By Annie Karni, Josh Dawsey and Tara Palmeri:
More than being lampooned as a press secretary who makes up facts, it was Spicer’s portrayal by a woman that was most problematic in the president’s eyes, according to sources close to him. And the unflattering send-up by a female comedian was not considered helpful for Spicer’s longevity in the grueling, high-profile job in which he has struggled to strike the right balance between representing an administration that considers the media the "opposition party," and developing a functional relationship with the press.
"Trump doesn't like his people to look weak," added a top Trump donor.
Trump’s uncharacteristic Twitter silence over the weekend about the “Saturday Night Live” sketch was seen internally as a sign of how uncomfortable it made the White House feel. Sources said the caricature of Spicer by McCarthy struck a nerve and was upsetting to the press secretary and to his allies, who immediately saw how damaging it could be in Trump world.
Showing posts with label sexism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sexism. Show all posts
Monday, April 17, 2017
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
[Special] The Washington Post's David Fahrenthold
During the craziness of the 2016 election cycle, one of the most prominent reporters to emerge in the public's mind was David Fahrenthold. Certainly, while I was posting snippets and links as part of this blog, he and Newsweeks' Kurt Eichenwald were names I saw with frequency, often sharing breaking news that was the highlight of the week.
Fahrenthold shared his thoughts about his coverage of Donald Trump, beginning with the president-elect's failure to comply with his own promises to donate to charity and winding into deeper and deeper absurdities, as can only come with the full Trump experience. The article shows how Fahrenthold used a mix of classic newspaper investigation and modern social media tools to get to the answers. It was almost as fun as watching Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman play Fahrenthold's predecessors, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, in All The President's Men (highly recommended film, of course).
Fehrenthold gives me hope for the next four years. I hope that there are journalists like him who will continue to dig and look for the truth in an administration that will try to obfuscate and misdirect. The story can be read here.
Fahrenthold shared his thoughts about his coverage of Donald Trump, beginning with the president-elect's failure to comply with his own promises to donate to charity and winding into deeper and deeper absurdities, as can only come with the full Trump experience. The article shows how Fahrenthold used a mix of classic newspaper investigation and modern social media tools to get to the answers. It was almost as fun as watching Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman play Fahrenthold's predecessors, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, in All The President's Men (highly recommended film, of course).
Fehrenthold gives me hope for the next four years. I hope that there are journalists like him who will continue to dig and look for the truth in an administration that will try to obfuscate and misdirect. The story can be read here.
Monday, November 7, 2016
Wall Street Journal: National Enquirer Shielded Donald Trump From Playboy Model’s Affair Allegation
By Joe Palazzolo, Michael Rothfeld, and Lukas I. Alpert
The company that owns the National Enquirer, a backer of Donald Trump, agreed to pay $150,000 to a former Playboy centerfold model for her story of an affair a decade ago with the Republican presidential nominee, but then didn’t publish it, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal and people familiar with the matter.
The tabloid-newspaper publisher reached an agreement in early August with Karen McDougal, the 1998 Playmate of the Year. American Media Inc., which owns the Enquirer, hasn’t published anything about what she has told friends was a consensual romantic relationship she had with Mr. Trump in 2006. At the time, Mr. Trump was married to his current wife, Melania.
Quashing stories that way is known in the tabloid world as “catch and kill.”
* * *
Mr. Trump and American Media Chairman and Chief Executive Officer David J. Pecker are longtime friends. Since last year, the Enquirer has supported Mr. Trump’s presidential bid, endorsing him and publishing negative articles about some of his opponents.
In a written statement, Mr. Pecker said that it is no secret that he and Mr. Trump are friends and that he greatly admires him. However, he said, the Enquirer under his management “set the agenda” on Mr. Trump’s affair with Marla Maples when he was married to his first wife. “That in itself speaks volumes about our commitment to investigative reporting,” he said.
The Full Story (November 4, 2016)
The company that owns the National Enquirer, a backer of Donald Trump, agreed to pay $150,000 to a former Playboy centerfold model for her story of an affair a decade ago with the Republican presidential nominee, but then didn’t publish it, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal and people familiar with the matter.
The tabloid-newspaper publisher reached an agreement in early August with Karen McDougal, the 1998 Playmate of the Year. American Media Inc., which owns the Enquirer, hasn’t published anything about what she has told friends was a consensual romantic relationship she had with Mr. Trump in 2006. At the time, Mr. Trump was married to his current wife, Melania.
Quashing stories that way is known in the tabloid world as “catch and kill.”
* * *
Mr. Trump and American Media Chairman and Chief Executive Officer David J. Pecker are longtime friends. Since last year, the Enquirer has supported Mr. Trump’s presidential bid, endorsing him and publishing negative articles about some of his opponents.
In a written statement, Mr. Pecker said that it is no secret that he and Mr. Trump are friends and that he greatly admires him. However, he said, the Enquirer under his management “set the agenda” on Mr. Trump’s affair with Marla Maples when he was married to his first wife. “That in itself speaks volumes about our commitment to investigative reporting,” he said.
The Full Story (November 4, 2016)
Sunday, November 6, 2016
[Special] Cincinnati Enquirer: It Has to be Hillary Clinton
By Enquirer Editorial Board:
Trump is a clear and present danger to our country. He has no history of governance that should engender any confidence from voters. Trump has no foreign policy experience, and the fact that he doesn't recognize it – instead insisting that, "I know more about ISIS than the generals do" – is even more troubling. His wild threats to blow Iranian ships out of the water if they make rude gestures at U.S. ships is just the type of reckless, cowboy diplomacy Americans should fear from a Trump presidency. Clinton has been criticized as being hawkish but has shown a measured approach to the world's problems. Do we really want someone in charge of our military and nuclear codes who has an impulse control problem? The fact that so many top military and national security officials are not supporting Trump speaks volumes.
