Ruth's Report: Chump could be a wet nurse

Convicted Felon Donald Chump is in free fall as the country sees how psychotic and dangerous he truly is. Heather Digby Parton (SALON) notes:

Republicans are remaining firmly behind President Trump even as most Americans are beginning to blame him for economic strife that has bubbled up during his tariff push, a new poll found.

A staggering 91% of Republicans believe Trump has a plan amid his tariff blitz, while 84% of Democrats and 57% of Independents say he doesn’t, according to a CBS News/YouGov poll.

In the wake of Trump’s tariff scheme, which led to a stock sell-off that has since somewhat abated and angst in the bond market, many Americans are growing nervous about the state of the economy and fear that the protectionist policies could raise prices domestically.

Although 54% of Americans overall now say Trump’s policies are responsible for the state of the economy after just 84 days in office, only 35% of respondents believe the economy is doing either fairly good or very good.

That’s a stark reversal from Trump’s first term and the 2024 campaign cycle, when he regularly drew high marks on the economy. Now he’s only notching a 44% approve to 56% disapprove rating.

And it is truly a lot higher. 91% of Republicans say they believe in him. But that number is probably more like 78% right now. People have a very hard time admitting when they are wrong. You will see that number decrease slowly but it will decrease. Have you seen the Tik-Tok Chump supporters? Throughout most of last week, they were lying and you could tell they were. By Friday, even they were having difficulty in their continued attempts to spin it for the Convicted Felon.

You also now have elected Republicans who, more and more, are attempting to draw a line between the Felon and themselves. John L. Dorman (BUSINESS INSIDER) reports:

Sen. Ron Johnson, during a Sunday NewsNation interview, raised questions about President Donald Trump's tariff strategy, arguing that he wanted to know the commander in chief's "endgame."

"One thing I learned in the private sector is unpredictability can work pretty well in the negotiation, but businesses want certainty," the Wisconsin Republican said on the "The Hill Sunday" program.

"They want stability. They don't like to see volatility," he continued. "I've just been questioning exactly what's the endgame here? What's the strategy?"

Johnson, a conservative three-term lawmaker, is a reliable ally of Trump. His remarks come just days after Trump temporarily paused higher "reciprocal" tariffs for select countries.

For now, Trump's 10% baseline tariff rate remains in place for most countries. Meanwhile, the US continues to engage in an escalating trade war with China.

Alex Henderson provides another example:

President Donald Trump is expecting GOP lawmakers, who have small majorities in both houses of Congress, to pass a "big, beautiful bill" — which will combine his policy priorities — and get it onto his desk for signature.

But Republicans in Congress don't necessarily see eye to when it comes to specifics. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) is fighting with members of his caucus, and Senate Republicans have their own ideas on the form a megabill should take.

In an article published by Politico on April 14, reporters Jordain Carney and Meredith Lee Hill describe the struggles of putting a GOP megabill passed.

"They know it's going to be big," Carney and Hill explain. "They want it to be beautiful. Now, congressional Republicans need to decide what's going to be in it — and they're confronting the very real possibility they might not be able to figure it out. A Thursday, (April 10) House vote might have finalized a fiscal framework for the GOP's domestic policy megabill, but completing that intermediate step exposed huge fissures between the House and Senate over a range of issues crucial to finishing the sprawling legislation that's expected to span tax cuts, border security, energy and more."

Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) described the challenges of putting together a GOP megabill and getting it passed.

Meanwhile, the economy burns and Mr. Chump is the one who set it on fire. Jennifer White (SACREMENTO BEE) explains:

President Donald Trump recently won the championship round of the Senior Club Championship in Jupiter, Florida. The victory positions him for his second golf championship in a month, following his recent win at the Golf Club Championship in Palm Beach County. The victory came as Trump recently postponed many of his "Liberation Day" tariffs. The postponed tariffs introduce a 10% baseline tariff on imported goods that impacts many countries.

[. . .]

