Donald Trump has not been accused of paying for sex, but several supporters protesting outside of his trial on Monday wanted to make it clear that they have. It seems the crowds that come out to protest the persecution of the former president are getting smaller, and weirder

Today, however, the crowd had thinned to a handful of true believers and true characters – those who don’t leave their house without a giant flag, a bullhorn, and an offensive T-shirt they made themselves.

It’s not only that the crowds are getting smaller, it’s that they are getting significantly weirder.

Of the people willing to step up to a microphone outside the courthouse and defend Mr Trump for allegedly paying off a porn star to hide his alleged affair from prospective voters, two offered something of a wild defence: that they opposed the charges because they too had paid for sex on more than one occasion, and assumed most men had done the same.

It didn’t matter to them that Mr Trump is not being accused of paying for sex, but rather accused of having embarked on several extra-marital affairs and falsifying business records over payments made to hide those affairs from the voting public in 2016.

  • danc4498@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Just like Jesus from his pedestal… Let whoever amungst us hasn’t paid for sex throw the first felony.

    • snooggums@midwest.social
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      3 months ago

      Actually Jesus said “Let whoever among us who hasn’t falsified business records throw the first felony.”

      The paying for sex was a mistranslation.

      • dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        It’s an easy mistranslation to make, especially when you had a large group of scholars reading hundreds of accounts of stuff that happened hundreds of years earlier written in several different languages and deciding which stories were “real” and worth putting in one book. Then a thousand years later you had another group of people translating THAT.

        I’m surprised there aren’t more stories about Jesus falsifying his business records after trying to cover up a sex scandal.

  • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Well, let’s legalize prostitution. Regulate it, tax it, legitimize it.

    Conservatives: hell no, we can’t have that depravity and vice. We need to punish women for sex outside of marriage. Oh, yeah…and no abortions for them either. (Unless it’s my daughter or mistress)

    • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
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      3 months ago

      I see this sentiment a lot from the uneducated crowd, but unfortunately human trafficking seems to increase whenever sex work is legalized so I cannot condone it.

      • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        “Uneducated”

        I think you need to do some reading, friend. Human trafficking is already a big problem. Legitimizing sex work and regulating it removes t some of the incentives to operate behind the scenes, just like legalizing pot, and frankly you get rid of the whole under-age thing because no government entity is going to allow that.

        S/he’s right.

        • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
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          3 months ago

          I wish it were true, but it’s really not. Human trafficking increases in both countries that legalize sex work and also countries where the humans are trafficked from. Tons of studies over many decades illustrate the cold hard truth.

          • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            Well, damn…you’re right. TIL.

            https://orgs.law.harvard.edu/lids/2014/06/12/does-legalized-prostitution-increase-human-trafficking/

            The study’s findings include:

            Countries with legalized prostitution are associated with higher human trafficking inflows than countries where prostitution is prohibited. The scale effect of legalizing prostitution, i.e. expansion of the market, outweighs the substitution effect, where legal sex workers are favored over illegal workers. On average, countries with legalized prostitution report a greater incidence of human trafficking inflows.

            The effect of legal prostitution on human trafficking inflows is stronger in high-income countries than middle-income countries. Because trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation requires that clients in a potential destination country have sufficient purchasing power, domestic supply acts as a constraint.

            • someguy3@lemmy.ca
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              3 months ago

              The problem with these case studies are that they are small. If you don’t know what’s what and your pimp tells you it’s illegal and you can’t go to the police, you might believe them. If it’s widely and commonly known that it’s legal and that the police will actually help you, then that will change the results. That and if you throw the weight and resources of, oh let’s say, DEA marijuana enforcement against human trafficking, that will also change the results.

      • frezik@midwest.social
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        3 months ago

        Human trafficking is there, anyway. The victims tend to be afraid, because they’re forced to do otherwise illegal things, and therefore don’t want to come forward. So what often happens under legalization is that a whole bunch of victims suddenly come out, which is now recorded as an increase in human trafficking.

