Joseph Zambon
Republican Talking Points In The 2024 Presidential Race To Date:
- President Biden must resign the presidency.
- President Biden is disenfranchising 14 million people who voted for him in the primaries.
- President Biden’s withdrawal constitutes “a coup”
- Vice President Harris has no right to the $91.5 million campaign fund.
- Vice President Harris was responsible for the Biden administration’s policies.
- Vice President Harris’s nickname will be Lyin’ Kamala
- Vice President Harris is a DEI hire.
- Rep. Tenney (NY24) questions the integrity of American law enforcement.
The Republican Party is taking advantage of turmoil in the Democratic Party following President Biden’s announcement that he would not seek re-election. Although they had contingency plans for the possibility that President Biden would withdraw and that Vice President Kamala Harris would become the Democratic standard bearer, they don’t appear well thought out or ready to implement. The Trump campaign and the Republicans look like they’ve been caught flat-footed. And they are angry they won’t be facing President Biden. They are trying to force him to remain in the race. That’s not going to happen. That ship has sailed.
Always focused on dollars, former President Trump complained “about the Republican Party ‘having to start all over again’ after ‘spending time and money’ campaigning against Biden. …. Shouldn’t the Republican Party be reimbursed?”
This is a typically whiny response from the former whiner-in-chief, who often complains that he’s being mistreated. A mistreated billionaire – really? He’s 78 years old and has been a whiner all his life.
Even though President Biden was not the official Democratic nominee, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson – MAGA loyalist and insurrection facilitator – suggested that there could be legal problems for candidate Biden to drop out of the race. “Every state has its own system, and in some of these, it’s not possible to simply just switch out a candidate…I think in states where it can be contested, I expect that it will be…”
The legal approach applies only to candidates Republicans want to face in the general election, such as Joe Biden. It doesn’t apply to members of their own party.
Republican Nikki Haley dropped out of the Republican presidential race after waging a long primary campaign. Johnson, who is a loyal foot soldier for Trump, didn’t suggest legal action against her. It could be argued that she disenfranchised millions of people who voted for her.
The Republican Party’s anger (which is Donald Trump’s anger since they are one and the same) stems from recent polls showing Trump with a widening lead over President Biden including the battleground states where this election will be decided. Former President Trump and his campaign managers (one of whom, Susie Wiles, was fired by Gov. DeSantis early in his failed presidential campaign) have recently pushed the idea that President Trump’s November election would be a landslide. They did this both to demoralize the Democrat opposition (“all is lost!!”) and to get people used to the distasteful idea of a second Trump term.
Discussions of “Landslide Victory” are usually followed by declarations of a “Mandate to Govern” regardless of the margin of victory. This is especially problematic this year since the election is under the dark cloud of Trump’s Project 2025 developed by Trump’s own people..
There’s been a lot of activity as the Republicans try to regain control of the news cycle. Filtering out the noise, the Republican talking points I most frequently hear are::
Republicans say, “If President Biden withdraws from the race, he must resign from the presidency now.” The Republican leadership, including New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik and Speaker Johnson, have pushed this talking point as have Republicans farther down the food chain, such as Western New York Congressman Nick Langworthy.
The effort to force President Biden to resign is going nowhere. It may even backfire on the Republicans. They could appear especially mean-spirited (if that’s possible) for trying to force President Biden out of office after 50 years of service to the country. Something they couldn’t accomplish at the ballot box. This is another Republican-inspired coup, if you will, but less violent than the Republican January 6th insurrection. It’s like kicking your kindly, well-meaning, elderly grandfather out on the street. Not good optics for a party obsessed with optics.
Republicans say, “By withdrawing from the race, President Biden is disenfranchising the 14 million people who voted for him in the Democratic primaries.” It doesn’t concern them that Nikki Haley’s withdrawal disenfranchised the millions of people who voted for her. Those voters were desperately looking for an alternative to Trump. Too bad for them (and us).
This strategy allows the Republicans to argue that they are the true protectors of democracy, notwithstanding the Trump-inspired January 6th insurrection (pictured above).
To carry the point further, Republican Senator Tom Cotton says President Biden’s withdrawal constitutes “a coup.” And a Republican knows what a coup looks like!! But when CNN’s John Berman asked Cotton twice, “So, why call this a coup and not January 6th?” Cotton refused to answer. He should have been prepared for that question, but he wasn’t. His people need to do a better job of prepping him.
Republicans are big on tit-for-tat.
Trump was impeached twice, so the Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee chaired by James Comer from Kentucky tried to impeach President Biden and failed miserably. Alexander Smirnov was the Republican star witness. But he turned out to be a liar (surprise!!). He was charged by the FBI with making false statements about Biden and his son Hunter. So much for the star witness and the committee’s impeachment hearings. Very embarrassing!!
There was a January 6th Republican-inspired coup/insurrection – not tourists taking pictures of the Capitol rotunda as claimed by Congressman Andrew Clyde, R-Ga. (I don’t see any cameras around the necks of the insurrectionists pictured above).
