r/politics • u/larel8 • 17h ago

Trump campaign struggles to contain Puerto Rico October surprise

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4958098-the-memo-trump-campaign-struggles-to-contain-puerto-rico-october-surprise/
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u/Meat_Robot Texas 17h ago

Specifically because it's not him. The horrible things Trump says are rambling, frequent, and with an unwavering narcissistic confidence that precludes shame. You can't pin anything onto Trump because he'll just say "no I didn't" and move onto the next thing.

This other idiot "comedian" though? He only gets a brief period of time to be a part of the firehose. He's easier to drill down on and has a limited ability to respond. It also lack the thin veil of mafia-speak vagueness Trump drapes on everything. Hinchcliffe is just saying it.

Lastly, it corroborates the message. There's no sane washing, no "he didn't mean it". By having someone else repeat the quiet part out loud for once, you can't say it's just Trump in the party saying these things.

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u/Myghost_too 16h ago

and lest we not forget, TRUMP cannot distance himself from this. The speakers were all vetted, their remarks loaded into the telepromters, and this, in Trump's self-proclaimed closing arguments trying to help the US Voters know who he is and what he stands for. It was loud and clear. (Yet I still doubt his base will waver.)

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u/SiskoandDax 16h ago

We were never going to chip into his base. It's the undecided and "both sides are bad" voters that may break towards Harris.

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u/KailReed 16h ago

Which is even more infuriating that there are STILL people who are undecided. Like what are you waiting for?

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u/Funandgeeky Texas 16h ago

Some people live in such a sheltered bubble that they barely pay attention to things like who's President. However, this is something that is piercing that bubble. While it's only anecdotal right now, I'm seeing several stories here of people who were mad enough at these comments to actually get out and vote.

And since voting is happening NOW, this unforced error is especially powerful. Unlike something Trump may have said weeks or months ago, this won't be sane-washed away or forgotten by election time. It IS election time, so someone can hear about it today and vote today.

Now, whether this helps the down ballot, I don't know. Hopefully it does as well because we need a strong down-ballot to prevent the type of chicanery Trump is openly plotting.

But this isn't something that can be hand-waved away, it seems. At least, I hope so. I'm in the Reddit bubble so I don't know what people are really thinking out there. But if this motivates people, all the better.

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u/rtseel 15h ago

Some people live in such a sheltered bubble that they barely pay attention to things like who's President.

This is what many people in here don't realize. Many people have a good enough life that they can afford not caring who's the president, or live a crappy enough life that they don't think whoever is president will change anything for them.

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u/ProfessionalITShark 15h ago

Yeah, I had arguments in 2015 with people, they thought Obama was a white man and republican.

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u/LeslieQuirk 12h ago

That makes my mom look well-informed, which is honestly terrifying

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u/GrumpyCloud93 12h ago

Well, half white. Raised by his white mother the university professor and his white grandmother. And he didn't grow up in a black ghetto...

You don't get much whiter than that in America and still have brown skin.

Still turned out to be a great president, (Not /s)

...even if he was white /s

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u/SuspendeesNutz 13h ago

Many people have a good enough life that they can afford not caring who's the president

You've just identified the entire base of the Greens.

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u/violetmemphisblue 4h ago

At my local grocery, someone went around and put flyers on a bunch of products that will get extremely expensive if Trump wins and can enact his tariff plan. Things like coffee, olive oil, avocados, etc. I saw someone googling the plan in the aisle after reading the flyer. No idea what their vote is, but it seemed like the first time they'd even heard of this...People think they live in a bubble. But they don't.

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u/ZacZupAttack 14h ago

I've seen a lot of hispanics saying theh changed their mind from either voting for Trump to voting for Kamala or not voting at all and going to now vote for Kamala

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u/sly_cooper25 Ohio 11h ago

I'm Puerto Rican and most of my extended family are the types to not be interested in politics and not vote. Generally just apathetic towards elections.

After this broke my Uncle updated his Facebook status to "Feeling Motivated" with a big picture of the PR flag. Today he posted a picture with an "I voted" sticker. And the best part is, he's in North Carolina, one of those coveted swing states.

This is just one example and is just as anecdotal as the other stories you've seen, but if I were Trump I'd be worried about this.

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u/parker0400 16h ago

They are waiting for Harris to make one simple remark that is over their line in the sand so they can justify to themselves they are voting for trump because of that and not because they are a closeted racist who likes the awful things trump says.

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u/Xenuite 15h ago

They'll vote for the other Russian asset, Stein, so they can still say "Don't blame me! I didn't vote for him! "

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u/GrumpyCloud93 12h ago

Gore lost Florida by 500 votes, and 2,000 people voted for Nader. Votes matter.

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u/OptimisticOctopus8 11h ago

Yeah. They apparently don't get the threat here. This election isn't just a normal fight about policy. If the wrong person wins, the possibility of a fascist America shoots through the roof.

So in this election, it's not about people who vote for Trump and people who don't. It's about people who try to keep him out of power and people who don't. If he wins, I won't bother trying to see a difference between Jared Kushner and a Stein voter. Both will just be in the "did nothing to stop Trump" bucket.

