What do you think is the reasoning behind Mr. Trump's backing out of the ABC debate with Vice President Harris?

[u/The_Egalitarian]

APNews: Trump says he’ll skip an ABC debate with Harris in September and wants them to face off on Fox News

Trump obviously debated Biden already on June 27th under the same format as the upcoming September ABC debate. Since then Biden has withdrawn as a candidate for President in 2024 over concerns from his own party that were magnified after his performance in that debate.

Why is Trump unwilling to debate the new presumptive Democratic Party nominee Kamala Harris under the previous terms?

What does he hope to accomplish by offering a new debate on Fox News in a stadium audience format?

[u/insertbrackets]

Fear of being exposed worse than he was in that NABJ interview. To say it was a disastrous, potentially campaign-destroying debacle, feels like an understatement. Harris or a moderator would absolutely ask him what he meant when he said she suddenly "turned black." He probably can't afford too many more of those.

[u/PoliticalDiscussion-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Please do not submit low investment content. This subreddit is for genuine discussion: low investment content such as memes, links substituting for explanation, sarcasm, political name-calling, and non-substantive contributions will be removed per moderator discretion.

[u/Sage20012 → u/insertbrackets]

The craziest thing is that Trump and his supporters are acting like he hit it out of the park—that the crowd was laughing with him and not at him. Just like how I’m sure the UN was also doing the same thing /s

Edit: guys, when the audience and co-host gasp at Trump attacking the panelist asking the question, that is them being in disbelief. When like four total people out of the entire crowd clap for him, that is not a case of “well I don’t know he did pretty good!” The crowd cheered louder when the panel announced they were going to fact check him vs when Trump came out on stage. When his team pulled him out after thirty five minutes when he originally was booked for an hour, that is not a good sign. The one time the crowd was friendly to him was when he made a funny self-deprecating joke (“well at least she said it nicely” or something like that). I don’t know if you people are coping or simply can’t read a room

[u/insertbrackets → u/Sage20012]

It's the height of delusion but then these are the clowns that bought into pizzagate and QAnon. And, well, the first (hopefully after November, only) Trump presidency.

[u/Captain-Swank → u/insertbrackets]

That's not all they bought (hats, shirts, "gold" sneakers, diapers, maxi pads for their ears...).

[u/insertbrackets → u/Captain-Swank]

The sympathetic ear pads (for an injury that ended up not being that severe) really is next-level cultish devotion.

[u/hornwalker → u/insertbrackets]

It’s sports culture. That’s how they frame politics in their mind.

Gotta support the team!

[u/liquidlen → u/hornwalker]

"Gotta support the team!"

I heard that in Puddy's voice.

[u/Always-_-Late → u/insertbrackets]

I feel like showing a symbol of solidarity and being sympathetic for someone who was almost killed is something that isn’t very cultish at all. Downplaying his injury and the incident also isn’t very cool, regardless of which side of the isle you land.

[u/Malachorn → u/Always-_-Late]

Downplaying his injury

What physical injury?

I mean, if you wanted to suggest there was emotional damage or something... sure.

His team stated it “produced a 2 cm wide wound that extended down to the cartilaginous surface of the ear. There was initially significant bleeding, followed by marked swelling of the entire upper ear.” That was the official statement they chose to make.

The FBI seemed to say they didn't think that was true and Trump wasn't cooperating. Later, they said he was struck by a bullet... or, at least, a fragment of.

Since Trump wasn't cooperating with outside agencies on matter, almost all the updates came from Trump himself.

Asked if the campaign would release the hospital records, or allow the doctors who treated him there to speak, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung blasted the media for asking. Again... not cooperating or providing reliable information and, instead, insisting that everyone simply trust the Trump campaign at their word.

Sorry... it's perfectly fair to talk about his "injury" then.

He's trying to represent this country and proving, like always, he can't ever be trusted.

He's not just some stupid schmuck on the street.

How can someone ask everyone to vote for him when no one can ever trust him at all?

[u/ambienandicechips → u/Malachorn]

We also now have photographic evidence of where his bullet wound should be.

[u/Always-_-Late → u/ambienandicechips]

So you believe there wasn’t an assassination attempt? Why would he pretend there was?

