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First Republican Debate LIVE – All Eyes On DeSantis

First Republican Debate LIVE – All Eyes On DeSantis

By refusing to show up while wining and dining Trump-haters in the media to go after DeSantis, Trump has elevated DeSantis. Everything about tonight is now focused on DeSantis.

The first Republican Debate is tonight. We will provide a live stream, and highlights as it goes.

LIVE STREAM

DEBATE COVERAGE

PRE-DEBATE COVERAGE

Trump is going all out to organize the media to target DeSantis in its coverage of tonight’s debate, including wining and dining with some of the worst Trump haters in media. Despite the frequent pronouncements that the race is over, DeSantis scares the hell out of Trump, and it shows. Oddly, by boycotting the debate and running to Tucker for a competing interview, Trump elevated DeSantis’ status. Everything about tonight is now focused on DeSantis.

Trump surrogates were passing around messages that DeSantis defended slavery, repeating Kamala Harris’ lie:

As to Tucker’s counter-programming interview with Trump, he may think he’s being bold and sticking it to Fox News, but in reality he’s just being used as a tool of the Trump campaign. Sad!

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Comments

Allegedly Fox is going to ‘feature’ Trump with video clips.

Just more confirmation that it was the right decision for him not to attend, and that this whole farce was nothing but them to make him stand on stage for endless bashing by the idiotic also-rans, with no opportunity for meaningful rebuttal.

They should have made this just top 3 polls – so Trump, DeSantis, and Vivek.

Nobody gives two craps what Pence, Haley, Hutchison, or Christie have to say. If a plane crashed tomorrow and Trump, DeSantis and Vivek were all on it, they would STILL have a 0% chance of winning.

    thad_the_man in reply to Olinser. | August 23, 2023 at 9:44 pm

    Actually Christie is beating DeRon in some polls.

      Othniel in reply to thad_the_man. | August 23, 2023 at 11:50 pm

      Not after tonight he won’t. Christie just self-immolated.

        Naw, he held his own. I don’t like him and certainly won’t be voting for him, but he made his case that he can pull indies and moderates. And he can. He’s just a decade late in his run; his time was 2012, and he took a pass.

          henrybowman in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | August 24, 2023 at 12:40 am

          He went on about how he managed to get elected governor of a blue state despite an overwhelmingly D legislature. Well, so did Romney, and for the same reason — he’s a liberal masquerading as a Republican. People like Bloomberg are naked about it.

          When he got to “And once elected I managed to…” my Internet jammed right there. I can’t imagine how he claimed to have made NJ better. When it comes to liberties NJ is a bigger hellhole now than ever before, and he did nothing to reverse that tide.

          Christie is stuck in the old school, pre-Trump era. On the one hand, a Republican candidate does need to win moderates and indies (and more than a few never-voteds), but this, ‘look at me, I won in a deep blue state’ sends shivers down the rest of America’s spines now. We want nothing to do with anyone who can win a blue state. Blue states are freaking unAmerican shitholes. He missed his moment, and while I thought he did well tonight (and even made me laugh, not at but with him), he’s past his sell by date by a decade.

          Blue states are freaking unAmerican shitholes.

          That one left a mark. 😉

          If you wonder why I might remain in a freaking unAmerican shithole (WA), the one person of authority I listen to has said “occupy until I come”. The neighbors, all of us rural, are friends and community. It’s liveable. The shithole is on the other side of the Puget Sound from us. Speaking of … we’re there right now for medical tests. Breaks my heart to see of what they’ve done to where I grew up. What was once farm land – dairy and pasture – is now a warehouse district from one end to the other. I found myself praying last night while driving to the hotel “Thanks for delivering me from this awful place, Lord.” That’s a good prayer, right? 😉

          What I think your missing (responding to your next post) is Glenn Youngkin.

          The Vermont governor I would say is the kind of person we should not have.

          The governor of Virginia however?

          He won a race about radical gender theory, CRT and related education issues taking very conservative stances in a blue state.

          That is remarkable.

          If he was in the race I would have a very hard time choosing between him and DeSantis.

          Overall DeSantis has a more impressive record, but in terms of impressive elections Glenn Youngkin has one of the most remarkable elections in recent American history under his belt making it more than likely he has what it takes to be elected.

          That said I am pretty sure I know which blue state governors you are thinking of, and I agree with you on those.

    JohnSmith100 in reply to Olinser. | August 23, 2023 at 11:05 pm

    “Focusing on DeSantis flameout, he is still a big fish from a little pond, now swimming with sharks.

Not sure what polls the professor is watching but Desanctimonius is losing to Ramaswamy in a number of polls.

DeSantis a bit angry. Christie is a blowhard. Pence is a braggart. The winner right now is Trump. Said earlier that Scott may come out best.

From preliminary remarks before the debate from each, I dislike all of them.

Trump’s the only one with a sense of humor. That should decide it.

Being amused by the ridiculous is a huge advantage in the ability to do recalibrations when necessary.

