Trump answers the question "Did the CIA tell you that Ayatollah Jr. is gay?"

"They did say that. I think a lot of people are saying that, which puts him off to a bad start in that particular country. I sort of have to smile to myself when I see people trying to defend the Palestinian regime for women — women for Palestine — but they kill women if... you don't wear a certain cloth all over your face, you have no chance of living. When I look at gays for Palestine  — but they kill gays. The kill 'em instantly. They throw 'em off buildings. And I'm saying, who are the gays for Palestine? They have a significant amount of gays for Palestine. Now... you know, I did very well with the gay vote, okay? I even played the gay national anthem as my walk-off, okay? And I think it probably helped me, but I did great. No Republican has ever gotten the gay vote like I did and I'm very proud of it, I think it's great. Perhaps it is because I'm from New York City, I don't know. But the gay national anthem was my walk-off and I think it probably — but think of it, gays for Palestine, but they kill gays in Palestine. So when they hear that I think probably we can talk about it but it shouldn't be too hard."

If you like Trump answers that contain miscellaneous material, this episode of "The Five" is a feast. If Trump's weave makes you anxious/angry/insane, buckle in.

She was great as the girlfriend to male comedians — Lenny Bruce and W.C. Fields — but she's also perfect as the mother of The Village People....

Goodbye to Valerine Perrine.

NYT obituary: "Valerie Perrine, Screen Siren Who Won Critical Acclaim, Dies at 82/Known early on for skin-baring temptress roles, she later earned rave reviews, a Cannes award and an Oscar nomination for her performance in the Lenny Bruce biopic 'Lenny.'"

Bob Weir's "Bobby shorts" were NOT hot pants.

All respect to Bob Weir. My blog tribute to him is here. But now I need to talk about a NYT article that talks about his pants, his shorts. Here: "Bob Weir, a Virtuoso of Hot Pants/The Grateful Dead guitarist wore short shorts like no other" (NYT).

Okay, I am an expert on this subject... and not because I've been talking about the issue of men in shorts for 20 years. I was there, at ground zero, in the summer of 1971, when the "hot pants" fashion trend peaked. It was the summer after my sophomore year of college, I was 20 years old, and I worked — for what was probably less than $2 an hour — in the juniors department of Lit Brothers department store in Camden county, New Jersey. New hot pants outfits came in every week and we positioned them on the racks near the store entryway so they'd, presumably, mesmerize the passersby. I saw and handled this merchandise in real time. It was not made of denim. It was polyester. It was certainly not cut off and frayed. It had neatly finished edges. And most important, it had a 2-INCH INSEAM.

Now let's look at what that NYT is calling hot pants:

The article leans heavily into the idea that these shorts are really really shorty short. Key language: "chopped-to-the-heavens jean shorts," "Mr. Weir’s shorts were short," "snipped high enough that fans quite a distance from the stage could make out Mr. Weir’s upper thighs," "not Daisy Dukes, they were 'Bobby Shorts,'" "The Bob Weir Inseam... five inches max."

5 inches! 5 inches, you say?! Hot pants had a 2-INCH INSEAM! A woman in shorts with a 5-inch inseam would — in the era of hot pants — have been seen as frumpy and ultra-modest. 

Don't fight with me. I am a 1970s hot-pants purist. I was there. I didn't measure the inseam at the time, but I handled the merchandise, and I've researched the measurement, and the number is 2 inches. You may marvel — I'm marveling now — at how these pants could adequately enclose a woman's crotch, let alone a man's.

I am not taking one more step 'til I know where I'm going.

The South Korean band plays "YMCA" for Trump.

Omg the South Korean band is greeting Trump at the airport with YMCA. 😭

The ultimate sign of respect. pic.twitter.com/Up1DvTcYUO

— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) October 29, 2025

"The Village People song, a Trump rally staple, has become a symbol of the vexing incongruities of MAGA."