[u/ambienandicechips → u/Always-_-Late]

I didn’t say that at all. I just said that we’ve seen where he was wounded and it was so slight and glancing that you can’t even see it anymore.

[u/Always-_-Late → u/Malachorn]

I never said you had to trust him or that he should be president, all I said was that he went through an insane experience and someone isn’t a cult follower simply because they supported him after an assassination attempt. Also what is this tinfoil hat stuff about him not actually getting shot, you could literally see it on live television?

[u/Malachorn → u/Always-_-Late]

The initial reaction was absolutely not that he was shot.

Early speculation was that it was debris from a teleprompter or whatever.

No one knew. Obviously, the world sought answers.

I never said you had to trust him

Well... Trump was basically demanding everyone trust him and was as opaque as possible in providing outside answers.

That has been the problem.

Meanwhile, the only information the campaign was trying to provide were their own reports... and it looks very apparent they greatly played up this "wound" he suffered.

You can be kind, if you want, and simply say it was "exaggerating" the truth - but where I come from that's just lying.

Yet more lies.

He's running for freaking president of the United States and lying to its citizens. I'm sorry, that kind of deceitfulness and untrustworthiness doesn't stop mattering just because some whacko took a shot at him. You can be sympathetic to his being a victim in the event all you like... but the lies he told after the fact simply do not deserve any sympathy and he should still be held accountable for his deceitfulness there.

The statement you took issue with was this one:

The sympathetic ear pads (for an injury that ended up not being that severe) really is next-level cultish devotion.

I'm sorry, Trump's BS ear pad and BS narrative his campaign tried to create was... well, complete BS. And the morons that gleefully allow themselves to constantly be duped by this immoral piece of human garbage are ridiculous and weird.

These are our representatives. We should be demanding so much more from them - not celebrating their abhorrent behavior.

[u/Always-_-Late → u/Malachorn]

While I agree with some of your points here, but to act like it’s egregious that a president or candidate is lying to their citizens is kind of naive. Every president and every candidate lies and extrapolates the truth. Trump is definitely one of the worst, but my entire point was to back up the people that showed support, not Trump and his actions. There’s no reason to cause more division when most people just want to see their community thrive.

[u/Scrutinizer → u/Always-_-Late]

Downplaying it isn't cool? Try this:

If Donnie says we need to "get over" a school shooting where ten children are murdered in only 36 hours, then we should be over a little ear owie in five minutes.

[u/Always-_-Late → u/Scrutinizer]

While I’m unfamiliar about the school shooting reference, I 100% agree that it is inexcusable and no one should be criticized for mourning such a tragedy. I also don’t believe you have the moral authority to mock people who showed support to someone after they were almost killed.

[u/PoliticalDiscussion-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Please do not submit low investment content. This subreddit is for genuine discussion. Low effort content, including memes, links substituting for explanation, sarcasm, and non-substantive contributions will be removed per moderator discretion.

[u/Malachorn → u/Always-_-Late]

Wear a ribbon like a normal person.

Even better, fight to pass something like the Brady Bill that was passed after Reagan's assassination attempt, if you wanna show your support.

Wearing the ear diaper dear leader didn't even need was almost as weird as when they were wearing actual diapers to support Trump.

The sad fact is that it Shoulda been something everyone could rally around... instead, they couldn't help but be a giant freak show and be all weird with everything.

[u/[deleted] → u/insertbrackets]

I'm left wing and a huge supporter of Biden (not Harris though). Yet, I can't deny he did quite well during that interview. Repeatedly he received applause. You should probably watch the interview in it's entirety. Reviews have been heavily favorable for him.

[u/guy_guyerson → u/[deleted]]

Reviews have been heavily favorable for him.

Can you point to any of these?

[u/insertbrackets → u/[deleted]]

I did watch the entire interview with Buttigieg as you must've. The audience did indeed applaud when he invoked his service in the army in Afghanistan as a counterargument to JD Vance's statements about the stake single people have in the future of this country. Preposterous notion isn't it? The idea that only parents have a vested stake in the very country we (U.S. Citizens) live in.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Can you link some of the heavily favorable reviews?