DeSantis did better on abortion, but here comes Pence virtue signalling that he is even more pro-life.

I seem to remember someone predicting a few days ago that Trump would be debating today. Guess something is wrong with the script.

All eyes? I doubt it. I’m watching President Trump. Haven’t watched that garbage fox news since Nov. 2020. Never will again either.

    Gosport in reply to Concise. | August 24, 2023 at 12:39 am

    Bingo.

    The Trump interview got over 80 million views. The debate got 63 million.

    I’m not saying views = votes but…

      You better hope not. Trump is counting on his 74 million to still be with him. A good chunk of them (like me) are not.

        REDACTED in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | August 24, 2023 at 6:31 am

        maybe you will be kind enough to let us know who you are for so we can not vote for him or her.

        the NT children are gonna have to be taught the lesson that neverism is a two way street

        pat yourselves on the back for starting this evil game in 2016

          maybe you will be kind enough to let us know who you are for so we can not vote for him or her.

          So you’re saying Fuzzy controls your vote?

          Asking for a friend….

          inspectorudy in reply to REDACTED. | August 24, 2023 at 11:27 am

          Don’t you realize that you can be for another candidate and still vote for the nominee? Are you a maga who will not vote if Trump isn’t the nominee?

          @inspectorrudy: Indeed. Trump was not my pick in 2016. I would rather have seen Cruz, Walker, or Fiorina get the nomination. In that order. I liked how Cruz handled himself, I thought Walker had some good ideas and executive experience, and Carly was the political outsider I’d have liked to see go further.

          But it was not to be, and so I voted for Trump that November. And again in 2020.

          This time around, Trump is still not “my guy”. But if he wins the nomination, you can bet I’ll vote for him again.

          Because even if it’s not “my guy” going in, getting the current guy out is more important.

        why not?

        170 million plus people watched the Trump interview.

        That’s more than the total who voted in the 2020 election.

        So keep your hopes, you are going to need them.

          inspectorudy in reply to Gosport. | August 24, 2023 at 11:29 am

          Wow! Your number is twice what others are reporting. Like Trump much?

          txvet2 in reply to Gosport. | August 24, 2023 at 4:45 pm

          I don’t know whether those are individuals, or total hits – but I’ll bet it’s total hits, with his supporters either going in and out, and/or watching the whole thing more than once.

Well. it looks like Trump won that one.

Vivek was a startlingly close second.

Sad;y, it really looks like everyone else flamed out.

And it’s still going. I hope DeSantis can put himself out and survive this.

    gonzotx in reply to Azathoth. | August 23, 2023 at 10:37 pm

    Viv is not a close second by any measure

    But he is a fast talking, con kind of flavor kind of guy

    He talks faster than Obama and
    Has more substance than Obama

    But there is a Obama
    Flavor to
    Him

    And
    He did make his
    Billions in pharmaceuticals

    Hey, maybe he’s on adderall !

      Azathoth in reply to gonzotx. | August 23, 2023 at 10:42 pm

      Oh, he’s not gonna be president, but he’s taking stands and saying things that might get him a post in Trump’s admin.

        There is no way on this earth that Vivek takes a post in the Trump administration. He’s said he’s only ever voted twice in his life; this is a lark for him. He’s not going to go from millionaire entrepreneur to Trump’s butt boy.

        The ONLY person on that stage tonight who would take a job in the Trump administration is Haley. And after her straight fire performance tonight, even she might just tell him to look elsewhere.

        Trump is not going to get the best people to work for him after the way he has treated his picks the first time. He’s toxic. NO ONE with an ounce of sense would go anywhere near a Trump admin. Heck, he was already rolling out the bottom of the barrel the first time, What dregs do you think will be available to him on a second run, given how horrifically he treats his own people?

          Mauiobserver in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | August 24, 2023 at 1:33 am

          I saw a few clips and Haley’s comments on the Russia Ukraine conflict are beyond absurd.

          She has to be a paid shrill for the endless war advocates.

          The media cult tells us that the Russian military is so inept they are getting their butt kicked in Ukraine.

          Idiots like Haley follow that up with if we don’t continue to send countless billions to Ukraine then Russia will invade Poland and Baltics and threaten Western Europe.

          Baghdad Bob was more credible.

          Yeah, I can’t stand her. I much preferred DeSantis’ line that he wouldn’t send our troops to Ukraine but would send them to the Southern border. That’s where I’m at on this whole thing, too.

          The Gentle Grizzly in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | August 24, 2023 at 6:39 am

          Fuzzy: with respect, there is a long line of presidents who pledged not to send “ our boys” to this or that war and then did.

          “”NO ONE with an ounce of sense would go anywhere near a Trump admin.””

          Well, Gaetz has already volunteered for AG. I don’t quite know what that says about either of them.

          Oh, Fuzzy, really? ‘Trump’s butt boy’? After all that wasted space about elevating the debate, about not sounding like a troll..

