tested by research: September 2021

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Former Chicago Tribune Page 1 Editor Explains Why He (And Others) Have Been "Unintentionally Complicit In The Rise Of Fascism" And The Destruction Of Democracy

I used to edit Page 1 stories for the Chicago Tribune, including many from Washington. In this thread, I explain why the media (including me) have been unintentionally complicit in the rise of fascism that threatens our democracy. 1/9
— Mark Jacob (@MarkJacob16) September 27, 2021

Mainstream media have long tried to treat Republicans and Democrats equally. Some, like me, thought that was the way to be fair. In fact, it was the way to be lazy and not have to sort out the facts. Just quote a Democrat and quote a Republican and you’re done. 2/9
— Mark Jacob (@MarkJacob16) September 27, 2021

When I edited political stories, I went so far as to count the quotes from Republicans and Democrats, thinking an equal number would make us fairer. I didn’t think I was helping either party. I thought I was helping the readers. I was wrong. 3/9
— Mark Jacob (@MarkJacob16) September 27, 2021

If you look back 3 or 4 decades, you see many corrupt pols in both parties. Scandals like Abscam and Keating 5 were mostly Democratic. But in recent decades it’s obvious the GOP is more unethical and anti-democratic. Which means treating the parties equally helps Republicans. 4/9
— Mark Jacob (@MarkJacob16) September 27, 2021

Hillary Clinton mishandled emails. George W. Bush lied to get us into a war. Both were bad. But one was way worse. The media’s self-assigned job to treat Republicans and Democrats equally has compelled them to pump up coverage of Democratic scandals. It’s fairness-signaling. 5/9
— Mark Jacob (@MarkJacob16) September 27, 2021

The Republicans have overwhelmed the media with corruption. They’ve created scandal fatigue, prompting journalists to do something I call ethics norming. That’s when something that would have been a huge scandal in the recent past is considered normal now. 6/9
— Mark Jacob (@MarkJacob16) September 27, 2021

The Republicans have pulled off quite a trick. If news is defined as something unusual happening, GOP corruption is not news because the party is so widely corrupt. Some media have turned off their outrage impulse and decided that corruption is normal. 7/9
— Mark Jacob (@MarkJacob16) September 27, 2021

What’s needed is new framing. Not party-oriented but democracy-oriented. Truth-oriented. The media shouldn't elevate liars in the interest of “fairness.” Yes, media should be fair – to the readers, to the facts. But not to the 2-party system. To our democracy. 8/9
— Mark Jacob (@MarkJacob16) September 27, 2021

We are now in the midst of an assault on democracy unlike any our country has ever seen. Any journalist who doesn’t frame their reports in that context is doing a grievous disservice to our country. 9/9
— Mark Jacob (@MarkJacob16) September 27, 2021

These are good tweets, as far as they go. However, Jacobs is no longer in the newspaper business, so his at-long-last arrival at these fairly obvious light-bulb moments is too little, too late.

Also: "Unintentionally"? Editor, please.

Meanwhile . . . BothSidesism Is Stronger Than Ever

I argued yesterday ( https://t.co/zv3WQuTEAa ) that readers should beware any story framing the GOP debt-limit move as a “partisan game.”

Same category: “Impasse.” (WSJ today)

It’s not a disagreement. It’s a nihilistic threat, which can do great harm and should be called out pic.twitter.com/ILXHzZseDV
— James Fallows (@JamesFallows) September 29, 2021

Possibly a new pinnacle of both-sidesism at WaPo pic.twitter.com/qkhMkcg1LN
— Benjamin Ross (@BenRossTransit) September 22, 2021

CNN: If the US defaults and the impasse drags on, the ensuing recession would wipe out nearly 6 million jobs and lift the nation’s unemployment rate to nearly 9%, according to Moody’s report.
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) September 22, 2021

Reminder that instead of improving it's writing and reporting the NYT is going on an influence peddling campaign to "win over the people" to it's enabling point of view.https://t.co/Q50zmSPyhS pic.twitter.com/IyKGoc3Mna
— Get vaccinated. Against COVID & fascism. web rant (@web_rant) September 27, 2021

Some impressive both-sidesism from @annikasmethurst Right wing is bad for falsely claiming unions are promoting rights. Left wing is bad for correctly pointing out that far right is organizing riots and mainstream right condoning them https://t.co/F7zEGXWT2v
— JohnQuiggin (@JohnQuiggin) September 23, 2021

When journalists realize their both-sidesism has enabled the rise of fascism it feels similar to when antivaxxers have an epiphany on a ventilator
— Amy Dentata 🔜 (@AmyDentata) September 29, 2021

The mainstream media needs to get its sh*t together before they “both-sides” us into authoritarianism. It's not liberal versus conservative anymore. It's democracy versus autocracy. Sane versus insane. Fact and truth versus emotion and conspiracy. Stop normalizing!
— Duty To Warn 🔉 (@duty2warn) September 24, 2021

Death Is Big Business For The Death Cult.

Millions Of Dollars For The Rulers . . .

