Anatomy Of A New Trumpian Conspiracy Theory
President Donald Trump began his political career with a baseless conspiracy theory: Barack Obama was not born in the United States, therefore he was not eligible to be president. This theory is false in two significant ways: (1) even if, just for the sake of argument, Barack Obama had been born in Kenya, he still would have been eligible to be president (see: Ted Cruz, George Romney, John McCain); and (2) Barack Obama was indeed born in Hawai'i, just after it became a state. But all of that didn't matter to Trump, who became the most prominent "birther" around, long before he began his run for the presidency. But just because he now is president, his penchant for looney-tunes conspiracy theories has not abated one bit. In the past two days, he's floated out another whopper, about a planeload of thugs which flew either into or out of Washington to disrupt the Republican National Convention.
As usual, Trump has zero evidence to support his looney-tunes story. He either read something like it on the internet or talked to someone else who read it on the internet. That's it. That's the whole story, plain and simple. But that hasn't stopped Trump from talking about it twice now in the past two days.
The first was in a friendly interview with Fox News personality Laura Ingraham. Trump was in the midst of ranting about all sorts of perceived enemies, and (a favorite for him) how they were all being paid and directed behind the scenes by shadowy anti-Trump forces. People said Richard Nixon was paranoid, but he mostly kept his rantings private (we only heard them later on, because Nixon foolishly taped everything). Trump's paranoia, however, is a much more public thing. According to Trump, Black Lives Matter and other lefty groups are being funded (to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, mind you) by "stupid" rich people who either simply don't understand what they're funding or are attempting to use such people as puppets but the puppets have now become the puppetmasters. Whichever -- these stupid rich lefties don't even understand that they're funding their own destruction.
No, seriously. To Trump, there simply are no legitimate protesters. Likewise, there are no peaceful protests at all. There are only paid operatives who travel around stirring up trouble, period. Trump cannot conceive why anyone would ever march in the streets in protest of anything, unless they are being paid to do so. Unless, of course, it was those millions (billions?) who turned out to witness his own inauguration -- that he has no problem picturing.
Here is the whole excerpt, from the full transcript of the Fox News interview:
[LAURA INGRAHAM]: -- Trump re-election calm things down in the United States? [Joe] Biden says he's going to calm things down. How will a Trump re-election calm --
[PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP]: He won't calm things down.
[INGRAHAM]: Why? Why won't he calm things down?
[TRUMP]: Biden won't calm things down. They will take over. They will have won. If Biden gets in, they will have won. He's a weak person. He's controlled like a puppet. So it's not going to be calm things down. It's going to be they will have won. They will have taken over your cities. It's a revolution. You understand that. It's a revolution. And the people of this country will not stand for that. They're not going to stand for that.
The vast majority of people feel like me. They feel like -- every time I put "law and order" up on social media, it gets such an incredibly positive response. The people of this country will not stand for it. If you say calm things down, yes, calm things down because they will have taken over. Take a look at what's going on. And Biden -- what Biden is -- I don't even like to mention Biden because he's not controlling anything.
[INGRAHAM]: Who -- who do you think --
[TRUMP]: They control him.
[INGRAHAM]: -- is pulling Biden's strings? Is it former Obama officials?
[TRUMP]: People that you've never heard of, people that are in the dark shadows. People that are --
[INGRAHAM]: What does that mean? That sounds like conspiracy theory, dark shadows. What is that?
[TRUMP]: No. People that you haven't heard of. They are people that are on the streets, they're people that are controlling the streets. We had somebody get on a plane from a certain city this weekend. And in the plane, it was almost completely loaded with thugs wearing these dark uniforms, black uniforms with gear and this and that. They're on a plane.
[INGRAHAM]: Where is -- where is this?
[TRUMP]: I'll tell you sometime, but it's under investigation right now. But they came from a certain city, and this person was coming to the Republican National Convention. And there were like seven people on the plane like this person and then a lot of people were on the plane to do big damage. They were coming --
[crosstalk]
[INGRAHAM]: Planning for Washington.
