44 Comments

Nailed it. Everyone tuned in to see Joe Biden get demolished and instead Trump acted like an obnoxious child. None of my coworkers thought that Trump won that debate. I always thought his performance was one of the reasons he lost. He made Joe Biden look good.

Expand full comment
Jan 9·edited Jan 9

As a conservative I applaud Trump's appointment of conservative judges, his realignment with the CCP and I hate the injustices placed upon him by the "swamp." However, his bullying personality, inability to build a senior professional class to support him, his big spending, his unfilled promises, his support for lockdowns and Fauci, and his ability to bring dems to the voting booth, make him, IMHO, a huge liability. My vote will go to DeSantis. He may be low key, but he is a SCK (Stone Cold Killer) that will, if elected, go on to defeat Biden hands down and, will undoubtedly, usher in a decade of conservative revival. The 2020 debate is just an example of Trump the idiot. Of course, if Trump wins the nomination, I will support him -- but it will be exactly what the dems want and need to win the election.

Expand full comment

"his big spending, his unfilled promises"

The low point, IMHO, of Trump's term was when he caved and signed the budget that contained no wall funding.

Trump's Achilles heel was his belief in Institutions; he could not get his mind around the fact that government actors are bad faith actors. As Rush said, Trump was inherently / constitutionally / congenitally unable to view Chuck Schumer (or Paul Ryan for that matter) as an ideologue; Trump thought dealing with Schumer would be the same as dealing with the sorts of people he had had to deal with (gov't inspectors, union reps, mobsters, etc etc) in his experience as a builder. You give a little, you get a little.

Trump 'fell for' the sop about a government shutdown hurting the little people and government workers not getting their thanksgiving turkey, so he caved.

On the other hand, the first thing Xiden did was what a bad faith actor would do: shut down keystone and end thousands of jobs of the little people, and every policy of his Administration has been aimed at the little people.

Expand full comment

The problem I saw with Trump is that he really had no core principles and political vision for the right as Obama had for the radical left. Sure, Trump knows mass immigration is bad and campaigned on it but lacking true conviction on the issue he could also be talked out of doing much about it and for the most part he was. That's also why he continued to cave on budget negotiations. I don't see how a second term would be any different.

Expand full comment

If you voted for Biden because of that exchange..............you deserve everything you get....and are getting.

Debates and Political Ads are worthless......except to the ignorant and lazy voter.

I'd vote for a vegetable if that vegetable could cut Government in half and build a 50-foot wall along the border and bring all troops home and put them along said wall.

Expand full comment

Well, at long last, I know what I missed not doing hallucinogens...what a trip that memory lane debate read was...flashback to a very bad trip I would not want to repeat.

Expand full comment

My lovely wife agreed - Trump kept interrupting. My take is the narcissist is so insecure in his utter lack of preparedness he has no choice but to.

Expand full comment

Remember that time Romney humiliated Obama in their first debate?

Nobody else does, either. It did not matter.

Pretty sure those magical “persuadable voters” don’t exist. Every human being I encounter has had a vote locked in for years.

There will be no debate. Biden is incapable of outfoxing a bowl of cold Quaker Oatmeal. His people are painfully aware of this.

Expand full comment

It is hard to believe that in a country of 335 million people, we may likely face this daunting duo again in a presidential election. And the world watches. God help us.

Expand full comment

If being inarticulate was an Olympic sport, these two would be the gold and silver medalists. Not sure in what order.

Trump thinks that insulting people is a winning strategy. After all, it worked in the 2016 Republican debates. Why bother to learn the details of policy when you can just blurt out "Little Marco".....

Expand full comment

Thank you for the replay Ann. Agree. Not a productive debate for the voters to learn and know what they are voting on/for. Wallace, too, let it get out of control by not moderating.

Expand full comment

That debate was a disaster. Trump's constant interrupting had the effect of keeping Biden somewhat sharp. The few times Trump could shut up for a few minutes Biden would start to stutter, stammer and stumble but then Trump would interrupt and people did not get to see it for long enough. That disastrous debate may have cost Trump the election.

