• Hobbes_Dent@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    “There is a strong sense by many in the Democrat Party - namely Barack Hussein Obama - that Kamala Harris is a Marxist fraud who cannot beat President Trump, and they are still holding out for someone ‘better.’ Therefore, it would be inappropriate to schedule things with Harris because Democrats very well could still change their minds,” the statement said.

    This is a statement from a presidential campaign.

    • Nightwingdragon@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      The quote should be put with spoiler tags and a surgeon general’s warning that reading the contents has been shown to lower your IQ by at least four percentage points, and prolonged exposure to even seeing the words on the screen could cause permanent brain damage.

      • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        It’s okay I already have permanent brain damage, I can translate for everyone.

        It says,

        Donald Trump is tired of changing his pants every time someone mentions debating Harris, so we respectfully decline.

        Thank you,

        Your future inmate president.

        • NegativeInf@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          Implying Trump changes when he shits himself is far too generous. People literally say he smells of shit.

      • HappycamperNZ@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Little late now, now all I want is a truck at 37%, Trump president and strangely threatened by accomplished women.

      • thefartographer@lemm.ee
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        5 months ago

        Yeah it says “remember that old racist dog whistle we used to use with the previous minority president? Let’s try that again, but throw in a little McCarthyism.”

    • funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works
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      5 months ago

      am I reading this right? Republicans are saying that Obama thinks Kamala Harris is too Marxist to beat Trump?

      what, and I cannot stress this enough:

      • Iheartcheese@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        What if she started roasting things. Completely breaking down the things they say in front of a whiteboard. I want that to be her entire campaign just… Letting them talk and then talk about it

      • Vespair@lemm.ee
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        5 months ago

        Because what it says literally doesn’t matter, it’s just a perfectly crafted stew of buzzwords to stroke the right. We have to stop reading this shit as normal language and start understanding the code they use. It’s just about saying Obama, in their eyes an evil black muslim terrorist (hence HUSSEIN), still holds sway over the democrats, meaning the institution as a whole is infected with his evil muslim blackness, and is acknowledging Marxism, the big bad enemy of good Christian values, in a way that simultaneously aligns it with party ideology AND presents Kamala as an even-greater looming threat. This isn’t nonsense word salad, it’s meticulously crafted fearmongering to the ignorant party base whose lack of literacy they have cultivated by design.

    • Jesus@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Their campaign is literally saying shit that I would normally expect to hear from the mouths of 3rd world dictators. The GOP is now conspiracy theory bullshit from stem to stern.

    • DBT@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      It’s wild how frequently they just… make shit up and say it like it’s factual.

      • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        5 months ago

        Yeah I was just trying to imagine living that way, so bizarre… Nothing is concrete and reality can be anything.

        Well, not anything… Only the things that the fake billionaire reality TV personality (who was unironically the basis for every movie and cartoon villain throughout the 90s), tells me. Because that’s a totally rational way to behave.

    • Vespair@lemm.ee
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      5 months ago

      I said this in deeper reply, but I think it bears repeating, so I’m quoting myself here:

      Because what it says literally doesn’t matter, it’s just a perfectly crafted stew of buzzwords to stroke the right. We have to stop reading this shit as normal language and start understanding the code they use. It’s just about saying Obama, in their eyes an evil black muslim terrorist (hence HUSSEIN), still holds sway over the democrats, meaning the institution as a whole is infected with his evil muslim blackness, and is acknowledging Marxism, the big bad enemy of good Christian values, in a way that simultaneously aligns it with party ideology AND presents Kamala as an even-greater looming threat. This isn’t nonsense word salad, it’s meticulously crafted fearmongering to the ignorant party base whose lack of literacy they have cultivated by design.

      • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        5 months ago

        I made a similar comment above.

