१६ जुलै, २०२३

Why would Trump debate?

ADDED: I want to see him in the debate, but the reasons against participating are obvious and strong. So join me in brainstorming reasons why he should participate. I'm thinking it would demonstrate courage and confidence — bravado. It would be consistent with a positive image of his character. 

१२२ टिप्पण्या:

Temujin म्हणाले...

There's a chance he could finish off the entire roster in one appearance. If he does this, the entire donating base is his for a year. However, there's a greater chance of an unforced error or errors that give an opening to an aggressive competitor. If that were to happen, he'd have to fight hard and spend money he does not have.

He sees Biden not having to campaign. He's taking a clue from Biden. Limit appearances to what you know you can control.

But for me, the voter- I need to see him onstage going head to head with DeSantis, Haley, Ramaswamy. We don't know unless we get to see them all sparring over identical issues. And I like Ramaswamy in the mix, knowing full well he's not got a chance in hell. But he's smart and good for the conversations.

Michael म्हणाले...


Considering past performance, Trump would come out of primary debates stronger than ever, don't you think?

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Trump's immature name-calling is such a turn off. Like never before.

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

I think it is a mistake not to debate and it will cost him. He clearly knows that any debate will be completely scripted by the other participants and the moderators to try to take him down, but he has demonstrated in the past that this plays to his advantage- it makes him seem the underdog at all times.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Eh - It will be Biden and Trump again.
Two old men. Yeah - one is better - but the other will have a stronger turn-out/mob cheat machine.

Dave Begley म्हणाले...

Trump doesn't want to subject himself to a one-two punch from Ron and Vivek.

I have a terrible feeling that Gavin will beat Trump. The women will vote for Gavin. He looks like a movie star. Forget about his record of failures.

I told the guy who lost to the current mayor of Lincoln the first time she ran was because she looks like a movie star. And she does!

Narayanan म्हणाले...

Are debates = Wrestling or Boxing

Trump is Wrestler??!! Referee/moderator is stage decoration

cassandra lite म्हणाले...

The reasons for him not debating begin and end not with his frontrunner status but with his being unable to articulate coherent responses to policy questions that aren't ad hominems.

The reason for him to debate would be to show the Republican electorate in general that he's devoted to the betterment of the country and not just Donald Trump. But since that's not his agenda, he's wise to stay away. He'll still have his diehard Trumpkins, who cannot be persuaded that their him-or-no one support is destined to reelect Biden or whoever takes his place.

Dave Begley म्हणाले...

Ann's question was: Why should Trump debate.

Answer. He won't be there to respond to what the others will say about him; especially Ron and Chris.

You can't unring a bell.

I hope Trump doesn't show up.

Michael K म्हणाले...


Blogger Hunter Biden's tax payer funded Hooker said...

Eh - It will be Biden and Trump again.
Two old men. Yeah - one is better - but the other will have a stronger turn-out/mob cheat machine.


This is true no matter who the GOP candidate is

narciso म्हणाले...

Tractor rupar trying to explain anything, is a pointless exercise, there should be debates, bwtween candidates, not the gotcha game that fox and other nets engage in,

Breezy म्हणाले...

Biden won’t be debating. Why should he? He is a placeholder candidate right now and will not be the D nominee.

For the exercise, Trump should debate because his brand is MAGA and he should vocalize what this means to everyday citizens wherever possible.

Narayanan म्हणाले...

I saw suggested elsewhere that Trump should invite Challengers to his RALLIES

to face questions from his 'MAGALODYTES'

Sebastian म्हणाले...

"reasons why he should participate"

So actual voters can better judge his "arguments" on the merits?

Won't happen, of course, and a portion of the GOP base is eager to run it back and lose again regardless.

Narayanan म्हणाले...

Did not Reagan >> I am pay for this microphone

wild chicken म्हणाले...

Didn't he skip a few in 2016 too? Didn't seem to hurt and made him look special.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

coronation

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

What Trump could do (he won't) is invite all the challengers to a studio without an audience or moderators and have a real debate with each speaker getting 5 minutes at a go for 3-4 hours. That I would watch, and the primary voters would actually learn something.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Cassandra lite = 100% that.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Trump can insult his way to the White House. Like Never Before.
Who needs a coherent articulate adult - when we can have man-baby ego. Like Never Before.

Big Mike म्हणाले...

ADDED: I want to see him in the debate, but the reasons against participating are obvious and strong. So join me in brainstorming reasons why he should participate.

A blogger who is open in her dislike of Republicans in general and Ronald Trump in particular wants to see him participate in the debate. There is no more obvious reason needed for him to skip the debate than that. As in, if it’s good for Althouse then it must be bad for the good guys. But thanks anyway for the concern trolling.

Lem Vibe Bandit म्हणाले...

Yeah no.

In another life Trump was a real estate developer. There are too many bidders right now.

rehajm म्हणाले...

If you apply the strategy from back when we had fairer elections…if you have a lead you show up to prevent the closest competitors from gaining traction- step on their necks as it were. If you have a huge lead you don’t show up since the losers on the stage are running for second place if you’re not there and everyone there- candidates, moderators, hand-picked audience members are all all there to get rid of you and you give them fodder to work with by showing up…

rehajm म्हणाले...

