Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We still have time to mess this up!

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

This really is a full service blog.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

The willow is too close to the house.

Infrastructure week. at last.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

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

Let there be snark.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / Late Night Schadenfreude Open Thread: The Mad King Spiraling Down

Late Night Schadenfreude Open Thread: The Mad King Spiraling Down

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George Stephanopoulos is not exactly known for being a tough interview, but sometimes even a confirmed softball thrower gets startled enough to protest:


‘TP USA’ cofounder/grubling:

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93Comments

  2. 2.

    Roger Moore

    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.

    Everything Trump touches dies.

  7. 7.

    Chetan Murthy

    @rk:

    Why can’t this jackass die already.

    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.

  9. 9.

    Fair Economist

    Man, consider what it takes to get Stephanopoulos to fact-check a Republican! Trump is surpassingly awful.

  10. 10.

    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.

  12. 12.

    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.

  13. 13.

    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?”

  14. 14.

    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.

  15. 15.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    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.

    His supports in the room would cheer him for it too.

  17. 17.

    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.

  20. 20.

    Jinchi

    Did you see where Joe Biden — as Weak, Tired, and Sleepy as he is, went to a Polling Place today in Delaware (of course!) to VOTE!? If Biden can do it, any American can do it!

    Tweeted by a man who votes by mail.

  22. 22.

    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.

  23. 23.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @RaflW: It was back in April, Trump was like stunned for two weeks.

    https://apnews.com/0c2c29c8b09addce9869e8792734e33d

    President Donald Trump speaks during a coronavirus task force briefing at the White House, Friday, April 10, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

    WASHINGTON (AP) — A friend and donor to President Donald Trump who the president had said was in a coma and seriously ill after becoming infected with the coronavirus has died.
    Stanley I. Chera’s death Saturday was reported by The Real Deal, which covers the New York real estate industry. The publication cited unidentified sources who have worked with Crown Acquisitions, the firm Chera founded and ran. Chera was in his late 70s.
    A White House official on Sunday confirmed Chera’s identity and ties to the president. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to share details about Trump’s personal friendships.

  24. 24.

    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!

  25. 25.

    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.

  27. 27.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Amir Khalid: 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.

    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.

  28. 28.

    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.

  31. 31.

    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.

  33. 33.

    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.

  34. 34.

    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.

  36. 36.

    Ruckus

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    You would think that both his best friend and his brother dying from this shit would get this concept threw to this idiot.

    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.

  39. 39.

    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.

  40. 40.

    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.

  42. 42.

    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.

  44. 44.

    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.

  45. 45.

    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.

  47. 47.

    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

  48. 48.

    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.”

  49. 49.

    Redshift

    @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. 

    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.

  50. 50.

    Brachiator

    @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.

    Wow. As Ross Perot might have said back in the day, “Now that’s just sad!”

  51. 51.

    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?

  52. 52.

    mrmoshpotato

    I want to commend @GStephanopoulos for not breaking out in laughter.

    Haha!  This Soviet shitpile mobster conman is a mass murderer on a genocidal scale!  Hahaha!

    Go fuck yourself, Jen.

  53. 53.

    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!”

  54. 54.

    Brachiator

    @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.

    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.

    The entire press/media world wants a tighter race and if they let things continue as they are that is never going to happen.

    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.

  55. 55.

    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.

  56. 56.

    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?

  57. 57.

    TS (the original)

    @Heywood J.:

    for any journo with the courage to do the right thing.

    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.

  58. 58.

    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.

  59. 59.

    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:

    NEW YORK (AP) — A series of Facebook video ads for President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign shows what appears to be a young woman strolling on a beach in Florida, a Hispanic man on a city street in Texas and a bearded hipster in a coffee shop in Washington, D.C., all making glowing, voice-over endorsements of the president.

    “I could not ask for a better president,” intones the voice during slow-motion footage of the smiling blonde called “Tracey from Florida.” A man labeled on another video as “AJ from Texas” stares into the camera as a voice says, “Although I am a lifelong Democrat, I sincerely believe that a nation must secure its borders.”
    There’s just one problem: The people in the videos that ran in the past few months are all actually models in stock video footage produced far from the U.S. in France, Brazil and Turkey, and available to anyone online for a fee.

    Though the 20-second videos include tiny disclaimers that say “actual testimonial, actor portrayal,” they raise the question why a campaign that can fill arenas with supporters would have to buy stock footage of models. It’s a practice that, under different circumstances, Trump himself would likely blast as “fake news.”

    Trump campaign officials declined repeated requests for comment on Tuesday. Political experts say that, while it’s not unusual for stock footage to find its way into ads, a presidential campaign should have been more careful.

    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.

  61. 61.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Plenty of grifting Charlies Kirk to fill the void.

    Mothers-in-law.
    Attorneys General.
    Teaspoonful.
    Charlies Kirk.

  62. 62.

    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.

  64. 64.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    Trump: “I’ll tell you who those people are – waiters. They come over to serve you and they’re playing with their masks”.

    From August 2017

    Trump told [Generals regarding Afghanistan] that the restaurant, Manhattan’s elite ’21’ Club, had shut its doors for a year and hired an expensive consultant to craft a plan for a renovation. After a year, Trump said, the consultant’s only suggestion was that the restaurant needed a bigger kitchen.

    Officials said Trump kept stressing the idea that lousy advice cost the owner a year of lost business and that talking to the restaurant’s waiters instead might have yielded a better result.

    Whenever Dump makes up a story it involves an imaginary friend “Jim” or a waiter.

  65. 65.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    @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.

     

    When Carter secured a truly stunning peace accord btwn Israel and Egypt his approval ratings went down.  The plebs don’t care.

  66. 66.

    otmar

    Meanwhile, over here were are all laughing about Trump’s “exploding trees” and “forest cities” in Austria comments.

  67. 67.

    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.

  72. 72.

    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.

  73. 73.

    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.

  74. 74.

    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”

  75. 75.

    trnc

    @RaflW:

    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!

    Who thinks debate prep would help him? He has to get intelligence briefings in cartoon form and he still doesn’t understand them.

  76. 76.

    trnc

    @mrmoshpotato:

    I want to commend @GStephanopoulos for not breaking out in laughter.

     

    Haha!  This Soviet shitpile mobster conman is a mass murderer on a genocidal scale!  Hahaha!

    Go fuck yourself, Jen.

    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.

  77. 77.

    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.

  78. 78.

    germy

    She should moderate the debates:

    A Black woman shut Donald Trump down when he tried to interrupt her on live TV and I’m HERE for it.

    Dr. Ellesia Blaque: “Should pre-existing conditions, which Obamacare brought to fruition, be removed—”

    TRUMP: “No!”

    Blaque: “Please stop and let me finish my question sir.” pic.twitter.com/3oe7AxiO1e

    — Ashton Pittman (@ashtonpittman) September 16, 2020

  82. 82.

    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?”

  87. 87.

    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.

  88. 88.

    jonas

    @germy:   Many of his fans probably agree.

    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?”

  89. 89.

    jonas

    @trnc:  Who thinks debate prep would help him? He has to get intelligence briefings in cartoon form and he still doesn’t understand them.

    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?

  91. 91.

    J R in WV

    @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.

    Make them deny it if that isn’t the case!

    Same with fucking pigs chickens!! Make him deny it!

  92. 92.

    J R in WV

    @germy:

    Laura Ingraham made sure to remind her viewers that George Stephanopoulos is a former Clinton staffer.

    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 !!!

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