George Stephanopoulos is not exactly known for being a tough interview, but sometimes even a confirmed softball thrower gets startled enough to protest:
TRUMP: It is going away
STEPHANOPOULOS: Without a vaccine?
TRUMP: Sure. Over a period of time
S: And many deaths
TRUMP: It's gonna be herd developed pic.twitter.com/dtJRE7XwFX
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 16, 2020
Trump just got fact checked to the face about pre-existing condition protections by George Stephanopoulos.pic.twitter.com/al4BnM8QNk
— Ted Corcoran (Red T Raccoon) (@RedTRaccoon) September 16, 2020
I want to commend @GStephanopoulos for not breaking out in laughter.
— Jennifer 'Vote Early' Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) September 16, 2020
I do think at some point Biden should say Trump is just plain out of it
— Jennifer 'Vote Early' Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) September 16, 2020
Trump: “Why didn’t Joe Biden call for a national mandate on masks? A lot of people think masks are no good.
Stephanopoulos: “Who are those people?”
Trump: “I’ll tell you who those people are – waiters. They come over to serve you and they’re playing with their masks”.
— Hoodlum ?? (@NotHoodlum) September 16, 2020
Asked he would be more unifying in his second term, Trump immediately launches into how he is a victim on a big battlefield with a lot of forces aligned against him. So there’s that. Then he lists his accomplishments, including space force and right to try. ?♀️
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 16, 2020
Seriously, Trump could’ve done just as well in this #Pennsylvania town hall meeting by just coming out, standing there, turning to the people in the room and saying “go f*** yourselves“ and then leaving.
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 16, 2020
the takeaway from trump shitting all over himself for the nth time tonight is all the reluctant people who want a half-assed reason to support him are asking for us the lowest level of competency imaginable in these things and he can’t even get within a mile of delivering it
— kilgore trout, non mini-stroke haver (@KT_So_It_Goes) September 16, 2020
it’s impossible that trump himself didn’t actively push for this. https://t.co/PAbARTD0iE
— golikehellmachine (@golikehellmachi) September 16, 2020
will the town hall or the debates change anyone’s mind on trump? of course not. but it makes him even more of an anchor on down ballot tickets, and they all know it.
— golikehellmachine (@golikehellmachi) September 16, 2020
FOX NEWS: God-Emperor Trump is mightier than Thor and Optimus Prime put together.
ALSO FOX NEWS: It was so unfair how these average citizen meanies totally bullied Trump by asking questions. https://t.co/Whxh3srB7k
— Aditya Sood (@adityasood) September 16, 2020
‘TP USA’ cofounder/grubling:
President Trump won big time over George Stephanopoulos.
— Ryan Fournier (@RyanAFournier) September 16, 2020
Related:
we're right to fear DOJ/Post Office ratfucking but I continue to be struck by how many of the forces that dragged him across the finish line just aren't mustering this time around.
NRA, Assange, the National Enquirer, Cohen, etc. https://t.co/tQgdffd3fu
— Zeddy (@Zeddary) September 13, 2020
Alex Jones deplatformed, ditto MiI0 and most of Nazi frog twitter. Trump's gotta be keeping Bannon at bay for fear one of his six shirts has a wire.
Plenty of grifting Charlies Kirk to fill the void. But the fanatics who'd give up everything for Trump kinda did just that.
— Zeddy (@Zeddary) September 13, 2020
N M
Thx for the post AL! My Schaden is well freuded.
Roger Moore
Everything Trump touches dies.
feebog
“I have it all ready”. Then let’s see it Sparky. Can’t wait for the first debate.
Mary G
mrmoshpotato
@Roger Moore: Fuck Rick Wilson, etal.
rk
Why can’t this jackass die already. I’m so done with his ugly voice and mug every single day.
Chetan Murthy
@rk:
He just needs to wait until Nov 4. to do it. As much as I want him ground up for shark chum, I don’t want him dying before the election: at this point, there’s noothing Fat Termite could do that would improve things, and he might get a sympathy vote. Let Putin’s Pet Coprophage stay alive until after the election.
cain
@mrmoshpotato:
I don’t think Rick helped Trump – I think he was a never trumper from the get go – but you know fuck him anyways :-)
Fair Economist
Man, consider what it takes to get Stephanopoulos to fact-check a Republican! Trump is surpassingly awful.
