I have a confession to make. The Republicans make me feel so physically ill that I couldn’t watch one second of their convention on Tuesday and I didn’t watch one second on Wednesday. This isn’t healthy for my ability to cover this campaign, but neither is having a stroke, so I have to choose my poison. I choose to do something else with my time but have my intelligence and basic sense of decency insulted.
I get enough of that reading through the news. For example, Byron York helpfully provides us with a transcript of an interview he did with President Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday. Here’s a sample of their conversation:
TRUMP: Nobody thought that [Joe Biden] was even going to win. Because his debate performances were so bad. Frankly, his best performance was against Bernie. We’re going to call for a drug test, by the way, because his best performance was against Bernie. It wasn’t that he was Winston Churchill because he wasn’t, but it was a normal, boring debate. You know, nothing amazing happened. And we are going to call for a drug test because there’s no way — you can’t do that.
YORK: What do you think was going on?
TRUMP: I don’t know how he could have been so incompetent in his debate performances and then all of a sudden be okay against Bernie. My point is, if you go back and watch some of those numerous debates, he was so bad. He wasn’t even coherent. And against Bernie, he was. And we’re calling for a drug test.
Trump is projecting here again. But he wants us to think he is serious:
TRUMP: I think [a drug test is] appropriate. I don’t know that they’ll let me do it, but I think that they should do it.
Go back and watch his performances in some of those debates. He didn’t know where he was. And all of a sudden, he was not good, he was normal, and I don’t understand how. I don’t know if there is or not, but somebody said to me, ‘He must be on drugs.’ I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I’m asking for a drug test. Both candidates. Me, too. I take an aspirin a day.
This guy is so disrespectful to everything, whether it’s his opponent, or the process, or the truth, or his job. And there’s just not much to say about it except that I hope to hell the American people have had enough. I know I can’t take much more, and there just has to be a strong majority in this country that actually doesn’t take pleasure out of having a professional troll for a president.
Honestly, if Trump wins, I don’t know what I’ll do. Whatever it is, it won’t be like what came before. I’m not doing this for another four years.
Biden should agree to the drug test if Trump agrees to release his tax returns.
Amen to that.
“Honestly, if Trump wins, I don’t know what I’ll do. Whatever it is, it won’t be like what came before. I’m not doing this for another four years.”
I’d start checking in with relatives overseas or in Canada. You can still be sponsored, despite covid-19.
The most likely truth is that Trump, who projects all the time, is taking all sorts of drugs to keep going and wants to make sure no one tests him.
The early ballot requests are a good sign. And I love that a focus groups person said that no one is watching the conventions, and they are all not impressed with Trump’s performance. The polls are still too tight, but we should know pretty early on based on requests for ballots if we are heading to a win barring shenanigans.
I can feel your pain and I am also unable to listen to Trump or any of us surrogates at all. I change the channel immediately. Catching a lot of SVU on tv these days.
He wants Joe to take a drug test? Fuck him. He’s the junkie. I and my family are beside ourselves with the prospect of this ass winning. We have no idea what to do if it happens. I have already taken myself out of one group to avoid the Trumpsters.
Martin, I know exactly how you feel. I’ve watched 0 minutes of the RNC. And over the course of the last 4 years I’ve probably watched a total of 10 minutes of Trump speaking directly because it literally makes me physically ill. I know it is a cliche to say this, but if he is re-elected it is very likely I will leave the country with my family. We’ve begun the initial research and the most likely countries we’d move to include Costa Rica, Canada, and Denmark (My wife’s father moved here from Denmark and she’s still very close to relatives there, who often visit us here). If we move, I know we’ll have a sense of having given up, but I just don’t think we can take it mentally day-to-day living in a country that has abandoned its democratic principals to re-elect (fraudulently or not) someone who embodies the worst of human traits.
I forced myself to watch 30 to 40 minutes each night. I was so pleased that although I felt nauseated and outraged, I did not vomit.
I did awaken in the very early morning with severe lower back pain and I don’t typically experience lower back pain.
This consequence led to even more outrage. Trump and crew are masters of propaganda and big lies. I am so glad the TV audience has not been large.
I have no idea what I will do if trump stays in office.. I take this a day at a time for my sanity and bank on the unknown unknowns to save the freedom and peace we still have.
Bernie and Biden go back many years and there is a deep reservoir of good will. Biden was more comfortable debating just Sanders and knew there would be no truly ugly surprise attacks.
That accusation of drug addiction is pretty ironic considering how after Junior spoke, Twitter was blowing up over how he looked… how would one say it?…. coked up to the eyeballs. And considering how often and automatically Trump projects, we can now assume that he’s a user too.