          We don’t know WHAT Vivek will do, it hasn’t happened yet.

          But this is interesting– “given how horrifically he treats his own people?”

          This was a topic of discussion recently.

          Apparently he’s an amazingly good boss to have. His employees swear by him.

          He rewards loyalty with loyalty. And tries to create a business structure wherein each member supports each other member.

          And he sees betrayal of such as personal betrayal.

          This has not worked to his advantage when the people working for him aren’t actually HIS employees –or are working ‘for’ him to appease political interests.

          In a second term, he’d have no need to appease.

          So we’ll see.

    inspectorudy in reply to Azathoth. | August 24, 2023 at 11:34 am

    So you liked the younger version of Trump? All he did was make stupid rants about what he would do with absolutely no possible way he could do any of them. He like Trump has no ability to work within a system that is in our Constitution. He is a one-man show and would make enemies on his first day in office just like his mentor. Some people love absurd claims of what they are going to do but the people on that stage called him out for his lack of experience and his stupid remarks that have no meaning in the real world. He is the kid in high school who promised coke and pizza for lunch if elected class prez.

      Azathoth in reply to inspectorudy. | August 25, 2023 at 8:36 am

      The only viable candidates on that stage were the younger version of Trump, and the MAGA Republican who actually implemented MAGA style policies.

      Everyone else isn’t even an also ran..

      Policy-wise there’s no light between them and Trump.

      All three are viable. All three are acceptable.

      A big reason to vote for Trump over either of them is the factor Trump has than neither of them do.

      This would be Trump’s SECOND term.

https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1694534441157230877

Over 100 million views of President Trump with Tucker already

100 million and growing!!!!!!!!!!

Who let the dogs out…

Who who whom who who

https://youtu.be/Qkuu0Lwb5EM?si=iMINqWeiTEuzAigG

    It’s who let the dogs out. Use “whom” where you use “him” and “who” where you would use “he.” Not fool-proof, but darned close.

      Obviously a thumb error, but it’s in the song so…you just let it

      make your day

        Who knows with you? You type in weirdo haiku stuff all the time, so I can be excused for thinking you may be asking which to use (who or whom). So much for trying to help.

          Rriiggghhtt!

          HAIKU
          https://www.britannica.com/art/haiku

          Glass houses. Stones. Etc.

          I know what haiku is, thus my using the term. Not sure what you mean by your glass houses thing since the last thing I do is write . . . anything in brief or opaquely or with the intent of making people work to figure out what I am saying. Nor do I write without clarity and precision (or at least I try to be clear and precise).

          When I insult someone, I do so very clearly and with intention; gonzo, on the other hand, likes to side-swipe and hide her insults. I cannot abide that sort of thing. If you have something to say, say it. Don’t try to hide it with stupid nonsensical crap with bizarre line breaks and attempts to be cagey and avoid looking like the bad guy. She does that all the time, and it wears thin. She’s that neighbor who knows everyone’s business and then drops “little hints” about how bad everyone is while trying to keep her hands clean. And when called out, she launches into some long-winded story about how she would never call someone a drunk (as a recent example), even though she clearly did, but she’s a VICTIM, don’cha know?

          Do people think in complete sentences, when they are in a rush? Communication is context. Some people want to post essays, some people want to post thoughts… Some people are trained and experienced writers, other people are just pissed off, hurting random normies.

          The Gentle Grizzly in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | August 24, 2023 at 6:41 am

          You two. Get a room.

          WestRock in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | August 24, 2023 at 6:55 am

          Please, you two, give it a rest. You both contribute to the conversations here but you’re locked in a deadly embrace and haven’t noticed the handle’s been turned and you’re spiraling down the drain. I don’t know which of you is Mick Foley or The Undertaker but it really doesn’t matter. Come on, stop it already.

          Haiku:

          Veneers and hair plugs
          Dark shades ice cream and Depends
          Hail the President

          Glance at a wrist watch
          A nap at a funeral
          The President mourns

          See? You’re actually good at this. I typically don’t “get” haiku, but I love yours!

    How many of those views are liberal media pundits or Team Biden PR flacks, watching — and re-watching — to try and catch Trump in a lie or “cancel culture”/DEI violation?

      txvet2 in reply to Archer. | August 24, 2023 at 4:56 pm

      A lot of those have to be multiple hits, unlike a live TV broadcast that can only estimate viewers. Unless they’ve come up with some technology I haven’t heard of, there isn’t any way to get an actual exact count of FTA viewership.