        You missed the attempt at a subtle dig at the Democratic party by calling them “the Democrat party” (https://www.factcheck.org/2007/12/the-democratic-or-democrat-party/ )

        They love to see shit like this because when they see those (fucking stupid) terms used, they get to feel like they have some kind of secret, inside knowledge. For a brief moment, they get to forget that they’ve alienated all of their friends and their entire family over this, and get to feel like they’re part of something.

        But only for a brief moment… As a single tear drops into his Healthy Choice frozen microwave dinner and he turns on Duck Dynasty.

    • reflectedodds@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      It’s not even a good excuse because even if they did change their minds, he could still attempt to debate whoever it is on the scheduled date.

      • octopus_ink@lemmy.ml
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        5 months ago

        I hope there’s a forthcoming lawsuit against the Trump campaign, because I am very, very sure that Obama is not on record publicly nor privately saying Kamala Harris is a “Marxist fraud.”

        • GiuseppeAndTheYeti@midwest.social
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          5 months ago

          Obama will take the high road. A lawsuit would just make him martyr and give some semblance of evidence to the radical left trying to silence him and his right to free speech like the gag order. Obama really has nothing to gain but a lot to lose. He’s more coy than that based on his prior actions. I suspect that he’ll sit on that for awhile, give it its time in the media to get as widespread attention as it can, then release a statement enthusiastically endorsing her while citing her policy and character.

    • Thrife
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      5 months ago

      “there are many” - continues to name one.

      Yeah yeah sorry! I know I tried to search for logic in a statement from that guy…!

    • toasterOven@eviltoast.org
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      5 months ago

      Interesting that they are still today apparently served by mentioning Obama’s middle name.

      Whenever I see Obama referred to by his full name, I instantly know that the author is pushing manipulative islamaphobic dog-whistle propaganda and everything else by such authors automatically has zero credibility, lacks substance, and the drivel is a waste of time to finish reading. I wonder if that manipulation attempt is still largely unknown, or if the rt-wing nut jobs are really just out of touch with the pursuadables they are trying to reach and thus shooting themselves in the foot.

    • maegul (he/they)@lemmy.ml
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      5 months ago

      Trumpism at its “finest”. Still, Obama’s call for an open convention does open exactly this kind of attack. I’ve certainly BIPOC talk about it as a typically “not really culturally BIPOC” move from Obama that betrays his predominantly white cultural upbringing. Sometimes unity is better than whatever else you have in mind.

      • Nougat@fedia.io
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        5 months ago

        … Did you just suggest that Obama isn’t “black enough?”

        • maegul (he/they)@lemmy.ml
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          5 months ago

          So, what you’d say if I’m literally just echoing what I’ve seen other BIPOC people say?

        • KevonLooney@lemm.ee
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          5 months ago

          He’s half African and was raised by his white mother and grandparents. He’s not really culturally ADOS (African descendant of slaves).

            • maegul (he/they)@lemmy.ml
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              5 months ago

              I mean it’s very dangerous and touchy for white people, like myself, to weigh in on topics like these for sure.

              I was just sharing what I’d heard from other BIPOC on what seemed a meaningful point … that, apparently, someone more in tune with slavery descendant culture would have gotten behind a woman of colour in a heart beat.

              FWIW, as a white person, that makes total sense, and I’m not sure to whom it wouldn’t make sense and be the obvious move. And yet Obama seems to have been the one person out of step. Dunno how else to think about it.

              As for racism, as see the point as only highlighting that such a culturally white person was likely always going to be the first black US president.

      • Asidonhopo@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Reporting has been he will endorse her relatively soon, now that it’s clear she has the votes to win.

          • MutilationWave@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            He might have been saving it for a boost later, maybe at the convention, but this idiotic shit forced his hand. He and Michelle endorsed today.

            • maegul (he/they)@lemmy.ml
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              5 months ago

              He might have been saving it for a boost later

              Yea and the support for an open convention may have just been rumour. Or at least a hand wavy stance from a couple of weeks ago.

  • ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Brave Sir Donald ran away.

    Bravely ran away away.

