Thursday, October 15
Oct 14: Amy Comey Barret’s confirmation hearing goes into its last day. She refuses to say where she stands on abortion, immigration, or the Affordable Care Act. Her previous judgments incline people to believe that she will take a conservative stand on all hot button issues. Early voting continues at an unprecedented rate. news breaks that Amy Cooper, the white woman who called the police on May 25 to falsely claim that Christian Cooper, a black man, had threatened her, actually made a second call claiming that he assaulted her. She is charged with a third-degree misdemeanor and her actions are described as exhibiting, “racist criminal conduct.” About 5.2 million Americans won’t be able to vote in the November election due to felony convictions, according to a report released by the Sentencing Project. Wells Fargo fires more than 100 employees for improperly receiving coronavirus relief funds
Oct 15: Trump and Biden hold separate town halls after the idea for another debate is scrapped. WHO calls the White House acceptance of and approach to herd immunity “unethical.” “Never in the history of public health has herd immunity been used as a strategy for responding to an outbreak, let alone a pandemic. It is scientifically and ethically problematic.” The United States reports 60,000 new COVID-19 cases, a number not reached since early August. Jobless claims hit 898,000 last week, also the most since late August.
Throughout Trump’s performance in Miami, a woman in a white top sitting behind Trump’s left shoulder vigorously nods and signals thumbs-ups. She is out of focus, but she is so animated that she regularly steals the shot. Right-wing-Twitter signals their excitement over her presence. “It’s excellent to have a Black woman nodding in agreement,” Trumps supporters declare.
She is, on the one hand, tokenized in this moment—an easy signal of Trump’s innocence when it comes to his handling of race relations in America. Republicans and Trump supporters can see her nodding and say to themselves, “See, Trump is good to the Black people.” Trump reiterates this message when he says during the performance that he has “done more for the African American community than any president with the exception of Abraham Lincoln.”[1] These are indeed the moments when this country’s aversion to studying its history directly shapes its present.
At the same time, the woman’s nodding reminds us that there is no, single, voting block that is reserved for all Black Americans. The same applies to Latin American communities, who, depending on their life experiences, find common cause with the left and the right. After the townhall has ended, the woman turns on her Facebook video and is clearly star struck when Trump speaks to her. She composes herself and asks him to build a golf course in the Dominican Republic. When she mentions “Dominican Republic,” Trump responds “Sammy Sosa” and makes a batting swing. Someone else asks Trump how he is going to help with jobs and evictions in the middle of the coming economic calamity. The president ignores that question-asker.
It could be, in our celebrity-obsessed culture that the only thing that matters tonight is television ratings. We don’t have any way to assess a candidate upon their vision for the country nor their ability to actually get things done in this complex legislating environment, perhaps. So, as if it matters, the first polls seem to suggest that Biden won.[2] This might signal that the magic is wearing off of Trump. But I’m more cynical: all it means is that we believe getting views on television or likes on social media somehow translates to running the country competently. If the last few years hasn’t disabused us of that conception, I don’t know what will.
Notes
[1] Alex Daugherty, “Woman Who Nodded, Gave Thumbs up behind Trump in Miami Ran Pro-Trump Campaign in 2018,” Miami Herald, October 15, 2020, https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/election/article246492520.html.
[2] Meaghan Ellis, “Trump Brags about Good Town Hall Reviews — but Ratings Signal a Town Hall Win for Biden,” RawStory, October 16, 2020, https://www.rawstory.com/2020/10/trump-brags-about-good-town-hall-reviews-but-ratings-signal-a-town-hall-win-for-biden/; Jeffery Martin, “Town Hall YouTube Views Suggest Biden Hit Trump Where It Hurts Him Most—Ratings,” Newsweek, October 15, 2020, https://www.newsweek.com/youtube-views-suggest-biden-hit-trump-where-it-hurts-him-mostratings-1539635.
Sky News. US Election 2020: Donald Trump’s Town Hall – the Highlights. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi2P5Cr0zuY.