I’m disappointed so many of you are still willing to play the pretend election game. Go ahead and keep posting your crazy fantasy scenarios, just try not to be too upset when you end up on the pile with all the JFK hold outs…

Narayanan म्हणाले...

is not the claim that debates are useful filters to REVEAL worthy candidates = SQUIRREll [don't look at who is counting the votes]

traditionalguy म्हणाले...

This is his third campaign. The others need to get airtime. DJT can keep having his rallies with 80K cheering him for an hour instead of 10 apiece minutes shared with 10 foes all targeting him.

Political Junkie म्हणाले...

I agree with our hostess. Trump has no need to debate. But he can go to "give the peons a chance to go after the king".

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

If he doesn't debate, the debate will have such a low profile, it won't matter.

He'll be everyone's target, whether he's there or not, and it's far more interesting if he is there. But what's in it for him? He'd mostly just be giving all of them a chance to make it big by taking the best shot against him. You know, like Marco Rubio did that time when he taunted him for having a small penis.

tim maguire म्हणाले...

Debates don’t offer much advantage to a clear front runner, but Trump thrives on spectacle and the free publicity that comes of owning the news cycle. The debate is millions of eyeballs he doesn’t have to pay for.

Eva Marie म्हणाले...

Why should Trump debate the candidates vying to be his VP choice?

Gahrie म्हणाले...

All candidates should participate in debates. There are times when it is in a politician's self-interests to not debate, but there is never a time when it is in the public's interest to not have a debate.

Bob Boyd म्हणाले...

Big, bad wolf pack invites the pig in the brick house over to their den for dinner.

John henry म्हणाले...

Boxing v wrestling is a good metaphor.

But take it a step further. What kind of wrestling?

Professional wrestling is an athletic event but not a contest. It is preprogrammed and scripted. The (real) athleticism is made to look even more dramatic than it. The winner is predetermined weeks or months in advance.

Real wrestling, hs, college, olympics, is a true contest between more or less equally matched contestants.

So which is a debate like this?

John Henry

Jupiter म्हणाले...

The ridiculous gotcha sessions orchestrated by media STASI functionaries are not "debates". A "debate" occurs when two or more people present arguments on a specific, agreed topic. It is not in Trump's interest -- or ours -- to give some wholly-owned regime shill an opportunity to score random points against him.

planetgeo म्हणाले...

I agree that the politically smart thing for Trump to do is to not debate. But this isn't an election for some minor government position, it's for President of the United States, our Commander-in-Chief and leader of the free world. Hopefully there are still quite a few people, and I'm one of them, who want and expect the person who aspires to become that leader to openly take on all challengers and publicly champion the values and policies that the country and the world need right now. I'm not interested in the clever or smart choice. I want, and this country needs, the brave and the right choice.

That is precisely why he should debate all comers, because that's what a really leader and champion would do.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

When Trump is on stage - it becomes the Trump name-calling-his-rivals show. His supporters love that. The rest of the nation find it tiresome.

Big Mike म्हणाले...

Donald Trump (at 10:14), not Ronald. Damn, I’m a lousy proofreader.

rhhardin म्हणाले...

but the reasons against participating are obvious and strong.

And now the storm blast came, and he
Was tyrannous and strong:
He struck with his o'ertaking wings,
And chased us south along.

rcocean म्हणाले...

I think Yancey is right. Trump should say he's willing to debate if its a serious one. Which means NOT having some Never-trumper "fake conservative" Fox News host asking the same loaded MSM questions. Or cutting Trump off, or debating him (ala Chris Wallace).

It also means NOT having a bunch of pathetic Trump-hating candidates with 1-3 percent of the vote, using their time to bash Trump or talk about things most Republicans don't care about. And NOT having a debate with 7 other candidates all shouting and quarelling with each other.

Trump was POTUS for 4 years. We don't need to see a debate to know what he's for and against. He's a known quantity.

Here's what would like to see: Tucker Carlson sitting down with DeSantis and Trump and having a serious 1 hour discussion.

Final Point: This clip shows why I hate Cable TV news shows. You have Trump talking about the debate and immediately some FOX Producer flashes The time and date of the debate on screen. Distracting. Then trump starts doing his usual exaggeration & sales puffery on how far he's ahead. So, the FOX producer decides he's going to Fact-check Trump he real time and flashes on the screen "trump is ahead by 34 points". Fuck you asshole. I don't need you correcting Trump while he's talking!

But all these Network TV producers do this crap. They can't let you just watch and listen to what's being said. They have to Flash things on the screen to DIRECT YOU to think about what they want you to think.

rcocean म्हणाले...

Its really sad to see the same liberal democrats in this comment section pretending to be CONCERNED about the Republicans winning. If only we could get nasty ol' Trump outta the way. Then a reasonable Republican would win. LOL.

