May 8, 2019

"I'd sit there at these dinner parties and go, 'Not that you asked, but I don't think you're seeing this the right way... Donald is communicating. He's talking like a dude.'"

"That's very powerful — take it from someone who knows," said Howard Stern, quoted in "All I'm Thinking Is, 'I'm Going to Die': Howard Stern Reveals Cancer Scare, Trump Regrets and Details of a Dishy New Book" (Hollywood Reporter).
Early on [in the 2016 presidential race], Stern was still fielding [Trump's] calls from the campaign trail and spending time at Mar-a-Lago. Sure, he considered Trump among his greatest all-time radio guests — raw and unfiltered — but leader of the free world? He insists in those days, he never imagined Trump would get anywhere near that far, and he's convinced Trump didn't either. Save a brief congratulatory exchange when Trump won, the two haven't had any interaction since Stern declined his request to speak at the Republican National Convention. "It was a difficult thing because there's a part of me that really likes Donald, but I just don't agree politically," he says. Still, he jokes: "A more self-serving person would have gone all in on Donald because I'd probably be the FCC commissioner or a Supreme Court justice by now."

48 comments:

Leland said...

I think a lot of people still fail to see Trump the right way. They keep asking, "how can anybody vote for him?", and no matter how simply supporters can put it; they can't grasp it. The funny thing is Howard Stern explaining it will only confuse them further.

It would be interesting to see Howard Stern as FCC commissioner. It would be a truly liberal thing to do, and the progressives would hate it.

tcrosse said...

I would think twice about inviting Howard Stern to a dinner party.

Nonapod said...

"He's talking like a dude"

A while back I seem to remember an analysis of Trump's speech patterns indicating that he talked more like a woman in certain ways.

But whatever. It's pretty much irrefutable that Trump communicates in a way that's very appealing to certain people. Personally I think that Trump's communication style is much closer to that of old school working class Democrats than rural Republicans.

I think one of the biggest things that drives so many liberals (like Stern and Michael Moore) bonkers about Trump is that they actually recognize that style of speaking and they fully understand its appeal. But the modern Democrat party has rejected the provincial affectations of the blue colar white working class. Instead they've fully embraced the affections of white elitistism, the perceptions of a ruling class, and the language of the racially aggrieved. They've chosen the exclusionism of identity politics.

Expat(ish) said...

If I was at a dinner party and I heard someone say "Not that you asked" I'd make like the Road Runner and beep-beep right outta there.

-XC

traditionalguy said...

Howard knows when communicating works, being one of the best communicators that has ever lived himself. But that shows to go you how many ignorant power elites there are out there, like Hillary.

Churchy LaFemme: said...

If I was at a dinner party and I heard someone say "Not that you asked" I'd make like the Road Runner and beep-beep right outta there.

Not exactly the same, but another dinner party issue...

Dave Begley said...

No, Howard. You weren't going to SCOTUS.

Trump used Stern. Big news.

And I've never understood Stern's appeal. Probably for the same reason I didn't support Trump at the beginning.

Achilles said...

"But I don't think you're seeing it the right way"


People are choosing not to see it the right way.

If you lower taxes and the tax system complexity, reduce regulations, and more equitably distribute the tax burden to things produced in other countries I can tell you with 100% certainty manufacturing will grow in the US.

There will be more jobs.

Next if you stop the influx of low cost labor and start enforcing immigration law in large sweeps against corrupt employers in the US demand for legal labor will go up.

It is easily predictable that wages for the working class would go up and our economy would boom.

But the democrats and the CoC Republicans don't want any of that.

Trump is putting Americans first. He is the first Republican since Reagan to do that, and he is doing better than Reagan did.

It is that simple.

Molly said...

(eaglebeak)

Part of Trump's secret, if it is a secret, is that Americans in the South, the Midwest, the Plains states--all over the place--have always gotten a kick out of New Yorkers.

Proof: The Marx Brothers, esp. Groucho; Milton Berle, Woody Allen, Jerry Seinfeld, Ralph Kramden of The Honeymooners, Archie Bunker, The Welcome Back Kotter gang, Phil Silvers, Mel Brooks, Joan Rivers, Billy Crystal, Law and Order, The Odd Couple, Kojak, George Jefferson/Sherman Hemsley, the Yankees, the Mets, the (Brooklyn) Dodgers

Trump is quintessential New York. Tough, brash, funny, shocking, tasteless, obnoxious....

Being from New Yawk, New Yawk was a huge electoral plus.

Bill Peschel said...

I've only listened to Stern's interviews with Lady Gaga and Billy Joel. He did a great job. Listened, asked questions, was present in the moment.

I can understand Trump's appeal because I don't have to see him or listen to him. I only read his words and look at the effect his policies have.

He's not the most pleasant person to look at, so I get the revulsion.

Most of all, he reminds me of my asshole boss in Baltimore. You know what? All businessmen are like that up there. Take advantage when you can, fight back when you can't. Business owners who don't, don't stay in business. Period.

That's also why they hate Trump; he's just like them.

Achilles said...

