Today President Biden gilded his accomplished record by announcing the largest prisoner swap with Russia since the Soviet era. As the civilized world gave him a collective ’attaboy,’ the MAGAs peed in the punch bowl. They ignored the critical roles played by Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Instead they gave credit to someone uninvolved in the successful negotiations.
Vance led the spin. He took a break from his virulent misogyny to butter his owner’s toast. JD bent his knee with North Korean obeisance to the Dear Leader and promoted fantasy.
As the news of the prisoner release broke, he offered CNN’s Steve Contorno the MAGA spin on the event.
“Look, I think it’s great news, at least what little we know,” Vance said. “We certainly want these Americans to come back home. It was ridiculous that they were in prison to begin with.
But we have to ask ourselves, why are they coming home? And I think it’s because bad guys all over the world recognize Donald Trump’s about to be back in office, so they’re cleaning house. That’s a good thing. And I think it’s a testament to Donald Trump’s strength.”
Biden himself shot down this nonsense during a press conference revealing the deal. When asked how he would respond to Trump’s claim that he would have negotiated the hostages’ release without paying any money or giving up anyone in exchange. Biden snarked,
“Why didn't he do it when he was president?”
Note: One of the Americans released, Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine, was arrested in Moscow in 2018 — Trump obviously didn’t get him out.
This is not the first time that Trump has lied about getting hostages for nothing.
In 2022, he criticized the Biden administration’s swap of Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for WNBA star Brittney Griner as “a one-sided disaster,” Trump said that his administration “got 58 hostages released from various hostile countries without paying any money, or giving up anything.”
That boast was pure fantasy.
Regardless, the MAGAS will buy it. They are not sophisticated consumers. On the other hand, this absurd claim will not win converts among independents capable of rational thought.
Why would Russia give the Democrats - who support arms to Ukraine - an election year leg up? It makes no sense.
America has been here before. In 1980, another election year, the Iranian hostage crisis dominated the news. The crisis ended when Iran released the hostages hours after Reagan was sworn in on January 20, 1981. This timing led to theories that Iran had delayed their release to lessen Carter’s election chances and boost Reagan’s odds.
Did they? Who knows? It certainly profited the Iranian regime. The Reagan administration famously sold them arms in the Iran/Contra scandal. Republicans don’t change much, do they?
We can expect more of the same from Vance and Trump. Since the Republican National Convention and the nomination of JD as the VP candidate, Republicans have run the worst campaign in years.
They are falling behind in the polls. Betting odds that once had the GOP established as easy favorites have swung in the Democrats’ favor. And that is with the less than two weeks of Kamala on the campaign trail.
Vance may desperately want to believe that the ‘world recognizes Donald Trump is about to be back in office.’ But at this point, the world is at best hedging its bets. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Kamala is getting a lot of phone calls from world leaders, trying to get in good with the next president of the United States.
As bad as it is for the Republicans, it is going to get worse. After Vance’s relentless assaults on unmarried women and Trump’s racial dumbassery, I expect the polls will continue to brighten for Democrats. And a lot more money will be bet on Kamala’s inauguration.
Next week, Harris will name her running mate. Later in the month, the Democrats will have their national convention. A month ago, the event was predicted to be a funeral. Now, based on the unbridled enthusiasm unleashed by Kamala’s ascension, the occasion will resemble Mardi Gras with the volume turned to 11.
Keep it up JD. No one predicted that the Republican VP candidate would encourage so many Americans to vote Democratic. Never doubt the power of the law of unintended consequences.
