A lot of stuff happened this weekend, and while I don’t think any of it will change the dynamics of the race, which sees Kamala Harris was a small but decisive advantage, it’s still worth discussing.
First off: There was another attempt on Donald Trump’s life. I’m not going to downplay it — a guy managed to make it onto Donald Trump’s golf course with an AR-15. It doesn’t matter what the guy’s politics are — he was a disillusioned Trump voter who apparently backed Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy, was anti-vax, and allegedly recruited people to fight in Ukraine’s war against Russia — the guy was a nutter. He was another mentally ill crackpot conspiracy theorist. He shouldn’t have been able to purchase an AR-15, but it was Trump’s policies that made it possible.
With the state of the world what it is, this is a one-day news story. It’s a shame, though, because before some nutcase tried to kill the former President, Trump was having lousy weekend, politically speaking. An assassination attempt was the only thing that was going to be able to shift focus off of Trump’s deranged tweet yesterday morning. The man apparently woke up, rolled over in his bed, picked up his phone, and decided to post, ‘I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT’ to Truth Social.
The whole thing was laughable and ripe for mockery. But also, we can’t put a guy who is that easily triggered in charge of the military. We can’t! He stews and stews until he explodes, and he wouldn’t have any advisors left to tell him no when he decided to, for instance, arrest David Muir and Linsey Davis because they fact-checked him during a debate.
While Trump was hating on Swift, JD Vance was making the rounds on the morning shows, where he straight-up admitted that he makes up stories — like the one about Haitians eating cats — to draw attention to what he claims to be bigger issues the media ignores. That made-up story has led to bomb threats, school evacuations, the Proud Boys marching through Springfield, Ohio, parents keeping their children home from school out of fear for their lives, and the cancellation of a diversity festival. Again, these are legal immigrants. JD Vance and Donald Trump do not care. JD Vance is throwing gasoline on a fire he started in his own state instead of trying to help.
The polling post debate continues to trend toward Harris, too. A series of polls from ABC News yesterday showed Harris up anywhere from 4-6 points nationally, and one poll out of Iowa by a trusted pollster showed that Trump’s +18 point lead in June had shrunk to a +4 lead. In Iowa.
The assassination attempt also briefly made the news media forget about Laura Loomer. That won’t last long. I mean, we had JD Vance — whose wife is Indian American — dismissing Loomer’s racist comments about the White House smelling like curry if Harris is elected. “I make a mean chicken curry,” JD Vance said, “[but] I don’t think that it’s insulting for anybody to talk about their dietary preferences or what they want to do in the White House.” What a coward. If this man can’t stand up for his wife, how can we expect him to stand up for the Constitution?
If Vance weren’t such a hollow, soulless human being, I’d almost feel bad for the guy, who keeps trying to stay focused on the issues but is consistently foiled by his own boss and all his friends, who probably laugh at Vance behind his back.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk — who is pouring millions of dollars now into a SuperPac to get Trump elected — tweeted this yesterday before deleting it.
He basically claimed that people just don’t understand his sense of humor.
Donald Trump, Jr.’s fiance, Kimberly Guilfoyle, campaigned with Donald Trump on Saturday. I don’t know whether it’s also worth noting that, according to that tabloid rag, The Daily Mail, Don Jr. was canoodling with socialite Bettina Anderson last month. They have images of the two together but not kissing, so take it all with a grain of salt. It’s mostly beside the point, anyway. Don Jr. is not running for President, and like his father, he is no stranger to affairs.
One last note: I listened to the NYTimes The Daily podcast this morning, where they talked to three “undecided” voters, all of whom were Republicans. That seems to be the norm this election: Undecided voters, to the extent that they actually exist, are just unhappy Republican voters trying to decide between voting for their party or the better candidate. They will probably break down into three groups: Trump voters, Harris voters, and people who stay home. For what it’s worth, two of those Republicans are still undecided, while one has decided begrudgingly to vote for Harris. The holdouts — as in so many situations I’ve seen — are waiting for Harris to announce a plan that will cater to their individual needs.
The thing is, as Harris seems to be building a lead (at least at the moment), the Vice President could run away with it if she could successfully articulate a plan to combat high prices. Presumably, the legislation against price gouging didn’t poll well, because she barely talks about it now. I think the issue is that inflation has dropped precipitously, which means that the cost of groceries is no longer rising, but they’re still stubbornly high.
I don’t think there’s a fix for that, at least not one that a President can employ. Unfortunately, I suspect “This is the new normal, and wages have also risen along with inflation” won’t sit well with voters who want to believe that higher wages mean that we should be able to buy more, not the same amount. Nor will “Inflation in the United States was much better than every other major economy in the world post-pandemic.” People want cheaper bacon, not statements like, “It could have been a lot worse.” But this is for damn sure: Trump can’t bring down the price of bacon, either. But he can stir chaos, destroy the American economy, erode Democracy, and endanger our safety. Seems like it should be an easier decision for even undecided Republicans, but I hope many of them eventually come around.
I am so fucking sick of people using "It was only a joke" as a defense for their shitty politics and opinions. Loomer said her curry comment was "just as joke" and now Musk is saying his comments about no one targeting Biden or Harris for assassination was also "a joke."
It should go without saying that if you think an assassination attempt is fertile ground for comedy, touch grass.
Better yet, never touch a keyboard.
I said it in 2020 and I'll say it now: if you are undecided about who you're voting for this election, you are either one of the most uninformed dipshits on the face of the planet, or a liar. These people are all voting for Trump. They just want to wring their hands and act like it was a hard choice.