Trump Goes on Crazed, Violent Rant Calling for Death of His Enemies

On Wednesday morning, Donald Trump had some kind of meltdown on his Truth Social profile, all before 10 a.m.

His many posts and “ReTruths” were conspiracy laden, crude, and calling for the death or imprisonment of his enemies. One showed Harris, Bill Gates, Anthony Fauci, and other Democrats wearing orange jumpsuits captioned with: “HOW TO ACTUALLY ‘FIX THE SYSTEM.’” Multiple posts had QAnon themes, particularly the slogan “WWG1WGA.” Other posts called for a military tribunal for former President Barack Obama, and attacked the FBI, the Justice Department, and the House January 6 committee.

When his posts weren’t full on fascist, they were simply vulgar instead. One such post showed an old photograph of Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton together, with a comment below reading “Funny how blowjobs impacted their careers differently…”

If Trump’s posting binge is a reflection of his state of mind, it’s not a good one. The Republican presidential nominee and convicted felon has experienced many setbacks as of late. On Tuesday, special counsel Jack Smith filed a superseding indictment against Trump for his role in trying to overthrow the 2020 federal election.

Meanwhile, polling shows him neck-and-neck with Harris in the pivotal state of North Carolina, which voted for Trump in the last two elections. A series of revelations from a new book by his former national security adviser, General H.R. McMaster, have been particularly damaging. And he’s been whining about the debate coming up against Harris on September 10.

All of this bad news coupled with a conspiracy-laden, sycophantic social media feed cannot be healthy for Trump, particularly with his ongoing cognitive decline. Last week, he accidently praised Harris and Biden, saying they made the country “very safe.” Older voters, typically a reliable voting block for Republicans, reportedly think that he is in poor health, especially regarding his mental condition. And experts see patterns in his speech and behavior that have been worsening for years.

Trump’s campaign staff and his loved ones should be getting the former president to spend less time on social media, especially at his age. But they’re invested in seeing him be himself in the hopes that he will return to the White House. Plus, he’s not likely to heed a good piece of advice if it comes with the slightest threat to his ego.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to revive the Biden administration’s multibillion-dollar student debt relief plan. The decision from the court means Joe Biden’s student loan repayment (SAVE) program will remain stalled until the Eighth Circuit rules, leaving millions of borrowers in legal limbo.

The SAVE plan has been attacked and legally challenged by more than a dozen red states since it was announced one year ago. The Justice Department filed an emergency request to lift an appeals court order that blocked the program, but the justices’ unanimous ruling Wednesday leaves a nationwide injunction in place.

In an unsigned order, the court said the temporary pause will remain in place, as it expects the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals to issue a fuller decision on the plan “with appropriate dispatch.”

Biden’s student loan repayment program lowered monthly undergraduate loan payments for low-income Americans and provided earlier loan forgiveness for borrowers with smaller initial loans.

Roughly 7.5 million people signed up for relief through the SAVE plan. In February, the administration announced they would erase $1.2 billion in student debt for over 150,000 borrowers through the SAVE plan. Over four million individuals have a $0 monthly payment under the plan, which would save the typical typical borrower around $1,000 a year, according to the White House.

The case is expected to return to the Supreme Court’s desk. In a decision in 2023, the Supreme Court ruled 6-to-3 that Biden could not implement a more wide ranging student debt relief plan without congressional approval.

“This is a recipe for chaos across the student loan system,” Mike Pierce, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center told the Associated Press.

This story has been updated.

Donald Trump’s new campaign adviser has left the former president’s team worried that there could soon be chaos within their ranks—which might hurt Trump on the field.

Corey Lewandowski’s sudden and mysterious arrival in the Trump campaign earlier this month initially sparked fear of staffing shake-ups.

While Trump referred to Lewandowski, who served as his campaign manager in 2016, as his “personal envoy,” Lewandowski has reportedly referred to himself as the “campaign chairman.” It’s unclear what his job as a senior adviser entails, and the Trumpworld veteran has attempted to distance himself from early reporting that he was positioned above Trump’s campaign co-managers, Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles.

Earlier this month, Puck News reported that Lewandowski’s appointment could spell trouble for LaCivita and Wiles. There was early speculation that the decision to hire him, which came straight from Trump (who apparently loves to stoke interpersonal drama, according to one of his ex-advisers), was meant to spark a power struggle among his senior campaign staff.

Both Wiles and LaCivita remain in their positions as the campaign approaches 60 days until the polls open, and serious concerns that anyone will be ousted have faded. But now, a new fear has emerged among Trump’s team.

The concern now is whether any potential infighting or new appointments might create an unwelcome distraction from the race, people familiar with the matter told The Guardian. This could present a problem for Lewandowski, who has a history of stealing the spotlight from Trump with his own alleged misconduct.

In March 2016, Lewandowski was arrested for intentionally grabbing and bruising the arm of a female reporter. He was charged with misdemeanor battery, although the charges were ultimately dropped because there wasn’t enough evidence to convict him. At the time, Trump defended him, telling reporters, “I think it’s a very, very sad day in this country when a man could be destroyed over something like that.”