Roger Moore
@mrmoshpotato:
That’s fair. I think in a lot of cases Trump is a sign rather than a cause. Dying organizations, ideologies, and careers have hitched themselves to Trump in a last gasp attempt at revival, but Trump isn’t capable of providing it. Association with Trump is the harbinger of death, but not its cause.
Felanius Kootea
Herd mentality???? The vaccines will give us herd mentality? WTF.
Alison Rose
Seems GS did a decent job, but honestly, one of these days I’d love to see a mainstream media person just look at him and say “Dude, what the fuck is wrong with you, you soulless trashpile?” I mean, I know they’d get fired but it would be worth it.
RaflW
I know that the event was a target-rich environment (Biden camp already doing some good tweets off of it, I noticed).
But one of the biggest sleeper issues is health care. Irrespective of Covid (though one can’t in reality separate them). Trump said tonight that he has his ACA replacement plan. “I have it. It’s ready.”
He and his various admin flunkies have to be nailed on this. Just hounded!
Where is it? You said it’s ready, not in two weeks! You said you have it, so show us! He forgot the two-week dodge and it absolutely tips his hand that he is full of shit.
At the first debate, Joe should just start asking him questions about the policy details.
“You said you have the plan. Great. What’s the mechanism?”
“It’ll be beautiful. Everybody will clamor for it.”
“Beautiful is good, Donald. But is it Medicare for all? Private policies? How do you handle the guaranteed issue trap?”
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Sure, we get herd immunity after three years and 2% of the population dying, and that 2% is going to come the mostly out of the over 40 crowd and being white and male doesn’t mean you aren’t going to get it too. You would think that both his best friend and his brother dying from this shit would get this concept threw to this idiot.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
His supports in the room would cheer him for it too.
RaflW
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: He had a best friend? (Snark, yes, but I honestly don’t know who it is that died that you refer to. The brother, I’d of course seen)
Splitting Image
Somebody paired that video up top with a clip of a dead-eyed Joseph Goebbels calling Trump the most skilled speaker of our lifetimes. The contrast is striking.
Amir Khalid
Never let monkeys steal your phone.
On topic, the average Americans in that ABC town hall gave pro journalists a good lesson in how to put questions to people in power.
Amir Khalid
@Felanius Kootea:
In Trump’s “defence”, he also has no idea what herd immunity means.
Jinchi
Tweeted by a man who votes by mail.
RaflW
@Amir Khalid: Not an unusual outcome in town halls. Which says a lot, most of it bad, about the people who do journalism and run regular debates.
cain
I find it hilarious that Fox News is calling it an ambush. If the President can’t handle simple questions that Americans have – that’s not an ambush – that’s a man who can’t handle the job.
Hell, you can give him a Fox News host and he’ll still fuck it up because he just goes off into lala land. Wait till he gets ornery and tells the host to shut up and let him answer the question while he’s digging his grave. heh.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@RaflW: It was back in April, Trump was like stunned for two weeks.
https://apnews.com/0c2c29c8b09addce9869e8792734e33d
RaflW
@cain: I saw a gorgeous clip of Trump on the phone telling his Fox and Friends friends that he isn’t doing any actual, typical debate prep.
That he is ‘getting ready’ by doing rallies.
The ashen, shamed look on the one guy’s face was precious!
cain
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
It would have risen to a roar if he after he said “go fuck yourselves” – turned and shot George Stephanopoulos in the face and walked away and gave the explanation that George was an illegal immigrant cuz his last name is weird.
Splitting Image
Found it:
“Trump is the greatest orator in generations” – Stephen Miller
https://twitter.com/DereKYblacc/status/1306053053695635457
Enhanced Voting Techniques
That’s why it was an ambush. The Daily Show comedians have mentioned several time the stunned reactions they get from the MSM that they are allowed to ask followup question to politicians.
cain
@RaflW:
It must be quite the shit show – they need him to be present and visual doing the Trump thing – but every event or interview is laden with such utter spiraling bullshit.. They can’t even give him softball questions.
Did you see that other clip where Trump said he would call in every week – and I think Doocy was taken aback when the other guy was like “uh..yeah, it’s up to us if we are going to take that call”. Good times.
The Lodger
@Felanius Kootea: Herd mentality: it’s what Trump is counting on to win this election.
Amir Khalid
@The Lodger:
Yet he persists in letting Covid-19 cull that herd.
cain
@Felanius Kootea: actually believe it or not he started off by saying “tur..” and then changed it to hurd. But it would have come out as ‘turd mentality” which we believe is true of the entire Republican caucus.
