Somebody might want to run an AI analysis of Eugene Robinson's current Washington Post column: "No, really, Republicans are getting weirder."
It'd be interesting to see if it were written in the style of Kamala Harris speechwriters or some other member of her campaign. In both his column and his appearance on today's Morning Joe, Robinson repeatedly used the official Harris campaign attack word on the Trump-Vance ticket: "weird."
Eight times in his column, and another six times in one shortish Morning Joe segment, Robinson deployed the w-word against the Republican ticket. Could a columnist possibly be a more faithful repeater of a favored candidate's propaganda? Why bother reading Robinson? Why not just go directly to the source: the Harris campaign website, or perhaps to YouTubes of her deep thoughts?
Indeed, in his column, Robinson quoted a Harris campaign email, and a statement by a possible Harris VP pick, calling Trump and Vance "weird." He hit the liberal objection to Vance wanting parents to have more political power.
ROBINSON: And just all this sort of really really weird stuff. And this is -- you know, this is who he is. And I think this is going to keep sort of cropping up. So now, we have in Vance and Trump, one of the like, weirdest tickets that I can recall. These are two really unusual people who say and do weird things.
Trump is out talking about the, you know, the shark and the boat and the battery all the time. And the late, great, Hannibal Lecter, with all his eccentricities and weirdnesses. And now you have J.D. Vance.
Gene, when you're reduced to cutting and pasting quotes from your favored candidate and her supporters, you're not a pundit. You're a stenographer.
Note: Substitute host Jonathan Lemire is also aboard the "weird" train. Responding to Robinson, the seventh word out of Lemire's mouth was . . . you guessed it.
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
Morning Joe
7/30/24
6:24 am EDTJONATHAN LEMIRE: Eugene, your latest column for the Washington Post is titled, "No, really, Republicans are getting weirder." And J.D. Vance appears to be Exhibit A.
EUGENE ROBINSON: Yeah, he's absolutely Exhibit A. I mean, come on! Okay, so he says this really kind of stupid, geeky, weird, dorm room, late at night kind of thing, right? He tosses off this insult about childless cat ladies, trying to be clever with Tucker Carlson. And it comes back to haunt him. And he can't just take it back. He can't just say, that gee, that was a really, really dumb thing to say. And, and, I, I really regret it.
No, he kind of doubles down and doubles down, because that's what he's expected to do if you're Donald Trump's running mate. You can never back down, right? So, he says, well, you know, you have to focus on the substance. Well, the substance of what he was talking about is, like, really crazy, about how if you have kids, you ought to be able to vote more times in an election than a single person.
And just all this sort of really really weird stuff. And this is -- you know, this is who he is. And I think this is going to keep sort of cropping up. So now, we have in Vance and Trump,bone of the, like, weirdest tickets that I can recall. These are two really unusual people who say and do weird things.
Trump is out talking about the, you know, the shark and the boat and the battery all the time. And the late, great, Hannibal Lecter, with all his eccentricities and weirdnesses. And now you have J.D. Vance.
And then you have this dynamic between the two of them, which is going to be fascinating. Because you can imagine how happy Donald Trump is to have to be explaining away the, the kind of odd words of his vice presidential candidate, of his running mate.
And now, he is going to have to explain away what the Post reported J.D. Vance said in a fundraiser about how, well, gee, I don't know, running against Kamala Harris, when they changed candidates, that was, that was a sucker punch. And we have to regroup. And we just don't quite know how to run against her. Trump's not going to like that, either.
So, this is going to be fascinating. But, it's weird!
LEMIRE: So Sam, not only is it weird, but for the first time in a long time, certainly in months if not more during this campaign, Trump has had to be reactive. They're not setting the agenda. They are, actually, in that subordinate role, at least in terms of news cycles at the moment. And it's a place that's clearly makes him deeply uncomfortable. And, you know, there are certainly a lot of Republicans already pointing fingers, really second-guessing Vance's choice.
