Never mind that Fox News’ own polling found that only 36% of registered voters would be pleased or enthusiastic if Donald Trump gets re-elected. Fox News did its best to make you think that most of America couldn’t be more thrilled about his 2020 campaign kickoff in Orlando tonight.
Of course, Outnumbered cohost Melissa Francis didn’t mention that Trump had lied when he falsely claimed, “Thousands of people are already lined up in Orlando” yesterday. But she did her best to make it appear true without actually having to lie, herself, by announcing, after a Fox News Alert, “Lines stretching around Amway Center in Orlando, Florida as President Trump is preparing to kick off his re-election campaign with a rally tonight.”
There's no doubt there are very enthusiastic Trump supporters in Florida and elsewhere. But they do not and never have represented a majority of voters. But none of the four cohosts nor the show’s #OneLuckyGuy spoiled the happy talk with that reality.
Instead, Francis said that people had been lining up in Orlando “more than 40 hours before the rally kicks off” and that the campaign said it had received “more than a hundred thousand ticket requests for the arena which holds 20,000 people.”
B-roll footage of the supporters outside the area ran throughout the discussion. We also got some direct comments from the Dear Leader Faithful.
One supporter, dressed in an American flag shirt, talked about how excited he is to see Trump. “People were partying, there were trucks playing music. It was awesome, non-stop party. I loved it.” A pair of women dressed in similar blue vests with white stars, flag kerchiefs around their necks and white hats with similar adornments said they had arrived at 6:30 in the morning and were third, after an arrival at 2:30. A fourth attendee spoke about how “very, very unified” Trump supporters are. “We love him and we love each other and we accept each other and we come from all walks of life,” she said.
Francis excitedly regurgitated Trump’s tweet that “Republican enthusiasm is at an all time high” and “People have never seen anything like it.” It’s another Trump lie but why spoil the mood with truth?
Here’s another bit of truth: A new poll from Quinnipiac shows Trump decisively losing Florida to Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. Kamala Harris, Beto O’Rourke and Pete Buttigieg have narrow leads that Quinnipiac calls “too close to call.”
When asked if Trump will win Florida, the show’s #OneLuckyGuy, Charles Hurt deflected, saying, “Trying to look at the polls today is sort of absurd” and Trump “is in a very, very good position to win.”
Also not mentioned? The huge Baby Trump balloon will also be on hand as part of a counter-demonstration called the "Win with Love Rally."
Watch the cheerleading below, from the June 19, 2019 Outnumbered.
I’d agree that Trump is a rock star to the deplorables. No question. And acting President Pence is a rock star to the hardcore Right Wingers who love what he does for them – ie appoint the most partisan idealogues to every position and sneer at everyone in the world that isn’t a Right Winger or a fundamentalist. The difference between these crowds and the ones who applauded President Obama is that the deplorables are applauding viciousness and hatred. The people who cheered President Obama were looking forward and trying to see this country and this world evolve into something better.
I also agree that that the Puerto Rican population in Florida is not a good sign for the Pence White House’s efforts – particularly after Pence’s childish spokesman made light of what happened to Puerto Rico and sneered in their faces.
And I agree that Pence’s base has already maxed. The problem is whether the Dems show up to outnumber the deplorables. If they do, we’re fine. If they stay home, the deplorables win.
As for who the Dem candidate will be, any single one of them would be preferable to the Pence White House. Even Tulsi Gabbard. But it won’t be Gabbard. It won’t be Eric Swalwell. It won’t be Bill De Blasio. It most likely won’t be Bernie or Elizabeth Warren or Cory Booker either. I could be wrong there, but I don’t think so. And the issue will be whether any of the Dems try the card of staying home because they’re throwing a tantrum over who the final candidate is. I really hope people are more mature than that – we’re counting on EVERY VOTER showing up for both the presidential and the Senate races.
In fairness to Fox News, the description of the crowd and its enthusiasm are accurate. MSNBC said pretty much the same thing.
It’ll piss liberals off to admit it but within the Republican Party Trump is a rock star like Obama was and remains in the Democratic Party. There were some hopes someone like O’Rourke or Mayor Pete would fill these shoes. Not yet.
But things have changed in Florida. For example. One third of the Hispanics are Puerto Ricans now. Not huge fans of Trump.
Trump clearly has a better operation the time around but it’s unclear to me how he can beat the drums to get out more people to vote for him. He’s never once during his presidency reached out beyond his base. Meanwhile the midterms showed serious erosion in white suburban voters burned out on his crass Archie Bunker bigot act. Every election is different yet Trump naively thinks 2020 will be a redo of 2016.
I’m nervous about 2020. Not so much about Trump’s skills. I fret the Democrats are copying the Republican populist playbook and will overreach nominating a populist crackpot like Bernie ‘I’m Only A Temporary Democrat For The Machine’ Sanders or Elizabeth Warren.
