So, this all seems … horrible. — Bruce Banner in The Avengers (2012)
Is international humiliation too strong for describing Tuesday’s unpresidential, er, debate?
Donald J. Trump, ostensibly President of the United States, was one grain alcohol and branch water short of a rant about fluoridation and precious bodily fluids.
Those who sat through last night’s performance in disgust saw the United States of America disgraced not for past war crimes, no, but for lacking maturity. Even as the world’s oldest democracy, the world sometimes sees the U.S. as an adolescent nation. Tuesday night proved it. A mature nation would never tolerate an unbalanced, 70-something toddler in its highest office.
The world watched, mouth agape.
Trump will be pleased, from the Financial Times:
And Agence France-Presse’s Sino Daily:
Moderator Chris Wallace quickly lost control as Donald J. Trump repeatedly interrupted and spoke over Joe Biden. Biden interrupted Trump some. Both spoke over each other. Chris Wallace tried to call down Trump:
Chris Wallace: I’m going to ask a question about race, but if you want to answer about something else, go ahead. But I think that the country would be better served, if we allowed both people to speak with fewer interruptions. I’m appealing to you, sir, to do that.
President Donald J. Trump: Well, and him too.
Chris Wallace: Well, frankly, you’ve been doing more interrupting than he has.
“What happened on that debate stage was unlike anything that’s ever happened on a presidential debate stage,” MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow said after the “show” ended. “This sort of debate shouldn’t happen in a democracy.”
The debate took place the day the after a federal court convicted, Christopher Cantwell of extortion and making threats. Cantwell is the famous “Crying Nazi” of Charlottesville’s Unite the Right rally in which several people were injured and one died when a white supremacist named James Alex Fields Jr. rammed his car into counter-protesters. For crimes unrelated to his participation at Charlottesville, Cantwell faces up to 22 years in prison.
Whatever little substance there was disappeared in a wash of misbehavior by Trump as Wallace noted. But there was one exchange that defined the night.
CHRIS WALLACE: You have repeatedly criticized the vice president for not specifically calling out Antifa and other left wing extremist groups. But are you willing tonight to condemn white supremacists and militia group and to say that they need to stand down and not add to the violence in a number of these cities as we saw in Kenosha and as we’ve seen in Portland.
DONALD TRUMP: Sure, I’m willing to do that.
CHRIS WALLACE: Are you prepared specifically to do it.
DONALD TRUMP: I would say almost everything I see is from the left wing not from the right wing.
CHRIS WALLACE: But what are you saying?
DONALD TRUMP: I’m willing to do anything. I want to see peace.
CHRIS WALLACE: Well, do it, sir.
JOE BIDEN: Say it, do it say it.
DONALD TRUMP: What do you want to call them? Give me a name, give me a name, go ahead who do you want me to condemn.
CHRIS WALLACE: White supremacist and white militia.
JOE BIDEN: Proud Boys.
DONALD TRUMP: Proud Boys, stand back and stand by. But I’ll tell you what somebody’s got to do something about Antifa and the left because this is not a right wing problem this is a left wing.
JOE BIDEN: He’s own FBI Director said unlike white supremacist, Antifa is an idea not an organization-
DONALD TRUMP: Oh you got to be kidding me.
JOE BIDEN: … not a militia. That’s what his FBI Director said.
DONALD TRUMP: Well, then you know what, he’s wrong.
CHRIS WALLACE: We’re done, sir. Moving onto the next… [crosstalk]
Right-wing extremists immediately celebrated online. One prominent Proud Boys supporter on the conservative social media site Parler said (per the Washington Post) that Trump “appeared to give permission for attacks on protesters, adding that ‘this makes me so happy.’ ”
SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks far-right groups found:
… that Telegram channels devoted to neo-Nazis and white supremacists portrayed Trump’s comments as signals of support for them. The Proud Boys dispute characterizations of them as white supremacists, but their actions often are touted by white supremacists and others on far-right political fringes.
“He legitimized them in a way that nobody in the community expected. It’s unbelievable. The celebration is incredible,” said Rita Katz, executive director of SITE. “In my 20 years of tracking terrorism and extremism, I never thought I’d see anything like this from a U.S. president.”
Grown men who throw violent tantrums if they don’t get what they want have their avatar.
Trump went from that to further undermining the legitimacy of the election he believes he cannot win. He would not even pledge not to steal the election.
“I am urging my supporters to go into the polls and watch very carefully, because that’s what has to happen,” Trump said. He would not refuse to send his supporters into the streets if he loses, alleging there may already be massive fraud.
“This is not going to end well,” Trump said.
It already hasn’t.
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