• floofloof@lemmy.ca
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    1 month ago

    This is not someone killed in battle:

    Donald Trump raged when he learned the funeral bill for Vanessa Guillén—the U.S. soldier who was sexually harassed and horrifically murdered by a male soldier at Fort Hood in 2020—cost $60,000, a bombshell report revealed Tuesday.

    Somehow knowing the circumstances of her death makes Trump’s awful remark even nastier. Especially since he is a rapist.

    Guillén, a 20-year-old American of Mexican ancestry from Houston, was buried in her hometown on Aug. 15, 2020. Months later, in December, Trump reportedly asked his advisers in a meeting, “Did they bill us for the funeral? What did it cost?"

    When an aide responded “yes” with the bill’s total, Trump allegedly unraveled. “It doesn’t cost 60,000 bucks to bury a f—ing Mexican,” he said, according to people in the meeting who spoke to the Atlantic.

    Trump says vile things every day but this has to be one of the vilest.

    • doggle@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 month ago

      Damn, he was almost close to making a valid comment about how wildly overpriced funerals are today, then instead went full bore into super racism

    • Darkassassin07@lemmy.ca
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      1 month ago

      He followed through with the sentiment too.

      The magazine reported that Trump then turned to his chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and ordered him, “Don’t pay it!” That order was apparently heeded by Meadows, as the Atlantic reported that Trump never sent a dime to help cover funeral costs for the slain woman.

      • fine_sandy_bottom@lemmy.federate.cc
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        1 month ago

        It’s absolutely vile to invite the mother to the white house, offer to pay, and then later rescind that offer.

        If he’d never offered it wouldn’t matter.

        This is just so so abhorrent, even for trump.

        • nonailsleft@lemm.ee
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          1 month ago

          Racism aside, if I offered someone to help pay for a funeral, I’d choke in my coffee too if I the bill said $60.000 .

          • BlitzoTheOisSilent@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            True, but you also wouldn’t have the world’s largest economy and one of, if not the, largest governmental budget in the world like Trump does.

            And he also wasn’t paying for it out of his own pocket, it’d come from whatever federal budget covers the costs of military/veteran funerals.

            The entire motivation behind this is clearly racism and sexism, plus his overall disdain for veterans/our military in general. Probably stems from a jealousy he has, since veterans tend to automatically be held in higher esteem than grifters like himself, and he knows he could never have handled bootcamp, nevermind the actual military.

            • Waffle@infosec.pub
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              1 month ago

              He actually did say he was going to pay for it personally, the military might cover some component of it, but it’s in the article saying that he couldn’t reimburse the family through the government:

              Natalie Khawam, the family’s attorney, responded, “I think the military will be paying—taking care of it.” Trump replied, “Good. They’ll do a military. That’s good. If you need help, I’ll help you out.” Later, a reporter covering the meeting asked Trump, “Have you offered to do that for other families before?” Trump responded, “I have. I have. Personally. I have to do it personally. I can’t do it through government.” The reporter then asked: “So you’ve written checks to help for other families before this?” Trump turned to the family, still present, and said, “I have, I have, because some families need help … Maybe you don’t need help, from a financial standpoint. I have no idea what—I just think it’s a horrific thing that happened. And if you did need help, I’m going to—I’ll be there to help you.”

          • fine_sandy_bottom@lemmy.federate.cc
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            1 month ago

            Yes, but you wouldn’t:

            • offer to pay
            • without any stipulations
            • while on TV
            • while in the white house
            • as a person that brags about their wealth
            • for a funeral
            • of a military person
            • in a high profile murder

            Any idiot could see that the funeral was going to get out of hand.

            If Trump said he’d by me lunch it’d be the most expensive lunch in history.

            • nonailsleft@lemm.ee
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              1 month ago

              If someone offers to pay your lunch, or in this case for the funeral of your murdered child, trying to make it ‘the most expensive in history’ to fully abuse that offer just makes you a Sad. person imo. Imagine having it done to you.

              To reiterate: It’d make me happy Donnie almost dies in a fire but is kept in a conscious coma for hundreds of years

              • fine_sandy_bottom@lemmy.federate.cc
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                1 month ago

                Well, I don’t care at all if you think I’m sad, but you may have missed your point.

                If my neighbour offered to buy me lunch I would politely insist on contributing in my own way. I don’t really want people to buy things for me. That said, I dislike Trump immensely, he brags about his wealth, and if he offered to pay for something for me because the optics look good, I would absolutely abuse that offer. If it were for my daughters funeral presumably that would occupy my thoughts and I wouldn’t politicise it by using my daughters funeral as a way to steal from trump, but there would be no fucks given about the cost.