But Lewandowski was fired a few months later. He reportedly also had some infighting with Paul Manafort, who ultimately replaced him.

Lewandowski was later ousted as the head of the Make America Great Again super PAC in 2021, after he was accused of making unwanted sexual advances toward a Trump donor.

Trump communications director Steven Cheung dismissed The Guardian’s reporting. “All of these fabricated stories about the campaign are nothing more than click bait,” Cheung said. “None of these palace intrigue stories have been remotely correct.”

Political reporter Jake Lahut spoke with four Republicans familiar with discussions about Lewandowski’s new position, and who’ve previously worked with the GOP operative, about what his return could mean for the Trump campaign.

With Lewandowski’s reinstatement into Trump’s presidential campaign, one can expect a steady slate of unwieldy messaging events and chaotic press conferences, the sources told Lahut.

In an effort to increase Trump’s exposure in the news cycle—which has more or less been taken over by his new opponent—without breaking the bank, Lewandowski has reportedly been pushing for smaller events.

There are also some concerns that Lewandowski’s return could create drama within the Trump campaign. “There’s probably shit brewing,” one Trumpworld source told LaHut. “Like the old days.”

Donald Trump’s decision to bring Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former Representative Tulsi Gabbard on his presidential transition team has upset a major Republican donor.

Eric Levine wrote a scathing email commenting on Trump’s move, accusing him of “trying to lose” and saying “It is hard to imagine a more destructive announcement.” 

Levine described Kennedy as “an anti-vax kook who sees conspiracies behind every tree and under every bed,” and attacked Gabbard’s past as a former vice chair of the Democratic National Committee and co-chair of Bernie Sanders’s 2016 presidential campaign. Instead, he recommended that “rather than seeking and coveting the endorsement of fringe candidates with fringe policy positions that offend most Republicans and Independents,” Nikki Haley should be on the transition team.

“It is her voters that he should be focusing on,” Levine wrote.

The GOP fundraiser was already a less-than-enthusiastic supporter of Trump’s 2024 campaign, telling Politico last year that the convicted felon “is a metastasizing cancer who if he is not stopped is going to destroy the party.” But in March this year, he had a change of heart, telling other Republicans in a memo that “reluctantly and with reservations, I have decided I will vote for Trump in November.”

Levine’s opinion is a worrying signal for Trump, who still needs Republican donations to mount a strong campaign between now and November. The donor’s views probably mirror that of many other Republicans, donors and rank-and-file alike, who support Trump generally but aren’t diehard MAGA loyalists. His point about Haley may be prescient, as some supporters of Haley’s presidential campaign have already formed a “Haley Voters for Harris” political action group.

Levine called out Trump for focusing on “fringe candidates like RFK and Gabbard” at the end of his message.

“As a former Haley voter and Reagan Republican, I say to you Mr. Trump, speak to me and my follow [sic] Republicans. Reject the fringes. Fight for the middle. If you do not, you will forever be known from this day forward, as the ‘Former President,’” Levine wrote.

J.D. Vance’s press secretary might be even stranger and more frightening than Vance himself.

According to an investigation by The Guardian, the senior aide has a number of connections to far-right think tanks and extremist Christian nationalist groups. Parker Magid was recently promoted to Vance’s press secretary after serving as deputy press secretary since March 2023. Since graduating college in 2021, according to his LinkedIn, Magid has created a troubling “new right” network in a short amount of time.

Before joining Vance’s office, Magid worked for Beck & Stone, a brand consultancy group whose clients include secret societies, “counter-revolutionary” magazines, and think tanks. The firm also has close connections to the Claremont Institute, a right-wing think tank that is also filled with Vance allies.

Beck & Stone is led by Austin Stone and Andrew Beck. Beck identifies as a “civilizationist,” a rebrand of Christian nationalism.* Earlier this year, Beck wrote in the Claremont Institute’s online publication that “those who want Christian civilization should prioritize re-Christianizing America, not re-nationalizing Christianity.”

Recently, Beck & Stone has done work for the far-right organization the Society for American Civic Renewal. Beck claims to have “created the brand identity, designed the mark, and crafted the website” for the men-only club, which, according to a Guardian analysis of internal SACR documents, wants to replace the government with an authoritarian “aligned regime” to achieve “civilizational renewal.” Beck also claims to be a member.

Magid, along with Beck and Stone, also attended a private fundraising event for then Senate candidate Blake Masters in November 2021. Masters, like Vance, is a Peter Thiel–backed far-right political candidate who keeps losing elections, most recently failing to win the Arizona Republican primary for a House of Representatives seat.

If you need any more proof that Trump’s pick of Vance for vice president shows a frightening vision for a more extremist, Christian nationalist country, just take a look at the company he keeps.

* This article was updated to clarify that Andrew Beck was not a co-founder of the Claremont Institute.