You can always tell a RINO fake Conservative by how often he attacks Trump vs. how often he attacks the Liberal/Left. David French "Mr. True Conservative" is a perfect example. which is why he has a NYT's column. Others who post here show the same behavior.

rehajm म्हणाले...

When Trump is on stage - it becomes the Trump name-calling-his-rivals show. His supporters love that. The rest of the nation find it tiresome.

Some love it, some tolerate it- it's neither here nor there. The key point is- Trump's supporters find the 'rest of the nation' tiresome...nay, they're fucking sick and tired. Trump may not have enough supporters to prevent the steal again but it is a very large group...

Jarndyce म्हणाले...

If Trump doesn’t debate, it will weaken his case for complaining when “Biden” (or whoever is pulling his strings) doesn’t want to debate in the general election.

fairmarketvalue म्हणाले...

Gahrie said:

“All candidates should participate in debates. There are times when it is in a politician's self-interests to not debate, but there is never a time when it is in the public's interest to not have a debate.”

The validity of your statement depends on what the definition of “debate” is. These so-called debates are really nothing more than mini press conferences that allow the “moderator” to decide the agenda and who will be the target of gotcha questions. The participants themselves are limited to a couple of minutes talking points past each other on the selected topic. An Oxford Debate (or Lincoln-Douglas debate) it’s not, and I see very little value in a candidate participating in one or voters watching the proceedings.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

What is Trump afraid of?

rehajm म्हणाले...

The age of meaningful relevance of Presidential debates has long since past. The debates are stupid. Running for President shouldn't be a live TV bake-off...

Freder Frederson म्हणाले...

He'd mostly just be giving all of them a chance to make it big by taking the best shot against him. You know, like Marco Rubio did that time when he taunted him for having a small penis.

And Trump, of course, never taunts anyone. He is so above that.

The Republican Primary is a clown car with Trump as Pogo. (And if the Michael K.'s and Drago's of the world can call anyone they disagree with a pedophile, I should be able to get away with that.)

madAsHell म्हणाले...

Don’t they always script a surprise in the debate?........for the Republican.

Think Candy Crowley at CNN.

It’s not a debate. It’s a scripted game show.

The debate reveals nothing about the candidates, but it tells you everything about the networks.

Drago म्हणाले...

planetgeo: "That is precisely why he should debate all comers, because that's what a really leader and champion would do."

Under what debate conditions?

rcocean gets it right at 11:48am.

rcocean gets it very right again at 11:52am.

J Melcher म्हणाले...

Trump should participate by declaring that one of the alternative candidates would be his choice for a VP slot. (Which is often the reason a senator or governor makes the play for the presidency, anyhow. Bob Dole comes to mind...)

I wouldn't mind a Trump/DeSantis ticket. I wouldn't mind if Ron were the presidential candidate and Don the Veep. Actually, I prefer Ron to do all the executive stuff and Don to do all the political bombastic stuff.

Oh well, I didn't get Scott Walker back in 2016 and I suppose I won't get a Don/Ron choice in 2024. Obviously I'm not in charge.

Narayanan म्हणाले...

Trump will be everyone's target, whether he's there or not,
============
after he is 'killed' why is it no R candidate wants to wear his pelt? and eat his brain, heart and organs!

Drago म्हणाले...

rcocean: "Here's what would like to see: Tucker Carlson sitting down with DeSantis and Trump and having a serious 1 hour discussion."

This is the ticket and should be the ONLY debate format in which Trump agrees to participate.

The rest of the establishment backed embarrassments the RINOs love can meet with all their fans in a smallish high school gym somewhere and wax eloquent on the need to keep Ukraine as our number 1 funding priority as well as how the GOP should just go Full Paul Ryan/David French and surrender on all social issues across the board.

Ampersand म्हणाले...

Some commenters here lambaste others as RINOs, which is to say inauthentic Republicans. I'm sure many such people exist, especially at the NYT op-ed page. But there's a problem with the accusation. If being Republican is the same as being a Trump supporter (as the accusers imply), then the Republican party is a cult of personality, and a cult of a very clearly flawed personality at that. I agree with many of Trump's policies, and he is occasionally quite shrewd,but how can you fail to see Trump's childishness and ineptitude?

Drago म्हणाले...

Field Marshall Freder: "The Republican Primary is a clown car with Trump as Pogo. (And if the Michael K.'s and Drago's of the world can call anyone they disagree with a pedophile, I should be able to get away with that.)"

Those people that support policies that enable the sexualizing of young students are Groomer Enablers and those that carry out those groomer activities are....groomers.

The founders and henchmen of the Lincoln Pedophile Project actively covered for a known pedophile.

It is not surprising in the least that a lefty like Field Marshall Freder is very uncomfortable with accurate labeling of his political allies.

Unfortunately for Freder and the rest of the enablers, the jig is up and you cant put that child sexualizing, child grooming, child sterilizing and child physical mutilation policies of the dems/left/LLR-left back in the bottle.

West TX Intermediate Crude म्हणाले...