Ruckus
@Felanius Kootea:
Don’t try and make any sense out of it.
It will hurt and fry your brain trying to get it to work. Look what owning his brain has done to trump.
Kent
@Roger Moore: And it would have been so easy for him to keep a lot of them in his camp if he had any normal human qualities. His entire presidency was set up for a normal leader to succeed. All the leaders of Europe pretty much solidified and increased their popularity during the pandemic by being human and concerned and mostly doing the right thing.
But not Trump.
Felanius Kootea
@Amir Khalid: Man, that monkey figured out the whole recording thing quick. What a show off. The shots of him/her licking the screen make me hope that the owner has figured out how to disinfect that phone.
Amir Khalid
@Felanius Kootea:
I am not as good with a smartphone as that monkey.
ETA: Re phone disinfection, I’ve been told that hand sanitiser will kill a phone.
Ruckus
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
As has been said many times, he is incapable of looking outside that shriveled up 1/8 oz of playdough that is currently acting as if it’s a brain (and doing the same bang up job the as the original) and seeing any thing but a 30 yr old picture of something resembling a human being. Rational thought is gone, this is what dementia can look like, every incoming and outgoing word runs through a dementia to reality translator that has zero logic, understanding and runs on dementia time, which has no connection to the rotation of the earth, so everything going in and coming out is bizarre to everyone else. It might have some connection to the words but nothing that comes close to rationality. And it never, ever gets better, only worse.
Heywood J.
@Alison Rose: Yep, we’d all kick in on the Go Fund Me for any journo with the courage to do the right thing.
Geoduck
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: Probably shouldn’t be going around stating that Robert Trump died of COVID like it’s an absolute fact, tho the chances of that being the case are high.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Ruckus: I have this theory of what Trump is thinking that sort of builds on Trump doesn’t understand other people; Trump’s grandfather died from the Spanish Flue and that’s how Fred Trump made his money. Trump likely thinks all the boomers who will die from the Virus are just luzers because they got the bad genes and their kids will be grateful to him for getting them their inheritance.
Amir Khalid
@RaflW:
Trump probably blew off his debate prep against Hillary. Trying to prep him for a debate against Joe would be futile and a complete waste of time for his aides. The Dunning-Kruger effect is too strong in him.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Geoduck: Then tell Laura Ingram.
Ruckus
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
That’s how he used to be. This we are seeing now is worse. That’s why I said dementia 4 yrs ago, because I’ve seen dementia up close. I’ve seen people who refuse to believe that someone they have known for decades can no longer care for themselves and/or that they will recover, or that noting is really wrong with them. There is something wrong, their brain no longer works in any way close to normal. It starts out slow, with trump and all his mental baggage and bluster it’s difficult to see but this today, this is in line with people I’ve seen with known diagnosis of dementia. It’s consistent with the progressions I’ve seen. Each person will progress differently and have different affects, but the direction and progression are there. First it’s not really obvious, so it’s little points of worsening. Then it gets less and less connected to reality. Then it’s not connected at all. Think about how he spoke and what he spoke about 4 yrs ago. Think about the last year and how he sounded. Think about today. This may be from something other than dementia, I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on the internet but there is a real progression – worsening of his reactions/words, what might be called his reality. He talks about Biden as not having done presidential things earlier this year. He’s confusing his world, the real world, Biden’s job/personality with what he knows, himself. Dementia may not be the cause but dementia can look like this and often does. Add that along with his strong narcissism and his overt racism, his constant projection and come to your own conclusion.
James E Powell
@Amir Khalid:
And to be honest, his style of lying, bullying, and bluster doesn’t need much preparation.
Ruckus
@Amir Khalid:
He didn’t need debate prep, he figured he’d do what he always does, intimidate. He’s used to his concept of using his wealth, which has always been just a concept and not reality, as a power play. He’ll sue you out of house and home and I’d bet at least threaten to fuck your wife if you don’t play along. And Hillary should have told him to back the fuck off. But I don’t think she was expecting him to be anywhere near as blatant. How often does he talk about his “money” now? He doesn’t at all, he talks about the power of his office, what he can do to you. He’s still abusing power, it’s just a different threat now.
James E Powell
I wonder if Trump or any of his courtiers really think any voters give a shit about treaties between Israel and countries Americans don’t know anything about.
There will be tremendous pressure on Wallace in the first debate to go easy on Trump and put a few dents in Joe Biden. The entire press/media world wants a tighter race and if they let things continue as they are that is never going to happen. Every weekend that goes by means more people are becoming fixed in the preference and their determination to vote.
