A whole lotta gaslighting going on here. All of the NY elites said the same thing about Obama too — that White America would never elect a black president.
Unfortunately the elites do the same thing as Trump and FoxNews when they dehumanize these congresswomen. Fortunately people are getting to know them as people, especially AOC and can’t help but like them.
15
“Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came,” Mr. Trump said in one of a series of posts on Twitter.
He didn't say "go back TO THE COUNTRY" from which they came. When did this get added? They came from various congressional sectors where they were elected. How did country of race get injected into his words?
I'd like to see a direct quote and source that includes a reference TO THE COUNTRY included.
8
AOC would destroy Trump in a Presidential Election. However there is some truth in the claim that the GOP machine will continue to dehumanize and lie about four diverse congresswomen. Just like they did with Obama. It guess what, they are going to distort and lie either way. Democrats in every congressional district should learn from AOC and learn how to stand for something instead of stand for some middling centrism. If people want to vote for a Republican, they will. Give America something to vote for and they will.
9
Franks, how about asking the NYT to preface every article about the 'president' insulting these congresswomen with a picture of Trump with Epstein.
Then start the discussion with, "Donald Trump, shown at the right in the picture above ………."
Show him his diversion isn't working.
18
The typical NYT opinion column has become "The country is really racist, so Trump can win" in some variation. It's the liberals who are going to have to decide to stand up and fight for once, and it's not looking good so far.
11
"Go back to your country" is not good, but "Go back and fix your country then come back to tell us how to do it", to me that is not racist....
9
NYT columnists all shaking in the their boots afraid of the white racist base of Trump. Anything less than public option on healthcare is most important issue and Medicare for all can start with that. Please tell me what do Trump and Republicans offer even to replace Obamacare. A big fat nothing!!! Or just re-elect me and I promise you get wonderful health care that will make everyone happy. Do you really think that will work in 2020 the same way it worked in 2016 by razor thin margin. Also for a progressive you seem to have no faith in the overwhelming majority of non-racist people especially young people who will be voting in 2020. Just look at turnout in 2018. Calling people socialists and especially communists can hardly work as Trump embraces communists dictators but you see this as no problem in the campaign in 2020. Finally, come on the Trump base has only one way to go and that is down. So stop whining about things Democrats really need to do and get out of the way and let them do it.
4
I am just as worried about the “Red Scare” tactics as the racism. Trump was an acolyte of Roy Cohn, notorious righthamd of McCarthy. Graham just as bad-calling them “anti American” and traitors. People don’t seem to remember how very toxic that time and McCarthyism was.
10
Ahem, Mr. Bruni. Joe Biden doesn't exude decency! Or if he does, it's only by comparison with the sadist in the White House. Joe Biden exudes old, white, male privilege. Joe Biden exuded vitriol at the Anita Hill hearings. Joe Biden exuded small-mindedness when he voted against abortion. Joe Biden exuded out-of-touchness with his remarks about his segregationist cronies of last century's Senate. If Joe Biden is your lodestar of decency, you have set the bar too low.
10
Respectfully, I disagree with your headline, Frank. Trump IS, in effect, running against AOC...what she and her acolytes want the fractious Democratic party to become: Pro-illegals, free college, socialized everything, Oprah giveaways to all! Won't that be great America? Don't think about anything, we'll take care of it!
Che Guevara in designer heels (donated of course) on Instagram.
11
Yep . . this was Trump's "Sister Soulja" moment, wasn't it.
Hallelujah! A headline with proper word use!
"He’s ignorant, not stupid."
Well, there's that.
But he is also dangerous, reckless, and just plain mean spirited.
I hope for the sake of this country that troublesome Trump will NOT be re-elected in 2020. I honestly don't know if this country could survive a second term with him at the helm.
15
Well said, Frank.
2
The Squad is fresh. The Luke Skywalkers of Congress. Too Young and Optimistic to Conform to the "shut up and don't rock the boat" anthem sworn by the many stale politicians now occupying Congress. They have a right to speak up-duty if you want. This Country has never apologized for the many horrors it's subjected innocents to. Trump is forcing these women to overlook truth by masking them as "haters" rather than "truth seekers". President Vader upset the Skywalkers won't give up.
6
An answer to Trump that I keep listening for is a reference to the Russian connection. How can a man who was elected with the help of America's greatest enemy accuse anyone of un-Americanism? Why is that not the answer to his vile tweets?
10
I would pay to see @AOC on a debate stage with Trumpov. She would wipe the floor with him.
13
If you watch Fox News he is running against AOC and all the other socialists. No medical care for working Americans but free care for illegals?
6
I refuse to believe the Democrats are this stupid, but in lieu of evidence proving the contrary, that’s the opinion that I have to come to.
They have evolved into a party of sound bites:
- the war on women
- Russian collusion
- kids in cages
- hush money
- obstruction of justice
- binders of women
And my personal favorite, the heinous “a room without running water”.
If you disagree with their policy you are a Russian troll, white supremacist, hillbilly, Nazi, and of course - a racist.
The party has no direction or vision. Both Biden and Harris raised their hand onstage but now say they did not mean too.
The Gang of Four is a serious problem to their party. The fact that they just passed a resolution to defend them on the House floor only prolongs the problem and emboldens them to push harder.
Like him or not, Trump was smart enough to beat the “most qualified ever “.
5
I wish AOC were old enough to run for the presidency! She would be a formidable opponent to the narcissist, liar and crook in the White House!
7
Trumps comment is stupid, but not racist. Labeling everything concerning people of non European background as racist is equally stupid.
5
All of this rigamarole has much to do with the length of our presidential election cycle, which provides huge amounts of money to the numerous campaign strategists and consultants as well as media outlets. So much time provides a need for all involved parties to fill the daily and incessant news cycles, and nothing stimulates media attention like controversy.
Of course nothing will ever be done to stop it. Too much money is at stake. Media revenue as well as the highly lucrative salaries of the chattering class would be endangered.
Another victim in all of this is the growing indifference of the electorate. It's amusing to hear politicians on all levels bemoaning embarrassingly low voter turnout. The prolonged tedium of constant bickering and incessant insults in our seemingly never-ending political "debate" serves to do nothing more than sour the electorate against politicians and government.
