Trump's response isn't specific to Biden's "literally... existential" barb, just the idea that "Joe is weak mentally":
Years ago, Trump insults, Biden was nothing, polling at 1%, until Obama picked him "off the trash heap." Now, Biden is doing well in the polls, but "he's a different guy. He looks different than he used to. He acts different than he used to. He’s even slower than he used to be.... Joe Biden is a dummy."
By the way, Trump was speaking before going to Iowa, so the teaser headline — with "in Iowa" — is factually wrong. It's got to be like with roaches. If you see one, there are a thousand more that you're not seeing.
What, if anything, do you think Biden is trying to say when he calls Trump an "existential threat"? Underscored with "literally," it should mean that, with Trump, there's a danger that America will cease to exist. I think he's trying to say the America we know and love is threatened by Trump. But to find that meaning, we can't take "literally" literally.
I don't know if I want to make a tag for "Biden rhetoric." Biden's use of language is not very snappy. I don't know if I want to get into a pedantic critique of the use of multisyllabic confusing words like "literally" and "existential."
Do you think some people see Biden gesturing at the philosophy of existentialism? The OED says "existential" can mean, "Of, relating to, or concerned with individual human existence, esp. as seen from the point of view of existentialism; of, relating to, or characteristic of existentialism; having, or prompted by, a keen awareness of individual freedom and responsibility."
ADDED: Maybe what I need is a tag, "Existential Biden." Using those words, I found, "Why Is Joe Biden the Only Democrat Who Wants to Talk About Donald Trump?," by Susan B. Glasser in The New Yorker, April 26, 2019:
Given the almost numbing predictability of the President and the ever-increasing difficulty his critics have mustering outrage toward him at this point, it came as a jolt to see Joe Biden go directly at Trump in a video announcing his Presidential campaign, on Thursday. The seventy-six-year-old former Vice-President unabashedly took the Trump-bashing course that most of the eighteen other declared Democratic candidates for 2020 have eschewed. In his launch video, which is three minutes and thirty seconds of Biden mostly talking into the camera, he calls Trump a “threat to this nation . . . unlike any I had ever seen in my lifetime” and an existential challenge to the very idea of American democracy. The election of 2020 is “the battle for the soul of the nation,” Biden says, and, if Trump is reëlected, “he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of” the country. In short, Biden adds, “Everything that has made America America is at stake.”So this "existentialism" is Biden's theme. It shouldn't be confusing!
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«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 248 of 248narciso, the story of Khrushchev's autobiography is similar. I remember reading about a mystery truck that left the Soviet embassy in a European country, maybe Hungary, and was driving along and stirred the CIA's interest. They wondered what was in the mystery truck?
Finally, a source told them the secret. It was filled with thousands of copies of Khrushchev's book that the embassy had been storing, since all were expected to buy lots of copies. They were trying to go to a landfill quietly, so Moscow did not find out.
That's the one strobe talbott translated, I mean I thought Jim Wright's scam was clever but he at least had bulk purchases
TreeJoe said...
Interesting to watch Trump work to pick his opponent.
He's giving Biden air time because he sees him as best to face off against.
Trump knows boxing promotion and Wrestling "narratives"
Maybe Joe Biden is the undercard / deflection - main bout TBD
The hack press and the Maddow-Colbert-Hollywooders put their collective thumb on the scale in 2016.
They feel it wasn't enough.
Thank you, Not Sure.
I recall that many on the collective hivemind left went bat-shit crazy over Silver's lowering of HER-> odds from 88% to 71%.
How dare he!
Trump might lose in 2020. He has to fight a corrupt D-party and their corrupt D-party press and most of Hollywood.
We can still mock the polls from 2016 and tell the hivemind - "heh. sucks to be you. Nervous?"
Biden conflates himself and his family with America. If one were to allow him that for argument's sake, then considering the various criminal acts he and his family were involved with then Trump's AG is a literal threat to America ( Biden & Co).
Considering Obama chose Biden to be his life insurance as in no one would kill Obama and make Biden president, then the concept of the Democrats choosing a man considered too stupid to be a president as their presumptive front runner candidate for president is literally too stupid for words.
Chuck as a Michigan Republican would the fact that Trump actually moved the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and basically told the Palestinians to get serious about a peace deal or piss off have any influence on Justin Amash's views on Trump?
'I ridiculed Trump's view of the Department of Housing and Urban Development as "the Department of Black People."'
Where is your evidence that Trump views HUD as 'the Department of Black People'?
Chuck said ...
Just like I never made a racist comment about Ben Carson. I ridiculed Trump's view of the Department of Housing and Urban Development as "the Department of Black People."