Brachiator
Bullshit is also herd developed.
sanjeevs
@James E Powell: Last time Wallace opened up with a question on abortion. Then amped up the ‘ick’ factor with several follow up questions on ‘partial birth’ abortion.
I expect he’ll be terrible
Arclite
I think you will all appreciate this. The Trump campaign made an ad to drum up money with a “Support the Troops” theme. Unfortunately, they used a picture that contained MiG 29 jets and Russian soldiers carrying AK-47s. Hey, at least they’re being honest, right? America will become Amerika in Trump’s second term.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/14/trump-ad-asks-people-to-support-the-troops-but-it-uses-a-picture-of-russian-jets-414883
Lastly, and the article doesn’t cover this, but they misspelled “Committee.”
Redshift
@James E Powell:
They’re not for most Americans, they’re for the evangelicals. The only “peace” they’re interested in is Israel gets to do whatever they want so they can occupy all of the biblical territory and bring about the End Times. If a country normalizes relations, they’re not part of a boycott to stop that sort of thing.
Brachiator
@Arclite:
Wow. As Ross Perot might have said back in the day, “Now that’s just sad!”
scav
@Redshift: I think it’s also because he really really wants a Peace Prize to measure up (in his mind outdo) Obama. He’s always chasing the magazine covers, the Bay of Pigs medals as a baseline, and with the afterburner of his O-mania?
mrmoshpotato
Haha! This Soviet shitpile mobster conman is a mass murderer on a genocidal scale! Hahaha!
Go fuck yourself, Jen.
Subsole
@Amir Khalid: In fairness, average people don’t have to worry about every Republican politico in their rolodex blackballing them from the cocktail circuit for asking actual questions…
I mean, have you seen how helpless Republicans are when they go overseas? Absolutely NO idea what to do with reporters who don’t grade on a curve. They just sit there sputtering about “n-not fair!”
Brachiator
@James E Powell:
Yeh. People do care. Just as they care, or should care, about the Afghanistan peace talks. As a sitting president, Trump can pull out all the stops with respect to foreign policy and sell a simple, easy to understand story that he is bringing peace to the Middle East. And he can look like he is doing something if he brings more Troops home.
Simple messages work as part of political campaigns.
What the press might want may not be that important to voters. And even though moderator questions will be lame, Biden can make a strong case against Trump if given even half a chance.
Subsole
Is it possible President Abby Normal’s brainmeats are just melting under the stress?
I mean, this job chewed up Obama, Clinton, and Carter. It AGED them. People much stronger, sharper and just better-fitted than Trump. I bet his brain is folding up like a beer can in the Marianas Trench.
mrmoshpotato
@Subsole: How can the Soviet shitpile’s Very Good Brain™ fold under the pressure of the job when he didn’t want the job in the first place and isn’t attempting to do the actual job but just wanted people to kiss his fat, orange, fascist ass?
TS (the original)
@Heywood J.:
I’m sure their courage will return the minute Joe Biden is President. They never had a problem asking President Obama & Sec Clinton the same question again and again and again.
JPL
@Subsole: I fear that the populace is aging quickly too. After watching parts of his non responses, I tossed and turned the few hours that I slept. The president of the United State is ill, and it’s time we said it.
Mary G
@Arclite: It’s not just the Russian military stock footage. I saw a guy on Twitter who had tracked down every image to where they can be purchased for $500 or less. And AP put out a story today about how Trump “supporters” are really overseas models:
I would bet serious money that whoever’s (cough, cough, Parscale) putting together ads is charging tens thousands of dollars for each one costing hundreds of dollars.
JPL
@Mary G: Did your sign arrive yet?
SiubhanDuinne
Mothers-in-law.
Attorneys General.
Teaspoonful.
Charlies Kirk.
Mary G
@JPL: No, I got an email they’d been shipped on 9/12 with three different tracking numbers for sign, mug, masks, and buttons. They all still indicate that a label has been created online, but the actual package hasn’t been received. I don’t know if it’s the campaign or USPS fucking around, or both, but it bothers me.
Betty Cracker
@SiubhanDuinne: I noticed that too and appreciated it, even though I don’t like to think of “Charlie Kirk” as a thing that can be plural.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
From August 2017
Whenever Dump makes up a story it involves an imaginary friend “Jim” or a waiter.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
When Carter secured a truly stunning peace accord btwn Israel and Egypt his approval ratings went down. The plebs don’t care.
otmar
Meanwhile, over here were are all laughing about Trump’s “exploding trees” and “forest cities” in Austria comments.