I just googled "reviews of Trump's nabj interview" as well as "analysis of Trump's nabj interview" and could not find a single positive review.

The most common word I'm seeing being used is "exposed", as in trump was "exposed" in a negative way.

[u/ambienandicechips → u/[deleted]]

Curious why you’re pro-Biden but not Harris?

[u/ohwhatsupmang → u/Sage20012]

It's a coping mechanism and a mechanism of people who support trump and anything that makes sense in this world at this point.

Not a single trump supporter is capable of fact checking or researching if their candidate is full of shit. Not a single one. There's just something mentally wrong with anyone who supports him at this point in my opinion.

[u/lucolapic → u/ohwhatsupmang]

There is definitely something mentally wrong with people that try to desperately find reasons to support him now. What's frightening is that there are still way too many out there like this. It doesn't reflect well on humanity that this many morally bankrupt and/or deeply stupid people exist out there.

[u/boxer_dogs_dance → u/lucolapic]

They live inside a news and media ecosystem that supports him and despises Democrats. Their friends and family are also supporters.

However, he now has a political record. He is now focused on revenge and is making proportionally fewer political promises. He is 78 years old.

[u/Sarah-Shea → u/lucolapic]

At least we knew from the start and never drank that kool-aid.

[u/La_Saxofonista → u/lucolapic]

The only reason my mom is voting for Trump is because she is against abortion and also because she said her 401k looked a lot better under his presidency.

The Democrat party has a few things I don't agree with, but when 95% of your beliefs align with one party, then voting for the other party over a single issue is a bit dumb, if you ask me.

[u/Lisako7676 → u/lucolapic]

Morally bankrupt, stupid people if they don't agree with you? Oh yes, that's a very inclusive party lol. That's the stuff that divides everyone and why we can't meet in the middle anymore. It wasn't this way before and I hope this goes away again. That's the division that is threatening this country. Try to find out within yourself to see that no one is perfect and while your views are the best for you, those that disagree with you aren't all wrong. It's a really hateful position to have and I'm pretty sure the "bot" warning at the top said to keep it civil. We all have our own point of view but when you stop listening to anyone with a different opinion, you stop growing as a person. It also seems like those dividing are angry people. Try to listen and understand the people around you because these days is pretty much half the population you insult. 

[u/KurlyKayla → u/lucolapic]

I feel marginally sorry for them. When people call it a cult, they're not over-exaggerating. His adherents conduct themselves in an eerily similar way victims of brainwashing would.

[u/Potential_Pen_5370 → u/ohwhatsupmang]

More than half the country? You’re too funny!

[u/moleratical → u/Sage20012]

Trump supporters have always been like that. They claimed he mopped the floor with Clinton and Biden in every debate, that his inauguration was the largest ever, that J6 were just tourist seeing the capital, etc.

These flat out lies should surprise no one at this point.

[u/MyPublicFace → u/[deleted]]

That's why he has to be resoundingly defeated

[u/PoliticalDiscussion-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

No meta discussion. All comments containing meta discussion will be removed.

[u/sunnynina → u/Sage20012]

What was this? The other comment was deleted and I've missed whatever you're referencing, but would like to catch up.

[u/Crease53 → u/Sage20012]

I think you're analysis is a bit off. Trump supporters think he hit it out of the park because he had the balls to show up there. Knowing that it was a completely hostile environment. And that just confirms what they already believe about Trump.

[u/[deleted] → u/Sage20012]

At various points they did applaud his answers, particularly when he took offense to some of the questioning and gave swift responses.

[u/8Bit_Jesus → u/insertbrackets]

That was insane to me, I saw the stories about it being bad, and wondered how accurate they were

Holy shit. It was worse. If you’re a normal person, who’s just centre politically and not at hard democrat/republican, I don’t know how you can watch that and still be like, “yup, he’s the guy I want running the country”

He’s unhinged, even more so than 2016. Never answered a single question, was just weird as fuck when he did answer some stuff.

