National Review headline: "That Did Not Go Well"

[TwilightZone]

I occasionally do some opposition research on NR, and the comments section never fails to remind me of who we're up against.

They usually defend Trump, even the ones who clearly don't like him, but even they can't find the words to defend his comments and know it was a complete train wreck.

There's a lot of the usual sexist and racist tripe, and some are giving him participation trophies just for showing up, but there are some good shots at Trump from the usually-faithful.

"All we were asking for was a mere 100 days without acting like a complete a whole (sic).

100 days, after that if he wins he can go back to being a carnival barking buffoon."

”Only Trump would be dumb enough to go after Harris's race in a room packed with black journalists.”

"Watching him claim that he was the best President for black people since Abraham Lincoln to a crowd of black people is a bizarre sight."

"Being the guy with no social or self awareness and utterly without tact is kind of a disadvantage in these circumstances."

"Is it early to call it a lost election or does he have a few more rakes to step on?"

And one for Vance:

"TIme to really jump the shark, and send JD Jethro out to speak to the National Organization for Women."

There are a few of us lefties who manage to hang around for a while. One of my favorite comments:

"New talking point on the right: Harris's mother is from India. What a fraud!
Response from Harris: Yes, I have spoken publicly about that.
Response from the right: How can she be both?
Response from the left: Uh, she has two parents."

[Johnny2X2X]

1. They better watch out for DU

Several posters claiming today was good for Trump.

[birdographer]

2. Really? Which?

[Wednesdays]

5. Can't remember who, but several comments were like,

"He's really speaking to his base, and firing them up!"
Whoopie.

[LiberalFighter]

17. Some of his base are dead or will be by election day.

[live love laugh]

20. I believe that is true. They hate blacks and he showed them in their weird way.

[Skittles]

11. it's a thread

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=19268945

[GusBob]

3. Also posters saying there are too many posts about it

So take ur grain of salt

[democratsruletheday]

4. Haven't you HEARD J2?

The ever clever and ingenius Donold has baited the media into another trap. Just pathetic that there are Dems that some HOW, some WAY think what that sad POS did today was 3D chess. My god people, he isn't that bright and he really IS that racist. It's not complicated.

[Skittles]

13. to be fair, he is indeed playing to his pathetic cult

the difference now, I believe, is he is just providing more fodder for the WEIRD label......I mean, he's gonna have people "look into" Kamala becoming black - who the fuck talks like that?

[TwilightZone]

6. I don't think it was good for him, but I do think he did what he set out to do.

Jack up the rubes. To them, their hero went into enemy territory and "won".

The reaction has been so universally negative, even on his side, that he might have miscalculated a bit. It remains to be seen how long this will hang around his neck and what kind of impact it might make.

Today did show just how utterly unprepared he is to run against Harris.

[Tickle]

7. I think it was a good day

for him, at least in his mind.

He's been a show his whole life. He embarrassed that first young woman. I'm not saying he was right with anything he said but she was embarrassed. He's an asshole

[TwilightZone]

9. It's all about attention.

He can't stand it when he's not the center of attention and will do or say anything that brings the focus back to him, good or bad. Almost always bad.

[calimary]

12. That's the donald's bottom line: attention.

How to get it, how to stir it up, and how to keep it boiling.

[stopdiggin]

14. If that's a win ...

Of ANY stripe or variety! Just keep those wins coming! More is better!

And the 'base' - when that excuse gets trotted out, as it always does - contracts a little bit with each of these 'performances'.
(and even 'psychos' have family members - and people that are threatening to take away the keys to the car - and the kids .. )

[TwilightZone]

15. I'm not so sure.

I think his support is pretty well locked in. If people haven't turned on him before now, I just don't see something like this changing their minds, but I'd be happy to be wrong.

The good news is that he has a hard ceiling. He's not gaining any support, so he has to maximize what's already there and hope they show up. I think that's always the goal with performances like this.

[PatSeg]

21. "Jack up the rubes"

But he can't win with just the rubes and at the rate he's going, he is losing undecided voters at a record pace. I've got a feeling that he is probably losing some of the rubes as well. His act is getting old and stale and the energy is gone.

[TwilightZone]

31. His support has never just been MAGA

If it was, he wouldn't have won in 2016 and it wouldn't have been close in 2020.

There are generational partisan voters who will vote for any Republican, including Trump. That group is larger than many realize.

There are voters who agree with the GOP agenda and know that Trump is the only option in the race that can help them pursue it.

There are voters who agree with his SCOTUS and other judicial appointments.

There are voters who feel their own personal financial picture (tax cuts) overrides whatever objections they have about him personally.

For most of those voters, they don't really care what Trump says or does, because the ends justify the means. They don't have to like him to use him to pursue their goals. They're also not all MAGA.

[UTUSN]

8. Hah!

[NNadir]

10. "JD Jethro?"

[AverageOldGuy]

16. This is my favorite:

"Time to really jump the shark, and send JD Jethro out to speak to the National Organization for Women."

[TwilightZone]

24. Agreed. I had to post that one.

[Martin68]

18. Trump is just a puppet for the power guys. Trump gets the votes from the yahoos, and they get the opportunity to

destroy our democracy. It reminds me of the movie "Being There" where the behind the scenes power brokers choose a president who can win but will let them make all the decisions.

[OAITW r.2.0]

29. I saw that movie....

Ronald Reagan was Chauncy ,,,,it ran 8 years.

[Martin68]

33. That's the one. Brilliant movie. The actual presidency, not so much.

[iemanja]

19. The National Review is higher brow

Than most of MAGA. I think a lot of them hold their nose when they vote for Trump.

[TwilightZone]

34. They come up with some pretty interesting self-rationalizations.

Regarding his trials, for example, they convince themselves that they're defending him on the merits of the cases through a lot of twisted logic, semantic games, and questionable takes on the legalities. Or, like a lot of the rest of the GOP, they attack the judges, prosecutors, witnesses, and jurors.

It's a lot of "Yeah, we know Trump is a scumbag, but X is worse." Problem is...X is never worse.

[NJCher]

22. those were really funny

thanks for bringing them over.

[Dem4life1970]

23. Absolute dumpster fire...

[AllyCat]

25. Rakes to step on!! 🤣

[PennRalphie]

26. It's all about attention.

Everything he does is about him getting attention. It works. Just look around. For some reason, it seems about 70-75% of the threads here are about him.

My focus is on electing democrats.

Others focus seems to be on him.

Maybe I’m just cut from a different cloth.

[TwilightZone]

28. He does get an undue amount of attention on DU.

And elsewhere on the left, for that matter. It all kind of feeds into itself.

Many of us do volunteer and do other work for various campaigns, but I agree that we could always use more of that and less Trump.

[brewens]

27. I heard her Jamaican ancestry is an issue as if that makes any difference. So what? Call her African American by way

of Jamaica. WTF difference does it make? LOL

[AZSkiffyGeek]

30. I saw some making hay that she was related to a slaveholder

Apparently not realizing why a black woman would have an ancestor who was a white slaveowner.

[TwilightZone]

32. Well, they are ignorant.

Considering their intentional ignorance where slavery is concerned, they probably either don't know why Jamaica is predominantly black or have chosen to pretend it never had a slavery-based economy.

Hell, maybe they don't even know that Jamaica is predominantly black now, though that would be a bit difficult to believe.