I'm genuinely surprised. My experience with guys like Trump is they cannot abide subordinates who are conspicuously ambitious. They don't come much more ambitious than Vance, who'd stick a knife in Trump's back at the first opportunity if he saw a benefit.
— R.S. Martin (@RSMwriter) July 15, 2024
JD Vance, who called Trump “America’s Hitler” and a “cynical asshole,” and said that any American would have to be an “idiot” to vote for him, has been selected as Trump’s running mate.
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) July 15, 2024
I suspect this is a two-prong decision: First, there’s nothing a narcissist like TFG enjoys as much as making a former enemy kneel. Second, Vance’s sugar daddy Peter ‘Bathory’ Thiel offered Trump and/or the RNC a boatload of campaign money, which both entities desperately need right now. (Small possible consolation: watching them fight over which team gets how much of Thiel’s bribe.)
We just spent the last two days talking about the need to have politicians lead with civility, and then Trump chooses Vance who built his political career on forging division and fomenting anger. This is the opposite of what our nation needs at this critical moment. https://t.co/BO9ogWlloT
— Andy Kim (@AndyKimNJ) July 15, 2024
Good piece. I'll add, though, that I wonder if picking Vance was part of a deal to get Peter Theil to spend a bunch of money. Because Theil would sure love to have JD Vance in the Oval Office. https://t.co/4Sl0zrYGQU
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) July 15, 2024
Per the Washington Post, “The risk of J.D. Vance” [Gift link]:
During the 2022 election, Republicans nominated unpopular candidates aligned with Donald Trump. As a group, they most likely cost the party a chance to win the U.S. Senate.
One of those candidates will join Trump atop the 2024 Republican presidential ticket…
While Vance won his 2022 campaign, that may owe largely to Ohio’s increasing red lean in the Trump era. In fact, it looked for a time as if Vance might somehow lose even in a state that Trump carried by eight points in 2016 and 2020. Polls of his campaign with then-Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) were tight until the very end.
Vance ultimately won by six points — a margin similar to Trump’s. But crucially, he underperformed every other statewide Republican on the ballot by a large margin. Ohio went strongly for Republicans; it did not go strongly for Vance…
Fox News' Brit Hume on J.D. Vance as the VP pick: "Did [Vance] get it because he was really the best qualified to be president or did he get it because he sucked up effectively to the nominee?" pic.twitter.com/iKev00ZQJX
— The Recount (@therecount) July 15, 2024
JD Vance is 40 yr old who is unqualified to be president if TFG were to die in office. He has one year’s experience as a Senator. Vance served a 4 yr enlistment as a corporal in the Marines from 2003 to 2007 as a combat correspondent, deployed to Iraq for 6 months in late 2005.
— Democracy Defender – GOP Resister (@KSK1955NANA) July 15, 2024
Vance’s college roommate: pic.twitter.com/SsYnmF0GGZ
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) July 15, 2024
Here is the message JD Vance sent to his friend suggesting Donald Trump might be "America's Hitler." pic.twitter.com/8zN1E0vrbJ
— Alex Cole (@acnewsitics) July 15, 2024
National security reporter, Foreign Policy magazine:
Whelp. https://t.co/fhHEUjehzO
— Shadow Of The Nerdtree (@agraybee) July 15, 2024
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
How can this be!? The media had assured me Dump would pivot and pick either a woman or a POC.
wjca
Expect Dark Brandon to flood the media with quotes, entirely accurate quotes, from Vance on Trump. Talk about making life easy for the opposition.
Carolina Dave
Quote both white dudes views and interviews on women’s rights and their bodies 24/7 until election day. It’s Dobbs, it has always been Dobbs that can save America. And women’s rights and overcome the polling gap.
BlueDWarrior
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: No Trump is pivoting – continually pivoting to outwardly expressing the desire that his House be the only locus of power in America. The only way someone on the right-hand side of the political spectrum can express political power is through his explicit blessing.
He merely wishes to extend this courtesy to the entirety of America.
Mike E
It’s really the economical choice: all those Trump/Pence stickers and signs, they only have to change two letters and swap out the 0 for a 4.
SiubhanDuinne
I’m usually at least somewhat interested in the background of high-office candidates, but aside from a kind of visceral revulsion to Vance, I can’t even be arsed to read his Wikipedia entry, let alone his book. Perhaps I’m just tired after a long day. I find myself yawning at the very thought of him.
Gin & Tonic
Trump/Vance is a death sentence for Ukraine. Putin couldn’t have designed a better ticket.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@Gin & Tonic: pretty sure Putin told Dump to put vance on the ticket the same way he told Dump to make his friend Rex Tillerson secretary of state
E
“Might even prove useful” seems like one quote from J. D. Vance about Trump that the right people could make lot of hay out of.
Jackie
Tonight’s “All Star” Speakers:
Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki, with the invocation
RNC Chair Michael Whatley
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., who was seen as under consideration to be Trump’s vice president
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin
South Dakota
Gov. Kristi Noem
Venture capitalist David Sacks
Charlie Kirk, CEO and co-founder of the conservative organization Turning Point USA
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., who chairs the RNC’s platform committee
Amber Rose, a former reality TV star and Trump supporter who had a past relationship with rapper Kanye West
Sean O’Brien, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters
(edited for formatting)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/07/15/republican-national-convention-2024-trump-live-updates/74406238007/
I’ll be watching the MLB Home Run Derby!
cain
@BlueDWarrior: He’ll pivot so much he’s going to perform pirouettes at dervish speed.