Fox is such a failure. As always, they chose Democrat gotcha questions to ask Republican candidates. “What will a Republican president do about climate change?” I was happy to see Vivek jump in with raw honesty and proclaim outright that the whole thing is a hoax. Everybody else mumbled and prevaricated.

      henrybowman in reply to gonzotx. | August 23, 2023 at 11:46 pm

      “Hmm…this page doesn’t exist. Try searching for something else.”
      Or maybe it’s because I have no X account…

        Got the same message after seeing your comment. But it’s gonzo, so you have to fix it yourself. Try this: https://twitter.com/taftermath2020/status/1694538466938482956/

          Cute fuzzy, you never disappoint

          Bet you were soooo popular in school that it just beams through your insecurities

          It’s hard to overcome childhood trauma

          Therapy is available, just dont go to anyone with pink/blue/green hair or a combination of above.

          Wouldn’t be helpful.

          Often Twitter does that, let’s you see something and then for whatever reason, I don’t have an account, when I go back I can’t access it

          So sorry

          No need to apologize, gonzo. I know that you have trouble using your phone. We ALL know that.

        The link is broken in an odd way. It was a search link. The top result was a VS post.

        https://tinyurl.com/4bhae98y Twitter link.

        TRUTH.

        1. God is real.
        2. There are two genders.
        3. Human flourishing requires fossil fuels.
        4. Reverse racism is racism.
        5. An open border is no border.
        6. Parents determine the education of their children.
        7. The nuclear family is the greatest form of governance known to mankind.
        8. Capitalism lifts people up from poverty.
        9. There are three branches of the U.S. government, not four.
        10. The U.S. Constitution is the strongest guarantor of freedoms in history.

          Yep, and that is the same exact list everyone on right Twitter was posting the second we learned that Musk had taken it over. There is nothing here that he didn’t get from a freaking MEME. I personally posted some of those myself back then (this is nothing new, nothing new at all). He’s a 9/11 Truther, and he wants to stop our sending aid to Israel. He’s grotesque.

          Azathoth in reply to Tiki. | August 25, 2023 at 11:24 am

          Oh, wow.

          ” He’s a 9/11 Truther, and he wants to stop our sending aid to Israel. He’s grotesque.”

          Fuzzy, that’s the new pravda. This entire thing has been debunked seven ways from Sunday.

          They fused together things he said about J6 with things he said about 9/11 to get it. It’s the ‘fine people’ hoax all over again.

          Don’t spread it.

    inspectorudy in reply to henrybowman. | August 24, 2023 at 11:39 am

    Vivek was wrong when he said climate change is a hoax. Climate change is a fact and every study shows the Earth has gone through massive climate changes. Man made climate change is the hoax. If you are going to shoot from the lip at least be accurate.

      Azathoth in reply to inspectorudy. | August 25, 2023 at 11:26 am

      Do you have any more hairs you’d like to spilt? Did Vivek end a sentence on a preposition? use a split infinitive?

      Everyone knew what he was talking about.

None inspired very much, despite the claim to have such a deep bench. Ramaswamy certainly closed with inspiration. Will be interesting to see how the needles move.

Who won the evening gown competition?

    txvet2 in reply to gonzotx. | August 24, 2023 at 12:21 am

    Trump. Ru Paul came in third.

      I still think Trump won the evening gown competition . . . he borrowed his winning number from his great good friend and ally Lindsey Grahmnesty.

        Hmm, I’m pretty sure the evening gown was won by one of the 8 that were on stage together.

        Maybe it was an 8 way tie !

        Kind of like their “debate”, or was that the “yell fest”

        However, possibly, little d ran away with the shoe competition

        3 inch heels are so ever fashionable and elongating of the leg!

      gonzotx in reply to txvet2. | August 24, 2023 at 12:33 am

      Little d borrowed Ru Paul’s heels I heard

Trump (and/or his Team) is wining and dining with media elites, hoping they’ll help him defeat DeSantis and the rest of the GOP hopefuls … but mostly DeSantis.

But I have to ask: He does know that the second he gets the nomination every single one of those media elites will turn on him and praise Biden, right?

Y’know, just like the last two times?

Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.
Fool me thrice, “Fake news!”

    gonzotx in reply to Archer. | August 23, 2023 at 11:43 pm

    Little d is defeating himself

    Trump craves approval, and he really really wants the media to like him. He’s always been like that for as long as I can remember him being in the spotlight (decades!). He did it while he was president, too, and that’s one of the main reasons he didn’t stick to “open by Easter” . . . he didn’t want the media to “write bad stories” about him. He’s insufferable.

      Funny how the reporting was back in 2020:

      Like Trump, DeSantis has questioned the efficacy of closures, arguing that states that had more aggressively shut down, including California, have fared no better.

      https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-florida-business-ron-desantis-donald-trump-e64376aba8306681b53d52956d15bcd7

      On Wednesday, the Washington Post reported that while staunch Trump ally Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) “promptly” received all of the supplies he asked for from the federal government, states with Democratic governors such as Wisconsin and Illinois (not to mention New York and Michigan) were not having the same luck.

      https://www.vox.com/2020/4/2/21204228/trump-coronavirus-crisis-impeachment-trial-professor-pamela-karlan-warning

        Which is pretty vile, right? I mean we all howled when Obama refused to declare a state of emergency in Joplin but sent bundles of aid for a windy, rainy day in Massachusetts. How is it different when Trump makes the same partisan decisions about American lives? And how can you think this okay? This is sickening. Disgusting. Evil.

