I didn’t watch, but…
I can’t imagine watching trump but if my feed is any indication I gather it is going quiiiiiite poorly
— kilgore trout, kiss me mr. president (@KT_So_It_Goes) October 16, 2020
UMMMM “He didn’t spend the whole time yelling, he didn’t piss himself… so this was as best as we could have hoped for,” one Trump campaign adviser tells @swin24. https://t.co/C6nrUQBFAj
— Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) October 16, 2020
Dueling town hall Twitter is like:
After biting the head off a live flamingo, Donald Trump spits bits of blood and feathers at audience while dancing to the Village People.
Meanwhile, as angels sing, Joe Biden is gently icing the bruised wing of an injured Philadelphia pigeon.
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) October 16, 2020
It’s not the most important thing but I like that Biden’s first impulse was to put the onus on himself rather than the country. https://t.co/gCtqlveqJj
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) October 16, 2020
At the moment that Mr. Trump was effectively defending a fringe corner of the internet, Mr. Biden was speaking about corporate tax rates and citing the business-analysis service Moody’s.
on the splitscreen with @alexburnsNYT https://t.co/wMRBAJZ8KF
— Katie Glueck (@katieglueck) October 16, 2020
Trump: the doctors told me my lungs were infected
Guthrie: with what?
Trump: I didn’t really ask too many questionsthis really just happened and we are only in the first 90 seconds of this thing
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) October 16, 2020
Sorry but Team Biden has to be loving the split screen rn.
— Zeddy (@Zeddary) October 16, 2020
Pres. Trump: “That was a retweet, I’ll put it out there. People can decide for themselves.” @SavannahGuthrie: “I don’t get that. You’re the president. You’re not, like, someone’s crazy uncle who can just retweet whatever.” #TrumpTownHall pic.twitter.com/Im0QFy7VOU
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) October 16, 2020
Trump would have been better served by accepting the virtual debate. Suicide bombers have hurt themselves less than this…
— Evan Siegfried (@evansiegfried) October 16, 2020
not tweeting is free https://t.co/oYbLPPwVcI
— kilgore trout, kiss me mr. president (@KT_So_It_Goes) October 16, 2020
imagine what kind of genuine psychopath you have to be to think not just, "god, i hate mr. rogers," but "you know who americans hate? mr. rogers." https://t.co/yFaPPtLSPY
— fnu lnu (@Theophite) October 16, 2020
Boy Donald Trump is sweating a lot. Shades of 1960.
— Megan McArdle (@asymmetricinfo) October 16, 2020
Watching Joe Biden for a few minutes while I’ve been watching this Trump town Hall is like taking a cool drink of water after standing in front of a fan blowing a blast furnace in my face
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) October 16, 2020
My goodness, Trump is debating no-one and still losing.
— Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) October 16, 2020
I have about 70 pro-trump blue checks on a twitter list, they aren’t celebrating Trump’s performance, only attacking the moderator. That’s not a good sign.
— Josh Russell (@josh_emerson) October 16, 2020
Okay I switched over. Biden is shockingly coherent.
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) October 16, 2020
“It was a clear win. Our candidate successfully fought off all partisan efforts to get him to answer any questions, and did not audibly call any specific audience member a racial slur.”
— PutMr.RodgersInHisPlaceHat (@Popehat) October 16, 2020
Biden 2020: What if politics could feel like this, rather than [changes channel to the Trump townhall] like that?
— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) October 16, 2020
Trump refused to disavow the violent QAnon movement at the NBC town hall, praising them as people who are "very much against pedophilia." https://t.co/HC2h17gs9v
— Will Sommer (@willsommer) October 16, 2020
Just imagine turning on the TV, seeing your president, and feeling your blood pressure go down instead of up.
— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) October 16, 2020
imagine when you think it's a killer sum up to say you kicked the hosts ass. https://t.co/QVGQTyDPWs
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) October 16, 2020
Campaign professional’s rating:
Fit my my sense of it. Not Biden connecting like when he’s really on, but fine
But maybe I’m wrong, maybe voters undecided on whether to vote for him or vote at all ate it up. (And that’s how I assess things like this, not whether ones partisans loved it) https://t.co/Uhe3oDGthK
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) October 16, 2020
I dunno, man. Probably because Biden never launched into a staunch defense of an insane conspiracy theory, defended a retweet claiming that Obama had Seal Team Six murdered, and veered wildly off topic. https://t.co/BfLhNE2jsA
— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) October 16, 2020
Talking to normal people is one of the things Biden likes most about campaigning, and this is one of the few chances during the pandemic that he's actually been able to do it. https://t.co/B5rgwkOzQ3
— (((Yair Rosenberg))) (@Yair_Rosenberg) October 16, 2020
.@JoeBiden still going at it with clarity and precision, now on foreign policy, while @realDonaldTrump left the building 15 minutes ago. Stamina anyone?