West of the Rockies
I dont see how this charmless chump creates any new excitement for Trumpers or brings any new voters to the party.
His addition will only bring further scrutiny to Project 2025.
KenK
This strikes me as a deal between trump and Thiel. IF trump wins, he unwinds legal actions against him, resigns to due “health” reasons, collects a sizable fee from Thiel and Vance ascends to the OO. All three of them get what they want… win-win-win.
or, something like that 😉
Old School
@wjca:
He already has.
Ryan
“JD Vance, who called Trump “America’s Hitler” and a “cynical asshole,” and said that any American would have to be an “idiot” to vote for him, has been selected as Trump’s running mate.”
Projection, confession, we all know the tune by now.
wjca
Interesting that Vance’s wife was a Democrat before they were married.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Gin & Tonic:
This doesn’t get said enough. Trump was a death sentence. The two of them is a double death sentence.
We also need the House and Senate in order to not screw Ukraine.
Ishiyama
Let me unleash my inner 6 year old: Vance Vance Fancy Pants!
wjca
Probably also a death sentence for Trump, should he win. (Vance doesn’t even have to be aware. Vlad’s got people for that.)
sab
I am kind of thrilled that it’s Vance. He is not bland like Pence. You can’t pretend he is just mildly on the wrong track. He is a complete liar, flips on a dime to suck up to the newest opportunity. Just vile.
This will double Trump’s vileness.
I firmly believe Trump will lose, and take Vance down with him. They will probably take Ohio.
Hopefully next time Vance is up for election we will remember being Ohio Senator wasn’t important to him.
Kirk
Vance.
“Most Americans couldn’t care less about Project 2025. There are some good ideas in there.”
So much for running away from it.
Mike in NC
Never read Vance’s book but saw plenty of negative reviews.
Jackie
Let’s see if JD has the cajones to debate MVP Harris.
THAT’S a debate I’ll look forward to!
Chris Johnson
Anne Laurie already knows Peter Thiel! :D that saves so much time!
Google ‘dark enlightenment Thiel’ to start, folks.
But I have to explain… I’m loving Anne’s nickname, that’s DARK.
See, if you call the guy Peter ‘Bathory’ Thiel, it’s a reference to historical figure Elizabeth Bathory, who was said to bathe in the blood of virgins to preserve her youth. COMMUNITY NOTE! Peter Thiel does not bathe in the blood of virgins. The reference is a joke to highlight, for those in the know, the fact that Peter Thiel advocates for getting blood transfusions from young people to preserve youth possibly to the point of immortality. So technically, Peter Thiel does not drink blood, nor bathe in it so far as we know, he seeks young people’s blood to have it injected into himself for eternal youth. End of community note.
On the bright side, now we know what they’ll do with all the homeless they will remove from the streets! I’m sure Thiel, Vance and Trump will find some use for the blood of them.
Kudos to Anne Laurie for the reference. Fuck me, I’m not making any of this up, have fun sleeping tonight folks o_O
eversor
JD Vance has the facial expression of someone who just got their shit pushed in by a big fat cock. I was in the Navy. That’s sailor talk.
sukabi
I don’t think it was Vance’s “loyalty” that got him on the ticket. Don’t think trump had decided until right after the bullet mishap…I think what got him picked is the immediate, vile statement he made blaming Biden.
wjca
No way Trump (at least) allows blood from such vermin to be injected into himself!
frog
@Kirk:
Um, isn’t taking the vote away from women in there? That’s going to pique the interest of quite a few Americans.
Geoduck
Count me as as surprised as well. As I may have said already, I was fully expecting a spineless toady, not an ambitious glory-grabber.
Captain C
@Mike in NC: BookRiot has this list of 15 books to read about Appalachia instead of Hillbilly Elegy.
Manyakitty
@Chris Johnson: oof. That’s a lot.
Another Scott
CNBC.com frm May 8:
Poor, poor billionaires haz a sad. Except for Thiel, I guess.
Maybe they are finally, finally, starting to recognize that TCFFG is only in it for himself??
Is our billionaires learning?? We’ll see, but don’t count on it.
Cheers,
Scott.
SomeRandomGuy
Chris Johnson
@sab: Double trump’s vileness? You’re understating it.
By himself, he just wants to grab young women by the pussy, and rape them, and also he wants to be King.
Add Vance, and it’s that and now they want them to be brood-mares, oh and also he wants the young women not to have the vote. Lock ’em up and make them pregnant and have them making babies while the man of the house votes.
Add Thiel, and we’re up to, nobody votes, Trump should just be King. Young women should be raped, owned by men, and pregnant, but now NOBODY votes. And also, young did you say? He wants their BLOOD!
Double Trump’s vileness, my ass. We know what Trump is, and he’s a garden variety narcissist monster. These people are exponentially worse. Boggles the damn mind.
lowtechcyclist
@Chris Johnson:
I did. I read the Wikipedia article on ‘dark Enlightenment.’ I read as much of the Vanity Fair piece on Theil and that Yarvin guy as I could before I got totally bored; I don’t think I learned much from it.