The Deep State will run Biden, and, just to rub our noses in it some more, their candidate will decline to participate in the traditional debate. They will say that he's been pres for 4 years, WYSIWYG. In reality, they know they have the outcome fixed.
There will be no debates between R and D in 2024.
No need for Trump waste his time with Tucker- Debates are now a thing of the past.

Bender म्हणाले...

As someone who voted for him twice and is eternally grateful for many of his accomplishments, Trump would do himself a favor if he could show JUST ONE TIME that he can act like a man and not be an obnoxious ass.

Regardless, even if I were convinced to vote a third time for this old man loser who has attacked everyone who ever worked for him and alienates his supporters on a regular basis, when typically you only get my vote twice, not enough others will.

Bender म्हणाले...

each speaker getting 5 minutes at a go for 3-4 hours

Each speaker wouldn't get 20 seconds into that 5 minutes before Trump would be interrupting him or making some other dick move.

Drago म्हणाले...

J Melcher: "Oh well, I didn't get Scott Walker back in 2016..."

Walker was perfectly situated to be the populist, outsider non-DC type candidate in 2016.

But you didnt get Walker back then because he hired all the establishment, inside the beltway, absolutely non-Trumpy "respectable" types he could as political consultants, including loser George Will's loser wife, and those consultants convinced Walker to become an utter and complete squish on every policy that Walker should have doubled down on in the race.

Result? Within just a couple months it was as if Walker had never existed at all.

But hey, you can bet those consultants were paid top dollar for their efforts!

And in the end, getting paid and remaining "acceptable" in the eyes of the dems and legacy media are all that ever matters to the GOPe consultant class.

Narayanan म्हणाले...

Professional wrestling is an athletic event but not a contest. It is preprogrammed and scripted. The (real) athleticism is made to look even more dramatic than it. The winner is predetermined weeks or months in advance.
==========
by now with message massaging isn't time to substitute Politics for wrestling in above?

Political Junkie म्हणाले...

Biden v. RFK is what I want to see. Too bad it will not happen. I think Biden would exceed expectations (since they are so low, only upside surprise is possible), but RFK would stand tall and get off some zingers.

paminwi म्हणाले...

Isn’t this debate sponsored by the RNC?
Had Trump yet signed their doc saying he will support whoever the candidate is?
If he hasn’t signed the doc he shouldn’t be ALLOWED on the stage if the sponsor is the RNC.
BUT, whatever will Ronna do then? She’s a horrible leader and IMO will cave to whatever Trump wants.

Narayanan म्हणाले...

Debate was never much in my mental framework except as curiosity.

In Atlas Shrugged: Dagny Taggart declines to debate Bertram Scudder about Rearden Metal
[similar to climate scenario in current age??!!]

I do not even know what style of debate that would have been?!

Oxford Debate or Lincoln-Douglas debate

please pitch in

Michael K म्हणाले...

The Republican Primary is a clown car with Trump as Pogo. (And if the Michael K.'s and Drago's of the world can call anyone they disagree with a pedophile, I should be able to get away with that.)

I only call those who support grooming of small children pedophiles because most of them are. Poor Freder. Maybe you prefer older boys.

Deep State Reformer म्हणाले...

Waste of time. American elections have been "fortified for democracy" by the Democrats, and that along with the decline in the White population, has made the GOP a nonentity on the national level. From 2004 onward no GOP candidate has won both the popular vote and the EC. And the pop vote margins of these GOP losses are getting larger. I believe the evidence shows that the Republicans will not win the office of president ever again. Who the GOP picks to lose these elections is pointless. A distraction only.

Michael K म्हणाले...


A blogger who is open in her dislike of Republicans in general and Ronald Trump in particular wants to see him participate in the debate.


I tend to agree with this but I also agree that a more fair debate format would be attractive. Megyn Kelly destroyed her career but got a Murdoch approved shot at Trump in the first "debate." Trump is a counter puncher. He rarely, if ever, attacks someone who has not attacked him first.

John henry म्हणाले...

I'd love to see pedjt do a panel discussion with rfk Jr. Not a debate per se, more of a moderated conversation. Moderator to be jointly agreed.

Minimal moderation, just enough to keep the conversation on track, prevent one from trying to dominate the other, perhaps suggest topics.

I sometimes think that Rfk as a vp candidate with pedjt would be interesting. A "fusion" bipartisan ticket

With the understanding that rfk would be a full time senate president with free rein.

Just enough intercourse with the executive branch to be prepared to fulfill his other constitutional duty in event of need.

It would be interesting but I wonder if it would be a good idea.

Mike (MJB Wolf) म्हणाले...

The reasons he should are so much fewer than the obverse.

Aggie म्हणाले...

I don't think Trump needs to participate in a debate with so many potential traps - in the same way that I wouldn't think, say, a Tyrannosaurus Rex would need to compete in a pushup contest. I so think he has taken a pointer from Joe Biden's Basement Campaign, and realized it can work for him too, but in a different way.

cubanbob म्हणाले...

