The best part is when the reporter (Kaitlan Collins) pushes Trump to answer the question whether he will pull the nomination if the FBI investigation shows Kavanaugh lied about drinking, and Trump offers a great nonanswer:
I don’t think he did. Look, here’s what — I’m just saying, I’m not a drinker. I can honestly say I never had a beer in my life. It's one of my only good traits. I don't drink. Whenever they're looking for something, I’m going to say I’ve never had a glass of alcohol. I have never had alcohol. You know, for whatever reason. Can you imagine if I had, what a mess I would be? I would be the world's worst, but I never drank. I never drank, okay? But I can tell you I watched that hearing, and I watched a man saying that he did have difficulty as a young man with drink. The one question I didn't ask is how about the last 20 years, have you had difficulty the last 20 years? Because nobody said anything bad about him in many, many years. They go back to high school.You've got to watch the whole clip, because it's funny when Trump uses the phrase "You've had enough" to try (playfully) to cut off Collins. She isn't really cut off. She gets loads of time.
Posts
97 comments:
Trump is an excellent communicator. Easy to follow along. Makes his point while simultaneously undercutting the other side's point.
Comments need to be about this particular Trump performance and the specific issue he raises.
Don't rehash the Kavanaugh nomination generally or dump links to opinion pieces about Kavanaugh.
Save it for the cafe if it doesn't fit here.
NAFTA fixed.
Tax cut.
Iran deal cancelled.
Record stock market.
Record unemployment.
High consumer and business confidence.
Paris deal killed.
Gorsuch and Kavanaugh on SCOTUS.
Progress made with Norks.
ISIS mostly contained.
And Trump did all of this even though Mueller continues his witch hunt and the MSM slams Trump 24/7.
I will see POTUS next week in Iowa. My report will be on Power Line.
Justice Ginsburg adimitted she wasn’t ‘100 percent sober’ at the State of the Union. Impeach!
The Dems have boxed themselves in. They are going to have to find a fucking Teetotaler to run against Trump in 2020.
Okay, worse trade deal ever fixed after 15 years of failure and killing jobs in the USA.
Good enough?
They should demand Trump turn over his High School yearbooks.
And you have to love that he marketed Trump Vodka even though he never drank any alcohol in his life
Brilliant move on the drink issue.
The Judge could still face criticism re: Ford if evidence comes out about excessive drinking in his youth. But Judge K said he never got black out drunk. Unless there's compelling evidence of that we're back to he said, they said. And, this time I think some Republicans will point out the inconsistencies.
But Trump derailed the Judge K is a drunk! meme. He's been in plenty of spotlights and did not show his drinking. I LOLed at the RBG comment. I think Trump could throw it out there in a laughing manner. if needed.
New rules— they continually lower the bar and that’s how we got Trump.
And I can’t believe how Puritan the Left is, you can’t you can’t you can’t. Continue to build the perfect Soviet Man.
It won’t work.
I want to see the Senators exp3nse accounts.
No more booze for them.
Self-Hypnosis to "recover "memories"'....because of course that is how Ford helped herself to some make believe "facts".
I think we now know why Ford refused to release her Shrinko-notes to the committee...because she self-hypnotized (wink wink) herself to a sweet sweet lefty payday....
Yes, that was Trump at his very best.
He has really hit his stride, hasn't he? The sheer comfort and easy flow of the answers struck me. His energy at his age is remarkable. Maybe I should skip my daily adult beverage.
He deals with everything clearly, forthrightly, correctly, always assuming the viciousness of his Dem opponents in the media and Congress, exposing it, exposing them, never fooled for a moment--it is one reason why conservatives should be, and are grateful.
It is, in more than one way, a knowing performance, by a player who knows the rules of the game and is willing to fight to win.
Winning helps, of course. You can never have too much winning.
Trump was on fire last week as well. He should do this more often.
Trump should have reminded folks that the only purpose of the FBI investigation is to find facts on whether Kavanaugh sexually assaulted Ford, not to engage in a fishing expedition on the extent of his drinking.
What is he supposed to have lied about?
At the hearing he was talking so much about his drinking in high school that I began to worry about it.