How about some goddamned links if you’re going to be beating this drum every damn time I turn around this afternoon? There’s clearly stuff out there that you’d want people like me to read, and I’ve done a good bit of reading, and I’m clearly not finding the stuff you are talking about, whether it’s Thiel’s monarchist beliefs, or his beliefs about blood and longevity, or whatever. Put up or shut up.
Captain C
@Geoduck:
Perhaps TCFG sees him as a target to draw fire away from himself?
Shakti
I’m not sure how much choice Trump truly has given what happened to Pence.
But he’s a craven lickspittle who has no problem dumping on his family for money and power so I’m sure that’s a bonus for Trump and the base.
hrprogressive
At half Convicted Felon Donald Trump’s age, JD Vance is exactly the type of Fascist that the Project 2025 acolytes would love to see take up the mantle should Biden win.
Might as well be Hitler/Goebbels 2024.
Chris Johnson
@Manyakitty: Yeah it is! Anne Laurie knows the guy. My jaw dropped at the Peter ‘Bathory’ Thiel. I’m like, fuck, I don’t have as much explaining to do as I thought. We are not making this up. Dude is TURBO creepy.
Geminid
J.D. Vance looks like the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Votes like him too.
Kirk
@frog:
Yep. That along with other “fascinating” goals is why Trump was trying to create distance between himself and it. And then along comes Vance.
(And I know lots of jackals have already done this but I’ll repeat: People magazine did a good job of lifting the rock, and that’s quite possibly why there’s such scramble to get away from it.
Harrison Wesley
@Jackie: What a dreadful lineup. An evening scripted by Ed Wood.
Chris Johnson
@lowtechcyclist: Sorry. Wrote it a lot on Twitter. If I’m not just the only person to have heard of this man I can shut up about it, ‘k?
The thing is, though, ‘google Project 2025’ worked. That’s why I phrased it the way I did. This needs to get out there and it takes advantage of the idea of people looking stuff up for themselves, not just getting fed links from wherever.
I’m sorry. I’ll shut up. I was freaking out. Turns out somebody else KNOWS. Good enough for me.
M31
lol is Liz Truss really there? I hope they seat her at the table with Scaramucci.
Skippy-san
Well, he’s not the only one who served to get a resume bullet. Just look at Tom Cotton or DeSantis, who was nothing but a worthless JAG. And Trump doesn’t care about experience. Neither do the scum who will make his policies. They want an easily malleable strongman.
sab
@Jackie: He did well at Yale Law School. I doubt he is stupid. She is more experienced by far, but he might do okay.
Princess
I feel like Trump was basically bribed by Theil and Musk to choose Vance. I’m sure they sweet talked and soft pedaled all the crummy and accurate things Vance has said about Trump. I’m sure Trump has allowed himself to forget them. And now every word is going to be repeated over and over by us that it will penetrate Trump’s bubble. And he’s going to be soooooop angry with Vance. Could be fun,
Aldo too, Trump better hire a food taster and stay away from open windows.
suffragette city
Agree that JD will now be the perfect little quisling for the felon much like Lindsey became overnight, that along w Thiel $$ has probably made the felon giddy
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@sab:
I think the thing to hit him on is comments he’s made about how women should stay in abusive marriages
M31
a few ads about Vance’s trashing of Trump will be fine, but only a few
then pivot to the appalling views on women, divorce, birth control, IVF, etc. etc.
don’t forget to talk to the business community about what would happen if the tariff thing actually comes to pass
and you know, the billionaires? In Putin’s Russia some of them did great in the wholesale looting of the country, but a lot of them just got murdered by Putin, so, uh, careful what you wish for, might be better with a Liz Warren wealth tax rather than the Putin wealth tax
Manyakitty
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): he’s a target-rich environment.
Ksmiami
@Jackie: A horror show from top to bottom
schrodingers_cat
Thanks @AnneLaurie for a thread about the VP announcement.
Ksmiami
@Harrison Wesley: hey, Ed Wood would have way more style
SomeRandomGuy
Another Scott
Nitter, (Twitter version):
Defining Vance quickly is important. It’s good to see people going after him now.
(via AngryBlackLady)
Cheers,
Scott.
Captain C
@M31:
Or maybe a relentless dribble on whatever shows TCFG is watching these days.
Ruckus
Vance is the most unlikable candidate Trump considered. He has all the charm of leprosy. Dana Houle
So that’s 2 “humans” running for jobs in the WH, who are both extremely unqualified to even suck oxygen out of the air, let alone be in charge of a lemonade stand, and we are supposed to vote for them? I’d vote for them to be deposited into the hazardous to human life dumpster.
cintibud
Oh, before I forget. Fuck JD Vance
Almost Retired
This doesn’t surprise me. Trump would rather be a television or movie star than a developer or politician or the Anti-Christ. Vance has Hollywood street cred. His Mee Maw was played by Glenn Close. Trump is an insecure star-fucker. Fortunately Los Angeles rejected him more decisively than Manhattan ever did.
Trivia Man
Cue The Barber of Seville overture and the announcer cries out, “Is That…? By Gawd that’s JD’s Music!!!”
Then a clean shaven JD rides in on the back of 8 oiled and shirtless porters.
Side note: TCFG better hire a good food taster.
dm
@lowtechcyclist: maybe that’s why Yarvin suddenly showed up in a Ross Douthat column last week.
Trivia Man
Side bet: Thiel promised T some Fountain of Youth treatments
cain
@Princess:
Let’s see if the press is all concerned about Trump’s age given that the VP doesn’t have much of a resume in handling anything.
