Retribution

Here is Roger Stone in July claiming with a straight face

Donald Trump and his associates wre subjected to the greatest single dirty trick in American political history. That is nothing less than an abuse of power in which the full auhority of the United States government and the extraordinary capability of our intelligence agencies were used to utilize what they knew was fraudulent evidence.....

But now when we expose these things because that is an act of treason, we're accused of being for revenge or retribution. No, my friends, what we seek is a rebalance of the scales of justice so this country can return to one standard of justice, not thet wo-tiered justice system.

We are accused of being for “revenge” or “retribution.”

No, my friends.

What we seek is a REBALANCE of the scales of justice so this country can return to ONE standard of justice—not the two-tiered justice system. pic.twitter.com/t7FyBqpuIR

— Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) December 30, 2024

Scoff all you wish- and you should- but there may be no one who ever has known as much about dirty tricks in American politics than Roger Stone, once described as "the state of the art Washington sleazeball." as Chris Hayes suggested five years ago. (This is selling Stone short. He had time also to be a Trenton, NJ sleezeball.)

 

If "we" are not for revenge or retribution, Donald Trump seems not to have gotten the memo. In a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in early March of 2023, he declared 

In 2016, I declared I am your voice. Today, I add, I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.

A few weeks later, at a rally in Waco, Texas, Trump reiterated his message by remarking "I am your warrior, I am your justice. For those who have been wronged and betrayed... I am your retribution."  In an interview in March of 2024, he told the conservative pop psychologist Phil McGraw "sometimes revenge can be justified, Phil, I have to be honest. You know, sometimes it can." 

Revenge or retribution, Donald Trump can make it happen, especially with the likely assistance of President Musk. 

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