Joe Biden pressed whether he would take a COVID-19 vaccine,” ABC News Town Hall, October 15, 2020, https://youtu.be/0BSy4xWwf6Y
“Breonna Taylor’s Boyfriend Kenneth Walker Details the Night of Her Death in an Exclusive Interview,” CBS This Morning, October 14, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOEOKc_q4e8.
“Controversy In California Over Republican-Installed Unofficial Ballot Boxes, ” NBC Nightly News, October 13, 2020, https://youtu.be/gFng9YGKUwI
Cunningham, Meg, and Quinn Scanlan. “5 Key Takeaways from Joe Biden’s Town Hall with ABC News.” ABC News, October 16, 2020. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/key-takeaways-joe-bidens-town-hall-abc-news/story?id=73641281.
Morin, Rebecca. “After Town Hall Wraps up, Biden Sticks around to Take Questions from Audience.” USA TODAY, October 15, 2020. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/10/15/town-hall-biden-sticks-around-after-take-more-questions-voters/3673340001/.
Stewart, Emily. “Savannah Guthrie Delivered the Trump Interview We’ve Been Wanting for Years.” Vox, October 15, 2020. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/10/15/21518763/savannah-guthrie-trump-town-hall-nbc-miami.
Yglesias, Matthew. “The Delightful Boringness of Joe Biden.” Vox, October 15, 2020. https://www.vox.com/2020/10/15/21518718/biden-town-hall-abc.
Glasser, Susan B. “The Presidential Town Halls Were Mister Rogers Versus Nasty Uncle Trump.” The New Yorker, October 16, 2020. https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-trumps-washington/mister-rogers-versus-nasty-uncle-trump.
Martin, Jeffery. “Town Hall YouTube Views Suggest Biden Hit Trump Where It Hurts Him Most—Ratings.” Newsweek, October 15, 2020. https://www.newsweek.com/youtube-views-suggest-biden-hit-trump-where-it-hurts-him-mostratings-1539635.
Rosen, Christopher. “Jimmy Kimmel Rips NBC for Hosting Trump Town Hall Opposite ABC’s Biden Event.” Vanity Fair, October 15, 2020. https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/10/kimmel-trump-nbc-town-hall.
Andreeva, Nellie. “Top Actors & Showrunners Ask NBC To Move Donald Trump Town Hall From Slot Opposite ABC’s Joe Biden Special.” Deadline (blog), October 15, 2020. https://deadline.com/2020/10/donald-trump-town-hall-actors-showrunners-ask-nbc-move-slot-opposite-abc-joe-biden-mariska-hargitay-j-j-abrams-ryan-murphy-greg-berlanti-ava-duvernay-seth-macfarlane-damon-lindelof-kenya-1234597879/.
Harris, Shane, Ellen Nakashima, Greg Miller, and Josh Dawsey. “White House Was Warned Giuliani Was Target of Russian Intelligence Operation to Feed Misinformation to Trump.” Washington Post, October 15, 2020. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/giuliani-biden-ukraine-russian-disinformation/2020/10/15/43158900-0ef5-11eb-b1e8-16b59b92b36d_story.html.
BREAKING—Chris Christie was not only hospitalized, but he was in the ICU for 7-days… and he got special VIP access to Eli Lily’s synthetic monoclonal antibody drug direct from the manufacturer (it’s not available to general public since it’s not FDA approved). That’s privilege. pic.twitter.com/YjSdyrWxFs
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) October 15, 2020
In case you weren’t watching NBC last night, the President of the United States said he didn’t know whether top Democrats are part of a secret Satanic pedophile cult and had “no position” on whether, as Vice President, Biden ordered the murder of Navy SEALs
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) October 16, 2020
3/ if you’re more upset that Savannah challenged him on this lunacy than the president besmirching American heroes and spreading deranged lies, you need to take a long, hard look in the mirror.
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 16, 2020
New from me: One in every 50 tweets about voting in September came from QAnon accounts.https://t.co/HGswBO7HOt
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) October 16, 2020
Obama skewered the state of America's media ecosystem, lamenting the fact that wild conspiracy theories such as QAnon have found haven in the Republican Party and calling out Fox News for its role in corrupting the public conversation. https://t.co/vW15gYQyYv
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) October 15, 2020
Four months ago today I lost my dad to COVID-19 complications.