    • TenderfootGungi@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      If we are going to make it illegal, we really need to flip the laws and make it illegal to hire one. This would give those in the business a legal way of asking for help.

    • ThirdWorldOrder@lemm.ee
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      3 months ago

      It makes my head hurt how ridiculous conservatives are and how they spin things. They’re only making their lives harder. Imagine the amount of tax revenue that could be collected from legalizing prostitution.

      • someguy3@lemmy.ca
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        3 months ago

        Let’s say it together: they don’t actually care about fiscal responsibility.

        • aesthelete@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          It’s obvious that they don’t because they only ever work one variable (spending) of the fucking equation:

          spending - income = deficit

          Even if you stop all of your spending entirely, you’ll remain in debt forever if you never have any income, so it’s a losing way to fix the problem, but that won’t stop them or their idiot voters from insisting upon it.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        It’s not a homogenous group. You’ve absolutely got libertarians on one end, wanting to dissolve the state and legalize a market for children as sexual commodities on one end. And then you’ve got the Holy Rollers on the order end, who think coffee and cigarettes need to be next on the chopping block.

        They formed an alliance of convenience to crush the labor movement. But now they are very awkward bedfellows.

    • danc4498@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Oh yeah, and make it more difficult for those trapped in their situation to get out of it.

  • snownyte@kbin.social
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    3 months ago

    They’re mad that they had to pay for sex because they expect to get their wee-wees wet for free.

  • capem@startrek.website
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    3 months ago

    To be fair, even if you’re not going for a prostitute, men are still paying for sex in the end.

    Buying dinner, gifts, paying for events, etc. All of that is what makes men more attractive in the eyes of females.

    South Park did a good episode on it.

    Edit: Seems like a lot of people have a problem with hard truths here, and that’s understandable.

    But really, no need for the personal insults.

    • hydroptic@sopuli.xyz
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      3 months ago

      “Never take relationship advice from someone who refers to women as feeeeeemales” is like the internet equivalent of “never trust a person with shiny gear”

          • capem@startrek.website
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            3 months ago

            It doesn’t “require” it.

            All of that is what makes men more attractive in the eyes of females.

            Brush up on your reading comprehension.

          • BreakDecks@lemmy.ml
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            3 months ago

            To be fair, if you have an extremely toxic personality that no woman seeking a desirable partner would tolerate, it’s probably easier to court less serious women with gifts in a bid for transactional sex.

            As for the “females” bit, sure, women are females, but so is my dog, and she’s literally a removed (lol at my instance censoring me for saying this).

            So if you can’t muster humanizing language like “woman”, and instead cling to sterile and human-nonspecific language like “females”, you aren’t wrong, you’re just an asshole.

            But yes, this guy absolutely is delusional if he thinks this is the way of the world.

            • ripcord@lemmy.world
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              3 months ago

              It’s really not.

              I mean, it’s two things, really. I’m sorry to hear that “females” in your life are all that shallow. I mean, not going to say that many people don’t like being treated or etc, but I never really dated women who cared about that stuff much, personally. But second, treating dating so transactionally is, well, a shame.

          • BreakDecks@lemmy.ml
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            3 months ago

            Buddy, you call women “females”. That alone is a gigantic red flag that you don’t respect women. Nobody that respects women talks like that. Women certainly notice shit like that when they’re considering whether or not a man is worth their time and energy.

            As for your insistence that I prove you wrong, let’s just say that I have no doubt that you’re telling the truth when you say that women won’t sleep with you organically. Everything else is just an extremely toxic expression of opinion that doesn’t deserve to be taken seriously by anyone who knows better.

            You might want to self-reflect on the way you feel about women and consider why so many people here aren’t seeing things the way you do. Nothing about what you said rings true to me, because I’ve always treated women like they are human beings who exist for reasons other than fulfilling my sexual desires. That mentality has gotten me a lot farther than your attitude seems to have gotten you.

