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🗳 2020 General Election - Trump vs Biden

General Discussion
#142

I know some people were mad at Biden for not going into policy more, and like… why. What would actually be the point of that? Trump didn’t go there to debate policy. He went to shit on the floor and make people think Biden did it. Literally Biden’s only job was to sit there and look dignified, sane, and like he had at least a few answers, and my impression is that he did that well enough to create the contrast he needed to.

I think if Trump listens to advisors anymore he’ll make up a reason to sit the next one out.

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#143

Wow $31.5 million one-day haul for Biden-Harris in ONE day -during and post-debate. That is a big bump for their campaign and points to momentum. :moneybag:

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#144

More articles on the madness of the debate:

Chris Wallace Calls Debate ‘a Terrible Missed Opportunity’

The veteran anchor conceded he was initially “reluctant” to step in during the Trump-Biden matchup. “I’ve never been through anything like this,” he said.

At Least 73 Million People Watched “Shit Show” Trump-Biden Debate

Ratings for the first debate between the president and his opponent, Joe Biden, dropped sharply compared to the numbers Trump and Hillary Clinton drew in 2016.

“This Is So Unpresidential”: Notes from the Worst Debate in American History

Trump talked and talked on Tuesday night, but, politically speaking, it added up to nothing.

That Was Not a Debate. That Was a Warning. This Nation Is Not Well.

Trump is scared sh**less: He can’t handle the truth, so he wouldn’t let Biden talk

Trump’s no strongman: He’s a coward who listens to no one and hides behind the fascists he urges to “stand by”

Donald Trump Is America’s Abusive Father

The debate was hard to watch because abuse is hard to watch.

Eight Things That Were Somehow Not Takeaways From the Debate Because Everything Else Was So Deranged

Tuesday night’s presidential debate was instantly received as a milestone in political history: a debate driven off the rails by the frantic obnoxiousness of Donald Trump, as the president compulsively interrupted Joe Biden and moderator Chris Wallace again and again, while seeming to be speaking only to a base of far-right supporters rather than the country as a whole. To support this account of the central themes and implications of the president’s behavior, political journalism has focused in on a few shocking moments—chief among them Trump’s apparent endorsement of the far-right, street-fighting Proud Boys and his debate-ending rant declaring that the entire election would be untrustworthy and riddled with fraud.

But the traditional practice of summarizing and epitomizing presidential debates did not do justice to how comprehensively, baroquely unhinged the president’s performance was. Trump filled the night with remarks—many of them delivered as offhand asides—that would have been shocking enough to dominate the next-day coverage had they happened anytime before 2016. In the maelstrom of 2020, though, claims that would once have ranked among the most appalling, dishonest, misinformed, or simply bizarre things ever said by a major-party presidential candidate passed largely unremarked. Here are eight of them!

The two most relevant scientific officials in Trump’s own administration are wrong about when a coronavirus vaccine will be ready, according to Trump. Moderator Chris Wallace asked Trump why he has been saying a vaccine is weeks away, despite the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the director of the White House’s “Operation Warp Speed” vaccine task force both saying one will likely not be ready to distribute widely until next summer. “I’ve spoken to the companies, and we can have it a lot sooner,” said the president, whose background is in real estate marketing. “I disagree with both of them.”

Insulin is nearly free now. When Wallace pointed out correctly that Trump has never proposed a replacement for the Affordable Care Act health care system that he is always trying to eliminate, Trump responded that he is “cutting drug prices,” then said the following: “Insulin, it was destroying families, destroying people, the cost. I’m getting it for so cheap it’s like water, you want to know the truth. So cheap.” According to the medical news site Stat, “insulin still retails for roughly $300 a vial.” Trump, Stat says, was likely referring to a limited price-cap plan his administration has put in place that covers “a fraction of seniors enrolled in certain pricey private insurance plans.”

