2024 General Election--Trump vs. Biden 2: Electric Boogaloo

[Karreck]

Republicans just don't seem to want to actually protect kids or hold actual child sex abusers accountable.

Precisely.

[BlackDruid96]

Joint Statement from News Organizations on Presidential Debates



Despite both CNN and FOX News being there, I'm still taking a CNN point for this. Because I think we all know everyone expects Biden to be there. This is basically telling Trump "look, whoever shows up is getting hours and hours of free coverage".

There's more to the story, but it's not flattering to Trump.

1) Trump has already asked the CPD to move the debates forward. This is, of course, because Trump knows full well he's going to lose a bunch of court cases and doesn't want Biden to rub those in his face on camera.

2) Trump famously refused to debate any of his GOP opponents. Trump claiming he's ready to debate flies in the face of objective evidence.

"Well Biden didn't debate either!"

Was he the incumbent?

"Well, yes, but--"

Was Trump in 2020?

"Well, yes, but--"

Then Trump still loses. 0-1 or 1-2 your choice, doesn't matter, Trump has objectively flaked more times than Biden. And that's not including the time he failed so hard in the first 2020 debate he nearly died and missed the second.

3) Trump cannot be trusted on his word, full stop. His public statements about committing to debate mean less than nothing.

4) While Biden has not said anything about the debates specifically, he has already taunted Trump multiple times on the topic. Biden's campaign called Trump's out for trying to game the system, reminding everyone that the debates aren't supposed to be where/when/about what Trump wants.

5) And the big one: Biden has not refused an invitation to debate. None has been extended yet. Biden is not the issue here.

The listed press outlets did not outright say "Trump needs to commit". They're trying to be unbiased. But all of them except FOX News said "Yeah, sure, let's just go ahead and ask them both," because they all know Biden will be there -- it's not like he will be stuck testifying in court.

The debate schedule has been set since Nov 2023. The first is in five months in Texas -- a Trump-friendly state.

Trump didn't need to debate any of his GOP opponents, they weren't even close to being a threat. Biden debating Trump would be a mistake for Biden, he would get destroyed, he can barley walk or string a group of coherent sentences together.

[Odinfrost]

Trump didn't need to debate any of his GOP opponents, they weren't even close to being a threat. Biden debating Trump would be a mistake for Biden, he would get destroyed, he can barley walk or string a group of coherent sentences together.

Neither can Trump, so it's an equal battlefield

[Dontrike]

Trump didn't need to debate any of his GOP opponents, they weren't even close to being a threat. Biden debating Trump would be a mistake for Biden, he would get destroyed, he can barley walk or string a group of coherent sentences together.

Imagine thinking that Trump is such a great orator that he can beat anyone. I guess people get confused when they hear a single run on sentence that lasts for five minutes, changes topics 35 times, and uses about 80 different words in total.

[The Stormbringer]

Imagine thinking that Trump is such a great orator that he can beat anyone. I guess people get confused when they hear a single run on sentence that lasts for five minutes, changes topics 35 times, and uses about 80 different words in total.

That's basically it. TRUMP used CONFUSE RAY! It's super effective!

[Twdft]

Imagine thinking that Trump is such a great orator that he can beat anyone. I guess people get confused when they hear a single run on sentence that lasts for five minutes, changes topics 35 times, and uses about 80 different words in total.

If you ever think you have too many brain cells and want to get rid of some, get a transcript of Trump talking for 5 minutes and read it normally. Without having his voice or cadence of speech in your head.

[Edge-]

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/19/u...nsylvania.html

Another Republican candidate is rewriting their own history -

David McCormick’s origin story goes something like this: He grew up in rural Pennsylvania, southwest of Scranton. He baled hay, trimmed Christmas trees and otherwise worked on his family’s farm. And from those humble beginnings, he rose to achieve the American dream.

“I spent most of my life in Pennsylvania, growing up in Bloomsburg on my family’s farm,” Mr. McCormick, now a Republican candidate for Senate, told Pittsburgh Quarterly in 2022.

“I’ve truly lived the American dream,” he wrote in a fund-raising appeal in October. “My life’s journey — from growing up on a farm in Bloomsburg, to graduating from West Point and serving in the 82nd Airborne Division, growing a business in Pittsburgh, and serving at the highest levels of government — reflects that.”

“I grew up on a family farm from the time I was a kid,” he said at the Pennsylvania farm show in January.

...

He has explicitly said and strongly implied that he grew up on a farm, claimed in 2022 that he had “started with nothing” and that he “didn’t have anything,” and he and his campaign have recently described his parents as schoolteachers.

A farm boy! The salt of the earth! A real, True American!