Trump's tariff measures have contributed to significant upheaval in the international economic landscape and caused significant fluctuations in the U.S. stock market. Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) wrote, "Recession fears are rising. The stock market is tanking. But don’t worry, Donald Trump is golfing."

Critics questioned Trump's focus on golf during national concerns, particularly since he skipped the dignified transfer ceremony for four U.S. soldiers killed in a training mission in Lithuania. Democratic lawmakers voiced their discontent, arguing there is a disconnect between the President's leisure activities and pressing issues.

It is disgusting to watch. Almost as disgusting as Mr. Chump's massive jugs which just get flabbier and bigger. At this point, he can portray Lynn Redgrave in the SCTV parody of her as Night Nurse or Wet Nurse or whatever they did back when she was trying to breast feed on the set of HOUSE CALLS and CBS fired her and replaced her with Sharon Gless. At THE ATLANTIC, Anne Applebaum explores the corruption of Mr. Chump:

As the stock markets crashed on Friday, April 4, Donald Trump left Washington, D.C. He did not go to New York to consult with Wall Street. He did not go to Dover, Delaware, to receive the bodies of four American servicemen, killed in an accident while serving in Lithuania. Instead, he went to Florida, where he visited his Doral golf resort, which was hosting the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tournament, and stayed at his Mar-a-Lago club, where many tournament fans and sponsors were staying too. His private businesses took precedence over the business of the nation.

Many of his guests were also interested in boosting Trump’s personal interests, as well as gaining the American president’s favor. One of them was Yasir al-Rumayyan, who runs the $925 billion Saudi sovereign-wealth fund and is also the chair of the LIV tournament. Other sponsors of the tournament included Riyadh Air, a Saudi airline; Aramco, the Saudi state oil company; and, startlingly, TikTok, the Chinese-owned social-media platform whose fate Trump will personally be deciding, even as he profits from its sponsorship and support.

Once upon a time (and not even that long ago), blatant conflicts of interest, especially involving foreign entities, were something presidents sought to avoid. No previous inhabitant of the White House would have wanted to be seen doing personal business with companies from countries that seek to influence American foreign policy. Such dealings risk violating the Constitution, which prohibits government officials from accepting “gifts, titles or emoluments from foreign governments.” But during Trump’s first term, the court system largely blew off his commercial entanglements. Now he not only does business with foreign as well as domestic companies that have a direct interest in his policies, he advertises and celebrates them. We know the identities of the golf-tournament sponsors not because investigative journalists burrowed deep into secret contracts, but because they appear on official websites and were displayed on a billboard, observed by The New York Times, at his golf course.

Both the website and the billboard would have been scandals in any previous administration. If they are hardly remarked upon now, that’s because Trump’s behavior is a symptom of something much larger. We are living through a revolutionary change, a broad shift away from the transparency and accountability mandated by most modern democracies, and toward the opaque habits and corrupt practices of the autocratic world. For the past decade, American government and business alike have slowly begun to adopt the kleptocratic model pioneered by countries such as Russia and China, where the rulers’ conflicts of interest are simply part of the fabric of the system.

The change began during Trump’s first term—Vice President Mike Pence once made a 180-mile-plus detour on a trip to Ireland, in order to stay at a Trump hotel—but Trump was constrained by his advisers and perhaps by what was then still his fear of legal consequences. This time around, he knows he got away with a series of crimes, including an attempt to overthrow an election. His advisers are supine; he feels no more constraints. New standards were already set in December, when the Trump Organization announced the construction of a Trump Tower in Saudi Arabia, an investment that posed a clear conflict of interest for the president-elect.

Trump’s family also created a cryptocurrency business, World Liberty Financial, that could, in practice, serve as a vehicle for anyone to pay him indirect bribes. Nobody around him objected. After Trump’s return to office, his administration, unbothered by appearances of impropriety, did indeed quickly suspend a civil investigation into Justin Sun, a Chinese entrepreneur and an adviser to World Liberty Financial, who had also invested at least $75 million in the company. More recently, The Wall Street Journal discovered that executives from Binance, the cryptocurrency exchange, met with Treasury officials to ask for looser oversight, even while they were at the same time negotiating a private business deal with World Liberty Financial. In the past, Binance has been fined $4.3 billion, a record, for letting terrorists, drug traffickers, and people under sanction use its exchange, so the company’s interest in looser oversight is not theoretical.