A network of right-wing healthcare providers, lead by @drsimonegold and America's Frontline Doctors, is making millions of dollars off of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin, data provided to The Intercept by an anonymous hacker reveals https://t.co/KqQyBcEXvK
— Micah (@micahflee) September 28, 2021

Remember when Covid was a blue-state problem? Via the invaluable Charles Gaba, at this point Trumpism is a death cult https://t.co/Lonn2nusdo pic.twitter.com/4AB5ekyVzg
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) September 28, 2021

Republicans are a death cult. pic.twitter.com/nIR7kAPZYn
— Review & Resist (@ReviewResist) September 29, 2021

. . . And Death For The Rubes

We’ve had three 9/11’s worth of dead Americans ***in the past week due*** almost entirely to vaccine refusal, while @tedcruz and others grandstand about vaccine requirements. https://t.co/ljt5fxCN5r
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) September 28, 2021

PHOTO: World’s shittiest parent. #TrumpRally pic.twitter.com/p9m44psAKk
— Middle Age Riot (@middleageriot) September 25, 2021

And people wonder how Jim Jones got parents to give their kids poison.
— The (Vaccinated) Ghost of August West (@August_West_GD) September 25, 2021

They’re everywhere. pic.twitter.com/AVuuXII7zG
— Newjerseygirl (@dppav) September 25, 2021

GQPers Want To Make All Vaccines (Including For Polio) Optional

KEY DEBATE MOMENT >> Not only does Glenn Youngkin say he won't require COVID vaccines, he does NOT support requiring vaccines for measles or polio. Incredible #VAGov pic.twitter.com/w8VwEh5kjA
— Christina Freundlich (@christinafreund) September 29, 2021

BREAKING: Lead Florida GOP Senator, Manny Diaz calls for a review of all vaccine mandates, including polio, mumps, and rubella.https://t.co/M30tLc5vAw
— WCPT 820 (@WCPT820) September 23, 2021

My apologies to boxes of rocks everywhere. https://t.co/ILs122R3O4
— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) September 29, 2021

Biden is gonna win Wisconsin again pic.twitter.com/q4FjKsnCeH
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 29, 2021

If you've ever tended bar, you know this face all too well. https://t.co/146tbkGrBx
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) September 30, 2021

Fox Hosts Too Cowardly To Criticize Their Employer's Vaccine Mandates (Which Are Five Times Stricter Than Biden's "Tyrannical" Proposals)

They're killing their viewers but to be fair the content is tremendous. https://t.co/n8kItPZJzx
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) September 28, 2021

Fox hosts are telling their audience they can take a stand against an "authoritarian" by refusing life-saving vaccines, which is great for ratings but also killing their viewers https://t.co/yU6ZP5WCOU https://t.co/BzmhJuyezP
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) September 28, 2021

I wrote about the moral abomination perpetuated by the Murdochs, the Fox brass, the network's "news" and "opinion" personalities, and the blue-chip companies still supporting it. https://t.co/yU6ZP5WCOU
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) September 28, 2021

Justin Baragona's (The Daily Beast) reported on Chris Hayes's Tuesday night segment in which the MSNBC host slammed Tucker Carlson and other Fox talking heads as "cowards" for railing against President Biden's vaccine mandates (it's "tyranny"!), but staying absolutely silent about their own employer's vaccine mandate, which is five times more strict than Biden's mandates for private businesses. Every Fox employee must provide his or her vaccination status. Any unvaccinated Fox employees must submit to daily testing (Biden's mandates include weekly testing), but more than 90 percent of full-time Fox staffers are already vaccinated.

Hayes calls out the blatant hypocrisy:

Notice, by the way, they don't call out their own employer. They could ... if they had any courage. If you think it's tyranny, you could do that on-air, but you won't! And I'm willing to bet you nearly all those people who go on air every night and rail against it, they are vaccinated. Their loved ones are vaccinated. They are are selling this poison because it is profitable for them.

And they truly do not care. I mean, I don't know what's in their hearts, but their revealed preferences — all I can judge is their actions — they do not seem to care if people who watch them get killed as a result. And yes, there are actual human beings — taking their last breaths with a plastic tube down their throat while they say goodbye to their loved ones over an iPad. Entire universes of memories and life experiences snuffed out forever but guess what, it's great for ratings!

Approximately 2,000 Americans are dying every single day from COVID-19. Almost all of them were unvaccinated.

Fox's new tagline:

Chris Hayes tears into Fox hosts like Tucker Carlson for raging against vaccine mandates for ratings:

"Notice, by the way, they don’t call out their own employer. They could if they had any courage. If you think it’s tyranny, you could do that on-air, but you won’t." pic.twitter.com/gS9iINmBLI
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) September 29, 2021

Chris Hayes: How the GOP is making money off "morally obscene" anti-vax grift. https://t.co/BjY4N4Qfun
— All In with Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) September 29, 2021

Chris Hayes lambastes Fox hosts for attacking vaccine and testing requirements on-air while quietly submitting to Fox’s requirements behind the sceneshttps://t.co/8JVpuLKjeO
— Media Matters (@mmfa) September 29, 2021

still waiting on this dude to quit over foxs vaccine mandate pic.twitter.com/t4z39v5w2i
— Andrew Lawrence (@ndrew_lawrence) September 28, 2021

wow, i wonder if laura is going to quit over foxs vaccine mandate pic.twitter.com/zQKhMXnYi9
— Andrew Lawrence (@ndrew_lawrence) September 29, 2021

Annual Salaries:

Tucker Carlson: $10 million.
Laura Ingraham: $15 million.
Sean Hannity: $25 million (radio and TV gigs combined: $40-45 million).
Maria Bartiromo: $10 million.

