Sunday, October 27, 2024

Racism and stupidity is Trump and Vance's closing argument to America

It was not a good day to be Miss Sassy JD Vance.  He appeared on CNN's STATE OF THE UNION and thought Jake Tapper would just look the other way as Sassy trashed American generals..



TAPPER: Senator Vance, good to see you. Thank you so much.

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you.

TAPPER: So, let me ask, you.

Obviously, Trump former Chief of Staff General John Kelly...

VANCE: Sure.

TAPPER: ... was alarmed, he says, by what he heard when Trump said he wanted to use the National Guard or the Pentagon to go after the enemy within, Americans with whom he disagrees, including the Pelosis, Adam Schiff.

And then he gave an interview. He said that Trump -- quote -- "certainly falls into the general definition of fascist," that he is -- quote -- "certainly an authoritarian, admires people who are dictators."

You've called him a disgruntled former employee, but why shouldn't Americans out there listen to somebody who worked closely with Trump, worked with him longer than you've worked with him, retired four-star Marine general, served his country honorably, who is conservative, who says he agrees with Trump on most policies, but is worried about this aspect of Trump?

VANCE: So, I will say two things in response.

So, first of all, a lot of what John Kelly, pretty much all of what John Kelly accuses Donald Trump of saying, there were other people in the room, Mike Pence's former chief of staff, for example, who've explicitly said Donald Trump never said those things, right?

So, one...

TAPPER: Mike Pence, a guy who is not going to support Trump because...

VANCE: Mike Pence -- Mike Pence's former chief of staff said that Donald Trump didn't say those things, right? So that's number one.

Number two, I actually think there's a -- there's an interesting conversation here to have, Jake, which is, why does John Kelly not support Donald Trump? It's about policy. It's not about personality.

TAPPER: No, he says he agrees with Trump on most policy.

VANCE: No.

TAPPER: He agrees with Trump on most policy.

VANCE: The fundamental..

TAPPER: He disagrees with Trump on how Trump views his role and his -- and the fascism and the authoritarianism.

VANCE: I don't -- I don't buy that. Jake. I don't buy that, because if you actually look at John Kelly, at folks like Liz Cheney, the fundamental disagreement they have with Donald Trump is, even though they say that they're conservative, they're conservative in the sense that they want America to get involved in a ton of ridiculous military conflicts.

They want America to police the world and Donald Trump wasn't.

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: John Kelly lost a son in Afghanistan. Why are you saying that -- he -- like, I've never heard John Kelly say whether he supports Iran or Afghanistan.

VANCE: His -- and I -- and I honor his son's sacrifice and I honor his family sacrifice. That doesn't mean he is not wrong about policy.

Do people -- do people who have...

TAPPER: But what specifically are you talking about? What has he said that...

VANCE: Is your argument that a person who lost his son in Afghanistan can't be wrong about public policy?

TAPPER: I'm asking you -- no.

VANCE: Then why bring that up? Let's talk about public policy...

TAPPER: Because you were asked...

VANCE: Because I've never criticized his service or his son's service.

TAPPER: I brought it up because you're acting as if he is pro-war, and I've never heard him say whether or not he supported the war in Afghanistan or the war in Iraq. He was a general carrying out orders.

VANCE: Because I know John Kelly's world view. And I know the people who have attacked Donald Trump the most vociferously on foreign policy will say, well, he's a dictator, when what they really mean is, they won't listen.

[09:05:05]

He -- Donald Trump wouldn't listen to the leadership of the military when they wanted him to start ridiculous conflicts. That is a consistent theme.

And I think that there's a big, big thing going on in American politics. It's a very interesting theme in American foreign policy, where a lot of former members of the Pentagon bureaucracy, a lot of old neoconservatives, they have a fundamental difference with Donald Trump on the question of peace and war.

I believe Donald Trump is the candidate of peace. I think the record supports that. But the reason these guys go after him so vociferously, I don't think that it's about his personality, Jake. I think that it's about, they don't like that Donald Trump said no when a lot of them wanted to start a ridiculous war.

TAPPER: Well, you're -- you're ascribing world views, I think, based on gut, I can't really tell where you're coming from on it. There's no evidence...

VANCE: It's based on people that I've talked to in the Trump administration.