I think the Senator has to be Schumer.
Trump is always game. The way he spars with and dominates hostile reporters is truly impressive. Bush was quite good in his own way, but he relied too much on chumminess and relationships with reporters.
It's useless to compare him to Obama or Bill Clinton since these reporters mostly function as stenographers and propagandists for Democrats. It's too easy for them. Trump has to fight and push back.
Trump is making the Dems live by their own rules - very Alinsky.
Women and Children have priority on the victim scale, so he's focusing on Kavanaugh's Wife and Kids, and the impact this is having on them, and how unfair it it. And how the Dems are not angels in their personal behavior!
Well done Sir!
Yeah, I watched the video. Trump is a communications genius. He just rambles on, deflects, pontificates, equivocates, emphasizes this, ignores that, he's great.
The one take home point I have, is that he seems confident. He did not evince any worry about Mueller or the Dems winning the House or getting impeached, he just plows forward.
It's kinda refreshing. I can see why and how he exasperates, his opponents.
And what is nice about Trump, is he's staying on message, and getting his message out.
Not the message the reporters want! The reporters want to focus on he drank, is guilty, etc. Trump is focusing on how unfair this is.
I think the longer this goes on, the more chance Trump has to let more people hear about the wrongness that has been done to Kavanaugh. The Dems may decide to cut their losses at the end of the week and let him get confirmed. If they don't, Trump will keep using Kavanaugh's treatment as a cudgel on the Democrats image.
What Ray said. Trump has a great ability to connect the behavior of the Democrats with the damage it is doing to the Judge's family. And I think ordinary non-partisan Americans can connect with that.
On CNN, a friend of Kavanaugh's just said he doesn't trust the judge because he lied about his drinking. He said Kavanaugh made "ommissions" about how drunk he got.
I don't give a crap about what happened in the 1980's.
On CNN, a friend of Kavanaugh's
Sure, a "friend".
So you are impressed that Trump lied about what Kavanaugh said? Kavanaugh never admitted "that he did have difficulty as a young man with drink". In fact the exact opposite. Kavanaugh claimed that he never had a problem with alcohol, never passed out from drinking, never forgot anything he did when he drank, and even only threw up while drinking because he had a "weak stomach"
Trump's an excellent speaker and therefore an excellent campaigner. He should do all he can to protect the Senate. He should consider doing a few more rallies in toss-up states like West Virginia, Arizona, Indiana, Florida, Missouri, North Dakota, Montana, Nevada and Tennessee. That list could even include Texas and New Jersey.
Trump lucked out that so few plausibly competitive Republican Senate seats are up for election in 2018. This could have been a bloodbath. So he has a really good chance to defend the majority or even to build on it. If RBG dies or retires, he's going to need that majority.
The House is probably lost.
What is CNN?
Freder just defended Kavanaugh in order to attack Trump.
And Freder can not understand how Trump wins so often.
He is going to be in Johnson City, TN tonight, for a campaign event with Marsha Blackburn. That is only about 25 miles from me. I could have gotten tickets but elected not to go, got other things to do. I expect some of my former co-workers will be there.
Trump trashed Blumenthal on the Stolen Valor. "Da Nang Richard."
Mentioned Booker's teenage sexual assault. "He ran Newark into the ground." Lol. Newark has been a shithole for a long time. Booker didn't make it better but that was a little harsh.
Trump has done a great job of using his office as the "bully pulpit" that Teddy Roosevelt recommended. He knows that the press has to cover him, and he's very effective about exposing to the public many things (such as Sen. Blumenthal's lying about Vietnam service or Sen. Booker's admitted sexual groping) that the press would otherwise like to ignore.
What Made Milwaukee Famous Has Made a Judging Fool Outta Me,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfilJ4hNZYI
I considered going to the rally tonight- it is only about 90 miles away. I hope he does one downstate closer to central TN at some point later this month- I would go to that one.