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Trump Phoned His Press Secretary From Air Force One To Insist His Penis Was Not Small And Not Shaped Like A Toadstool; He Also (Reportedly) Had A Colonoscopy Without Anesthesia Because His Ego Would Not Permit Pence To Be Assigned Presidential Power Even For One Hour (He Also Kept The Procedure Secret Because He Was Afraid Of Being Ridiculed)

Trump's Press Sec: He Called Me to Insist His Penis Wasn't Toadstool-Shaped

The harrowing detail appears to be one of many from the upcoming book written by Trump's former press secretary Stephanie Grisham.
Jamie Ross, The Daily Beast, September 28, 2021

Three years ago, adult-film star Stormy Daniels scarred us all forever by describing Donald Trump's penis as being like "a toadstool." She wrote in her 2018 book, which dished the dirt on her alleged affair with the ex-president: "I lay there, annoyed that I was getting fucked by a guy with Yeti pubes and a dick like the mushroom character in Mario Kart."
Well, according to Trump's former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, that truly hideous description didn't go down very well with Trump either. The Washington Post reports that Grisham writes in her new book that Trump once felt the need to call her from Air Force One to inform her that his penis was neither small nor shaped a toadstool.
The anecdote is just one of several mind-blowing details from the Post's new account of Grisham's upcoming book, I'll Take Your Questions Now. Here are some of the others:
Trump allegedly told Putin that his tough-guy act was all for show

Grisham recounts a meeting between Trump and Vladimir Putin in Japan in 2019 where he allegedly admitted to the Russian president that he was being mean to him to impress the news cameras. At that G-20 meeting in Osaka, Trump wagged his finger at Putin and told him: "Don't meddle in the election." In her book, Grisham recalls seeing Trump tell Putin: "I'm going to act a little tougher with you for a few minutes. But it's for the cameras, and after they leave, we'll talk. You understand."
Grisham writes Trump hid a colonoscopy appointment because he was worried about butt jokes
Trump's unexplained trip to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in 2019 sparked theories that the president had a secret illness. The explanation, according to Grisham, is much more straightforward. She hints that Trump went for a colonoscopy, but didn't disclose the reason for the trip because he didn't want to be "the butt of a joke" on late-night TV.
Later in the book, she writes that Trump underwent a procedure—she doesn't name it but The New York Times reports that it was the colonoscopy—without anesthesia because he was too egotistical to temporarily assign power to the vice president. "As with COVID, he was too wrapped up in his own ego and his own delusions about his invincibility," she writes.
Trump supposedly cuts his own hair with a massive pair of scissors
According to the Post, Grisham's book spills details about Trump's hair-care routine—including the claim that he cuts his own hair. Grisham writes in her book that Trump carries around "a huge pair of scissors that could probably cut a ribbon at an opening of one of his properties."
Staff are said to have lied to Trump so Air Force One could be used to transport George H.W. Bush's casket
When former President George H. W. Bush died in 2018, White House staff wanted to follow tradition to allow the Bush family use of Air Force One. But, according to Grisham, they hid that plan from Trump. "We knew he wouldn't be OK with that, even for a brief trip," Grisham writes. "Dead bodies, death, sickness—those things really seemed to creep him out." In the end, the plane was loaned to the Bushes for the funeral.
Trump allegedly ogled an unnamed female staffer
Aside from the aforementioned toadstool call, Grisham repeatedly alleges that Trump was sexually inappropriate in her presence. She claims that Trump asked her then-boyfriend, who also worked for him, to rate her sexual performance. Grisham also writes that Trump was obsessed with one unnamed female press aide, and allegedly once demanded she was brought to him on Air Force One so he could "look at her [behind]." . . .

The Guardian, September 18, 2018:

[Daniels's book, Full Disclosure, contains] a detailed description of Daniels' alleged tryst with Trump at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, California. In the book, Daniels writes in sometimes excruciating detail about the president's genitals and describes her disgust with herself for letting the scene play out. . . .
Whenever she saw Trump on television for years afterwards, Daniels writes, an internal monologue would play out: "'I had sex with that,' I'd say to myself. Eech." . . .
Daniels attended a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, in 2006, where she and two colleagues greeted golfers between holes. There she first sees Trump . . .
Trump's bodyguard invites Daniels to dinner, which turns out to be an invitation to Trump’s penthouse . . .
She describes Trump's penis as "smaller than average" but "not freakishly small".
"He knows he has an unusual penis," Daniels writes. "It has a huge mushroom head. Like a toadstool … I lay there, annoyed that I was getting fucked by a guy with Yeti pubes and a dick like the mushroom character in Mario Kart ... It may have been the least impressive sex I'd ever had . . ."