Clinton, meanwhile, was a competent secretary of state, with far stronger diplomatic skills than she gets credit for. Yes, mistakes were made in Benghazi, and it was tragic that four Americans lost their lives in the 2012 terror attacks on the U.S. consulate there. But the incident was never the diabolical conspiracy that Republicans wanted us to believe, and Clinton was absolved of blame after lengthy investigations. As the nation's top diplomat, Clinton was well-traveled, visiting numerous countries and restoring U.S. influence internationally. She was part of President Barack Obama's inner circle when the decision was made to go after and kill Osama bin Laden and negotiated U.N. sanctions that led to the Iran nuclear deal.
* * *
This editorial board has been consistent in its criticism of his policies and temperament beginning with the Republican primary. We've condemned his childish insults; offensive remarks to women, Hispanics and African-Americans; and the way he has played on many Americans' fears and prejudices to further himself politically. Trump brands himself as an outsider untainted by special interests, but we see a man utterly corrupted by self-interest. His narcissistic bid for the presidency is more about making himself great than America. Trump tears our country and many of its people down with his words so that he can build himself up. What else are we left to believe about a man who tells the American public that he alone can fix what ails us?
While Clinton has been relentlessly challenged about her honesty, Trump was the primary propagator of arguably the biggest lie of the past eight years: that Obama wasn't born in the United States. Trump has played fast and loose with the support of white supremacist groups. He has praised some of our country's most dangerous enemies – see Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un and Saddam Hussein – while insulting a sitting president, our military generals, a Gold Star family and prisoners of war like Sen. John McCain. Of late, Trump has toned down his divisive rhetoric, sticking to carefully constructed scripts and teleprompters. But going two weeks without saying something misogynistic, racist or xenophobic is hardly a qualification for the most important job in the world. Why should anyone believe that a Trump presidency would look markedly different from his offensive, erratic, stance-shifting presidential campaign?
Some believe Trump's business acumen would make him the better choice to move America's slow recovery into a full stride. It’s true that he has created jobs, but he also has sent many overseas and left a trail of unpaid contractors in his wake. His refusal to release his tax returns draws into question both Trump’s true income and whether he is paying his fair share of taxes. Even if you consider Trump a successful businessman, running a government is not the same as being the CEO of a company. The United States cannot file bankruptcy to avoid paying its debts.
The Full Story (September 23, 2016)
Trump is a clear and present danger to our country. He has no history of governance that should engender any confidence from voters. Trump has no foreign policy experience, and the fact that he doesn't recognize it – instead insisting that, "I know more about ISIS than the generals do" – is even more troubling. His wild threats to blow Iranian ships out of the water if they make rude gestures at U.S. ships is just the type of reckless, cowboy diplomacy Americans should fear from a Trump presidency. Clinton has been criticized as being hawkish but has shown a measured approach to the world's problems. Do we really want someone in charge of our military and nuclear codes who has an impulse control problem? The fact that so many top military and national security officials are not supporting Trump speaks volumes.
Clinton, meanwhile, was a competent secretary of state, with far stronger diplomatic skills than she gets credit for. Yes, mistakes were made in Benghazi, and it was tragic that four Americans lost their lives in the 2012 terror attacks on the U.S. consulate there. But the incident was never the diabolical conspiracy that Republicans wanted us to believe, and Clinton was absolved of blame after lengthy investigations. As the nation's top diplomat, Clinton was well-traveled, visiting numerous countries and restoring U.S. influence internationally. She was part of President Barack Obama's inner circle when the decision was made to go after and kill Osama bin Laden and negotiated U.N. sanctions that led to the Iran nuclear deal.
* * *
This editorial board has been consistent in its criticism of his policies and temperament beginning with the Republican primary. We've condemned his childish insults; offensive remarks to women, Hispanics and African-Americans; and the way he has played on many Americans' fears and prejudices to further himself politically. Trump brands himself as an outsider untainted by special interests, but we see a man utterly corrupted by self-interest. His narcissistic bid for the presidency is more about making himself great than America. Trump tears our country and many of its people down with his words so that he can build himself up. What else are we left to believe about a man who tells the American public that he alone can fix what ails us?
While Clinton has been relentlessly challenged about her honesty, Trump was the primary propagator of arguably the biggest lie of the past eight years: that Obama wasn't born in the United States. Trump has played fast and loose with the support of white supremacist groups. He has praised some of our country's most dangerous enemies – see Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un and Saddam Hussein – while insulting a sitting president, our military generals, a Gold Star family and prisoners of war like Sen. John McCain. Of late, Trump has toned down his divisive rhetoric, sticking to carefully constructed scripts and teleprompters. But going two weeks without saying something misogynistic, racist or xenophobic is hardly a qualification for the most important job in the world. Why should anyone believe that a Trump presidency would look markedly different from his offensive, erratic, stance-shifting presidential campaign?
Some believe Trump's business acumen would make him the better choice to move America's slow recovery into a full stride. It’s true that he has created jobs, but he also has sent many overseas and left a trail of unpaid contractors in his wake. His refusal to release his tax returns draws into question both Trump’s true income and whether he is paying his fair share of taxes. Even if you consider Trump a successful businessman, running a government is not the same as being the CEO of a company. The United States cannot file bankruptcy to avoid paying its debts.
The Full Story (September 23, 2016)
Friday, November 4, 2016
[Special] Donald Trump's Sexual Assault Allegations: November 2016 Edition
The flood of sexual assault claims was coming in at such a rapid rate that I decided to compile them and wait until the tide subsided, so I could then drop them in a single post. Since the American media and public are now obsessed with discussing FBI Director James Comey's unprecedented and unusual announcement about additional emails found on Anthony Weiner's computer which may or may not be classified and may or may not have been to/from Hillary Clinton and may or may not be duplicates of emails they already have, the sexual assault business is now merely the echo of a memory. Except here, of course, where I strive to chronicle all of the insanity of Donald Trump.