Bullshit. You are a moby trying — poorly — to imitate a country club Republican. Your comment regarding Carson was because you foolishly and mistakenly believe that all Republicans are racists.
No evidence needed when you obey the liar D-hack press.
hate to repeat repeating myself, but; have you noticed that When a Life Long Liberal has Nothing to back up what he's saying, he falls into potty mouth? It's called a Tell
Trump IS an existential threat...to Democrats. (The boogyTrump is gonna getcha!!!)
"Off the trash heap" is Trump at his best. I love it. He really does have a knack for amusing words and phrases. The mental image it conjures of Obama picking through a trash heap to find Biden is very, very funny.
Biden is literally a government whore.
Chuck: I never wrote any such thing.
Another lie.
But why do you even come here? You have squandered any remaining credibility you had, no one likes you, no one listens to whatever anti-Trump screed you are parroting from day to day, no one wants you here.
In fact, your fake attacks on Trump only serve to shore up support for Trump. So why do you remain when all do is inadvertently help the President you loathe?
Are you insane? Have you considered getting counseling?
Biden is getting nervous. Why?
Trumps other tweet:
“Someone should call Obama up. The Obama Administration spied on a rival presidential campaign using Federal Agencies. I mean, that seems like a headline to me?” @TuckerCarlson It will all start coming out, and the Witch Hunt will end. Presidential Harassment!
Biden was part of an administration that tried to turn our country into a Nazi police state.
Everyone also know Biden sold us out to China for giant piles of money. Somewhere between 1 and 1.5 billion dollars.
Biden and the DC swamp are getting desperate because to them this is an existential threat.
Just to them, not to the country.
Biden is literally a government whore.
He's served 48 years in DC. 48 YEARS. That's half a century.
When he complains about a "problem" in the debates, all anyone has to is ask him why he couldn't get it fixed in the 48 years he already had here. What difference will another 4 make?
Trump might lose in 2020. He has to fight a corrupt D-party and their corrupt D-party press and most of Hollywood.
I am quite concerned about ballot harvesting. California has made it legal and is lost, no matter how much CA Republicans want to have Trump campaign there. Washington and Oregon are both lost to leftist cities and ballot harvesting.
There was a trial run in AZ which elected a lesbian Senator so I expect more of it. Then furious battle over the census question is one tell. Another is the furious lies about "Voter Suppression" and voter ID.
Maybe Adelson, the only conservative billionaire I know of, can fund a national True the Vote program now that the original has won the lawsuit.
Well, I guess I'll have to vote for Biden after all. The man is going to cure cancer.
Watching the clip where Biden makes that promise, I can't get over how exhausted Biden looks and sounds. "Sleepy Joe" really is a kill shot.
Michael K - Ballot harvesting going on in CO as well. We have a vote-by-mail system that is ripe for fraud and vote harvesting. Up next - automatic voter registration.
The left must cheat to win. That's how they operate. The destruction of the Electoral College is the next frontier.
Where is your evidence that Trump views HUD as 'the Department of Black People'?
Yah, I just did a casual Google search of "Trump HUD Department of Black People" and got no hits for any evidence that Trump said such a thing.
Other google searches of "Trump racism" consist entirely of people like Chuck asserting Trump said something something racist something.
Biden won't simply cure cancer, he will literally cure cancer.
re@achilles comment
Susan Rice email reveals Joe Biden was present for 2017 briefing on Trump-Russia collusion claims
Biden’s participation in that secretive high-level meeting in the waning days of the Obama administration has gained relevance in part due to emerging questions as to how informed and involved Biden was from the beginnings of the Trump-Russia narrative and investigation in 2016.
I can't get over how exhausted Biden looks and sounds. "Sleepy Joe" really is a kill shot.
Trump really does have a knack for branding. "Low-energy Jeb" really killed off Team Bush. Afterwards, you could see Jeb flailing, trying to prove he had energy and failing miserably.
You would think, after that kid yells "the Emperor has no clothes!" and everything falls apart, that all the Other Naked Emperors would have the sense to quietly retire from public life. But not Sleepy Joe! He must have dozed off during all that.
Yah, I just did a casual Google search of "Trump HUD Department of Black People" and got no hits for any evidence that Trump said such a thing.
Chuck?
Has anybody seen casually racist Smear Merchant Chuck, fopdoodle extraordinaire, around recently?
Is he still making the same impotent threats?
Does he hate Trump because ex-congresscritter Justin Amash might have to move manufacturing facilities to Bangladesh?
A casual racist hates Bangladeshis?
Seems plausible.
Question for the experts:
Why does a racist LLR prefer Chinese to Bangladeshi?