[TRUMP]: Yes. This was all -- this is all happening. And --
[INGRAHAM]: But the money is coming from somewhere.
[TRUMP]: Money is coming from --
[crosstalk]
[INGRAHAM]: When -- how can it be tracked?
[TRUMP]: -- from some very stupid rich people that have no idea that if their thing ever succeeded, which it won't, they will be thrown to the wolves like you've never seen before.
Extracted from the rest of the paranoid ramblings, here is the new conspiracy theory Trump is now fixated upon: "We had somebody get on a plane from a certain city this weekend. And in the plane, it was almost completely loaded with thugs wearing these dark uniforms, black uniforms with gear and this and that. They're on a plane. ...[I]t's under investigation right now. But they came from a certain city, and this person was coming to the Republican National Convention. And there were like seven people on the plane like this person and then a lot of people were on the plane to do big damage." Got that? A planeload of black-uniformed thugs flying into Washington "to do big damage" (oh, my!).
This morning, Trump was asked about this before leaving for Kenosha, Wisconsin. Here is his response, from the White House official transcript of the exchange:
[Q]: Mr. President, can you tell us more about this plot that you were referring to on Fox News last night?
[THE PRESIDENT]: The which?
[Q]: This plot of people gathering on a plane in gear that you were referring to.
[THE PRESIDENT]: Yeah, I can tell you that -- I can probably refer you to the person, and they could do it. I'd like to ask that person if it was okay. But a person was on a plane, said that there were about six people like that person, more or less. And what happened is the entire plane filled up with the looters, the anarchists, the rioters -- people that obviously were looking for trouble. And the person felt very uncomfortable on the plane. This would be a person you know. So I will see whether or not I can get that person. I'll let them know, and I'll see whether or not I can get that person to speak to you.
But this was a firsthand account of a plane going from Washington to wherever. And I'll see if I can get that information for you. Maybe they'll speak to you and maybe they won't.
Trump is already beginning to contradict himself, which often happens when he recounts such conspiracies. It's like he's playing a game of "telephone" inside his own head, really. All of a sudden, the plane was going "from Washington to wherever" instead of flying into Washington. Also, new detail: Trump personally knows who this person is, and will try to talk him or her into revealing their story to the national media, because they told Trump the story "firsthand."
Now, what actually happened is pretty clear, at this point. Either Trump did indeed hear this (secondhand) story from some Republican bigwig, or he just made that part up to allow himself an out ("Sorry, but I talked to the person and they said they'd rather not speak to the 'fake news' media -- can't say that I blame them."). If the latter is the case, then Trump likely just came across this meme on the internet somewhere and decided to tell the story as if it were his own (and as if there were actual proof of anything happening at all).
Of course, in normal times even the suggestion that a sitting president would spend much of his time scrolling through delusional conspiracy theories online would be a stretch, to say the least. With Donald Trump, however, it is pretty much a given that he does indeed indulge in this sort of thing on a regular basis. This isn't the first, or the tenth, or probably even the hundredth time he's latched onto one of these baseless stories and tried to push it as proven fact.
NBC News tracked down the origins of the story, which has been circulating since at least June (long before the Republican National Convention even happened, in other words).
The claim about the flight matches a viral Facebook post from June 1 that falsely claimed, "At least a dozen males got off the plane in Boise from Seattle, dressed head to toe in black." The post, by an Emmett, Idaho, man, warned residents to "Be ready for attacks downtown and residential areas," and claimed one passenger had "a tattoo that said Antifa America on his arm."
That post was shared over 3,000 times on Facebook, and other pages from Idaho quickly added their own spin to it, like the Idaho branch of the far-right militia group 3 Percenters.
One post claimed that "Antifa has sent a plane load of their people" and that the Payette County Sheriff's Office confirmed it. Within days, that version of the rumor picked up enough steam in Idaho Facebook groups that the Payette County Sheriff's Office had to release a statement insisting that the viral rumor was "false information."
Idaho's not the only place this has happened, either. Reports have been popping up in plenty of cities and even small towns about either planeloads or just busloads of lefty agitators targeting one city. Right-wing counterprotesters show up en masse and then seem disappointed when the conspiracy theory doesn't materialize. No Antifa mobs arrive, because they were never going to in the first place.