7
Trump wishes he were running against Ocasio-Cortez? Yes. But he is.
1
I can't wait until we finally have President Warren, and we can stop hearing all the griping from "centrists" (aka. 1990s closet Republicans).
8
A brilliant strategy by Trump. Every Dem candidate on that dais raised their hands for the stupidest AOC-approved proposals. They fear the Twitter backlash. And what Twitter says is reported as 'trending' by the lazy MSM. Hence, candidate funding takes a hit.
5
Good question to ask your Archy Bunker uncle at Thanksgiving when he begins to rant about
evil " guberment" socialism and freedom. Ask him whether France, Canada ,Australia,NZ and western Europe are more free with their "socialist" regulated capitalism and political democracy versus China and its capitalism with authoritarian one party rule government ? When he stands there stunned for about 10 seconds hit him with..Democracy is where your freedom emanates not capitalism. Put down your Ayn Rand and Milton Friedman and read some Thomas Jefferson and Franklin Roosevelt. Now pass the gravy.
11
Even if the 2020 Democratic presidential ticket pairs two moderates, the Trump/GOP rallying cry will be to deny any chance of a White House in thrall to the Squad.
Remember, freshmen reps who swung red districts to blue in 2016: Those victories were all about the threat to health coverage of an Obamacare repeal. Brandishing the same ax as lofty leftiness won't play where Blue Cross/Blue Shield is working well, as it is for millions.
Freshmen reps in legacy blue districts: Are you listening to America or only to your base? We already know the answer for Trump and the Republicans.
We've had enough of disruption posing as politics. Bring us practical, respectful, effective policy and rise above the bait of performative insults.
4
Trump has no credibility. What he says. or twttters, will not change a single vote. His mindless zealots will vote for him. The rest of us will vote against him. There are millions more of us than of them. Democrats shouldn't be tempted to pander to those who will vote for Trump anyway.
11
Yeah, that's what you said last time. Thing is, all Trump has to do is convince the Electoral College voters in the swing states. The popular vote means nothing to him.
3
@George Moody
You have to ensure that all the millions more of you actually vote. The rest of the world is depending on you all to, please go to the polling booths to vote the incumbent out.
1
"Donald Trump Wishes He Were Running Against Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez". Perhaps.
But Trump doesn't even realize AOC is too young to qualify for President.
2
My thought and it's frightening. dt converted the Republican Party and all of his voters in two and one-half years. It's not the Republican Party, it's the donald trump party.
3
It seems like a strategy on Trump’s part - but in 2018 the Republican strategy was to tie every Democrat running for anything to Nancy Pelosi or Maxine Waters and that failed pretty miserably.
2
Mr. Bruni is right about what is happening but in the end, the voters who can make the difference: African Americans, millennials, residents of FL, PA, WI, MI, OH will either continue to make a deal with the devil in the White House, or demand a change for decency. I'm not religious, but I'm praying everyday for the latter. Otherwise the damage to this great nation will truly be irreparable.
2
Trump creates fear and uses it well for his agenda. Democrats, especially the four congresswomen, are played well by him. Although I appreciate the ideas thrown in by the "squad", sadly I don't see any solid and sensible plan to achieve them. AOC "Green Deal" plan theoretically scores 100, but practically it is worthless in US because there are so many hurdles in this country. . This single fact ensure more undecided voters swing to Crazy T.
Trump is running against A.O.C. By proxy.
4
Like Trump, you do not mention Bernie Sanders, someone Trump does not want to run against. Unlike the rest of the Democratic slate, Sanders has a movement base that has shown that it has passion and that it stretches across the country. Unlike the various identities that each Democratic candidate seems to represent, Sanders has an identity free policy base that focuses on primarily economic issues, the basis from which all voters will eventually vote. As it was in 2016, the NYT opinion page is again squarely against Sanders and again is explaining to us why the other Democratic candidates will win. The NYT's bubble is again protecting its clueless pundits from the obvious opinions of the people, and if history is any guide the NYT opinion writers will be wrong right down to election day.
Trump gets it, when will you?
4
I have no doubt that Mr. Trump sent that tweet, but what makes me suspicious is that he used correct grammar: ""go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came" Trump would have said “go back to the broke crime infested places they came from and fix them.”
The meaning is certainly Trump’s. The writing is from someone else. Is he using AI (unlikely) or is someone else composing the tweet?
5
@VC
Steven Miller probably wrote the grammatically correct tweet for the twit.
2
You are exactly right. I mistakenly get emails from the Republican campaign and they are already doing this. The “squad” and Warren are communists who want to be dictators blah blah blah. It’s fiction and every time the “squad” responds it gets worse. They are new. They don’t get it. Their words can and are being twisted with unpleasant facial expressions photographed to match the lies made out of their own statements. They need to sit down. And that means not to give the Republicans anything, not one sentence until they truly understand their own impact. Not to respond to Trump is the greater statement (and good bait). They are no longer speaking to the people who elected them. Apparently they think they are and that’s it’s their job to do so. Self righteous. But they are now speaking for all Democrats and they had better understand that this is their greater responsibility. We know what they stand for and now sit down. Like you said, the entire party is not that progressive, not by a long shot. But that’s what the Republicans want everyone to think, that we are all communists who will turn the country into a dictatorship with unbelievably grotesque objectives. How ironic! The Democratic party has been pulled to the left (TG) now where is the unifying vision?
2
Frank, you are correct in characterizing Trump/GOP strategy, it is devious and racist, but your readers sound, at least from their cumulative commentaries on the Progressive Democrats, a bit like my grandparents warning us in 1950 that television would make everyone go blind. The leftward drift of Democratic Party is now a well established fact, which is going to be more pronounced as time goes on. Get used to it, embrace it, and take whatever good comes out of it. There is no where else to turn. And don't forget, we have Trump in office today because the Democratic power structure stubbornly forced an unpopular candidate down the throats of the party one too many times. Let's not do that again!