In fact, Mr. McCormick is the son of a well-regarded college president who later became chancellor of higher education systems in Pennsylvania and Minnesota. He largely grew up in the president’s sprawling hilltop residence, which students called the president’s mansion, at what is now Bloomsburg University.

It was a “big old house” that “had all sorts of trap doors and all sorts of history,” Mr. McCormick said in a 2011 interview with the Press Enterprise, a local newspaper.

Damn, that sounds a lot different than "growing up with nothing on a farm".

The family did own a farm several miles from the school, which Mr. McCormick called the “McCormick Tree Farm” in a holiday-themed ad released before his 2022 Senate bid. But it was also often known locally as a place where his mother raised Arabian horses, something of a family hobby, according to local news reports from the 1970s and ’80s. (Mr. McCormick still owns the farm, he has said. But he rents out part of it, according to a woman who said she had rented from the family for roughly three decades.)

Mr. McCormick, a former hedge fund executive who is part of an unusually wealthy crop of Republican Senate candidates, is challenging Senator Bob Casey, a Democrat, in one of this year’s highest-profile races for control of the chamber. He faces no Republican opposition and is set to become the nominee on Tuesday.

So they had a farm...for Arabian horses, which I don't think are very cheap?

Any ways, weird how wealthy hedge fund managers and the like feel the need to try to rewrite their history to erase the silver spoon they grew up with.

And in a statement, Mr. McCormick dismissed questions about the discrepancies in his biography as “hair-splitting, frivolous, cherry-picked distortions of what I have always said.”

And as always, Republicans get very upset when you point out that public records do not support their dishonest lies.

[Endus]

Trump didn't need to debate any of his GOP opponents, they weren't even close to being a threat. Biden debating Trump would be a mistake for Biden, he would get destroyed, he can barley walk or string a group of coherent sentences together.

You may as well just admit you're joking around for funsies. Nobody's gonna take comments this outrageously divorced from reality like they're intended to be actually serious. And you've got to be a little more absurdist for it to be funny enough to laugh at.

[D3thray]

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/19/u...nsylvania.html

Another Republican candidate is rewriting their own history -



A farm boy! The salt of the earth! A real, True American!



Damn, that sounds a lot different than "growing up with nothing on a farm".



So they had a farm...for Arabian horses, which I don't think are very cheap?

Any ways, weird how wealthy hedge fund managers and the like feel the need to try to rewrite their history to erase the silver spoon they grew up with.



And as always, Republicans get very upset when you point out that public records do not support their dishonest lies.

TBH would probably be better for him to try and wear his upbringing like a badge of honor. Getting caught lying about it just makes you another status quo politician.

[Polgara]

TBH would probably be better for him to try and wear his upbringing like a badge of honor. Getting caught lying about it just makes you another status quo politician.

Another status-quo conservative Politician, just to make your post accurate.

[Dontrike]

TBH would probably be better for him to try and wear his upbringing like a badge of honor. Getting caught lying about it just makes you another status quo politician.

A politician that lies about their upbringing? That's republicunt to a T.

[Gestopft]

You may as well just admit you're joking around for funsies. Nobody's gonna take comments this outrageously divorced from reality like they're intended to be actually serious. And you've got to be a little more absurdist for it to be funny enough to laugh at.

To be fair, the first sentence has a point. Trump really didn't stand to gain anything by debating the GOP 'contenders.' The second sentence, of course, sounds like the delusions of someone who only gets info on Trump or Biden from right-wing "news" networks.

[Edge-]

I’m going to put the entire U.S. budget on blockchain so that any American — every American can look at every budget item in the entire budget anytime they want 24 hours a day

RFK Jr., a fundamentally unserious antivaxxer, also has no idea what the fuck the blockchain is or how it works but heard about it and heard some terminally online people might care about it so he's talking about it without having any idea of what he's actually saying.

We’re gonna have 300 million eyeballs on our budget, and if somebody is spending $16,000 for a toilet seat, everybody’s gonna know about it

There are not 300 million adults in America. There are nowhere near 300 million people who understand finance, much less government finance, which is radically different than personal.

Kennedy has embraced digital assets, accepting campaign donations in bitcoin and touting plans to back the U.S. dollar with bitcoin if he’s elected to the White House in November.

Oh god the man is even dumber than imagined. Moving to a "Bitcoin standard" would be one of the most economically disastrous and ruinous moves of all time. OF ALL TIME.

I hate that literally anyone is taking this absolute loser seriously, and every news article needs to thoroughly mock this man and his largely conservative donors propping him up.

