The GOP needs to convince voters that Donald Trump and JD Vance are regular guys, and, manifestly, they are not.
It would be strange for Democrats to attack the Republican presidential ticket for being “weird” if it weren’t true. But those men are getting weirder by the day.
Former president Donald Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (Ohio), is off to a wobbly start. A Harris 2024 campaign email sent on Friday was headlined, “JD Vance Is a Creep (Who Wants to Ban Abortion Nationwide).” The statement continued, “JD Vance is weird. Voters know it – Vance is the most unpopular VP pick in decades.”
It was bad enough when footage resurfaced of a 2021 interview in which Vance called Democrats “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made.” Things got worse last week when Vance offered a non-apology, blaming “people” for “focusing so much on the sarcasm and not on the substance of what I actually said.”
Uh, okay, but that doesn’t help at all. The substance — which Vance said he stands by — is asserting that adults without children do not deserve an equal say in the nation’s affairs. Another unearthed clip of Vance showed him arguing that parents, when they vote, should be able to cast an extra ballot for each child in their family who is under voting age. He didn’t take that back, either, going only so far as to claim it was a “thought experiment” and not a firm policy position.
It’s quite easy to explain. Republicans have retreated into their own media bubble, where they can mold their own reality based on “alternative facts”. Their end goal is to project their reality onto the world and give it substance. In this bubble world, Donald Trump is the Alpha Male, and JD Vance is the everyman who speaks for the people.
Outside this bubble, though, Trump is a narcissist and criminal, and JD Vance is severely out of touch. The only way to penetrate this bubble is to shove the truth through it until it pops. Sometimes, calling things as they are doesn’t get through the bubble, because it immediately puts people on the defensive about their choices. But call them weird? They might agree something a little weird is going on, and that might be just the opening to stick the truth in there.
“Don’t you think he looks tired?”
I think this is why the Republicans seem weirdly upset by this line of attack. Call them fascists, they don’t bat an eye. It’s too complicated for their base to comprehend anyway, even if the would have had a problem with it. But call them out for being weird, and suddenly their base might stop for a moment and actually think: “Yeah, writing about fucking a sofa in your memoirs is a bit odd, isn’t it?”
writing about fucking a sofa in your memoirs is a bit odd, isn’t it?"
You’re aware this never happened right?
Correction: He didn’t write about it in his book, but why if he has never made sweet love to a couch, has he not come forward to deny these sofa-fucking allegations?
Curious…
You must be joking but I’ll say it: it’s too stupid to address
The AP couldn’t prove he didn’t fuck a couch. So you sound a little too confident to me.
Yes it’s so funny that it’s fully worth sinking to their level to make so shit up and then never shut up about it ever /s
Damn dude, touch grass.
Does anyone else feel like the weird argument falls short. I don’t feel like any of the people I know who like trump mind being called weird. They are some of the weirdest people I know anyway. I think they are used to it
It’s good because it’s purely subjective. The entire problem thus far has been that factional arguments, like “Trump is an authoritarian” and “Trump tried to start an insurrection” end up getting cast as subjective “alternative facts” anyway. The “weird” thing gets straight to the point and kind of short circuits the entire alternative facts thing. It’s also “mild” enough that it doesn immediately elicit a defensive response like calling someone a fascist does.
This all adds up to creating a crack in the rhetorical wall. “Yeah, Trump is kind of weird isn’t he?” Instead of digging in, it actually lowers the guard a bit, and helps breaks people out of the echo chamber.
Maybe, but nobody cares when you call them facists so I’m not sure what the best move is.
I do actually think the weirdness argument does probably play to the suburban traditional values types who want to believe they’re the normal ones and everyone else is going crazy.
Exactly. Conservatives hold as their highest values, conformity, compliance, cohesion, authority, sanctity, and tradition. They love adhering to their established norms and standards rather than challenging them. They defer to those whom they view to be in a position of authority. They have lines they do not want crossed, things they hold sacred. To be called “weird” is to be called as existing outside the norm.
It also works because they are in the minority, it counters the outsized voice brought by all the political bs. (Side note: isn’t it so weird we use an electoral college, all the other democracies have come up with more effective ways to make sure all voices are represented in government)
We literally created the Electoral College as DEI for slave states. It went hand-in-hand with the infamous “3/5ths Compromise” that allowed slavers to cast ballots in the names of their slaves, so slavers could cast as many votes as they had slaves.
They are some of the weirdest people, but they don’t realize it. That’s why it’s effective. They think they’re the normal true real America, and everyone else is weird.
Using “weird” is so absurd, the GQP would claim the same headline of their opposition. It does nothing but dumb down the argument, but maybe it does need to be dumbed down for people susceptible to bigotry and stereotypes.
Using “absurd” is so strange. It does nothing but dumb down the argument, but maybe it does need to be dumbed down for people susceptible to bigotry and stereotypes.
Sorry bud, but weird just isn’t an insult. Weird Al Yankovic, for example. In fact, I can perfectly see people wearing “Old and weird” and actually being proud of it. There’s no shortage of old people wearing edgy T-shirts, specially in the Trump crowd. But thanks for proving my point, the argument clearly has been dumbed down to the preschool level of just parroting things with minor ineffective alterations in an attempt to mock them.
In my opinion democrats are weirder
That which is asserted with out evidence, can be dismissed without evidence. Hitchen’s Razor.
👍👍
Oh is this, this weeks’ talking point? It’s really obvious lately when whoever decides this puts out a new line.
Axios Media Bias Fact Check Credibility: [High] (Click to view Full Report)
Axios is rated with High Creditability by Media Bias Fact Check.
Bias: Left-Center
Factual Reporting: High
Country: United States of America
Full Report: https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/axios/Check the bias and credibility of this article on Ground.News
Columbus Dispatch Media Bias Fact Check Credibility: [High] (Click to view Full Report)
Columbus Dispatch is rated with High Creditability by Media Bias Fact Check.
Bias: Left-Center
Factual Reporting: High
Country: United States of America
Full Report: https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/columbus-dispatch/Check the bias and credibility of this article on Ground.News
Washington Post Media Bias Fact Check Credibility: [High] (Click to view Full Report)
Washington Post is rated with High Creditability by Media Bias Fact Check.
Bias: Left-Center
Factual Reporting: Mostly Factual
Country: United States of America
Full Report: https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/washington-post/Check the bias and credibility of this article on Ground.News
Thanks to Media Bias Fact Check for their access to the API.
Please consider supporting them by donating.Footer
Media Bias Fact Check is a fact-checking website that rates the bias and credibility of news sources. They are known for their comprehensive and detailed reports.
Beep boop. This action was performed automatically. If you dont like me then please block me.💔
If you have any questions or comments about me, you can make a post to LW Support lemmy community.