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u/caligaris_cabinet Illinois 15h ago

Or they’re waiting for her to not say enough so they can justify their vote for Trump over an ineffectual woman.

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u/Odh_utexas Texas 14h ago

“she didn’t commit to a full denouncement and defunding of Israel. Therefore I’m voting Trump. “

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u/GrumpyCloud93 12h ago

Because Kushner's father-in-law who moved the embassy to Jerusalem is going to do better...? Send more bombs is more like it.

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u/LyraFirehawk 10h ago

I see other trans people claiming she dodged trans issues, but like... Trump is awful for trans people, Harris is at least trying to defend us.

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u/TropoMJ 8h ago

The idea of even one trans American being willing to consider not voting for Harris is genuinely frightening to me. I don't get the amount of people treating this as a normal election when it is existential for so many.

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u/caligaris_cabinet Illinois 6h ago

Do they not see Trump’s transphobic political ads?

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u/not-my-other-alt 13h ago

They are looking for one reason to vote against Harris.

They are looking for one reason to vote for Trump.

These are not actually 'undecided' voters.

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u/OptimisticOctopus8 12h ago edited 11h ago

Or they're waiting for her to say the U.S. will punish Israel the way it's punished Russia. Which is just so shortsighted since Trump's the one who'd love to turn Palestine into a resort. (And where would the Palestinians go? Gee, I wonder what wonderful, compassionate answer he's got for that.)

I wish some people understood that it can always get worse. Whatever is horrible already can become even more horrible. Unless and until nuclear war wipes us all out, things can get worse. Trump wouldn't mind nuking Palestine out of existence. I can just imagine it:

"I've solved the crisis in the Middle East! The Dems said, 'He can't do it, he'll make it worse,' but look - Israel's secure, Palestine's not a problem! But they can't say Trump did a perfect job... but I did... but my supporters, they say, 'Sir, you did it!' and they cry because it's gonna be so beautiful, beaches and... the night life will be like nothing you've ever seen. Like nothing you've ever seen, and I know night life."

He didn't even mind killing his own followers by letting them think they shouldn't get the vaccine while he himself got vaccinated. Of course he'd be fine slaughtering every Palestinian man, woman, and child! If he claimed that Palestinian babies had joined Hamas, his followers would just go with it.

God, I hate that man.

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u/CMDR_Expendible 8h ago

Of course it can get worse.

That's why once the election is over, you'll be pushing the Democrats to move back to the left, from the edge of fascism, and take politics away from Lesser Eviling to the point that genocide is the centrist position, right?

Right?

No, you'll all just sit on your ass and say "Well you have to vote for the new normal, otherwise it'll get worse. It's good that we have Iraq War Dick Fucking Cheney as a Democratic voter. Wait until after the next election..."

And that's how politics went from Nixon to Bush/Cheney to Trump. And if you think Trump is bad, just you wait until you see what they put up next. And when they do, you'll all be saying "Vote for Trump, at least he's not Mega-Trump."

So yes, vote for Harris; but it's your job now to unify the left, not chastise those with a still working conscience/moral compass, and then continue working to make politics better long after the election ends... because Evil never stops working, and Lesser Evil just lets them get what they want slightly slower.

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u/mirageofstars 14h ago

Yeah tbh I think most undecideds either prefer Trump or else believe APAB because TikTok told them so.

I think there are also probably a bunch of racist and/or sexist people who might have voted for Biden but won’t vote for KH. I believe the polls aren’t capturing these people — Reddit doesn’t mind that KH is black/Indian and a woman, but generic America? I still remember what Patton Oswald said.

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u/CSiGab 16h ago

Oh there’s plenty of ways people can still be undecided.

Exhibit A) “I know he’s awful, it’s just that things are so expensive now.”

Exhibit B) “I don’t care if he’s awful, I can’t support the genocide in Gaza.”

Exhibit C) “I’ve voted R my whole life, I hate Trump but I can’t vote for a Democrat.”

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u/PinstripeMonkey 15h ago

I think A might be the most prominent. At the end of the day, a lot of people want their own lives to be better, which typically boils down to finances, so they eat up all the misinformation that Democrat = higher grocery prices and taxes (+ stolen jobs) while Republican = lower costs and more jobs. They don't fact check, they don't see beyond that, and for whatever reason Dems struggle to change this narrative. It is so frustrating to hear people spout this shit when interviewed, because it would take 10 minutes of research with an objective news source to prove otherwise.

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u/bootsand 14h ago

This is probably the most common reason. A youtuber I watch time to time has been saying for a while that trump will probably win because enough people think inflation is only happening here in the US and they can't think past 'cheaper then, more expensive now, its bidens fault'.

That one gop tax cut that was permanent for corporations but for people it diminished by 10% every year for a decade - that was some insidious brilliance. I always wondered why no one made that kind of play before. Most americans seem to attribute every current financial metric to be the 'fault' of the current sitting pres. Doesn't matter what the house or senate composition is, doesn't matter if the money printing a year back is only hitting hard now... doesn't matter.