This post is not an essay so much as a link dump, so apologies for the lack of prose. Also, as a note, despite this being the "November Edition," there are no articles from November, save towards the end, where an article by Vocativ (linked in the last paragraph) highlights the GOP folks who disavowed Trump and then reaffirmed their support for him like the craven, spineless frauds they are. Below is a list of articles relating to Trump's sexual assaults that came out on or after the October Edition was published.
- Talking Points Memo: The Floodgates Open by Josh Marshall (October 12, 2016)
- Talking Points Memo: Four Decades Of Sexual Misconduct Allegations Against Trump by Kristin Salaky and Esme Cribb (October 13, 2016)
- New York Magazine: It Doesn’t Take a Conspiracy Theory to Explain the Timing of the New Trump Allegations by Eric Levitz (October 13, 2016)
- Washington Post: Woman Says Trump Reached Under Her Skirt and Groped Her in Early 1990s by Karen Tumulty (October 14, 2016)
- The Guardian: Donald Trump 'Grabbed Me and Went for the Lips', Says New Accuser by Molly Redden (October 16, 2016)
- Washington Post: The Growing List of Women Who Have Stepped Forward to Accuse Trump of Touching Them Inappropriately by Rosalind S. Helderman (October 22, 2016)
- Talking Points Memo: Trump On Adult Film Star Accuser - ‘I’m Sure She's Never Been Grabbed Before’ by Allegra Kirkland (October 24, 2016)
As Dana Milbank wrote for the Post, we knew this Trump all along:
Republicans may be dismayed by the super-predator they saw and heard in the video (just as they purported to be stunned by Trump’s racist attack on Judge Gonzalo Curiel despite Trump’s long history of racism), but they have no business being surprised. What’s on that tape is entirely consistent with what we already knew.
Even before this tape emerged, we knew that his wife Ivana accused him at the time of their divorce of raping her (Trump’s lawyer asserted that there is no such thing as spousal rape). We’ve known for months that makeup artist Jill Harth filed a 1997 complaint accusing Trump of attempted rape and of groping her in his daughter Ivanka’s bedroom. We’ve seen complaint after complaint about his lewd behavior on set at “The Apprentice” and at his Miss Universe pageants.
But while people can question the he-said, she-said allegations against Trump, it’s harder to dispute the meaning of his own words.
Here, for the benefit of those Republicans feigning surprise about Trump’s video, is a partial catalogue of reported remarks Trump has made about women — remarks which, by embracing Trump as the GOP presidential nominee, office holders in the party have already condoned[.]
I won't reproduce the large volume of unfortunate quotations here; you can click the link for yourself. Suffice to say, the outrage (which has since subsided, and the opposition mustered by Republican officials has faded as they jump back onto the Trump train) came surprisingly late considering the man that is Donald Trump. As Bill Simmons noted, "But seriously - why did it take today for people to turn on Trump? He's been horrible this whole time."
Monday, October 31, 2016
Daily Beast: Inside Donald Trump’s One-Stop Parties - Attendees Recall Cocaine and Very Young Models
One of the two men I spoke with, a fashion photographer, requested anonymity because he has fathered several children since his Trump days and doesn’t want his past dredged up. “There’s no upside for me,” he says.
The other man… well, you’ll read his words. Both confirmed that Trump, as I’ve reported, used to host parties in suites at the Plaza Hotel when he owned it, where young women and girls were introduced to older, richer men. This is hardly aberrant behavior in the modeling business. Indeed, it is standard operating procedure.
But both men also put Donald Trump in the room with cocaine, very young women and underage girls, and rich, old men there to—pardon my language, but if the Times can say pussy on its front page, I can say this—fuck them.
I’m sorry, Ivanka, I really am, because your mother raised you well and I can’t blame you for supporting your father (even if he did give—at the least—his blessing when you were 15 and signed on as a model yourself with Elite, the hard-partying high-end agency founded by notorious teen-fucker John Casablancas) but here’s the sad truth: Your dad’s not a dog. He’s a pig.
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Washington Post: Donald Trump Vows to Sue His Accusers, Lashes Out at Media
But Trump spent the first part of his speech airing a litany of grievances. He branded as “liars” the nearly one dozen women who have come forward in recent weeks to accuse him of groping them against their will and vowed to sue them after the election. The allegations — including one from an adult film actress that was announced on Saturday — followed the release of a 2005 “Access Hollywood” recording in which Trump bragged about being able to force himself on women against their will because of his celebrity.
“Every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign. Total fabrication,” Trump insisted Saturday. “The events never happened. Never. All of these liars will be sued after the election is over.” (In many cases, the women accusing Trump of misconduct have provided the publications with the names of witnesses and others who have supported their accounts.)
The nominee blasted the media and said that the women and news organizations are attempting to “poison” the minds of American voters. He also said, without providing evidence, that the accusations were the doing of the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign. He added later that “we’ll probably find out about their involvement” through litigation and that he was “so looking forward to doing that.”
He also accused reporters of not sufficiently covering his crowd sizes.
Washington Post: Taking Trump to Court - The Evidence Against a Nasty Man
At the second debate, Trump claimed that his taped boasting about grabbing women without consent was just that — all talk, no action. In the 10 days before the third debate, nine women came forward to dispute that assertion.
So moderator Chris Wallace posed the key question: “Why would so many different women from so many different circumstances over so many different years . . . all make up these stories?”
Trump’s response was a characteristically repulsive stew of dishonesty, outright lies, conspiracy theorizing and blame-shifting.
Dishonesty: “Those stories have been largely debunked,” he said. Wrong. Actually, additional corroboration has emerged.
Lies: “I did not say that,” Trump insisted, three times, after Hillary Clinton noted that part of Trump’s argument for his innocence was that the women weren’t attractive enough to merit his unwanted attention. Just go to the videotape.
Conspiracy theorizing: “I think they want either fame or her campaign did it. And I think it’s her campaign,” Trump said of his accusers. There is no evidence on either score. Indeed, a number of the accusers had to be coaxed to come forward. Some are Clinton backers; others are clear that they do not support her.