                My point is, “someone” offering to buy me lunch is not at all the same as Trump offering to buy me lunch while interviewing me on TV in the whitehouse because it makes him look good.

                • nonailsleft@lemm.ee
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                  1 month ago

                  Sure, I can understand trying to find ways to ‘get’ Trump, but seeing something that is still somewhat of an act of generosity as an opportunity to scam someone…

                  Anyway a) he was probably never going to pay this out of his own personal pocket and b) this just resulted in this family to have to pay for their absurdly lavish funeral themselves

            • nonailsleft@lemm.ee
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              1 month ago

              Sure, and all disrespect for trump but say I’m rich and crash my car into your fence and tell you “it’s fine just send me the bill”, there’s a difference when that bill turns out to be 60k

              Sounds a bit like the family chose the 'Royale" because of his promise

              • Kalysta@lemm.ee
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                1 month ago

                In that case though they either pay it or get sued. Especially if they have receipts from the company for the work.

                Don’t extend generosity no questions asked if you don’t want to follow up on the consequences.

    • nifty@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      But he definitely doesn’t think the same way about the people voting for him…

      • RecluseRamble@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1 month ago

        That’s the main point I never understood about his voters. His political agenda and your political affiliation don’t even matter. All you have to understand is that everything he does is for his own benefit. Nobody wants an egoist in charge in a smaller setting - why the fuck elect one as president?

          • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            He talks in very “us vs them” styles and it seems like a lot of people respond to that thinking the in group is his supporters. It isn’t, but they’re so sure. And it makes sense, he clearly adores his fans. But the in group is him. Everyone else is at risk of joining the out group on his whim

    • RedditWanderer@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      And this is an american. Republicans should be afraid he can change whatever “american” is whenever he wants.

      What’s funny is his dumb brain immediately went with “What are the costs? I can blame the dems for cost” without even considering the circumstances

    • Funderpants @lemmy.ca
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      1 month ago

      It’s perfectly emblematic of how Trump doesn’t just ‘other’ people for political gain, it’s built in.

    • M137@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      “This is not someone killed in battle”

      That sentence does not prepare you for the rest… Not that it would excuse Trump at all if they died “normally”. And I would say she definitely died in battle, just not in a war, her battle with the SA and everything is just as valid as anything else. I’d change that sentence if I were you.

  • cranakis@reddthat.com
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    1 month ago

    And the family he said it about continues to kiss his ass. What the fuck is wrong with people?

    We are grateful for everything he has done and continues to do to support our troops.

    Says the sister of the soldier who was sexually abused and slain at Fort Hood, TX.

  • Nuke_the_whales@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Trump reportedly complained later in the day that these “fucking people” are “trying to rip me off.”

    He thinks it’s his money.

    • john89@lemmy.ca
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      1 month ago

      I mean, to be fair, at least someone cares about the egregious waste that taxpayers spend their money on just to make rich people rich.

      It most certainly should not cost $60k of taxpayer money to bury a soldier. Someone, odds are a small group of interconnected people, is making profit off of fleecing the American public.

      • Snapz@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        That’s not what he cares about here, though. Very obviously.

        As one of SO MANY examples, he charged the secret service, i.e. Taxpayers, ridiculously inflated daily costs after requiring that they stay in trump owned properties throughout his time in office and have events planned and catered by his businesses at equally exorbitant prices.

        So, on balance here, You’re either ignorant or you’re intentionally trying to show trump in what you think is a favorable light. You can acknowledge that what you said here is unfathomably short sighted at best and edit your original post OR you can just sit there unmoved and show your whole ass as a fraud trying to make a coward’s argument for trump.

      • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        The only problem I have with your statement is the implication that the only “someone” is trump.

        Everyone should care about waste or excess spending.

        Edit: and trump himself has driven a shitload of waste and excess for personal gain.

      • Snowclone@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        That cost isn’t even high by civilian standards, and the military has struggled to provide proper servicee, you’d be surprised how many people who are in uniform providing services at military funerals are just people willing to volunteer to do so at their own cost, some travel quite a length to do so.

        The next time someone asks you about being a patriot, supporting the troops, and so forth, keep in mind that your against proper funeral services for veterans to save a nickel and represent that view. Be honest, let them know you don’t care.

  • Queen HawlSera@lemm.ee
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    1 month ago

    How the hell is he winning so much of the Black and Hispanic vote? Like… any percentage at all?

    • WoahWoah@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      A higher percent of the Hispanic support than any republican nominee in history (as high as 45%) with closest next being George W. Bush.