Warblewarble
Make Vance the worst thing that happened to tRUMP this week. What are you waiting for.
Trivia Man
@Carolina Dave: tailor made quotes from JDV, cause he is apparently devoted to making quotable statements. That helps!
Let’s ban abortion!
Let’s ban birth control!
Let’s ban divorce!
Then… why won’t women vote for me?
GimletEye
Long time lurker here. Do VP candidates get intelligence briefings? ‘Cause that doesn’t seem like a good idea for Vance. Yikes.
geg6
@SiubhanDuinne:
His book is as insufferable as he is. Just trashes his family and an entire region. He’s disgusting. Pretty sure he was one, a while back, who was calling for the end of no fault divorce and that women are better off married, even if the relationship is violent.
Another Scott
The best troll, clearly. Folks here need to up their game. (Or actually not.)
Nitter, (Twitter version):
Cheers,
Scott.
Trivia Man
@sukabi: I think it is not a coincidence that JD gets named after a personal visit from Orban to MAL. A decision this important needs a personal visit from the boss or a designated messenger.
lowtechcyclist
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Along with his denigration of no-fault divorce.
Anoniminous
WAPO – September 24, 2021
WaterGirl
@GimletEye: Welcome to commenting!
H.E.Wolf
I’m not sure I’d lay actual folding money on it… but I wouldn’t be utterly surprised if Vance is replaced as the VP candidate before the election.
I’m basing this entirely on vibes :) and on the Republican m.o. that “every accusation is a projection”, with regard to all the calls, over the years, for Democratic candidates to be replaced.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@Trivia Man: just days after Orban met with Putin in Moscow
UncleEbeneezer
NotMax
Word of the day courtesy of Ambrose Bierce.
Blackguard, n. A man whose qualities, prepared for display like a box of berries in a market—the fine ones on top—have been opened on the wrong side. An inverted gentleman.
Kathleen
@cintibud: Did you get reply from Landsman? I said I didn’t want one. Did you see where Aftab supported Biden staying in the race?
rikyrah
Vote Heaux brakes it down like a fraction 👊🏾👊🏾
warning: colorful language
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRo1q1SW/
Jay
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch:
And Xi in China.
Orban is still hawking “Putin’s
Peace PlanGenocide).George
@sukabi:
I disagree. I think it always was going to be Vance. All the other potential names were just floated to keep the talking heads busy. And I think Vance made the vile statements about Biden because he already knew he’d been selected as the VP candidate.
It’s the business of a psychopath to create the perception of uncertainty where there is none.
NotMax
“What a money saver. Only need to print VA over the PE on all those signs.”
//
UncleEbeneezer
@Another Scott: Do people from Appalachia hate him enough to make them not vote for Trump? That’s the real question.
Ruckus
@KenK:
ShitForBrains wants to be the top of the heap. And I do not mean the shit heap that would be him. JunkDildoVance want’s to be the big cheese, the top of the pile of shit that is the rethuglican party. They are both delusional but then they are current day rethuglicans.
zhena gogolia
@George: You could be right.
Bill Arnold
@UncleEbeneezer:
That (excellent) thread in threadreader. It includes many links.
chemiclord
I used to call him VD Jance, before realizing that was horribly unfair to venereal disease.
RaflW
Just now getting to think on Vance for a few minutes. Was in the car for over 4 hours today, and I now eschew all NPR and often just drive in silence. I am a very visual processor, so driving in the countryside is quite interesting to me.
Anyway, I am having a hard time imagining that choosing Vance will make the GOP ticket one single iota more attractive to women voters who were not already MAGA and/or severely anti-abortion.
If anything, I’d think Vance’s anger issues and saying things like “stand by your abusive man” will make the gender gap even wider.
Dobbs/Roe is gonna be on the ballot, both figuratively and literally in some states, and JD Vance comes off as a whatever we’d call a 2024 anti-womens-lib crusader.
p.a.
Maybe send Vance t-shirts with a silkscreen of a rope noose and the words “JD, best of luck! You’ll… you know… Sincerely, Mike Pence”
Anoniminous
@RaflW:
“Republican” works.
Geminid
@GimletEye: I’m not sure if the VP candidate gets imtelligence briefings. But it seems to me that Biden administration would control the content and is not required to give sensitive information.
Villago Delenda Est
Theil needs to be removed from this universe, and any nearby universes. The more billionaire parasite asshat techbro glibertarian edgelords we can toss in the Phantom Zone, the better.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@UncleEbeneezer: They hated Pence and voted for Trump anyway.
cintibud
Never heard back. Not impressed. I’ll still vote for him but no more donations. I’ll check out future primary challengers if he does win.
Sister Golden Bear
Doncha hate it when someone unqualified gets hired over better applicants because of the color of their skin. /s
Captain C
@Villago Delenda Est: Just someplace where one or two of the fundamental constants is different enough to make his material integrity untenable.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
So six more join the Gallery of Fallen in the Trump Hunger Games.
YY_Sima Qian
@sab:
F*ck Amy Chua & her husband, most creepy “power” couple.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@p.a.: I’ve been told by the FBI agents they have no sense of humor, so don’t.
Sister Golden Bear
@Chris Johnson:
Something, something… Is it irresponsible to speculate? It would be irresponsible not to.
