Trump’s Mount Rushmore Trip Highlights Disconnect With Virus’s Surge

[pppolitics]

WASHINGTON — Health officials across the country are urging Americans to scale back their Fourth of July plans as the coronavirus pandemic makes a frightening resurgence.

Most politicians, including former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the presumptive Democratic nominee, are forgoing the traditional holiday parades and flag-waving appearances. The vast majority of fireworks displays in big cities and small rural towns have been canceled as new cases reported in the United States have increased by 90 percent in the past two weeks.

President Trump, however, has a different, discordant message: The sparkly, booming show must go on at all costs in the service of the messages and images he wants to promote.

Mr. Trump traveled to South Dakota Friday evening for a huge fireworks display at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial, a made-for-TV show of patriotism that he has spent years lobbying to revive. Because of fears that they might set off wildfires in the surrounding forest, there have been no fireworks at Mount Rushmore since 2009.

[...]

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/03/us/politics/trump-coronavirus-mount-rushmore.html

[Beet]

Atlas doesn't have much to say about Trump's July 4th speech. I encourage everyone to watch it. He didn't go off on his usual juvenile riffs-- rather it seemed to be a prepared speech, written by someone else, like he occasionally gives, and it was very good. Perhaps the best speech he's ever given. I probably agreed with 99% of it. He went through all patriotism. Nothing mainstream Democrats would have disagreed with. He praised everyone from Muhammed Ali to Ella Fitzgerald, and got his crowd to cheer for them. He sounded very presidential. He even compared himself to Lincoln and said that 157 years ago on July 3rd, the Union beat of Pickett's charge, implying that this is the low point of his campaign and the high point of Biden's. Casting Biden, ironically, as the Confederacy. If I were Biden, the library would be feeling a bit less comfortable right now.

I'd say this is definitely a winning message. If it's between what he said last night and Cancel Culture/SJW, this won't even be an election. Trump will win by a surprisingly large margin, with perhaps a bigger EV margin than in 2016.

[Lisa's voting Biden]

Atlas doesn't have much to say about Trump's July 4th speech. I encourage everyone to watch it. He didn't go off on his usual juvenile riffs-- rather it seemed to be a prepared speech, written by someone else, like he occasionally gives, and it was very good. Perhaps the best speech he's ever given. I probably agreed with 99% of it. He went through all patriotism. Nothing mainstream Democrats would have disagreed with. He praised everyone from Muhammed Ali to Ella Fitzgerald, and got his crowd to cheer for them. He sounded very presidential. He even compared himself to Lincoln and said that 157 years ago on July 3rd, the Union beat of Pickett's charge, implying that this is the low point of his campaign and the high point of Biden's. Casting Biden, ironically, as the Confederacy.

I'd say this is definitely a winning message. If it's between what he said last night and Cancel Culture/SJW, this won't even be an election. Trump will win by a surprisingly large margin, with perhaps a bigger EV margin than in 2016.

No one is going to make up their mind based on one speech.

Anyone who thinks Trump is going to EXPAND on his 2016 margin or win at all with the data we have right now and the state the nation is in is proof that education on civics and politics does not work.

[Beet]

Atlas doesn't have much to say about Trump's July 4th speech. I encourage everyone to watch it. He didn't go off on his usual juvenile riffs-- rather it seemed to be a prepared speech, written by someone else, like he occasionally gives, and it was very good. Perhaps the best speech he's ever given. I probably agreed with 99% of it. He went through all patriotism. Nothing mainstream Democrats would have disagreed with. He praised everyone from Muhammed Ali to Ella Fitzgerald, and got his crowd to cheer for them. He sounded very presidential. He even compared himself to Lincoln and said that 157 years ago on July 3rd, the Union beat of Pickett's charge, implying that this is the low point of his campaign and the high point of Biden's. Casting Biden, ironically, as the Confederacy.

I'd say this is definitely a winning message. If it's between what he said last night and Cancel Culture/SJW, this won't even be an election. Trump will win by a surprisingly large margin, with perhaps a bigger EV margin than in 2016.

No one is going to make up their mind based on one speech.

I doubt it's just one speech. Whoever wrote this speech knew what they were doing. This is the beginning of the counter-offensive signalled by Tucker Carlson last month.

[Burke Bro]

I'd say this is definitely a winning message. If it's between what he said last night and Cancel Culture/SJW, this won't even be an election. Trump will win by a surprisingly large margin, with perhaps a bigger EV margin than in 2016.