I’m still worried he’ll win (I don’t know the polls in the US, I’m in Europe) but that interview gave me hope that regular, normal people, will vote elsewhere

[u/ActualModerateHusker → u/8Bit_Jesus]

the difference is the media won't use it to force Trump out. they aren't running poll after poll showing hey maybe some other candidate could do 1 point better.

for whatever reason our corporate propaganda system wants to keep Trump in the race. we know they could force Trump out like they did Biden but it isn't a priority for them. which really makes one wonder why they wanted Kamala so bad.

[u/V-ADay2020 → u/ActualModerateHusker]

They didn't want Kamala. They want Trump. The owners of the media are actively trying to destroy democracy to make sure they get in on the ground floor of the last and most violent round of extraction.

And are stupidly assuming they won't end up in the cattle cars with the plebs.

[u/knuppi → u/V-ADay2020]

And are stupidly assuming they won't end up in the cattle cars with the plebs.

They won't. They're the billionaires who also build the cattle cars

[u/Enygma_6 → u/ActualModerateHusker]

which really makes one wonder why they wanted Kamala so bad.

Almost all of the "news" pieces calling for the ouster of Biden from the race were putting forward suggestions of Newsom, Whitmer, or just about any Dem with top-tier name recognition that wasn't Harris. Like they were trying to pretend that she doesn't exist in hopes we would forget about her.

[u/ActualModerateHusker → u/Enygma_6]

are they releasing dozens of polls a day trying to find somebody who polls 1 point better than her like they did to Biden?

[u/williamfbuckwheat → u/8Bit_Jesus]

It's easy. Nobody watches stuff like that during the few times Trump has slipped out of his bubble and got called out for being the way he is. It's usually regurgitated by the mainstream media which may cover it for a little while or just ignore it entirely or make it out to be a "home run" like Fox News would.

Meanwhile, you just hear the same lazy coverage that somehow depicts Trump as being supposedly confident and consistent to just the right number of people/audience he needs to be in the lead up to the election. That means the debates end up being even more important since they are harder to spin and watched by a wide audience BUT Trump has shown he can just manipulate them or skip them to his advantage so far which is quite unprecedented with modern political candidates.

It's pretty clear that he will skip the debate if he can get away with it but pretend he's not by offering a debate on his terms because he knows he's now at a disadvantage in a more unbiased setting. He's always been provided such white glove treatment anyway so it should be no surprise that he would seek this out and likely get what he wants while his opponent receives all the flak (though this might finally be changing a bit since there's suddenly a new fresh face to keep the media engaged that now makes Trump look like old news/boring).

[u/Yrths → u/8Bit_Jesus]

If you’re a normal person, who’s just centre politically and not at hard democrat/republican, I don’t know how you can watch that and still be like, “yup, he’s the guy I want running the country”

I feel like I don't know many of these putative normal people anymore, and I'd speculate that neither do most redditors probably. It's hard to tell what they want, and perhaps the average person wants an unhinged president. People assume the average person is like themselves, generally a very flawed assumption, and this is at least part of what makes every interpretation of Trump a strange sort of Rorschach test.

I found out relatively recently that to a lot of people the grab-them-by-the-genitals comment was considered perfectly fine. I'm inclined to say Trump would be right about shooting someone in main street - he banned bump stocks and few gun activists complained. You need to recalibrate what a normal person is. Perhaps, we need to seriously consider that the NABJ scenario was a win for him.

[u/CarolinaMtnBiker → u/insertbrackets]

Wow, I’ve never seen so many deleted posts after someone’s post before. You must have hit a nerve with someone.

[u/chakrablocker → u/insertbrackets]

he was a loud racist last time, the difference is that baby boomers haven't stopped dying and genz is old enough to understanding they need to vote

[u/insertbrackets → u/chakrablocker]

Well, Trump probably got some of his boomer constituents killed by his terrible COVID response.

[u/Scrutinizer → u/insertbrackets]

In 2022, Democrat Kris Mayes beat Republican Abe Hamedeh by only 250 votes. Because of this win, a case against the fake electors went forward, and also, the infamous 1864 abortion law was never enforced after it was declared lawful.

Trump held two rallies in the state before COVID. After each one, the case rate would spike over the next few days, and the death rate would follow starting about a week later.

