As we head into the final month of the 2024 campaign it’s time to take a look at how leftist journalists and celebrities ended their summer of hate for the Trump-Vance ticket.
In September some in the media disgustingly blamed the second attempt on Trump’s life on his own rhetoric. (See here).
Then instead of “lowering the temperature,” the press turned up the heat with the likes of MSNBC’s Joy Reid and The View’s Sunny Hostin comparing Trump to Hitler.
As for the Harris-Walz ticket? Leftist journalists were in a tizzy over Taylor Swift’s endorsement of the Democratic ticket. MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell called it “the most important celebrity endorsement we’ve ever seen in a presidential campaign.” His MSNBC colleague Rachel Maddow gushed that it was “amazing” that Swift and Liz Cheney both endorsed Harris: “Really big coalition.”
Celebrities like actor John Leguizamo attacked conservatives. While substitute-hosting Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, Leguizamo charged: “The only people these Republicans want voting is white people.” The author Fran Lebowitz showed up on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher to declare it was time for Joe Biden to “dissolve” the Supreme Court.
The following are the most outrageous outbursts from leftist journalists and celebrities over the last month:
Electing Trump = Walking “Willingly Into a Hitlerian Dictatorship”
“[Donald Trump] has decided to make fearmongering about immigration the center of his entire campaign with fascistic rhetoric….[Trump’s] plans to deport every immigrant or anyone that looks like an immigrant would send our economy into a freefall….The question now for America is: Have we gotten to the point where we would destroy our own economy and walk willingly into a Hitlerian dictatorship because of the fear Donald Trump and his MAGA cronies are perpetuating solely for their own political benefit?...It [Trump’s immigration policy] will look like concentration camps in Germany in the 1930s because that’s what you call it when you put somebody in a camp with means to separate them from society. It’s called a concentration camp.”
— Host Joy Reid on MSNBC’s The ReidOut, September 27.
MSNBC: Is Trump “Putting a Target on the Backs of Jews?”
MSNBC host Jen Psaki: “When you hear him say things like that, and he said that if he doesn’t win, it will be essentially the fault of Jewish Americans — ”
Doug Emhoff: “Blame the Jews, one of the oldest tropes.”
Psaki: “An old trope, I know you put out a statement on X at the time. Do you worry that he’s putting a target on the backs of Jewish Americans?”
— Portion of interview aired on MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports, September 27.
“Impartial” CBS Celebrates Taylor Swift’s Harris Endorsement
Co-host Nate Burleson: “Let’s start with the Taylor Swift surge….She urged her fans to register to vote at vote.gov after she endorsed Kamala Harris for president on Tuesday. Vote.gov, says more than 405,000 people visited the website after Swift’s post.”
Co-host Gayle King: “I think it was J.D. Vance said, ‘It doesn’t matter, you know, because she is a billionaire and she is out of touch.’ Meanwhile, your running mate is a billionaire, and a celebrity as well.”...She is not telling you who to vote for though. She is saying ‘do your own research.’”
Burleson: “And we respect that around here….As much as we try to remain impartial.”...
King: “We don’t try to remain impartial….We are impartial.”...
Burleson: “We are. 100 percent, Gayle. Way to correct me.”
— CBS Mornings, September 13.
In a Tizzy Over Taylor Swift Endorsement
Host Lawrence O’Donnell: “This is, I think, the most important celebrity endorsement we’ve ever seen in a presidential campaign….It’s so important, I think, to the people who are going to be consuming that Taylor Swift endorsement. Including those fathers of 8-year-old girls….The timing on it is absolutely exquisite. The wording of it is flawless and perfect, right down to the ‘cat lady’ stuff….For someone who’s never been impressed by a celebrity endorsement, this is perfect and powerful.”
Host Rachel Maddow: “There is also something that is amazing….about the Taylor Swift endorsement and the Dick Cheney endorsement. It’s a same campaign. Really big coalition.”