4
Just another one of Trump's distractions. Distractions from the cages filled with kids and men living in squalor at the border because his administration has failed to handle the asylum seekers and others in a humane manner. Distraction from the administration proposal to move the Bureau of Land Management out of DC for no reason other than that they can, the distraction from the fact of Mueller preparing to speak in Congress, distraction from the fact of the Epstein horror show and Trump's role in it, distraction from Ebola having been declared an epidemic with Trump and company having zero interest in working to stop it or contain it, distraction from the fact that his criminal son-in-law has been subpoenaed by the House, on and on and on. Just a distraction. At this rate it's only a matter of time before Trump, in order to bring attention to himself, will be on TV "mooning" the reporters to distract people from the next disgusting, ridiculous, distasteful, braindead thing that he and his minions are doing.
Eventually Trump will run out of means to distract with ugly words and uglier deeds from the things that he really doesn't want anyone to see.
3
Frank's right, but we need to go deeper into his analysis and ask ourselves why congressional Democrats are so inept and blind when it comes to electoral strategy. I would argue it's because they feel so protected by their corporate donor class DCCC that they no longer care about their constituents. Really, who **cares** if the House censures Trump. It doesn't get us votes in 2020. It plays to the paranoia of Trump's base and swing voters we need just say "whatever" (something Pelosi should understand as that's what she called the AOC's Green New Deal.)
Every day the democrats should be turning out the vote in the deep south and cutting into Trump's Florida base by showing that in only 30 years, because of Trump's coal policy and ignorance on climate change, Florida, Texas and the deep South will have unbearably hot summers: dozens of 105, 110, 120 degree days.
Every day the democrats should be juxtaposing in Congress the salaries of insurance and health care companies next to he numbers of people who died last week because they can't afford health care.
Every day, democrats should be posting the salaries of executives in the warfare corporations and how far the unasked for $50 billion for warfare in the last budget would have gone if allocated to human need and not human greed.
Every day we need to expand the voter base. I have no idea who Trump is, and I don't care. We need to keep focused on articulating our issues and expanding our voter base.
2
I am all for legal immigration, but absolutely "NO OPEN BORDERS...!"
5
While it is vile of Mr Trump to spew racist nonsense toward us all, I suspect he chose this time to do it as a distraction to Mr. Mueller speaking before the Justice Committee-anything to keep that off the front page!
Trump ALWAYS comes up with controversial twitter rants when he wants to take attention away from his crimes. Predictable, destructive fellow.
2
The governing elite is convinced that the voters who voted for Trump are racist and sexist and ignorant. It seems to me that this upcoming election, like the last, is all about policy. I had hoped that the Democrats would humbly learn the lesson, and put forward a candidate that might appeal to political moderates. I don't see that happening.
2
If the election were about policy, Clinton would have won in a landslide. It is about racism, ignorance, and intolerance. Republican racism, ignorance, and intolerance.
2
Just to review: Trump making "The Squad" the face of the Democratic Party will encourage swing voters to vote for Trump, but Trump posting racist tweets and
being close friends with a convicted pedophile and sex offender won't bother them at all. Okay then.
2
Donald Trump is old enough to be A.O.C.'s Grandpa, Frank Bruni. She's 29, he's 73 years old. And if she had any rug rats, they'd be old enough to be Trump's Great-Grandkids. No kidding! So how will Donald Trump (worst president in American history) deal with the deluge of Gen 'X's and Gen 'Y's he'll come up against during next year's elections?
Re Trump's rampant hatred for born in America Congresswomen of color, look to our neighbor, Cuba, which Trump has hated since Obama opened up the island nation. Fulgencio Batista -- absolute dictator of Cuba for 19 years, till Fidel Castro threw him out in 1959 -- died at age 72. Who knows when the Grim Reaper is on his/her way?
1
glad somebody understands difference between stupid and ignorant. my fellow democrats are mostly jumping into trump’s trap by making the self-aggrandizers heroines. they are not heroines. i worry far more about these women than i do republicans. the woman from brooklyn is a charismatic performer with a truly creepy handler, whose method is scare and demean and lie. who does that remind us of. not a question. now the great pelosi maneuvered into granting them official heroine status. the entire political world embroiled over trump’s latest missive as healthcare, immigration, budget etc lay dormant. who wins. not a question.
2
Abhorrent as he may be, Trump knows a winning issue when he sees one. And the issue is a Democratic party that's veering hard to the left and otherwise viable, centrist candidates who try to appeal to progressives instead of those who will determine the outcome of this most crucial of elections.
His narrative is that the Dems qual AOC. And right now, his wish is coming true. He is running against AOC. And he's getting unwitting help from many in the Democratic party. Until such time when the party reclaims it narrative, he'll probably continue to divide and then proceed to re-conquer.
Canadians like me, and millions around the world who care about the future of liberal democracies around the world, hope and pray this will not happen, and that Democrats will create a big tent, not an exclusive progressive club with great ideas but zero chance of winning the hearts of centrist Americans where the battle will be won or lost.
3
Regardless of who is on the other ticket, Trump can run against AOC. He can talk about AOC constantly, rail against her, and most importantly, equate her with the Democratic nominee--be it Warren, Harris, or yes Biden.
It doesn't have to make sense, it just has to double down on the us-vs-them, republicans-vs-democrats, "rational"-vs-not dialogue he's been trying to cultivate for 2 years now.
The farther Democratic nominee hopefuls can get away from AOC, the better. And it better be soon.
4
As long as Dems keep raising their hands in support of AOC style programs, he'll pull it off. And it's hard for politicians to win when they are 100% faking it. I was excited to see Kamala Harris throw her hat into the ring, although I think it was a bit early(she should have spent the next 5 years building out her brand first). I was excited because of her career and her record as a Senator. The vast majority of the legislation she has sponsored has found willing Republicans to co-sponsor and the ones that did not were very rational proposals. Then she woke up and thought she needed to become something else. No one votes for that. The same goes for Warren. Pandering is a losing position.
3
Maybe it would be possible to ignore him more, but let's not forget the Faux State propaganda working overtime alongside with the GOP, while he is destroying everything in his path.
I don't know if the media have a luxury to get him out of our view, plus the informed citizenry is our best hope.
1
So many people here declaring the “squad” the face of the Democratic Party. Reality check: they aren’t. Please cease the over the top hyperbole and get back to grounded analysis. They represent one branch of the party that needs to be heard and considered, and they bring lots of energy to their positions, but it will take a lot of time for them to yield enough influence to actually determine any policy. Stop overreacting to every disgusting tweet, and maintain your focus on actual issues.