Blame-shifting: According to Trump, what we should actually be talking about is the violence at his rallies — instigated by Clinton. Or else, “her emails, where she destroyed 33,000 emails criminally, criminally, after getting a subpoena from the United States Congress.” If the debate hall were a courtroom, Trump’s answer would have been struck as nonresponsive.
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Washington Post: Trump’s Lack of Self-Control Allows Clinton to Sweep the Debates
By James Hohmann:
For the third debate in a row, the Republican nominee was calm, cool and collected — for the first 15 minutes. Then he let Hillary Clinton get under his skin.
The pivot point came during a conversation about immigration. Noting his trip to Mexico, the former secretary of state said Trump “choked” by failing to even raise the issue of who would pay for his border wall. Trump, who before that moment seemed like he had taken a tranquilizer, snapped to. In the 75 minutes that followed, he repeatedly took her bait, looking petty, small and unpresidential along the way.
Trump uttered the word “WRONG” at least six times, according to the transcript. Other times he inaudibly mouthed it under his breath.
* * *
The culmination of all this came in the final moments when Clinton, talking about Social Security, took a dig at Trump for not paying federal income taxes. “Such a nasty woman,” he blurted out.
Clinton got under his skin again when she turned a question about her private, paid speeches to banks into an attack on Trump as a “puppet” of Vladimir Putin. “No puppet! No puppet! You’re the puppet,” he shot back. Then he questioned the judgment of the U.S. intelligence community that Russia is behind the recent hacks aimed at meddling in the U.S. election.
Again and again, he could not help himself. Polls show the economy is Trump’s best issue, but given the chance to expound on it, he decided he had to go back to a quip she had made about nuclear weapons earlier.
The Full Story (October 20, 2016)
For the third debate in a row, the Republican nominee was calm, cool and collected — for the first 15 minutes. Then he let Hillary Clinton get under his skin.
The pivot point came during a conversation about immigration. Noting his trip to Mexico, the former secretary of state said Trump “choked” by failing to even raise the issue of who would pay for his border wall. Trump, who before that moment seemed like he had taken a tranquilizer, snapped to. In the 75 minutes that followed, he repeatedly took her bait, looking petty, small and unpresidential along the way.
Trump uttered the word “WRONG” at least six times, according to the transcript. Other times he inaudibly mouthed it under his breath.
* * *
The culmination of all this came in the final moments when Clinton, talking about Social Security, took a dig at Trump for not paying federal income taxes. “Such a nasty woman,” he blurted out.
Clinton got under his skin again when she turned a question about her private, paid speeches to banks into an attack on Trump as a “puppet” of Vladimir Putin. “No puppet! No puppet! You’re the puppet,” he shot back. Then he questioned the judgment of the U.S. intelligence community that Russia is behind the recent hacks aimed at meddling in the U.S. election.
Again and again, he could not help himself. Polls show the economy is Trump’s best issue, but given the chance to expound on it, he decided he had to go back to a quip she had made about nuclear weapons earlier.
The Full Story (October 20, 2016)
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
FiveThirtyEight: Men Are Treating 2016 As A ‘Normal’ Election; Women Aren’t
As my colleague Nate Silver has pointed out, women are winning this election for Clinton. Between the historic nature of Clinton’s candidacy, Trump’s record of misogynistic comments and now the Trump tape and allegations of sexual assault against Trump, American men and women are incredibly split on the 2016 election. But that split isn’t symmetrical. In an average of the most recent live-interview polls from each pollster to test the race in October, Clinton holds a 20-percentage-point advantage among women, and Trump is winning more narrowly among men.
* * *
The first thing to note: We haven’t seen anything like Clinton’s 20-point lead over Trump among women in decades. The last time women favored either party’s nominee by more than 20 percentage points was in 1972, when Republican Richard Nixon crushed Democrat George McGovern among both sexes. The only Democrat ever to win women by more than 20 points was Lyndon Johnson in 1964 — also in a blowout. Four years ago, President Obama carried women by only about 12 points. Even when he first won the White House, in 2008, by about double his 2012 margin, his margin among women was only 14 points.
* * *
To put this year’s gender split into a little more context: Trump’s 7-percentage-point lead among men is about how well George W. Bush did with men in 2000. If we had an average gender gap this year, we’d expect Clinton to carry women by between 5 and 10 points (given how men say they are going to vote). That kind of gap would result in a close race overall, which is exactly what the state of the economy suggests should be occurring.
Instead, Clinton is leading by about 6 or 7 percentage points nationally in the FiveThirtyEight polls-only forecast. Basically, the vote among men looks “normal”; the split among women does not. That is, the historically large gender gap this election is because women are disproportionately favoring one candidate (Clinton) — to an extent we wouldn’t expect them to in a normal election given the “fundamentals.”
The Full Story (October 17, 2016)
Rolling Stone: The Fury and the Failure of Donald Trump
By Matt Taibbi:
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, the Mohegan Sun Arena, two days later. As he has done multiple times in the past year, Trump has seemingly rebounded from certain disaster. A second debate with Hillary Clinton did not go quite so disastrously as the first, despite horrible optics (he appeared obese from stress and stalked Clinton onstage, as if wanting to bite her back á la Marv Albert) and even worse behavior (he threatened to jail his opponent, a straight-up dictator move you'd expect from a Mobutu, Pinochet or Putin).
Whether or not he "won" the debate was immaterial. He at least impressed pious Mike Pence, Trump's sad-sack running mate, who reportedly had been considering withdrawing from the ticket over the whole pussy thing. "Big debate win!" Pence tweeted, ending rumors of an internal mutiny. "Proud to stand with you as we #MAGA!"
That's hashtag Make America Great Again, in case you didn't believe Mike Pence is hip. (The new white-power movement, like a lot of fraternities, is short on brains, but long on secret passwords and handshakes.) The man who once opposed clean needles on moral grounds was now ready to march through history with a serial groper and tit-gazer.