There are over 200,000 families out there with anniversaries. It could have been prevented. pic.twitter.com/YOWlgin74U — Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) October 15, 2020
Here’s some background on her, from 2017. I’ll have a story up on this soon. https://t.co/bryL8owPvd
— Alex Daugherty (@alextdaugherty) October 16, 2020
So many people we talked to who said they fell into QAnon during the pandemic claimed they got there through YouTube recommendations, or friends telling them to watch a ten-part YouTube series about the cabal. That recruiting engine is now under threat.https://t.co/Se5hukd30G
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) October 15, 2020
Declaration by group of scientists calling for approach that relies on "herd immunity" to defeat the coronavirus pandemic, which has been embraced by the White House, is "ridiculous" and "total nonsense," Dr. Anthony Fauci tells @GStephanopoulos. https://t.co/uqLkPK3a8V pic.twitter.com/GBkOGW7uP6
— ABC News (@ABC) October 15, 2020
TWITTER is against us.
THE MEDIA is against us. BIG TECH is against us. THE SWAMP is against us. THE DEEP STATE is against us. THE HOLLYWOOD ELITE is against us. CHINA is against us. But President Trump has the WORKING MAN AND WOMAN and NOTHING can beat that‼️ — Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) October 15, 2020
Also, I know she’s kind of blurry, but I love that this lady is nodding along with everything Trump says 😎 pic.twitter.com/clS7hc85rZ
— Karlyn Borysenko, Knitting Witch of the West 🧶 (@DrKarlynB) October 16, 2020
And the lady nodding all the way through Trump’s car crash of a town hall was a connected “woman for Trump” who ran for congress supporting him. So maybe get off the cross there, Junior.https://t.co/d4BQMMMzl3 pic.twitter.com/XqV8iwGuJg
— Steve Marmel (@Marmel) October 16, 2020
Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden executed SEAL Team Six – here’s the proof
— GOODBYE (@q112345667yhdcb) October 16, 2020
 Ethan HuffOctober 16, 2020https://t.co/F8jLu9a9UL
- Bender, Bryan. “Trump Doubles down on Navy SEAL Conspiracy.” POLITICO, October 15, 2020. https://politi.co/343EjYd.
- Brechtel, Evan. “Trump Advisor Compares Biden Town Hall to ‘Mr. Rogers’ and People Fired Back With the Same Response.” Second Nexus, October 16, 2020. https://secondnexus.com/fred-rogers-joe-biden-schlapp.
- Daugherty, Alex. “Woman Who Nodded, Gave Thumbs up behind Trump in Miami Ran pro-Trump Campaign in 2018.” Miami Herald, October 15, 2020. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/election/article246492520.html.
- Ellis, Meaghan. “NBC’s Savannah Guthrie Praised for Explosive Trump Town Hall for Two Big Reasons.” Alternet.org, October 16, 2020. https://www.alternet.org/2020/10/savannah-guthrie-town-hall/.
- Ellis, Meaghan. “Trump Brags about Good Town Hall Reviews — but Ratings Signal a Town Hall Win for Biden,” October 16, 2020. https://www.rawstory.com/2020/10/trump-brags-about-good-town-hall-reviews-but-ratings-signal-a-town-hall-win-for-biden/.
- Moon, Sarah, and Paul LeBlanc. “California Republican Party Says It Will Not Comply with State’s Cease and Desist Order on Ballot Drop Boxes.” CNN, October 14, 2020. https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/14/politics/california-republicans-ballot-drop-boxes-cease-and-desist/index.html.
- “NBC News to Host Town Hall with Trump on Thursday.” NBC News, October 14, 2020. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/nbc-news-host-town-hall-trump-thursday-n1243300.
- Pesce, Nicole Lyn. “Dueling Trump and Biden Town Halls Spur NBC Protests.” MSN, October 15, 2020. https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/dueling-trump-and-biden-town-halls-spur-nbc-protests/ar-BB1a1E6k.