— MSNBC’s live coverage of the presidential debate, September 10.
Trump and Harris Got Very Different Kinds of Questions From the NABJ
“Republicans have at times weaponized you laughing in campaign ads, for example. Why is joy important to you to insert into this election and what do you make of Republicans using that as a way to suggest you’re not a serious candidate?”
— TheGrio White House correspondent Gerren Keith Gaynor to Kamala Harris at the National Association of Black Journalists conference, September 17. Gaynor later admitted that he was helping out the Harris campaign.
Vs.
“You have told four congresswomen of color — who are American citizens — to go back to where they came from. You have used words like ‘animal’ and ‘rabbid’ to describe black attorneys. You attack black journalists, calling them ‘a loser’ saying the questions that they asked are, quote, ‘stupid and racist.’ You’ve had dinner with a white supremacist at your Mar-a-Lago resort. So, my question, sir, now that you are asking black supporters to vote for you, why should black voters trust you after you have used language like that?”
— ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott’s first question to Donald Trump at the National Association of Black Journalists’s convention in Chicago, July 25.
School Shooting Proof Country Thinks “It’s Okay to Kill Kids”
“It’s so hard for me to focus on anything other than the shooting. I have to say, guys. It is very difficult for me right now. It’s hard for me to accept the fact that we live in a country where I guess we think it’s okay to kill children, because if we didn’t think it was okay, something would be done to stop it.”
— Co-host Gayle King discussing the Winder, Georgia school shooting on CBS Mornings, September 5.
GOP’s “Unholy Alliance” with “Gun Lobby” Means They Don’t Care About Children Outside the Womb
“If the gun rights lobby has its way, Wednesday’s tragic shooting in Georgia will be reduced to yet another statistic dressed up in empty thoughts and prayers. And if Donald Trump returns to office, the GOP’s unholy alliance with the corporate gun lobby could be cemented into federal law….Once children are out of the womb, the GOP is practically content with having them fend for themselves in the face of unchecked gun violence.”
— Host Ali Velshi on MSNBC’s Velshi, September 7.
Politico Is Even Biased In Their “Body Language” Analysis
“Yes, Vance’s beard matters. Vance is the first White House wannabe to wear facial hair in 80 years. Research indicates that voters see beards as more masculine. That can be positive to some. But to others, especially women, it can be negative, conveying aggression and opposition to feminist ideals.”...
“Walz’s wide eyes showed his passion. When Walz felt especially passionate about something, he’d open his eyes wide as saucers. Eye-popping can sometimes be a sign of surprise, but for Walz, it simply revealed his emotional intensity — like this moment during an exchange about abortion. The orbicularis oculi muscle, working in concert with the corrugator and frontalis muscles, contract to raise the eyebrows — a dynamic and emphatic facial motion that grabbed the viewer’s attention. Early humans would have made such facial gestures to communicate strong emotions, like ‘danger is close.’ For Walz, it gave extra weight to his feelings and held our gaze.”
— From October 2 Politico article by ex-FBI agent/author Joe Navarro: “8 Body Language Tells From the Vice Presidential Debate, Body language revealed even more than words on the debate stage.”
CNNer to Trump Supporter: You Can’t Complain About the Economy When You Own a Boat
Correspondent Elle Reeve: “Let me maybe ask, like, a slightly impolite question….If you can afford a boat, you’re not hurting so bad, right? Because a boat costs a lot of money and it is a lot of upkeep.”
Trump supporter Joe Harner: “Listen, nobody gave me shit. I earned everything that I’ve got. I’m retired military, retired power plant [worker] and I am successful and retired and with boats, jet skis because I did it right. And everybody has that chance. Whether they choose or not, that’s up to them.”
Reeve: “I would never try to take anything away from you in that way. But what I’m asking is, groceries are probably a smaller part of your budget than say, you know, someone who is, like, a little worse off. I think it’s interesting that people who are a little bit more comfortable are still so concerned about the economy. Do you see what I’m saying?”