"While liberals have attempted to point out the irony of Trump’s use of what is historically considered a gay anthem... [but] the men in this room observed no such irony in the first place. To them Trump is not only pro-gay but a gay icon unto himself, a champion of masculinity in both its traditional and campy forms, as lovable for his flamboyant excess as for his red-meat invective against the left. 'The makeup, the hair, the sharp tongue, the cattiness,' [said Adam Ewer, copresident of the New York City chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans]. 'He’s the gayest president we’ve ever had.'... A gay publicist who only agreed to speak to me anonymously suggested that one reason some gays are drawn to the right wing is that it’s simply more fun. Democrats are the 'most killjoy people on earth,' he said, whereas there’s something 'actually quite gay' about MAGA. 'It’s masculine, but it’s also campy and bitchy.' And in its embrace of trash entertainment and penchant for offense it may have more in common with gay culture than the liberal mainstream, which in the publicist’s view has become 'painfully' middle-class. 'I’ve always liked opera and Jerry Springer, and I feel like Trump—that’s kind of his taste. It’s very high-low.'"

From "My Afternoon With the ‘Normal Gay Guys’ Who Voted for Trump/Gay MAGA is hypermasculine and anti-woke—and it wants a break from the LGBTQ+ movement" by Daniel Lefferts (GQ).

I saw Musk's "Nazi salute" in real time, but failed to jump up and blog it.

Now, it's so old, I'd have to add something of value. I've been thinking of saying about what I'd have said if I'd jumped up right away: He's doing something like blowing a kiss. He's slapping his heart, then throwing it toward the audience, to say my heart goes out to you.

Or what I felt like saying earlier this morning: This is such a social-media meme — so easy to see and comment on that it's working incredibly well as a distraction. Therefore, the Musk/Trump haters are getting conned. And: I wonder if Musk did all this on purpose — to divert critics from the main highway of policy substance into a cultural cul de sac.

But I worked on other things, as you can see below, and even more time passed. I was about to let it go entirely, but then 2 things I saw on X made me laugh, so I'll give you this:

“I still have that throbbing feeling in my ear.”

Said Trump at his rally just now.

LATER: "We have to be protective of our geniuses. But that one is a good one" (about Elon Musk).

AND: It's funny that on the eve of the inauguration, Trump did a campaign-style rally. I remember thinking when he did a rally the night before the election that I was watching his last rally. I remember thinking it must be quite poignant for him. But here he is tonight, re-embodying Trump the Candidate, making the greatest comeback of all time. When it was all over and time to for "YMCA," we got The Village People in person....

"did you guys know I was in the original YMCA music video?!"

Since the @realDonaldTrump YMCA dance is trending and taken the world by storm…did you guys know I was in the original YMCA music video?!
Check it out! So much fun! pic.twitter.com/29EzcE46bg

— Caitlyn Jenner (@Caitlyn_Jenner) November 27, 2024

AND: For the annals of pronoun usage:

God he’s hot

— Caitlyn Jenner (@Caitlyn_Jenner) November 28, 2024

ALSO: That video was clearly influenced by this much more carefully choreographed scene in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes":

Elon Musk presents a montage of himself in pro-Trump mode to the tune of "YMCA."

pic.twitter.com/e9AloDc5y9

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 17, 2024

I note that "YMCA" is an appeal to young men — the words "young man" are repeated over and over.

One minute into the montage, we hear Musk: "President Trump must win to preserve the Constitution. He must win to preserve democracy in America. This is a must win situation. Must win.... Fight. Fight. Fight. Blood coming down the face. Now, America is the home of the brave. And there's no truer test than courage under fire. So who do you want representing America? Yeah. Absolutely."

When it ends we see that it's an ad from the Trump campaign, but I watched the whole thing seeing it as coming directly from Musk. Musk passed it along on X. As such, it is Musk's own speech. 

I'm an old woman, but I can still easily see that this is a strong appeal to young men... especially after the achievement-packed week Musk has had with the rocket, the robots, the robovan. And: "Helene’s aftermath opens new chance — and controversy — for Musk’s Starlink/Elon Musk’s company got regulators’ green light to test out a groundbreaking satellite-based cell service as part of hurricane relief efforts" (WaPo)(free-access link).

“Fill that seat” chant goes up as Trump’s rally begins in North Carolina.

I'm watching on YouTube.

He says his nominee will be a woman.... then takes a poll. Woman or man? Woman wins. By a lot.

“It will be a woman. A very talented, very brilliant woman."

ADDED: He’s still going strong, more than an hour and a half later.

AND: He's finally done. Nearly 2 hours. His closing music is not the usual "You Can't Always Get What You Want" but "YMCA." He got out of the airplane with "Macho Man" playing. The show featured 2 Village People songs.