Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

After roe, women are no longer free.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

The words do not have to be perfect.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

This really is a full service blog.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / {Facepalm} Open Thread: Still Racist, After All These Years

{Facepalm} Open Thread: Still Racist, After All These Years

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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…

If only they’d written a “very beautiful letter” to His Toxicity:

*thank you, Betty Cracker!

Reader Interactions

31Comments

  1. 1.

    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.

  2. 2.

    NotMax

    Find it somehow immensely satisfying that haven’t the foggiest what either Equinox or SoulCycle are.

    And have no wish to find out.

  3. 3.

    Another Scott

    TheHill:

    Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci told Axios on Sunday that Republicans may need to find a candidate to replace President Trump in 2020.

    “We are now in the early episodes of ‘Chernobyl’ on HBO, where the reactor is melting down and the apparatchiks are trying to figure out whether to cover it up or start the clean-up process,” Scaramucci, who was ousted from his job after 11 days, told the outlet.

    “A couple more weeks like this and ‘country over party’ is going to require the Republicans to replace the top of the ticket in 2020,” he said.

    […]

    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.

  5. 5.

    ??? 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:

    When self-made billionaire Michael Bloomberg of New York decided not to run for president in 2020, you could hear a sigh of relief emanating from the White House.

    After all, Bloomberg has been the bane of President Donald Trump’s existence even before the self-proclaimed billionaire from New York ran as a Republican in the 2016 election.

    Indeed, it was then that Trump realized he couldn’t intimidate Bloomberg, who is legitimately worth $53 billion – five times more than Trump, who became a global real-estate developer as a result of major financial assistance from his father.

    During the Democratic National Convention, Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, had this to say about the GOP presidential nominee:

    “Trump says he wants to run the nation like he’s run his business. God help us. I’m a New Yorker, and I know a con when I see one.”

    Bloomberg also issued a searing indictment of Trump’s business practices.

    “Trump says he’ll punish manufacturers that move to Mexico or China, but the clothes he sells are made overseas in low-wage factories. He says he wants to put Americans back to work, but he games the U.S. visa system so he can hire temporary foreign workers at low wages. He says he wants to deport 11 million undocumented people, but he seems to have no problem in hiring them. What’d I miss here?

    “Truth be told, the richest thing about Donald Trump is his hypocrisy.”

    This writer firmly believes that the only way Democrats are going to defeat the president in his re-election bid next year is to find a candidate who can strip away the veneer of Trump’s self-proclaimed success as a real-estate developer and businessman.

    There are close to two dozen candidates vying for the Democratic nomination, including a handful who are entrenched politically, but they’ve been limited in their ability to go after Trump’s business practices because they aren’t in his league.

    It should be recalled that the real-estate developer won the Republican nomination and ultimately the presidency by telling the American people that he wasn’t a politician and was running on his success as a businessman. The Trump brand is known worldwide.

    A sufficient number of voters bought what he was selling, and he won the electoral collee vote while losing the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton.

    While the Democratic hopefuls, including Mahoning Valley Congressman Tim Ryan of Howland, have been pounding away at Trump’s record in office, they have largely steered clear of attacking his con artistry – as billionaire Bloomberg characterized it.

    Until now.

    Last month, another legitimate billionaire threw his hat in the Democratic ring and suddenly the 2020 presidential race has taken an interesting turn.

    Tom Steyer, financier, environmentalist and philanthropist from California, launched his campaign with a television commercial that went for Trump’s jugular.

    “Donald Trump failed as a businessman. He borrowed billions, and left a trail of bankruptcy and broken promises. He hasn’t changed. I started a tiny investment business and grew it successfully over years to $236 billion. I’m Tom Steyer, and I approve this message.

    “I’m running for president because unlike other candidates, I can go head to head with Donald Trump on the economy and expose him for what he is – a fraud and a failure.”

    But here’s the pledge from Steyer that will keep the Trump campaign up at night: The billionaire activist will write a $100 million check to his own campaign.

    He already has national name recognition because he is leading the effort for Trump’s impeachment based on the findings of the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into Russia’s involvement in the 2016 race.

    “Why am I different?” Steyer asked rhetorically when he announced his candidacy. “I am not an insider. Look at the top four Democratic candidates. They have between them 70 years in Congress. That is the definition of insider. If we are going to change, it will be a different way. It must be from the grass roots.”

    There’s another major difference between billionaire Steyer and billionaire Trump (who continues to fight any effort to make public his tax returns, as other presidents have done): Like the uber wealthy Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, Steyer and his wife are donating much of their fortune to charity.

    If Steyer is able to qualify for the Democratic debates in the fall, he will add a dimension to the race that is sorely lacking: Being Trump’s worst nightmare.

    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.

  6. 6.

    Jay

    I just visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, and saw this 1939 letter from Senator Robert Taft on why he was voting against admitting Jewish refugees to the US. Please read it and think about how little has changed. pic.twitter.com/KU1PudPHi0— Tom Malinowski (@Malinowski) August 6, 2019

  8. 8.

    ??? 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

  10. 10.

    ??? 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.

  11. 11.

    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.

  12. 12.

    NotMax

    Doin’ the math.

    $250,000 a pop? $12 million announced as raised. So, 48 people out of 560 reported in total.

  13. 13.

    SFAW

    @??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:

    Bloomberg, who is legitimately worth $53 billion – five times more than Trump

    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?

  14. 14.

    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.

  15. 15.

    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.

  17. 17.

    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?

  19. 19.

    Jay

    Key fact from Giffords Center"Women in the U.S. are 21 times more likely to be killed with a gun than women in other high-income countries."— David Frum (@davidfrum) August 9, 2019

  20. 20.

    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.

  21. 21.

    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.

  22. 22.

    Suzanne

    While the Democratic hopefuls, including Mahoning Valley Congressman Tim Ryan of Howland, have been pounding away at Trump’s record in office, they have largely steered clear of attacking his con artistry – as billionaire Bloomberg characterized it.

    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.

  23. 23.

    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.

  25. 25.

    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.

  26. 26.

    Captain C

    @Suzanne:

    We didn’t really have solid messaging or a dumb nickname about Trump being a shady con artist.

    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 shitty terrible businessman.

    (Hopefully FYWP will not find the taboo words)

    Edited to remove a redundancy.

  27. 27.

    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?

  28. 28.

    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”.

  30. 30.

    SFAW

    @Patricia Kayden:

    By the time he says the N word during a press conference, we’ll all shrug and say, “That’s our Trump”.

    Either that, or “Let Manny Trump be Manny Trump!” 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.

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