So what he's saying is that Peter Thiel has trained him to be a good little authoritarian.

If Trump dies Vance will be eaten alive.

Good, I’ll bring the toothpicks

Feet first, hopefully.

Fingers crossed. We might be about to find out if MAGA has any staying power without Orange Joffrey at the helm.

JD is Thiel’s and Vought’s chosen ‘child’ to take over. Then, we are in real trouble because the Oligarchy will be in place. He’s young and could rule for decades.

The thing about privately installing a puppet dictator is that absolute power corrupts absolutely.

This is why I've followed for the last 8 years. Susing out all the Frank Underwood shit.

Gives me hope

So presidenting is mostly vacationing and sucking up?

Preparing hard while he’s been on, like 7 nations these last 203 days…

Hasn't he been on vacation for much of the last 200 days?

Lucrezia Borgia would have loved these ppl as her own.

It rubs the lotion on its skin

Looks so natural.

They‘re using Bondo.

JFC

Trump also mentioned heaven. That made my ears perk up.

Hmm. Maybe the Third Reich analogy is off and S/B this? "Pillow talk" anyone? BTW, Kerrigan's book is a great read, highly recommended.

200 days of vacationing. Yup, perfect tRump replacement training.

Well, He’s spent much of the 200 days vacationing, he’s ramped his lying, and he’s proving himself to be utterly ignorant of history. … all that’s left is for him to up his grifting game, and he’ll be a pretty complete clone of Trump.

Ya think Putin might have just the right dose of just the right poison to help eliminate a problem getting out of hand?......you know like Jeffery Epstein....or some general?

Take the vacations now, rest up, big job ahead?

My reaction to Vance saying he's ready to be President when asked about Trump's health:

And you just know grubby little Vance is washing his hands less and less when he's in the White House just hoping it's something plausibly deniable

Yeah, I don't think it's a coincidence that random PTs and RNs and other retired healthcare workers over the past few months have all said that it looks like Trump has CHF. Like, he may or may not. But none of them have ever said lupus or rabies or bulimia or AIDS. They all say CHF.

Wait- wtf did he do in 200 days except go on world wide vacations at the tax payer expense and show up for a tie break vote on the senate floor?

He is a legend in his own mind. His and his alone.

I don't want the chaos this would bring, but I want the chaos this would bring. It's a tough place to be in.

Congressional Republicans would laugh at JD.

You underestimate their greed and the greed of the class that owns them. Bubblehead will be mocked by the normal, but the billionaires want to kill democracy, regardless.

I think so, too. Nobody likes you, JD.

Right. Trump’s hold over the GOP is based on his ability to sic the mob on anyone who crosses him, primary any dissenter. JD has no such clout.

This was what that mystery meeting was about early this month. You cannot convince me otherwise.

You gotta admit though, those are some big ankles.

Yes, the alarm bells are going off. JD's tweet, Rumpy's cankles, and his frequent mention of heaven lately tell me something is coming, or is it going? Hmmmmm!

Since when does going on vacation, prepare you for anything he’s been on vacation since January

Reporters need to ask Donald how he feels about JDV speculating @hcrichardson.bsky.social

Would his stepping down trigger an election as it would elsewhere?

Yes, going off on vacation 7 times in 8 months does equate to ‘on the job training’ in Trump’s world.

Exactly

I don't know what the outlook is...I work with seniors and have seen some VERY sick people hang around for years... ...but there's no question Trump has some sort of major ailment. My father has Alzheimer's and receives weekly infusions. My money is that's the story with Trump's hand.

Two time heart transplant, one time kidney recipient here. IMO, it’s an IV bruise on his hand. Based on the swelling in his extremities, he’s probably receiving IV diuretics. Could be either heart or kidney failure, possibly both.

Yeah. When the ankles became a point of focus A LOT of people diagnosed it as heart failure. Would make sense. I’d be SHOCKED if he wasn’t also diabetic.

I was thinking infusions of some sort as well.

I figure some sort of Dark Crystal setup.

