Public menace Mike Lindell said this week that the FBI seized his cellphone, which — while a surprise — isn’t completely unpredictable considering the Justice Department’s documented, wide-ranging interest in various Trump allies in connection to their attempts to undercut the last presidential election outcome.
Trump… wasn’t thrilled. “Breaking News: Mike Lindell, “THE Pillow Guy,” was just raided by the FBI,” Trump said on Truth Social this Tuesday. “We are now officially living in a Weaponized Police State, Rigged Elections, and all. Our Country is a laughing stock all over the World. The majesty of the United States is gone. Can’t let this happen. TAKE BACK AMERICA!” A relatively by-the-books law enforcement action doesn’t mean the U.S. is now “officially” a weaponized police state, whatever that means. Notably, Trump apparently wasn’t of the belief that his own persistent demands for law enforcement action against various political opponents of his meant the U.S. was becoming or would be a so-called police state. It’s fine when he does it, or at least wants to do it, but to Trump, the second that the tables even slightly start to turn, it’s apocalypse time.
That’s not to say there’s actual documentation of political animus driving recent investigative efforts targeting Trump or various allies of his — which makes Donald freaking out even more extreme. Notably, the U.S. isn’t actually a “laughing stock” across the world, according to polling. In recent survey data from Pew Research (made available in June), a median of 61 percent of respondents across 17 countries where the polling was conducted expressed a favorable view of the United States. The median level of unfavorable views was just 35 percent. These highs follow record lows in numerous countries’ views of the U.S. in 2020 — the last year of Trump’s own presidency. Thus, if anyone made the U.S. a “laughing stock,” it’s actually Donald himself. Countries with some of the highest levels of favorable views of the U.S. in recent polling include Poland, Israel, and South Korea. The U.K. was at 64 percent. And obviously, there remains no evidence of systematic election fraud in the U.S. Donald is just persistently lost in his world of nonsense.
Image: Gage Skidmore/ Creative Commons