            • capem@startrek.website
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              3 months ago

              Nobody that respects women talks like that.

              Wrong, but ok.

              let’s just say that I have no doubt that you’re telling the truth when you say that women won’t sleep with you organically.

              I never said that. You must not be able to comprehend English like the other guy who claimed I said it was “required.”

              I specifically said: “Buying dinner, gifts, paying for events, etc. All of that is what makes men more attractive in the eyes of females” which is true.

              You’re arguing against what I’m not saying and getting mad at me for it, lol.

              You might want to self-reflect on the way you feel about women and consider why so many people here aren’t seeing things the way you do.

              Well: you and the other guy are showing me you can’t read well, the snowball effect is very prevalent on these forums, and many of you people just ignore facts you don’t like or pretend they don’t make sense.

              Are you familiar with argumentum ad populum? You should come across it when you go to college.

              • BreakDecks@lemmy.ml
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                3 months ago

                I specifically said: “Buying dinner, gifts, paying for events, etc. All of that is what makes men more attractive in the eyes of females” which is true.

                That might true for you if “Buying dinner, gifts, paying for events, etc.” is the bulk of what you can offer a woman you are interested in. The fact that you use derogatory language to make this point leads credibility to that theory in relation to you.

                Are you familiar with argumentum ad populum? You should come across it when you go to college.

                Good lord, just shut up. Your entire point here is just an anecdotal fallacy in that you think your personal experiences with women constitute a universal truth about women. What I’m telling you isn’t that my point of view is right because people agree with me - I’m telling you that if you smell shit everywhere you go, to check your shoes.

                • capem@startrek.website
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                  3 months ago

                  and many of you people just ignore facts you don’t like or pretend they don’t make sense.

                  Thanks for proving my point.

                  Medium “articles” are just blogs, by the way.

                  I’m telling you that if you smell shit everywhere you go, to check your shoes.

                  Or maybe grow up and see things for what they really are. Money runs the world, sweetie.

                  You’re just trying to attack me personally because I’m saying things you do not like. It’s better to be ignorant than to accept hard truths, in your mind.

  • SquishyPandaDev@yiffit.net
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    3 months ago

    FFS he is not in trouble for paying for sex. He is in trouble for paying hush money using campaign funds. Good lord, conservatives are so brainwashed

    • NABDad@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Just like Clinton wasn’t in trouble for the blowjob. He was in trouble for lying about it under oath. But everyone who talks about it now says he got impeached for a blowjob.

      • HubertManne@kbin.social
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        3 months ago

        Exactly. He got impeached for lying about questioning unrelated to the investigation on him after the actual subject of the investigation bore no fruit.

      • Asafum@feddit.nl
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        3 months ago

        It’s exactly why Republicans cried “purgery trap” when people wanted to have Trump testify as president. They knew what they did during the Clinton investigation and just assume Democrats would somehow “force” Trump to lie about something completely unrelated…

        The Clinton investigation was over real estate and somehow made it’s way over to blow jobs.

          • ickplant@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            The Stormy Daniels case is also about election interference. He interfered in the election by paying to conceal critical information that may have changed voters’ minds.

              • ickplant@lemmy.world
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                3 months ago

                It’s not in the charges, it’s the nature of the case. This isn’t my opinion but that of legal expert from the podcast Legal Scrutiny. And they know their shit.

                • disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world
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                  3 months ago

                  I could see conviction in this case being used as evidence in the election fraud trial, but he’s not being tried by a federal prosecutor. It’s a criminal trail brought up by the State of NY.

    • the_crotch@sh.itjust.works
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      3 months ago

      I mean, this is right out of the liberal playbook. They’ve been screaming for 30 years that Clinton was impeached for a blowjob. He wasn’t. He was impeached for purjury, trying to cover up the blowjob. Same shit different party.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    I’m not so sure that the author wasn’t taken in by a Yes Men style prank. Because honestly, that sounds like satire and the satire wasn’t coming from the author of the article.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        I agree, but I think there are hints here and there.