2
It sounds like you have made a good analysis of the situation.
How does his core connect the 4 congresswomen with the current top 5 D. candidates? And how come he doesn't get battered by his connection to all those who were recently and those who will likely be convicted of a range of criminal activity.
What is wrong with how we Americans perceive this situation?
2
Omar in particular is the gift that keeps giving to Trump and Republicans. Whether she is making her latest anti-Semitic remark or just saying things more generic that offend a majority of Americans if she and her Gang of Four get made the face of the Democratic Party in 2020 it won’t matter who the nominee is, start blowing up the balloons for Trump’s re-election party.
4
Bruni, good one day and completely off the next. Show me the Dems who are actually recommending open borders. This is a media fantasy that is being drummed into peoples heads and, sadly, not just by Fox. Same goes for the over simplified reactions to Medicare for All. And if these so-called swing voters are willing to vote for trump then we don't deserve a better country because we aren't a better country. I have yet to see in the Times a single positive story about AOC. No wonder she has name recognition and low favorable ratings. Bruni contributes to that discourse.
4
@Kidgeezer This must be your first time looking at The Times. There have been multiple variations on the "Young women of color...new face of the party... challenge the status quo... etc.." theme in regards to AOC and associates. Where do you think they got the name recognition in the first place? Their low favorable ratings are a result of the policies they advocate and the things they say. Call me crazy but isn't that possible?
His invective was intended to at first deflect from his most recent failures in foreign and domestic policy, chief among them his foolish pursuit of the citizenship question on the census and the obvious lies that were exposed that underpinned that pursuit.
He knew full well that his racism would prove an effective distraction. But I am not convinced that positioning the four congresswomen are the symbol of the party will be equally impactful, for two reasons. First, the frontrunner will define their own positions and require him to directly answer their persona and modes of attack. The guilt by association is severely weakened by the sheer fact that these congresswomen are not reflective of the party as a whole. Consider how the GOP attempted to paint Obama as radical and anti-American given his association with Reverend Wright; unlike the Horton ad, Obama's statements and actions did not align, directly or indirectly, with Wright's sermon.
Second, for this to work, time would have to stand still. Far too many events, comments, and actions will occur between now and November 2020. People will forget the congress women, but they will understand the inherent racism and incompetence that pervades the Administration. There's a lot of tape already proving just how morally bankrupt and inept Trump and the GOP have become. They will only add to it.
Not speaking up and not uniting would have been fatal to the Democrats. In a democracy, this could not go unanswered.
1
I find it a bit hard to take, that members of the ‘squad’ are like a bunch of idealistic adolescents, not to be taken too seriously, and we have to wait for good balanced sense to overtake their idealism and they settle in to the boring middle ground of the Democratic Party. I like them. I am impressed by them. Nothing they’ve said grates with me. I protested on the streets of Sydney and Melbourne during Vietnam war. I protested loudly. I’ve tried to block Federal Police cars trying to arrest non-complying young men to force them into compliance with conscription. And the same with Johnson’s motorcade in Sydney. And it worked. The electorate came around. Trump was right trying to get out of the draft. It’s about the only thing he has been right about. Only fools would offer themselves as cannon fodder for politicians too gutless themselves to pick up a gun and sacrifice their lives. We need young passionate people who will stand up to the lies and self serving ways of many in power. Mr Bruni, you sound too much like one of those elderly church people who tut tut at the weird ways of young people. I think you need to find your passion, and admire such fine members of Congress as the squad. I have more faith in the people to see the value of AOC and others like them, in the long run.
4
Of course Trump's remarks about the Squad (and many others are racist. But some of the positions they--and quite a few Democratic candidates so far are espousing are guaranteed--guaranteed--losers in the 2020 election. Proposing to take private health insurance away from over 200 million Americans now, and decriminalizing illegal entry into the US, are so far from mainstream thinking that it is unimaginable that, e.g., the suburban voters who made the crucial difference in the 2018 Democratic sweep would vote for them in significant numbers. I'm sure they are guaranteed winners in AOC's Bronx district . . . but in many places elsewhere? Give me a break!
3
The four members of Congress have been unfairly targeted by Trump but that is SOP for Trump. They have as a group decided to be bomb throwers and disruptive members of Congress in the silly hope that they can shame people into sharing their views instead of working seriously with them to accomplish real positive outcomes. They will learn but for now they are not helping anyone.
2
I am a 70 yr old Independent. I've yet to vote Republican in any presidential election. And I am not a racist as long as everyone's throwing around the term (usually if one disagrees, especially now in the House of Representatives.) But mark my word, if this little girl gang, or "squad" is allowed to define the definition of the Democratic party now with their incessant whine of "women of color", then as much as I dislike Pres. Trump personally, I WILL vote Republican this time.
6
@SecondChance Fair enough, but please don’t be patronizing. As well, at your age, and mine, we won’t be around too long to see the consequences of voting against honesty and what is right for our society.
7
Pl pl bring some restraint on these progressive Democrat’s wild policies on border and healthcare.
Ladies ,first come to power and then implement your ideas.
Pl don’t relish your presence on social media, think well for all the Democrats and be moderate for heavens sake!
Thank you for your article. I appreciate your work.
1
Trump beat Hillary by alienated Sanders' voters, DNC emails which disclosed prejudiced support for Clinton, a hopelessly ridiculous scandal about mishandled emails, and a flurry of false denigrating stories about Clinton in social media. The election really discussed no issues except Clinton's horrible character. Trump never had to display any knowledge or competencies related to actually serving as President.
He is trying to arrange this election to go in a likewise direction, being about everything but serious issues and his fitness to serve.
5
Agree completely Mr. Bruni. This column should be required reading for those who lead the Democratic Party if they're serious about unseating Trump. Open borders and Medicare for All are not going to get people to the polls, period. What will get moderate Democrats and Republicans to the polls is the simple objective of getting this buffoon out of office so the U.S. can reclaim its place as a paragon of economic growth and democracy and a credible leading superpower on the world's stage: in short, NOW that to Trump we need to "Make America Great Again." Kicking Trump out of the WH will have the needed effect of reassuring the world that this country is still what they have known and respected for a century - it will be an act of historical importance. Regarding progressive reform: taking on the risk of environmental collapse, repositioning ourselves and our workforce to be globally competitive, and getting corporate money out of politics -- these are spot on issues that everyone can get behind - moderate or to the left. Ask your millionaire friends: will they pay a little extra in taxes to reposition America for true greatness and stability? They will say yes. America has had enough of Trump and McConnell's shenanigans. The message is simple: get these idiots out of office so we can come together and focus on what matters to the future of our country -- and so that this the greatest of democracies the world has seen shall not perish from the Earth.