In keeping with the new atmosphere, the inauguration itself became an ostentatious display of the new administration’s kleptocratic values. American tech CEOs were the most prominent guests and got the most attention, but several foreign business partners of the Trump Organization also attended inauguration-related events, posed for photos with Trump, and referenced their connections to his presidency in promotional materials. Several lesser-known companies involved in regulatory and other negotiations with the U.S. government quietly donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Trump’s inauguration. Soon afterward, in a late-night purge, Trump fired 17 inspectors general, all people who were responsible for monitoring corruption and ethical violations inside the government.

Mr. Chump has disgraced, degraded, and destroyed our country.

This is C.I.'s "The Snapshot"for today:

Monday, 4/14/25. Chump wrecks the market, Tulsi Gabbard lies and it may be to avoid paying a state income tax, Bill Maher's been disgusting for years and finally people are starting to notice, let's look back at the Oval Office moment when Alien Musk racked up a big score playing bumper pool with his child's head, and much more.

Let's start with Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence. And this is going to be a very conversation opening because I don't feel good and am throwing up.

She's been caught in a possible lie -- another. David Packman noted it on his show.

That went up here on Saturday. A word on that, my YOUTUBE feed is junk. If it shows someone I'm subscribed to, it's showing a video from two weeks ago. I'm going to try using Rebecca's YOUTUBE because it's not messed up like mine. I posed David's video above here on Saturday. I almost added a note to it because it's missing a point. I did not feel good Saturday or Sunday (or today) so I hoped someone would cover it.

Tulsi has declared her homestead is in Texas. She voted in Hawaii. David points out that she's in violation of her VA loan and why. And he points out that she should have voted in Texas and why. If she did vote in Hawaii, she violated their laws.

The thing I want to know, that would clarify this whole thing, is she paying state income tax?

She voted in Hawaii after claiming on TV and elsewhere that she was living in Texas.

She voted in Hawaii's election. Will she be paying state taxes?

The reason people scum like her move to Texas is there's no state income tax. That's the only reason trash like Tulsi goes to Texas. (Well closeted male actors go there to try to hide their gay love affairs from their fans -- but, shh, no bongo talk this morning.) She has no connection to the state or its history.

So she damn well better be paying state income tax in Hawaii this year because she used Hawaii's state resources -- that residents of Hawaii pay taxes for -- to vote in that state instead of her own self-proclaimed state of Texas.

What is looks like is that she's not just a liar and someone determined to avoid paying taxes but a sponge who uses the resources that others pay taxes for.

Her actions appear illegal. But, again, she used the resources of Hawaii for her 2024 vote. That means she damn well better pay Hawaii's state income tax for 2024.

She's a cheat and a grifter and she's as fake as Convicted Felon Donald Chump. On the fat man, JD Wolf (MEIDASTOUCH NEWS) reports:

At one of his Florida golf clubs, Trump was presented with a large wooden carving commemorating the 2024 assassination attempt against him in Butler, Pennsylvania. The artwork, unveiled during a private moment caught on video, had been draped in an American flag before being revealed.

As Trump looked on, the man presenting the carving pulled the flag from the sculpture and wadded it up in his hands and later casually placed it on a nearby chair. Trump engaged the man in discussion about the artwork—about hanging in the White House and listening to details about its creation—but made no comment on the handling of the flag.

The use of the American flag in this way violates the U.S. Flag Code, which prohibits using the flag as drapery, and demands proper handling and storage of it. The video quickly drew attention online, with many pointing out the irony: Trump and his allies have long portrayed themselves as staunch defenders of patriotic symbols, frequently criticizing opponents for perceived disrespect toward the flag.