    When danger reared it’s ugly head,

    He bravely turned his tail and fled.

    Yes, brave Sir Donald turned about

    And gallantly he chickened out.

    Gingerly taking to his feet,

    He beat a very brave retreat.

    Bravest of the brave, Sir Donald!

  • Prandom_returns@lemm.ee
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    5 months ago

    If it was any other, normal country, the debate schedule would not be based on whether someone wants to show up or not.

    If a canditate doesn’t show up, the other candidate gets to talk about their campaign.

    • Coelacanth@feddit.nu
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      5 months ago

      The US is bizarro world in so many aspects. Political Supreme Court appointees that are appointed for life (!), two party system, the electoral college, the absurdly long election cycles…

      • wieson
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        5 months ago

        The fact that the first lady does speeches and the presidents family is in the spotlight at all. (Rather dynastic for a democracy)

        • Asafum@feddit.nl
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          5 months ago

          Come on now we can’t have the poors voting now can we??

          How are we supposed to keep our stranglehold on wealth the country if we allowed the poors to have their say!?

      • bleistift2@sopuli.xyz
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        5 months ago

        Political Supreme Court appointees that are appointed for life (!),

        Judges are appointed for life, so they can be impartial and don’t need to worry about who won’t hire them after their term ends if they made unfavorable decisions.

        the absurdly long election cycles…

        4 years is absurdly long to you? Getting things done in politics takes time. How long should the cycle be in your opinion?

        • lemonmelon@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          The “political” before “Supreme Court apointees” implies a lack of impartiality.

          “Election cycle” and “term of office” aren’t synonymous.

        • Coelacanth@feddit.nu
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          5 months ago

          Judges are appointed for life, so they can be impartial and don’t need to worry about who won’t hire them after their term ends if they made unfavorable decisions.

          Brother I’m not talking about letting the new president fire them at will, I’m talking about term limits and retirement ages.

          4 years is absurdly long to you?

          This one is maybe on me since my word choice was possibly ambiguous, but I was referring to the campaign cycle - not the length of the term.

          • bleistift2@sopuli.xyz
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            5 months ago

            Ok, then we agree on all points except term limits for judges. Forced retirement is fine by me, but yanking them out of office before they retire has the drawback I mentioned before.

        • CapeWearingAeroplane@sopuli.xyz
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          5 months ago

          The US supreme court judges are appointed by politicians: They are political appointees. In a lot of other countries supreme court judges are selected by a non-political committee, like every other non-political appointee.

          • bleistift2@sopuli.xyz
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            5 months ago

            In a lot of other countries supreme court judges are selected by a non-political committee

            My worldwide knowledge of this is limited. In Germany, each of the two ‘houses’ of parliament (Bundestag and Bundesrat) elect one half of the ‘Supreme Court’’s (Bundesverfassungsgericht) members (judges and other staff).

            Article 94 of the constitution. (Translated)

    • barsquid@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      In a normal country an insurrectionist and rapist would not be a candidate, let alone in the top two. We are already well beyond rational thinking about any of this.

  • Red_October@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Well he’s not wrong, in the end. Televising the brutal beating of a handicapped old man would be pretty inappropriate.

  • toasterOven@eviltoast.org
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    5 months ago

    Hold the debate anyway. Have Kamala appear next to an empty chair.

    Moderator: giving Trump a couple more minutes to appear.

    (~5 min later)

    Moderator: Trump is a no show. Hmm… he originally eagerly agreed to this September debate with Biden. It’s unclear why the change of heart, but I have to say he forfeits by default.

    Kamala (interrupts): Hold on, please call Trump’s probation officer to verify his attendance permission while we wait a few more min. He’s understandably a bit skiddish with prosecutors lately but I would like to yield some of my time & do him this courtesy since he donated to my campaign in 2011 & 2013.

    (~5 min later)

    Moderator: no go, but would you like to answer the questions next to an empty chair to have your answers heard anyway?