        I can guarantee, based on his record in Florida, that DeSantis does not think like this. He sees every single Floridian as important and deserving of his attention and aid. He will bring that same ethic to the White House and to all Americans. He certainly won’t deny Americans aid simply because they live in a blue state. That is truly horrific. It was horrific when Obama did it, and it was horrific when Trump did it. What is wrong with you?

          What is wrong with you? You are not the same person in comments when I first started here. This is twice that you gave the worst interpretation of what I posted. First was that I said you hated commenter Danny to the nth degree when the implication was Danny hates Teump. Here, the clips show how close Trump and DeSantis were viewed: D was a “staunch” supporter and also, they were on the same page. I am not a Only Trumper.” I never presented myself that way. Maybe you should stop reading a cettain person’s comments. She’s getting under your skin.

      freespeechfanatic in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | August 24, 2023 at 8:32 am

      Give it a rest. Trump is the nominee. The rest is all careerist showcasing, fundraising spigots, and jockeying for the VP slot. He’s the only candidate who inspires suffering patriots with sincere and virile hope. His ego comes with the package and no one who understands him and his love of country really cares.

    inspectorudy in reply to Archer. | August 24, 2023 at 11:46 am

    It’s called desperation. Trump claims daily, no hourly, that DeSantis is a loser and now he actually wines and dines the same people that trashed him over and over to go after DeSantis. On msnbc they liked Pence and Christie but thought DeSantis was the worst of the 8. Does that tell you something about what the left and Trump are trying to do? Some of the things Trump does and has done are so underhanded they make me sick. I will still vote for him if he wins but I will be holding my nose.

Bottom line – nobody moved the needle here. A lot of BS spewed out from a lot of also-rans, but nobody is going to change their vote because of this.

    henrybowman in reply to Olinser. | August 23, 2023 at 11:48 pm

    Vivek was inspirational in a way that none of the others could match… but I get the sense that he’s a David aching to run into battle with absolutely no idea how big Goliath really is. That would be Trump 2.0.

      I thought, going in, that the debate was Vivek’s to lose. (As long as he didn’t rap.) Not a Vivek fan, He feels a little slick. Gonzotx compared him to Obama and I think that might be right.

        It’s because he swiped Obama’s line about being a skinny guy with a funny name. Obama said that first, and Vivek recycled it in the debate. I kind of doubt gonzo made the connection (or even watched the debate), so it’s a safe bet she read it somewhere and just repeated it here.

          It’s not such a safe bet.

          I’ve watched several of his interviews and he has that con man factor

          I’ve mentioned it before, on this very blog sweetheart..

          I know President Trump is in your heard 24/7, I just didn’t know I was too!

          Dang girl, get a life!

          Oh, we don’t disagree on Vivek. The only difference is that I actually believe he is a conman, and you are just saying that because too many of your Only Trumper allies are looking at Vivek as a possibility. They would, of course, because he’s pretty much Trump . . . without any understanding of America at all. At least Trump genuinely loves this country. I truly believe that. Vivek? Not so much. He doesn’t have a clue what America is or why it’s exceptional (or used to be).

          I have a life, and part of that is being paid to be here. What is your life like, gonzo, that you spend so much time online and writing your cryptic word soup here (and probably elsewhere)? Didn’t you once tell us that your made a typo because you were giving your grandkids a bath? I’m pretty sure you did. WHO does that? WHO can’t put down their damn phone long enough to spend some quality time bathing their grandchild? If commenting unintelligible BS on blogs is your life, I am so sorry for you. I truly am.

          It’s not the first time VR used that line. He thinks it resonates with the 20-35 yo crowd. The new centrist movement crowd. He straight up declares Revolution sans the red banner, Che beret and Marxism motif. The appeal is a bit cynical. But internal polling may bear it out. Who knows.

          I think the 20-35ers like him because of his willingness to opine on virtually any topic – even if they disagree him on X issue – they simply want straight talk.

          Straight talk from someone who changes his mind every day (when someone points out that he is completely out of step with Americans) or literally denies saying things that are on tape? I can’t believe that anyone, no matter their age, is sucked in by his smarmy garbage. But I guess some are. Kind of sad, really.

          reply to Tiki. | August 24, 2023 at 1:59 am
          Straight talk from someone who changes his mind every day […]

          It’s 12:01am and the last thing I feel like doing is this. But want this part over with. WP formatting is horrific.

          I read the WE article. Out of all the things he flips on, the Israel flip bothers me. No one else will help them. Funny how a lot of us intelligent design deist folks care more about Israel than secular Jews. But that’s a can of worms.

          Legalizing ketamine for vets? I dunno how that works. Dunno what the other drug is, LSD variant? will check later.