1
We certainly don't want four more years of Trump! Personally, I really admire these women for bringing viewpoints that aren't burdened by years of cynicism of being a politician. Men are going to have to get used to it. More women will be running for office in the future from now until eternity. They're not going back anywhere! Congresswoman Pressley said it best when she reminded everyone that it wasn't just the four of them. If they and Pelosi work together along with other Dems,they will beat the loser in the White house.
7
Trump's words are weapons and I don't want to see anyone targeted for violence because Trump made them a target.
2
Memo to trump: Be careful what you wish for.
A dinosaur couldn't possibly compete with a beautiful, young, smart, fearless human being.
2
The best way to manage Trump was shown by the US Women's Soccer team. They shut him up and did not give him a twig of attention. The did series of appearances without ever mentioning his name.
We need to learn from our champions!
6
The chances that the Democrats will continue to take the bait are high. The Squad squandered the opportunity to take down Trump’s policies and competence.
They should have acknowledged his racism by reminding us that his racism goes way back to discriminatory renting, Central Park 5 and birtherism then move on to his bragging that he gave his rich buddies a tax cut and his obsession with taking away protections for preexisting conditions.
Please Dems - learn from 2016 - you cannot beat Trump by pointing out his myriad personal flaws. You need to MOVE ON from that and focus on his incompetence.
Well said, Mr Bruni. I’m fascinated to see how this election plays out. Our country’s true colors are staked to it.
Unless we do much better at controlling and defining the debate, he is running against AOC.
"That the price of giving him eight years in the White House could be the the soul of a great nation. That we can't afford
that."
Would that the "squad" understood and respected what is at stake. All of their ideals, as laudable as they might be, will be for naught if their uncompromising behavior contributes to the irreversible hegemony of a single self-serving party and an authoritarian regime. Their way or the highway may well lead to an irremediable loss of the American way. As Bruni says, "we can't afford that."
2
Yes, Trump needs to go. And so does Mitch McConnell (Help elect Amy McGrath!) But we may be stuck with them and the GOP for many years to come (as republicans continue their project to rig elections to assure minority GOP rule) if Democrats can't figure out a way to communicate effectively with Trump voters, most of whom are severely deluded about who Trump and the GOP really represent (It definitely isn't the middle class or the working poor) To start, Democrats need to offer some sensible, non-racial formulation of a national immigration policy that serves the broad national interests by controlling the borders and being very selective about who is admitted. No legitimate immigration policy should undercut American workers, especially those already struggling, or substitute immigration for generous investments in public education and job training. (Read David Leonhardt's column today) Immigration can enrich this country or it can merely enrich the wealthy who absorb the benefits of mass immigration but do not share in its considerable costs which are passed on to the taxpayers.
3
Gail Collins in a discussion with Bret Stephens said if Bernie Sanders were the nominee she would vote for him. She proceeded to give a list of reasons why she would and could. He clearly might be the last of the people running that she would prefer but she painted a pretty positive picture of him. I have very strong and serious differences with her. But her argument touched me. It will make it less emotionally difficult to vote for a candidate-- let's say someone like Frank Bruni-- who under normal circumstances I would back away from. I would be voting in some common cause with Gail more than for the candidate. Though in truth I probably feel a bit towards Frank like Gail does for Bernie.
I think Frank and other left center columnists at the Times have a very hard time imagining or understanding or believing the emotional, psychological and political costs in supporting politicians that think like them. It is a pretty huge cost. But if they can respect that it is, even if they don't understand why, it would be significantly easier for me to vote along with them in the present emergency. If they try and minimize and marginalize--not argue and disagree with--
people like these four vital vibrant engaged brilliant inspiring charming dynamic out there on the front line congresswomen, it will be infinitely harder to make common cause with them. Something that we very much need to do.
3
Trump IS running against AOC and her "Squad" They have been determined by the media to be the face of the Democratic party. The candidate is irrelevant.
They have been given coverage and importance way beyond what is merited, by any measure. More important, given that they have been made the face of the opposition, it is hard to see how Trump can lose. I can see this, and I am to the "left" of all of them.
The "Squad" on the front pages = Trump re-election.
6
@stephen It's almost like the media is complicit in some sick conspiracy. It's like a slow motion train wreck.
1
It was a smoke screen to deflect that the ICE raids did not take place on the massive scale threatened. As far as I know, it sounds like it was business as usual. Sort of like his great big beautiful wall.
7
And his great big beautiful health care plan; and his great big beautiful infrastructure plan; and his great big beautiful racism.
1
Stay with what worked in 2018 to get more Democrats out to vote, as well as Independents. Those include Healthcare, living wage and Republican corruption, essentially giving themselves Welfare, which they neither qualify for or deserve, in the tax cut. If Trump wants to pummel these Congress women with being socialist, be sure and link him to cutting away all social programs and cutting their budgets for funding the rich and powerful, which is NOT draining the swamp. Justice needs to be served. The day of reckoning will come.
4
The Squad's response to Trump's attack, I hate to say it, revels their youth and inexperience. It was the equivalent of responding to a playground bully's attack by yelling back, all it does is positively identify which buttons need pushing.
The congresswomen should be focusing on making a positive difference, of getting legislation passed which will make lives in their districts better. That will also mean spending less time on social media and more time learning how to get things done.
The Squad has sold their people the sizzle, now they have to produce the steak. I would suggest they get started.
14
@Bruce1253 Surely you remember the Green New Deal bill, which would ban all airplane travel to save the earth? That is precisely the kind of "positive difference" the Squad envisions. In terms of foreign policy, throwing Israel to the wolves would be their first step. That is their "steak".
