3 Ways You Know It’s Not the 2016 Election Anymore
Bubba
29 Oct
Openly backing Donald Trump won’t make you as much of a pariah: A growing list of top businessmen, superstar athletes, celebrities and comedians have pledged their support to the former president.
It’s okay for liberals to say some good things about Trump: Pundits like former CNN host Chris Cuomo and progressive journalist Cenk Uygur have praised Trump without triggering backlash from their anti-Trump followers.
What Uygur said about Trump’s recent Joe Rogan podcast appearance: “It looks really good for Trump. You got to be honest about it. You know me, if it was a trainwreck, I would be very happy to tell you it was a trainwreck.”
During a recent “Real Time w/Bill Maher” appearance, CNN commentator and former Obama adviser Van Jones suggested progressives had pushed former Democrats like Elon Musk into Trump’s arms.
Jones: “If progressives have a politics that says all white people are racist, all men are toxic, and all billionaires are evil it’s kind of hard to keep them on your side.”
There’s a counter-narrative to the “If Trump wins, democracy is over” doomsaying: In a repeat of 2016, mainstream outlets are painting a grim picture of what a Trump win could bring, but this time around, perspectives are more mixed, with publications like Reason advocating for a calmer outlook on politics.
The vibes: The share of voters who say the upcoming election is the most important of their lives has dropped by 9 points since 2020, suggesting Americans aren’t as stressed about the outcome.
The latest: Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s jokes about Puerto Rico at a Trump rally on Sunday sparked outrage from critics like MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski, who worried that Americans have grown numb to the “MAGA” movement’s incendiary rhetoric.
Brzezinski:
This is called normalization. This is the descent into fascism if we so choose.
Bubba’s Two Cents
Liberals, Never-Trumpers and even many conservatives have been appalled by Trump’s antics for nearly a decade. Some of that is justified, and much of it has been overcooked. As my former boss, Axios CEO Jim VandeHei wrote the other day, “Democrats admit they tend to be hand-wringing, bed-wetting, doomsdayers.” I think many people don’t care for - or even about - Trump, but they see him as a “a walking, talking middle finger” as CNN's Jamal Simmons described him earlier this year. And giving a middle finger to the establishment institutions is worthy of overlooking some…unsavory… elements of Trump, especially a decade into his relevance as a political leader.