          His supposed lying about not voting or voting or not voting often enough just doesn’t bother me. I rather people not vote than blithely and blindly throw levers.

          I don’t like his blaming his flip flops on garbage attacks. Take it like a man.

          You think he’s an oily confidence man without morals and doesn’t understand America. I think he’s a realpolitik cynic and understands America and his generation more deeply than you think. I like him as a candidate. I like outsiders. I like business oriented candidates. I generally hate lawyer-politicians. My flaw and openly admit it.

          I like DeSantis and think he’s an excellent Governor. He’s a solid choice. Unfairly – I think Trump gets jailed within six months. The left is gonna do it. The only persons to be surprised by that will be the Milhouse types.

          Trump is not going to jail. I can’t imagine a scenario in which even these evil banana republic deep state freaks think that’s a good idea. Whatever happens, don’t take the bait.

          First of all, I dislike anyone hurling insults. Second, one thing I learned from Scott Adams is that mind reading is impossible, and a waste of time.
          Third, I respect gonzotx’s replies because they are honest and they are passionate. Being a fellow trumpbot leaves me admittedly biased.
          Fourth, I agree 100% about Vivek. My spidey senses were ringing every time he spoke.. I could not articulate the issues as well as Fuzzy has done. Something seems off… for me it was more just uncomfortable feelz.

          Vivek: I hate people with 1000 watt personalities =- like a human bug zapper. I did like his comment to Christie asking if he’d hug Vivek like he did Obama. That was a groin shot that doesn’t seem to have registered with any one .

          I think you should remember exactly how effective Obama was.

          The reason to hate Obama is he was effective. He fundamentally transformed the federal bureaucracy.

          That is big.

          I wish Vivek was a Republican Obama.

        willow in reply to Tel. | August 24, 2023 at 7:11 am

        Oh my gosh. Typing when upset. I meant you implied that I said you hated Danny to the nth degree, when I meant Danny hated Trump. You go ahead and not vote for Trump. It is becoming very difficult to believe you did in 2020.

          Danny in reply to willow. | August 24, 2023 at 7:34 pm

          If you thought I loathed Trump because of acknowledging REALITY that HE LOST and that your insisting on imaginary voter fraud instead of looking at his tools for alienating voters meant I hated him…….

          It is so easy to see why I have grown tired of Trump cultists. People like you are in the midst of idolatry and really have replaced Jesus with Trump.

      gonzotx in reply to henrybowman. | August 24, 2023 at 12:09 am

      Only President Trump is Trump 2.0

I think, I believe I saw Tucker in socks in his interview with President Trump

Must of been a show of maturity, respect, and deference

I don’t like the no sock look

six in reply to gonzotx. | August 23, 2023 at 11:27 pm
Thank you for the permission.
——-

Didn’t mean it that way, sorry.

My opinion of Scott has changed over the years. Initially I thought he was o e of the good guys, but unfortunately he’s not

There are so few

Ok, don’t know this guy but he put a video together on Viv. He thinks he scammed to make his money

I have no idea, will look have into further

Hope the link works

https://youtu.be/59qQfV2_9w4?si=tZ3vTnQwcLxG_LBi

I found the response to the podcast of accusations towards Viv , it’s 2 weeks old on Meet Kevin

https://youtu.be/uBf5Cnal9m4?si=0l4Jz4yFH67pU8yI

    thad_the_man in reply to gonzotx. | August 24, 2023 at 12:02 pm

    I ain’t going to right out agree, but this needs more investigation.

    Two things I have say about this:

    1. This would be consistent with the way many pharmaceutical companies behave,
    2.When you don’t know a person and want to decide if he’s right, checkout his channel. This guy seems like a Tyler Durden type guy.

    I really hope some digs more into this.

I think all pharmaceutical companies are in reality scammers

Didn’t watch either the “debate” or Tucker
Church prayer meeting went long … I am ok with that …
DeSantis bothers me .. he is a bush republican and not sure I can support that.
don’t like any of the others based on what I know of them.
Trump sucks at picking and supporting his people …
Pense – if he was on fire and I had a full bladder I wouldn’t pi$$. on him to put it out.
he should go back to Indiana … they might need a dog catcher …
don’t trust any of the others either …
any who new day … new chances …
be safe all …

    amwick in reply to jqusnr. | August 24, 2023 at 6:42 am

    /5 😮😮🤔🤔😊😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

    DeSantis … is a bush republican

    Important distinction: Which Bush?

    GHW (a.k.a. Bush Sr., Mr. “Read My Lips, No New Taxes”, Mr. New Taxes) was a disaster for the GOP. Case in point: As the “a.k.a.”s imply, he ran on no new taxes, then signed legislation and budgets that included a boat-load of new taxes. He also ordered the U.S. military into the Gulf War between Iraq and Kuwait. Statistically, incumbents win reelection ~80% of the time; this Bush couldn’t, because he did so poorly in office that he lost to Billy Jeff Clinton.

