It was actually much creepier than that. Here’s an excerpt from David Corn’s newsletter on that interview: [N]o one is more cynical than Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News golden boy. As you know, Trump eschewed the debate and instead sat down for an interview with Carlson that was posted on the Social Media Site Formerly Known as Twitter. It was tough to watch. Such profound toadyism is unnerving, even when coming from a champion charlatan, such as Carlson. As Donald Trump reiterated the same ol’ false complaint—“The election was rigged. It was a rigged election…. They used Covid to cheat…. We have so much on it. It’s like so easy”—Carlson gazed at him adoringly. There was no retort from the interviewer. But we know, thanks to the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit against Fox, that Carlson didn’t buy Trump’s bunk. In private messages revealed during that case, Carlson indicated he didn’t accept the Trump team’s claims that the 2020 election was marred by rampant fraud. He also repeatedly expressed his disdain for Trump.
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Cohen points out the obvious problem with this idea that Trump is still liable for state charges even if he becomes president again. He asks, “how are they going to get him?Are they going to send local authorities to arrest him?” which is a good point. As he says it would cause a constitutional crisis — a local authority coming to arrest the president of the United States? Cohen believes that Trump is well aware of this — “he knows what he’s doing” — and fully recognizes that his only way out of this mess is to win the presidency. The Republican Party refuses to stop him, thinking the Democrats will get them out of this mess and they can preserve all the benefits of what Trump brings them without all the mucky muck. He’s not going anywhere. And if he is defeated once more, you can bet that he will attempt to raise his mob again as a last ditch effort to stay out of jail. If that happens our only hope is that they are tired of all this and don’t answer the call.
Shocker: Donald Trump was wounded, and Ron DeSantis was building a juggernaut. When POLITICO launched its 2024 Republican presidential candidate tracker in March, the GOP was still smarting over a weaker-than-expected midterm election thanks to Trump’s influence. DeSantis had emerged as Trump’s top challenger and was marshaling his resources to launch a giant-killing campaign. But five months later — a span that’s seen four indictments, three DeSantis layoff sprees and one Trump-less debate — it’s Trump unambiguously on top. And everyone else, DeSantis included, way behind. That’s why we’re reshuffling the candidates on the tracker. The biggest move: DeSantis drops down a tier, leaving Trump as the sole candidate in the “Frontrunners” category. I am really starting to think he won’t make it to Iowa. I guess he’s got a ton of money so maybe he’ll just brazen it out until he is forced out. But really, why bother?
This thread by Ben Rhodes echoes my thoughts: During my 20 years in politics, two destructive trends stand out: the steady radicalization of the Republican Party and the trivialization of politics, particularly the way it is covered by US media and how politicians respond to that dynamic. The Republican debate stands out for how unsurprising it was that a stage full of people acted like a bunch of kids trying to get admitted to some fascist costume party. Kill people at the border! Prohibit women from any agency over their bodies! Side with Putin! Etc. Etc. The bridge between radicalization and trivialization (as always) is Trump. Last night, a group of accomplished adults refused to condemn someone who has broken laws related to overthrowing the U.S. government, stealing classified information, violating campaign finance laws, etc If I told you 20 years ago that a guy who was facing 91 felony charges, including trying to overthrow the U.S. government, would be the overwhelming favorite for the Republican nomination and none of his opponents would dare to criticize him, well… There’s a lot to say about the radicalization of the Republicans.
You’re about to get hit with a barrage of propaganda from Fox News about Biden and Burisma (again.) In case you’re not sure of what this is all about, Media Matters offers a primer: On August 25, Fox News previewed an interview of former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin by network host Brian Kilmeade that is set to air in full on August 26. In the preview segment, Shokin accused President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden of “corruption” and “being bribed” to push for the prosecutor’s removal from office in 2016. In fact, there was widespread agreement at the time across the political spectrum in the United States and the European Union that Shokin should be fired for being soft on corruption, including State Department allegations that Shokin himself was corrupt. Additionally, at the time of his removal, Shokin wasn’t actively investigating Hunter Biden or Burisma, an energy company that had hired Hunter Biden to serve on its board of directors.
An important Fact Check The timeline is riddled with errors. The excellent Torri Otten at TNR fact checked it: Out of the 106 dates listed in the timeline, only four are instances when Biden met someone related to Hunter’s business dealings. The timeline says that on December 4, 2013, Biden traveled to China with his son and met with Jonathan Li, the CEO of Chinese company Bohai Harvest, or BHR. Hunter later joined the BHR board. While the timeline makes it sound like Biden went to China specifically to meet his son’s potential colleague, in reality, the then vice president went to Beijing on an official trip on behalf of the White House. He brought his son and one of his grandchildren along, as well as several reporters who noted it was common for Biden to bring family members in tow. While Hunter had business meetings with Li, Biden only met Li once. Hunter arranged for them to shake hands, but the two men did not interact further on the trip. The timeline also says that Biden met Vadym Pozharskyi, an executive at the Ukrainian gas company Burisma, at a dinner Hunter hosted in Washington, D.C., on March 20, 2015.
A rare patternless giraffe was born last month at a family-owned zoo in Tennessee—and experts say she may be the only completely brown giraffe alive on the planet, report Emily Hibbitts and Clarice Scheele for WJHL. Though her appearance is unusual, the six-foot-tall calf appears healthy and is thriving under her mother’s care, Brights Zoo officials tell the publication. “She is very inquisitive,” David Bright, the zoo’s director, tells Insider’s Fern McErlane and Grace Eliza Goodwin. “She stays very tight with her mom, doesn’t wander off too far, but she’s very curious what’s going on around her. She has a very positive personality when it comes to giraffes.” The calf is a reticulated giraffe (Giraffa reticulata), one of four giraffe species—until 2016, scientists recognized only one species of giraffe. The last known spotless reticulated giraffe was likely Toshiko, a calf born in 1972 in Tokyo, writes Caitlin O’Kane for CBS News. Only two others have ever been recorded—the older sibling of Toshiko and an individual in Uganda, per Insider.
Insufficient funds still Thousands gather today at the Lincoln Memorial for the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington. There in 1963 Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech to more than 200,000 there to demand America make good on its promise. Today, King’s granite statue stands nearby as another memorial to consequential figures in American history. The civil rights movement, its speeches and marches, the white violence against protesters’ demands for Black equality, led after the assasination of President Kennedy later that year to passage of the transformational Civil Rights and Voting Rights acts under his successor, Lyndon Johnson. Decades of backlash to that cultural transformation today threaten that still-unfulfilled dream (Washington Post): In the wake of court rulings, legislation and political extremism that organizers say has undone or stymied crucial racial and social progress, the rally’s leaders say they plan not a commemoration, but a reassertion of the demands made at the Memorial in 1963.
It’s not real, but nicely done. Thursday was a busy night for memes. Also…. Mark Meadows’ booking height/weight: 6′-1″, 240 lbs. Donald Trump’s booking height/weight: 6′-3″, 215 lbs. And I was so looking forward to “THE SCALE WAS RIGGED. IT WAS A DISGUSTING DEMOCRATIC SCALE. FAKE NEWS!”