Republicans say, “President Biden’s withdrawal is “a coup.” The Republicans are trying to do another tit-for-tat. The Republicans had a January 6th coup, and now, according to Republicans, the Democrats have a July 21st coup – we’re even.
They really need to look up the definition of “coup.” I did.
A coup d’état, or simply a coup, is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership.”
I didn’t see any soldiers in President Biden’s office pointing a gun at his head. I didn’t see tanks in front of the White House. Not a coup.
Republicans say, “The “Harris for President” campaign has no right to the $91.5 million dollars in the Biden-Harris re-election campaign coffers. The Trump campaign general counsel, David Warrington, filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission accusing President Biden and Vice President Harris of violating federal election laws by moving the Biden-Harris campaign funds to the Harris for President campaign. This is a complaint to the FEC, not a court lawsuit. It’s unlikely that the FEC will resolve this complaint before the election.
The Republicans are not serious about this. They don’t expect a favorable ruling. This is an attempt to muddy the water and to slow the process, unless there is an out-of-left field ruling by a judge, as just happened in Miami. Remember, a Trump principle is “delay, delay, delay”.
It doesn’t look like the Harris campaign will be short of money. Since President Biden’s announcement, Kamala Harris has raised over $126 million and counting.
Elon Musk Donor: Yes and No
Trump, on the other hand, lost at least one big donor. Elon Musk said that he is not donating $45 million a month to the Trump campaign, contrary to a previous report in the Wall Street Journal. Musk said, “What’s been reported in the media is simply not true.”
In 2022, Musk also said that Trump “is too old to be chief executive of anything, let alone the United States of America” since he would be 82 at the end of a second term.
Trump is too old to be President.
He is the oldest to ever run for President of the United States. He’s too old to run.
The Republican media machine, Fox News say that a 78-year-old criminal is an appropriate candidate. According to the Independent, “News anchor Dana Perino, however, said it was unfair to question the Republican presidential nominee over his age despite months of the outlet blasting Biden as both incompetent and incapacitated.”
It Was Harris All Along
Republicans say President Biden wasn’t responsible for his administration’s policies. Vice President Kamala Harris was responsible all along.
Ah, ha!! We knew it!!
Trump said a few days ago, “Kamala Harris has been the ultraliberal driving force behind every single Biden catastrophe. She is a radical left lunatic out to destroy our country if she ever gets the chance to get into office.”
This is a simple strategy for the Republicans. They can’t attack President Biden because he’s out of the race so they attack the next person in line. This also saves money for the Republican messaging machine. They cross out “Biden” and replace it with “Harris”. That simple, if illogical, shift could recoup some of the money Trump complained about losing in preparing to go against President Biden.
This is a non-sensical argument. There isn’t a historical precedent for a vice president having as much influence or power as is attributed to Vice President Harris. It doesn’t happen. In some administrations, the vice president was totally ignored by the president. Hence, the description of the vice presidency by John Nance Garner that it is “not worth a bucket of warm spit.” In recent Democratic and Republican administrations, the Vice President had a portfolio of assigned responsibilities, but nothing like Trump claims.
Cute Little Nicknames
Another line of attack Trump uses on adversaries is to come up with disparaging nicknames. At yesterday’s rally, he came up with “lyin’ Kamala Harris” after the previous attempt, “laughin’ Kamala Harris,” didn’t resonate.
“Laughin’ Kamala Harris” came from one of the many talking points Jason Thelman, Executive Director of the National Republican Senate Committee, sent to Republican senators a few days ago. The points are worth reading (picture above) if nothing more than to get a sense of how they are promulgated. Truthfulness is not a requirement.
Under the section labeled “Weird,” (page 2, last section) it says, “Kamala Harris has a habit of laughing at inappropriate moments.” Hence the nickname “Laughin’ Kamala Harris.” But it didn’t catch on. It was time to move on to the next nickname.
Trump could have tried something else from the NRSC list but he chose an old, tried-and-true nickname. A nickname he’s used before – “Lyin'” as in “Lyin’ Ted Cruz.”
For 20 years, Trump has been devising disparaging nicknames for his political opponents. These nicknames fire up his base, diminish his opponent, distract people’s attention, and sometimes code for something sinister like a racial or sexist dog whistle. He even field tests them at his rallies to see which ones work and which don’t.
Previous nicknames Trump has given people include:
- Little Marco for Senator Marco Rubio,
- Crooked Hillary for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,
- Little Rocket Man for North Korean Kim Jong Un,
- Low Energy Jeb for Jeb Bush,
- Lyin” Ted for Ted Cruz. Trump is re-cycling his nicknames. Lyin’ Ted and Lyin’ Kamala. His inability to develop novel nicknames may indicate diminished mental capacity.
- Pocahontas for Senator Elizabeth Warren – a racist nickname which, of course, doesn’t bother Trump;
- Failing New York Times;
- Crazy Maxine Waters;
- Crazy Joe Biden – using the same nickname twice is just lazy.