As it has been mentioned above thread Trump has been a president and his views on the issues are known. There is upside for him to debate the swarm. There is no upside for the primary voters as the debates will be about Trump and which of them is better than Trump or more electable than Trump. None of the candidates attacking Trump will argue against any of Trump's policies. So it will just be a personality bash and no actual policy substance. An interesting debate would have each of those candidates state their positions on Trump's major policies while he was president. But since that isn't going to happen, why would Trump bother.

gadfly म्हणाले...

William Occam's enduring contribution from medieval times is the logical principle that bears his name, Occam’s razor, which cuts keenly into today’s election controversy. He teaches that the simplest explanation that fits observable facts is probably the nearest to the truth.

The observable facts for Trump's third time around the mountain are preceded by "what was.". Trump the politician won round one thanks to James Comey's last-minute hit on Hillary Clinton, who was a shaky over-the-hill candidate from the beginning of the 2016 election campaign. Round two was Donald Trump's dependence on his dominance of the Republican Party which ended when the believer headcount wasn't sufficient to win it all. In the first two efforts, Democrat vote counts were higher than the GOP votes, particularly with help from Never Trumpers and Independents.

According to George Will, the 2024 Republican nomination question was supposed to be: Could anyone harpoon the Great Orange Whale? The nation is dispirited by the prospect of an all-too-familiar binary choice between two old men, Joe Biden and Trump.

Will hits the nail on the head: "Trump, as stale as a month-old crust of sourdough, is running to win the 2020 election. His crybaby crusade might cause even his star-spangled supporters to wonder how to square their proclaimed love of the nation with their hero’s insistence that it is so saturated with corruption that his landslide win could be erased without a peep from courts. Including some with his — how sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless judge — appointees."

What all this means is that political prophecy is optional folly but jail time solves the problem.

Godot म्हणाले...

Ann Althouse said...
If he doesn't debate, the debate will have such a low profile, it won't matter.

It will matter to the big money donors.

Breezy म्हणाले...

Never ceases to amaze me how the people who complain about Trump’s boorishness, name-calling, and combativeness have no issue with Biden’s corruption, bullying, lying, name-calling, and child sniffing antics which make you want to vomit.
Can we just call the personality downsides even and focus on the policies? We’re clearly not going to get a Reagan-like statesman for President in 2024. (Newsom is a joke, given the problems CA has - no one wants that situation exported nationally).

Readering म्हणाले...

Biden given an excuse to skip if Trump successfully skips.

loudogblog म्हणाले...

I do not want Trump to be elected again. I'm a Libertarian and I don't like the major candidates that either major party put up.

Also, as Libertarian, I support free speech and don't think highly of candidates that duck debates. (Which is an expression of free speech.)

The thing about modern Presidential debates is that candidates don't gain ground by doing a good job in the debates; they get pilloried in the media by making a mistake or gaff in the debates. So there is little upside to participating in a debate.

So not participating is the safe move. But I don't want a President who always plays it safe.

loudogblog म्हणाले...

Michael said...

"Considering past performance, Trump would come out of primary debates stronger than ever, don't you think?"

Actually, no. Trump took everyone by surprise in 2016. The other candidates are wise to his debate style now.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

I hope he doesn't debate.

Doug म्हणाले...

Trump, by virtue of his overwhelming early poll numbers, has earned the right not to have to mix it up with the minor leaguers like Christie, Burgam, Pence. They have nothing to lose, and would love to just fling Shyt at Trump just to secure the love of their MSM devotees.

Doug म्हणाले...

Trump, by virtue of his overwhelming early poll numbers, has earned the right not to have to mix it up with the minor leaguers like Christie, Burgam, Pence. They have nothing to lose, and would love to just fling Shyt at Trump just to secure the love of their MSM devotees.

Drago म्हणाले...

Once again, gadfly should simply post the links for the content he continuously plaigarizes...much like his hero Joe Biden has done many times in the past.

Drago म्हणाले...

Ampersand: "If being Republican is the same as being a Trump supporter (as the accusers imply),..."

It was not implied.

Therefore, your "conclusion" drawn from an incorrect premise is safely disregarded.

Those GOP politicians that do not remotely represent the clear desires of the vast majority of republican base voters and, in fact, clearly demonstrate a level of revulsion of those same voters, are RINO's.

They are either more aligned directly with the democraticals themselves or with a governing class "uniparty" that only alliws for the permanent ever-leftward ratcheting of American domestic and foreign policy and are more than happy to work with the dems to crush republicans: see The Tea Party (looking at you Mitch/Ryan) and the GOPe-ers that happily, knowingly, gleefully enabled the russia collusion hoaxes and went along with the BS sham-peachments.

Going back just a tad further, John McCain represented the first time in modern US political history that a candidate for the Presidency actually actively disliked and insulted his party's base voters....over and over again.

Followed by Romney who spends most of his time now vouching publicly for Joe Biden's honor and integrity.

But yeah, Trump is the problem.

Uh huh.

Gunner म्हणाले...

Trump's "sales puffery" or "exaggerating" is what gets him into a lot of his stupid squabbles.