    • Ace T'Ken@lemmy.ca
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      1 month ago

      Hispanics have a very high population of religious voters and many of them don’t believe in abortion. For many religious people, even if they disagree handily with everything else the Republican party does, they will not vote Democrat because of the abortion issue.

      There was a pretty large research study and a bunch of podcasts on it.

      • piamedeadigital@lemmy.cafe
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        1 month ago

        This! My guess is that being religious and conservative is at least 75% of the reason why Hispanics would support Trump. My father was a Colombian born immigrant who in my memory always supported the Republican party and the majority of the years after he got his citizenship I’m certain he never voted Democrat. He did come around though before passing in 2023 and I’m pretty sure he did not support or vote for Trump. >

    • Snowclone@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      He’s not, he had higher polling with African Americans in the last two elections than actual voters, he had extremely low voting numbers with African Americans, slightly higher with men, but not by that much, it’s really common in politics to have a lot of people doing shady bullshit to see if it will sway elections, also the population nation wide is low enough that getting a sample size that’s actually representative is not likely, even some trusted unbiased polling was using the opinion of one single person to represent all polling numbers in a whole state and the poll was pretty old by that point as well, so with African Americans you see a lot of really strange lookin poll numbers, but believe me, Trump going after Haitian refugees with racist tropes about ‘‘savage’’ and voodoo bullshit made him quite vile to antiracists of all stripes, I don’t think those numbers are going to pan out at all.

      Now Hispanics, that’s a whole different story, being Hispanic myself I can tell you, it’s not a solid voting block. We aren’t as good at consistently voting in our own interests. There’s light skinned people who think they’re white enough to be in the whites only club, racism isn’t hard to find among Hispanics, many do hate African Americans and others, so the white identifying crowd can be pretty similar to racist whites in a lot of ways, you also have Hispanics that are very concerned with hyper mauculinity and want the strongest man, and only think in terms of displays vs substance, and there’s deeply religious Hispanics who can get drawn in with the evangelical rhetoric. So your not going to see a big percentage on one vote or issue with Hispanics, it’s always going to be a mixed bag even with Trump’s promise too deport more Hispanics from the US regardless of legal status, or his call backs to ‘‘operation wetback’’ or this bullshit, you just won’t see big sweeping numbers from Hispanics it will always be slip up.

      • Queen HawlSera@lemm.ee
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        1 month ago

        There’s light skinned people who think they’re white enough to be in the whites only club

        Bro I’m whiter than sour cream, I’m actually grateful for global warming because everytime it snows no one in my family can find each other anymore, and I’m STILL not white enough to be in the Whites Only Club. You need white skin AND approval from a lot of guys named Ben, Franklin that is, if you get what I’m saying…

        Money you need a lot of money.

    • rsuri@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Because most people don’t follow politics that closely and are simply unaware of stories like this, but are vulnerable to the forces of nostalgia and false memories of the first Trump administration, plus lingering fondness from the character he played on the Apprentice.

      • Queen HawlSera@lemm.ee
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        1 month ago

        If Harris loses, I know the fact that they didn’t constantly run ads showing the Pandemic of 2020 asking “Do you really wanna go back to THIS?” is partially to blame

      • Queen HawlSera@lemm.ee
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        1 month ago

        See, at this point… I’m either convinced Harris has pretty much got this in the bag and the media is lying to get people to doomscroll because money, or there’s a Copium Leak and when it’s fixed I’ll see that Trump is coming to kill us all.

        The former feels weirdly more valid…

        Still VOTE, I ALREADY HAVE! MY STATE HAS EARLY VOTING, FIND OUT IF YOURS DOES TOO!

        • TurnpikeRangers@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          I desperately want to believe that about the media, but Tim Miller and the folks at Pod Save America (whom I trust to be brutally honest) are also constantly talking about how close the race is. I’m so fucking depressed about this shit. We are this close to having a literal fascist as President.

          This fucking son of a bitch had to ask John Kelly who the good guys were in WWI.

          FUCK.

          • Queen HawlSera@lemm.ee
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            1 month ago

            Nate Silver’s said he’s already calling it for Trump, which doesn’t feel good to know, because the last time he said that Trump won.

              • Queen HawlSera@lemm.ee
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                28 days ago

                I was hoping for that, but then I realized swing states legalized marriage voting, where the man can decide the woman’s vote and go into the booth with her to ensure it.

        • bradorsomething@ttrpg.network
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          29 days ago

          You probably have confirmation bias based on your environment. I own a contracting company and many in the trades drink the koolaid, and are completely blind that they are voting themselves poor over the long term.