— CNN Anderson Cooper 360, September 18.
The New York Times and The New Yorker: Is It “Time To Torch” the Constitution, “America’s Biggest Threat?”
“The Constitution Is Sacred. Is It Also Dangerous? One of the biggest threats to America’s politics might be the country’s founding document.”
— Headline to August 31 column by New York Times nonfiction book critic Jennifer Szalai.
“Is It Time to Torch the Constitution? Some Scholars Say That It’s to Blame For Our Political Dysfunction — and We Need To Start Over”
— Headline to September 23 The New Yorker book review by Louis Menand.
Trump Is Like a “Nazi” Literally Planning a Second “Kristallnacht”
“As the mother of a black 6’2” son, we know he’s [Donald Trump] going to send those police officers into black and brown communities and migrant communities. We also know that he believes that police officers should have immunity. And so for me, that means we are at risk of what happened in Nazi Germany….They call it The Night of Broken Glass….Kristallnacht. In which there was a coordinated wave of anti-Semitic violence in Nazi Germany to attack the Jews….He’s talking about Hannibal Lecter and he’s talking about the Night of Broken Glass, he’s in a very, very dark place and he has a very, very dark vision of America.”
— Co-host Sunny Hostin on ABC’s The View, September 30.
Gushing Over Joe Biden’s Visit to The View
Co-host Whoopi Goldberg: “I’m talking about what we just did [Joe Biden guest appearance]. How wild and wonderful was that?”
Co-host Joy Behar: “It was exciting. It really was great to have him here. And he’s very — he’s kissy — he’s like an affectionate guy. I love that about him.
Co-host Sunny Hostin: “So warm and wonderful. I know we talked a little about his legacy but I truly believe that his legacy will be etched in the history books as Washington, as someone who put that ego aside and put his country first. That’s definitely his legacy.”
— ABC’s The View, September 25.
Republicans Only Want “White People” Voting
“The only people these Republicans want voting is white people. So, if you want to vote, your skin better be as pure and as white as cocaine powder….Republicans are saying illegal aliens are stealing our votes when in reality, they’re the ones stealing votes by using racist fearmongering to suppress them. And not only does this hurt democracy, but it also hurts real people, especially Latinos. Because all the latest data is showing that hate crimes against Latinos are way up in America….So Republicans, maybe you should spend less time focusing on the SAVE Act and more time on trying not to be vergas pequenas [translated on screen to ‘little dicks’].”
— Actor John Leguizamo substitute hosting on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, September 12.
Colbert Laments To Trudeau That “Canada’s Trump” May Bring “Fascism”
“Here is one thing, you know, it’s something that I am sure comes, you know, quite clearly at the U.N. General Assembly is that the far-right and flirtations with fascism at the very least is rising across the globe, even in Canada, your Conservative Party leader, your opponent there, has been called ‘Canada’s Trump,’ and I’m sorry about that and, but I am curious why at least some form of nativism or far-right xenophobia might grow in a country even as polite as Canada. Why do you think this is getting a foothold even in your country?”
— Host Stephen Colbert to Canadian PM Justin Trudeau on CBS’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, September 24.
Biden Should “Dissolve the Supreme Court”
Author Fran Lebowitz: “It’s an insult to Motown to call it the Supreme Court….Basically it’s a harem, okay? It’s a harem, it’s Trump’s harem. So, I always feel sorry for the three real judges on the Court….The Supreme Court passed that ruling, you know, where they said you’re not the president, you’re the king, which is what that ruling is, you can do whatever you want, you can never be held responsible, I thought Joe Biden is still president, no one seems to notice, but Biden should dissolve the Supreme Court.”
Maher: “Dissolve the Supreme Court? Come on.”
Lebowitz: “‘I’m the president, I’m the king now, as you said, and go home.’”
— HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, September 27.