One example: the whole Inauguration Size stupidity of 2017. All he had to say is that he had the most views counting television and internet watchers, instead of the actual physical people present. Or he could have dismissed it and said that the reason his crowd was smaller is because his supporters aren't unemployed Democrat losers.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

2016 - The media gave Trump all sorts of positive platform and air-time. That has changed not just a little, but 100%. The media smothered all the R candidates and pimped Trump. The media tell us who they want. It changes each election.

Remember Mika and Joe on Microsoft NBC? 2016 - They practically shoved their tongues straight down Trump's throat.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Yancey said:

"What Trump could do (he won't) is invite all the challengers to a studio without an audience or moderators and have a real debate with each speaker getting 5 minutes at a go for 3-4 hours. That I would watch, and the primary voters would actually learn something."

Yeah. I'd like to see Trump call DeSantis all his nasty immature names right to DeSantis' face.
Meatball Ron DeSanctimonious etc..

Iman म्हणाले...

Rupar is PattyRico’s go-to leftwing sniveler.

gspencer म्हणाले...

Trump has already made the playoffs and to boot has a bye for the first round.

farmgirl म्हणाले...

Skipping a debate is also supporting free speech- he’s not trying to cancel the others out. Freedom is being able to make that decision. I’m not advocating chaos- “freedom of all things all the time”… he has a right to do as he sees fit.

Quaestor म्हणाले...

The first debate will consist mainly of hopeless ciphers like Mike Pence, who torpedoed his shadow of an illusion of a figment of a travesty of a mockery of a sham of a parody of two caricatures of a sham campaign amidships by his foolish performance with Tucker Carlson. Pence and the other hopeless hopefuls will have nothing to do but throw mud at the frontrunners. And there's also Tim Scott. There's nothing to be gained by debating Scott. If he stumbles badly, which is likely given his track record, not being on the stage when that happens is the advantageous position. It's good advice for all frontrunners and incumbents, but especially Trump: Skip the early debates.

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

Trump would have to be insane to have RFK Jr. or any other Democrat as his VP. In the unlikely event he and said Democrat won the 2024 election, the Democrats would have the assassins already hired and waiting to kill him.

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

"Each speaker wouldn't get 20 seconds into that 5 minutes before Trump would be interrupting him or making some other dick move."

Even better, unless, of course, you don't think the other candidates aren't up to the job of countering such behavior.

Quaestor म्हणाले...

Rotwang's Cabana Boy writes, "I should be able to get away with that."

Just for the record, Frederkins, what is your position on pedophilia? (Don't be shy, many of your fellow progressives are favorable to ambivalent if not practicing "minor-attracted persons" themselves.)

Mason G म्हणाले...

"But yeah, Trump is the problem."

Hell, yeah.

He's the problem for all those RINOs who he's exposed as "not really conservative" by any reasonable measure. They don't care for the exposure, not that that'll have any effect on their actions.

"Trump's "sales puffery" or "exaggerating" is what gets him into a lot of his stupid squabbles."

Is there any politician anywhere, whose comments are as minutely disassembled and analyzed in order to find inconsistencies as Trump's?

I'll wait...

gilbar म्हणाले...

looks like Mike Pence is having trouble meeting the debate benchmarks..
He's got Plenty of money (from corporations, like Raytheon); but is having trouble connecting with Actual American People. You'd think that his work in Iowa would be helping him more..
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2023/07/14/tucker_carlson_to_mike_pence_america_is_falling_apart_and_youre_concerned_ukraine_doesnt_have_enough_tanks.html

Tucker: "Where's the concern for the United States?"
Pence: "That's not my concern. Tucker I've heard this routine from you before. That's not my concern."

People will say, that "i'm taking him out of context". Which is probably true, ALL i did is LISTEN TO MIKE PENCE when he talked. And THAT'S what he said

Mason G म्हणाले...

"Yeah. I'd like to see Trump call DeSantis all his nasty immature names right to DeSantis' face.
Meatball Ron DeSanctimonious etc.."


Maybe Ron could explain why he chose to run for president after telling people that he wouldn't be running.

Drago म्हणाले...

HBTPFH: "Yeah. I'd like to see Trump call DeSantis all his nasty immature names right to DeSantis' face.
Meatball Ron DeSanctimonious etc.."

And then what?

Drago म्हणाले...

Hunter Biden's tax payer funded Hooker: "2016 - The media gave Trump all sorts of positive platform and air-time."

Yes we all remember the non-stop media support for Trump in the 2016 general election campaign......

This, ladies and gentlemen, is a solid example of the insane rewriting of history pushed by the DeSantis supporters. Precisely as predicted.

How many early cocktails does one need to consume to declare the legacy media coverage performance of Trump in the 2016 general election "positive platform and airtime"?

It gets worse:

HBTPFH: "Remember Mika and Joe on Microsoft NBC? 2016 - They practically shoved their tongues straight down Trump's throat."

Feel free to post some links to these "tongue down throats" media sessions from the general election campaign.

Drago म्हणाले...

Gunner: "One example: the whole Inauguration Size stupidity of 2017. All he had to say is that he had the most views counting television and internet watchers, instead of the actual physical people present. Or he could have dismissed it and said that the reason his crowd was smaller is because his supporters aren't unemployed Democrat losers."