Yep. Because when our country is facing the worst unemployment numbers since the Great Depression, worst civil unrest since 1968, and the most devastating pandemic since 1919, swing voters will be flocking to the candidate who tries to divide the country over stupid issues like SJWs and wether or not you should wear a mask, rather than the one who offers a steady hand in leadership.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

You are hugely mischaracterizing his speech. It's almost as insulting as the speech was.

There were long paragraphs basically blaming leftists for brainwashing children to hate America. Another attempt to divide everybody.

[OSR stands with Israel]

It was a good speech but I doubt anybody will remember this 3-4 weeks from now. Usually the speeches that are memorable are


1. Inaugural Addresses

2. Speeches to a Joint Session of Congress

3. Oval Office Speeches following crises

4. Convention Speeches




Trump failed to give an Oval Office Address during the riots and that should have been the time to give a speech like this

[Bidenworth2020]

Atlas doesn't have much to say about Trump's July 4th speech. I encourage everyone to watch it. He didn't go off on his usual juvenile riffs-- rather it seemed to be a prepared speech, written by someone else, like he occasionally gives, and it was very good. Perhaps the best speech he's ever given. I probably agreed with 99% of it. He went through all patriotism. Nothing mainstream Democrats would have disagreed with. He praised everyone from Muhammed Ali to Ella Fitzgerald, and got his crowd to cheer for them. He sounded very presidential. He even compared himself to Lincoln and said that 157 years ago on July 3rd, the Union beat of Pickett's charge, implying that this is the low point of his campaign and the high point of Biden's. Casting Biden, ironically, as the Confederacy. If I were Biden, the library would be feeling a bit less comfortable right now.

I'd say this is definitely a winning message. If it's between what he said last night and Cancel Culture/SJW, this won't even be an election. Trump will win by a surprisingly large margin, with perhaps a bigger EV margin than in 2016.

You are never going to brand Joe Biden as a symbol of the cancel culture lol.

[libertpaulian]

Trump thinks that he can use the 2016 playbook and win again.  Hahaha.

[ProudModerate2]

Atlas doesn't have much to say about Trump's July 4th speech. I encourage everyone to watch it. He didn't go off on his usual juvenile riffs-- rather it seemed to be a prepared speech, written by someone else, like he occasionally gives, and it was very good. Perhaps the best speech he's ever given. I probably agreed with 99% of it. He went through all patriotism. Nothing mainstream Democrats would have disagreed with. He praised everyone from Muhammed Ali to Ella Fitzgerald, and got his crowd to cheer for them. He sounded very presidential. He even compared himself to Lincoln and said that 157 years ago on July 3rd, the Union beat of Pickett's charge, implying that this is the low point of his campaign and the high point of Biden's. Casting Biden, ironically, as the Confederacy.

I'd say this is definitely a winning message. If it's between what he said last night and Cancel Culture/SJW, this won't even be an election. Trump will win by a surprisingly large margin, with perhaps a bigger EV margin than in 2016.

No one is going to make up their mind based on one speech.

I doubt it's just one speech. Whoever wrote this speech knew what they were doing. This is the beginning of the counter-offensive signalled by Tucker Carlson last month.

And how much stupidity do we get to hear between now and his next, supposed, "great speech"?
How many Tweets of garbage and ignorance?
And where does he go next for a photo-op holding a Bible, since he is the most pious of all people on Earth?

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Atlas doesn't have much to say about Trump's July 4th speech. I encourage everyone to watch it. He didn't go off on his usual juvenile riffs-- rather it seemed to be a prepared speech, written by someone else, like he occasionally gives, and it was very good. Perhaps the best speech he's ever given. I probably agreed with 99% of it. He went through all patriotism. Nothing mainstream Democrats would have disagreed with. He praised everyone from Muhammed Ali to Ella Fitzgerald, and got his crowd to cheer for them. He sounded very presidential. He even compared himself to Lincoln and said that 157 years ago on July 3rd, the Union beat of Pickett's charge, implying that this is the low point of his campaign and the high point of Biden's. Casting Biden, ironically, as the Confederacy.

I'd say this is definitely a winning message. If it's between what he said last night and Cancel Culture/SJW, this won't even be an election. Trump will win by a surprisingly large margin, with perhaps a bigger EV margin than in 2016.