The vultures are starting to circle.

God help us

if Trump knows he’s dying or getting demented, he’s going to unleash even more terror on everyone .

And there it is.....

I wonder if we'll see large numbers of people jump out of windows in despair. Disclaimer: I'm not suggesting or hoping that anybody does this. I recently got a Bluesky warning for having posted a quote from some crazy guy making insane threats; it was in fact directly from a Times report.

Marco forgetting his pocket Constitution in a couple of months.

How many vacations has he taken so far?

J.D. waiting...juuuuuust waiting...

Warped sense of humor. I love it!

Given the level of care, we might expect 2-3 more years of this nonsense. He will collapse. It's inevitable.

“God forbid…”

Et tu, JD?

This fool isn’t qualified to pour piss out of a boot with the instructions written on the heel.

That’s been the plan all along. Trump was just the Trojan horse.

Unless he puts a bullet to his melon bunker style he will live forever I have seen this horror movie before

In the last 200 days, he’s perhaps learned that Trump is simply a useful figurehead. It’s Stephen Miller and Russell Vought who are calling the shots, I assume. Trump‘s death would hardly be a hiccup for the operation of his administration.

Trump is just the figurehead, for a much larger GOP op, that has included Vaught’s plan, Supreme Court packing, and a bought Congress. JD, will fully implement it, with all the backing of those, who attended the inauguration.

I would agree ACCEPT… Trump is getting away with a lot of stuff in MAGA world because he is the cult leader- JD Vance isn’t even close to having that pull. MAGA will take everything Trump has done-out on Vance. Without MAGA, you lose the primary threat, you lose Congress as they save themselves

Sometimes I wonder if the death of Trump will play out like the death of the wicked witch in Wizard of Oz, and all her guards suddenly are released from the curse. MAGA will still revere him, but many of the other Republicans who enabled him will disown him to save their political careers…

Me too Tom, I saw this and my first thought was it’s closer than anyone thinks.

It's odd that Trump stopped his beloved rallies.

Has he stopped playing golf too?

I don't think 🤔

Interesting - I had not realized that.

And he's on his feet much less and lately also keeping his hands under the desk/table (think about how he normally talks with his hands so very much).

You're right, no accordian hands. And that bruise 😳

Who will he choose for vice president?

Interesting…

I have always thought this was the plan.

Measuring the drapes already

So why couldn't he have been president on Jan 20 and Trump gone to prison for the crimes he has already been convicted of?

It's interesting that the same logic didn't apply to VP Harris...

You know, he’s right. After all, with the eight vacations, he has taken so far this year, that’s on an excellent path towards Trump’s weekly golf outings.

And bury him 13 ft deep , head first so he don’t come back

JV doing anything "presidential" makes me think of 5th graders doing a presidential play. Pure comedy 😃

The White House staff was just seen ordering plastic sofa covers from Amazon. So it must be true…

What is the meaning behind this? It is couched in mystery.

If you dare… Google “JD Vance sofa” It is really a joke but one that keeps coming around again and again…

It's stupid and people should stop doing it

4 likes, sofa, so good.

I saw what you did there. Very subtle.

Forewarned is ...something, something.

please say hello to your new special emissary to the marshall islands

Well, JD has taken a lot of vacations, so he’s following in his boss’s footsteps.

So what happens when Trump begins to think Vance is trying to push him aside?

Guess there are taste testers around?

Perhaps the plan is to push along that terrible tragedy sooner rather than later

So, when can we expect Trump's unfortunate fall out of the window?

He’s definitely in decline.

He’s so gross, it’s exactly what it seems.

People were warning about this the moment Trump picked Vance. He's the creature of Thiel, Musk, and the other tech bros who think their word is law. Given how Vance has twisted & turned on every conceivable position these last 5 yrs I have no idea if he'd be better or worse than Trump.

Yes, indeed!!

I agree! Stuff like this AND the 🍊🤡 recent talk about wanting to get into heaven.

8 vacations in 7 months.