Jada Yuan and Josh Dawsey, Washington Post, September 28, 2021:

[Grisham] worked as the president's third press secretary and as first lady Melania Trump's chief of staff and communications director before she resigned on Jan. 6 during the Capitol riot. . . .
As press secretary, Grisham was often unresponsive, and never once held a news briefing. . . .
But Grisham is undeniably one of the Trump originals. She was wrangling reporters on the campaign plane in 2016, before working her way into the Trumps' inner circles. And she is still viewed widely as a consummate Trump insider. . . .
A major theme of the book is the culture of lies that pervaded Trump's administration. "Casual dishonesty filtered through the White House as if it were in the air conditioning system," Grisham writes. . . .
Grisham also discloses that Trump didn't want to ban travel to China in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, despite his later claims that he did. Grisham writes that "the upcoming election influenced every decision Trump made about the pandemic." . . .
Trump behaved inappropriately with Grisham, too, she wrote — once calling her from Air Force One to assure her that his penis was not small or toadstool-shaped, as the porn star Stormy Daniels had alleged in an interview.
Grisham wrote that Trump once asked her then-boyfriend, a fellow Trump aide, if she was good in bed. . . .
Grisham writes that Ivanka [Trump] and Jared [Kushner] tried to push their way into meeting Queen Elizabeth II alongside the president and first lady, a wild breach of protocol on a state visit, but were thwarted when they couldn't fit into the helicopter. "I finally figured out what was going on," Grisham writes. "Jared and Ivanka thought they were the royal family of the United States." . . .
The airing of Trump's alleged affair with porn star Stormy Daniels is what "unleashed" Melania Trump to start publicly contradicting or ignoring her husband — trying to embarrass him as he had embarrassed her. She walked into his first State of the Union address arm-in-arm with a handsome military aide . . .
[W]hen Grisham drafted a tweet for Melania requesting privacy, saying she was concentrating on being a mother, wife and first lady, she had Grisham remove the word "wife."

The Big Cry

It’s been 77 days since @GovRonDeSantis started selling anti Fauci gear for his campaign. Since then 15,400 Floridians have been reported dead while Ron panders to an extremist minority instead of governing.

Heck of a job there Ron. #DeSantisVariant pic.twitter.com/EexdzLp6qw
— Annette Taddeo (She/Her/Ella) (@Annette_Taddeo) September 28, 2021

They should be required to run a chyron under all of these stories that reads, “Fox News mandated that all its employees must be vaccinated, including the person you’re listening to right now” https://t.co/j2OqK2aZNE
— simon templar (@simonsez40) September 21, 2021

Ted Cruz defends blocking nominations by using the term “deputy assistant undersecretary of Whatchamacallit” pic.twitter.com/Ev7nH2JfEo
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 28, 2021

Kudlow claims family leave, universal basic income, child tax credits, and free community college will “damage the soul of America” pic.twitter.com/1duAOJjVXg
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 28, 2021

Get a load of Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen (R) talking about ivermectin over the weekend pic.twitter.com/M2YJlI4He2
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 27, 2021

Also:

Acosta: I almost don’t want to call it the big lie anymore. I want to call it the big cry because he just goes to these rallies and cries… Why would you go to a rally and stand out there for hours and hours just to listen to this man who can’t get over losing cry and cry pic.twitter.com/g5J7psQdad
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 26, 2021

Trump during his rally on Saturday called January 6 "a hoax" pic.twitter.com/pDNptdyncw
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 27, 2021

Saturday, September 25, 2021

At Georgia Public Therapy Session Rally, Trump Admits To Felony Election Fraud

The media is also complicit. There is a blueprint the entire GOP is working off of to steal the 2024 election, and basically no one covered it. Even though the odds right now of it working are sky high. 2020 was the beta test — they figured out the bugs. https://t.co/owyCA08fKJ
— Amanda Marcotte (@AmandaMarcotte) September 25, 2021

“The Founders did not foresee the Trump phenomenon, in part because they did not foresee national parties. They anticipated the threat of a demagogue, but not of a national cult of personality.” https://t.co/jQLRkTgx8x pic.twitter.com/7eoX1qpEep
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) September 25, 2021

History will absolutely judge the choice to leave him unprosecuted as a grave error by Biden. https://t.co/3Yp36ZGXXN
— Amanda Marcotte (@AmandaMarcotte) September 26, 2021

The NYPD in Staten Island murdered Eric Garner over a cigarette. https://t.co/Av9MtsvBQE
— Jesse Spector (@jessespector) September 25, 2021

* * *

It’s been 326 days since the 2020 election.

1,137 days until the 2024 election.

Today, the candidate that lost is holding a rally, in a state he lost, to rant about the election he lost.
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) September 25, 2021

Trump is having a rally in Georgia today. Original intent was to promote GOP Senatorial candidates. But this no longer occupies space in his desperate, panicky, delusional brain. Expect him to speak incessantly about the Arizona audit, peddling new lies about what it "proved."
— Duty To Warn 🔉 (@duty2warn) September 25, 2021

Trump pushes the big lie with impunity on OAN, then proclaims, "our country will not survive this." Grim stuff. pic.twitter.com/BMLnjyKFuN
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 25, 2021

Literally nothing he says is true:
1. I was not fired. I started my own law firm @EliasLawGroup
2. I did not sue AZ over the fake audit.
3. I did not lead 107 or 170 lawyers in anything related to the audit.