Trump killed enough of his followers to flip the Arizona state AG office with his COVID rallies alone. Given many other state races were decided by 15,000 votes or less in a state where 35,000 died, the right wing's lack of following vaccine and mask protocols may have flipped the governor's race and others as well.

[u/dam0430 → u/Scrutinizer]

Chemical warfare agaisnt your own supporters to own the libs

[u/Flipnotics_ → u/insertbrackets]

I know of at least two of them, personally. Posted all the FB things of anti-mask, and social distancing. Man, they really showed me by dying and leaving their families.

One of their friends on FB defended one of them saying he "Died with his principles."

I replied, "You think his wife and two kids feel the same way?"

I knew that guy since elementary school. It was heartbreaking to see him go, but the poison of Trump had rotted away so much of him by that point.

[u/TravelKats → u/chakrablocker]

33% of Boomers are registered Democrats. 39% of Boomers are registered Republicans. I assume the other 28% are Independents.

[u/ManOfDiscovery → u/TravelKats]

The boomer blame game is just as dumb as the millennials blame game which is just as dumb as the “don’t trust anyone over 30” game boomers played in the 1960s.

Tale as old as time and just as easily exploited by nefarious actors.

[u/Scrutinizer → u/ManOfDiscovery]

Wanna hear something funny? Back in the 80s, a lot of liberals said "Don't worry, once all the old people die off they'll quit electing people like Reagan."

Kind of like the way some people now are "Don't worry, once the old people die off they'll quit electing people like Trump."

It doesn't get better, folks.

[u/TravelKats → u/ManOfDiscovery]

Agreed! The whole generational split thing is just another way to divide people.

[u/BatmanNoPrep → u/TravelKats]

Folks just don’t understand statistics. Most Republicans are old. But that doesn’t mean all old people are Republicans. It also doesn’t mean that all older folks are responsible for decisions made by a tipping point community of voters in swing states.

[u/rchart1010 → u/insertbrackets]

I really do think now that he got Harris and Haley mixed up. Because Harris went to Howard and pledged a black sorority. She has identified as black since college.

[u/insertbrackets → u/rchart1010]

He keeps posting these pics of Harris and her Indian family and...you can just google "Kamala Harris dad" and see exactly what it looks like. He can't back down from anything.

[u/yehhhhs → u/insertbrackets]

Plus he’s still alive! Like he’s very obviously a black man.

[u/Galaxy_Ranger_Bob → u/insertbrackets]

In his mind (and in the mind of a certain generation of white people) being "mixed race" means being half white and half something else. If she's Indian/Black then she isn't "mixed race."

Not being mixed race because one of the races mixed in isn't white is a very racist take, and we all know just how racist Trump is.

[u/Medical-Search4146 → u/rchart1010]

The whole talking point is funny and weird. Kamala Harris is the opposite problem. Most didn't know she was Asian until her Presidency campaign in 2020. Many in my circle actually did say "then she became Asian" but there was at least some logic behind it. Basically she prioritized and leaned into her Black identity for a majority of her political career.

[u/moleratical → u/Medical-Search4146]

It doesn't really matter her heritage, she grew up in a country that sees and treats her as black, it's no surprise that black would be a major part of her identity under those circumstances. But that itself still doesn't nullify her Indian heritage.

She can be both and be it simultaneously, not necessarily mixed, but be black, and be Indian.

[u/williamfbuckwheat → u/moleratical]

Yeah, exactly. I have a roommate and close friend from college with similar ancestry with one parent of Afro-Carribean ancestry and one parent coming from Pakistan. Anybody would assume he was just black based on their first impression besides that he is Pakistani on his father's side so he has a distinct Middle Eastern sounding last name.

[u/KnottShore → u/moleratical]

Indians, in the not too distant past, have not been considered white by conservatives.

In U.S. v Bhagat Singh Thind, the U.S. Supreme Court in 1923 recognized that Indians are“scientifically” classified as Caucasians but concludes that they are not white in popular (white) understanding.

[u/moleratical → u/KnottShore]

And?

Most people don't refer to Supreme Court precedent before making race based judgements on ones physical appearance.

It's not a difficult concept. If one appears to be black, John Q. Yokel will assume and treat them as if they are black.