In Wilkes-Barre, home to a recent Klan leafleting, and a key electoral-map battleground, the turnout for Trump's rally was a vast sea of white faces and profane signage. SHE'S A CUNT – VOTE TRUMP read the T-shirt of one attendee. BILL! MONICA GAVE YOU WHAT? read the caption over a photo of a grinning Hillary, plastered on the side of one of a scary triad of 18-wheelers decked out in anti-Clinton invective. On line going into the event, some more mild-mannered visitors explained why there was nothing that could dissuade them from voting Trump. "Even if it's small, there's a chance that he's going to do something completely different, and that's why I like him," said Trent Gower, a soft-spoken young man. "And when he talks, I actually understand what he's saying. But, like, when fricking Hillary Clinton talks, it just sounds like a bunch of bullshit."
* * *
In the far-right world, every successive villain has always been worse than the last. It's quaint now to think about how Al Gore was once regarded as the second coming of Lenin, or that John Kerry was a secret communist agent. Then the race element took Obama-hatred to new and horrifying places. But Trumpian license has pushed hatred of Hillary Clinton beyond all reason. If you don't connect with it emotionally, you won't get it. For grown men and women to throw around words like "bitch" and "cunt" in front of their kids, it means things have moved way beyond the analytical.
The Full Story (October 14, 2016)
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, the Mohegan Sun Arena, two days later. As he has done multiple times in the past year, Trump has seemingly rebounded from certain disaster. A second debate with Hillary Clinton did not go quite so disastrously as the first, despite horrible optics (he appeared obese from stress and stalked Clinton onstage, as if wanting to bite her back á la Marv Albert) and even worse behavior (he threatened to jail his opponent, a straight-up dictator move you'd expect from a Mobutu, Pinochet or Putin).
Whether or not he "won" the debate was immaterial. He at least impressed pious Mike Pence, Trump's sad-sack running mate, who reportedly had been considering withdrawing from the ticket over the whole pussy thing. "Big debate win!" Pence tweeted, ending rumors of an internal mutiny. "Proud to stand with you as we #MAGA!"
That's hashtag Make America Great Again, in case you didn't believe Mike Pence is hip. (The new white-power movement, like a lot of fraternities, is short on brains, but long on secret passwords and handshakes.) The man who once opposed clean needles on moral grounds was now ready to march through history with a serial groper and tit-gazer.
In Wilkes-Barre, home to a recent Klan leafleting, and a key electoral-map battleground, the turnout for Trump's rally was a vast sea of white faces and profane signage. SHE'S A CUNT – VOTE TRUMP read the T-shirt of one attendee. BILL! MONICA GAVE YOU WHAT? read the caption over a photo of a grinning Hillary, plastered on the side of one of a scary triad of 18-wheelers decked out in anti-Clinton invective. On line going into the event, some more mild-mannered visitors explained why there was nothing that could dissuade them from voting Trump. "Even if it's small, there's a chance that he's going to do something completely different, and that's why I like him," said Trent Gower, a soft-spoken young man. "And when he talks, I actually understand what he's saying. But, like, when fricking Hillary Clinton talks, it just sounds like a bunch of bullshit."
* * *
In the far-right world, every successive villain has always been worse than the last. It's quaint now to think about how Al Gore was once regarded as the second coming of Lenin, or that John Kerry was a secret communist agent. Then the race element took Obama-hatred to new and horrifying places. But Trumpian license has pushed hatred of Hillary Clinton beyond all reason. If you don't connect with it emotionally, you won't get it. For grown men and women to throw around words like "bitch" and "cunt" in front of their kids, it means things have moved way beyond the analytical.
The Full Story (October 14, 2016)
Sunday, October 23, 2016
[Special] Los Angeles Times: Trump Backers Tweet #repealthe19th After Polls Show He'd Win Only If Men Voted
As polls show that Donald Trump would overwhelmingly win if only men were allowed to vote, the GOP nominee's supporters have spawned a new Twitter hashtag: #repealthe19th.
That’s a reference to the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.
The Twitter commentary began after Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight published an article Tuesday looking at men’s and women’s voting patterns.
He found that if the election only counted the male vote, Trump would swamp Clinton, 350 electoral votes to 188. A candidate must win 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.
The Full Story (October 12, 2016)
Friday, October 21, 2016
CNN: Donald Trump to Howard Stern - It's Okay to Call My Daughter A 'Piece of Ass'
In more than one interview with Stern, Trump took part in conversations about Ivanka Trump's appearance, including one about the size of her breasts.
In an October 2006 interview, Stern remarks that Ivanka "looks more voluptuous than ever," and asked if she had gotten breast implants. Trump is willing to engage in the discussion about his own daughter, telling Stern that she did not get implants.
"She's actually always been very voluptuous," Trump responds. "She's tall, she's almost 6 feet tall and she's been, she's an amazing beauty."
Thursday, October 20, 2016
[Special] Editorial: Donald Trump Explores The Mysteries of Pregnancy at the Third Debate
The third and final debate on October 19 was something else. The biggest headline was Trump's refusal to accept the results of the election, which I am sure I'll share here at some point. If you cannot wait, you can always review the Washington Post's third debate recap.
Despite this being Trump's best presidential debate performance (in my opinion), he still managed to litter the stage with examples of projecting his own insecurities and displaying his total incompetence. For now, we'll focus on his abortion comments.
From NPR's October 19, 2016, full transcript and fact check:
CHRIS WALLACE
Mr. Trump your reaction and particularly on this issue of life term partial-birth abortion.
DONALD TRUMP
I think it's terrible if you go with what Hillary is saying in the ninth month you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb of the mother just prior to the birth of the baby. Now you can say that that's okay and Hillary can say that that's okay, but it's not okay with me. Because based on what she's saying and based on where she's going and where she's been, you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb on the ninth month on the final day. And that's not acceptable.