That's an odd preference for a known racist.
It's pretty hard for the Dems to argue against Trump on any reasonable or factual grounds based in the results of his administration, so ridiculous charges of "existential threat" is about what you can expect from them.
Question for the left: Is there anything negative you would not be willing to say about Trump to win in 2020? How do you top "criminal", "Hitler", "racist", when that seems to not be working.
I heard that Trump is directing NASA to push an asteroid into a collision course with the Earth just for the hell of it.
Of course we can assume that Trump does not support the curing of cancer.
Why does a racist LLR prefer Chinese to Bangladeshi?
@Birkel, because he's Islamophobic, of course!
@Fen, I explained it all at 11:00
11:00 Mike To Chuck: You are a moby trying — poorly — to imitate a country club Republican. Your comment regarding Carson was because you foolishly and mistakenly believe that all Republicans are racists.
Yup. Spot on.
I wonder if the contempt we show him is because his Moby pose insults our intelligence.
Know what's an existential threat to America?
Left wing thugs who still refuse to accept the result of an election more than two years later.
Why doesn't Althouse just start a "Chuck Thread" every day. Just Post a picture and a one-sentence topic about Trump - and say "Go at it, chuck and friends"?
Seriously. People here LOVE fighting with "Chuck" - give him his own channel. Lets see that the ratings are.
I see LLR and Further Left Than Nancy Pelosi Chuck is lying about his racist activities (posting) in the past.
Just like Dem Gov Northam.
There will forever be zero daylight between LLR Chuck and his leftist heroes in both action and deeds.
Mike: "You are a moby trying — poorly — to imitate a country club Republican. Your comment regarding Carson was because you foolishly and mistakenly believe that all Republicans are racists."
Quite so.
Its funny watching Chuck pull out all those lunatic lefty suppositions in characterizing actual conservatives.
And to once again laud niw exposed fake conservative George Will AND Justin Amash?!
LOL
Too funny.
Will is screaming for everyone to vote democrat!!
Again!!
So vehemently conservative!!
Isn’t this the same thing all the Republicans said about Obama when they were running against him in 2016? And then what they said about Hillary Clinton when running against her in 2016? And now what the dems are saying against Trump in the running against him in 2020? I see a theme here. All politics has become disaster politics.
Trump's an existential threat to America. You know, not like statists and statism at all!
Will is screaming for everyone to vote democrat!!
I met George F. Will in person back in the 1980s when I lived in the Maryland suburbs of DC. Frankly, there is less there than meets the eye.
I met George F. Will in person back in the 1980s when I lived in the Maryland suburbs of DC. Frankly, there is less there than meets the eye.
He was a nice, safe, Country Club Republican, right on some important issues and welcome in the Big Tent.
Turns out *he* didn't believe in the Big Tent..
George Will is interesting when he writes about baseball.
That is his one skill.
rcocean: "Why doesn't Althouse just start a "Chuck Thread" every day. Just Post a picture and a one-sentence topic about Trump - and say "Go at it, chuck and friends"?"
Not really necessary as there has never been nor will ever be any comment by LLR Chuck that wasnt first vomited up by a typical lefty MSM-er and/or columnist owned and controlled by a far left billionaire.
Literally.
Literally literally.
Completely.
Instead of giving LLR Chuck a daily thread, just cut out the lefty racist commenter Chuck and post a link to the DNC website.
The downside of that from LLR Chuck's perspective would be the fact that Chuck is to the far left of the DNC....but only on every issue.
Of course, our admitted smear merchant and liar (actually, a quite proud admitted smear merchant and liar) is always happy to throw up a smokescreen lie about some "conservative" position/policy/belief that he "supports", but once you realize that is simply a false flag op in order to denigrate conservatives you will never be fooled again.
Btw, am I the only one waiting on pins and needles to hear more about the intensely "conservative" Climate Change ideas of intensely "conservative" Mitt Romney.....
......LOL
Admitted liar and Smear Merchant Chuck: "Just like I never made a racist comment about Ben Carson."
LOL
Chuck, never go Full Northam, even if he is one your fellow lefties!
Chuck said...My own vague recollection is that...
Given Joe's early campaign speechifyin' with seeming denture slippage, someone deserves credit for enabling him to spew "existential"..
Northam's moonwalk will be so perfected by the summer of 2020, even his wife will push him onto the stage.
"I wonder if the contempt we show him is because his Moby pose insults our intelligence."
He's convinced you're just as dumb as he is. Then he keeps getting his head handed to him. And , being short bus stupid, he just keeps running up the penalties. A sad wqste of a mediocre intellect.
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