Liminal Owl
@Chris Johnson: Thanks! I caught the Elizabeth Bathory reference but didn’t know about Thiel’s vampirical tendencies.
Jay
@p.a.:
Postcards to “voters”,……… cheaper than T-shirts.
Mowgli
@Villago Delenda Est:
I nominate this for a rotating BJ catchphrase:
The more billionaire parasite asshat techbro glibertarian edgelords we can toss in the Phantom Zone, the better.
sab
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): It is so bad for the kids when Mom divorces the guy who routinely beats her.
Jay
So, is Sen. Tim Scott’s engagement/marriage to his Hawt Canadian Girlfriend still happening, or has it been cancelled?
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@sab:
Right? Hell, somebody like that probably beats the kids too
wjca
Intelligence briefings are a courtesy usually extended to Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates. But there’s no way the administration is going to give TCFG more intel to peddle. So Vance probably doesn’t get any either.
If they win, it’s a different story. But if that happens, it won’t matter.
Jackie
@Jay: I was just wondering that today!
It’s supposedly an Aug wedding, so we’ll find out soon!
Wombat Probability Cloud
@Jay: It’s all so fricking bizarre. I’m sure the evangelicals would just love Thiel if they took the time to know him, but in their pursuit of power it might not make any difference.
Geminid
Bob Menendez’s corruption case went to the jury Friday afternoon. They did not reach a verdict today and will continue deliberations tomorrow. This is the trial’s 10th week.
elliottg
Does this mean Tim Scott’s marriage is off?
Jackie
Speaking of Tim Scott; apparently during his speech tonight, he claimed America is NOT a racist country.
He stole Nikki Haley’s line 😂 She’s speaking sometime this Convention; now she’s gonna have to edit her speech!😂
https://www.rawstory.com/tim-scott-2668751803/
GimletEye
@wjca:
@Geminid:
oh thank god.
@WaterGirl: thank you and probably back to lurking. :)
Eolirin
Vance is super dangerous though.
If he becomes VP he’ll never certify a Democratic win in the 2028 elections, and he’ll absolutely be running the Presidency behind Trump’s back.
Fortunately he’s a terrible candidate, so that’s the trade off for us.
Eolirin
@Geminid: That doesn’t bode well for a guilty verdict.
citizen dave
@Jay: Ha! You made me google. According to the Palmetto Post and Courier (and other sources in the spring, but this is a late June source), “On Aug. 3, a few weeks after the Republican National Convention, the next chapter in their love story will begin when South Carolina U.S. Sen. Tim Scott will marry Mindy Noce at Seacoast Church in Mount Pleasant.”
All of a sudden I am thinking of the George Costanza/Susan Ross plotline. Taking it all the way to the wedding…
Miss Bianca
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I would love for MVP Harris to bring up the “staying in abusive marriages” bit to Vance and then deadpan, “Is that what you tell your wife?”
Villago Delenda Est
@citizen dave: Let’s send out those invitations!
cain
Is the Lester Holt interview with Joe Biden going on? I’ve seeing stuff on twitter and they say he is horrible.
Lester literally asked Joe if he was confused. Fuck that guy.
Mai Naem mobile
@cain: yes Holt is acting like a POS. I wish it was okay for Biden to reach over and shake him really hard and ask him if he understands yet that he is not dropping out.
Jackie
@cain: I’m not going to watch. The home run derby is less stressful. And more entertaining.
eta And much better for my BP.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Jackie:
Why would it be stressful?
ETA: because of Holt being a dick, apparently?
Mai Naem mobile
@citizen dave: Mindy will be running away. Far. Really far. After the check clears.
George
This might not be a question for a non-open thread, but what ever happened to Nancy Mace? She was such a hot interview months ago, always opining about something, always had her mug in the camera, but she seems to have vanished from the spotlight.
Whenever a person sort of disappears without really disappearing, I tend to think there is a reason beyond mere narcissistic exhaustion.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@cain:
I’m not watching either. Are they saying Holt is being terrible?
Noskilz
I guess on the bright side, there is no crossover appeal at all with that one – Trump isn’t reaching out to anyone with that guy. It’s all in on not needing anything but the trumpalos.
I’m surprised he went for the nakedly ambitious, completely opportunistic guy – my suspicion was he wouldn’t want someone who also had a thirst for the limelight.
Vance kind of seems like someone who might get ideas above his station, if only about getting media attention.
Still, I expect it won’t be long before they openly hate one another and I was amused by this account of how some of the rank-and-file trumpalos are taking it:
‘I thought we weren’t doing anti-Trump RINOs’: Full-on MAGA meltdown triggered by VP pick
Mai Naem mobile
@YY_Sima Qian: there’s the connection to Kavanaugh. I swear SCOTUS is knee deep in all this.
JWR
@cain:
Yes, I watched the Biden interview with Lester Holt (R-NBC) and I thought he did quite well. He noted that Cannon’s ruling was not surprising, leading to a few cutting remarks about Clarence Thomas.
But he (Holt) and our media are Hell-bent on looking at this election from an R point of view, expecting Dems, to tell them, all the things the Dems could do to “lower the temperature”, while not seeing or hearing all the nasty things coming out of the other side. But Holt couldn’t help himself from bringing up Biden saying “bullseye”, with Biden pointing out this, that and the other thing that Trump has said. No reaction or response from Holt.
