I admit I do love it when Trump gets trolled.

(Weirdly, the post title didn’t match the headline in the actual link, but the version Lemmy let me click on to make the title works better anyway.)

      • Hylactor@sopuli.xyz
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        1 month ago

        This right here is the problem, why he gets favorable treatment by the media, why he’s the Republican figurehead. He’s “fun to watch”.

        Here’s what will happen: Harris will release her clean bill of health, he’ll deny their veracity, he may then make an unsubstantiated boast about his own health, he may then also call into question the qualifications of Harris’ doctor, he may then close with some sort of jingoistic non sequitur, or some nugget of misogyny. He will do these things in an almost robotically simplified way, that is at once instantly digestible and yet difficult to directly quote without editing. If anything he says proves the least bit problematic, Steven Cheung will claim that this editing proves malicious intent by the media, and that Trump was unfairly taken out of context. Meanwhile his thralls will either ignore the whole interval, or accept Cheung’s version of events and redouble their support of a man who is not only unqualified, but it’s actively a national liability. This will register surprise, shock, anger, any number of strong emotions, and viewership/readership will keep coming back, generating impressions and ad revenue, desperate for the new episode, to see what happens next, as if it were a show on HBO and not real life.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldOP
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          1 month ago

          He’s “fun to watch” when he’s being a dipshit. Not when he’s being a Nazi.

          But I would like to borrow your crystal ball for next week’s Lotto numbers please.

          • Hylactor@sopuli.xyz
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            Even when he’s “a dipshit”, the attention he garners legitamizes him as a candidate. Attention is the whole game. The Michael Jordan of “no bad publicity.” The entertainment you describe is just a different form of rubbernecking. And Trump attracts droves by regularly providing a new car accident to gawk at; and doing so on a fairly steady, news cycle friendly basis.

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldOP
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              You can’t legitimize a legitimate candidate any more than he’s already been legitimized.

              Expecting people to never talk about one of the two people who have a chance at being president next year within a month of election day is a bit silly.

              • Hylactor@sopuli.xyz
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                1 month ago

                I don’t take exception to talking about him. I take exception with people being entertained by him. Even as schadenfreude.

                The media legitimizes him by summerizing his statements. By hypothesizing what he meant instead of what he actually said. They give him the benefit of the doubt, time and time again. Age is no longer an issue, grabbing unconcenting women by their genetials is no longer an issue, felonies are no longer an issue, debt and taxes are no longer an issue, anything that has become boring is no longer an issue. It’s all about new new new.

                They push this bilge about fairness to justify giving him a platform, but really they just need a heel for their wrestling spectacle.

                He didn’t falsely claim, he lied. He didn’t accidentally reference facist rhetoric, he used it. He doesn’t deny climate change, he profits from it. Etc.

          • Zink@programming.dev
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            1 month ago

            Oh man, same. It’s one thing to constantly hear about various privileged and lucky shitheads trying to make the world worse for others. It’s another thing entirely when the universe has seen fit to give such a bad one so much influence.

            Much like with the pandemic, I try to at least appreciate when I am living through something historic. And when it is “future history students will not believe this is real” level stupidity, dark humor is waiting right there.

    • cley_faye@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      “As the healthiest person… as the healthiest American… there is no one healthier than me… as the healthiest, there is no need to release these… my medical records are stellar… so perfect. I’m great. These records are so great, there you have it. I’m perfectly… yes… perfectly healthy.” - Trump

      Well, I tried. I feel that it lacks some attacks to their opponent, but I can’t dumb myself down enough to do more than that.

      • MeatPilot@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        Here I’ll help

        “The best records… great memory… the best… doctors claim to not have seen a memory like mine… beyond measure… they can’t even measure it ladies and gentlemen… even better than my opponent Sleepy Joe… I defeated Joe in 2020… complete landslide… I’ll beat him in 2024.”

        • funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works
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          still too coherent

          “You know they asked me to— my medical records… they asked for them. The medical records. Can you believe this? The doctors, and believe me, I know doctors — they used to have the cures, were allowed to, you know, they just drank it. You could, any street corner, with malt, just go in. Hello Bob, you know. Beautiful. Believe me, they’d say Mr President, Sir, Mr President, you have the best blood pressure. So strong, beautiful, Mr President but we’ve been piled on with Iran. They don’t allow the helicopters any more, and the coats? You can’t. Any day, they said, any day you can have it for free, and I was smart, I got the 5 cents back. That’s how they get you. But with Iran. So now the doctors say there’s no need to have blood pressure any more. They said they never need to check again. And that’s why you can’t any more. Which is good. You know, not the Iran thing, that’s sad.”

    • Asafum@feddit.nl
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      Seriously… It’s like these people never learn. He’s an obstinate child and will never do what he doesn’t want to do unless compelled by the courts.

      …and that’s actually a thing that his cult loves.

    • fine_sandy_bottom@lemmy.federate.cc
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      These guys are all “lets release our medical records!” and they’re all like “lets make a list of who’s children we need to murder if they won’t find some extra votes for us” but also like “let’s get some christians to go to the capital and pray for lord and saviour trump to save everyone from the evil tyranny of Kamala”.

    • CoggyMcFee@lemmy.world
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      Also might cause Trump to publicly obsess over it which certainly doesn’t help him in any way

  • auzy@lemmy.world
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    Trump will just call it fake news and then say his doctors said he is the best health anyone has ever seen

    And they’ll believe it because it’s a cult

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldOP
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      You’ll be okay. He told Howard Stern that surviving the 70s without an STD was his “personal Vietnam” (so he didn’t need to actually go there) and also, as the owner of a chiweenie*, I can tell you that (thankfully) stupid is not contagious.