Cars are too expensive because they have too many computers in them. “The car has gotten so expensive because they have computers all over the place,” Trump said, during a discussion of rolling back fuel-efficiency standards. I could not find any coverage online of excessive computer insertion driving car prices up. Additionally, Trump’s related claim that relaxing fuel-efficiency standards will make cars cheaper runs into the reality that if you buy a cheaper car with lower fuel efficiency you end up spending more on gas; Consumer Reports calculated that Trump’s rollbacks will end up costing consumers an average of $2,100 per new car purchased.

Europeans live in fireproof forest cities. Trump denied that the ongoing West Coast wildfires are related to climate change and said they wouldn’t be happening if Americans, like the Europeans who live in “forest cities,” were more vigilant about forest management. “In Europe, they live—they’re forest cities, they’re called forest cities. They maintain their forest. They manage their forest. I was with the head of a major country—it’s a forest city. He said, ‘Sir, we have trees that are far more, they ignite much easier than California. There shouldn’t be that problem.’ ” It’s not clear which head of a “country” that is also a “forest city” the president was referring to, but in 2018, he baffled officials in Finland by asserting that they prevent forest fires by raking the forest floor. Elsewhere, Trump has made clear that what he means by “forest management” is giving more permits to the logging industry; you can click here to read a 2018 Slate article about why that is unlikely to help.

A note on this crazy bit here: one of Trump’s big tells that he is lying is when he tells a story where somebody calls him “sir,”

The numbers on his own tax returns are wrong. The New York Times reported Sunday that it had obtained years of Trump’s long-concealed tax returns, and that, among other things, they show that he paid $750 in income taxes each year in 2016 and 2017. Although Trump called the blockbuster report “fake news,” the White House objected to the story by talking about other kinds of taxes Trump had paid, or income tax Trump had paid in other years, rather than by directly disputing the authenticity of the documents or the validity of the central $750 figure.

Trump at first tried the same deflection when Wallace asked him whether he’d really only paid $750. When the moderator kept pressing him specifically about the number, though, Trump finally directly denied it.

WALLACE: No, Mr. President, I’m asking you a question. Will you tell us how much you paid in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017?

TRUMP: Millions of dollars.

WALLACE: You paid millions of dollars in—

TRUMP: Millions of dollars, yes.

WALLACE: So not $750?

TRUMP: Millions of dollars. And you’ll get to see it. And you’ll get to see it.

Is there a distant possibility that the New York Times spent months examining apparently authentic tax documents and got the most important number in their story wrong? I guess. Way, way, way more likely is that the president lied on live national television about the central fact in what had been the No. 1 story in the week’s news cycle.

The president can, and should, order the extrajudicial assassination of U.S. citizens. On the subject of protests and accompanying violence—a pet theme of the Trump reelection campaign—Wallace set out to press Biden on whether he was reluctant to call out the National Guard. When Biden argued that Trump’s federal interventions in Portland, Oregon, had made things worse, Trump jumped in to boast about his performance: “I sent in the U.S. Marshals to get the killer of a young man in the middle of the street, and they shot him. For three days, Portland didn’t do anything. I sent in the U.S. Marshals, they took care of business.” The “business” the president was referring to was the killing of Michael Forest Reinoehl, a suspect in the shooting of a far-right protester in Portland. After initial reports that Reinoehl had died in a gun battle with the authorities, one witness told reporters he was “clutching a cellphone and eating a gummy worm” when the marshals opened fire on him without warning.

Say what???

Taking status away from white people is an upsetting “reversal.” Here is Trump describing what is wrong with training programs in which white people are asked to consider the ways they may have benefited from and contributed to systemic racism:

WALLACE: What is radical about racial sensitivity training, sir?

TRUMP: If you were a certain person, you had no status in life, it was, sort of, a reversal.

???. This was, according to Trump, one of the reasons he should be reelected:

The greatest, before COVID came in, the greatest economy in history, lowest unemployment numbers, everything was good. Everything was going—and by the way, there was unity going to happen. People were calling me, for the first time in years, they were calling and they were saying, ‘It’s time, maybe.’ And then what happened? We got hit.

Time for what? And who was calling ? Unfortunately, we will never know, because we got hit.