If you listen to Trump speak about the unrest in the streets, it's pretty clear that the storyline of this conspiracy fits into his own thinking, which is likely why he latched onto it so eagerly. In the first place (according to Trump), there are no legitimate protests happening anywhere. People want law and order, and simply do not care when cops shoot unarmed Black men in broad daylight. Since racial injustice doesn't actually exist, there is no reason at all for anyone to be out there protesting. Instead, the only people on the streets are Antifa and Black Lives Matter (although sometimes Trump even conflates the two) -- who are nothing short of Marxist thugs who want to kill all the police, and then loot and burn down all the cities to the ground. And they're being paid to do all of this, because why would anyone do anything if they weren't going to profit from it? The people paying out these vast sums for professional anarchists and looters and rioters are shadowy anti-Trump forces who think they will control Joe Biden if he gets elected.
This paranoid worldview might be held up as an example of a massive application of what Donald Trump likes to call "cancel culture." Trump doesn't agree with what the people in the streets are saying, so he is doing his best to "cancel" it completely by insisting that it doesn't even exist and that the only ones in the street are violent thugs. But that's a subject for a different column.
With this worldview, it's pretty easy to buy into the idea that a planeload of such black-clad professional thugs "with gear and this and that" would be paid to infiltrate Washington for the Republican National Convention. Or maybe that they were flying home afterwards? It's not clear, but details simply don't matter. What does matter is that planeloads of thugs are probably heading "from Washington to wherever," and they might just be headed for a suburb near you!
The problem with Trump being president (one of many, in fact) is that he's now got a huge apparatus of people who exist only to validate Trump's delusions. He's got the entire executive branch to back him up, and they have learned that they better do so or face reprimand, demotion, or firing for not being sufficiently full of praise for the emperor's new clothes. Aides and even whole departments may be scrambling right now to provide non-existent proof that somebody somewhere got on a plane (going anywhere, really) wearing all black. This will be conflated to "planeloads of thugs" by official White House spokesmen, and backed up by verification from whatever departments are deemed necessary (the Justice Department, the F.B.I., the Department of Homeland Security, whichever...). Perhaps it will only die down when Trump signs an executive order that attempts to ban wearing all-black outfits while flying. If that sounds farfetched to you, then you must have just woken up from a four-year coma (Congratulations! Welcome back! Please register to vote... it's important!) and have not yet realized that Trump can say a hurricane is 500 miles from where it actually is and whole departments of the federal government will back up his lunatic claim.
Either that, or we'll hear the results of the "investigation" that is going on "right now" right after we hear all that evidence Trump uncovered in Hawai'i that proved Barack Obama wasn't born there. Remember that? Right after Trump releases those bombshells, we'll all learn just where that planeload of black-clad thugs was indeed flying to.
-- Chris Weigant
Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
No, seriously. To Trump, there simply are no legitimate protesters. Likewise, there are no peaceful protests at all. There are only paid operatives who travel around stirring up trouble, period. Trump cannot conceive why anyone would ever march in the streets in protest of anything, unless they are being paid to do so.
Projection; I won't be fooled by projection.
Projection. Trump's middle name. Sigh.
(oh, my!)
Indeedy do!
Ha! Trump is hilarious!
Of course, in normal times even the suggestion that a sitting president would spend much of his time scrolling through delusional conspiracy theories online would be a stretch, to say the least.
A stretch? How about 'bat shit crazy'? Hello!?
I think I know what Trump is afraid of - Killmonger!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Xs2A3Kslw4
But, for Trump and some police, it is quite alright to watch a 17-year-old kid prance around a crowded street with a loaded AR-15 which had just been used to kill somebody strapped around his shoulder without lifting a finger to stop him.
Right, and a Black guy gets stopped by the police and ends up being shot in the back at point blank range, not once or twice or 3X or 4X or 5X or 6X but 7X, actually.