From the Washington Post's own fact check article of October 20, here is Glenn Kessler and Michelle Ye Hee Lee explaining Trump's inaccuracies:
Trump asserted that abortions can take place just one day before birth. This doesn’t really happen.
Most abortions take place early in the pregnancy. One-third take place at six weeks of pregnancy or earlier; 89 percent occur in the first 12 weeks, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights. Only 1.2 percent of abortions — about 12,000 a year — take place after 21 weeks. (The Supreme Court has held that states may not prohibit abortions “necessary to preserve the life or health” of the mother.)
On top of that, Guttmacher says that 43 states already prohibit some abortions after a certain point in pregnancy, such as fetal viability, in the third trimester or after a certain number of weeks. So this is already a rare procedure that is prohibited in much of the country. In fact, there are only four doctors left in the United States who are even willing to perform third trimester abortions.
At the end of the day, Trump seems to be clueless about women's body. We can surmise that he at least knows how to make a baby, you know, after the pussy grab.
Despite this being Trump's best presidential debate performance (in my opinion), he still managed to litter the stage with examples of projecting his own insecurities and displaying his total incompetence. For now, we'll focus on his abortion comments.
From NPR's October 19, 2016, full transcript and fact check:
CHRIS WALLACE
Mr. Trump your reaction and particularly on this issue of life term partial-birth abortion.
Trump’s views on this have changed with time. In a 1999 interview, Trump said that he “hates abortion” but that he didn’t want to ban late abortion.
I think it's terrible if you go with what Hillary is saying in the ninth month you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb of the mother just prior to the birth of the baby. Now you can say that that's okay and Hillary can say that that's okay, but it's not okay with me. Because based on what she's saying and based on where she's going and where she's been, you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb on the ninth month on the final day. And that's not acceptable.
Very few of the millions of abortions performed each year involve dilation and extraction, which is called "partial-birth abortion" by opponents. These are abortions performed after 20 weeks. It would be extremely unusual, if it is done at all, for this kind of abortion to be done only a few days before a nine-month term is reached. Very few providers in the country still perform D&X; abortions. For more background on this type of abortion, click here.
Trump asserted that abortions can take place just one day before birth. This doesn’t really happen.
Most abortions take place early in the pregnancy. One-third take place at six weeks of pregnancy or earlier; 89 percent occur in the first 12 weeks, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights. Only 1.2 percent of abortions — about 12,000 a year — take place after 21 weeks. (The Supreme Court has held that states may not prohibit abortions “necessary to preserve the life or health” of the mother.)
On top of that, Guttmacher says that 43 states already prohibit some abortions after a certain point in pregnancy, such as fetal viability, in the third trimester or after a certain number of weeks. So this is already a rare procedure that is prohibited in much of the country. In fact, there are only four doctors left in the United States who are even willing to perform third trimester abortions.
At the end of the day, Trump seems to be clueless about women's body. We can surmise that he at least knows how to make a baby, you know, after the pussy grab.
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Bloomberg: "Apprentice" Cast And Crew Say Trump Was Lewd And Sexist
By Garance Burke, Associated Press:
The Associated Press interviewed more than 20 people — former crew members, editors and contestants — who described crass behavior by Trump behind the scenes of the long-running hit show, in which aspiring capitalists were given tasks to perform as they competed for jobs working for him.
The staffers and contestants agreed to recount their experiences as Trump's behavior toward women has become a core issue in the presidential campaign. Interviewed separately, they gave concurring accounts of inappropriate conduct on the set.
Eight former crew members recalled that he repeatedly made lewd comments about a camerawoman he said had a nice rear, comparing her beauty to that of his daughter, Ivanka.
During one season, Trump called for female contestants to wear shorter dresses that also showed more cleavage, according to contestant Gene Folkes. Several cast members said Trump had one female contestant twirl before him so he could ogle her figure.
The Full Story (October 3, 2016)
The Associated Press interviewed more than 20 people — former crew members, editors and contestants — who described crass behavior by Trump behind the scenes of the long-running hit show, in which aspiring capitalists were given tasks to perform as they competed for jobs working for him.
The staffers and contestants agreed to recount their experiences as Trump's behavior toward women has become a core issue in the presidential campaign. Interviewed separately, they gave concurring accounts of inappropriate conduct on the set.
Eight former crew members recalled that he repeatedly made lewd comments about a camerawoman he said had a nice rear, comparing her beauty to that of his daughter, Ivanka.
During one season, Trump called for female contestants to wear shorter dresses that also showed more cleavage, according to contestant Gene Folkes. Several cast members said Trump had one female contestant twirl before him so he could ogle her figure.
The Full Story (October 3, 2016)
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Talking Points Memo: Proud Adulterer Blames Woman For Not Stopping Husband's Adultery
By Lauren Fox:
Trump's attack on Bill Clinton's affair – which Hillary Clinton had nothing to do with–is a bizarre campaign strategy for a man whose own sordid affair captivated the country in 1990. But Trump's calling out Hillary Clinton for her husband's actions is the way Trump has always looked at marriage. Putting the onus on women to stop their husband's affairs is classic Trump. The way he handled his own messy personal life decades ago suggests a disdain for the wronged woman, her husband's philandering a sign of her own shortcomings.
A Vanity Fair story from 1990, gives a lot of insight into how Trump saw the role of his wife and her requirements. The story paints a picture of Trump bullying Ivana for not dressing the right way or spending enough time with the children even as he was reportedly already engaged in an extramarital affair.
The Full Story (September 29, 2016)
Trump's attack on Bill Clinton's affair – which Hillary Clinton had nothing to do with–is a bizarre campaign strategy for a man whose own sordid affair captivated the country in 1990. But Trump's calling out Hillary Clinton for her husband's actions is the way Trump has always looked at marriage. Putting the onus on women to stop their husband's affairs is classic Trump. The way he handled his own messy personal life decades ago suggests a disdain for the wronged woman, her husband's philandering a sign of her own shortcomings.