    Kamala: yes, this way he can take all the time he needs to prepare a scripted response later given his cognitive challenges….

      • toasterOven@eviltoast.org
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        NY Times is a closed website. Paywalled or something? I could not reach it from Tor at least not with my browser. Could be a popup-blocker blocker, not sure. Anyway, the link I gave is a NY Times front-end that is openly accessible, though clearnet users might have to append a .cab or something. There are probably NY Times FEs on clearnet but I don’t know of any ATM.

        (edit) actually I think that’s NY Times official onion server. Anyway, for whatever reason it has better accessibility than the clearnet version.

    • modifier@lemmy.ca
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      5 months ago

      I never thought there was the slightest chance of him ever actually debating her, but I am astonished by how lazy and flimsy their pretext is for backing out.

    • Thrashy@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      The only people who didn’t take that bet were ones who didn’t see the point of putting money on 1:1.01 odds.

  • Wytch@lemmy.zip
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    5 months ago

    His supporters will require Olympic level mental gymnastics to dispel the unease they’re gonna get if they even hear about this. Backing down from a debate looks cowardly no matter what his lame excuse and they’ll feel the truth of that.

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      They’re going to do everything they can to paint Kamala as an illegitimate candidate, and spin his refusal to debate her as simply refusing to legitimize her.

      Trump’s base doesn’t know shit about fuck, so if their god emperor says she’s illegitimate they won’t even think about it further.

      • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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        5 months ago

        Well, those people weren’t going to change their mind anyway. The debate wasn’t for them.

      • Zetta@mander.xyz
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        5 months ago

        Yea the vast majority of his supporters are not the brightest individuals, they don’t need mental gymnastics because they are so stupid

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      You would think this. But it hasn’t been true for years. Intellectual dishonesty+laziness is the default now.

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      They’re far past even bothering with mental gymnastics. Their brains have gotten so accustomed to constant cognitive dissonance that they’ve basically turned that feature off.

      Whatever talking point is chosen for them will be the reality. Really takes the pressure off them I guess.

      I can’t even imagine what that must be like… It’s like there’s no concrete, consistent reality to them. Wild.

  • DickFiasco@lemm.ee
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    5 months ago

    Yes, it would be inappropriate for Harris to fight a battle of wits against an unarmed man.

    • III@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      I don’t know if you know this, but Trump’s uncle was a professor at MIT. Just a random piece of information that bares no change to your completely factual and valid statement.

      • Random Dent@lemmy.ml
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        5 months ago

        Or, as Trump himself put it:

        Look, having nuclear — my uncle was a great professor and scientist and engineer, Dr. John Trump at MIT; good genes, very good genes, OK, very smart, the Wharton School of Finance, very good, very smart — you know, if you’re a conservative Republican, if I were a liberal, if, like, OK, if I ran as a liberal Democrat, they would say I’m one of the smartest people anywhere in the world — it’s true! — but when you’re a conservative Republican they try — oh, do they do a number — that’s why I always start off: Went to Wharton, was a good student, went there, went there, did this, built a fortune — you know I have to give my like credentials all the time, because we’re a little disadvantaged — but you look at the nuclear deal, the thing that really bothers me — it would have been so easy, and it’s not as important as these lives are — nuclear is so powerful; my uncle explained that to me many, many years ago, the power and that was 35 years ago; he would explain the power of what’s going to happen and he was right, who would have thought? — but when you look at what’s going on with the four prisoners — now it used to be three, now it’s four — but when it was three and even now, I would have said it’s all in the messenger; fellas, and it is fellas because, you know, they don’t, they haven’t figured that the women are smarter right now than the men, so, you know, it’s gonna take them about another 150 years — but the Persians are great negotiators, the Iranians are great negotiators, so, and they, they just killed, they just killed us, this is horrible

  • Dagamant@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    If your platform and policy are good, you can debate anyone at any time. If your platform is just “other guy bad” then you’re gonna have a hard time.