I wonder how Trump and the same police would have reacted if it was a Black teenager prancing down the street with a loaded AR-15 which had just been used to kill somebody ... I'd bet the farm, even if it's in Iowa, that the Black teenager would have been shot with intent to kill by those same police before being arrested and shackled to his hospital bed after he refused to die.
Good luck to y'all!
"I mean that sincerely - I'm not trying to be facetious here."
The video is a good watch. Laura's hard to stomach, but even she didn't know what to do with an actual crazy person sitting in the room. It's easier to agree with him if you cut out the bulk of what he says from the video.
CW no one needs more evidence that this man is crazy as a loon and should not be president. So please tell me why is his popularity going up and Biden's going down? What is wrong with people in this country? I am genuinely puzzled by this behavior. I read story after story in all the media about his foolish or downright dangerous behaviors and people applaud this. are we as a nation doomed? i can understand how some folks did not believe he could be as bad as they said he was in 2016 and voted for him out of ignorance but today?? From what I see he has a very good chance of winning, especially since it will take a landslide victory to actually drive him out of office.
Lemmings and Buffalo running off a cliff I can understand, for they can not see what is in front of them, but today we have wide screen television showing us in great detail exactly what four more years will look like. And yet they line up to vote themselves and the rest of us off the cliff.
are we as a nation doomed?
Perhaps.
He also told her this: once you get to a certain number, you know, we use the word herd, right, once you get to a certain number, it's going to go away
Herd immunity and 6% are the new death cult zombie obsessions. Both are warped and distorted of course. Their herd is already immune to facts and reason.
There's always ... Canada!
Just remember to get your certificate certifying that you are free of The Virus. Heh.
JFC[10],
Indeed.
I would suggest Vacouver but, the Rolling Stones will be much further east come next November, so ...
Have you ever been to Vacouver?
Skip it. Just stay on the plane until you hit the Pacific and you'll be just fine.
Guess which Canadian rock band(s) are from Vancouver!?
Holy Sheeeeeeeee-it! It sucks to be y'all!
Chris,
You should try to get an interview with Biden, maybe in Baltimore or some place ...
The USPS delivered my first election mailer today. It's paid for by the Republican Party of Kentucky. The message is:
VOTE AGAINST AMY MCGRATH
It's not subtle. She's the one in the Dark Shadows. It's her mob.
Curiously, it doesn't mention who I should vote for.
Heh.
[14]
Does Niagara Falls count as visiting Canada?
Well, sure, but you'd have to be on the best side of the Falls. :)
Big Orange said he's surrounded by a sea of incompetent people, stupid people, violent people. Oh, and driving around shooting people with paint balls is self-defense.
There's that projection, again. It'll be his downfall. Just as soon as Biden picks up on it ... Ahem.
BTW - Bunker Boy twittered that he hasn't had a series of mini-strokes. Nobody asked. I'm going to end the suspense. He has had at least one mini-stroke.
I trust you, emphatically, on this.
LizM [6]
You know what those suburban women are afraid of? It's not BLM. Their kids are out there. They're afraid of men running around with assault weapons randomly mowing people down in stores, at concerts and on the street.
Yeah, that's what I'm sayin' ...
That right there is another thing Biden should speak about. So many things to talk about, so little time.
LizM [24]
This past Friday, he was walking up the 2 or 3 steps to the stage at his Klan rally and he lost his balance as if he was walking a beam.
I haven't really been paying much attention but, I know you know what you're talking about.
And, he is looking very tired. It just isn't normal to be talking the way he is in these interviews.
I guess what I'm saying is that it may be time to stop making fun of him and start being concerned about his overall health.
A stroke is not disqualifying. It's just another thing he's lying and projecting about. If he's going down that road again, then fire must be fought with fire.
Yep. That is what I'm talkin' about.
Chris, re: your comment about Trump's birther investigation in Hawaii. I do remember it. Trump said something like, "I've got some people in Hawaii now and they're digging. They're finding some amazing things. Amazing."
In other words, vague promises of future, positive, results.
And I remember waiting, for several months (knowing there was nothing to wait for, but still trying to see how the Trump thing worked), to hear about the 'amazing things' (or whatever his actual phrase was).
