The American Politics Thread!

[Jonathan]

The President's mouthpiece FOX News has confirmed the story. This is a multi thread Tweet.

 

 

[TeamAudra]

12 minutes ago, Jonathan said:

The President's mouthpiece FOX News has confirmed the story. This is a multi thread Tweet.

 

 

There’s nothing “confirmed.” They have an unnamed source, probably the same one Atlantic is using. 

[RWG]

He already said this in 2015, in front of an audience and cameras. No one cares. Not his supporters or supposed swing voters. I'd give you 1/2 odds that the media will have completely lost interest and moved onto something else in 24 hours.

 

I know it's hard for Dems to resist, but turning the campaign into a referendum on Trump's morality is a losing strategy.

Edited September 6, 2020 by RWG

[Guest]

19 hours ago, TeamAudra said:

He was just on TV talking about this. I don’t believe it’s true. The media does tend to be loose with facts when reporting on Trump. He’s also made lot of enemies and has fired a lot of people, so there may be “sources” with  axes to grind. Politics is a blood sport. 

I don't believe it either. So many anonymous sources everywhere, but people take it as gospel. I'm all for criticism when it's called for, but this seems very fishy. 

[mercfan3]

Y'all are kidding yourselves if you don't think he said it. The Atlantic had four different sources, and Trump ranted against a distinguished vet today. Kelly could have easily denied it. Donald literally said something almost identical about McCain four years ago. And to be quite honest, has said dumber more offensive crap through just about every week in his presidency.

 

The only difference this time is his comments were something that his base claims to care about. 

 

 

Edited September 5, 2020 by mercfan3

[mercfan3]

4 hours ago, RWG said:

He already said this in 2015, in front of an audience and cameras. No one cares. Not his supporters or supposed swing voters. I'd give you 1/2 odds that the media will have completely lost interest and moved onto something else in 24 hours.

 

I know it's hard for Dems to resist, run turning the campaign into a referendum on Trump's morality is a losing strategy.

 

I miss the days for when people were pretty much disqualified for not being able to spell "potato" 

[bswanson]

he may or may not have said it but we all know what he said about Mcain

Edited September 5, 2020 by bswanson

[Guest]

The only problem I really had with the McCain feud was that Trump continued to bash him long after he had passed away, publicly. It was just unnecessary. Did John McCain partially want to stick it to Trump when he went against the health care repeal? I'm sure he did, but when someone dies, if you don't have anything nice to say (and there are plenty of not so nice things one could say about McCain, personally or professionally if you look hard enough), don't say anything at all, but at times he couldn't help himself. People tend to excuse things if they're in line with what they might be thinking though. 

 

As far as the article goes, it's always curious when you have anonymous sources and we're referring to comments made two years ago, allegedly. Now they're being put forth 90 days before an election. Of course, all is fair in love and war, but folks should examine things with a critical eye as always. 

[mercfan3]

Oh, I think there’s a reason those four (likely Kelly, Mattis, Kellanne, and ?) came forward now. That doesn’t mean Donald didn’t say it.

[mercfan3]

Yates, Rice, and Mayor Pete have been added to Biden’s presidential transition time. Likely meaning we’ll see Yates as AG,  Rice as SoS, and Pete as CoS or UN Ambassador if Biden wins.

Edited September 5, 2020 by mercfan3

[RWG]

Donald Trump is the president because he was able to tap in to the economic anxieties of the working class.

 

 

[sneaky]

21 minutes ago, RWG said:

Donald Trump is the president because he was able to tap in to the economic anxieties of the working class.

 

 

They could still be working class. Working in auto insurance I see a lot of customers with very average salaries buying beamers and Jags only putting a few hundred down then getting pissed off that their vehicle gets totaled and they are upside down on their loan

[TeamAudra]

5 minutes ago, sneaky said:

They could still be working class. Working in auto insurance I see a lot of customers with very average salaries buying beamers and Jags only putting a few hundred down then getting pissed off that their vehicle gets totaled and they are upside down on their loan

How do you know their salaries? 
 

BTW, that’s a good argument for leasing, rather than buying. Leasing removes that risk, as long as there is gap coverage (most leases, as far as I know). Of course, there are other considerations. I’ll look for the lowest payment possible for what I need. There are some bad leases out there. Toyota typically has good leases, and the vehicles hold their value well, so it’s often worthwhile to buy the vehicle after the lease is up. I’ve done that twice. I haven’t made vehicle payment in over 5 years, and probably won’t for a while. Two older Toyotas in the garage, and I don’t care. 

[sneaky]

26 minutes ago, TeamAudra said:

How do you know their salaries? 
 

BTW, that’s a good argument for leasing, rather than buying. Leasing removes that risk, as long as there is gap coverage (most leases, as far as I know). Of course, there are other considerations. I’ll look for the lowest payment possible for what I need. There are some bad leases out there. Toyota typically has good leases, and the vehicles hold their value well, so it’s often worthwhile to buy the vehicle after the lease is up. I’ve done that twice. I haven’t made vehicle payment in over 5 years, and probably won’t for a while. Two older Toyotas in the garage, and I don’t care. 

I'll be vague with  the company but they say the customer's employment/line of work on the main screen. Plus, when you have a 5 year old vehicle but owe a few thousand more than the vehicle is worth its a pretty clear indication to me you bought above your means. Like if you dont make six figures a Toyota is a good bet. They are generally reliable and are easier to fix but I feel a lot of Americans like to think they are better off than they are.