Was Kavanaugh as high an achiever at Yale as he was at Georgetown prep? I don't know much about his early years, but I would find it hard to believe that his drinking problem was that bad if he also had excellent grades and a strong record at Yale and then went right on in to Yale Law. I did not go to an Ivy, but did go to a very hard engineering school. I knew one guy from my high school that got all wrapped up in fraternity activities his very first quarter of freshman year and by them middle of the winter quarter he had dropped out. Too much party time, not enough study time. I would expect the environment and competitive pressures at Yale would have been similar.
I've never liked Trump, for a lot of reasons but certainly because of his sloppy way of speaking/tweeting, but I was impressed by these comments. He said what should be said, and he said it well. BTW, which MSM outlet will leak the story of which Democrat Senator he saw drunk?
Kavanaugh could be a high-functioning drunk like Mickey Mantle
A PSA saying #IStandWithBrett just came on the TV.
Kavanaugh would be very sympathetic if he had stopped drinking 25 years ago
Can you imagine the Dems picking on a guy who has been a recovering alcoholic for 25 years?
I did not go to an Ivy, but did go to a very hard engineering school.
He was a history major. And the Ivy League is notorious for grade inflation. Getting in proves you deserve to graduate.
I bet your hard engineering school was a public university.
Oh and speaking of more lies under oath. His claim that he had no contacts at Yale is bullshit. His grandfather was an alumni.
@MountainMain,
It depends largely on the major. Hard science stuff, math, and engineering are no-nonsense and you have to buckle down. But there's a large field of majors that's either not that hard or are just plain fluff (eg, any "studies" major).
In my experience the hardest thing about the Ivies is getting in.
MountainMan
Kavanaugh was #1 at Georgetown Prep, #1 at Yale undergrad, and #1 at Yale Law School.
After clerking for an appellate judge, clerking for Kennedy on the Supreme Court, working at a top tier law firm, and working at the White House, he was nominated and confirmed to the DC Circuit Court.
The evidence of successive drinking is scant.
And he has achieved a lot in his chosen field.
Freder Frederson: "So you are impressed that Trump lied about what Kavanaugh said?"
Freder has yet to apologize for his hilarious and massive lies regarding the Bundy case.
But then, being a member of Team Left, the lies come so naturally.
Perhaps Freder performed some self-hypnosis and came up with some artificial recovered memories where the Bundy trial results were different than the lies Freder wrote.....
....or Freder just lied hoping no one would actually look it up.
I think I know which way I'd go with that one...
Feeder lowers the bar. Stellar grades is not. Reason to get into a top skool
Just because you finish number 1 in your class in no way proves you belong at a school
Noted Bundy Case Historian Freder says so!
LOL
Freder
#1 at Yale undergrad, and #1 at Yale Law School.
The first claim is a lie (he was cum laude (impressive but nowhere near #1). The second is also a lie--Yale law school graded on what is basically a pass/fail basis. And actually if you make it through first year, on a low pass, pass, or honors.
Ah, no, Freder. Yale Law still has class rank. Congrats on another error. Your record remains intact.
You are the Cal Ripken of Wrong.
(eaglebeak)
Yale Divinity School no longer has the summa/magna/cum laude rankings, but Yale Law does, I think.
Trump's best line was inviting us to imagine what he would have been like as a drinker. Heh.
Trump is doing a rally tonight in Johnson City, TN. Maybe some more bons mots there.
Yale Law still has class rank.
Really? Somebody better tell Yale that And the law school too "Our current grading system does not allow the computation of grade point averages. Individual class rank is not computed. There is no required curve for grades in Yale Law School classes." (from pdf of YLS grading system).
Freder Frederson is correct about YLS in the eighties at least. It was one of the appealing features of Yale over Harvard for applicants.
Have another drink, Freder. Hell. Have the whole bottle.
But clearly he was an impressive student if he clerked on the US Supreme Court.
Freder Frederson said...
Oh and speaking of more lies under oath. His claim that he had no contacts at Yale is bullshit. His grandfather was an alumni.
I see somebody gets their facts and information from Slate.com
Last week I speculated on how non-drinker Trump would react to news of Kavanaugh's drinking. The answer is that he did not take it well since his description today is not as anodyne as BK's own description of his youthful drinking.