I did however kick his ass in court in 2020.pic.twitter.com/NiUzAjcPjI
— Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) September 26, 2021

"Nobody ever really thought a pandemic would happen" -- Trump pic.twitter.com/h5Its2pDJh
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 25, 2021

Trump, on OAN, suggests (absurdly) that Fox News was part of a conspiracy to steal the election from him pic.twitter.com/JJdEIKKCfs
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 25, 2021

Rally begins with people chanting “audit” pic.twitter.com/mUdF99NdNq
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 25, 2021

“Donald Trump would not be bringing the Taliban to America…” pic.twitter.com/xkSTxR6JLc
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 25, 2021

Yeah Donald Trump was the man who invited the Taliban to camp David on the anniversary of 9/11…hmmmmm…https://t.co/Wywb0W2HgQ pic.twitter.com/Yfbs7aCkRW
— Lauren Robertson (@LLRobertson75) September 26, 2021

Trump describes the Taliban as good fighters who he got along with pic.twitter.com/ZHA07bpHZx
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 26, 2021

Marjorie Taylor Greene calls the squad anti-Semitic pic.twitter.com/Dl4atMKoPW
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 25, 2021

Marjorie Taylor Greene says Democrats are pushing communism through corporations pic.twitter.com/1puUeMTRd9
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 25, 2021

Greene: The climate is always changed and no amount of taxes and no government on the planet can do anything to stop climate change pic.twitter.com/fOSWm16Hiu
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 25, 2021

Candidate commits to getting “rid of those voting machines” pic.twitter.com/vyjBU1Ast3
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 25, 2021

"Uncensored video" pic.twitter.com/YAXNY5MBDh
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 25, 2021

Walker says one party is violating their oath to protect the constitution because they are trying to change the constitution and we can’t let them change the constitution because when the next party is in power, they’ll try to change the constitution too pic.twitter.com/86Ik1G3wec
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 25, 2021

Walker calls on people who are “not legal” to vote to get legal and vote for him pic.twitter.com/QyuUr2rLq5
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 25, 2021

incredibly incendiary lies are just commonplace talking points on Newsmax pic.twitter.com/bdgrzVg0dK
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 25, 2021

Uhhh pic.twitter.com/C7ttPoEdnb
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 25, 2021

"Most people would say they were doing one hell of a job, don't you think?" -- Trump on Border Patrol agents who were photographed using horse reins to threaten Haitian migrants pic.twitter.com/3SwYX6RxPh
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 25, 2021

Trump: This is an invasion!
Crowd: *chants build the wall* pic.twitter.com/zPs0eWiRCm
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 25, 2021

"This is an invasion" -- At his rally in Perry, Georgia, Trump gives voice to the same conspiracy theory about immigrants that motivated the El Paso shooter pic.twitter.com/Jk4TQ3AWEB
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 25, 2021

"Maybe he won. Who the hell knows if he won?" -- Trump suggests (with 0 evidence of course) that Obama may have stolen the 2012 presidential election from Mitt Romney pic.twitter.com/C5mSuW9eri
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 25, 2021

Trump: They say we lost but you know there has never been a concession pic.twitter.com/Heoz3AaJVf
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 25, 2021

"There never has been a concession. You do know that, right?" -- Trump on the 2020 election pic.twitter.com/uJKPLZlYtc
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 25, 2021

Trump says Stacey Abrams might be a better governor than Brian Kemp pic.twitter.com/YlNwDupEIM
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 25, 2021

Trump: Military instantations and their installations pic.twitter.com/Lfpfucyi0F
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 25, 2021

Trump: I don’t have a big mouth.. I have a mouth that tells the truth pic.twitter.com/nhzbaUCGhC
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 26, 2021

Q: “What’s the difference between a Klan rally and a MAGA rally?

A: The Klan didn’t pay black people to show up. #TrumpRally
— Tea Pain (@TeaPainUSA) September 26, 2021

"How would you like to have her as your wife?" -- it's September 25, 2021, and Trump fans are chanting "lock her up!" about Hillary Clinton pic.twitter.com/mt77zX4HKj
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 26, 2021

Trump: How would like to have Hillary Clinton as your wife?
Crowd: Lock her up pic.twitter.com/Eg9JmnU9T0
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 26, 2021

Newsmax and OAN are broadcasting the #TrumpRally in Georgia live. Fox News, notably, is not. pic.twitter.com/1abaGBWQLI
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 26, 2021

Trump declares that Brian Kemp is a RINO pic.twitter.com/m1vm4sUuht
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 26, 2021

Mitch McConnell gets booed at the #TrumpRally, Brian Kemp gets even bigger boos. pic.twitter.com/RXhLbSwfdk
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 26, 2021

Trump says he called Brian Kemp after the 2020 election and urged him to call a "special election" in hopes of changing the result of the presidential election in Georgia. (I think he meant "special session" of the legislature.) pic.twitter.com/WZX4eHhaMW
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 26, 2021

Trump admits that he called Governor Kemp and tried to pressure him to hold a “special election” and complains there was no quid pro quo pic.twitter.com/w1N1LMDFg9
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 26, 2021

Trump is admitting to breaking Georgia law. https://t.co/ddzYvAxpj2
— Fred Wellman (@FPWellman) September 26, 2021

Thank you Donald Trump for directly confessing tonight to felony election fraud in Georgia. It’ll make it way easier for the Fulton County DA to criminally indict you on state charges, and it’ll make it a whole lot harder for the DOJ to not bring a federal case against you.
— Palmer Report (@PalmerReport) September 26, 2021

Trump fans chant "lock him up!" about Mark Zuckerberg.