No one is going to make up their mind based on one speech.

I doubt it's just one speech. Whoever wrote this speech knew what they were doing. This is the beginning of the counter-offensive signalled by Tucker Carlson last month.

Good grammar may be lucky to survive, but I suspect the Biden campaign will manage just fine against a "counter-offensive" that makes the Battle of the Bulge look successful by comparison. (And will probably have similar casualty totals in the end.) I watched it, in-person with beer and virtually with a couple friends. You may claim that it's author(s) "knew what they were doing", and that may be true - they were plagiarizing Wikipedia, trying to give Mr. Trump words he could pronounce (at which they failed), and hoping if they pretend really hard they can start a race war to distract Americans from Mr. Trump's incompetence, idiocy, madness, criminality and treason.  He went through a stretch where someone had clearly fed in a "unifying great Americans" list and he was just reading it. I've seen better speeches from junior high-school students. It wasn't even a good Trump speech, because his delivery was flat as a pancake. (Maybe they used too much furniture polish on him before the speech? If some of it got into the animatronic's circuitry, that could explain the frequent glitching.)

[AtorBoltox]

Beet makes Chicken Little look calm and measured in comparison

[Pericles]

This latest strategy of pretending Covid doesn't exist is already proving itself to be a disastrous mistake and tragic costly failure of leadership. America needs a real President-January 20, 2021 couldn't come soon enough.

[Ronnie]

Atlas doesn't have much to say about Trump's July 4th speech. I encourage everyone to watch it. He didn't go off on his usual juvenile riffs-- rather it seemed to be a prepared speech, written by someone else, like he occasionally gives, and it was very good. Perhaps the best speech he's ever given. I probably agreed with 99% of it. He went through all patriotism. Nothing mainstream Democrats would have disagreed with. He praised everyone from Muhammed Ali to Ella Fitzgerald, and got his crowd to cheer for them. He sounded very presidential. He even compared himself to Lincoln and said that 157 years ago on July 3rd, the Union beat of Pickett's charge, implying that this is the low point of his campaign and the high point of Biden's. Casting Biden, ironically, as the Confederacy. If I were Biden, the library would be feeling a bit less comfortable right now.

I'd say this is definitely a winning message. If it's between what he said last night and Cancel Culture/SJW, this won't even be an election. Trump will win by a surprisingly large margin, with perhaps a bigger EV margin than in 2016.

The issue with your argument here is twofold: first, I think you're completely misinterpreting what Americans are prioritizing in this election, and second, Americans do not align with Trump's position in the culture war as much as you say they do.  Poll after poll shows that Covid-19 is at the forefront of people's concerns, and those same polls show Trump getting absolutely horrendous marks on it.  The article in the original post points out that the speech did not do anything to mollify people's concerns regarding the virus, and in fact, the audience for his speech largely did not wear masks.

But beyond that, Trump's insistence on casting so-called left wing radicals as enemies of the country in this moment reveals his tone-deafness more than anything else.  People largely sympathize with the BLM movement, as they understand that policing and criminal justice have been systemically biased against black people and have to change.  Republican efforts to more or less exclusively focus on elements like Antifa and rioters have proven to be rather ineffective, for the plainly obvious reason that people understand the peaceful protests are far more representative of the movement as a whole than the violent demonstrations.  

Trump wants to cast himself as a counter-revolutionary against BLM, but it continues to seem like he's only capable of whipping his base into a frenzy against a majority that is unhappy with him and his divisive tactics.  Fire-and-brimstone rhetoric about enemies from within does not meet this moment; people are looking for a more compassionate and empathetic approach at a time when people are dying from a pandemic.

[Beet]

Atlas doesn't have much to say about Trump's July 4th speech. I encourage everyone to watch it. He didn't go off on his usual juvenile riffs-- rather it seemed to be a prepared speech, written by someone else, like he occasionally gives, and it was very good. Perhaps the best speech he's ever given. I probably agreed with 99% of it. He went through all patriotism. Nothing mainstream Democrats would have disagreed with. He praised everyone from Muhammed Ali to Ella Fitzgerald, and got his crowd to cheer for them. He sounded very presidential. He even compared himself to Lincoln and said that 157 years ago on July 3rd, the Union beat of Pickett's charge, implying that this is the low point of his campaign and the high point of Biden's. Casting Biden, ironically, as the Confederacy. If I were Biden, the library would be feeling a bit less comfortable right now.

