It was all opinion. Trump said a lot of stuff before this election, but he said a lot of stuff before his first one too.
When people disagreed on what he might do, it was all guesses. There was no evidence to base anything on. Would his second term be restrained by people around him like in his first? That would be an evidence-based extrapolation. Would tariffs be all talk and little action, like in his first term? Extrapolating from evidence, they would be. But 2025 isn't 2017. Things would be different, but how? It's all guesses.
It's insanely naive to have thought a second Trump admin would not be worse in every possible way. Did you pay attention at all to what was going on with SCOTUS? Project 2025?
Saying "there wasn't any evidence" is borderline bot-speak. Anybody who thought Trump 2.0 was going to be like the first round was simply not paying attention at all and anybody telling others it wasn't going to be like the first admin is either a Russian troll, the mainstream media, or just plain irresponsibly ignorant.
"Nobody could have foreseen this" is about the dumbest take I think I've seen so far.
I didn't claim any of those things were specific to Project 2025.
We've known about RFK Jr all along so yes, if somebody is surprised by the secretary of health being anti-vax, that somebody is irresponsibly ignorant. If that somebody also claims that nobody could have foreseen this, or that prior to him being picked they were fond of reassuring people that "there's no way it'll be that bad"... yeah I'd 100% associate that with the type of behavior becoming of a Russian troll.
I find it really weird and cringey that you're bringing up ego. I don't feel like I'm smarter than everybody else, nor am I claiming to be, nor do I see how any of my comments could even be construed as such. To say this is about me thinking I'm smarter than everybody else is to imply that I'm relishing in the fact that I "foresaw what others couldn't", which is just... an insanely idiotic thing to say. I'm not a sociopath. And for what it's worth, I know plenty of people who also saw this coming.
To be clear, it's a tragedy that so many people were ignorant of what a second Trump admin would be capable of, but that's not really the point I'm trying to make; I am specifically taking issue with your insistence that it was somehow impossible for anybody else to foresee this.
> I find it really weird and cringey that you're bringing up ego. I don't feel like I'm smarter than everybody else, nor am I claiming to be, nor do I see how any of my comments could even be construed as such.
Then you should re-read your comment. Calling people "insanely naive"? "Bot-speak"? The "dumbest take"? "Irresponsibly ignorant"?
And you really think you're not trying to portray yourself as smarter than everyone else who didn't see this coming?
Your comments are insulting, provocative, in bad faith, and do not belong on HN.
I was trying to make a reasoned point that no, most reasonable smart people didn't expect the Trump administration to be anything like what it is now. I don't know of anyone who predicted this. Your claims to the contrary are simply rewriting history. You're calling people ignorant, when you seem to be the one with the faulty memory.
I hope you can learn a little humility. Good luck to you.
Sorry, but this is a very misguided take. He tried to do all the same things his first term, but enough people around him kept him in check. Now, he explicitly got "yes" folks around him and purged the career folks who'd uphold the Constitution. He's emboldened like a child who just learned they can command the world to do their bidding without restraint.
It was all opinion. Trump said a lot of stuff before this election, but he said a lot of stuff before his first one too.
When people disagreed on what he might do, it was all guesses. There was no evidence to base anything on. Would his second term be restrained by people around him like in his first? That would be an evidence-based extrapolation. Would tariffs be all talk and little action, like in his first term? Extrapolating from evidence, they would be. But 2025 isn't 2017. Things would be different, but how? It's all guesses.
It's only hindsight that is 20/20.