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: Sure. John Bolton...

(CROSSTALK)

VANCE: . I'm talking about what John Kelly wanted to do, John Bolton, Liz Cheney. These people have a consistent world view.

TAPPER: John Kelly was at the Department of Homeland Security. And then he was chief of staff. He was not weighing in. I don't even know what you're talking about.

But let me ask you something about John Kelly specifically, because you said the other day -- quote -- "I guarantee John Kelly talked to somebody on Kamala Harris's campaign beforehand," before he did this interview.

Now, I've spoken with people in John Kelly's circle and I've spoken with people in the Kamala Harris campaign. They say there's been no communication the entire time. So where did that come from?

VANCE: Oh, I'm highly skeptical of that, Jake. You know the way that these attacks work. You know the way that these people are often vetted by a campaign before something goes out there. 


TAPPER: So you made it up?


VANCE: No, I said that the American media and the American Democratic Party apparatus works a certain way. If it comes out that John Kelly never even spoke with a person in the Kamala Harris, then I'm happy...

TAPPER: I'm telling you that.

VANCE: You're telling me that based on secondhand conversations with John Kelly.

And it's interesting. We've now spent Jake three minutes, Jake, talking about John Kelly. If it is true that he never spoke with anyone in Kamala Harris' orbit, I'm happy to apologize to John Kelly for misstating how he delivered this news to "The "Atlantic" magazine.

But let's talk about who -- who did he deliver this news to? To Jeffrey Goldberg, a guy who lied the United States into the Iraq war, which led to the deaths of millions of innocent Arabs and thousands of innocent Americans.

You don't go to that guy if you don't have a particular ideological motive. I think that's what's going on. If I'm wrong, I'm happy to say that I'm wrong.

TAPPER: I think it's interesting that you think that a magazine writer lied the American people into war.

VANCE: Well, he encouraged it. He wrote stories that we're dishonest.

TAPPER: He wrote a story about the gassing of the Kurds in the -- in -- I forget if it was "The Atlantic" or the "New Yorker."

But I'm actually referring to John Kelly talking to "The New York Times."

VANCE: He -- he wrote stories, by the way, where he took what intelligence officials in the American Pentagon bureaucracy said and wrote it as the gospel truth.

And this highlights, the entire point that I'm making about Trump's foreign policy is, this is a guy who wants to use American troops sparingly. He wants peace through strength. It's why his foreign policy was so successful during his first term.

It's all the same people who were wrong about Iraq. They were wrong about the quagmire in Afghanistan. They were wrong about Syria. They were wrong about everything. And now they're coming after Donald Trump, because he actually has a realistic and cautious foreign policy.

TAPPER: I'm talking about people who worked for Donald Trump in his first administration.

VANCE: Sure. 


TAPPER: That's what I'm talking about. I'm talking about not just John Kelly, but Mark Milley, who was the Trump-appointed chairman of his Joint -- of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

VANCE: Who disobeyed Trump's direct orders on troop deployments in Syria.

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: I'm talking about the guy that -- that had your job.

VANCE: A massive, a massive, massive violation of his constitutional oath, by the way.

TAPPER: I'm talking about the guy that had your job before Donald Trump's supportive crowd wanted to hang him, Vice President Mike Pence, who said, as you know, that Trump put himself before the Constitution.

I'm talking about General Mattis, also secretary of defense in Trump's administration. I'm talking about Mark Esper, the secretary of defense, who told me that Trump does have fascistic tendencies, John Bolton, H.R. McMaster, Alyssa Farah Griffin.

VANCE: Every single one -- OK, OK, Jake -- are you going to listen to every...

TAPPER: These are Trump administration officials.

VANCE: ... Trump administration official?

Do you know one reason why Kamala Harris doesn't have as many people criticizing her, is because she doesn't fire people who fail. That's why we haven't had a real audit of the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal is because Kamala Harris protects failures in government. Donald Trump fires them. And I would much rather have the president who fires people who screw up.

Now, Jake, no, no, no, this is an important point.

TAPPER: He did not fire Mike Pence. He did not fire Mike Pence. He did not fire Mark Milley.

VANCE: Kamala Harris is the present....


It never got better for JD Vance -- or whatever he's calling himself this year.  You think he'll change his name again when he tries to run for president in 2028?  


He'll need to put a lot of mileage between himself and Trump.  The latter held his Madison Square Garden rally which was most notable for 'comedian' Tony Hinchcliffe's racist tirade -- one that I've already spoken to two friends at UTA about.  That wasn't comedy.  Clayton Davis (VARIETY) reports:


When comedian Tony Hinchcliffe took the stage at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sunday for a MAGA rally in support of Donald Trump‘s presidential campaign, he didn’t just cross a line — he fully erased it. What he called “humor” was a continuous stream of racist insults and dangerous conspiracy theories, from stereotypes about Latinos making multiple babies, to the “great replacement theory,” the ideology behind violent hate crimes committed by white men against communities of color. This isn’t a joke. It’s a weapon, and I’m fucking tired of being the target, and so are the rest of my people.

  Growing up as a Puerto Rican and Black American, I was aware early on that I stood out among many of my classmates and neighbors. I’ve learned to take pride in my roots, believing that America was a place where everyone, despite their differences, belonged. But that notion has shifted sharply as I grew older and witnessed the rise of Trump and the MAGA movement, which cast people who look like me as the villains in a story we’d never written. This shift has forced me, and countless other Latinos, to confront a painful reality: in today’s America, we’ve become the scapegoats in a narrative of fear, blamed and vilified to suit a political agenda.

[. . .]


 This wasn’t “jokes.” It was hostility veiled as comedy, delivered with the arrogance of someone who doesn’t understand — or care — how these words impact real lives.These words don’t only hurt Latinos; they ripple through every marginalized community. When one group is vilified, it sets a precedent that any group can be targeted. The anti-immigrant sentiment championed by Trump and echoed by his followers delivers the message loud and clear: when people show you who they are, believe them.

  Today, it’s Puerto Ricans. Tomorrow, it will be Mexicans again. A few weeks ago, it was Haitians eating dogs and cats. America’s strength, at least the version of America i thought I knew, has always come from the diversity of its people. We are allowing hate disguised as comedy, or hate straight up, to take the reins. I’m begging for us to reject it.

And here’s a stark reminder for you, Tony: Over 4,000 Puerto Ricans died in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria due to the failed response under the Trump administration. That wasn’t a punchline. It was negligence that morphed into a tragedy. Your so-called “comedy” does not absolve you from the harm caused by your message tonight that you normalize and perpetuate. It will be played on loop in every MAGA party (I’m sure you’ll be attending), and we don’t expect you to apologize. You never do.  


Jill Clovin and Michelle L. Price (AP) note:

 

But other speakers also made incendiary comments. Trump’s childhood friend David Rem referred to Harris as “the Antichrist” and “the devil.” Businessman Grant Cardone told the crowd that Harris ”and her pimp handlers will destroy our country.”

The marquee event reflected the former president’s tone throughout his third White House campaign. Though he refrained from doing so Sunday, Trump often tears into Harris in offensive and personal terms himself, questioning in recent weeks her mental stability and her intelligence as well as calling her “lazy,” long a racist trope used against Black people. 


The attacks -- not jokes -- on Puerto Ricans.  Charlotte Phillipp (PEOPLE) notes:

 Soon after Hinchcliffe’s comments began to make the rounds online, Puerto Rican musician Bad Bunny endorsed Kamala Harris by posting a video of her plan for Puerto Rico on his Instagram Stories, and then editing the video to cut to Harris saying: "I will never forget what Donald Trump did."

Singer Ricky Martin, who is also Puerto Rican, shared a clip of Hinchcliffe's jokes on his Instagram Stories and wrote in Spanish: "This is what they think of us." 


 





All Donald and his suck up sycophants have is hatred.  That's why he's left with no names -- like 'comedian Tony -- and has beens.  This was his big event and all it made clear was how awful Trump is and how weak his support is.  There was Dr Phil whose show ended over a year ago and is now trying to self-publish his bad videos.  There was Hulk Hogan who was a minor celebrity in the 80s, Lee Greenwood who last had a hit single in 2001 and, before that, 1991, Russian paid asset Tucker Carlson who can't get on network TV and those were the 'big' names.  


  

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