I'd say this is definitely a winning message. If it's between what he said last night and Cancel Culture/SJW, this won't even be an election. Trump will win by a surprisingly large margin, with perhaps a bigger EV margin than in 2016.

The issue with your argument here is twofold: first, I think you're completely misinterpreting what Americans are prioritizing in this election, and second, Americans do not align with Trump's position in the culture war as much as you say they do.  Poll after poll shows that Covid-19 is at the forefront of people's concerns, and those same polls show Trump getting absolutely horrendous marks on it.  The article in the original post points out that the speech did not do anything to mollify people's concerns regarding the virus, and in fact, the audience for his speech largely did not wear masks.

But beyond that, Trump's insistence on casting so-called left wing radicals as enemies of the country in this moment reveals his tone-deafness more than anything else.  People largely sympathize with the BLM movement, as they understand that policing and criminal justice have been systemically biased against black people and have to change.  Republican efforts to more or less exclusively focus on elements like Antifa and rioters have proven to be rather ineffective, for the plainly obvious reason that people understand the peaceful protests are far more representative of the movement as a whole than the violent demonstrations.  

Trump wants to cast himself as a counter-revolutionary against BLM, but it continues to seem like he's only capable of whipping his base into a frenzy against a majority that is unhappy with him and his divisive tactics.  Fire-and-brimstone rhetoric about enemies from within does not meet this moment; people are looking for a more compassionate and empathetic approach at a time when people are dying from a pandemic.

Trump isn't running as a counter-revolutionary against BLM. He didn't mention BLM in his speech.

He's running as a counter-revolutionary against people who want to tear down Mount Rushmore because it's on "Native American land" or cancel George Washington because he owned slaves. He's running as a counter-revolutionary against people losing their jobs and having their lives destroyed for saying controversial things online. He's running as a counter-revolutionary against the notion now being pushed by companies like the NYT/WaPo and Reddit that you can't be racist against White People. He's running as a counter-revolutionary against the people who booed Jacob Frey out of his own town for saying he wouldn't completely dismantle the police department.

Of those, only the last one is directly related to BLM, and one can believe, as you said, "that policing and criminal justice have been systemically biased against black people and have to change." I absolutely agree that a majority supports this view. But that's not the same thing as eliminating police departments.

He is running on traditional American icons like Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Bob Hope, the Wright Brothers, and people like them. He is running on the historical legacy of the American revolution and the Declaration of Independence.

If you think Abraham Lincoln and the Declaration of Independence are less popular than completely eliminating the police department or firing people for expressing political opinions on Facebook in states like North Carolina, Arizona, or Florida, if Atlas thinks that, then I would respectfully doubt. I would respectfully question. I am only saying I am not fully on board with that analysis of the opinion of the American voter.

[Pericles]

A few people tearing down statues seems pathetically trivial compared to a pandemic that has already killed 130,000 people and rising.

[afleitch]

It was a very 'online' speech touching upon issues that rile up his Facebook/Twitter base. But he could be vastly over estimating how many of his voters are part of that.

[TrendsareUsuallyReal]

So people are already tearing down statues and burning cities underneath Trump, this we should give him four more years is what Beet’s argument amounts to

[Pericles]

It was a very 'online' speech touching upon issues that rile up his Facebook/Twitter base. But he could be vastly over estimating how many of his voters are part of that.

So Trump is making the same mistake as Bernie?

[afleitch]

It was a very 'online' speech touching upon issues that rile up his Facebook/Twitter base. But he could be vastly over estimating how many of his voters are part of that.

So Trump is making the same mistake as Bernie?

Yes and no. If anything he's doing a Corbyn in that he's running the same campaign as the last one expecting it to go the same way and thinking his popularity was because of him and not his previous opponent.

[Hindsight was 2020]

If a democratic president gave a speech were he talked about “the right” the way Trump talked “the left” here I have a feeling that neither Beet and OSR both would be not calling it a great speech

[MABA 2020]

It was a very 'online' speech touching upon issues that rile up his Facebook/Twitter base. But he could be vastly over estimating how many of his voters are part of that.

So Trump is making the same mistake as Bernie?

Yes and no. If anything he's doing a Corbyn in that he's running the same campaign as the last one expecting it to go the same way and thinking his popularity was because of him and not his previous opponent.