Could also piss off the ankle guy. Maybe JD stays away from 5th floor windows for a while.

I can spot JD drooling over this.

Also, somebody is going to need to hire a soup taster.

You bet.

“Terrible” 😉 “tragedy” 😉 😉

Oh training when Vance wasn’t on vacation?

Absolutely. Tom, did you catch this observation: bsky.app/profile/pcun...

I know some people are worried, but Vance just does not garner the respect or fear of Congressional Republicans like Trump, and I really don’t think the adoration of Trump’s MAGA cult is transferable to anyone…especially Vance.

He doesn't garner the fear so we might get our congress to semi function. There's something about Vance that worries me. I can't quite put my finger on it but it's there.

I hear you. He’s a socially awkward bumbling idiot, but he’s a corrupt evil idiot who was paid for and groomed by Theil to be the oligarchs’ puppet. It will only work if they have fully killed democracy…and they haven’t yet. If there is even a little democracy left it will rise again.

Dude has already picked up the shovel

Praying for the demise of the animal who ruined our country.

Very Kremlinesque

This is a safe space You can say cankles

I think the face he hasn’t golfed in a couple weeks makes me think he’s not doing well. He’d ether golf than work.

Vance has become an expert on how to take vacations and ignore how disliked he is wherever he goes.

Russ Vought will help GOP Congress will find a reason to impeach Vance quickly and install Johnson, and then can work unfettered by the Trumpist egos.

Yeah, I caught that as well... Maybe Herr Kankles should stay off the roof, or away from the upper story windows, of the Whitehouse.

Shady Vance is drooling over the cankles and bruising, and feeds at the trough of the incoherent word salad bar MoronDon serves up on the daily.

He's measuring the desk

Nice cult leader you got there...hate to see something happen to him Why does he HAVE to look like the chubby version of the commander from Handmaid's Tale?

Easing JD into the position. Hoping MAGA doesn’t notice or care. As I’ve said before, JD has all the charisma of a 2nd rate insurance salesman. MAGA will disown him, and the leopards will not stop at his face. I hope he’s got a bugout bag ready…

Covfefe has congestive heart failure because Big Macs, Diet Coke, and Blow aren't healthy.

Yep, they’re softening the press up

que que que cankles, they're cankles Tom! Gazelles have ankles, Ginger Roger had ankles. Trump does not.

He's taken 8 vacations in 7 months. Sounds prepared.

Actually it's 9

Is Trump dying? People are saying Trump is dying and Vance is floating his preparedness and perhaps eagerness.

the creepy feeling i got from the 3 hour cabinet meeting/lovefest was one more of a group of people hoping they could lul trump into not pressing the nuke button to take us all with him when it soon comes time to shuffle off this mortal coil.

JD, saying the quiet part out loud.

Guyliner has been on vacation since taking office not sure there has been any on the job training.

It could be a terrible tragedy for him when Trump tells him he's now an ambassador to ?? after reading this. And think of the TV ratings... he could hold a Cabinet meeting with everyone auditioning (or more like WWF, brawling, on that big table like the gladiators) for the job. Money is on Kristi.

… the deaths of Putin and Trump would change the world …

Add Netanyahu to the list!

If JD Vance stops going on vacations, we'll know the end is near for Trump.

I'm not sure he cares that much. He'll get sworn in on the beach/it’s a small world ride/whatever. Then lay on a couch for a while.

🤣

I don't think anything could keep him from his vacays.He's "home" for the long weekend,jacking up traffic for all his neighbors who're have planned parties & whose guests will all have to line up at the 3 security checkpoints,whether in vehicles or on foot.His neighbors just love him so.

Why isn't he living at the Naval Observatory like other VPs?

He does when in DC, but he returns to his affluent neighborhood in Cincinnati where his private, pre-election house is. He grew up in a far-north suburban town outside of Cincinnati (Middletown-not affluent,not Appalachian,fairly high crime rate per capita) before he changed his name to JD Vance.