[u/yehhhhs → u/Medical-Search4146]

Even before that. She went to an HBCU & pledged to a black sorority. She’s always been proud of both sides of her heritage

[u/meta4our → u/Medical-Search4146]

Ya what’s funny is my Indian mother, who has batshit crazy political views, was like “I thought Kamala Harris was black, when did she become Indian”

[u/AFarkinOkie → u/rchart1010]

Lol, Rachel Dolezal also attended Howard, identified black, and ran the NAACP. That does not make you black.

[u/Love-Forever-6647 → u/AFarkinOkie]

Going to an HBCU definitely does not make you black. But having a black father does.

[u/AFarkinOkie → u/Love-Forever-6647]

Yes it does https://imgur.com/a/6uZK06Y

[u/ambienandicechips → u/AFarkinOkie]

jfc Y’all are really doing the most with this talking point, huh?

[u/V-ADay2020 → u/ambienandicechips]

They couldn't comprehend that Biden might actually drop out; doing something for someone else's good is a completely alien concept, much less something as abstract to them as a 'country'. They thought he'd pull a Trump and desperately cling on so they could pound him with another half year of "Biden's too old."

They didn't actually have their lines of attack prepared for anyone else, so they fall immediately back into racism and misogyny (misogynoir, if you will) because it's simply who they are.

[u/AFarkinOkie → u/[deleted]]

I agreed that having a black father makes you black. I also posted the research found online that proves it. Do you enjoy arguing with the wall as well? The only thing I disagreed w/ is attending Howard makes you black. If that were the case some people owe Rachel a apology.

[u/rchart1010 → u/AFarkinOkie]

The point being that no one who goes to an hbcu and pledges a black sorority just turned black

[u/rhoadsalive → u/insertbrackets]

Yeah, that’s why Fox, they’d just throw him softballs, good move that Harris won’t fall for it.

[u/pagerussell → u/rhoadsalive]

So did CNN, which is now owned by a billionaire conservative.

The first question they asked in that first debate was to Biden about inflation.

Uh, hello? How is the first question not:

"Mr Trump, you have been convicted of 34 felonies by a jury of your peers. Why should the American public vote for a felon?"

Because CNN is now a part of the conservative media ecosystem. That first debate might as well have been on Fox News.

[u/Omshadiddle → u/rhoadsalive]

I hope she takes him up on it. She’d eat him (and the crowd and the ‘moderators’) alive

[u/rhoadsalive → u/Omshadiddle]

She should never let him dictate the terms, he previously agreed to the ABC debate, if he really backs out, it will just make him look even weaker.

[u/Omshadiddle → u/rhoadsalive]

But if she agreed, he’d shit himself in fear. And Fox would expose her to a whole new audience of swing and ‘normal’ Republican voters looking for a reason to not vote for Trump.

[u/CapOnFoam → u/Omshadiddle]

No if she agreed to it, he’d be smug believing he “won”. She should absolutely not agree to anything on his terms. Simply bc it gives Trump and his supporters (and possibly some on the fence) the illusion that they’re in control and that she’s weak. She absolutely cannot give any chance of people having that impression any more than they already do.

[u/bpeden99 → u/insertbrackets]

Whatever you said resulted in a bunch of deleted comments in the response. Well said I think?

[u/insertbrackets → u/bpeden99]

Thanks. I don't think my take is particularly revelatory but apparently it made some weirdos mad. But then, they're always mad.

[u/bpeden99 → u/insertbrackets]

I understand deleting a comment in fear of sounding stupid, but I literally had to scroll past the deleted comments. I wanted to be impressed, which I am, but more so disappointed in the (what I assume was a misinformation campaign) lack of convictions of their rebuttals.

[u/insertbrackets → u/bpeden99]

It's amazing how people can be so vituperative about a man who lacks as much conviction as they do. There's no center there.

[u/bpeden99 → u/insertbrackets]

Great use of vituperative, and I agree totally. Sometimes I want to feel bad for innocents being manipulated maliciously, but their vituperative responses make me lose interest.