Biden also brought up Trump’s numerous lies during the debate and why haven’t they been covering that, and Holt just looked down and said that yes, we have reported on that. Never mind that reporting Trump’s lies for one day does not equal the ongoing criticism of Biden’s “episode”, (Holt’s word, not mine), during that debate.
But overall, I was quite happy with Biden’s performance, and very peeved that Lester Holt is a big part of our information system.
Mai Naem mobile
@George: Nancy Mace got caught up in some scandal about AirBnbing her DC area home and getting per diem funds or whatever they get for commuting from her regular home. I don’t remember the exact details but its something about that.
NotMax
Onscreen live from the Malarkey convention, Seated together, Dolt 45 and Speaker Johnson both wearing lapel flag pins, Vance is not.
me
So the nazier then thou crowd is upset that Vance’s wife dares to not be white. https://bsky.app/profile/sharonk.bsky.social/post/3kxefxjfsnk2i
Lyrebird
@rikyrah: Wheeeew, that TikTok bit is a thing of beauty.
Another Scott
Speaking of dumpster fires…
Mastodon.social:
(via Mastodon.social/explore)
Cheers,
Scott.
Jackie
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Because the interviewers seem determined to make Biden frustrated and want him to struggle with his words and make him look unfit to be president.
Villago Delenda Est
@Another Scott: Can you blame the raccoons? I mean, yes, Wank Panzers DO resemble dumpsters.
Jay
@NotMax:
Waht, no AR-15 pins, how un-patriotic. The NRA shall hear of this. I am already writing them a stern letter.
Harrison Wesley
@me: Proud Boy is having a sad?
Jackie
@NotMax: Are their flag pins upside down in solidarity with J6 hostages and Alito?
rikyrah
Jessica Denson 🇺🇸 🇺🇦 (@JessicaDenson07) posted at 8:45 PM on Mon, Jul 15, 2024:
Biden completely owned this interview. Laughter and all…
Biden: “You won’t answer the question, but why won’t the press talk about all the lies he told?”
Holt: “We have reported many of the issues…”
Biden: “No you haven’t. God love you.”
(https://x.com/JessicaDenson07/status/1813027128302313493?s=02)
rikyrah
Acyn (@Acyn) posted at 8:22 PM on Mon, Jul 15, 2024:
Holt: Is there a sense to be back on the horse?
Biden: I am on the horse. Where have you been, I have done 22 major events with thousands of people https://t.co/ZkbGxuvDdr
(https://x.com/Acyn/status/1813021292494561690?s=02)
Splitting Image
I confess to being surprised by the pick, for the same reasons RS Martin is above.
We all knew Trump was stupid, but now he’s a dead man walking if he wins in November. I wouldn’t put it past Vance to push him off the balcony on Inauguration Day, if he even waits that long.
M31
Vance looks like a whiny petulant manbaby reeking of resentment and entitlement.
I mean, even Pence could almost look like a politician on a bad TV show, but Vance just looks like someone who gets eaten in a Jurassic Park movie.
JWR
Watching Teamster’s president saying he’s tired of doing what other people want him to do, and that’s why he’s doing this tonight. I’ll watch a bit more to see if he’s going to endorse, but he sure is praising “president Trump” to the high heavens
ETA and now he’s praising Josh Hawley and J.D. Vance among others. And “both sides” too! Can’t blame only one side.
He’s either grossly uninformed, or just plain stupid.
Jackie
@rikyrah: Maybe I’ll watch… I recorded, but the excerpt previews I saw made it look like another gotcha interview? I’d be happy to be wrong.
Harrison Wesley
@JWR: Tired of doing what other people want him to do? Which other people – the union members? Christ, this brings back bad memories of the construction unions in Philly in the early ’70s. Definitely right-wing, or at least racist as hell. The Federal government – under Dick Nixon – had to desegregate them. I don’t know who the fuck this bro thinks he represents.
moonbat
@rikyrah: LOVE this!
hilts
@JWR:
It’s weird seeing Sean O’Brien speak at this convention because he’s the same guy who almost got into a fistfight with Markwayne Mullin during a Senate hearing.
Jackie
@JWR: Did you watch MTG’s speech? I haven’t watched any of the Convention, but I’ve read she’s been back on the QAnon shit lately and being extra shrill…
I was hoping to hear Steve Bannon’s speech zoomed in from prison, but I guess that was nixed 😂
Joy in FL
@Another Scott: Thank you so much! I am laughing out loud at your comment #133.
“Tony Arcieri 🌹🦀
@[email protected]
Raccoons are trying to break into Cybertrucks, and there’s some speculation that this is happening because the raccoons are literally confusing them with dumpsters
[ image ]
Photos of a Cybertruck’s tonneau cover showing raccoon paw prints and damage where the raccoons tried to break into the cover, perhaps mistaking it for a delicious food-filled dumpster”
I have seen two or three of them with my own eyes and I think they are more stupid looking than they are ugly. But it’s a close tie between ugliness and stupidity.
Thank you for cracking me up. That and the Pet Post this evening have helped a lot : )
Sister Golden Bear
@NotMax: So I assume the political press will be asking Vance why he hates America… /s
jimmiraybob
Am I hearing correctly. Is some guy giving a barn burner of a Biden speech at the RNC?
JWR
@Harrison Wesley: I haven’t a clue what he’s on about, except he’s loudly criticizing nearly every Republican policy. Ooo, and now he’s on to inflation! It really sounds like a speech better given to a Dem convention, and if he thinks any of the things he’s bitching about will get better under a Republican administration, he’s in for a very rude awakening.