And we never heard about the team of investigators in Hawaii, ever again.
I already knew Trump from having lived in the NYC area in the 80s and 90s, but this was him on the national stage, and I wondered if his peculiar combination of braggadocio and brazen bullshit was going to be his vehicle even at the higher level of press attention and 'serious issues' that comes from being a national political presence. That one episode convinced me that nothing had changed from the Central Park Five and the dozen extra stories on the Trump Tower. He was a stone-cold bullshitter, and he was taking it on the road.
The Ingraham show transcript you give us shows that it's gone beyond BS now. He's losing his mind, and is pretty far down that road. The idea of him winning another term is horrific: a psychotic and invalid pathological narcissist, liar, and criminal felon may be elected president, again, only in worse health both mental and physical than four years ago.
Biden has his work cut out for him. I can only pray he does it and that enough Americans to make the difference, do in fact make the difference.
canada: it's where all the bald eagles moved to, so shouldn't you?
Trump sounds like he is retelling the story of someone rich forced to fly on a local commuter plane for the first time ever. He says, “And in the plane, it was almost completely loaded with thugs wearing these dark uniforms, black uniforms with gear and this and that,” before clarifying that there was only 7 people in that plane.
The funny thing is that his supporters defend this craziness by claiming that Trump is doing it intentionally to mess with the Libs and the media. How would they know if Trump actually was NOT doing it to mess with the Left and instead he’s lost his mind??? Sadly, they did not have an answer to that question at this time!
If that sounds farfetched to you, then you must have just woken up from a
four-year coma. (Congratulations! Welcome back! Please register to vote... it's important!)
[35]
The funny thing is that his supporters defend this craziness by claiming that Trump is doing it intentionally to mess with the Libs and the media. How would they know if Trump actually was NOT doing it to mess with the Left and instead he’s lost his mind??? Sadly, they did not have an answer to that question at this time!
The trouble they don't have an answer because they're not asking the question in the first place.
Imagine how difficult it will be when these folks finally "get" how totally and fatally conned they were.
(trying to channel my inner Roger Stone)
The first Democratic October surprise could be Joe coming around on marijuana in time for the stoner and stoner sympathetic youth to register.
The second would be for the House to pass legislation establishing an escrow account for funds from Mexico to pay for Trump's wall. Just a reminder.
And mayhaps the third could be passing legislation supportive of the popular provisions of Obamacare, in the face of GOP litigation against things like preexisting conditions.
Numbers two and three are to remind the country and stuff.
It's official: Donald Trump is one of those QAnon nuts.
More indictments of Trump friends coming soon. Lock them up. :)
Elizabeth isn't going to like this.
Robert Gates Thinks Joe Biden Hasn't Stopped Being Wrong for 40 Years
I think he has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades,” former Defense Secretary Robert Gates says of Vice President Joe Biden in his new book coming out later this month.
Additionally, Biden is accused of "poisoning the well" against the military leadership. Thomas Donilon, initially Obama’s deputy national security adviser, and then-Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute, the White House coordinator for the wars, are described as regularly engaged in "aggressive, suspicious, and sometimes condescending and insulting questioning of our military leaders.
I remember Joe argued against taking a shot at Bin Laden and he voted to let W invade Iraq. So there's that.
Here's the link.
Don't get me wrong. Joe is still hands down the only sane choice.
And after W bungled Afghanistan and invaded Iraq Barry was sooo not into starting another war, he kind of wussed out on the foreign policy front. Pulling the trigger on Osama was somewhat out of character for Obama.
On second thought, Obama's middle name is Hussein, and it was a pretty cold ass strike...
Robert Gates doesn't like to admit what he was wrong about.
MtnCaddy, on [40-44], I'm kind of getting you wrong.
Why repost material that damages Biden's image, or tries to, while saying disingenuously that it would nevertheless be insane not to vote for him?
