Trump and Harris are bringing the 2024 race to podcasts

Choose your poison: Over the weekend, depending on your political preferences, you could choose between listening to comedian insults on stage at Madison Square Garden as part of a campaign rally; watching the current US representative and vice presidential contender play video games and talk about eliminating the filibuster via Twitch; hear the presidential candidate’s thoughts on whale psychology; or listen to a vulnerability researcher (?) and a presidential candidate chat about birth order.

Our sharpest political minds are not.

It’s as if everyone is avoiding talking about the real issues – how to reduce inflation, how to get government spending under control, how to make Social Security solvent, how to create an orderly and fair immigration process, or how to improve quality. our schools. The podcast industry dealt a gloriously devastating blow to cable news between the last election cycle and now, creating a whole bunch of scrappy independent upstarts that presidential candidates (and their political consultants) are finally realizing is an important way for voters to get news . and comment. Unfortunately, the candidates’ own heads appear to be filled with nothing but nonsense.

First, the predictable scandal: Tony Hinchcliffe insult to comedian known for his off-color jokes, took to the stage to open for Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden yesterday. He joked about ClintonsDiddy and Latinos “Making Babies” and How They Like to Do Itcome inside“—”just like they did to our country!”

He also said, “I don’t know if you know this, but there’s literally a floating island of trash in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico.” It has become a political scandal that could threaten Trump’s ability to win Puerto Rico’s Electoral College votes. (Oh wait…)

“When some idiot calls Puerto Rico ‘floating trash’, that’s what they think of you… That’s what they think of those who make less money than them.” said New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a live Q&A with Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. (They are apparently quite buddy for now, at least, they want voters to believe.)

“Can’t deal with this dude asking someone to change their tampons while he himself was shitting bricks in his Addicted after realizing a Trump rally was opening and feeding red meat racism along with a crowd of other fanatics in a foaming crowd, not ironically: I’ll make you one of them.” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote to X. “You don’t like Puerto Rico.” You like to drink pina colada. There is a difference.”

Can’t deal with this dude asking someone to change their tampons while he’s ripping bricks in his Addicted after realizing a Trump rally is opening and feeding red meat racism along with a bunch of other bigots in the foaming crowd, paradoxically, makes you one of them.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) October 28, 2024

Were the Puerto Ricans who attended the rally offended by this? Not reallyor it seems so. But this whole saga is actually quite symbolic of how this whole election went: we have almost completely neglected to talk about the real issues. The Trump campaign continues to stir up controversy, time and time again, while the Harris/Walz campaign often positions itself as the opposition to the Trumpists, reactive and apoplectic, but rarely actively determining what they will actually do.

Trump told Rogan: The craziest, twisted, and sometimes entertaining presidential candidate met his match in the craziest, twisted, and sometimes entertaining podcaster, and it was wild. Donald Trump and Joe Rogan talked about the psychology of whales. They talked about how Trump had staffed his administration. They talked about the Chips and Science Act, which aims to reduce dependence on chips made in Asia and provide subsidies to companies to make semiconductor parts here at home, which Trump called “Put billions of dollars into wealthy companies,” saying he instead advocates imposing high tariffs on companies to try to spur growth in American manufacturing capacity. He explained his comments about “enemy from withinand how he realizes that there are “people who I think really want to make this country a failure.” View.

Meanwhile, you have J.D. Vance – an alleged political operative for the Trump campaign –speak about globalization in the program of comedian Tim Dillon podcast. Vance said, “London doesn’t feel entirely English anymore,” while “New York is, of course, a classic American city. I think over time New York will start to feel less American.” (Is he saying that large cosmopolitan cities acquire a certain uniformity over time? What exactly is he predicting or talking about?)

Trump’s protectionism, Hinchcliffe’s off-color jokes, and Vance’s vague problems with globalization all combine to paint a portrait of a campaign with very different values and priorities than, say, mine.

Here’s Kamala: The Democratic presidential candidate continued his exploration of Brené Brown’s vulnerability/empathy/shame. podcast and it was… as if complete nothing. Brown asked Harris a lot of questions about her background – birth order! Harris’ sorority nickname! – but they never got to anything serious. They talked about the core values of “courageous leaders.” If you played a drinking game where you take a shot every time someone said “life experiences” or “Venn diagrams,” you would be face down on the carpet.

We may not deserve better from our leaders. Perhaps our politics were always destined to come down to this. But how depressing it is to see all of this laid out in front of you, through hours and hours of detailed content on various podcasts, consumed by polar opposite parts of America that increasingly seem to believe they have very little in common with each other.

Scenes from Miami: I’m in Miami for an event organized by Founders Fund, and yesterday I visited a Catholic church that is in full force against Florida’s 4th Amendment, which would add abortion protections to the state constitution, including the text: “No law. shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion until viability or when necessary to protect the health of the patient, as determined by the patient’s health care provider.” (Read more about Amendment 4 Here.)

Abortions after 6 weeks are now illegal in Florida, and doctors and activists are part of a campaign to draw attention to extreme cases where women have been got into a difficult medical situation because the law allegedly does not make it clear that doctors are allowed to terminate a pregnancy under circumstances that threaten life and health. Proponents of the amendment argue that Amendment 4 will make that clear. On the other hand, the bishops of Florida write: “We call on all Floridians of good will to oppose the legalization of late-term abortion and oppose the abortion amendment. By doing this, we will not only protect the weakest, most innocent and defenseless people among us, but also countless women. across the state from the harms of abortion.”

QUICK HITS

On Saturday, Israeli fighter jets struck several “air defense systems, missile production facilities and launch sites” in Iran. reports Bloombergin response to Iran’s attack on Israel earlier this month. The attack did not cause much damage in terms of casualties (four Iranian soldiers were reported killed), but it exposed critical vulnerabilities in Iran’s weapons and nuclear development infrastructure. A U.S. military official, “speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, said President Joe Biden’s administration was working with Israel to develop a ‘proportionate’ response and called on Iran not to retaliate further,” the report said. Bloomberg.
During a campaign stop in West Philadelphia, Kamala Harris again “announced a plan to stimulate Puerto Rico’s economy and power grid.” for Bloomberg.
Egypt has proposed an initial two-day ceasefire in the Gaza Strip to exchange four Israeli Hamas hostages for some Palestinian prisoners, Egypt’s president said on Sunday, as Israeli military strikes killed 45 Palestinians in the enclave. reports Reuters.
An interesting trend about how young women are avoidance wear wedding and engagement rings daily; Being a surfer, I can’t wear mine most of the summer, but I didn’t realize that everyone else was copying me.
This “head coach” New York Times article this is the most disgusting thing I’ve read in a long time long Bye. Use with caution.