He has never been fit to be president. And his cult has no patriotism which is why they tried to carry out an insurrection and overthrow the government. The flag matters about as much to them as Jesus matters to the Christian Nationalist movement -- which is to say not at all. Ava and I covered that detail in our piece for THIRD. If other stuff is ready, it'll go up this evening or tonight. If it's not, we're posting our piece all by itself again.

I've known Jane Fonda for years and have a lot of love for her -- we defend her, Ava and I, in our new piece. But I stand by my remarks here that she should not have gone on Bill Maher's show. The left never should have promoted that show or done anything to advance Bill Maher who is a disgusting and hateful man. We've said that here for decades. Maybe others can start to catch up with that reality?

Let's be clear that women haven't spend the last years applauding Bill. Let's be clear that LGBTQ+ people haven't. Nor have Muslims. If you claim to be on the left -- lie Socialists Zac and Gavin of THE VANGUARD -- and you promoted Bill Maher, it's time for you to do some public reflection and address the very real hatred of others that you have and the need to giggle at attacks on the marginalized. You really need to address that before you try to lead everyone astray yet again.

Grasp that Ben Affleck rightly called Maher out in 2014 for his Islamophobia but idiot court jesters like Zac and Gavin have spent the last ten years promoting him. They need to get honest about what they did and the very real damage that they were part of.

Meanwhile, Paolo Confino (FORTUNE) reports:

Since President Donald Trump announced his sweeping tariff policy over a week ago and sent global markets into turmoil, the U.S. stock market has lost trillions in wealth. All the major indices such as the S&P 500, the Nasdaq 100, and Dow Jones Industrial Average are down for the year after markets reacted extremely negatively to Trump’s new trade policy.

The major selloff induced by the new Trump policy reversed what was shaping up to be another good year in the markets. Investors and analysts had expected the U.S. stock market to continue to deliver solid returns, even if it did slow down from the record-setting pace of the previous two years. In fact, Trump’s election brought a new wave of market optimism, as initially stocks soared on the back of what many had viewed as a pro-business president.

Now the opposite is true. Markets are sinking on the back of the uncertainty Trump injected into the U.S. economy since he returned to the White House.

To make up for the losses they’ve incurred so far this year, the major U.S. stock indices—the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow—would all have to rally to an extent that isn’t unheard of, but has only ever happened in good years.

However, a strong year in 2025 seems unlikely. Since the market crash caused by Trump’s tariff announcements, most major Wall Street banks have revised their annual forecasts for the economy to reflect the ongoing downturn. Some of those banks even called for a recession as the stock market slide coincided with cratering bond markets and a devaluing of the U.S. dollar.

Through Friday, the S&P 500 is down 8.8% year-to-date—a stark reversal from the rip-roaring gains of 2023 and 2024 that together accounted for the best two-year stretch since 1998.

Are you grasping how much damage Chump has done to the US economy? For that matter, to the global economy?

Friday night on THE 11TH HOUR WITH STEPHANIE RUHLE, Stephanie hosted a panel discussion on the economy that Chump's destroyed.

Rachel Barber (USA TODAY) reports, "President Donald Trump’s approval ratings on the economy and inflation have fallen after weeks of tariff policy twists and turmoil in the stock market, according to a new poll released Sunday. The CBS News survey of 2,410 Americans found 44% approved of Trump’s handling of the economy and 40% approved of his handling of inflation, both down 4% from March 30. The president's overall approval rating dropped to 47% this month, down from 50% in March and 53% in February." Tom Boggioni (RAW STORY) reports:

After only three months in office full of missteps, some political observers are admitting Donald Trump's second time in the Oval Office is going poorly with one Washington insider pointing out his tariff plan has turned into a "self-inflicted wound" that has damaged his prospects.

In an interview with the Guardian's David Smith, Larry Jacobs, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota, marveled at how badly things have gone for the re-elected president while admitting it may be too early to call what is going on now a "failed presidency."

He then added, "... but to me there are clear indications that Donald Trump’s presidency is endangered."