When actual sanity is the deciding point, a discussion of the election is no longer about needing to know more about the candidates, or making a more informed decision between two equally qualified men. I don't care how much Biden's decisions on foreign policy were as wise as they might have been. That's because I believe those decisions were made from his best judgment and concerns for his various American constituencies, not from a combination of colossal ignorance about the issues and a desire to please or comfort our foreign adversaries who he was in debt to.
Very well stated. Couldn't have said it better myself.
MtnCaddy,
Context is almost always missing in its entirety when discussion ensues about the congressional vote on the Authorization For the Use of Military Force in Iraq (AUMF).
In terms of Senator Biden's support for this resolution which was decidedly NOT a 'vote for war', here is all the context one needs to understand this vote,
https://www.c-span.org/video/?173141-1/senate-session&start=55296
This is day two of the Senate debate on the AUMF and its many amendments on October 10, 2002. I'm still trying to find the full video from day one.
It's worth listening to all of it but I would suggest listening to all of Senator Biden's remarks made throughout this full video because no senator understood what this vote and the context within which this vote took place was all about more than the distinguished senior senator from Delaware.
Context is all-important so that any political discussion is rendered meaningless without it.
How do our political discussion here at Chris's place measure up to that maxim?
A Supercomputer Analyzed Covid-19 — and an Interesting New Theory Has Emerged
An interesting view as to possible mechanisms in how COVID-19 works. Vitamin D for the win. Or at least fresh air and sunlight to get the vitamin D...
Will that get the transmission of SARS-COV-2 under control?
Because, getting the virus under control is job number one, and that goes especially for the US.
I wish Biden had spoken more today about the kind of public health architecture that will be required to control the transmission of the virus to the point where the economy can get back on track.
Investing in an effective and efficient public health system and architecture is where the money needs to go. Everything else depends on this.
Lives and livelihoods are dependent upon massive investment in public health systems and public health architecture, in other words.
Hoping that particular opportunity won't be squandered, in the US and elsewhere across the globe. We are all citizens of planet Earth, after all is said and done.
Hey CW,
Any chance of you addressing the fact that Rod Rosenstein nixed the DOJ’s counterintelligence investigation that McCabe had ordered into whether Trump was a Russian agent without letting anyone know that was the case? Mueller testified that his people would pass on any info showing how Trump might be tied to Russia to the FBI, but the FBI believed that the DOJ was conducting the investigation - not them. Rep. Adam Schiff was clearly under the impression that there was a counterintelligence investigation being conducted based on his comments. Would love to know your thoughts on this!
We need laws making it illegal for politicians to put knowingly false information into their campaign ads. Yes, Republicans went to court claiming it was their right to lie in political ads and they won, but I put allowing disinformation to be knowingly spread to hurt a political opponent to be about as dangerous as allowing someone to yell, “FIRE!” in a crowded theater — it is not about “free speech” as much as it is about the harm that such speech could cause.
Here’s the story that inspired this rant. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/02/ady-barkan-op-ed-scalise-video/?hpid=hp_opinions-float-right-4-0_opinion-card-c-right%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans
Republicans use dishonesty and disinformation like a weapon to maintain their minority rule over this country.
Don Harris
45
The reason that Trump's popularity may be going up while Biden's may be going down is that it is all part of the show.
If the election is close it discourages third party voting.
The general election is on November 3, 2020. Nobody knows whether or not the "election is close" until the votes are counted. If you're attempting to claim that polls are manipulated to hurt third party candidates, you just sound like an ignorant conspiracy theorist. In the modern age, polls generally will always tighten the nearer to the election. In order for a candidate to be allowed to participate in the presidential debates, they generally have to be polling at a certain percentage. None of the third party candidates in 2000 -- Ralph Nader/Green Party, Pat Buchanan/Reform Party, Harry Browne/Libertarian Party, Howard Phillips/Constitution Party, John Hagelin/Natural Law Party -- met the presidential debate threshold and therefore weren't on the debate stage... same as every election in the modern age. It's neither rocket science nor an attempt to hurt the third party candidates.
In 2000 when Bush or Gore were ahead by large margins Ralph Nader was polling around 10%. When the race tightened in September Nader dropped below 5%.