    GW (a.k.a. Bush Jr., G-Dub, Dubya) did a bit better, especially regarding his immediate 9/11 response. But then he got lost in Iraq looking for WMDs that at the time didn’t exist. Deservedly or not, this helped cement the Bush legacy as a family of warmongers, and the ensuing 20-year “peace-keeping and rebuilding” operations didn’t help.

    Jeb (a.k.a. Jeb!) never got the Presidency; he wasn’t able to get out of the shadow of his predecessors or last name, and on the debate stage he was kinda wishy-washy and undefined — not distinctive, distinguished, or inspiring in any way. But as I recall, he wasn’t terrible as governor of Florida and probably would have been an adequate President (not great, but adequate).

    Each of the Bushes with national-level reputations has a different set of achievements and failings. Which Bush do you mean when you say DeSantis is “a Bush Republican”?

    (And as an aside: what is it about Texas and Florida governors the GOP loves so damn much!?)

    Danny in reply to jqusnr. | August 24, 2023 at 7:44 pm

    1. So Bush was concerned about the rise of CRT in schools, freedom from your employers meddling, wanted less intervention abroad and more peace efforts, was willing to regulate universities to protect the rights of conservatives, and was against the rise of the police state?

    Please stop being a liar

    2. So you hate Pence?

    Mind getting specific so people could see you are a cultist who insists Mike Pence is satan for not trying to launch a coup after the election was over?

    3. Will you guys stop making it harder to resist voting third party?

    Please?

    I mean seriously

    I am going to vote for whoever wins the Republican Nomination.

    Please stop making.

    As in please stop declaring Pence evil for FOLLOWING THE CONSTITUTION on Jan 6th.

    Professor Jacobson did a fantastic takedown about your lies concerning Pence.

    Being insulted by cultists is one thing, a reminder that the cultist principle is just Trump Trump Trump is significantly more off putting to me than being insulted by them particularly with the reminder of how much the constitution means to the cult.

    If you want people with self respect to vote third party by all means keep putting out the reminder that you think Pence should have launched coup.

    I don’t think you realize exactly how much damage your comments suggesting Pence was in the wrong on Jan 6th does to your cause.

    I take offense from that and I am on the right on practically EVERY issue.

    Think about how much damage you are doing with moderates.

      Azathoth in reply to Danny. | August 25, 2023 at 12:13 pm

      “I am going to vote for whoever wins the Republican Nomination.”

      So, at this point in time, you’re going to vote for Trump.

        Nobody has won the nomination yet. Primary voting has not even started, let alone concluded.

        I agree as far as this: The nomination is Trump’s to lose.

        But he hasn’t won yet, and don’t underestimate how abrasive he’s become since 2020. Right now it doesn’t seem like he’s picking up enough new supporters to replace the previous ones he’s turned off.

        And there’s always the possibility, however remote, that the Left nails him on criminal charges that disqualify him from running, or are serious enough that he loses significant support. Until all cases against him are concluded — whether dropped, pled down, or convicted — anything could happen.

        So while it is Trump’s to lose, he can still lose it.

      retiredcantbefired in reply to Danny. | August 27, 2023 at 8:07 pm

      Mike Pence was probably right on January 6th. I don’t claim expertise in the underlying Constitutional issues (including the constitutionality of the Electoral Count Act). In any event, Pence was under no obligation to take an action he deemed unconstitutional.

      None of this exonerates Pence from other actions that he took with the clear aim of undermining Donald Trump while Vice President, such as helping the Deep State get rid of Michael Flynn and giving Deborah Birx cover to continue her “helpful advice” to Governors when Trump clearly wanted her to stop.

      None of this excuses the hollow boasts and bad policy positions that we heard out of Pence during the debate. Why should anyone support a candidate who was trying to outdo Chris Christie and Nikki Haley in calling for unlimited involvement in an endless war in Ukraine?

Big winner Trump

loser was meatball, did not stop the bleeding, may have made it worse
esp with his weasel answer on Ukraine

freespeechfanatic | August 24, 2023 at 8:21 am

Trump didn’t elevate DeSantis by his absence, he did the obverse–he elevated himself, and bunched up the rest into an indistinguishable mass from which it was their job to break apart. And “all eyes” were hardly on DeSantis. In fact, they were on Ramaswamy. Certainly the foci of the others were on him. And he gained ground. He was the most pro-Trump, passionate and counter-intuitive, tapping into the base.

    inspectorudy in reply to freespeechfanatic. | August 24, 2023 at 12:10 pm

    He like Trump is a con man and the others picked up on it right away. He did not advance his cause last night because I believe more people understood that he is full of BS. Any over-animated person can get attention but when cornered about details, they usually fall apart. He makes Mike the pillow man look sedate!