Disagree with Frederson on the grandpa-connection business. Having a relative as an undergraduate is not a connection for the law school (unless the relative was so rich he or she also gave to the law school).
I've seen bold pundits dropping down like flies,
I've seen my critics, rolling in the mire,
I've seen God point the finger of loserdom to my foes.
I have fought in the flimsiest of (tweet) wars,
I have ridiculed some of the holiest know-it-alls
I've been derided, berated, and maligned through the world.
One thing, I have learned through these years,
Is that no man, should be stricken with fear
It should be that he walks with no care in the world.
So my friends, who are gathered here today,
Hear this clear, for I'll not further say,
That no man, shall I take his bullshit again.
Hey, Boy Blue is back.
Birkel said...
MountainMan
Kavanaugh was #1 at Georgetown Prep, #1 at Yale undergrad, and #1 at Yale Law School.
After clerking for an appellate judge, clerking for Kennedy on the Supreme Court, working at a top tier law firm, and working at the White House, he was nominated and confirmed to the DC Circuit Court.
The evidence of successive drinking is scant.
And he has achieved a lot in his chosen field.
If he's a drunk, lets have more such drunks.
The Unabomber was #1 at Harvard and Berzerkely and his name start with K. Co-incident or another Clinton-Soros plot.
Blogger Howard said...
The Unabomber was #1 at Harvard and Berzerkely and his name start with K. Co-incident or another Clinton-Soros plot.
Howard is explaining to us why all the Google and Facebook people are leftists.
Thanks, Howard.
Freder Frederson said: "I bet your hard engineering school was a public university."
Georgia Tech. First quarter was the most difficult three months of my life. I can remember at the last assembly of freshman orientation, just before classes, one of the deans closed out his remarks with "Each one of you: look to your left; look to your right; this time next year, one of you will no longer be here." He was right; 1/3 were gone by next fall. Calculus and chemistry were used to weed out those who had bitten off more than they could chew.
Guess I should have gone to Yale and studied liberal arts like my high school counselor wanted me to.
Ann, this shit has gone too far.
Freder Frederson said...
Ann, this shit has gone too far
You mean Slate publishing a fresh, hours old lie that you came here to parrot? I know, since Althouse just published a post on Slate lying.
I am surprised the Democrats want to create a new standard for public service based on temperance. Where's Ted Kennedy when you need him?
I can GUARANTEE you that this excerpt will either not be printed at all, or be part of the final 3-5 paragraphs of a story. Why? Makes Trump sound honest, human and able to self criticize, and we simply CAN'T have that......
As usual the questions on Trade were embarrassing. The NYT/WaPo/MSM has a narrative:
"Tariffs by USA are bad!"
So almost all questions were about when would USA stop putting tariffs on foreign Goods and stop the TRADE WARS !!!
Moronic.
As an example, readering thinks that Trump was judging Kavanaugh instead of making himself sound reasonable compared to the wild eyed Democrats. Democrats are now the party against sex and alcohol. Trump favors sex but chooses to abstain. He is not criticizing others for moderation in their choices.
Seriously, Trump plays this game terribly well.
It is brutal to observe.
Didn't people claim Obama was at the "Top of his Class" at Harvard Law?
In any case, saying Kavanaugh was "No 1" in his class is just another piece of Trump puffery and exaggeration.
Kavanaugh established an impressive record at Yale Law, which is why he clerked for SCOTUS Judge Kennedy.
By claiming Trump is lying about Kavanaugh was No. 1 Yale, the Left focuses the debate on Kavanaugh's great academic record.
Was he No. 1 or just very, very, good?
Scott Adams was the first to explain this Trump trick.
he's very effective about exposing to the public many things
So it's probably good that he watches cable news all the time, and remembers what he's seen I've often wished our guy or at least his staff would pay attention
It's a fun trick, rcocean.
Try it.
If Sheldon Whitehouse can't point to substance abuse as his alibi, those staff dementia docs need to adjust the meds.
Simply coincidental, of course, Sheldon was born presidential.: PINO
Earnest King was the Admiral who actually won WWII in both the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. King was a famous drinker...almost at Churchill's level. And he would not trust a Navy man who could not drink with his friends just like Judge K did it. King was also famous for refusing to give the press any information. He said that he would let them know when it was over and tell them then that we had won.