Nader was not on the debate stage because he never met the threshold. People naturally vote for candidates with a chance to win. Again, this ain't rocket science, and it's not a conspiracy either.
This is why Biden is doing everything he can to give progressives the finger, from picking K.Harris to saying he won't ban fracking.
You seem to take political issues personally. No one is giving you the finger beyond the vast majority of people who comment on this forum. :)
Russ,
Was that case won on the basis of lies and disinformation in campaign ads being just another example of free speech, constitutionally protected?
If yes, then as problems go, I think you've got one there.
Just read that Washington Post piece by Ady Barkan. I don't know how to solve this problem, either but, shining a spotlight on the practice at every opportunity, in every forum by everyone who cares, consistently without letting up seems to be one place where we can all start.
Eventually, hopefully, most people can be shamed from even paying attention to the malevolent use of technology to spew out disinformation. Of course, people will have to have the necessary critical thinking skills to be able to quickly discern good, fact-based information from the deep fakes ...
Liz,
Yes, I believe it was. I remember learning about the case back in 2012 when Romney ran the ads claiming an auto plant that closed while Bush was President closed down b/c of Obama’s policies. This was information that was widely known to be untrue, but Republicans still ran it.
Biden reminded everyone today that he is a constitutionalist.
There must be a way to get around the free speech concept being used as a shield to get away with spreading disinformation ...
John M [48], LizM [49]
Big Money Joe is openly courting Republican support and surrogates, so he gets their baggage. It's very unlikely to bring him many votes, but it's good way to repel votes. He needs the Obama coalition to win and Republicans were not part of it. I can't imagine who cares that Carly Fiorina endorses Joe (aside from Carly).
JFC,
Carly Fiorina endorsed Joe? Whatever.
Did you take a look at that link I gave for the Senate debate on the Iraq War Resolution?
It's a good example of how the Senate lived up to its reputation of being the best deliberative body on the planet!
Big money Joe will only repel votes from those who are, how shall I say, I don't know how to say. The point is that he shouldn't need those votes.
John From Censornati
64
Big Money Joe is openly courting Republican support and surrogates, so he gets their baggage. It's very unlikely to bring him many votes, but it's good way to repel votes. He needs the Obama coalition to win and Republicans were not part of it.
Republicans were a part of the Obama/Biden coalition, JFC, and Biden/Harris are following the same blueprint. Obama/Biden courted them and won a healthy chunk of them. Polling data from late October 2008 indicated that somewhere between 10% to 22% of Republicans supported Obama/Biden instead of McCain/Palin; Gallup reported 10% support, while the Economist cited a poll indicating 22% of self-described conservatives supported Obama/Biden, a higher proportion than any Democratic nominee since 1980.
https://www.economist.com/united-states/2008/10/23/the-rise-of-the-obamacons
I can't imagine who cares that Carly Fiorina endorses Joe (aside from Carly).
Republicans and those ex-GOP looking for a reason/permission that it's okay to dump Trump and vote for Biden/Harris. It generally doesn't matter which Republican is doing it because it's the old "power in numbers" theory at work... because there really is power in numbers. :)
Elizabeth Miller
66
Big money Joe will only repel votes from those who are, how shall I say, I don't know how to say. The point is that he shouldn't need those votes.
Allow me, EM. Big money Joe will only repel votes from those who are so far left they'd rather burn down the entire system than see a moderate Democrat hold the presidency... the so-called "purists" that are so far to the extreme that their goals closely mirror the wingnut brigade extremists on the right.
So to recap: The fringes of the two major political Parties have strikingly similar goals... goals that align nicely with foreign adversaries, which is why they're openly interfering in our elections with right-wing politicians complicit this time around parroting their propaganda.
Kick,
What were the numbers in 2012?
LizM,
The point is that he shouldn't need those votes.
Yeah, that was HilRod's attitude.
John From Censornati
69
What were the numbers in 2012?
Enough to get Obama/Biden reelected, JFC!
I believe it was estimated between 7% to 17% in 2012... the GOP managed to gain back about 3% to 4%.