"Well, they should be looking at that," Trump says. pic.twitter.com/J4Nvgh53CT
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 26, 2021

Trump claims that the Arizona "audit," which affirmed Biden's victory in the state, actually concluded that he won. Shameless lying and his fans eat it up. #TrumpRally pic.twitter.com/eNolgdCCVA
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 26, 2021

"Of course, having her I think might be better than having your existing governor, if you want to know the truth" -- Trump on the relative merits of Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp pic.twitter.com/KrppCdCHAJ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 26, 2021

"It is clear that in Arizona they must decertify the election" -- Trump one day after the Arizona "audit" affirmed Biden's victory pic.twitter.com/oHtMJhc7U1
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 26, 2021

Trump says the Georgia Attorney General is supposed to be doing “free and clear and non-corrupt” elections pic.twitter.com/CTREj3oxYu
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 26, 2021

Trump on Warnock: All the sudden he’s a US Senator. How the hell did that happen? pic.twitter.com/1GJijXsaSj
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 26, 2021

This chyron is a bit like bragging about being the 30th best team in the NBA pic.twitter.com/796gZevqvX
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 26, 2021

"obliterizing" pic.twitter.com/AZO5yBNVtZ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 26, 2021

Trump: They’re all saying Merry Christmas again. We better move fast because that will end also… pic.twitter.com/TjIc7yZrzK
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 26, 2021

"They are starting to say very strongly, 'Merry Christmas' ... they're all saying 'Merry Christmas' again." #TrumpRally pic.twitter.com/i41iDaI0oY
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 26, 2021

I love how they call him ‘45’ to avoid having to call him *former* president Trump https://t.co/seIp2XKDgf
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) September 26, 2021

* * *

This is straight-up authoritarian propaganda. They’re brainwashing viewers to see fellow citizens who disagree with them politically as enemy combatants — which means they’re conditioning them to resort to violence against the “enemy” if they need to https://t.co/c29oHRAiEr
— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) September 26, 2021

Jeanine: I know I’m not a racist and I know I’m not a xenophobe… pic.twitter.com/5NY29zZq2z
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 26, 2021

Lauren Boebert, Who Recently Admitted To Committing A Federal Felony, Sent Out A Release Stating: "Imeach Biden" (It Takes Real Effort To Be This Stupid)

This is a real press release:

A textbook example of "So on-brand that it can't possibly be real."
— George Zahora is wearing a #@$&%! mask. (@georgezahora) September 24, 2021

It’s beyond parody.
— Sara Says (@sara_fantastic) September 24, 2021

Most of MAGA wouldn't even know that it was misspelled. 🤣
— Angela Belcamino (@AngelaBelcamino) September 24, 2021

Spelling has a liberal bias.
— Janice Hough (@leftcoastbabe) September 24, 2021

Lauren Boebert misspelled the word "impeach" today as "imeach." In March she misspelled her own last name. Lol. https://t.co/HZ1pl0L1v6
— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) September 24, 2021

It'a a runoff .... pic.twitter.com/bFHs35BEgy
— Amy Siskind 🏳️‍🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) September 24, 2021

I thought it was trump who liked to add pee to everything.
— Cazic Thule™ (@CazicsCorner) September 24, 2021

"Considering"

BREAKING - Lauren Boebert has admitted to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) that she used campaign donations to pay her personal rent and utilities. This is a clear violation of federal election law. The FEC is now considering “punitive action” against Boebert.
— Tristan Snell (@TristanSnell) September 23, 2021

This is cool! Because last year one of St. Louis City's Aldermen tried this and caught a Federal felony charge! For him, it was mail fraud; since she used Venmo, it's 18 USC 1343 - Wire Fraud! 😀https://t.co/1Gu62jlXEK
— Eric Garland (@ericgarland) September 23, 2021

If politicians like Lauren Boebert can publicly admit having committed crimes and don't face any consequence, the Rule of Law is just an illusion and I don't think it'll be believed for much longer.
— 💙🦅 Anis Jerbi 🦅💙 (@ArtistAJ17) September 23, 2021

Can they also realize she used her OURAGEOUS travel reimbursement claim to pay off her debt from having to pay off State liens for 'forgetting' to pay UI for her business? pic.twitter.com/vtHfC2YOP9
— Now for the follow through - Accountability (@geolrobinson) September 23, 2021

This isn’t the first time @laurenboebert has broken the law. She’s got herself a little criminal history.
Some people are able to leave their criminal past behind them and become productive citizens, others can’t help themselves and continue to crime.https://t.co/CyHPbgmZLs
— Political Southpaw (@DahlELama2) September 24, 2021

"It was reported she was paid more than $22,000 from her campaign in mileage reimbursement," Joy Reid says. The Denver Post explains ... Boebert would've had to drive 38,712 miles while "campaigning." And remember, this was during the peak of Covid season"https://t.co/O6BSfgkpKA
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) September 25, 2021