1
@Richard
I suspect they do not represent your district. It is often the practice of the young to have grand plans. I think it is important to have a vision but it must be tempered by experience. It is experience that this group lacks, that goes for most of the Democratic Presidential field. All of them need to get some experience before they can be effective. We have seen what happens when a self important, neophyte is given power before he as ready. I am hopeful this group can avoid that pitfall.
@Bruce1253
Who are you kidding? There's no meaningful legislation the House can pass to "make lives in their districts better" that will get through the Senate and be signed by Trump. Pelosi has been at it for some time, passing showboat legislation. Nobody knows. Nobody cares.
Democrats, stop blaming and bashing these Democratic women of color just for being visible. Stop picking over their words and opinions for something with which you disagree when over 90% of what they say is straight Democratic party line. It's victim blaming of the worse sort. It's Trump who's the racist bully to blame in all this.
3
The Donald would love to beat up on another young woman of color. That's his style.
But he doesn't want to run against her issues. AOC advocates universal health care. The Donald has a big, beautiful plan that no one has seen.
She support the Green New Deal. This is FDR's New Deal upgraded for the 21st century. Yes it will cost money, but The Donald's tax cuts will over ten years cost 4 trillion dollars of lost federal revenue.
We could do a lot with that money, if we had it.
The Donald's entire immigration reform plan consist of a wall. AOC has not called for open borders. Instead she's advocated due process and humane treatment of refugees.
The Donald doesn't know what the word compassion means and has nothing but distain for due process.
AOC may be a Social Democrat, but her proposals are liberal democratic in origin.
AOC recognizes the very real threat from climate disruption whereas the Donald is busy cashing campaign checks from the oil industry.
The Donald is a showman, but his weakness is that there is little substance behind all the show. No member of congress has ever been under such an intense microscope as AOC has and she's handled the pressure well.
At the end of the day, I'd put my bet on AOC and the youth vote turnout that she can produce.
16
If one or more of the 'squad' loses a primary race, that would send a strong signal prior to the November 2020 election. Just a suggestion.
If they are doing a good job for their constituents, they should win their primaries. If they are more interested in getting camera time, their voters can make that judgment.
3
Don't believe your eyes. Don't believe your ears. You are getting sleepy. Very sleepy. Your eyes are getting heavy. Very heavy. Keep your eyes on the swinging watch. To be one of my supporters, a state of being comatose helps. Very sleepy. Very heavy. . . .
8
Lest we forget it was Nancy Pelosi who trashed the 'squad' in these pages and not the other way round. And Rahm Emanuel -- who covered up the murder of Laquan McDonald -- was given the space here to spread ugly vulgarities about Ms. Ocasio-Cortez's chief of staff.
Why are mainstream Democrats so intolerant of the progressives in their midst? What would be wrong with leaving these young women to represent their districts and the people who elected them?
9
@PF
Simple, and you said it yourself: the new Congresswomen are young. No one likes to be reminded of their own mortality, not even enlightened NYT readers...
The thing is, I wish AOC was running against Trump. She would destroy him.
6
Trump throws a bait to the Democrats (i.e. race, culture wars, immigration, name calling...) and they easily fall for it.
He intends to make the election all about these questions that he knows will energize his base, help him in the States that he needs most to carry the election, sow discord between the Dems and scare many moderates away from them.
Regardless of the eventual Democratic nominee, Trump couldn't have asked for a better gift than these well-intentioned but naive and reckless young women.
The so-called "Squad" should know that the "best" is sometimes the enemy of the "good". I am afraid, unless they come back to their senses and stop the infighting, they risk ending up with the "bad" if not the "worst" (4 more years of Trump, Republicans winning back the House and keeping the Senate, more right wing nominations to the Supreme Court and the judiciary).
2
Trump has labeled the four congresswomen socialists and un-American. Socialism is a dirty word to many Americans and by labeling the congresswomen, Trump is trying to label the whole Democratic Party socialists and Un-American. Guilt by association.
2
"potential swing voters — white people with two years of college or less" Those people aren't swing voters.
6
We know he's a racist (and a jackal, con-man, liar, bigot ..blah blah blah). We have discovered just how many of us are racists.
And we are still bleating over kitchen table issues they way they used to be. Hello - the entire planet is changing and this will present new opportunities and terrible dangers. And are we leading the charge? Nope, we are wallowing in hate, greed, stupidity and apparently the need to debase ourselves with joy howling joy as everything gets dismantled for the craven few. I have never been so disgusted in my life.
4
Frank Bruni provides a great many assumptions and assertions about Trump's motives, timing of his various outrages, electoral strategy, and baiting of Democrats. But not much evidence in support of those speculations has made its way into the column. It reads more as a line of narrative than an assessment of actual political currents. It's the sort of column that solidifies multipurpose characters the writer can return to again and again: Trump as the cunning if odious manipulator; progressive Democrats as out of touch with voters and a risk to the party's electoral prospects. It would have been very useful if Bruni had parsed Trump's actual words. He could have described, for example, the nativist tropes, stretching back to through the 19th century, that Trump drew on to attack the Congresswomen. Looking only as far as the ugly and pernicious birther lies that Trump took on as his political calling card could have offered useful context. The president has a long history of abusing and denigrating women and people of color. A review of those actual occurrences would be enlightening, though admittedly not as much fun as speculation about Trump's motivations. What he meant was obvious -- to create a fog of implications; to demean and isolate the women he attacked in the tweet. His reasons are likely many and mostly beside the point. It's his actions that render him unfit for his role. More about that, please.
5
Here we go back to the school hallway antics - name calling & the Ol' "go back to where you came from." I was a educator in a high school for seven years. I caught many a white sports player saying those remarks to the handful of black students. Many got after school "Detention" It is a sad state when the POTUS hasn't matured emotionally beyond his high school years.
5
He has no intention of leaving. Ever. I cannot see him handing over power peacefully to anyone other than a family member so he could be a shadow president. If unseated, he will never shut up either. The rest of his life is going to be terrible. For everyone else.
6
When you are being attacked by something that seems invincible, a tank, a knight in armor, a demi god, a stealth plane, you have to study the enemy. There is always that chink in their armor, that heel, that soft sport on the armor, a radio wavelength.
And that is all you do. You hit the chink, hit the engine of the lead tank, use a long radio wave to see stealth fighters, and there’s the ankle of the demi god.
The GOP and Trump were gifted this by a foursome that until last week, only represented themselves.