And what’s really annoying is that NBC kept him and Trump on a split screen throughout the speech. At least he didn’t endorse, at least not yet.
Another Scott
@Joy in FL: 👍
:-)
Cheers,
Scott.
cain
@Jackie: Biden did well and pushed back on Holt’s bullshit. He tried to imply that Biden’s rhetoric is on par with Trumps. I can’t think that he’s gotten these questions by himself.
Biden had the last word though. Basically told him off and come back with real questions about the issues.
cain
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
I am saying that with Holt being terrible, Biden was doing pretty good and was sharp. He got some jabs in there.
JWR
@hilts: Yeah! And he even quoted Mullin during the speech! Very weird.
@Jackie: Nope, didn’t or haven’t seen MTG, nor do I hope to, but I’m sure she’ll tone it down a bit, amirite? ;)
jimmiraybob
@jimmiraybob:
Why yes, jimmiray. O’Brien was holding up a giant “This Way to the Biden Campaign” sign.
cain
@JWR: Looks like the Teamsters are going to need a new president.
Trivia Man
@JWR: Personally, I enjoyed watching fathead squirm. He couldn’t understand what the hell the speech was saying and was afraid to give the wrong facial expression at the wrong time.
Certainly sounded like “Republican policies suck but if there is even a chance you can help workers I will show up and advocate for them.”
Sister Golden Bear
@M31:
Eaten and spit out. Because even velociraptors won’t eat something that rank.
cain
@Sister Golden Bear: But they might play with him.. just a little. Then let the T-Rex eat him.
NutmegAgain
The best thing I can see in this is that Trump always wrecks the careers or lives (or both) of people who try to be on his team. See Michael Cohen and Rudy Giuliani, for examples. So, here’s to having a little fun watching the YLS fake-o hillbilly’ shit falling apart.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Anybody in the Chicago area be careful. Very bad storms producing multiple potential tornados/areas of rotation
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@cain:
Glad to hear Biden did well. Holt is a hack and should be ashamed
Jackie
@Sister Golden Bear: If Vance didn’t hate America, TCFG wouldn’t have chosen him. #2 requirement after complete fidelity.
Jackie
@jimmiraybob: WHO?
JWR
@cain: Who knows? At least he didn’t endorse anyone, so maybe he’s just keeping his powder dry? I dunno.
@Trivia Man: I’ve trained my eyes to look away from evil, and so didn’t see “Fathead” ;) squirm. But yes, there was a lot I’ll bet he wish he knew about. Not that he’ll ask anyone to explain anything to him, brainy though he may be.
Jay
@JWR:
Maybe he’ll ask his MIT Professor Uncle to explain it to him,
oh wait, he’s dead.
Well there is always Herman Cain,…….
Or Hannibal Lechter,………
There is always a “Sir” somewhere,………
rikyrah
Laura Rozen (@lrozen) posted at 4:15 PM on Mon, Jul 15, 2024:
Vance’s wife clerked for Brett Kavanaugh and John Roberts.
(https://x.com/lrozen/status/1812959283987837260?t=h9p7upfleFajzo0694WlBA&s=03)
jimmiraybob
@Jackie: Sean O’Brien, Teamsters President.
Jackie
OMG 😂😂😂
Click link to see TCFG’s bandaged ear! I haven’t read, but, boy oh boy, he’s definitely going to be milking this until the election!
https://www.rawstory.com/donald-trump-rnc-2668752763/
JWR
@Jay: There’s always Ben “the brain surgeon” Carson.
Jackie
@jimmiraybob: Thanks 😊
Wombat Probability Cloud
@NutmegAgain: Fingers crossed. Your popcorn or mine?
jimmiraybob
@Jackie:
I think that his speech at the RNC should be studied as the art of the Trojan Bulldog attack.
I could be wrong but there were cheers and applause for his position that sounded just short of “Now, go out and support Biden-Harris 2024.”
Wombat Probability Cloud
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I was feeling a bit guilty (in Madison) watching tonight’s big storm system plod eastwards too far south to affect power in Milwaukee. Hope Chicagoland doesn’t get too whomped.
jonas
As many predicted, Trump chose the ultimate dignity wraith — the guy who’d hated him most at first, but who’d crawled and begged longest and most penitentially and humiliatingly over the past several years, across miles of political and personal degradation to prove his worth, or complete lack thereof. From the poverty-stricken hollers of Appalacian Ohio to Yale and Wall Street, to the humid dank of Trump’s ass, you’ve come a long way, baby.
Jackie
@Jackie: From link above:
Is his ear located closer to his butt than we thought?🤔
NotMax
Wonder how business is at the stand in the food court selling fava beans and chianti.
//
Jackie
@jimmiraybob: Amazing! Gotta wonder what the GQP was thinking giving him speech time!
Prometheus Shrugged
Vance’s mother in law, Lakshmi Chilukuri, is a teaching professor and provost at UCSD. Prior to her provost duties, she regularly taught a course on nutrition. She must be beyond thrilled–steak and ketchup for all family dinners from now on!
Jackie
Oscar Hernandez (Dodgers) is the 2024 Home Run Derby Champion! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
JWR
@jimmiraybob:
That was his speech! And yes, they were cheering him on. It was very weird.