Sounds very important.

Meanwhile, at that very moment the entire GOPe were conniving with the democraticals and deep state actors to weaponize the entire federal government against a duly elected President and accuse that duly elected of being a foreign controlled asset, a traitor and set that duly elected President up for unlimited constraining and corrupted investigations and eventual impeachment and removal from office.

But yeah, that whole crowd size thing was the real outrage.

Next up: Trump really did get 2 scoops of ice cream while the FBI was lying to the FISA court to continue spying on Trump, Trump's family and Trump's administration.

Which of these things was more important?

Duh! The ice cream scoops!

Its good to keep it all in perspective that things were going so fantastically well for the republicams and republican base voters until that darn Trump showed up and messed up a good thing!

That dummy Trump even insisted on NATO "allies" paying their agreed upon fair share of dues! What a buffoon!

Thank goodness the lawfare teams will soon remove Trump and set DeSantis up for a well deserved massive win!

Then its right back to the "Winner's Circle" for the GOPe baby! And lots more funding for Ukraine and zero for our border!

rcocean म्हणाले...

One example: the whole Inauguration...

I wonder about people who make this sort of point. Are they dishonest liberals trying to beat Trump with any stick that's handy, or are they unable to understand how the MSM and the Democrats have been treating Trump for the last 7 years?

Assuming its the later, I'll clue them in. Trump is attacked 24/7/365 by the Demcocrats and the MSM. When they can't seize on some Trump error, they lie about him and make crap up. They will attack Trump NO MATTER WHAT HE DOES OR SAYS. He doesn't "give them ammo" because they are going to provide their own ammo and shoot at him NO MATTER WHAT.

They hate Trump and his supporters. They aren't attacking him because he "makes errors", they are attacking him because they hate his policies and his actions.

When people attack Trump, instead of his enemies, are they really on the other side or just goddamn stupid? You make the call.

iowan2 म्हणाले...

Cassandra lite

Trump doesn't do white papers. He has core principles he uses to make decisions. They are not base on focus groups. They are focused of getting results.

Consider the Abrahm Accords...a great start if the principle was continued to be followed. Trump focuses on results, life long politicians, like DeSantis, focus on getting re-elected.

iowan2 म्हणाले...

Hunter Biden's tax payer funded Hooker said...

Yeah. I'd like to see Trump call DeSantis all his nasty immature names right to DeSantis' face.Meatball Ron DeSanctimonious etc.


Trump does his own wet work. Is far from the worst politician to engage in crude name calling. LBJ comes to mind. But most just have their acolytes do their dirty work.

Michael K म्हणाले...

Will hits the nail on the head: "

Why gadfly is an idiot. Will is years past his "sell by" date.

Drago म्हणाले...

Quaestor: "And there's also Tim Scott. There's nothing to be gained by debating Scott."

Anybody wondering why Tim Scott "jumped" (was pushed) into the race when the former Gov of SC was already in the race?

Because it became quite clear quite quickly Nikki wasn't going to be able to put any dent into Trump's vote total to help Ron across the finish line in the SC primary.

Unfortunately, Tim isn't doing much better and after his over the top, nothingness on stilts consultant-massaged answers to Tucker's questions not much has changed there.

Maybe Rove and company can get both Lindsay and Trey Gowdy to jump in as well to try and dilute the Trump support there.

The same thing with that Miami ("my-chami"!) mayor who was pushed into the race after it became clear Ron wasn't pulling enough latino support away from Trump when the expectation was Ron would pull 35% of the latino vote in a primary.........nope.

On top of all that we have the shenanigans of the GOPe led CA GOP trying to change the "winner take all"/"winner take most" delegate rule based on a really rather pathetic lie regarding what "had to happen" based on the primary date change in order to help prop up a DeSantis campaign that once believed it could cruise to victory in the CA primary.

Even Harmeet really harmed her rep with her performance on that one.

I am afraid Ron has been hogtied by the DC political class because Ron cant do it on his own, assuming he might even want to, and he has to stand there, hat in hand, answering to the usual suspects.

We'll never know now what might have been.

Just like Scott Walker in 2016.

Narayanan म्हणाले...

simple explanation for Trump bombast ??? chum/squirrrrrelll to keep sharks circling

or find out who are sharks and who are friendlies!!

[I wonder if Trump know Cyrano in another life]

Saint Croix म्हणाले...

I think he should skip multiple debates and then surprise everybody by showing up to one unannounced.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

MSNBC's "Morning Joe" co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski argued Thursday that they had not been accommodating to Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign -- an attempt at revisionist history contradicted by hours of footage from their own show.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

The Leftists remember Joe and Mika's soft-touch with Trump. and they are bitter.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Drago - McCain Romney Ryan McConnnell Cuck. repeat 100 times.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Drago
"and then what"?

You shout how impressed you are with your bubble gum card name-calling super hero - slayer of cucks everywhere. (*Swamp draining not included)

Rusty म्हणाले...

Freder Frederson said...
"He'd mostly just be giving all of them a chance to make it big by taking the best shot against him. You know, like Marco Rubio did that time when he taunted him for having a small penis.