- - - Updated - - -

Kari Lake - who is sort of trying to rebrand herself as a more moderate Republican as she campaigns for AZ Senate after she lost the governors race - is still fighting over 2020 voter fraud conspiracy theories and racked up another SCOTUS "loss" - https://thehill.com/homenews/campaig...chine-lawsuit/

Lawyers for Lake, who is running for a Senate seat in Arizona this cycle, and Finchem, who is seeking a state Senate seat, argued in a court filing to the Supreme Court that they had sufficiently argued that all “Arizona-certified optical scanners and ballot marking devices, as well as the software on which they rely, have been wrongly certified for use”; Arizona’s voting machines had been “hacked” and “manipulated”; and that there were apparent discrepancies in the Maricopa County’s vote count after the 2020 election.

The lawsuit was filed ahead of the November 2022 midterms, when Lake was running for governor and Finchem was running for secretary of state. Both lost their elections.

Their lawsuit had been rejected by a federal judge in 2022, and that dismissal was affirmed by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year.

“On appeal, Plaintiffs conceded that their arguments were limited to potential future hacking, and not based on any past harm,” the 9th Circuit wrote.

“In the end, none of Plaintiffs’ allegations supports a plausible inference that their individual votes in future elections will be adversely affected by the use of electronic tabulation, particularly given the robust safeguards in Arizona law, the use of paper ballots, and the post-tabulation retention of those ballots,” it added.

The Supreme Court’s decision to decline to revisit the federal court’s decision puts a cap on Lake’s and Finchem’s lawsuit.

Unsurprising that the SCOTUS didn't take it up. It's a joke of a lawsuit that's not serious.

Republicans still can't let that Big Lie about 2020 go.

[Poopymonster]

There are not 300 million adults in America. There are nowhere near 300 million people who understand finance, much less government finance, which is radically different than personal.

There are more than 150 million adults though, with an average of 2 eyeballs per person, but I seriously doubt he thought that far into it.

[Doctor Amadeus]

For me personally I’ve made my decision to vote for Biden. No others are even close to acceptable.

That doesn’t mean I worship Biden or ignorant to him shitting the bed. But he’s the Only one competent enough to be President of the options available. It sucks but I’m an adult and voting is important.

As for the options

Trump I hate Trump. But tabling that he is a failure on every level. From openly bragging about incest with his daughter to rape and sexual assault. His business have all been failures. He’s proven to be a fraud and a coward who when he could ducked out of basic military duty.

Even all that aside as a human being I’ve never seen ANYONE ever he’s shown love to or been shown love anyone. Even animals seem to hate this guy and he doesn’t even have any of them.

His own wife had to plagiaries a speech because she couldn’t in 5 supposed languages come up with any words to congratulate, say anything authentic or articulate any love for Trump her husband.

He lies constantly I’m not sure what laws he hasn’t broken or sins he’s not committed besides maybe murder. Maybe!

I don’t disagree with him on everything and I might might be able to plug my nose and vote for him aside from him being a racist, sexist and homophobic con man. Which he wouldn’t be the first or likely last.

But as someone not overly patriotic there. I’m ashamed he’s been qualified to run and be elected the first time. But even for the country my relatives that died and fought for the U.S and Canada. I just can’t do it.

I want secured borders and I want tougher punishments for criminals and dedicated protection for the 2A.

Trump isn’t capable or going to do it.


As for RFK JR. he’s done nothing but cash in on his name he’s not a serious candidate

Honestly I think this year Congress and cleaning house is the most important. Any candidate not doing the will of the citizens in this country that elected them need to go.

[gondrin]

For me personally I’ve made my decision to vote for Biden. No others are even close to acceptable.

That doesn’t mean I worship Biden or ignorant to him shitting the bed. But he’s the Only one competent enough to be President of the options available. It sucks but I’m an adult and voting is important.

As for the options

Trump I hate Trump. But tabling that he is a failure on every level. From openly bragging about incest with his daughter to rape and sexual assault. His business have all been failures. He’s proven to be a fraud and a coward who when he could ducked out of basic military duty.

Even all that aside as a human being I’ve never seen ANYONE ever he’s shown love to or been shown love anyone. Even animals seem to hate this guy and he doesn’t even have any of them.

His own wife had to plagiaries a speech because she couldn’t in 5 supposed languages come up with any words to congratulate, say anything authentic or articulate any love for Trump her husband.

He lies constantly I’m not sure what laws he hasn’t broken or sins he’s not committed besides maybe murder. Maybe!

I don’t disagree with him on everything and I might might be able to plug my nose and vote for him aside from him being a racist, sexist and homophobic con man. Which he wouldn’t be the first or likely last.

But as someone not overly patriotic there. I’m ashamed he’s been qualified to run and be elected the first time. But even for the country my relatives that died and fought for the U.S and Canada. I just can’t do it.

I want secured borders and I want tougher punishments for criminals and dedicated protection for the 2A.

Trump isn’t capable or going to do it.


As for RFK JR. he’s done nothing but cash in on his name he’s not a serious candidate

Honestly I think this year Congress and cleaning house is the most important. Any candidate not doing the will of the citizens in this country that elected them need to go.