[TeamAudra]

8 minutes ago, sneaky said:

I'll be vague with  the company but they say the customer's employment/line of work on the main screen. Plus, when you have a 5 year old vehicle but owe a few thousand more than the vehicle is worth its a pretty clear indication to me you bought above your means. Like if you dont make six figures a Toyota is a good bet. They are generally reliable and are easier to fix but I feel a lot of Americans like to think they are better off than they are.

Yeah, full disclosure. I sold cars for about a year, shortly after college, while I was figuring out what I wanted to do. I hated it, but the money was decent, and I learned that cars are a terrible investment. 

[RWG]

1 hour ago, sneaky said:

They could still be working class. Working in auto insurance I see a lot of customers with very average salaries buying beamers and Jags only putting a few hundred down then getting pissed off that their vehicle gets totaled and they are upside down on their loan

 

I'm sure some of them are working class. The average person who owns a boat longer than 20 feet, like the ones you see in the video, is not making 50k a year. It just generally clocks with research that indicates that Trump supporters are much wealthier than they're portrayed as being.

[Jonathan]

Wow I'm speechless. Even for Trump. Holy crap!

 

 

[TeamAudra]

Who knows what’s going on in that photo, but Michael Cohen is not a credible source. His job was to lie for Trump. Whenever he came on TV to defend Trump over whatever the latest controversy was, he made my skin crawl. 

[TeamAudra]

OK, that didn’t take long. It was a parody “Apprentice” style video made for the 2012 RNC convention. It ultimately wasn’t used. A little different than Cohen’s account, eh? This is why most people don’t trust the media. 

 

 

Edited September 6, 2020 by TeamAudra

[TeamAudra]

On 9/4/2020 at 9:48 PM, mercfan3 said:

Y'all are kidding yourselves if you don't think he said it. The Atlantic had four different sources, and Trump ranted against a distinguished vet today. Kelly could have easily denied it. Donald literally said something almost identical about McCain four years ago. And to be quite honest, has said dumber more offensive crap through just about every week in his presidency.

 

The only difference this time is his comments were something that his base claims to care about. 

 

 

John Bolton hates Trump. John Bolton was there. He debunked it. The trip even was discussed in his book, and the weather was cited as the reason for not attending this particular ceremony. If Trump has made the alleged comments, don’t you think they would have been included in Bolton’s book?  Many others have debunked it as well, but those are all Trump allies, so you probably don’t believe them. The unnamed “sources” need to step forward and show themselves, or as far as I’m concerned, it’s completely fabricated, just like the CNN/Cohen story discussed above. This is nothing more than dirty politics. 
 

 

Edited September 7, 2020 by TeamAudra

[mercfan3]

"I didn't hear those comments" doesn't mean he didn't say it. And actually, what's striking is that many members of the GOP haven't come to his defense. In fact, the defense that has come up is "well, he doesn't actually mean it the way it sounds." Like clock work going from "Trump never said it" to "Okay, Trump said it..but he doesn't mean it." Soon we'll be at, "Okay he meant it, but he has a point.." He's already said similar things in his past. Parts of this story have already been confirmed by CNN and Foxnews..Let's be real here, his base isn't going to care anyway.

 

BTW guys, the economic anxiety theory has been wholly debunked. 

 

Also, just because that picture was from a video of him doing that for the 2012 convention, it doesn't mean that this isn't something he did as President. We don't even know that the picture is something Cohen included in his book, it could have been a picture used in the media report. That being said, again..it doesn't matter. Like seriously, of all the things Donald has done...this would be along the lines of something pathetic and kind of funny. 

[TeamAudra]

4 minutes ago, mercfan3 said:

"I didn't hear those comments" doesn't mean he didn't say it. And actually, what's striking is that many members of the GOP haven't come to his defense. In fact, the defense that has come up is "well, he doesn't actually mean it the way it sounds." Like clock work going from "Trump never said it" to "Okay, Trump said it..but he doesn't mean it." Soon we'll be at, "Okay he meant it, but he has a point.." He's already said similar things in his past. Parts of this story have already been confirmed by CNN and Foxnews..Let's be real here, his base isn't going to care anyway.

 

BTW guys, the economic anxiety theory has been wholly debunked. 

 

Also, just because that picture was from a video of him doing that for the 2012 convention, it doesn't mean that this isn't something he did as President. We don't even know that the picture is something Cohen included in his book, it could have been a picture used in the media report. That being said, again..it doesn't matter. Like seriously, of all the things Donald has done...this would be along the lines of something pathetic and kind of funny. 

See what I mean? You hate Trump so much, you’re willing to believe anything fed to you, regardless of evidence to the contrary, including the ridiculous Cohen story. I can relate, because I’ve done it too, including with Trump related stories. The media has completely discredited themselves, so without on the record sources, everything is garbage until proven  otherwise. 

[ButterflyEffect]

You folks are hilarious.

"It's been confirmed by a source"
"It's been debunked by a source"

You're all arguing with each other using the same argument. If something can't be taken at face value as the truth then it goes both ways. Unless y'all trying to be ironic.

[TeamAudra]

15 minutes ago, ButterflyEffect said:

You folks are hilarious.

"It's been confirmed by a source"
"It's been debunked by a source"

You're all arguing with each other using the same argument. If something can't be taken at face value as the truth then it goes both ways. Unless y'all trying to be ironic.

No, it is not the same argument. On one hand, we have anonymous sources making claims, and on the other, we have numerous on the record sources debunking it, including a guy who just wrote an anti-Trump book. 
 

As for the Cohen/CNN story, we have a freaking Washington Post columnist debunking it on Twitter along with concrete evidence. These are crazy times, indeed. 

[RWG]

Here I'll solve it for y'all