I wrote an entire book chapter about how many women die because of the myth that guns help women defend against rape. https://t.co/UCFM3HBMka
— Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D (@RVAwonk) September 23, 2021

So Boebert's new constitutional analysis is that people failing to exercise their Second Amendment rights are guilty of crimes perpetrated against them sounds like an excellent path forward. pic.twitter.com/xoWKomTqtY
— Theric Jepson (@thmazing) September 23, 2021

She WAS one of the 16 year old girls he waved his dick at in the bowling alley. They hooked up, she got knocked up, dropped out of school, married him and he beat on her a few times. Your question is so valid - when he beat her, why didn’t she shoot him? @laurenboebert pic.twitter.com/IPpLOUGISm
— WeirderIsGood (@WeirderIsGood) September 23, 2021

Lauren Boebert is no different than any other congress person. They have complete and total immunity from prosecution for any crime. Even treason. pic.twitter.com/6MTUUceG6l
— Name can't be blank (@9317Dan) September 23, 2021

Marjorie Nazi Greene Has A Rapier Wit

MTG walks down steps and keeps heckling Dems. @RepPeteAguilar, Dems Vice caucus chair, tells her she’s being “performative.”

“No you’re performative,” she replies pic.twitter.com/DmVDzR7XfD
— Scott Wong (@scottwongDC) September 24, 2021

A very bizarre ending to a wild week in Washington:@MTG heckles Democrats. And they fire back on Capitol steps

"Try being a Christian ..."

"You try being a Christian!"https://t.co/Hmx4JyWPxQ
— Scott Wong (@scottwongDC) September 24, 2021

Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Chief of Staff announced he is resigning.
— Scott Dworkin (@funder) September 25, 2021

That's right: they're now *speaking in tongues* at a conference headlined by Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, Trump adviser Michael Lindell, and former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.

Next thing you know, Flynn will openly advocate for a coup. Oh—that already happened? https://t.co/QSUi4gkrNs pic.twitter.com/jGrFYN61Yo
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) September 24, 2021

World’s worst auctioneer.
— Paul #ThisIsOurShot #JusticeIsComing (@PaulDelaware) September 24, 2021

Probably the most intelligible thing said there.
— Hugh McLaurin (@HughMcLaurin) September 24, 2021

Charlie Brown's teacher made more sense than that guy.
— John Anderson 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@jba5000) September 24, 2021

Friday, September 24, 2021

Fox News Bans Rudy Giuliani (And His Son) From Appearing On Any Show

Inviting Rudy Giuliani on air to spew his increasingly erratic stream of consciousness comes with the very real risk of falling foul of a billion-dollar lawsuit—and it seems Fox News has calculated that it’s just not worth it https://t.co/TmvXoyqM0h
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) September 24, 2021

Rudy Giuliani is so toxic and insane that he's been banned from appearing on Fox News. That's actually almost impressive.
— Rex Zane (@rexzane1) September 24, 2021

"Too unhinged for fox" is quite an achievement.
— Arno Nym (@GratuitousGuy) September 24, 2021

I love how the only way Rudy Giuliani can get back on Fox News now is to star in a My Pillow commercial.
— I Smoked Mike Flynn's Salad (@BlackKnight10k) September 24, 2021

Rudy Giuliani banned from Fox News. Even they can’t take his drunken screeds.
However, he will still be broadcasting from Fox Total Landscaping.
— Duty To Warn 🔉 (@duty2warn) September 24, 2021

What a fall from grace - the plunge continues:

"Fox News has banned Rudy Giuliani and his son from appearing on its network." https://t.co/rprPVvtq4f
— Amy Siskind 🏳️‍🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) September 24, 2021

Rudy Giuliani and his son Andrew have been banned from Fox News.https://t.co/nEfSUJjfvS
— Frida Ghitis (@FridaGhitis) September 24, 2021

“Andrew Giuliani makes Eric Trump look like a valedictorian of Harvard.”
- @MichaelCohen212
pic.twitter.com/Yf5KeBh8yJ
— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch) June 26, 2021

Steve Bannon asks Rudy Giuliani about being banned by Fox News. Rudy doesn't address this and then talks about dead people voting. pic.twitter.com/Rv6AhwS9PC
— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) September 24, 2021

Long before Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani took to a podium to spout a number of election conspiracy theories, Trump’s team knew they were baseless, a new court filing says. https://t.co/C9FgdH4nOs
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) September 21, 2021

New post: Trump Campaign Knew Lawyers’ Dominion Claims Were Baseless, Memo Shows | Alan Feuer/The New York Times https://t.co/lGrDBwrf5k
— The Voting News (@VotingNews) September 24, 2021

Fox News is ignoring a newly revealed memo that shows the Trump campaign knew its election claims were false https://t.co/lyVB1zeUVa
— Media Matters (@mmfa) September 22, 2021

Meanwhile: SDNY Showed Probable Cause Rudy Giuliani Was Criming While He Represented Trump in the Russian Investigationhttps://t.co/lbsbLXJus0
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) September 20, 2021

Arizona's Sham "Fraudit" Backfires:
Trump Lost By 360 More Votes Than Officially Reported!