There should be a derogatory nickname for former President Trump. He has certainly done enough questionable and illegal things to merit a demeaning nickname.
The Action Network proposed a list of nicknames for Trump. These included several versions of the same nicknames he’s used for other people – “Lyin’ Donald” and “Crooked Donald.” Some clever nicknames were “Don the Con” and “Dirty Don”.
I like nicknames that reflect Trump’s legal and criminal history. “Convict Don” would be a reminder of his 34 criminal convictions in the hush money case. Or “Rapein’ Don” for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll and more than two dozen women who accused Trump of sexual assault.
Vice President Harris is using “78-year-old criminal”. That covers his age and his criminality, but it’s not very catchy.
Slamming DEI
Republicans say “Kamala Harris is a DEI hire. She wouldn’t have gotten as far as she has except for the fact that she’s a woman and a woman of color.”
Wow !! This is it !! This is the start of the racist and sexist attacks on Vice President Harris we were waiting for from Trump and the Republican Party.
Next up will be the charge that she’s an “angry black woman.” They don’t want to use all the epithets they have for Vice President Harris all at once. They want them to come out a little at a time. The “angry black woman” epithet will come out after she debates Trump and cleans the floor with him. The Republicans will say, “Why is she so angry?” Hillary Clinton faced the same misogyny when she ran for president. If a man does is forceful, he’s being strong. If a woman is forceful, especially God forbid, a woman of color, then she is “angry”.
Republican Rep. Tim Burchett from Tennessee was the first to be tasked by the party with using the “DEI Hire” line of attack (see video). But it met with resounding disapproval, including disapproval from the Speaker of the House, who said the election should be about “policies, not personalities.” Burchett tried to walk his comments back. “Do I wish I’d said it? No, but it was the truth.” No it’s not!! It’s a lie!!
Burchett’s previous claim to fame was accusing former Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy of elbowing him as McCarthy was going down a hallway. This was after Burchett voted to “vacate the chair,” that is, fire McCarthy as Speaker.
Another House Republican was asked what DEI stood for. He didn’t know.
DEI stands for diversity, equity and inclusion.
If Republicans are against diversity, equity, and inclusion, they must be for homogeneity, inequality, and exclusion.
Kamala Harris is eminently qualified to be President of the United States.
She is far more qualified than Trump.
She earned degrees from Howard University and the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. She worked in the San Francisco DA’s Office and the city attorney of San Francisco’s office. In 2003, she was elected District Attorney of San Francisco. In 2010, she was elected California’s attorney general and re-elected in 2014. From 2017 to 2021, Harris served as the U.S. senator from California. In 2020, she was elected Vice President of the United States.
So according to the racist, sexist Republican media machine, a former law-and-order district attorney, a former attorney general, a former United States senator, current vice president, woman of color, = DEI hire.
A 78-year-old, criminal who held no elective office before one term as a failed president = qualified.
Trump earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania where he left a lasting impression. Wharton School Professor William T. Kelley remembered him. “Donald Trump was the dumbest goddam student I ever had.” That assessment was shared by Trump’s Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who called Trump “a fucking moron”.
"We're a stupid country run by stupid people!"
Claudia Tenney (R-NY24)
Claudia Tenney is a congresswoman representing the NY24 congressional district in Western New York. She was on Fox News the last night of the Republican convention. She is a reliable source of Republican talking points. She’s a favorite of Fox because she speaks very quickly. She can cover a lot of talking points in a couple of minutes.
Tenney’s goal in that appearance on Fox was to raise questions about the integrity of American institutions, another Republican talking point.
Trump did that on a much larger scale just a few days ago when he said, “America is a stupid country run by stupid people”. Not a nice thing to say about his Republican colleagues who run the House of Representatives.
Tenney went after national law enforcement
Not quite “supporting the blue” as she claims to do.
She started by justifiably criticizing the U. S. Secret Service following the attempted assassination of former President Trump. She called on the director of the Secret Service to resign as did member of both parties. A few days later the director did resign.
Tenney criticized the Secret Service, the FBI, and the CIA regarding the Hunter Biden laptop on Thursday, before President Biden withdrew from seeking a second term on Sunday. I would have thought that Hunter Biden was an old talking point following his conviction, but maybe not.
She accused retired and former Secret Service and FBI employees of violating the Hatch Act. “…what we see out of the Department of Justice, FBI, all of them trying to kind of cover for the administration…and I uh, I think this is a real problem. It undermines the faith Americans have in these institutions. You know venerable institutions like the Secret Service, the CIA, the FBI. And yet you see cracks in these agencies that should be uh you know be serving honorably. We see fifty-one so-called former intelligence agents that are either contractors who have the highest security clearances you know going out in a political way and in my estimation violating the Hatch Act…these are the most powerful law enforcement agencies in the world…”
Tenney should address current Republican talking points rather than rehash Hunter Biden. She’s welcome to pick one from the list I’ve posted on this blog. I’m glad to help.