True

If Trump stops playing golf…

💯

Wow?! Yeah, this is kind of crazy?! 😳😳

You know which way Vance's thoughts and prayers are going on this topic.

Really bringing bright and sunshine today. 😬

Yeah. I mean I have cankles too and yet nobody is anticipating taking over my role in... any of my life situations.

So 4 vacations in 7 months prepare you to be president now? I've been retired for 9 years, I'm over qualified now.

thehill.com/opinion/lind...

Yes but how many rivers have you ordered to be lifted so you can float around?

Yeah I guess those seven vacations he's taken has really prepared him to be president. With that experience and his stunning charisma we're really in trouble.

What will surprise him is that no one likes him. No one.

Thinking of Shelley: An old, mad, blind, despised, and dying King; Princes, the dregs of their dull race, who flow Through public scorn,—mud from a muddy spring; Rulers who neither see nor feel nor know, But leechlike to their fainting country cling Till they drop, blind in blood, without a blow.

Ruh Roh.

Hahaha! The stench of ambition emanating from Vance just drips from his words. The fact that he is doing this openly suggests that Trump is in far worse health than they're letting on. In many ways Vance would be worse than Trump since he's younger, smarter, and not as outright crazy as Trump.

What’s he’s not prepared for is how much everyone, including MAGA, despises him.

I would think Trump would be unhappy and perhaps paranoid about VP Vance saying these things. I would expect Trump to start pushing Vance away

I work as a PMC on a large Army base. Speculation among the #NatSec types is rampant about the Big Fella's "real" health, i.e., "how bad it really is if they are talking about it so openly."

Vibes...

Vance thinks he can just slide in and replace trump. He is badly mistaken

How so?

JD does not have the charisma or the following to replace the head of a personality cult. By trying to, he and his handlers become targets for the angry followers.

Ah, gotcha. Thanks for clarifying.

His handlers think this and won’t they be surprised too. What will happen first is that they will all stab each other in the back and then throw JD to the wolves. In the very least, it should be entertaining.

How ironic, given how last year everyone was questioning the health of our previous president.

That's because that smug, worthless, pos @jaketapper.bsky.social had a book coming out. You'll notice he's said barely a word about Trump's health.

Yup... and we see LITTLE TO NO QUESTIONING TRUMP'S obvious mental AND physical decline on MSM! SICKENING .. the disparity!

Better close the White House windows.

Oh shit. Vance is going to do a Pope on Trump.

Thiel.

100%. Vance doesn't love, or even like Trump. He is plotting and planning. King Trump better hire a food taster.

its going to happen at some point but vance emanates such strong weasel rays that i cant believe he lasts long. not even maga are going to put up with having that worthless f**k as pres

If Trump is gone this thing falls apart immediately, Vance will be torn to pieces by jackals

Agreed

Jackals, weasels, and bears... Oh my!

I genuinely don't know if Vance would be better or worse than Trump, on the plus side he's a lot smarter than Trump.....on the down side he's a lot smarter than Trump.

I will really enjoy watching that.

Jackals, bears, raccoons—whatever

All of the above and a brain eating amoeba for RFK - if there's anything left for the amoeba.

Dog cats raccoons I don’t care

Chupacabras…

Really, Vance’s boss is the leader of the jackals: Peter Thiel

When Trump is gone, the spell is broken. But then our work begins to trump-proof the gov't.

Prepare the popcorn!!!! (Will probably be 100x the price it is now in a few months).

Except Trump is just the frontman. Vance will be less absurd, but to think he won't have the backup to keep going is nai e. We need media exposure on the f'ers pushing this Make America White movement. Put their feet TO THE FIRE!

He suddenly inherits a dozen different crises and no ability to bullshit his way through them. Is anyone gonna believe him on tariffs? Will European leaders accept being belittled? Is he going to try lecturing Zelenskyy again without Trump to hide behind?

It’s that weird day of the week when I agree completely with Tom on one of his posts.

I've agreed with him 4 days in a row... unreal!