If Howard Stern doesn't distance himself from Trump and attack him, he knows his corporate masters will shut him down.

Howard is a coward.

Churchy LaFemme: said...

If Howard Stern doesn't distance himself from Trump and attack him, he knows his corporate masters will shut him down.

Howard is a coward.


I doubt that. Stern is a very rich guy who can say what he wants. If it gets him fired, he's still a very rich guy. I doubt the possibility weighs on him.

Ann Althouse said...

@Nonapod

Here's my old blog post discussing and linking to the thing you may be thinking of.

tcrosse said...

Part of Trump's secret, if it is a secret, is that Americans in the South, the Midwest, the Plains states--all over the place--have always gotten a kick out of New Yorkers.

The New Yorkers cited in Molly's comment are mostly Outer Borough types, not the Uptown Manhattan crowd. Trump is a bridge-and-tunnel kind of guy, and that's what we outlanders prefer.

Rory said...

"And I've never understood Stern's appeal."

Haven't heard him in quite a while, but Howard used to be wonderful at skewering skewerers, such as Letterman.

TestTube said...

Communication?

I'm kinda interested in how Trump's 1985-1994 tax returns got communicated to the public. Like, someone with legal access to some subset of information gave that information to the NYT, which was able to then use publicly available info to fill in the gaps?

Yeah, I'd be interested in a little more detail about how that happened.

Lots of stuff getting communicated these days.

Like the sealed details of Steven Moore's divorce got communicated, without the approval of either party to the divorce.

Because if a couple of high-flyers like that can't keep that stuff secret, that communicates a message to non-high-flyers that the nail that sticks up gets hammered down, especially if that nail is wearing a MAGA hat.

Not exactly a new message either. Seems that message has been communicated for a long time, starting in, oh, 2008, where Jack and Jeri's custody records were released, and continuing with Joe the Plumber.

Leland said...

I can understand Trump's appeal because I don't have to see him or listen to him. I only read his words and look at the effect his policies have.

Yep, me too.

If Howard Stern doesn't distance himself from Trump and attack him, he knows his corporate masters will shut him down.

You know that already happened, like a decade ago, and Stern took his own brand and sold it to satellite radio for more than he was earning previously.

I Callahan said...

If Howard Stern doesn't distance himself from Trump and attack him, he knows his corporate masters will shut him down.

I don't know if any of you have listened to the Patriot channel on Sirius, the morning show is Breitbart News Daily. The things they say on that show (I almost completely agree with) would have gotten them kicked off of other platforms, so I don't think Stern, who makes Sirius millions, has any reason to be fearful.

He's a garden-variety liberal, and yet he didn't take the opportunity to trash Trump. That's good enough for me.

madAsHell said...

how Trump's 1985-1994 tax returns got communicated to the public

Fake news. They are serving up a pile of shit, and they already know where to find the pony.

This is the Dan Rather memo all over again. Fake, but accurate. Gell-Mann amnesia.

gilbar said...

If Howard Stern doesn't distance himself from Trump and attack him...

He won't be able to go to those dinner parties

tim maguire said...

i always want to ask people who say “I just don’t agree politically,” which part?

Which part don’t you agree with? The great economy? The energy independence? The reduction of foreign military entanglements? Standing up to our enemies?

Serious question, which parts?

Private Parts was a great movie, by the way.

bagoh20 said...

I have to admit that if Trump was pushing Democrat type policy, I'd absolutely hate him. I don't think I'd catch TDS, but his style would just rub it in, I think. Now I'm grown into a supporter, and I love it. The less sophisticated he speaks the more I like it.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Achilles said...

If Howard Stern doesn't distance himself from Trump and attack him, he knows his corporate masters will shut him down.

Howard doesn't want to be come Alan Dershowitz and be off everyone's invite list.

bagoh20 said...

I bought a MAGA hat a couple weeks back. I don't really wear it much, but if someone starts talking about a dinner party, I'm gonna whip it out.

bagoh20 said...

I think Sirius radio has a good percentage of conservative and libertarian subscribers.

Mary Beth said...

If I was at a dinner party and I heard someone say "Not that you asked" I'd make like the Road Runner and beep-beep right outta there.

I bet those dinner party talkers were just as unwilling to hear they were looking at it the wrong way.

The "not that you asked" probably came after someone who had never met Trump pontificated on Trump and his "poor communication skills" to Stern who has had many opportunities to observe those skills in action.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Leland said...

I think a lot of people still fail to see Trump the right way. They keep asking, "how can anybody vote for him?", and no matter how simply supporters can put it; they can't grasp it.

They don't want to see it. If they did see it, it would mean that all the criteria they've used to define themselves (as superior to you) and all the work they've done to feel good about themselves (which, again, means that they're superior to you) is suddenly just so much fart gas.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

bagoh20 said...

I bought a MAGA hat a couple weeks back. I don't really wear it much, but if someone starts talking about a dinner party, I'm gonna whip it out.

Might be a good idea to wear that had while you're doing it.

tim in vermont said...

I think Sirius radio has a good percentage of conservative and libertarian subscribers.