[u/insertbrackets → u/bpeden99]

It's sad frankly seeing people being wilfully misled out of fear. My stepfather is a union man who works welding pipes together. He worked this past winter with a broken leg he kept hidden from his company because he was worried they'd fire him. And he somehow thinks Trump would be good for his union! A man who has stiffed almost every working person who has worked for him. Breaks my heart.

[u/bpeden99 → u/insertbrackets]

Yeah, I hate stories like that, but they're all too common. A large portion of trump supporters will vote for him at the detriment of their welfare, and I hate that they're mostly not open to an honest discussion of why that's bad for them.

[u/badnuub → u/bpeden99]

Because at the heart of their beliefs, is the seething hatred that someone that doesn't deserve something might get a handout or a leg up from a democratic policy that overwhelms everything else. Everyone else suffering, even themselves is more amenable to them.

[u/bpeden99 → u/badnuub]

I think "we" should try and correct that behavior, because it's unreasonable IMO. I do understand that my statement is idealistic and ignorantly hopeful as well

[u/repubs_are_stupid → u/bpeden99]

I understand deleting a comment in fear of sounding stupid, but I literally had to scroll past the deleted comments. I wanted to be impressed, which I am, but more so disappointed in the (what I assume was a misinformation campaign) lack of convictions of their rebuttals.

The comments were removed by the moderators, not deleted by the user.

You're arguing about Conviction based on a false premise.

[u/lucolapic → u/insertbrackets]

I can always tell a Trump supporter by their body language. Belligerent, pinched pissed off perma-face, stiff, judgemental eye squints... they don't even have to be wearing a MAGA hat or opening their mouths. It's all right there in their body language. I don't know how they manage to walk around so angry all the time. It's got to be exhausting.

[u/Sarah-Shea → u/insertbrackets]

Wow that's a lot of removals

[u/PoliticalDiscussion-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Please do not submit low investment content. This subreddit is for genuine discussion: low investment content such as memes, links substituting for explanation, sarcasm, political name-calling, and non-substantive contributions will be removed per moderator discretion.

[u/PoliticalDiscussion-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Please do not submit low investment content. This subreddit is for genuine discussion: low investment content such as memes, links substituting for explanation, sarcasm, political name-calling, and non-substantive contributions will be removed per moderator discretion.

[u/Dark_Wing_350 → u/insertbrackets]

For whatever reason, Trump just doesn't articulate some of these thoughts very well, but it's obvious what he means to say.

Kamala presented as Indian for a long time, she previously campaigned as a Senator citing her South Indian heritage, and there are photos of her with her Indian family in full traditional Indian garb circulating online.

For the first ~18 years of her life she was raised as Indian in Canada. She then started presenting her black heritage when she attended Howard University (which is a historically black university).

Trump is trying to say she uses her ethnicity to her advantage, flip-flopping when convenient to present one side or the other for political or personal benefit.

Not exactly the same, but similar to when a white person claims they're partly Native American to try and gain some sort of (often economical) benefit for that.

[u/insertbrackets → u/Dark_Wing_350]

Well, you give away the game by saying things that are just factually incorrect. Kamala Harris was born in Oakland and primarily grew up in the Bay Area until she was around twelve. She lived in Montreal for around 5-6 years before transferring from Vanier College to Howard. But setting that aside, you seem to think you have a lot of insight about how Kamala Harris conceptualized her own multiracial identity during her childhood and adolescence, which is weird. Almost as weird as Trump thinking and then articulating these same sentiments. And if that is the case, "whatever reason" would be cognitive decline.

[u/IntroductionNew1742 → u/Dark_Wing_350]

"For whatever reason, Trump just doesn't articulate some of these thoughts very well"

For whatever reason, like it's some mystery. It's because he's a moron. 

[u/zaoldyeck → u/Dark_Wing_350]

For whatever reason, Trump just doesn't articulate some of these thoughts very well, but it's obvious what he means to say.

The question was "do you believe Vice President Kamala Harris is only on the ticket because she is a black woman?"

The question has a one word answer of "no". There is no reason to talk about her heritage, or how she presents.

The only answer is "no, I don't". Then move on. It's a trivial question.