I would rather have far more protection for 1A and 4A then 2A. Both are under far more attack than your ability to carry firearms. Republicans have no issue allowing police randomly search people for no reason at all and are definitely trying to silence critics along with banning speech.

[Surfd]

I want secured borders and I want tougher punishments for criminals and dedicated protection for the 2A.

You had me up until this line.

You already have some of the most secure borders in the world, so saying you want "secured borders" is a pretty clear indication you have bought into some pretty bad right wing propaganda. You don't need "secured borders", you need Immigration Reform and some heavy investment in funding for the institutions that used to be responsible for managing said Immigration before the republicans gutted the shit out of them.

Same thing for your criminal justice system. You already have one of the highest incarceration rates on the planet, on top of a police force that can pretty much murder you for J-walking and get off scott free if you so much as twitched in their general direction in a way they didn't particularly like. About the only way that could get tougher is going full blown fascist police state. Which, mind you, the Rs seem pretty gung ho on attempting.

And sorry, but the 2A is a fucking abomination. You already have some of the worst problems in the world with gun violence entirely BECAUSE the 2A is treated as practically the next best thing from holy writ, making any attempt at introducing practical gun control legislation a non starter, so I'm not exactly sure how "dedicated protection" for it is going to somehow improve things.

[Dontrike]

I want secured borders and I want tougher punishments for criminals and dedicated protection for the 2A.

The second amendment is the most protected of all of them, what more does it need to be protected from?

[Gorsameth]

Anyone claiming the 2nd amendment needs to be protected is neck deep into conservative indoctrination because that is the only place where you get repeatedly told that they are coming to take your guns.

[Kathranis]

Imagine thinking that Trump is such a great orator that he can beat anyone. I guess people get confused when they hear a single run on sentence that lasts for five minutes, changes topics 35 times, and uses about 80 different words in total.

Whaddya mean? Eat your heart out, Lincoln:

Gettysburg, what an unbelievable battle that was. The Battle of Gettysburg. What an unbelievable―I mean, it was so much and so interesting, and so vicious and horrible, and so beautiful in so many different ways. The statement of Robert E. Lee―who's no longer in favor, did you ever notice that? No longer in favor―"Never fight uphill, me boys, never fight uphill." They were fighting uphill. He said, "Wow, that was a big mistake." He lost his great general, and they were fighting. "Never fight uphill, me boys!" But it was too late.

― Donald J. Trump

A hundred years from now kids will be memorizing this speech for history classes.

- - - Updated - - -

Anyone claiming the 2nd amendment needs to be protected is neck deep into conservative indoctrination because that is the only place where you get repeatedly told that they are coming to take your guns.

All of his fears there are just bog standard right wing fear mongering for stuff that doesn't actually affect the majority of citizens on the day to day.


Immigrants aren't "invading," they aren't an enemy force. They are coming here to do shit jobs for shit pay in hopes of improving their lives and escaping poverty and violence. If you've ever actually been to the border, and I'd wager that the average Republican couldn't identify the Bridge of the Americas in a photograph if it was shown to them, you'll see that most of the people are women and children, or like haggard 40 year old dudes that are trying to find work doing construction or picking fruit. The "dangerous immigrants" are working for the cartels, a billion-dollar black market industry, and have far more sophisticated methods of getting in and out of the country. They're smuggling that shit in through customs, using fake or frankly real IDs, with the aid of corrupt agents and officials.

And yet the Republicans are getting in front of podiums and cameras literally advocating for killing illegal immigrants and asylum seekers at the border. Greg Abbot has turned border crossings in Texas into death traps with razor wire and buoys designed to catch and drown people, like some sort of fucked up Saw obstacle course. Several children have already been drowned this year. It's criminalm, it's inhumane, and it stands against the fundamental principles of our country.


Nobody is taking away any guns. Nobody has ever taken away any of your guns. You've been harping on about this shit for 40 years and there is still nobody rounding up all your guns. Meanwhile gun violence is exploding across the country, mass shootings so commonplace that it doesn't even hit the news. Gun violence is now the leading cause of death in children in this country. And from the party that bans LGBT books and abortion to "protect the children" they won't lift a finger to curb gun violence. Fucking hypocrites of the highest order.


Crime has dropped precipitously post-pandemic and is reaching pre-pandemic levels, which were already trending downward. The US already has the highest incarceration rates in the world, while simultaneously having an incredibly inefficient and dysfunctional prison system (in truth a privatized for profit prison industrial complex), leading to high rates of repeat offense, wrongful imprisonment, poor living conditions, prisoner exploitation, etc. Cracking down on crime even further solves nothing, what you need to address are the systemic causes of crime, namely poverty and over-policing.