Betty Cracker
@otmar: He’s such an embarrassing buffoon. I hope Biden gets a chance to point that out in a debate — how thoroughly Trump has beclowned the U.S. on the world stage. It’s shameful, and people outside his clown base do care about it.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
Germany Approval Ratings for US President — Pew Research
Obama (2016)………………….86%
Dump (Aug 3, 2020)…………10%
(graph)
U.S. Image Plummets Internationally
JPL
@Betty Cracker: I hope that Biden has a chance to speak.
Sally
@Felanius Kootea: His followers already have herd mentality.
Sally
@Amir Khalid: I thought so too. How to ask follow up questions.
Matt McIrvin
@Amir Khalid: The best hope Trump has for debates, if they actually happen, is the possibility that the debates simply don’t matter. They didn’t in 2016–he completely blew them and lost a lot of support, but the Comey letter fiasco happened long after they were over and their effect was simply nullified.
That said, the polling situation in 2016 was far more fluid in general; Hillary Clinton could establish a big lead but she couldn’t hold it.
Matt McIrvin
I’m sure the restaurant industry will be thrilled when Trump tells everyone that waiters are now free to cough directly on patrons.
evodevo
@Mary G: If the tracking # is a USPS one (usually starts with a “9”), you should be able to see what is going on at USPS.com…if it hasn’t been scanned as received at a USPS facility, it’s not in the mailstream yet, and that is the shipper’s fault. if it IS in the mailstream, it will tell you what facility it is currently residing in. Well, that is before we got the Trumpbot as a CEO, anyway…
UPS tracking #’s start with “1Z”
trnc
@RaflW:
Who thinks debate prep would help him? He has to get intelligence briefings in cartoon form and he still doesn’t understand them.
trnc
@mrmoshpotato:
Rubin has been pretty solid in blasting DT every chance she gets, and that’s helpful coming from a widely circulated republican (or maybe former republican – not sure at this point). I seriously doubt that she kicks DT’s all day every day but then giggles at his criminal behavior.
germy
Laura Ingraham made sure to remind her viewers that George Stephanopoulos is a former Clinton staffer.
In other words, the whole thing was a setup.
Trump thinks he did fine, though. Many of his fans probably agree.
germy
She should moderate the debates:
germy
trnc
@germy: Ha! DT finally had someone call him “Sir,” and he can’t use it for one of his sir stories.
Morzer
How bad do you have to be to lose a round to George Stephanopopuffle?
germy
@trnc:
He’ll find a way to work it in. He’ll distort what she said:
“Sir, when will your wonderful… sir, please don’t interrupt… sir, when will your wonderful healthcare plan replace the horrible obama-care?”
germy
@Morzer:
Don’t forget that Laura Ingraham exposed George as a (gasp!) former aide to Bill Clinton!!
Uncle Cosmo
@Felanius Kootea: “Herd mentality” = Trumpistas. Call it a Fraudian slip.
Heywood J.
@TS (the original): Very true. We should boycott as many of them as possible. It’s not like they’re providing any value anymore.
chopper
“herd developed”?
jonas
@Subsole: With one key difference: those other presidents aged because they felt the weight of the world on their shoulders for 4-8 years and the awesome responsibility that comes with the job. If the job is stressful for Trump, it’s only because not enough people worship him the way he thinks he deserves to be and it’s killing him inside.
jonas
Oh, yes. MAGA twitter is full of trenchant and very connected-to-reality observations like “Trump so pwned Stephanopoulos!” and “He’s gonna crush senile Sleepy Joe! Did you see his energy?”
jonas
Pretty much. He did no prep in 2016 and came out of the debates looking like a complete ass. Didn’t matter. Hillary was “over-prepared” (i.e. appeared competent and informed) and Trump’s flailing ignorance appeared “authentic” to those economically insecure WWC guys in Michigan, so here we are.
I guess he figured it worked the first time, so why change anything?
Just Chuck
@Arclite: He does Support the Troops. Just not our troops.
J R in WV
@Geoduck:
Make them deny it if that isn’t the case!
Same with fucking
pigschickens!! Make him deny it!J R in WV
@germy:
And ever since George has tried to make amends by sucking up to whichever Republican is currently on top. Not a journalist by any definition of that term !!!
brantl
@SiubhanDuinne: that’s teaspoonsful.