          Some people can only learn through pain - they can’t express empathy past what they personally experience - and those people tend to be squarely trump voters. They’ll vote for bacon every day as pigs, and only realize their mistake afterwards.

  • Red_October@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Just one more thing that should absolutely torpedo any political career, that won’t hurt him at all. His MAGAt cultists probably think that was “speaking the truth” or some stupid shit like that. Anyone who would be bothered by his comments has abandoned him ages ago.

  • Myxomatosis@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    If I were a betting man, I would wager that Donald will drop the “N” word by the time the election is over.

    • Communist@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz
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      I don’t think so but I’d take a bet that he’ll drop racial slurs for mexicans

      i think he hates mexicans much more than black people, though he hates both, and the mexican slurs are easier to get away with politically

      • JasonDJ@lemmy.zip
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        1 month ago

        I dunno. I don’t think any politician can come back from dropping an N-bomb (Trump excluded). I’d like to think the b-word would be treated just as harshly, but I guess white people haven’t been scolded enough over it yet.

        • Communist@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz
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          One time when I was in highschool, a student said, in front of the principal, that he hopes trump would build that “beaner wall”, one of the other students confronted him, saying it was racist, the principal (a trump supporter, obviously) said “what’s racist about that?”

          The fact that this interaction has ever occurred on this earth leaves me with no hope that it would be treated as harshly.

    • Valmond@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      He got to occupy the news space so yeah why not. He wants hitler generals and “loves” Kim jong un and putin so there’s no limit IMO.

  • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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    1 month ago

    Oligarchy 101.

    Treat public expenses like it’s coming out your own pocket.

    Treat the public purse like it’s your own personal bank account.

  • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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    1 month ago

    Trump was reportedly still irked by the bill later that same day, with him claiming that Guillén’s grieving family was trying to take advantage of his wealth.

    “Can you believe it?” he said, according to a witness. “F—ing people, trying to rip me off.”

    So this is rather telling, him thinking that the “money of the US government” is “my money”

    • Phoenicianpirate@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      This is because he desperately is clinging to the ancient ideal (and I mean ANCIENT. Like early Middle Ages ancient) that everything in the kingdom is the direct and personal property of the king.

      So in that sense, the billions of dollars allocated to the military every year is actually his money.

    • barnaclebutt@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      To be fair fuckface 45, is a disgusting, con artist, rapist, mushroom-shaped penis’ed, pile of burning excrement in some wonderful orange make-up that’s totally normal for an 80 year old man. He also loves the phantom of the Opera which is perhaps the most offensive thing about home.

    • grahamja@reddthat.com
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      1 month ago

      In the US, funeral homes try to get as much money out of you as possible because they know you are emotionally vulnerable. There are exposes on funeral homes having predatory services.

    • bassomitron@lemmy.world
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      They can be, sadly. It depends where you live, where you have someone buried, and what services and coffin and whatnot you get. But yeah, the funeral business in the US is pretty crazy greedy. $60k is definitely on the higher end. According to a quick Google, my state’s average funeral cost is around $8k, with the total cost (including mortuary services, etc) around $20k.

      • FundMECFSResearch@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        The hell. What if your wage is 10k a year. Ie. you’re on disability benefits or social security. Will my family have to bury me in the backyard?

                • Dashi@lemmy.world
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                  1 month ago

                  Have I? Yes, yes I have. I live fairly comfortably in a house that I own with a good job to pay the bills. But I volunteer with people that are not in the same situation and it’s heartbreaking. People that can’t afford to pay for unexpected expenses like a car breaking down. So they lose the job then lose their place of residence.

                  Vets, people with disabilities or even people that messed up early in life can struggle.

          • TachyonTele@lemm.ee
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            1 month ago

            Why are people downvoting this? Do they think funerals, cremation, and burals are free somehow? They must think funeral homes are community service provided out of the kindness of the owners hearts.

    • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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      1 month ago

      It should be noted that the article says it was attended by the mayor and city’s police chief. I’m assuming quite a few more less notable people also came. I would also assume this increases the cost.

      • john89@lemmy.ca
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        The fuck? You don’t have to pay people to attend a funeral…

        Especially not with taxpayer money…

        • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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          You need to provide more things the more people come. Also, when the state is at fault for the death, maybe they should pay for it. However, most of this one was paid for by donations after Trump refused (which I assume would have come from his own money or his campaign money had he not, but IDK), which you’d know if you read the article.

      • Jyek@sh.itjust.works
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        1 month ago

        Yes a totally normal thing to say about a sexual assault victim who was murdered by her assaulter.