🚨 BREAKING from President Trump on the Arizona Audit 🚨 #Decertify pic.twitter.com/QvUlmDDeUr
— Boris Epshteyn (@BorisEP) September 24, 2021

Breaking: The recount of Maricopa County's 2020 vote confirms that President Biden won and the election was not "stolen" from Trump, according to early versions of a report prepared for the Arizona Senate.https://t.co/TZ9iS3FsQC
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 24, 2021

At 11PM last night, Trump issued a memo about the Arizona audit. It was brimming with bravado. You could feel him gain narcissistic energy like a vampire ingesting new blood. "Tomorrow, the highly respected auditors ..."

Memo didn't age well. Trump's aides already deleted it.
— Duty To Warn 🔉 (@duty2warn) September 24, 2021

This statement has been deleted from Trump’s website. What will he now say about the “highly respected auditors” who spent months going over Arizona’s ballots only to conclude Biden’s victory was actually slightly larger than the official result? https://t.co/9P6jXIDNfz
— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) September 24, 2021

Arizona Republic:

“The hand count shows Trump received 45,469 fewer votes than Biden.

The county results showed he lost by 45,109.“ https://t.co/Pgyv3jq8jC
— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) September 24, 2021

JUST IN: The Arizona recount led by Republicans has just concluded—it confirms that Biden won Arizona. After the recount, Trump LOST 261 votes, while Biden GAINED 99 votes.
— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) September 24, 2021

When you lose so badly, you can’t even cheat your way out of it. https://t.co/O9TWIdaoJo
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) September 24, 2021

“Wait, wait, Barack… it gets better… and then… that f’ng idiot demands a damn recount in Arizona, and these so called… ‘Cyber Ninjas’ or some shit, come back and say that not only did he lose… but he lost by even MORE than they thought!
You can’t make this shit up…”
😂😂 pic.twitter.com/GfZzKqM2DP
— Jo (@JoJoFromJerz) September 24, 2021

the "you lost, get over it" crowd from 2016 is melting straight the fuck down today and throwing shitfits galore because they can't get over losing Arizona for the sixth time
— Jeff Tiedrich (@itsJeffTiedrich) September 24, 2021

Trump lost Arizona…again. Time for another #VictoryLap pic.twitter.com/5F0eTp2u6D
— Captain Jordy (@J_Mei21) September 24, 2021

Thursday, September 23, 2021

(1) The Deep State Is Secretly Putting The Covid Vaccine In Salad Dressing
(2) Lindell Promises Supreme Court Will Reinstate Trump By Thanksgiving
(3) Cyber Ninjas' Arizona Report: Trump Lost By More Votes Than Officially Reported

In a show dedicated to covid and election fraud conspiracies, Michael Flynn yesterday brings up an article he read that the Deep State medical establishment is planning to secretly put the covid vaccine in salad dressing. pic.twitter.com/45LniXtnYA
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) September 22, 2021

Mike Lindell moves the "reinstatement" goalposts again — now Trump will be back by Thanksgiving https://t.co/sgQhLMXjTz
— Salon (@Salon) September 23, 2021

BREAKING: “The three-volume report by the Cyber Ninjas, the Senate’s lead contractor, includes results that show Trump lost by a wider margin than the county’s official election results.”https://t.co/bf1sACM1wB
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) September 24, 2021

Rut Roh

As MyPillow CEO and onetime Donald Trump consigliere Mike Lindell continues his whirlwind tour across the country, attempting to push a narrative that the election was stolen, yet another Republican official has outed him as a grifting liar https://t.co/k7XoK8mCK5
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) September 22, 2021

Moron Olympics

the theatrics of it all is just so fucking pathetic. https://t.co/WdGCLtkHQM
— Captain Jordy (@J_Mei21) September 23, 2021

This is real life.

If there was a Moron Olympics, @mtgreenee would win every Gold Medal. https://t.co/5EbHuoQeWK
— Spiro Agnew’s Ghost (@SpiroAgnewGhost) September 23, 2021

When the State Dept promotes democracy in other countries, they should definitely show this clip. https://t.co/UUyfQWyf9S
— S.V. Dáte (@svdate) September 23, 2021

Today has been an interesting day for memes pic.twitter.com/bwTGBNADMj
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 23, 2021

Jim Jordan says Americans don’t like being lied to so they’re going to vote to put more Republicans in Congress pic.twitter.com/noq0Zd1T5g
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 23, 2021

Boebert says rape victims need guns not abortions pic.twitter.com/UU1I62OiMT
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 23, 2021

In violation of Colorado law, Lauren Boebert allows 8-year-old to play alone, next to possibly-loaded firearm. https://t.co/RJqn3886k9
— The Masked Blue Texan (@ProgressiveTex) September 20, 2021

Dennis Prager downplays effects of climate change: "Did you know that there is a solution to warm climate? It's called air conditioning. It's very effective" pic.twitter.com/vGNxbVN7Sk
— Jason Campbell (@JasonSCampbell) September 22, 2021

There is a good reason "Trump made no claims of libel or defamation against the paper or Mary Trump in the suit." He would have to prove that the NYT's reporting about his finances wasn't true in order to win. And, he all but concedes he can't with this. https://t.co/7qya7qXhuH
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) September 22, 2021