannot under any circumstances be boring. Chuck, I think Jay's perception that it's substantively boring to talk about truth and choice is superficially correct and substantively wrong. It's not the topic that's boring, it's the presentation. But Jay, saving himself, as he sometimes does, gets it right, presents a story. If you present every single day video clips and sound bites of people experiencing the benefits of truth and choice that Biden and Democrats offer, the detriment, the harm of the truth and choice that Trump and MAGA take away. Every single day, they see that visually. Stories of people, people like them, the connections. I'm sorry, Chuck, but I still have a problem with the pronouns. Who is you now? You're talking, now you're talking about you. Is it the same as we? Are you talking to the whole press? They're not gonna listen to you. They're driven by advertising and people want raw meat and so they're gonna watch things that are raw meat advertising. They gotta sell a lot of ads to pay the costs. And they, who is they? Is that the whole country? You think they're gonna watch? Remember that while this initiative that you are describing and recommending goes on, Trump is working and his acolytes are working. The acolytes obviously are gonna try to lull people into taking whatever he says with a grain of salt and he is gonna be attacking everyone, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, everybody. That's why I mentioned, and I would really like Chuck's opinion on this. Well, let me just draw on one thing. We have to go to another media and the media that is becoming remarkably increasingly common and popular is YouTube where anybody can get on there and say anything and you can connect up, you can subscribe, you can show the world you believe in these people and they can see that you believe in these people. So I think the media should change. But in terms of you, who's you? Who's we and who's they? The country is disorganized, it's fragmented, very hard to figure out who these pronouns are. Yeah, well, one pronoun I could throw out there is the Lincoln Project, that's a they. They've been very effective in 2020 and 2000, well, not 2016, but in 2020, quite effective. Do they rise to the top as far as getting at what, Chuck, you perfectly described as be a great way to approach the 2024 election, but do you think they're gonna do that? Again, superficially correct, Jay, substantively, you're missing the point. We is where learning communication takes place. It's in the schools, it's in the communities, any forum, any environment, any venue in which open learning communication can and does take place. We got 11 months, we got 11 months. How are you gonna find out who the we, the they? Yeah, yeah, I got all that, I got all that. I got all that, I got all that, Jay. Okay, Jay is really, really good at taking the Republican talking points as devil's advocate and crediting them with the win, which shuts off any possibility to do anything that creates an alternative. If that's the choice you want, Jay, you're welcome to it. I will have none of it, none of it. I'm telling you that the idea about we and they and some guy on a white horse is gonna come and save us. I don't think that's realistic. We're talking about realism, you're twisting my words. I'm really wrong. Chuck say it again, then. Jay, let Chuck restate it as he wants to state it. Any activities, any forums, any venues in which communications take place in an environment that is not MAGA controlled, not Trump controlled, not Trump's subservient, which the media are, but any of those forums, environments, venues, that is where the opportunity for seeing and allying with truth and choice are available. If the Democrats focus on truth and choice in those venues, not institutional change, day-to-day operational conversational change, bring the stories to the schools, the elementary schools, the middle schools, the high schools, yeah, the university, to churches, to anywhere where people are getting together and having conversations in which there actually is human exchange. There's just enough openness to make room for truth and choice. Does the DNC kind of take charge of that effort or is it the Lincoln Project that takes, I mean, who introduces this to all the schools nationwide to introduce these concepts? And Chuck, don't get me wrong. I think you're spot on with what you're describing here. I just don't know the how, the implementation of this. How does that take place between now and election day and how does that permeate into the conscience of the American that doesn't know who they want for president or worse yet, they want Trump and does that ever make a difference to them? And that's where Jay is right. That you can't win unless people who can bring that truth and choice message and put it on the table and generate it and generate awareness of it and allegiance to it. Do that. The DNC doesn't even know that part of the universe exists. Jay is exactly right. It's likely not going to happen. It likely cannot happen unless and until people who are able to present that truth and choice message through stories of human beings that people can see and identify with. Bring it to those forums. So what's the approach that we can't afford to lose this election? What approach, if what you just said is gonna be true that it may not likely happen, what's the methodology that we do implement to make sure that this election is not won by Donald Trump? I mean, what is the strategy that the DNC should follow to ensure victory? You do what Barack Obama did in 2008 and 12. You do what Brian Schatz did and his campaign manager Andy Weiner who's now doing wonderful things for Maui fire compensation victims. You go to the community, forget the institutions, forget the media, forget Trump. Go to the people who are willing to engage in open communications in which truth and choice matter. Okay, so that's what Donald Trump does. He goes to all these rallies. No, he goes to people who don't want to have anything to do with true. The true acronym for Trump's people is not MAGA. It's make America go against truth. MAGA, that's the acronym. Okay. So it's the opposite. You had a hair on Think Tech. You heard it here first and last. That's right. All right, we've run out of time, believe it or not. My how time flies. Jay, you get to go with your thoughts before we conclude the show. I absolutely agree with Chuck, but as you pointed out, Tim, it's the how and Chuck has not identified a realistic how. I'm sorry, Chuck. And without a how, we don't know who we are or they are and we aren't gonna go anywhere. And so I agree with both you guys that the Democratic Party isn't gonna do anything. There might be a couple of bright shining stars who will galvanize the communities, the small communities around them, but there is not a national figure. There is no national figure, including Joe Biden, who will galvanize people to do what Chuck is suggesting. So Chuck, with all due respect and kindness, you're blowing in the wind. Thank you very much. All right, Chuck, believe it or not, you get the final say on this topic and any rebuttal you wish to create. Jay is 100% right with one minor, minor correction. The order of the letters in his three-letter word is incorrect. I have provided the how, but I can't provide an answer to your various dude question, Tim, is the who. It's not H-O-W, it's W-H-O, that's the issue. Ah, you know what I like is a lively debate discussion over a very serious topic. And although we may from time to time chuckle here, this is a deadly serious topic and Trump as our next dictator is a real possibility. And with that, I'd like to thank my guest, my co-host, Jay Fidel. And I really wanna thank for all his wise and sage suggestions and comments, our special esteemed guest, Chuck Crumpton. Won't you join us next week for American Issues Take One? I'm Tim Appatel, your host. And until then, aloha.