As of last week, the Democrats were having a fight with these people, searching for a way to side line them, to bring them under control, to either bring them into the party, or put them in the corner.
Then came the tweet that ignited the powder.
Then came the Democratic party uniting themselves solidly behind these four.
Last week they were the pariahs that were out to make trouble and call out Mrs Pelosi.
Today they represent the Democratic Party. Their ideas, their wishes, their tantrums, that is what the Democrats got behind.
You fell for easy bait. Trump barely had to try.
And the attention is no longer on 2020 candidates, but on these Four.
Might as well run them in 2020 for the WH, as no one will forget them from here until then.
1
@AutumnLeaf
What obvious wishful thinking!
They will be forgotten but Trump never will be.... as the worst President ever!
1
Trump is playing with fire in a trap and these 4 clueless amateurs walk right in to be burned with their borderless immigration and government can cure all social ill policies.
Condemning a known racist will not make him a lesser racist Democrats need to find out why was a racist elected to the highest office? The answer lies in that the Democrats are as much out of touch with reality as the Republicans which may open the door for the reelection of detestable Trump next year giving the divisiveness within the party.
2
There is no principled position for less immigration; the only principled position is that all human beings should be free to live where ever they wish.
Any position which restricts immigration is motivated by perceived self interest and nothing else. I happen to think that perception is mistaken, that immigration is a benefit, but that's beside the point.
This does not mean I'm for open borders, we can control the borders, but they come in, just like they did through Ellis Island. Every single one of our forefathers who came through Ellis Island came through undocumented, they just showed up at the border, and they were let in. The economy took off and made as a world power as a result.
2
@PNBlanco
"Every single one of our forefathers who came through Ellis Island came through undocumented, they just showed up at the border, and they were let in."
Wrong. There were health screenings, document checks, and interviews. This is all public knowledge.
Our economy boomed because the United States possessed a continent full of unexploited resources and industries that required large amounts of manpower. No longer.
2
@PNBlanco
the people who are hurt most by the immigration of unskilled laborers are the US citizens who are poor- and mostly of color: instead of growing our home grown work force and bolstering good wages, benefits and unions, construction, instead work is done by the undocumented without benefits and low wages.
You obviously do not get this.
There is no civilized nation that does not have some border policies. Live where you want- may have worked before the existence of broad safety nets- but now the burden on the lower middle class and US poor is unsustainable. Did you read the times article about the school district in Florida (a poor school district) where more than 30% of the children do not speak English, some not even Spanish but indigenous languages, and the children born in the Us to Us citizens cannot
get services because so much is going to ESL and
support for people from other cultures? I feel for them, I do, but we cannot takin in everyone. Somehow I doubt the Montclair school district has this problem. OK with you to raise school taxes 150%- ?
If so at least you are not a total hypocrite.
We could take in many more, and give them and is better healthcare, cheaper education, and decent wages with a little less for the filthy rich and a little more for everyone else.
1
Everyone who wants to stop Trump from winning another term needs to read Mr. Bruni's insightful essay about Trump's attacks on these congresswomen. We need to avoid the trap he has set by making sure that the leading candidates for the Democratic nomination moderate their positions. they need to drop support for Medicare for all and avoid making themselves seem like supporters of open borders by focusing only on the mistreatment of asylum seekers and not at all on the fact that many don't qualify for asylum. Just because Trump vilifies all asylum seekers doesn't mean that we need to drop effective enforcement of our borders.
I am a person of no influence but as bright as anyone commenting on the news. Often I have a thought that has currency, not because I have it, but, I guess, because others have arrived concurrently at the same opinion. At the moment it is the thought that even Trump critics are often Trump enablers, He gets the press; he is the news; he gets to divert attention to and from at his choice. He generates ratings. I am glad to see a news source like Morning Joe at least acknowledging this problem and trying to cope with - or more accurately, suggesting it should be coped with. Obama was once denied air time to speak intelligently about immigration. Trump seizes free publicity any time he wants. Well, he is President. At the time to which I refer, so was Obama.
4
While I'm a GOP voter who doesn't support Trump, my guess is Trump witnessed the "Squad," as they have referred to themselves, distancing from Democrats like Speaker Pelosi (who one of their quartet recently accused of racism) and decided to be sure that not only Pelosi, but also all the top-tier 2020 Democratic candidates are coerced by the media to align, without reservation, with the far leftward Squad. In that sense his strategy has worked.
5
Bruni, as well as Friedman, advocate re-fighting the war of 2016. Tone down the message, sublimate the objectives, in order to win over a bunch of TV talking heads, a dozen or so swing districts, a few members of the two Bush administrations, some living Bushes and McCains, and the residue of third-way Democrats. That's a fool's errand. Brooks and Stephens, together with Dowd's "brothers", will still quibble, while the aforementioned "moderates" will probably not vote, comfortable enough to see no gain for themselves in a progressive society. And the vulgarian wins again.
Rather, if the Democrats want to take command, they should lead--advocate with vigor an uplifting yet constructive vision of substantive change. Create jobs with living wages and a path to advancement. Support enhanced education to fill those prospective jobs. Bring care and scientific understanding to improving the environment. Rebuild, renovate and renew infrastructure, both a literal and figurative bridge to future development. Celebrate diversity as essential vibrancy in a thriving community.
Work towards a more perfect union, establish more pervasive justice, embrace our better angels. Fear evaporates in the face of solemn duty and a chance to engage the responsibilities of public service. Go for it.
4
Trump IS running against AOC. He is making her the face of the Democratic party. If he succeeds the Dems will lose Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Florida in 2020. And then we all lose.
3
I am so surprised when I hear other Democrats criticizing Joe Biden, saying he wants to go back to 2016, when Donald Trump wants to take us back to the 1950's. But do we need a "revolution," as Bernie Sanders says we need? At this point, what I want, as the bumper sticker says, "Any Functioning Adult, 2020." Yes, I am older, but I remember when this country was out of control in the 1960's, with the assassinations of our political leaders, the Democratic convention in 1968 and other violent protests, and the police violence towards those protesters. A common criticism of Donald Trump is that he is tactical, and not strategic, and I am concerned about his tactics leading to the kind of problems we had in the 1960's. We (Democrats, citizens, and the press), need to get strategic in our responses, so we don't continue to feel like puppets, with Donald Trump pulling the strings.
