Biden’s speech on declining the Democratic nomination
Biden’s speech on stepping down as the Democratic nomination was a dignified, 11-minute statement. (1) It was notable that he slurred some words throughout the presentation and came off as a bit feeble. But he did the right thing for himself, for the Democratic Party and democracy and for the country in stepping out of the Presidential race.
Netanyahu’s speech to Congress
Netanyahu’s speech was disgraceful and was all built around his decades-old goal of getting the US to go to war with Iran. Even Nancy Pelosi expressed her disgust! (2)
It was a de facto campaign speech for Donald Trump and also a chance to repeat yet again his propaganda pitch for his current war and starvation campaign against Palestinian civilians in Gaza. He was arrogant enough to complain about Americans citizens protesting against his policies in the United States. He even made the sleazy insinuation that American protesters were being paid by Iran, offering nothing resembling proof, of course, and called the protesters “useful idiots.”
This authoritarian freak even said that American protesters "should be ashamed of themselves." This from a man who apparently has no shame at all.
He compared his current war to the Allied cause against Nazi Germany. He equated criticism of Israel with antisemitism and criticism of all Jews. He postured about the conflict between Iran and Hamas on the one hand, and Israel and the US on the other, as one between “barbarism and civilization,” stereotypical colonialist rhetoric.
Presumably with the far-right US Christian Zionists mainly in mind, he ranted I a maudlin way about “the lions of Judah, the lions of Israel, Maccabees, and martyred soldiers. And presented it as a cause of "the Jewish people." He offered the slogan, “Never Again is now!”
He repeated the stock propaganda line about Israel fighting for the US. And hinted not at all subtlety that he was planning to invade Lebanon.
Referring to the assassination attempt against Trump, he said, "There is no room for political violence in democracy." This from the guy who backs the violent West Bank settlers and is conducting a vicious war aimed at civilians in Gaza. He really does have no sense of shame, it appears.
Trump’s speech in North Carolina
Thirty-four-times convicted felon Trump gave a campaign speech in Charlottsville, North Carolina. (3) He seemed a little low energy little "low-energy." A little old, maybe? He rambled, as usual, and obviously went off the teleprompter script many times, as he did in his Republican Convention speech. He even fretted out loud about being called "cognitively challenged." (At one point he refers to Biden as “cognitively a degenerate [sic].”)
I was struck watching this one how much he still relies on the reality TV vibes, bragging about the size of his crowds and the TV ratings and so on. He treats his appearances as a show, so the actual references to policy of any kind are basically not part of the reality TV program. He talked a lot about the size of his crowds and the ”record-setting” TV ratings of the Republican Convention (“broke all television ratings”. “The greatest convention that anyone has seen thus far.”
He did lay out some anti-Harris slogans and made a point of always pronouncing her name “Ka-MAL-a.” He called her "Lyin' KaMALa Harris," a "radical-left lunatic" (aka, black and female), and "more liberal than Bernie Sanders," which is probably supposed to mean “too Jewish.” He claimed that Harris supports a “socialist takeover of the entire US health system,” whatever that means. He later says she was the “original Marxist district attorney.”
Convicted felon Trump is obviously defensive about the whole democracy-and-rule-of-law issue, so he’s trying to push back a bit on that point, now. He called Harris “a true threat to democracy.” In Trumpista populist terms, “democracy” for them means rule by Real American white people. Kamala is "nothing," he said, apparently trying out euphemisms for “black.” He said she “destroyed San Francisco,” which is “today not a livable city.” The Republicans just can’t give up their obsession with “San Francisco Democrats.”
Immigration and abortion are particular hot-button issues for violent radical-right groups.
In the speech, he repeated the all-too-common Republican/Christian nationalist lie about abortion-after-birth, claiming Harris supports killing babies after birth. He knows this is something that incites fanatics to violence acts when he makes this false claim, as does ever other Republican who uses it. But he clearly knows the radical position on abortion favored by his party is a weakness, although whether he knows how much of a weakness it is isn’t clear. He took the states-rights position on abortion, and mentioned that he accepts exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother. But that’s not how his appointments to the Project 2025 Supreme Court look at it, nor how Republicans have been legislating on it.
In the speech, he repeated the all-too-common Republican/Christian nationalist lie about abortion-after-birth, claiming Harris supports killing babies after birth. He knows this is something that incites fanatics to violence acts when he makes this false claim, as does ever other Republican who uses it. But he clearly knows the radical position on abortion favored by his party is a weakness, although whether he knows how much of a weakness it is isn’t clear. He took the states-rights position on abortion, and mentioned that he accepts exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother. But that’s not how his appointments to the Project 2025 Supreme Court look at it, nor how Republicans have been legislating on it.
He knows this is a major weak point. It’s an excellent issue for Harris and the Democrats to use as a concrete example of what the anti-democracy position of the Trumpistas means. If Harris plays it right, Trump will find it hard to push back effectively on those challenges. In this speech, he relied on I’s-not-me-it’s-you gaslighting: "They're a threat to democracy," he said referring to Harris and the Democrats.
Trump then switched to ranting about immigrants with fantasy claims. The news agencies reporting on this should provide more fact-checking, especially when he rambles on about immigrant criminals. At one point while ranting about immigrants, convicted felon Trump says, “You’re not going to teach a criminal not to be a criminal. It’s just not going to happen.”
He relied on the standard, xenophobic, Klan-type, lurid stories about violent crime and typing them to immigrants. In the real world, crime rates are consistently lower among immigrants than among American citizens. But that doesn’t fit with the Trumpista verbal-professional-wrestling image.
At one point, he referenced his Apprentice reality-TV role by saying "Kamala, you're fired!" - reality TV reference. Then went on to talk about all the people Harris fired. Also bragged about the size of his rallies. Nobody but him actually cares about that. But he sounded obsessed with it. Went on and on about his crowd. He referred back to his martyrdom moment when an assassin’s bullet nicked his ear. He rambled on weirdly about the shooting. He couldn't seem to remember the last name of "Cory" - the supporter who was killed shielding his family - and didn't mention the names at all of the two people wounded there to whom he referred in this speech.
He bragged that the Republican Convention broke all TV ratings (in his telling). "How good was the Hulkster?" he asked the crowd, referring to the cheesy and weird shirt-ripping appearance of Hulk Hogan at the convention.
The Democrats of course can’t afford to underestimate Trump. But he does seem less focused than ever in his speeches. In this one, he went into a long and near-incomprehensible ramble about weightlifting and volleyball and car racing that was somehow about why gender transition is bad.
Notes:
(1) Biden Oval Office address after dropping out of 2024 election (FULL SPEECH). Associated Press YouTube channel 07/24/2024. <https://www.youtube.com/live/jgHT9dYJCTU?si=OMQ_q9-cTNGji3NX> (Accessed: 2024-25-07).
(2) X/Twitter 07/21/2024. <https://x.com/SpeakerPelosi/status/1816208313572364356> (Accessed: 2024-24-07).
(3) Trump FULL SPEECH at Charlotte rally. LiveNOW from FOX 07/24/2024. <https://youtu.be/c7sQfkQfOhE?si=MD10Tr2STl3RxxzD> (Accessed: 2024-25-07).
Kinnard, Meg & Gomez Licon, Adriana (2024): AP News 07/25/2024. <https://apnews.com/article/trump-charlotte-north-carolina-harris-7c7e6e405fecc8927a63763c76f2db1e> (Accessed: 2024-25-07).
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