But Ann is forgetting that it was Chris Crisy Creme Christie that prepared Trump for the debate. The Democrats were smart in that they were trying to cast Biden as a sweet old man as well as some prepared barbs like when Biden said "you're the worse president ever". Actually Biden is the worst president ever in my lifetime and it isn't even close.

Expand full comment

While I understand your take, but Chris Wallace et al. did and would fill in the blanks and protect Joe Biden at every opportunity. Ann has disdain for Trump and would be reluctant to stand up for him in

any way.I agree that he runs his mouth TOO MUCH and I hate with passion his petty name calling.

Expand full comment

Political slapstic comedy, except not funny at all

Expand full comment

Ok, Trump lost the debate! Ann you and your buddies at the Lincoln Project, you know the pedos who lost the country. This country is history your living in a third-world shithole and don't even know it.This place can't be fixed you can't deport 25 million illegals, if Trump won he would be gone in 10 months and you would never have to listen to him again and the country would not be destroyed. You should have known Trump would not keep his promises, but he would not let the country deteriorate like Biden did. As you have said Adios America!

Expand full comment

The Uniparty hit all the right notes from all the right angles to blow apart the Make America Great Again coalition. Historically they never know when to quit. They constantly destroy the gooses that lay the golden eggs and never in history has there been a country that has laid so many golden eggs. Adios America!

Expand full comment

Two angry old men shouting at each other. Maga Nazis vs “that damn judge undervalued my property. I could get 80; no 200; no a trillion from some Saudi.” Does anyone really want that? This is all America can come up with in 2024?

Expand full comment

A house in Naples, Florida (upscale, but not Palm Beach) just went for $60 million. Houses even in the poorer parts of Southwest Florida are going for record prices despite the destruction of a Cat 4/5 hurricane just 15 months ago and beaches still littered with empty buildings and empty lots. You really think $18 million for 20 acres of prime Palm Beach oceanfront isn't BS? The property listed for more than that 40 years ago.

Expand full comment

That’s nice and all but why should anyone who is voting for a person to represent them as a President feel good when that’s his primary concern? If you love the guy just say so, don’t defend him with some bullshit about current property values.

Expand full comment

Presumably it would be a concern for you if a judge accused you of fraud for "overvaluing" a property, especially if the judge is a political enemy who can default you, i.e., declare you guilty without a jury trial. In some cases these days, you're not even allowed to present a defense. I don't love Trump, and he's made many mistakes. In debates, Ramaswamy beats them all. But no one should want to see Soviet-style "justice" in the U.S.

Expand full comment

I would deal with the issue and keep my mouth shut. The judge did not do that assessment anyway. It was done by a county tax assessor. Trump just says that so people like you will send him money. So send him money and Vote Trump.

Expand full comment

"Trump just says that so people like you will send him money." So you can read minds, not only Trump's, but mine. In slang terms, what they call a real sexual intellectual.

Expand full comment

It doesn’t take any real “special abilities “. You Orange Goblins are easy to spot.

Expand full comment

I cringed watching that debate and knew he blew it. Poorly prepared and rude. Thought to myself that he likely really turned off Republicans suburbanites. It is somewhat ironic that among Ryan, Trump and Palin, only the supposedly stupid Palin held her own against Biden

Expand full comment
Jan 11·edited Jan 11

I see the point being made. I would offer that Biden's demensia likely wasn't as advanced at that time as it is now. In a way, maybe it's somewhat of a moot point, though, because Biden (along with the rest of his ilk) are pathalogical liars and will spew ANYTHING to counter a point.

Ideally, you would need a sharp candidate, armed with statistics/facts, to refute their lies. But, even then, they're just going to say, "Nuh uhhh!!" DeSantis and Haley might be able to do that. I'm sure our illustrious host would say Trump could not. (And thus this article! 🙂) JMO.....

Expand full comment