— Jennifer Granholm (@JenGranholm) October 16, 2020
*an exhausted donald trump returns to his hyperbaric chamber filled with vanilla pudding mixed with powdered barbiturates to prepare for another big day of shitposting*
— kilgore trout, kiss me mr. president (@KT_So_It_Goes) October 16, 2020
Joe Biden seems to not want the town hall to ever end. It concluded nearly 30 minutes ago, and he’s still fielding questions as voters take out notecards and ask the questions they didn’t get to during the televised broadcast. And Biden shows no signs of letting up.
— Matt Viser (@mviser) October 16, 2020
I see Trump followers have once again decided that he's a victim of his own choices.
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) October 16, 2020
Biden keeps inching closer to the voters asking questions, then pauses, goes back to the stage and puts his mask on. #leadershipbyexample
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) October 16, 2020
Trump supporters are just upset that their strategic genius cult leader ran away from a debate with Joe Biden so he could hold an hour long prime time pro-Biden campaign ad.
— Bob Sampson (@bobsalpha1) October 16, 2020
it’s almost as if he really cares about earning their votes! https://t.co/BQlPtpuVVn
— kilgore trout, kiss me mr. president (@KT_So_It_Goes) October 16, 2020
HumboldtBlue
Kirk Gibson won the debate.
sanjeevs
Trump’s Amerika is like Russian circa 1983. Everything has to be run through the commissars.
piratedan
just shocked regarding the quality of the questions offered to Biden and “filtered” by Stephanopoulos. It is incredibly fucking tedious to continually watch him having to field questions comprised of GOP talking points… be nice if there was some quid pro quo, but apparently that’s only valid in GOP foreign policy.
Yutsano
@piratedan: It would bother me more if they were a bit more gotcha about them. But Biden handled them all with aplomb and grace. So can it be a gotcha question if it didn’t actually get Biden? To wit: his answer on court packing. He played that exactly right, except now I want to know more about these alternatives he mentioned. He started talking about one then waved himself off.
Mary G
o/t, but this is still cracking me up:
LongHairedWeirdo
I couldn’t watch the Trump town hall. The start, at least, was an in-kind contribution from NBC to his campaign. “Mr. President, will you please tell our viewers a lot of lies, including lies that might kill them?” “Sure, and thank you for asking!”
I did want to see him flop, and flub, and be stupid, but I was just too furious that NBC would give him a platform, and not actually *make* it a town hall, where he has to face his greatest enemy, the American people who want real answers.
piratedan
@Yutsano: i hear ya, but the questions as a reflection of the people out there…. yikes!
WV Blondie
I wish ABC had kept the cameras rolling while Joe answered more questions, with plans to run it as a 60-minute special.
piratedan
@Mary G: If I was Greenfield I would run that exchange as my next political ad and title it ‘Nuff Said.
Felanius Kootea
I recorded the ABC townhall and just finished watching it. Biden is a decent, thoughtful man. I’ll wait to hear what the news reports say about the NBC townhall.
Yutsano
@Mary G:
mrmoshpotato
In Noah’s tweet, 1. Why are people sitting behind the Soviet shitpile mobster conman?, 2. Are two of these assclowns texting at the moment?
“OMG! OMG! OMG! I’m on TV!”
NotMax
Put in mind of the latter part of The Dot and the Line.
With you know who as the squiggle.
:)
trollhattan
@Felanius Kootea:
“Biden stabs a motherfucker in Reno just to watch him collect Obamacare” is my guess.
Trump something, something pivots to center. Still waiting.
trollhattan
@Mary G: @Yutsano:
“Cornbean, soybean, you seen one, you seen ’em all.”
mrmoshpotato
Popehat no longer wants to kiss everyone. :(
?BillinGlendaleCA
@mrmoshpotato: After watching Trump’s townhall, would you?
sanjeevs
105,000 early voters in Harris County TX.
Third day in a row of 100k+ voters.
So far, there is every sign this is a wave election like no other we’ve seen.
eddie blake
@sanjeevs:
only if the votes get counted.
Pete Downunder
The Guardian (Aus edition) has article about town halls. Author said he preferred to watch Trump because it was like Hollywood blockbuster but he figures American public are tired of living in a disaster movie. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/oct/16/clashing-trump-biden-events-highlight-us-divide
JWR
Watched a bit of the NBC townhall thingy, and was surprised to learn that Trump is “under-levered”. (No really. He used the term repeatedly in what passed as his answer to a question about his taxes. Which, BTW. are still under that damn audit!)
