Trump wants you to know that he does not appreciate seeing Democratic candidates on HIS network.
Mike Wallace interviewed Mayor Pete on Fox Sunday, his majesty doth object:
They forgot the people that …. what? Cannot pay attention long enough to process a complete sentence? Who harbor deep distrust for thus who speak honestly about their service in the U.S. armed forces? Forgot the people who worry they might catch “teh gay?” What? What?
Oh, and “moving toward the losing side” — in Trump’s world, “news” aligns on one side or the other. Actually, that’s becoming truer and truer of “our” world, too, but we can still pretend for a bit that it is not supposed to be this way.
Anyway, please proceed, Emperor:
Trump is either unaware, or doesn’t care that he sounds like a 14 year old boy, longing for the cheerleader that doesn’t even know his name. Doesn’t Trump have an aide to tell him that Mayor Pete drained the “Alfred E. Neuman” “insult” from 25 feet, hitting nothing but net, with the “I had to Google it,” thing?
“He never speaks well of me”
I am going to go out on a limb here and say that Chris Wallace has “spoken well of Trump” on far more occasions than he’s spoken well of Mayor Pete. But the brain of a 14 year old boy lusting after a cheerleader cannot process anything that happened longer than ten seconds ago.
Regardless, Trump is NOT happy about Mayor Pete having a successful appearance on Fox.
THAT is a good thing.
****
I genuinely believe our candidates need to go on Fox, as often as possible. I DO understand that reasonable people can disagree on this, so please don’t flame me with …. flames. I get it. We grant the fake news network “legitimacy” by doing so.
That’s a problem.
But I think the problem is outweighed by the positives.
****
Republicans don’t do “reality.” They deify themselves, while demonizing Democrats. When I say “demonizing,” I mean Repubs make it sound like Democrats would rip children from the arms of parents and imprison the kids in cages. Utter monsters.
But, no matter the set-up, when one hears straight from Mayor Pete, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, …. these are GOOD people, who come across as GOOD people, and no amount of “twisting” of anything can re-create the “demon” they were before. It shatters the entire Fox mythos.
Any one of our candidates can walk onto the set of Fox and make Trump look like ….well, a highly frustrated 14 year old boy.
But that’s not the point. The point is that Fox and Trump are SO over the top in “GOOD-BAD,” “ALL-NOTHING,” that when a Fox viewer sees a Mayor Pete, a Bernie Sanders, a Kamala Harris, or Joe Biden, he or she will not fit into that “Good-Bad” paradigm. It will be a mix, good and bad, which threatens everything Fox stands for.
Destroying the Fox paradigm, “Dems = Monsters,” casts all their programming in doubt.
****
To those here who say “It doesn’t matter,” I would ask you, why, then, is Trump so furious?
Because it does matter, he knows it, and we know it.
Twitter also knows it, and they had a field day with Trump’s response. Just a sampling:
and
And:
****
To those that say: “We need to ignite OUR base, create new voters, register everyone, pound the streets, GOTV!”
I say: “Yes, exactly!”
I assume we can do that, and have the candidate make a 15 minute appearance on TV? Is there a rule that I don’t know about that states that once a candidate appears on Fox, that candidate can no longer register traditional Democratic voters and work to GOTV in our heavily Democratic areas?
I will also point out that the “old, white, Republican, male” demographic on Fox tends to be the one that most reliably votes. Poaching just 2-5% of those votes would be a huge “get.”
****
Oh, and hell, do it just because it makes Palpatine mad.
Reason enough for me, and my man, Pete. Who, I think, was right to go on Fox. I suspect he not only raised his own profile, he diminished Trump, by speaking in complete sentences, by reminding Americans that the world is complex, and that it is okay to smile.
I am not a Mayor Pete supporter, yet. But he is an excellent candidate, one that I could proudly vote for. Our candidates all have different ideas as to how to approach winning over “the middle,” and Pete deserves respect for going on Fox. I wish more of our candidates would.
I would even watch Fox if I got to hear Pete talk. I’m a straight married guy of 48 years old, but sometimes when I hear Pete, I feel like a 14 year …. never mind.
Peace, y’all.
****
My novels are LINKED HERE, and thanks for the wonderful feedback, it warms my heart.