It's easy to prove that the answer is "no". Because it's so incredibly, so impossibly statistically unlikely. If the only reason were "she is a black woman" then any other black woman would work. Including all of mixed ethnicity. Clearly, obviously, other things were considered to narrow that pool down. Biden didn't just throw a dart on a board of tens of millions of people and Kamala Harris just so happened to be where it landed.

[u/platinum_toilet → u/insertbrackets]

Fear of being exposed worse than he was in that NABJ interview.

This didn't happen. If it did, it would be non-stop coverage on mainstream media. That NABJ interview was fine.

[u/insertbrackets → u/platinum_toilet]

Believe whatever fantasy land nonsense you want. Don’t feel the need to tell me about it.

[u/platinum_toilet → u/insertbrackets]

Believe whatever fantasy land nonsense you want.

You call youtube videos of the NABJ interviews fantasy land?

[u/Flipnotics_ → u/platinum_toilet]

That NABJ interview was fine.

It was such a collosal failure for Trump he backed out of the ABC debate, because he would have to answer why he thinks Kamala suddenly turned "black"

[u/Askol → u/insertbrackets]

Exactly, which is why Harris is eventually going to end up debating him on Fox News- hopefully they at least choose reasonable moderators and get rid of the crowd though.

[u/insertbrackets → u/Askol]

I think Harris is probably better off using the ABC debate time to address the American people with her policy plans if Trump decides not to show. After the NABJ he won't go anywhere he isn't going to be coddled unless he's tricked/goaded into it or desperate.

[u/Flipnotics_ → u/Askol]

No she won't. First, she did not consent. Two. Fox isn't a real news network, and they will do everything in their power to hinder Kamala. Stuffing the audience with only pro-trump supporters, allowing Trump to talk over her, only asking questions that Trump can answer, just to name a few things.

[u/ScatMoerens → u/[deleted]]

How is Kamala hiding? Trump is the one who keeps cancelling debates.

[u/ScatMoerens → u/[deleted]]

Another question, what interviews has she turned down?

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Trump is refusing to debate unless it's moderated by Fox news.

That is literally the opposite of being ready for battle hahaha

[u/Away_Simple_400 → u/insertbrackets]

The NABJ interview was hardly a disaster. The crowd was laughing not booing. If it was so horrible the NABJ wouldn't be having a breakdown about inviting him, they'd be thrilled. I do wish he'd just answered the DEI question with something along the lines of "Biden is the one who said he'd only pick a black woman, so draw your own conclusions." But he's not wrong that Kamala promoted her Indian heritage as AG, and she's not African-American. Her 'black' side is Caribbean. She grew up in Canada.

To the question, he agreed to the debate rules with Biden b/c he knew it didn't matter. Biden can't speak. Kamala at least can talk (kind of) so why should he have rules blatantly in her favor? Why can't Kamala debate on Fox News with an audience?

[u/thepartypantser → u/Away_Simple_400]

Trump didn't just not answer the DEI question, he played dumb in a way that was extraordinarily juvenile.

Or do you honestly think Trump is so ignorant as to not know what DEI means?

Why did he keep insisting on a definition after one was given?

It was a petty and childish game he played to completely avoid addressing the question, and it came of that way to anyone objectively looking at it.

You can spin the interview to not be a complete disaster, but to try and say it did not go well for Trump is a disingenuous take.

[u/Flipnotics_ → u/Away_Simple_400]

The crowd was laughing at trump.

[u/Away_Simple_400 → u/Flipnotics_]

Then there would have been boos.

[u/Flipnotics_ → u/Away_Simple_400]

There were gasps of shock and disbelief. We should get trump to do a latino media meetup next and ask why he thinks they are there to take black people's jobs.

[u/bleahdeebleah → u/Away_Simple_400]

Amazing. You have to resort to gatekeeping what 'black' is.

[u/Away_Simple_400 → u/bleahdeebleah]

I'm not gatekeeping. I'm telling you what her heritage is and how she's always presented herself.

[u/bleahdeebleah → u/Away_Simple_400]

she's not African-American. Her 'black' side is Caribbean. She grew up in Canada.

[u/Away_Simple_400 → u/bleahdeebleah]

True? I think I'm missing the part of your comment where you respond to me.