Chump was never that popular to begin with. A majority of voters did not vote for him. He did not receive 50% of the votes. He squeaked by. And he did so on lies. As he exposes himself every day, Americans turn away. Lucy Strathmore (2 PARAGRAPHS) notes, "Political activist Zachary Shrewsbury, executive director of the West Virginia nonprofit organization Bluejay Rising, reported Thursday on X: 'Trumpism is cracking in West Virginia. People aren't loyal they're desperate. I see it daily in all my organizing. This state isn't lost. With real focus and a movement rooted in labor and dignity, we can take it back'." At THE DAILY BEAST, Paul Waldman writes:

On Wall Street and in C-suites across the country, titans of American industry and capital are aghast. How could President Donald Trump plunge us into ruinous trade wars amid yo-yoing tariffs and send markets into chaos ahead of a widely speculated recession? They gave him their support and their donations, and this is how he repays them?

The better question is: How were they so naïve as to think this wouldn’t happen?

It’s hard not to take some satisfaction in the sudden distress of the plutocrats.

“This is not what we voted for,” tweeted billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman. “What CEO and what board of directors will be comfortable making large, long-term, economic commitments in our country in the middle of an economic nuclear war?”

You don’t say.

Yes, the honeymoon is over, as Glenn C. Altschuler notes at THE HILL:

In a poll conducted by the Wall Street Journal, 52 percent of respondents disapproved of his handling of the economy — usually his strong suit — up 12 points since October 2024. Even before “Liberation Day” and the huge stock market plunge, only 42 percent gave his tariff policies a thumbs up. A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that only 36 percent of Americans think the administration and so-called Department of Government Efficiency are doing a competent job in reducing the number of federal employees.

Trump’s honeymoon, such as it was, is over. And critics of his policies have become more aroused, active, visible and vocal.

In February, videos of town hall meetings in conservative congressional districts in Wisconsin and Georgia dominated by angry protestors went viral. When the phenomenon began to spread, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) — who knows that similar “revolts” in 2009 and 2017 were followed by a powerful backlash against the party in power in the ensuing midterm elections — told his colleagues to stop scheduling such meetings: “Why would we give them a forum to do that right now?”

Those who went ahead anyway had a hard time reassuring their constituents. Questioned about DOGE’s firing of military veterans, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) replied, “No pain, no gain.” Rep. Steve Womack (R-Wyo.) told federal workers who lost their jobs, “Just be patient.”

Let's turn to Musk and at the request of many we're just copying and pasting from Saturday's post.

Mike's picked Alien Musk as "Idiot of the Week." And it's not been a good week for Musk. Yasmeeta Oon (DMR NEWS) notes, "Tesla’s stock has dropped a staggering 22% in the last four trading sessions, continuing its 45% loss for the year. This downturn has erased over $585 billion in value from the company, severely affecting Musk’s financial standing." Robert Crow (THE COOL DOWN) adds, "Teslarati has reported that New York City's comptroller, Brad Lander, is asking the municipality to sue Tesla based on Musk's activities within the Department of Government Efficiency. In a release, Lander asserted that Musk's work with the administration has taken the CEO away from his duties with Tesla. The company's stock has plummeted since Musk joined DOGE, causing 'losses over $300 million for the New York City pension systems,' Lander said in the release." Naomi LaChance (ROLLING STONE) reports:

Elon Musk, who owns one of the world's biggest social media platforms, has spent many millions of dollars on politics as he helps Donald Trump slash the federal government and continue the administration's attack on immigrants. Now, Musk is saying that he is losing the "propaganda war," potentially through his own choices.

Recent polling shows people don't like Musk. On Friday, numbers pundit Nate Silver posted on X that Musk's popularity is at negative 14 points. Trump, for comparison, is at negative 5 points. The chart shows that Musk's popularity markedly decreased when Trump took office, with 39.6 percent of respondents viewing him favorably as of this month.

