The Lincoln Project's Rick Wilson likes to portray himself as a conservative defending conservatism and the republic from President Trump, but he clearly just hates many of his fellow Americans. On Friday's Real Time with Bill Maher, Wilson's assessment of the recently concluded RNC and Trump voters was so deranged that even the liberal Maher was forced to disagree.
Wilson's commentary was the result of Maher asking the simple question, "Was this an effective convention for the Republicans?"
A simple question would require a simple answer, but not for Wilson. Instead he claim the RNC failed, not because it was a disaster, but because, "the ratings were lower" which will lead Trump to "lose his shit." According to Nielsen, Biden's speech was viewed by more people than Trump's, but not in any significant way with the numbers being at 24.6 and 23.8 million respectively.
Wilson then tried to proclaim that the DNC was about "trying to invite people in," but "Donald Trump was doing what he always does which is trying to narrowcast to white non-college voters with all the scare tactics that are involved in that, all the crazy, you know the, Antifa-anarchist-communists are coming to get you gay Sharia married."
To show just how isolated Wilson and the rest of the Lincoln Project is, even Maher wasn't buying it. While the liberal host naturally lamented the lack of mask wearing and thought some of the RNC's arguments "sort of weird," he "thought it was fairly effective" and that "when he started talking about we've been the pioneers and we are the rebels, we are people who don't cut down the tall trees and you go as high as you want -- I don't know if that stuff doesn't sell especially in a gloomy moment."
Wilson has contempt for Americans and Trump voters. Here he is in January:
GOP strategist Rick Wilson: “Donald Trump couldn’t find Ukraine on a map if you had the letter ‘U’ and the picture of an actual physical crane next to it. He knows that this is a, you know, an administration defined by ignorance of the world, and so that’s part of him playing to their base and playing to their audience, you know, the credulous boomer rube demo that backs Donald Trump -- that wants to think that ‘Donald Trump’s the smart one, and y’all – y’all elitists are dumb!’”
CNN contributor Wajahat Ali: “You elitists with your geography and your maps and your spelling!”
Wilson: “Your math and your reading!”
Ali: “Yeah, your reading, you know, your geography, knowing other countries, sipping your latte!”
Wilson: “All those lines on the map!
Here is a transcript for the August 29 show:
HBO
Real Time with Bill Maher
10:18 PM ET
BILL MAHER: Thank you both for being here, great to have you as inaugural guests back here in the studio, the first time since March. It's empty, it's gloomy, but I'm glad you're here, I'm here, so we just finished watching the Republican convention, I want to talk today about the lying and of course, my question is though was it effective? Was this an effective convention for the Republicans?
RICK WILSON: Well Bill, I think the convention was ineffective in a fundamental way which was the ratings were lower, Donald Trump is going to lose his shit today when he sees Biden got better ratings he did and he's going to act out, because of it. I don't think it broadened the base at all. Biden was talking to moderates, Republicans, swing voters, trying to invite people in. Donald Trump was doing what he always does which is trying to narrowcast to white non-college voters with all the scare tactics that are involved in that, all the crazy, you know the, Antifa-anarchist-communists are coming to get you gay Sharia married. You know, the whole crazy talk.MAHER: Yeah, I mean the ending was I thought Trump’s ending last night, I thought it was fairly effective talking—first of all the people are there, no masks, which is somewhat dangerous in this atmosphere, but also looks bold. Just look, if you are selling optimism which is what Republicans have always been very good at selling and America isn't a shithole, except if Biden gets elected, it's going to look like some of it does now come out was sort of weird. I don’t know, when he started talking about we've been the pioneers and we are the rebels, we are people who don't cut down the tall trees and you go as high as you want -- I don't know if that stuff doesn't sell especially in a gloomy moment.