Manyakitty
@M31: that image brought a twinkle to my tired eyes. Lol
Jackie
@JWR: They had to be cheering and NOT HEARING! 😂
Geminid
I checked out Randy Mott’s Twitter account, Mott’s a Republican Ukraine Hawk and attracts likeminded Republicans. They are not happy with the Vance pick. I think some will still stck with the party but some are bolting.
One of them posted about potential picks earlier in the day. He had Haley and Youngkin in his “A” tier, and Rubio and Burgum in the B tier. Vance was down in the F tier along with Ramaswamy.
Manyakitty
@rikyrah: well. There it is. The SCOTUS connection.
JWR
Watching the BBC now, and this woman, who’s usually quite good, talked about Trump’s “strategic” thinking in letting this big union guy talk, and choosing a VP who embodies the working class guy who “pulled himself up by the bootstraps”. I really wonder if she’ll ask this Lahne(sp) Chen, who’s been involved with RNC platforms, about Project 2025. … Nope, she didn’t.
jimmiraybob
@Jackie: “Gotta wonder what the GQP was thinking ….”
GOP? Thinking? Too easy.
Kristine
@rikyrah: That was great.
Yutsano
@eversor: All Marines are bottoms*. This is well known in the gay men’s community.
*It’s actually not true. Trust me.
rikyrah
That is shade😂😂😂
Olga Nesterova (@onestpress) posted at 8:20 PM on Mon, Jul 15, 2024:
#POTUS #Biden finishes the interview with Lester Holt: “Sometime come over to talk about things we should be talking about.. like policies.”
(https://x.com/onestpress/status/1813020923127341453?s=02)
Jackie
@jimmiraybob: Ya, what was I thinking when I asked that?!!! Doh 🤦🏼♀️
jimmiraybob
@rikyrah:
Whew….taking a minute …. I’m seeing giant hearts …. must go back ………..
Odie Hugh Manatee
@rikyrah:
Taking them to the woodshed, he is! Good that he fired that right back in Holt’s face.
Damned presstitutes are only in it for the paycheck. It’s their job to keep trying to drag down Biden. It’s how they earn their pay.
JWR
@rikyrah: Yes! That’s how you do it!
wjca
One gets the distinct impression that she’s noticably brighter than he is. Might help explain some of his attitudes towards women.
wjca
Perhaps they merely have no idea what policies and plans would flow from their Dear Leader. So they can cheer anything anybody says, innocently assuming that all the speeches were pre-vetted. (But that would take competence on someone’s part.)
Citizen Alan
@Jackie: Jesus, it’s like Draco Malfoy milking that scratch he got from Buckbeak due to his own stupidity.
Mai Naem mobile
@JWR: wow, that’s disappointing. TFG couldn’t give two fucks about labor and Sean Obrien seemed like a really decent guy.
Citizen Alan
@wjca: I didn’t watch the Teamster guy’s speech, but from the way you describe it, it would be hilarious if he showed up at the DNC and gave the exact same speech verbatim and THEN ended it with “So vote for Biden-Harris! Because the other assholes won’t give you any of that!”
Mai Naem mobile
Did Obrien mention Project 2025 and getting rid of overtime? I really think that one is super important. A lot of people manage to make ends meet on overtime. Even if you’re not that person you damn well know people in your circle who do.
JWR
@wjca: Now I kinda wish I’d watched Orange Blob more closely, just to see if, or how, any of it registered in his addled brain. ;)
Slightly_peeved
@Miss Bianca:
“So you weren’t happy with Ivana getting a divorce after your boss raped her and tore her hair out.”
Sally
@p.a.: Now that’s funny! And a great idea.
Odie Hugh Manatee
Our President called the widow of the man killed at the Felonious D rally to offer his condolences. She refused to speak to the President because she believed that would not have been OK with her husband, a staunch Republican. But she did say that she did not blame President Biden for what happened nor held any ill will towards him, but that she would be voting for Felonious D this fall.
Felonious D has not called her. I hope this woman takes some time to ponder the difference here and maybe reconsider her loyalty to a man who hasn’t even thought to take the time and recognize her loss with a phone call.
I hope Biden’s contact with her left her a number to call if she needed anything.
Cacti
@Odie Hugh Manatee: His wife sounds like a real peach.
Ramalama
@chemiclord:
VD Jance, hahaha.
There go two miscreants
@jonas: Perfect! I am stealing this to send around.
Chris Johnson
@Citizen Alan: From the description, it sounds to me like insurance, and understandable. Like the guy needed to show up in a vain hope that, if these people DO win, they won’t just send in tanks and run over literally all the union people, laughing.
It’s not hard to understand why the union folks would like Biden. It’s also not hard to understand the idea that they’d delegate a guy to go and try to maintain some kind of relations with the Nazis, just in case. I wouldn’t have expected a values speech, though, I would have expected better cover.
Liminal Owl
@H.E.Wolf: I was thinking along the same lines. Wouldn’t picking-and-then-dropping him be a great way for TCFG to humiliate him, as a delayed revenge?
Liminal Owl
@p.a.: Make it short and sweet: “JD, hang in there!” ?
Barry
@Wombat Probability Cloud: “It’s all so fricking bizarre. I’m sure the evangelicals would just love Thiel if they took the time to know him, but in their pursuit of power it might not make any difference.”
IMHO, white right-wing evangelicals are totally happy with these guys.