He's a racist and people are learning that. He's not 'an' American. He's a citizen of South Africa. He was born there. He's citizen of Canada (though some are reviewing that status) via his mother. He applied for US citizenship after fleeing South Africa when White racism crumbled as apartheid collapsed. Per his brother, he broke visa rules in the US which would mean his US citizenship was fraudulent and should be revoked.

Despite not knowing anything about US history or the Constitution, he and his bro-incest partner -- brocest as Ann calls it -- Donald Chump set out to destroy America and the people in it. The American people are suffering and that's why they hate Musk and his pig jowls Diego Pérez Morales (MIBOLSILLOCOLUMBIA) reports:

The recent announcement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has sent shockwaves through the healthcare sector. Under the leadership of Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an ambitious plan to restructure the department is underway, potentially resulting in the loss of up to 10,000 jobs. This move is part of a broader strategy to overhaul the functioning of key agencies responsible for tracking health trends, conducting medical research, and ensuring the safety of food and drugs. The implications of such a massive layoff are profound, raising concerns about the future of public health services in the United States.

That's only one of many examples of the mass firings. Americans are losing their jobs and they hate Musk.

They also hate him because he's a disgusting parent. That's obvious by (a) the treatment of his daughter and his attack on her and other trans people, (b) his 'spreading his seed' and (c) that ridiculous and appalling Oval Office moment where, when his young son wasn't on his shoulders, he was pressed against Musk's crotch. That was really disgusting and it's amazing that people wanted to look the other way.

I waited for others to comment. None did. I thought, well, it's just me that finds that shocking and that's because I was raped as a child in elementary school (by the man who kidnapped me). But this week, I started asking other people about that moment. It's not normal. There's nothing normal about Alien Musk. And a grown man should have pushed the kid away from his crotch. But somehow it just seemed normal to Musk. Wonder why that is?

I don't live in a world where it's normal for a child's head to rub against it's father crotch over and over. I don't live in a world where a father wouldn't stop the kid from doing that. That's not me blaming the child. The behavior I witness in that video seems taught and modeled. So I don't blame the child.

I do blame the adult parent who clearly has boundary issues. And I do blame the occupant of that office who invited Musk in and just sat there while Musk all but humped his own child.

A lot of you e-mailed that seeing the video in that context made you wonder how it took place without comment in real time. I agree. I had two friends call who are child therapists and state they saw some of the video in real time and didn't even pick up on it -- again, they're child therapists.

Let's wind down with this from Senator Mark Kelly's office:

April 11, 2025

“It is unconscionable that as American families are concerned about their financial security during this economic crisis entirely manufactured by the President, insiders may have actively profited from the market volatility and potentially perpetrated financial fraud on the American public.”

Today, Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), and Adam Schiff (D-CA) sent a letter to the Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Paul Atkins, to determine whether President Trump, any members of his cabinet, or other donors, insiders, and administration officials engaged in insider trading, market manipulation, or other securities laws violations.

“We urge the SEC to investigate whether the tariff announcements, which caused the market crash and subsequent partial recovery, enriched administration insiders and friends at the expense of the American public and whether any insiders, including the President’s family, had prior knowledge of the tariff pause that they abused to make stock trades ahead of the President’s announcement,” called the senators.

The senators wrote: “Before pausing the tariffs that threw markets into disarray, President Trump appears to have previewed his plans to do so on Truth Social: at 9:37 am, he announced, “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT.” His official announcement of the tariff pause came roughly 4 hours later at 1:18 pm.”

The senators also asked how Trump administration cuts to the SEC might impact the agency’s ability to respond to large-scale market events and pursue enforcement actions. They requested answers to their questions by April 25, 2025.

Banning insider stock trading has been a priority for Kelly since he became a senator. In 2023, he introduced the Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act to require all members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children to place their stocks into a blind trust or divest the holding—ensuring they cannot use inside information to influence their stock trades and make a profit.

Click here to read the full letter.

Kat's "Kat's Korner: Lenny Kravitz let's it ride on a new classic" went up Sunday.

The following sites updated: