As a multi-millionaire I love to pay $250,000 for a plate of chicken at some other asshole's summer house while listening to a lumpy old bigot tell his stories about "the orientals." I love watching him blink rapidly and do voices. pic.twitter.com/dKevt2OyWg
— David Roth (@david_j_roth) August 10, 2019
There’s an old British joke about advertising understatement: Does what it says on the packet:
President Trump cracked jokes about the Equinox scandal, the old days of rent-controlled New York and his dealings with North and South Korea among deep-pocketed pals in the Hamptons on Friday.
Trump was feted at two big-money fundraisers — first a lunch for 60 hosted by real estate guru Stephen Ross, whose company owns Equinox and Soul Cycle. Then Trump talked for an hour to a crowd of 500 at the sprawling Bridgehampton home of developer Joe Farrell. The two events raised a total of $12 million.
After Equinox members revolted over Ross’ fundraising for the president, with many threatening to cancel memberships, Trump said he had joked with Ross about how divided the nation is.
Noting the relentless attacks on himself by the media, Trump quipped, “Steve Ross got into a little bit of trouble this week, I said, ‘Steve welcome to the world of politics!’ ”
Of his fundraising visit, Trump went on to say, “I love coming to the Hamptons, I know the Hamptons well, everyone here votes for me but they won’t admit it.”
And of his tough stance on trade tariffs and US military aid, Trump told a story of going as a boy to collect rent checks with his father, adding, “It was easier to get a billion dollars from South Korea than to get $114.13 from a rent-controlled apartment in Brooklyn, and believe me, those 13 cents were very important.”…
Even while the Squatter-in-Chief’s minions are frantically trying to repair the damage to his ‘brand’ — Look, his old man actually marched with the KKK, give our guy some credit here! — Pus-olini* can’t resist a little dominance posturing. Steve Ross is actually losing business since it leaked that he was sponsoring this fundraiser (as Josh Barro points out in NYMag, it’s dangerous to *his* brand), but Trump has to proclaim himself Top Ape among the financial silverbacks, for the first and probably last time in his long history of failures and bankruptcies…
Also, remember these are our *allies* he’s mocking. But remember five years ago this month, Obama wore that tan suit, so you know fine people on both sides, etc…. https://t.co/qwXEm7YxXx
— Garrett M. Graff (@vermontgmg) August 11, 2019
If only they’d written a “very beautiful letter” to His Toxicity:
"A very beautiful extortion demand, to which I on behalf of the United States have yielded." https://t.co/DPjERN8gBV
— David Frum (@davidfrum) August 10, 2019
*thank you, Betty Cracker!
Mary G
I don’t have enough words.
Just happy to see big crowds in Iowa for Warren and Harris. There must be a few Republicans sick of this bullshit as they lose their farms.
NotMax
Find it somehow immensely satisfying that haven’t the foggiest what either Equinox or SoulCycle are.
And have no wish to find out.
Another Scott
TheHill:
Hmmm….
Does one dare suppose that Maggie or Baquet will ask McConnell or McCarthy or Donnie about that??
“… make him deny it!” – LBJ.
Cheers,
Scott.
dmsilev
@NotMax: SoulCycle, as far as I can tell, is the fitness version of a grifting cult or megachurch.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Another Scott:
Speaking of the 2020 election, laugh at this stupid column from a local “veteran” newspaperman who predicts Trump will win my county next year:
LOL! Yes, what the Democratic Party needs is our version of a loudmouth billionaire. Not. Sorry Bertram, but I don’t think the Dem base is interested in nominating a billionaire, no matter how legitimately they made their money.
And yes, Trump’s outsider status had a little bit to do with his victory, but his racist authoritarianism was what propelled him to win the nomination and then the EC, along with Russian interference and voter suppression.
Jay
debbie
I am convinced Trump secretly dreams of being Dennis Rodman.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Jay:
Yup. “Not enough room. Think of the 20,000 American (read WASPs) children who will be displaced!”
I hope the asshole regretted that decision for the rest of his miserable life after the death camps were exposed
gene108
@dmsilev:
Just that it was an NYC spin class place. Didn’t realize it was such big business
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@dmsilev:
@gene108:
Apparently the people who used to be in charge of SoulCycle were big supporters of Hillary Clinton 10 or so years ago. Obviously, they’re no longer in the picture.
gene108
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
Trump’s already stripped away any veneer of successful business man, for any non-MAGAt, during his Presidency.
When will the media realize he’s historically unpopular, even with 3% unemployment. He’s not strong.