Mary G
I watched Joe blow by Stephanopoulos like he was driving his Corvette and George was on a tricycle.
patrick Il
When Biden says that, after Trump leaves office, the will be four to eight Republican senators that will work with him, does he believe it or is he just appealing to voters hoping for comity?
Sebastian
@Mary G:
Greenfield and all surrogates should from now on refer to Ernst as Senator Soy 5.50.
From what I have read on Twitter EVERYONE in Iowa knows it because it is being announced every hour on radio.
burnspbesq
@patrick Il:
‘Mitt and Sasse are at least arguably reachable. No idea who else he’s thinking about.
ETA: Burr is not out of the question.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
@sanjeevs:
Election expert Michael McDonald, who correctly predicted the mid term turnout, says turnout will be the highest since 1908 (65.7%).
burnspbesq
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:
Great. In 1908, the country elected a morbidly obese Republican.
Cathie from Canada
So Trump advisor Mercedes Schlapp thought it was just terribly, terribly clever and sophisticated to tweet that watching Biden was like being in Mr. Rogers Neighbourhood.
Oops, what a self-own.
Only the Trump campaign would try to smear Biden by comparing him to Mr. Rogers, one of the most beloved people in America for the last 70 years.
And who is from Pennsylvania, by the way, a state Trump is desperate to keep.
So Twitter has now exploded. Mr. Rogers is trending. Twitter has concluded that the election now is between Your Crazy Uncle vs Mr. Rogers.
Its absolutely hilarious.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
At least 19.8 million people have voted in the 2020 general election
At least 5 million votes cast in past 48 hrs.
(link)
jl
@Cathie from Canada: My best guess is that Trumpsters want to link Biden to Chuck D, a huge Mr. Rogers fan, to set him up for future attacks as a radical. Other than that, I can’t figure it, it’s just stupid and childish.
mrmoshpotato
So. Much. Winning.
Geminid
@burnspbesq: Murkowski will help as long as she gets something for Alaska in return. And Rubio and others will join the majority on comprehensive immigration reform.
Ian R
Yes, insulting one of the most beloved icons of American tv will surely go great. Especially in PA, which is even more fond of Mr. Rogers than most places, since he’s from Pittsburgh.
the pollyanna from hell
Criminal charisma relies on abusive speech. An empathetic listener must choose between identifying with the abuser or with the target. Handing out as much pain as Drumpf does forces a lot of movement. I rejoice and lament.
different-church-lady
@Cathie from Canada: well like I said on the last thread: Trump and his people think it’s Die Hard Bruce Willis vs. Mr. Rogers, when it’s really Jabba the Hutt vs. Mr. Rogers.
JoyceH
I didn’t watch the Trump event but the clips are remarkable. His crazed eyes and gabbling speech – WHAT is he on? What IS he on?
JWR
@JoyceH: – WHAT is he on? What IS he on?
All of ’em, Katie?
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
Chernobyl II
Amir Khalid
@Cathie from Canada:
It makes quite clear what the Trumpistas think of Mr Rogers’ values, doesn’t it?
Bruce K
@Cathie from Canada: This is the same outfit that thought it was smart to label the Muppets as anti-American.
JWR
Take that, California, with all yer DemocRat voters!
F*cking A**hole.
Mary G
@JWR: Just when you think he can’t go any lower, he does.
JWR
Hahaha!
JWR
@Mary G:
Yep. If he’s proven one thing, it’s that there is no bottom.
MagdaInBlack
I watched Hal Sparks watch the livestream of Trump, and it was a bit like watching Mystery Science Theater 3000 in that Hal kept up a running commentary of explanations of the lies along with some good laughs at the stupidity. It made it ( almost) watchable, and laughable. “Levered?? Did he say levered? 3 times??
Eta: I still didn’t make it thru the whole thing, but trump didnt get any rating points from my watching it that way
JWR
@MagdaInBlack: “Levered?? Did he say levered? 3 times??
He sure did! My first thought was that he hadn’t showered, (Lever soap came to mind), and I half-expected Guthrie to correct him, but she didn’t, not that it would’ve mattered.
Then there’s this:
Baud
@JWR: It’s a perfectly cromulent word.
Chris T.
This might be a big self-own as central-valley CA is major Republican territory.
(Well, it won’t hurt Trump himself any, since CA will vote D statewide, but it could hurt, e.g., Nunes.)
JWR
@Baud: Unlevered, yes, but under-leverd? (And I ask as one who’s most definitely not someone who understands such things.)
MagdaInBlack
@JWR: My personal favorite was when trump said he talked to some people about Judge Coney-Barret . Hal stopped the feed and said
“By people, he means The Federalist Society”
Without the commentary, one gets lost in the torrent of words and deflections. It really was a good way of watching, if one felt the need to watch… really cut thru the BS. I’m glad I stumbled upon that format.
rikyrah
@Mary G:
I was amused that these were serious questions ??
rikyrah
@Mary G: ????