        For example-

        “What do you think I do in Thailand, just sit in a chair?” he asked, incredulously. “That’s what we do as men, you know?”

        Thailand isn’t really famous for it’s ciswomen prostitutes…

            • deranger@lemmy.world
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              That doesn’t refute my point. Thailand has ladyboys, sure, but there are easily 10x the number of female sex workers. It’s one of the most well known cis sex tourism destinations.

              • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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                I think you’re confused. I’m not talking about the reality, I’m talking about why I think this is a hint that it’s satire.

                • Asafum@feddit.nl
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                  But they’re saying why it shouldn’t be taken as satire, because in reality that is a place you go to for ciswomen too.

                  I’ve rotted my brain enough in the past trying to figure out what Trump reality is by watching Fox news that I can’t be bothered to rot it anymore, but I’d bet that fox or Newsmax is twisting this as “Trump unfairly being brought to court for paying for sex” which is why these jokers are out there arguing that “we all do it.” Kind of like the “locker room talk” from his first election that supposedly all guys do… :/

  • tootoughtoremember@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Sex work is work. And if it’s work, there are customers.

    There’s probably a long list of reasons to criticize these Trump supporters, including not understanding what this case in particular is about, but being customers of sex work ain’t it.

    Demonizing customers of sex work maintains the taboo and hurts the movement to legitimize, legalize, regulate, and provide normal employment benefits to sex work.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Conservatives love to hate on sex workers, particularly when they are migrants or POC or (God help us all) LGBT.

      Demonizing customers of sex work maintains the taboo and hurts the movemen

      The prevailing view of Republicans in this moment is that Stormy Daniels is trying to extort Trump for more money and using the NY Southern District as leverage.

      Far from demonizing customers, this view holds the client up as a victim and the sex worker as some kind of intrusive parasite who has failed to know her place.

      • tootoughtoremember@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        Totally agree with you. But this:

        this view holds the client up as a victim and the sex worker as some kind of intrusive parasite who has failed to know her place.

        Is because their golden god can do no wrong. That every law he broke was somehow not his fault, and clearly the fault of the accuser or corrupt prosecutors. They will shift the focus away from an argument they can’t win, campaign funds being used for non-campaign purposes, to anything they can get the base whipped up about.

        But my complaint isn’t even about that. My problem is that this article demonizes these Trump supporters for one wrong reason. That characterizing customers of sex work as weirdos for admitting it, regardless of their presidential candidate of choice, hurts the effort to legitimize sex work. There’s a lot of fish in the barrel of criticism for this group, no need for the author and OP to support a conservative anti-sex work narrative at the same time.

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          Is because their golden god can do no wrong.

          I think its a more broad understanding of sex workers as disposable playthings.

          My problem is that this article demonizes these Trump supporters for one wrong reason. That characterizing customers of sex work as weirdos for admitting it, regardless of their presidential candidate of choice, hurts the effort to legitimize sex work.

          There’s a general generic insult in modern media that boils down to “you’re fat and ugly and nobody wants to fuck you”. And the anti-Trumpers latch on to people visiting sex workers as an opportunity to hurl out this age-old insult. If this was an article about a movie star or popular musician admitting to patroning sex workers, I doubt the criticisms would match.

    • Emerald@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      If conservatives really don’t like sex work because it is exploitative, they should want capitalism eradicated. It kinda shows the real reason they actually don’t like sex work.

      • tootoughtoremember@lemmy.world
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        Conservatives don’t like sex work because it ruins the “wife will submit to her husband” power dynamic around sex they were taught is the norm.

        Sex work being illegal, and as a result inherently ripe for exploitation, is the feature not a bug to conservatives.