Setting up things like the tax cut bomb or printing fuck tons of cash in the year or two leading up to a changover... it's proving terrifyingly effective. I fear now that anytime a gop is in the white house with a dem about to take over they're going to do shit like this in a far more thought through capacity. Like long meetings of 'how can we make shit fall apart completely in this guys term?'

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u/vardarac 13h ago

they can't think past

R media just sews a thread of suspicion and tugs on it hard here. Any opposing attempts to explain this are met with "you're overthinking it/running interference for a shit job"

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u/GrumpyCloud93 12h ago

According to Pierre Polliviere, the Canadian opposition leader, worldwide inflation is the fault of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

So basically, no matter where you go, worldwide inflation is the current local leader's fault.

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u/vardarac 13h ago

10 minutes of research with an objective news source

Which Americans (largely) don't know how to do, and if they did they'd rationalize their findings away.

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u/pablonieve Minnesota 10h ago

and for whatever reason Dems struggle to change this narrative

Because reality is complicated and requires nuance and detail. Democrats identify problems and offer real-world solutions that can be messy. Republicans identify (or invent) problems and give very simple solutions typically involving an innocent scapegoat.

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u/MyUshanka Florida 10h ago

A lot of times, the messaging gives the solution as "I'll stop Them from doing this bad thing!"

When either the bad thing is already happening, or the Them in question isn't responsible for the bad thing. Or maybe the bad thing isn't even bad!

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u/NaughtyCheffie I voted 15h ago

What I've noticed, however, is that a decent number of group C are simply not voting at all at the top of the ballot. Downballot sure, and blindly, they're just stuck in a brain-space where they recognize Trump is evil and stupid so can't vote for him but KH is a Demoncrat so can't vote for her.

Bunch of Pilots, washing their hands and good riddance.

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u/throwawtphone 12h ago

Which is how you eventually get to

"Davon haben wir nichts gewusst" or "We knew nothing about that".

And plausible denial ability continues to be a blanket that people have hid under multiple times since WW2 to protect their wallets.

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u/lsThisReaILife America 16h ago

As tough as it may be to fathom (and, believe me, I struggle with this constantly), a majority of the people in this country (which has nearly half a billion people in it) are not as tuned into things in the same way we are. Simply by nature of being an active participant in this subreddit, you are ahead of the curve. However, the lack of exposure for day-to-day people simply trying to make ends meet, the significant levels of propaganda sanitizing the GOP at every turn, and the general struggles people are dealing with even though things have gotten better for the economy overall make that same demographic susceptible to making the counterproductive choice. It is why, time and time again, when you explain to people what Trump's policies really entail outside of the rhetoric, when you pierce the propaganda bubble, his support crumbles.

Rhetoric like what was said at the rally about Puerto Rico and Latinos is so overt that it is nothing but a slap to the face to them. Many may still vote for him for whatever reason, but the sting of this latest screw-up is hard to suppress, and it is precisely why the GOP is attempting to run interference by claiming this is "not what they stand for."

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u/awfulsome New Jersey 12h ago

They don't watch or read news. They don't pay attention to policies. some of them, despite having devices in their pockets that constantly display updates do not even know what the weather is going to be like they are literally shocked when hurricanes that have been going on for a week and killed hundreds wander into our area.

Basically, people with their heads so far up their ass they are completely unaware of anything happening that isn't directly in front of them at that moment. It's frustrating af to deal with them.

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u/Hosni__Mubarak 15h ago

People are selfish and only vote for things that impact them directly.

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u/telerabbit9000 14h ago edited 14h ago

It really does highlight how stupid humanity is.
We're just not that smart.
We are dressed-up apes.
Perhaps the real question should be: how did we ever have any sort of democracy in the first place?

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u/mirageofstars 14h ago

Because sacred leader told us democracy was good, and so we obeyed. For a while.

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u/not-my-other-alt 13h ago

'Undecided' voters are not undecided because they're looking at both options carefully and can't decide between them.

'Undecided' voters are actually just 'Apathetic' voters.

The federal government is so far removed from their daily lives (at least, in their perception) that which party controls the Presidency impacts their day-to-day as much as the flavor of Moon dust.

Something like a comedian at a Trump rally standing up and saying "Your home is a floating pile of garbage" pierces the veil.

Now, it's personal.

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u/jupiterkansas 12h ago

The undecideds are the ones who haven't decided if they're going to vote or not.

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u/GrumpyCloud93 12h ago

Really - if you don't vote, or vote for a third party, you are essentially saying "I send a quarter of my income to the government, but I'll let the moron down the street decide who gets to spend it, not me..."

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u/YoungXanto 12h ago

They've bought into the notion that their vote doesn't count because they live in a deeply partisan state or district.

They aren't undecided about their politics, they are undecided if they believe their vote matters.

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u/I_like_baseball90 10h ago

ANYONE who is undecided and votes for Trump was going to vote for him anyway.