A Vanity Fair story from 1990, gives a lot of insight into how Trump saw the role of his wife and her requirements. The story paints a picture of Trump bullying Ivana for not dressing the right way or spending enough time with the children even as he was reportedly already engaged in an extramarital affair.
The Full Story (September 29, 2016)
Washington Post: Donald Trump’s Weight Problem - He Can’t Stop Talking About ‘Fat’ People
By Katie Zezima and Jose A. DelReal:
In 1997, Trump publicly claimed the Venezuelan pageant queen had gained up to 60 pounds, but she said it was no more than 19. Machado says she gained the weight when she returned to eating normally after suffering from anorexia and bulimia before the competition. Trump went so far as to ambush Machado in a New York gym, where he held a news conference criticizing her weight as she sat on a stationary bike and jumped rope in front of dozens of television cameras.
“We’ve tried diet, spa, a trainer, incentives. Forget it, the way she’s going, she’d eat the whole gymnasium,” Trump told Newsweek at the time.
Machado, now a U.S. citizen, says Trump called her “Miss Piggy” in reference to her weight and “Miss Housekeeping” in reference to her ethnicity — both of which were highlighted by Clinton on the debate stage Monday.
In a conference call arranged by Clinton’s campaign Tuesday, Machado said Trump “always treated me like a lesser thing, like garbage.”
Trump has reacted angrily, telling Fox News on Tuesday: “She was the worst we ever had, the worst, the absolute worst, she was impossible. She gained a massive amount of weight, and it was a real problem. We had a real problem. Not only that, her attitude.”
Trump surrogate Kayleigh McEnany said on CNN that Trump didn’t force Machado to work out, and she defended the candidate for calling Machado an “eating machine” in 1997.
“I like to eat. I like to eat. That is not necessarily a sexist thing,” McEnany said.
The Full Story (September 28, 2016)
In 1997, Trump publicly claimed the Venezuelan pageant queen had gained up to 60 pounds, but she said it was no more than 19. Machado says she gained the weight when she returned to eating normally after suffering from anorexia and bulimia before the competition. Trump went so far as to ambush Machado in a New York gym, where he held a news conference criticizing her weight as she sat on a stationary bike and jumped rope in front of dozens of television cameras.
“We’ve tried diet, spa, a trainer, incentives. Forget it, the way she’s going, she’d eat the whole gymnasium,” Trump told Newsweek at the time.
Machado, now a U.S. citizen, says Trump called her “Miss Piggy” in reference to her weight and “Miss Housekeeping” in reference to her ethnicity — both of which were highlighted by Clinton on the debate stage Monday.
In a conference call arranged by Clinton’s campaign Tuesday, Machado said Trump “always treated me like a lesser thing, like garbage.”
Trump has reacted angrily, telling Fox News on Tuesday: “She was the worst we ever had, the worst, the absolute worst, she was impossible. She gained a massive amount of weight, and it was a real problem. We had a real problem. Not only that, her attitude.”
Trump surrogate Kayleigh McEnany said on CNN that Trump didn’t force Machado to work out, and she defended the candidate for calling Machado an “eating machine” in 1997.
“I like to eat. I like to eat. That is not necessarily a sexist thing,” McEnany said.
The Full Story (September 28, 2016)
The Atlantic: Trump Is His Own Worst Enemy in a Crisis Situation—Once Again
By David A. Graham:
Some of them are arguing that Trump ought to bring up Bill Clinton’s affairs in the 1980s and 1990s. Trump flirted with the idea, saying he would bring Gennifer Flowers to the debate and then backing off. In the spin room after the debate, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Trump was going to get into it but didn’t do so out of respect for Chelsea Clinton.
It seems like that detente won’t last. Trump hinted that he had been “holding back,” which itself would raise doubts about his debate strategy. Not all of his surrogates were so reserved. In the post-debate “spin room” Monday evening, Giuliani used the affair to attack Clinton.
“If you didn’t know the moment Monica Lewinsky said that Bill Clinton violated her, that she was telling the truth, then you’re too stupid to be President,” Giuliani said. “I sure would have talked about what she did to Monica Lewinsky.” (As many people pointed out, Giuliani—who, while having an adulterous affair, informed his second wife that he wanted a divorce via a public press conference—was a curious envoy for this message.)
Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, meanwhile, told CNN that Trump deserved credit for being “polite and a gentleman” by not bringing it up. Eric Trump says it took “courage” for his father not to bring it up. A whole range of Trump surrogates are echoing the point.
Making Bill Clinton’s affairs a centerpiece is a bit of a headscratcher. Hillary Clinton’s favorability ratings hit their all-time high in 1998, when her husband’s affair with Monica Lewinsky was in the news. There’s a reason most Republicans have avoided attacking Hillary Clinton with the affairs: It has become entrenched conventional wisdom that doing so is actually good for her, as it allows her to seem sympathetic, humanizing a candidate who voters often find cool and robotic.
Perhaps this view is wrong, like the many other pieces of outdated political received wisdom that Trump has knocked down. But if the Trump campaign had come to that conclusion through careful thought, one would expect a rather different rollout. They would also likely have gone with the attack on Monday. The disorganized approach now—with Giuliani going for the attack head-on, while Conway argues Trump ought to be congratulated for not using it—suggests a campaign grasping for the nearest weapon it can find, without thinking very hard about how the fight might go.
The Full Story (September 28, 2016)
(Editor's Note: Before the second debate, Trump held a press conference in which he brought forth three of Bill Clinton's accusers, plus a woman who was raped by an individual Hillary Clinton represented as a pro bono attorney appointed by the Court. Monica Lewinsky was not present at the conference.)
Some of them are arguing that Trump ought to bring up Bill Clinton’s affairs in the 1980s and 1990s. Trump flirted with the idea, saying he would bring Gennifer Flowers to the debate and then backing off. In the spin room after the debate, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Trump was going to get into it but didn’t do so out of respect for Chelsea Clinton.