I dumped Sirius because I got sick of the politics all the time from the disk jockeys. Besides, streaming kicks their ass musically.

tcrosse said...

I bought a MAGA hat a couple weeks back. I don't really wear it much, but if someone starts talking about a dinner party, I'm gonna whip it out.

Just keep it out of the hors d'oeuvres.

tim in vermont said...

Trump won me over, pretty much, or at least allowed me to vote for him, after two minutes with the presidency part blank in the voting booth, when he took on that heckler from Univision. I saw that live and I couldn’t believe it. It was like the first time I heard Rush way back maybe in the ‘80s, when he was just moving to New York.

Freder Frederson said...

Who the hell wants a "dude" as president. And we did see it "the right way" from the beginning when Trump was often equated as a drunk cousin or guy at the end of the bar.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

"A more self-serving person would have gone all in on Donald because I'd probably be the FCC commissioner or a Supreme Court justice by now."

True. Even his voting footsoldiers support him because they're the most selfish little bitches alive. And sometimes too proud to even know or at least care when he's fucking them over.

tim in vermont said...

I remember when ritmo would have preferred a president who has only tried to wind down wars, and hasn’t started any new ones, to his opponent, who was a ham fisted military adventurer.

You can lie and say that the other choice wasn’t Hillary but you can’t expect anybody to believe your lie.

walter said...

When Ed Hominem changes his profile name, you know the goalpost has moved once again.
Kinda missed him on the NYT recommendation to fund Trump's border efforts. Probably still holding onto the notion there is "No crisis!"

tim in vermont said...

Democrat presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg today in South Carolina: America “was never as great as advertised”

Gee, I wonder why so many people like Trump... It’s a mystery.

tim in vermont said...

Weird too how somebody who pretended to be a peacenik in the comment threads here so convincingly, and actually made me think and change my mind on a couple points, now has spent two years going along with an effort to ramp up tensions with a nuclear superpower because he’s mad Hillary lost.

tim in vermont said...

I bet that remark wins South Carolina for him in the general!

rcocean said...

Our popular culture is a toxic waste dump, and Howard Stern has been the king rat of the dump.

I always found it astounding that grown men with taste and intelligence listened to him and thought he was funny. Fortunately, he's so old no one really cares anymore except the old boomers, who still think he's "Cutting edge" or as they would say "hip".

I suppose I should give him some credit for not going full SJW on Donald Trump. So there's that. But he's still one ugly motherfucker. Truly a face for radio.

walter said...

He's younger than Trump, Biden and Berno.

walter said...

Maybe you'd like to Hi-5 Ed Hominem while you denounce "oldies"
A bit conflicted RC

rcocean said...

"He's younger than Trump, Biden and Berno."

Well "Waiter" maybe you can suck his old wrinkled Dick. You seem to be in love with him. At least Stern's Dick is better looking then his face. Or at least, that's what his Fan-boys say.

walter said...

Nope.
But maybe you should specify criteria better.
You and Ed Hominem seem to be peas in a pod.
Look it up.

Fen said...

"A more self-serving person would have gone all in on Donald because I'd probably be the FCC commissioner or a Supreme Court justice by now."

He is so very proud at conquering vanity.

And will never miss an opportunity to remind you that he's not the type of guy who shamelessly promotes himself: "I'm better than that.."

Our culture is so corrupt it's become noseblind to poor character. Is it time to name a horse to the Senate? I sometimes wonder if Nero fiddled, not out of madness, but to celebrate that the whole rotten edifice had finally come crashing down.

h said...

I'm taking a few minutes to imagine a Supreme Court with more radio personalities on the bench: In addition to Howard Stern, I've got Don Imus, Rush Limbaugh, and Dr. Laura. Is Paul Harvey still alive? Can someone do one of those polls where we can vote on RBG v Howard Stern?

daskol said...

Howard is in an interesting spot. His audience has a lot of Trump supporters in it, but he's been very anti-Trump since he won the nomination. At the same time, he hasn't been hateful towards Trump, and every once in a while will take a call from an audience member who calls him a pussy sell-out for failing to embrace Trump. That's more or less true: Howard and his long-time wife/mother of his children divorced a while ago, and ever since he remarried to a model, landed the huge Sirius deal and got his entre to Hamptons/FL society, he's gone soft. He used to be mean and funny, and now he sucks up to celebrities, including most of the ones he used to be mean about. Partly he needs guests, and partly it's his increasing social circle. Still a good interviewer, but he restricts his meanness now to his staff and the goofballs and worse who are the extended unpaid cast on his show, and he's kind and generous to famous people.

daskol said...

If you listen to Stern, it's pretty obvious that the reason he can't embrace Trump is because of Stern's wife Beth and his on-air partner Robin. He claims that he likes Donald personally, but that it's his policies he can't stand, but that's horseshit: Stern's not that political, but where he has expressed opinions (been listening for over 30 years...) they're aligned with Trump's. It's the women in his life, including Jimmy Kimmel.

JAORE said...

"He talks like a dude." So, i.e a man.

I'm certainly open to the probability that there were few, if any, men at that dinner party.