And Trump, of course, never taunts anyone. He is so above that.

The Republican Primary is a clown car with Trump as Pogo. (And if the Michael K.'s and Drago's of the world can call anyone they disagree with a pedophile, I should be able to get away with that.)"
Freder. You voted for Biden. Which kinda makes you an idiot. You'll understand why you're not taken seriously.

Drago म्हणाले...

Drago: "and then what"?

HBTPFH: "You shout how impressed you are with your bubble gum card name-calling super hero - slayer of cucks everywhere. (*Swamp draining not included)"

As expected. You dont ever have a real secondary thought, do you?..

...which makes sense given the vacuity of your primary comments.

But keep it up. You aren't doing anything worse than DeSantis' incompetent GOPe "minders" and handlers.

Drago म्हणाले...

Hunter Biden's tax payer funded Hooker: "Drago - McCain Romney Ryan McConnnell Cuck. repeat 100 times."

That's rich coming from the Queen of Redundancy.

And I know how terribly upset you get when anyone dares to criticize your GOPe heroes as they sell us all out to their dem allies.

You'll just have to find a way to deal with that because any number of posters are not going to give your GOPe "gods" any slack.

Better buck up tiger and maybe launch another donation DeSantis' way as he is currently lacking a significant number of small donors.

Drago म्हणाले...

HBTPFH, I couldn't help but notice that your 2 links provided precisely zero video clips or links to video clips that prove your assertion regarding Joe and Mika and Trump during the 2016 general election.

Precisely zero.

Congratulations! That's a real Jeb-like low energy performance on your part.

Again.

And no, I dont care if my making fun of Jeb, a DeSantis backer, irritates you.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Youtube(D) scrubbed them - but here they are, Drag queen

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Trump or no one Drago - aka Trumpswab

"And I know how terribly upset you get when anyone dares to criticize your GOPe heroes as they sell us all out to their dem allies."

LOL - mmkay.

Drago म्हणाले...

Hunter Biden's tax payer funded Hooker: "Youtube(D) scrubbed them - but here they are, Drag queen"

LOL!

Have you been drinking early again?

Give us links to videos of the media cozying up to Trump during the GENERAL election. That was the challenge.

Maybe you dont know what the GENERAL election means which is why you posted a link to a video from January of 2016, months before the first GOP PRIMARY contest!

Its very clear now why it is you had no clue about DeSantis' congressional record and alignment with Paul Ryan.

The saddest part: even after having it pointed out you still probably never looked into it.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

To be clear Drago- you are claiming that Mika and Joe did NOT give Trump the soft and glowing treatment in 2016. Got it.

Whatever you say Trumpswab.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Drago - Stick with your dick-stepping fat old celebrity - the man who never drained the swamp.

We understand your man-crush on Trump is eternal. That you would argue over the FACT that Mika and Joe gave Trump positive platform in 2016, and then flipped against him - which is a known fact - is a strange way to show your blind faith adoration in Trumpie. Enjoy.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

and like a leftie - you change the subject to your other rank hate-filled obsession - DeSantis.

Drago म्हणाले...

Flip-side Inga/Hunter Biden's tax payer funded Hooker: "To be clear Drago- you are claiming that Mika and Joe did NOT give Trump the soft and glowing treatment in 2016. Got it."

LOL

No, you don't "got it". You are trying to change "it", because you are an idiot.

You were challenged to provide an example of legacy media suck-uppery during the GENERAL election.

You said you could.

But you can't.

So you tried to pawn off a pre-primary link as a general election example.

Because you have the logical reasoning ability of a distracted 13 year old.

So now you're off and running on other tangents.

There are no examples of legacy media sucking up to Trump during the general election campaign...and that probably gives you the "sads" as your rewrite of history takes another hit.

It wont be the last.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Drago - I never specified "GENERAL" election. You did. LOL.

You're an odd little Trump obsessed troll.

Drago म्हणाले...

Hunter Biden's tax payer funded Hooker: "Drago - I never specified "GENERAL" election."

LOL

Game over.

Greg the Class Traitor म्हणाले...

Biden isn't going to want to debate Trump, because by October 2024 he'll be so deep into dementia that he can't manage it.

And chicken-shit Trump, would wouldn't debate his Republican competitors because he was afraid to, will be sitting there whining about Biden not debating him.

Which no one will listen to or care about, because Trump already set the precedent.

This move is the kind of thing you would expect from a loser who wants to win the Primary, and doesn't care at all about winning teh General Election. Because someone who did care about winning teh General Election would not set up precedents that will hurt him during that race

Greg the Class Traitor म्हणाले...

Ann Althouse said...
But what's in it for him? He'd mostly just be giving all of them a chance to make it big by taking the best shot against him.

Well, if he's a "he fights" alpha male, who goes there to punch back against those who punch him.

If he's a chickshit loser then he just "punches back" at internet randos on social media.

By refusing to go to the debate, he's saying he's afraid people will land telling blows on him that he won't be able to respond to.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Drago

Game over for you.