It seems like that detente won’t last. Trump hinted that he had been “holding back,” which itself would raise doubts about his debate strategy. Not all of his surrogates were so reserved. In the post-debate “spin room” Monday evening, Giuliani used the affair to attack Clinton.
“If you didn’t know the moment Monica Lewinsky said that Bill Clinton violated her, that she was telling the truth, then you’re too stupid to be President,” Giuliani said. “I sure would have talked about what she did to Monica Lewinsky.” (As many people pointed out, Giuliani—who, while having an adulterous affair, informed his second wife that he wanted a divorce via a public press conference—was a curious envoy for this message.)
Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, meanwhile, told CNN that Trump deserved credit for being “polite and a gentleman” by not bringing it up. Eric Trump says it took “courage” for his father not to bring it up. A whole range of Trump surrogates are echoing the point.
Making Bill Clinton’s affairs a centerpiece is a bit of a headscratcher. Hillary Clinton’s favorability ratings hit their all-time high in 1998, when her husband’s affair with Monica Lewinsky was in the news. There’s a reason most Republicans have avoided attacking Hillary Clinton with the affairs: It has become entrenched conventional wisdom that doing so is actually good for her, as it allows her to seem sympathetic, humanizing a candidate who voters often find cool and robotic.
Perhaps this view is wrong, like the many other pieces of outdated political received wisdom that Trump has knocked down. But if the Trump campaign had come to that conclusion through careful thought, one would expect a rather different rollout. They would also likely have gone with the attack on Monday. The disorganized approach now—with Giuliani going for the attack head-on, while Conway argues Trump ought to be congratulated for not using it—suggests a campaign grasping for the nearest weapon it can find, without thinking very hard about how the fight might go.
The Full Story (September 28, 2016)
(Editor's Note: Before the second debate, Trump held a press conference in which he brought forth three of Bill Clinton's accusers, plus a woman who was raped by an individual Hillary Clinton represented as a pro bono attorney appointed by the Court. Monica Lewinsky was not present at the conference.)
Sunday, October 16, 2016
[Special] Washington Post: Giuliani - Truth About Trump’s Taxes Make Him ‘Better Than a Woman’ Who Generated Work for the FBI
By Janell Ross:
The list of logical, fact-based things that can be said in support of a candidate, and a self-described business genius, whom the New York Times exposed Saturday as having declared a $916-million loss in the midst of a mid-1990s economic upturn — a loss that could have allowed him to avoid paying income taxes for up to 18 years — is not long. But on Sunday, while trying to offer some sort of supportive spin on Trump's tax news, former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani reached for the bottom:
"Don’t you think a man who has this kind of economic genius is a lot better for the United States than a woman and the only thing she's ever produced is a lot of work for the FBI checking out her emails?
Giuliani defenders, most of whom are also Trump supporters, claim the point he was trying to make was not overtly or obviously sexist. This is a matter of failing to understand his point, leaping to conclusions and reading a little too much into his grammar or word choices, they say.
Perhaps.
But perhaps what we have here is a demonstration of the way Giuliani really thinks about men and women — a truth about his ideology — that escaped in that statement. Trump's questionable behavior, as a man, is evidence of his genius. Clinton's questionable choices regarding her email and server, as a woman, is evidence of the opposite.
The Full Story (October 3, 2016)
The list of logical, fact-based things that can be said in support of a candidate, and a self-described business genius, whom the New York Times exposed Saturday as having declared a $916-million loss in the midst of a mid-1990s economic upturn — a loss that could have allowed him to avoid paying income taxes for up to 18 years — is not long. But on Sunday, while trying to offer some sort of supportive spin on Trump's tax news, former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani reached for the bottom:
"Don’t you think a man who has this kind of economic genius is a lot better for the United States than a woman and the only thing she's ever produced is a lot of work for the FBI checking out her emails?
Giuliani defenders, most of whom are also Trump supporters, claim the point he was trying to make was not overtly or obviously sexist. This is a matter of failing to understand his point, leaping to conclusions and reading a little too much into his grammar or word choices, they say.
Perhaps.
But perhaps what we have here is a demonstration of the way Giuliani really thinks about men and women — a truth about his ideology — that escaped in that statement. Trump's questionable behavior, as a man, is evidence of his genius. Clinton's questionable choices regarding her email and server, as a woman, is evidence of the opposite.
The Full Story (October 3, 2016)
[Special] Editorial: Inside Donald Trump's Machado Disaster
As Graydon Carter noted over a year ago, "Like so many bullies, Trump has skin of gossamer. He thinks nothing of saying the most hurtful thing about someone else, but when he hears a whisper that runs counter to his own vainglorious self-image, he coils like a caged ferret." The Hillary Clinton campaign obviously knows this, because they set Donald Trump up for an epic meltdown, and he did not fail to deliver. As Josh Marshall of TPM explained:
As many have already noted, Clinton's mention of Alicia Machado's treatment at Trump's hands was no random, momentary decision. They'd seen Curiel; they'd seen Khan. She and her team know how Trump's lack of empathy, self-awareness and narcissism makes him ripe for these days' or weeks' long self-destructive tirades.
They laid the trap and he walked right into it.
Anyone with the most basic communications experience or simply a conscience knows there's a simple and solitary way to deal with something like this: "We quarreled years ago. I'm sorry we did. That's a long time ago. I wish her the best." Done and done.
But Trump can't do that because Trump can never admit he was wrong. In fact, it's more than an inability to admit error he has an affirmative need to be right and for everyone to know it. That's why, to the joy of Democrats, he's now on his third day of trashing Machado and defending his own actions, even though the story almost certainly would have died out without him doing so.
By Wednesday night, in his appearance on O'Reilly, he started the show off with a lengthy monologue attacking Machado. Far from mistreating her, he said, he'd saved her job; he'd given her the opportunity to lose weight (yes, this is a fair characterization of his words). And this was the thanks he got!
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