Trump delivers a virtuoso performance...
I think that's your way of saying that he, you know, put on an act.
Yes, that's all he does is put on acts. But the non-Republicans among us know that acts are different than reality.
Why do you people hate reality so much? Is it really as boring or difficult as you make it out to be?
"Why do you people hate reality so much? "
Tiresome broad brush, inane PPPT.
Once again walter confuses entertainment with truth.
Why not just go take a Quaalude? Clearly you must find life very boring if you have to channel your entertainment through politics and government.
Don't rely on Trump to make it interesting. (Not that he could). Take cocaine instead.
I think every Republican should do drugs. Just get them out of politics.
Somebody tell me again about the 4.2% GDP growth, 5.6% manufacturing growth, 3.9% unemployment, and more favorable trade deals.
It makes Lefties cry and Lefty tears keep me hydrated.
Will Q3 growth top 4% on the first read number? Or will it be a lackluster 3.8%?
"Clearly you must find life very boring if you have to channel your entertainment through politics and government."
--
Says you, the myopic ass..spilling multiple years of shit-flinging rage here.
Birkel said...Somebody tell me again about the 4.2% GDP growth, 5.6% manufacturing growth, 3.9% unemployment, and more favorable trade deals.
-
Hey now..Robert Reich taught many an 80's college folk the certainty of impending Latin American economic dominance.
walter,
And Brazil is the country of the future.
And always will be.
Right.
If you can't picture it, that's how forward thinking the prediction is.
I try not to forget my own life.
Did I have sex in high school? No. But I sure as hell wanted to. I am not going to condemn anyone who did — better social skills or looks than I had.
I didn’t drink much in high school and didn’t drink much till my mid 20s. But I did drink beer at 17, and I had a hangover at 17, and I never had a blackout. Most of my friends drank more. I am not going to condemn anyone who drank beer, even lots of it, in high school.
Pretty much everyone is sloppier when drunk than sober. Lessened inhibition is part of the appeal of alcohol. I am though not a sloppy drunk. Lots of friends are. I fall asleep mostly. But none of the sloppy drunks I know get violent. They aren’t the same. Some people doubtless are both, but I don’t know any.
I just realized! I accused Ann of not knowing much about evolutionary theory. She got mad at me! Confession much?
Althouse, you buried the lede. The best part of that press conference was just before the question you blogged about where Trump calls the press "loco" and then says, "I used that word because we just did a trade deal with Mexico." Hahaha
PPPT: "But the non-Republicans among us know that acts are different than reality."
I am sorry the economic growth numbers are too much for you to handle.
Perhaps some therapy would help? What if we tossed in enough cash for you for self-hypnosis/recovered artificial memories?
I hear that is really paying off "bigly" for a certain "reality -based" someone...
LOL
You know, as much of a liar and hoaxer and lunatic as Ford is, at least she never blamed SF human excrement problems on midwest home square footage like PPPT!
So she has that going for her...which is nice..
There is Ritmo in his rage bubble.
The results in November will reflect the record economic confidence levels and first wage growth for working class Americans in decades.
But yeah the CEO's are getting richer and stuff. Thats why they are giving democrats so much money.
You really are quite a dissappointment.
CNN isn’t even on in the airport in Boston anymore. Boston is in Massachusetts, a very liberal state.
Tell us Freder. How does it feel to have done to you what you do to others?
Remember, kids, that middle class wage growth is outstripping inflation for the first time in more than a decade.
PPPT hates those "middle class CEOs" for making more money.
/sarc
PPPT hates when median wage growth makes people wealthier under a Republican president. And the realization a Democrat as dreamy as Obama failed while the orange one succeeds? Enraging!
Now steel and auto will expand domestically. Those are middle class jobs. And farmers had markets expanded. Canada and Mexico made concessions. Canada came along kicking and screaming. The EU and Japan are coming next. Their level of resistance before conceding is an open question. Then China gets a taste.
PPPT hates it all. Harshes his pretend story about the way the world ought to work. #Sad
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