Chief Oshkosh
@Mary G: Man, THAT was brutal. And the follow-up tweets are hilarious. You’re from Iowa. There’s two things they grow in your very, very agricultural state: corn and soybeans. To not know what every farmer knows every single day, to the penny, is…not good. And all of her aggressions just make her look even worse.
The hilarious thing is, she’s not even good at being a shitty Republican Senator. All she needed to say with a chuckle was “well you know, Jim, I was raised on a pig farm, so I never really got into the habit of following daily corn and soybean break-evens. But my policies about ….blah blah blah.”
Nope, couldn’t even do that. What a fucking moron. C’mon Iowans, how much clearer can it be? She’s a fucking zero and she does NOT care about YOU.
Chief Oshkosh
@rikyrah: Well, it is sort of funny, especially if you’re not used to the terms bandied about. As one commentator posited “I can’t believe you guys still measure in bushels.” To which my inner voice immediately replied “Well duh. What else would you use?”. But being born and raised in an ag state, and now living in another one, I can tell you that the daily farm report is dead serious business. Entire communities’ livelihoods depend on a few numbers going up or down a few pennies. It’s even worse in Iowa, where there’s really only two crops: corn and soybeans — which is exactly why the moderator asked those two questions.
marklar
@JWR: Underlevered? He’s obviously fulcrum of it!
burnspbesq
@JWR:
Being underleveraged is anathema to real estate developers (which Trump once was), because if they finance their hijinks with debt, the gubmint effectively subsidizes somewhere around 30 percent (depending on the interaction of several Internal Revenue Code provisions) of their cost of capital through the deduction for interest expense.
Ken
Something that causes incontinence, according to that unnamed Trump campaign adviser in the Daily Beast.
I feel that line needs more amplification, but will settle for Mr. Rogers vs. Crazy Uncle.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Sebastian: That’s true. It’s part of the news on the hour.
evodevo
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Cattle and pig prices, too…
SFAW
@trollhattan:
Outstanding.
SFAW
@JWR:
He thinks he’s Ken Fucking Lay — “look at how smart I am and how stupid YOU are, you stoopid newsperson” — when he’s more like the
VillageCountrywide Idiot.trnc
@JWR:
I’m glad she didn’t correct him. That would let me claim he just misspoke one time. Corrections are a lifeline for him, so it’s time for journalists to just let him keep saying the wrong word. Not only does it show he doesn’t really know what he’s talking about for things he’s supposed to be an expert on, they make him look as “sleepy” as he claims his opponent is.
MagdaInBlack
@Chief Oshkosh: Thank You. Farmers are their constituents. they should know the economics. It’s no different than asking a candidate the price of a gallon of milk
germy
Anyone remember the woman in the audience described as a “Democrat who voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016” and then she gushes at Trump “You have a beautiful smile! You’re so handsome!”
Gimme a break. This was a Republican who decided to misrepresent herself.
I noticed at Biden’s townhall, even the republican voters had smart questions and comments. Did ABC do a better job of screening the audience than NBC?
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Chris T.: The parts that burned are red counties.
And let us take a moment to morn what a disaster this year has been for the Mendocino pot harvest.
bluefoot
@JWR: He’s a goddamned sociopath. Hundreds of millions of dollars of damage, people homeless, the state is running out of resources to fight the fires (many on Federal lands!), businesses ruined and he just says “Nope.”
I remember back in early March, my brother told me Trump was going to deny ventilators and aid to blue states (esp NY). I was horrified – I told my brother then that no one is that much of a sociopath to inflict that level of suffering for the sake of hurt feefees (Cuomo was mean to me!!). Especially not someone who holds elected office and has a responsibility to the nation. My brother, who frequents conservative message boards and is way smarter than I, basically said, Wanna bet? And then said it was no different than kids in cages…which is true. A short time later as bodies were piling up in hospital corridors and refrigerator trucks being set up, there we were.
StringOnAStick
@germy: Ugh, some woman announced to the world that this obese, poorly tailored, one can of hairspray per day, shambling POS is handsome? She’s seen way too many “last call, this is what choices are left” moments. The guy is absolutely repulsive physically, and that’s before he opens that sphincter-mouth.
Ruckus
@StringOnAStick:
There is no accounting for how some humans view the world. At least she’s rapidly losing competition for his utter lack of humanity.
Boris Rasputin (the evil twin)
@JWR: No bottom, just a tunnel to Moscow, with side branches to Deutsche Bank and China.
Morzer
@germy: Calling Trump handsome really is putting lipstick on a pig.