NotMax
Doin’ the math.
$250,000 a pop? $12 million announced as raised. So, 48 people out of 560 reported in total.
SFAW
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
The Liar-in-Chief is probably not even worth 10 Billion pennies, never mind that he ain’t worth $10 B.
I will be so happy when that disgusting motherfucker leaves. I wonder if Pence is feeding him extra cheeseberders, to help things along?
Ruckus
@SFAW:
He for sure isn’t worth 10 billion. I know that the first rule of rich investing is never risk your own money, so trump is sure to have not known that. And he’s failed so often and only one branch of Deutsche Bank would loan him money, that it should be obvious to most anyone that trump is worth squat. And I’m talking money. As a human he’s not worth what is left after a squat.
jl
@NotMax: First I heard Equinox, I thought it must be some hedge or investment fund. But, looks like is a high priced gym where you might bump into celebrity clientele.
The photo I saw was a turn off. Trump style gold name, looks like something a sketchy hedge fund would put at its entrance. I mean, does it even smell like a gym? I doubt it.
Omnes Omnibus
@jl:
And this right here is where you lost the plot.
jl
@Omnes Omnibus: OK, sorry, Ross is bad, Steyer is a jackass. Happy now?
And, serious question, I heard a news blurb that Bloomberg expressed ‘concern’ about Warren. Did he make some stupid threat about a lefty Democrats better not get the nom or he’d do something about it?
Jay
Jay
Sally
@SFAW: I read an article in the Financial Times maybe a decade or so ago that Brokohontas was worth some tens of millions of dollars, perhaps about thirty million. In like, actual, money.
Mike G
@Mary G:
There must be a few Republicans sick of this bullshit as they lose their farms.
And as soon as a Dem improves the farm economy again, they’ll eagerly go back to voting for the next bigoted Repuke vandal.
Suzanne
I do think that this was a bit of a missed opportunity. We didn’t really have solid messaging or a dumb nickname about Trump being a shady con artist. Nothing makes people feel bed like being taken for a ride, and I feel like we could have been more effective emphasizing how shady he is. Spell out his M.O., point out the signs, and then again when what we said would happen really happened. Shady Don.
PJ
@jl: @gene108: Soul Cycle and Equinox are located throughout the country (mostly larger cities). They are overpriced, but not exclusive – you probably won’t meet any celebrities in your class.
Fitness has been a cult in the US for a long time, appealing to our notions that working (out) hard is in itself virtuous, and will also lead to material (physical) success. I’ve never been to either a Soul Cycle or Equinox gym, but I’ve never heard people proselytize about them they way they do about Cross Fit or yoga.
patrick II
@Jay:
Trump would have to arrest himself.
Ninedragonspot
A sign from today’s protest at the HK airport which pretty much sums up my mood:
Everything about this is so awful and ugly that I have no idea where even to start.
Ace penmanship, too.
Captain C
@Suzanne:
Call him Deadbeat Donnie, point out that he bankrupted several cas!!nos (back when a cas!!no license was a license to print money), and that he ran an entire football league into the ground; anyone who can’t make money in America off of gambl!ng and football is obviously a
shittyterrible businessman.(Hopefully FYWP will not find the taboo words)
Edited to remove a redundancy.
Sebastian
So I am wondering when is anyone going to take responsibility for anything?
I mean Epstein’s suicide is a MAJOR blunder and failure. This is where, in other countries and here in other times, the AG resigns and POTUS faces an onslaught of inquiries.
Does the buck stop somewhere in this country?
Patricia Kayden
Trump is pretty savvy. He started his presidential campaign with racism and made various racist comments during his presidency to the point where his racist mimicking of Asian accents is a nothing burger. By the time he says the N word during a press conference, we’ll all shrug and say, “That’s our Trump”.
Millard Filmore
@Sebastian:
This is what comes from drowning the government in a bathtub.
“APNewsBreak: Epstein’s guards were working extreme OT shifts”
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142353578
SFAW
@Patricia Kayden:
Either that, or “Let
MannyTrump beMannyTrump!” as MAGAt Habs shakes her head ever-so-slightly, and Susan Collins considers asking someone to write a strongly-worded letter expressing her “disappointment,” but which she ultimately refuses to send because Traitor Turtle promised, no backsies, that he’d consider bringing to the Senate floor a resolution possibly expressing a tiny bit of concern, folded in with a bill cutting income and cap gains taxes to zero for wealthy Republican donors.Ken
@Another Scott:
Ah, well, there’s his first mistake.