Month: August 2023
Trump-Free GOP Debate Draws Nearly 13 Million Viewers
12.8 million
“An average of 12.8 million viewers watched the event telecast from Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee… The TV audience was larger than what any Republican presidential primary debate drew during the 2012 campaign season, four years before Trump emerged as the main attraction. It also surpassed audience of 12.5 million for Fox News’ January 2016 primary debate held in Iowa, which Trump skipped as well,” the Los Angeles Times reports. By contrast, Mashable reported that, as of the publication of this article on Thursday evening, Carlson’s Trump interview has received 14.8 million video views on X.
The Republican Party Is Now Full-Blown Authoritarian and Racist
It is quite a thing to see leading Republicans—including a former president—in mugshots for their assault on our democracy and to know that party leadership supports their actions. Indeed, it is unprecedented, and for those who remember what a grand party the Republicans have been at times in their history—Lincoln, after all, was a Republican, and so were Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower—it is a sad end. But an end it is. The authoritarians who have taken over the party have abandoned their history and are now building something altogether different.
— Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from an American.
Everyone Hates Vivek
“Everyone hates Vivek. That was the biggest takeaway from the Fox News debate on Wednesday night. And who can blame them?” … “Out of the gate, he looked pompous and oleaginous, with what can only be described as a smarmy, shit-eating grin that belied his sharp elbows. Regarding the slickness, Christie observed that he sounded ‘like ChatGPT.’ And regarding the elbows, at one point, even Sen. Tim Scott—you know, the optimistic guy who has a reputation for being too nice—even accused him of ‘being childish.’”
— Matt Lewis
DeSantis’ Campaign Reboot Cost Him 11 Points
11 points
A Yahoo News/YouGov poll finds Donald Trump with the clear lead nationally among Republican primary voters at 52%, followed by Ron DeSantis at 12%, Vivek Ramaswamy at 8%, Tim Scott at 4% and Nikki Haley at 3%. DeSantis plunged from 23% support in July.
Most Republicans Would Still Support a Jailed Trump
61%
A new Morning Consult poll finds 61% of potential Republican primary voters said they would still be willing to back Donald Trump — both in the primary and general election — if he were imprisoned.
Santos Is the ‘Same Guy’ People Voted for
“I just want to remind people that I am the same guy they voted for. I am the same guy that they know from the neighborhood.”
— Rep. George Santos (R-NY), quoted by The Messenger, without mentioning that he lied about his background.
Rudi Giuliani’s Mug Shot
The Not-Great Debate
It’s the night of the Republican primary debate,
And it’s likely to decide some candidates’ fate.
We’ll miss that big orange fucker
Who’ll be Twitter-chatting with Tucker,
So, as must-see TV it’ll probably just be … third-rate.