Also Corbyn benefited from the expectation that he couldn't win in 2017, another bad sign for Trump

[Storebought]

Trump's speech is entirely in line with the speeches that segregationist governors made against civil rights activists during the 1950s: "the Confederacy is our American heritage" ... radical leftists inciting black folks to mayhem (not that they need incitement) ... agitators (Jews) indoctrinating white kids to Marxism ... "special rights" ... Yawn.

If Tucker Carlson is indeed the one who wrote or guided the content of this speech, then I wouldn't be surprised at all if the allusions to the 1950s segregationists were intentional.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

A few people tearing down statues seems pathetically trivial compared to a pandemic that has already killed 130,000 people and rising.

Yes, but the second is in no small part due to Mr. Trump's own failures and is something he has neither the understanding nor the ability to address, while the first lets him celebrate racism, so of course that's the one he's going to focus on.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Atlas doesn't have much to say about Trump's July 4th speech. I encourage everyone to watch it. He didn't go off on his usual juvenile riffs-- rather it seemed to be a prepared speech, written by someone else, like he occasionally gives, and it was very good. Perhaps the best speech he's ever given. I probably agreed with 99% of it. He went through all patriotism. Nothing mainstream Democrats would have disagreed with. He praised everyone from Muhammed Ali to Ella Fitzgerald, and got his crowd to cheer for them. He sounded very presidential. He even compared himself to Lincoln and said that 157 years ago on July 3rd, the Union beat of Pickett's charge, implying that this is the low point of his campaign and the high point of Biden's. Casting Biden, ironically, as the Confederacy. If I were Biden, the library would be feeling a bit less comfortable right now.

I'd say this is definitely a winning message. If it's between what he said last night and Cancel Culture/SJW, this won't even be an election. Trump will win by a surprisingly large margin, with perhaps a bigger EV margin than in 2016.

The issue with your argument here is twofold: first, I think you're completely misinterpreting what Americans are prioritizing in this election, and second, Americans do not align with Trump's position in the culture war as much as you say they do.  Poll after poll shows that Covid-19 is at the forefront of people's concerns, and those same polls show Trump getting absolutely horrendous marks on it.  The article in the original post points out that the speech did not do anything to mollify people's concerns regarding the virus, and in fact, the audience for his speech largely did not wear masks.

But beyond that, Trump's insistence on casting so-called left wing radicals as enemies of the country in this moment reveals his tone-deafness more than anything else.  People largely sympathize with the BLM movement, as they understand that policing and criminal justice have been systemically biased against black people and have to change.  Republican efforts to more or less exclusively focus on elements like Antifa and rioters have proven to be rather ineffective, for the plainly obvious reason that people understand the peaceful protests are far more representative of the movement as a whole than the violent demonstrations.  

Trump wants to cast himself as a counter-revolutionary against BLM, but it continues to seem like he's only capable of whipping his base into a frenzy against a majority that is unhappy with him and his divisive tactics.  Fire-and-brimstone rhetoric about enemies from within does not meet this moment; people are looking for a more compassionate and empathetic approach at a time when people are dying from a pandemic.

Trump isn't running as a counter-revolutionary against BLM. He didn't mention BLM in his speech.

He's running as a counter-revolutionary against people who want to tear down Mount Rushmore because it's on "Native American land" or cancel George Washington because he owned slaves. He's running as a counter-revolutionary against people losing their jobs and having their lives destroyed for saying controversial things online. He's running as a counter-revolutionary against the notion now being pushed by companies like the NYT/WaPo and Reddit that you can't be racist against White People. He's running as a counter-revolutionary against the people who booed Jacob Frey out of his own town for saying he wouldn't completely dismantle the police department.

Of those, only the last one is directly related to BLM, and one can believe, as you said, "that policing and criminal justice have been systemically biased against black people and have to change." I absolutely agree that a majority supports this view. But that's not the same thing as eliminating police departments.

He is running on traditional American icons like Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Bob Hope, the Wright Brothers, and people like them. He is running on the historical legacy of the American revolution and the Declaration of Independence.

No Beet, he is not.


He is trying to associate himself with those people and ideals - though he has neither understanding nor love for them - because his actual agenda is utterly reprehensible.

He is running on ego, selfishness and bigotry, tyranny and oppression. A traitor wearing the flag like a cloak doesn't make him less a traitor, it just sullies the flag.