Police shot Portland slaying suspect without warning or trying to arrest him first, witness says

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#145

Generally articles like this one fail to take into account that Joe Biden is centrist only within the Democratic Party not necessarily to the entire American political spectrum. Joe’s biggest asset is his ability to build common ground and bring people together. He’s a Party candidate through and through. Like Pelosi, they will pass anything progressive policy we want, there just needs to be a supportive Democratic majority. It’s a big tent Party, so I know how frustrating that kind of politics can be, however that doesn’t mean consensus is out of reach that just means we have to talk each other more and about each other less.

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#146

Memory sticks used to program Philly’s voting machines were stolen from elections warehouse

A laptop and several memory sticks used to program Philadelphia’s voting machines were stolen from a city warehouse in East Falls, officials confirmed Wednesday, setting off a scramble to investigate and to ensure the machines had not been compromised.

Though it remains unclear when the equipment was stolen, sources briefed on the investigation said the items vanished this week. The laptop belonged to an on-site employee for the company that supplies the machines. It and the USB drives were the only items believed to have been taken.

City officials vowed Wednesday that the theft would not disrupt voting on Nov. 3.

“We are confident,” said Nick Custodio, a deputy to Lisa Deeley, chair of the city commissioners, who oversee elections, “that this incident will not in any way compromise the integrity of the election.”

But behind the scenes, they fretted about how President Donald Trump and his allies might use the news to cast doubt on the integrity of the city’s elections in light of false claims and conspiracy theories he cited during Tuesday’s presidential debate.

The commissioners initially refused to confirm the theft or that an investigation had been opened. They only did so after The Inquirer informed them it would be reporting the incident based on sources who were not authorized to publicly discuss it.

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💬 WTFJHT water cooler - chitchat thread
💬 WTFJHT water cooler - chitchat thread
#147

image

He is out of his mind, and nobody in his regime of toadies and creeps will tell him so.


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#148

Also:

Maine court cites voter fraud concern in ruling against push for ballot harvesting, extending absentee deadline

The court maintained a requirement for all ballots to be received by Election Day

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/maine-court-voter-fraud-ruling-against-ballot-harvest-deadline-extension
https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/politics/elections/court-rules-in-favor-of-maine-sec-of-state-over-extending-absentee-voting-deadline/97-b1eb67b6-11da-4f23-bd9b-93e79721435b

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#149

The Proud Boys are taking a frightening interpretation out of Trump’s “Stand Down and Stand By” comment that sees them preparing to engage in voter intimidation.
image

Really American

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#150

GOP donors ‘freaking out’ after coming close to Trump at fundraiser hours before his positive Covid-19 test

Trump’s campaign, as of Friday morning, has not sent out any official guidance to many of the donors involved with the event. After publication of this article, donors who attended the gathering were sent an email with an 11:18 a.m. ET time stamp. The email reminds them that no one was permitted within six feet of the president and advises them to contact their doctor if they start feeling coronavirus symptoms.

"Out of an abundance of caution, we want to call this to your attention. Please be reminded that due to Trump Victory-protocol, no attendees were allowed within 6 ft of President Trump at the event," the email, signed only by “Trump Victory,” says. "Please contact your medical provider if you or any of your loved ones is ill or develops a fever, shortness of breath, or other respiratory symptoms."

About 30 to 50 donors came close to the president Thursday night, this person added, while noting most of the interaction with Trump took place outdoors. Many of those contributors who have been able to get in touch with GOP officials have been told to stay home and reach out to their physician for next steps.

The donors are calling and not getting an answer.

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#151

Is it bad that my first thought is “they knew what they were signing up for”?

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#152

They’re admitting Trump knew about the possible exposure BEFORE going to the fundraiser.


Also:

Three journalists who work at the White House tested positive on Friday, according to a series of memos from the White House Correspondents Association.

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#153

But wait there’s more…

T campaign ads - with Obama mentioned

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#154

That’s insane and unfortunate.

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#155

And who could possibly have seen it coming?

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#156

:eyes: totally normal

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#157

I am sorry, this made me laugh. His own callous idiocy has implemented the collapse of his campaign. Wow. Unprecedented AND unpresidented at once!