What energy and stamina some of you have! Seems a bunch of all nighters going on? When I was in college that was when ‘speed’ showed up on campus and I don’t mean traffic..

jolt cola was my drug of choice
😀

    thad_the_man in reply to jqusnr. | August 24, 2023 at 11:53 am

    N o. Mountain Dew tastes much better. In fact in summer you put it in the freezer for about five. When yopu pullit out, and open it doesn’t make a “slushee”, rather it sort of coagulates. Yumm.

Raise your hand if you would support a convicted Trump if he were the nominee.

VR quickly raises his hand. One second later NH, followed by TS and the Other Guy.

RDS looks left then right. Then raises his hand.

All Eyes on him saw that.

All Eyes understand that is not leadership quality.

    They asked that question in 2015, too — minus the “convicted” part. “Will you support Donald Trump if he wins the nomination?”

    Every candidate raised his or her hand. To do otherwise says you’ll sabotage your party if you’re not the winner.

    (Then again, the line of questions in those debates were ridiculous. A lot were along the lines of, “Donald Trump said ‘xxxx’. How do you respond to that?” It was like they didn’t want Trump to answer anything, so they repeatedly asked everyone else what they thought of what Trump had previously said.)

    This debate was no different. The voter base needs to know the party will be unified no matter who wins the nomination, so of course everyone — including DeSantis — raised his/her hand!

    Where DeSantis faulted was looking left and right before doing it. Maybe he intended to pause, and show a moment of thought before raising his hand. Or maybe he wanted to show some contempt at everyone else’s quick decision to follow, implying that he alone is an independent-thinking leader.

    I don’t know what his intent was. But regardless, it ended up making him look like a follower — not a leader — and an indecisive one at that. Not great optics, to say the least.

    Where is there anyone with stones enough to call Biaer (?) out on that utter BS question? To show disgust that it was even asked? That it was asked in place of something substantive?

      It’s a Democrat “gotcha” question. Either you raise your hand for party unity, and label yourself a follower. Or you don’t raise your hand because you want to be seen as an independent leader, and the party looks fractured and weak.

      Either way, I agree it’s disgusting. I expected it in 2015 when the first GOP debate was aired on ABC News (read: All ‘Bout Clinton News, or Anything But Conservative News) — known hostile territory — but FOX News is supposedly more centrist and neutral, and should not be asking non-substantive, Democrat-friendly “gotcha” questions like that.

The story today is how butt-hurt the Trump camp is because Fox wouldn’t let their people into the Spin Room.

retiredcantbefired | August 24, 2023 at 5:15 pm

Who cares?

retiredcantbefired | August 24, 2023 at 7:36 pm

Ms. Slippers made this comment, well upthread:

“Trump is not going to jail. I can’t imagine a scenario in which even these evil banana republic deep state freaks think that’s a good idea. Whatever happens, don’t take the bait.”

I wish that were true. It would make the prospect of Donald Trump being convicted on one or more counts less scary.

Unfortunately, the endgame is not merely to obtain convictions. It is indeed to put Trump in the Federal slammer, preferably so he never gets out.

See, for instance:

https://www.salon.com/2023/08/17/folks-the-wait-was-worth-it-donald-is-going-to/

“He will never be president again, and may well die in prison”

retiredcantbefired | August 24, 2023 at 7:53 pm

Three particular thoughts about the staged debate. On the whole, I found the thing deeply dispiriting (I was also reminded, by Bret Baier especially, why I’d quit watching Fox News).

1. Chris Christie showed that he has a sense of humor. Normally, I’d prefer that in a politician, but when we’re facing the imposition of a one-party surveillance state I’m not offended if the person who’s genuinely trying to prevent it comes across as kind of grim. And we know that Christie won’t stand in the way of a one-party surveillance state. He seemed to want conviction and punishment for Donald Trump, whether Trump had committed any real crimes or not. Apparently Trump ought to be convicted and punished for being unpresidential, whatever Christie’s standard for that is.

2. Unless my memory is playing tricks on me, it was Chris Christie who declared that whenever an urban area is suffering under a Soros-funded District Attorney, he as President would solve the problem by putting the US Attorney for the region in charge. Umm, and the authority for the President, or for the Attorney General, to do this comes from …. ?

3. It being Fox News, there were no questions about freedom of speech or its suppression. In 2 hours, barely an allusion to the issue.

    ABC, MSNBC, CNN, etc., still refer to FOX News as if it’s a conservative outlet, and most of America still agrees with that assessment.

    But it’s not, and hasn’t been for quite a while. “Centrist” is the most generous description I can give them; “Less Left than CNN” is more accurate. They get their story prompts from Reuters and the Associated Press just like the rest.

    So I am not surprised at all that they did not ask anything about suppression of speech, or denial of religious liberties, or legal crackdowns on anyone who dares exercise their right to peaceably assemble, or the constantly-expanding surveillance state, or any other Bill-of-Rights-guaranteed freedom that’s being eroded before our eyes.

    Like any other major mainstream media outlet, as long as it’s not their ox being gored, they do not care. (And by the time it is, it’ll be too late; nobody will be left to stand up for them.)