      *The parts of that page that says they’re intelligent and easy to train are lies.

      • adarza@lemmy.ca
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        1 month ago

        stupid may not spread across species very easily, but it is highly contagious between humans.

        • SreudianFlip@sh.itjust.works
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          And dogs. Stupid humans make their regular dogs stupid too. (Some dogs aren’t blessed with much of that clever wild brain to begin with, I know. I like chocolate labs anyway.)

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldOP
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            I definitely did not spread my own stupid to the dog. I may be stupid, but he was stupid when I got him. And yesterday, he decided to find out what a bee tasted like. Then he found out the hard way. This wasn’t some puppy thing. He’s 2. He’s just super dumb.

  • aesthelete@lemmy.world
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    Would they settle for a letter from a weirdo saying he’s the bigliest, healthliest man to ever president?

    • chaogomu@lemmy.world
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      That’s sort of what he did while president. But Trump’s pill slinger, who was likely Trump’s contact to the Oath Keepers, got himself elected to Congress. And boy has he been a shitbag ever since. Not that he wasn’t a shitbag before as well.

      But sure, there’s probably another Doctor Nick level jackass out there who will vouch for Trump.

      • aesthelete@lemmy.world
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        The first letter while he was running was written by a weirdo hippy looking guy who has died since if I recall correctly. But yes, he’ll get another flunkey to write something I’m sure. (If he does anything, this time he seems to know nobody voting for him cares about anything.)

  • Nuke_the_whales@lemmy.world
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    You could release a doctor’s report saying Trump is going to die in 6 months and his plan is to install an unelected leader when he dies and his supporters would just cheer it

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldOP
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      If he only needed his supporters to win, he would have won in 2020. I have no idea why people aren’t aware of that now.

      • jj4211@lemmy.world
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        People voted against however things were because of the pandemic. Trump was in charge, so he caught the general dissatfication with everything.

        Now the sting of inflation last year likely has a lot of those same people again upset at how things are and vote for change again, whoever it will be.

        Also, 2020 was the most accessible election in history, with so much flexibility for remote voting and so many people not stuck at work unable to find time to vote. The gop has been changing that, locking down absentee voting more, successfully getting voting id laws passed, and reducing early voting sites and hours. People are too busy working at their workplace again, and access to voting is reduced.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldOP
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          Ok? He still needs more than just his supporters to win. If you think his win is inevitable and people shouldn’t bother voting, just say so. Otherwise, what is your point?

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldOP
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          Yes? Because many of those people are willing to vote for him because they always vote Republican, not because they like him. And they’re being shaved off bit by bit. Pointing and laughing has been a help. The whole “weird” thing is infuriating them.

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            He needs more than his supporters to win, the election is a toss-up, and his supporters are dumping him.

            …are you going to tell me he’s shifting left, because that would be ludicrous, but seems to be the only way to draw a coherent thread out of what you’re saying?

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldOP
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              No? I’m telling you that he can’t win with just his supporters. Are you suggesting he’s definitely going to win and no one should bother voting for Harris? What is the point of this discussion if you aren’t?

              • WaxedWookie@lemmy.world
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                Are you suggesting he’s definitely going to win and no one should bother voting for Harris?

                Let’s see…

                You do understand the election is a toss-up, don’t you?

                Guess not.

                I understand you said he can’t win with just his supporters - you also said he’s losing those supporters. Putting aside the fact that people voting for him are definitionally supporters, you understand that those 2 statements clearly imply that there’s no need to vote for Harris, right?

                My point is that you’re all over the place with your talking points - there doesn’t seem to be any way to thread them together.

                • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldOP
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                  I did not say he was losing supporters.

                  This is what I said:

                  many of those people are willing to vote for him because they always vote Republican, not because they like him. And they’re being shaved off bit by bit.

                  I have no idea why you’re lying when the comment chain is right there.

  • irotsoma@lemmy.world
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    I mean, the last time he did they were obviously false. He’ll just do the same this time. No way he doesn’t take meds for cholesterol, heart disease, or any of the other conditions that are extremely common with his age and diet.

  • WoahWoah@lemmy.world
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    This has been tried many times before unfortunately. He’s not going to release his medical information. The fact that it would have his actual height alone is enough reason for the narcissist to literally die before letting it come out.

    So much of the authoritarian strong man mystique is the projection of strength and virility. One of the few things that could actually weaken his control over his supporters would be a medical report saying he’s an average height male that is almost 80 and in below average health.

    If that somehow came out without his permission, he, his campaign, and his most loyal operatives would invest tremendous effort in burying, denying, and obfuscating those facts. His followers would latch onto anything that would allow them to comfortably deny that.

    Beyond the strong man thing, there is also an entire cohort of aging, white boomer men that have created a belief in their own worth, health, vitality, and importance through “seeing themselves” in Trump. He has become a central, dominant element of their personal identity and self image. If something made Trump’s age, mental incompetence, and frailty undeniable, that entire cohort would have a complete mental and emotional breakdown. They would realize they’re old, no longer central in culture, facing death, and have left a trail of wreckage where their friends and family used to be.

    I’m not exaggerating when I say, I think there would be a dramatic increase in geriatric suicides.

  • LustyArgonian@lemmy.world
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    It’s funny because the idea we should have to release our medical info for any reason is pure ableism.

    Just like felons should be allowed to vote and run for office.

    Integrity means having consistent values, even if it may benefit someone you dislike.

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    You can’t shame Donald Trump. It never works. The fact that the Harris campaign doesn’t get this yet is a little disturbing.