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#158

Biden’s national lead over Trump jumps to 14 points after debate in NBC News/WSJ poll

The Democratic nominee is now ahead of Trump by 14 points among registered voters, 53 percent to 39 percent — up from his 8-point lead in the previous poll before the debate.

That 14-point advantage represents Biden’s largest lead in the NBC News/WSJ poll during the entirety of the 2020 presidential campaign; his previous high was 11 points in July.

760×433

“The clear loser from the debate was Donald Trump,” said Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates, who conducted this survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies.

“And at least for the short term, this has damaged his standing against Joe Biden,” Horwitt added.

But McInturff, the GOP pollster, cautions that the survey could represent a “shock to the system” right after a consequential debate. (Democrats, for instance, hold a 9-point advantage in party identification in this poll, compared with 5- to 6-point advantages in past ones.)

And as a result, McInturff believes that the race could return to the stable 8- to 9-point marginwhere it’s essentially been over the last several months — which is still a difficult place for an incumbent four weeks before Election Day.

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#159

Biden leads by 10 points as majority of Americans say Trump could have avoided coronavirus: Reuters/Ipsos poll

Among those adults who are expected to cast ballots in the Nov. 3 election, the poll found that 51% were backing Biden, while 41% said they were voting for Trump. Another 4% were choosing a third-party candidate and another 4% said they were undecided.

Biden’s 10-point edge over Trump is 1 to 2 points higher than leads Biden posted over the past several weeks, though the increase is still within the poll’s precision limits of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

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#160

The Republicans have made a strong effort to get their voters to get registered. Here’s how many new voters in these battleground states.

As deadlines approach, new data from the past few months shows Republicans have swamped Democrats in adding new voters to the rolls, a dramatic GOP improvement over 2016, even if new registrations have lagged 2016 rates across the board. It’s a sign that in a pandemic, Democrats are struggling to seize traditional opportunities to pad their margins, such as the return of students to college campuses.

Of the six states Trump won by less than 5 points in 2016, four — Arizona, Florida, North Carolina and Pennsylvania — permit voters to register by party. In all four states, voter registration trends are more robust for the GOP than four years ago.

In Florida, Republicans added a net 195,652 registered voters between this March’s presidential primary and the end of August, while Democrats added 98,362 and other voters increased 69,848. During the same period in 2016, Republicans added a net 182,983 registrants, Democrats 163,571 and others 71,982. In 2016, Trump prevailed in Florida by just 112,911 votes.

Even in heavily blue Miami-Dade County, where Hillary Clinton beat Trump by 29 points in 2016, Republicans added a net 22,986 additional voter registrations between March and the end of August, compared to 11,142 for Democrats.

In Pennsylvania, Republicans added a net 135,619 voters between this June’s primary and the final week of September, while Democrats added 57,985 and other voters increased 49,995. Between the April 2016 primary and the November 2016 general election, Republicans added 175,016 registrants, Democrats added 155,269 and others 118,989. That fall, Trump won the state by just 44,292 votes.

The pro-GOP trend since 2016 is also apparent, if less dramatic, in Arizona and North Carolina, two Sun Belt states Democrats have high hopes of flipping blue.

In North Carolina, Republicans added a net 83,785 voters between this March’s presidential primary and the final week of September, while Democrats added 38,137 and other voters jumped 100,256. During the same period in 2016, Republicans added 54,157 registrants, Democrats added 38,931 and others 140,868. In 2016, Trump carried North Carolina by 173,315 votes.

In Arizona, Democrats out-registered Republicans 31,139 to 29,667 on a net basis between the March presidential primary and the August state primary, compared to Democrats topping Republicans 66,523 to 53,185 over the same period in 2016. This data doesn’t include new registrations from late August or September, and Arizona’s registration deadline is Oct. 5.

To be sure, it can be hazardous to draw broad conclusions from voter registration statistics. For example, the youngest voters both overwhelmingly dislike Trump and increasingly choose not to affiliate with either major party.

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#161

https://talk.whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/t/the-latest-tuesday-october-6/5923/13?u=pet_proletariat

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