5
Clearest election of my lifetime: decent (including those people I consider decently wrong) vs. evil (Trump).
2
Too much venom and hatred. Trump is outrageous. The squad is too. Somehow four young inexperienced representatives have gotten much to revolve around them. Of course the Democrats and anyone with a shred of decency must censure Trump’s racist comments. But he’s set everyone up. Starting firestorms and moving on to the next one.
3
That's clearly the goal - make the country believe he is running against the squad. Solidify the racists - both the full blown and closet ones - and scare the moderates/independents with "open borders", socialism, reparations, etc. Poke and prod AOC, who appears to be someone with about the same level of self control as Trump and who certainly loves the limelight as much, and hope she fires back with something incendiary to run in non-stop ads across the rust belt.
I guess the flip side to that is, for all the people who keep saying that not all Trump voters are racist, all plausible deniability is now gone. If you vote for him, you are voting for an aggressive racist. We are out of dog whistle land, and into old fashioned segregationist south territory now. There is no on the fence anymore.
3
Democrats miss the way forward altogether; your protagonist
is insecure...a little boy looking for validation. Return volley's do nothing.
Try patting him on the head. Deal with him as you would with an insecure little boy.
(actually...you both need help!)
How are the tweets racist? He complained about their politics not their politics as "women of color". That was attributed by others. In other words if I tell Farrakhan to leave the United States if he doesn't like the way the country is run I am a racist because I disagree with his opinion and beliefs? I can't tell him to get lost without his political beliefs and skin color becoming indelible in your eyes (not mine). If that is the case you are the racist not me.
5
If it was only about the politics the words, "go back to your country" didn't need to be included in the tweet.
1
If he were running against AOC in her home district he would be crushed. The voters of the Bronx and Queens know Trump for what he is, a racist sleaze, and we want nothing to do with him. We also know AOC is one of us, our best sister or daughter, representing us with intelligence, courage and compassion.
6
@Joe Hill
It's not only the Bronx and Queens. Most of the voters here in NYC (with perhaps the exception of Staten Island), already know Trump for what he is.
6
I've been waiting for a Progressive Party since all our generational leaders were assassinated in the 60s. Impeach the President !
5
Traitor Trump should know that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez' grandparents were/are US citizens. His were not. So, when it comes to citizenship entitlement, she beats him by at least one generation.
6
Mr. Bruni great points and of course you know Trump has no polices or goals to run on . The Con Man in Chief's only plan is to continue to divide the country. McConnell and his Senate cult members only care about their seat and their party not our country. McConnell will not stop Trump or Putin unless they hurt his election. McConnell will not protect the election process or stop the Russian internet army. Putin , Trump and McConnell will destroy our country if we don' t wake up.
Please read "The Plot to Destroy Democracy" by Malcom Nance.
Actually the entire press needs to understand that Trump is Putin's puppet and Trump's team from Bannon to Manafort and the current traitor Parscale main focus are hatred , racism ,lies and Russian internet to divide and conquer.
They want to destroy our democracy by formulating strife fermented by our stupid weaknesses of greed and racism and believing almost everything we hear from the liar in chief and his network (fox news).
You can be certain Trump and Putin discuss this during their secret meetings that no one else attends. Putin has developed this weapon as his number one plan(over 30 years) to destroy our democracy and Trump is his dumb torpedo and McConnell is the grim reaper indeed.
1
I would so love it if there were debates and a general election battle between Trump and AOC.
AOC is such a strong, young, vibrant, fierce, articulate, authentically progressive, idealistic FDR-style woman, and she would viscerally call out Trump and eviscerate his lies, sexism, misogyny, gestation slavery, greed, and egomania in ways few other politicians ever could.
AOC is Trump's worst nightmare.
Bring it on!
3
“...the oxymoronic record that’s almost inevitable when you’ve put in as many decades in public service.” ...Unless you’re Bernie Sanders.
Bernie has his inconsistencies too: Vermont is not as progressive when it comes to guns.
1
He's just trying to keep the headlines all about himself - and you're helping
5
Trump is hoping to run against these four idiots.
I am a never Trumper but even I would have second thoughts if AOC or Ilhan or Rashida were the candidate. They are in-experienced, their claims against Pelosi way overblown (and I think Pelosi is too soft on Trump in negotiations too) and their world view naive. These three need to understand economics better too as well as the complexities of immigration and asylum.
The good news is that Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris display steadiness of purpose and experience in office. I do think even Warren advocates a leftist agenda but I'm sure she will temper down to get something more reasonable through Congress. Biden and Bernie are past their use by date ( sorry for the ageism ... we need lots more energy over next 8 years to tackle the domestic and global crisis we face).
Lets see who the Dems pick. I am independent but truly want the Dems to make a pick our country can vote into office. Enough is enough from Trump.
2
"white people with two years of college or less" ARE NOT WHO WE HAVE TO APPEASE!
40% of eligible voters stayed home in 2016. Register, canvas, and give them someone to vote for.
4
Trump is a criminal and everything he does has one ultimate purpose. That is to keep his sorry behind out of jail. Nothing protects him from prosecution like being president, and as we have seen, he will say or do anything to remain in office. Insulting four Congresswomen is just more of that.
When I protested the Vietnam War, ahead of my vote for McGovern, I was told “Love it or leave it.” Nasty yes. Racist? Unlikely. FYI: McGovern got stomped.
3
"Was it an infantile expectoration or part of a grand plan?"
And the difference is?
Oh don't worry, he is running against AOC, and because of this he's going to win.
3
I'd argue that the benefit of the "squad" is that they are not running for president and do not have to shift to the center. They can forcefully and vociferously fight for their ideas. And what are those ideas? That America can be better and it can be better by achieving realistic policy goals: combatting climate change via the Green New Deal, raising taxes on the wealthy, providing affordable and quality education, investing in infrastructure, and providing health care for all Americans. I'd rather have their vision of America than that of the most "extreme" Republicans in Congress who would rather children suffer in cages, the environment be destroyed, and millions go without health care so long as the wealthy don't have to pay taxes and white men don't have to give up an ounce of privilege.
4
AOC and the other Congresswomen targeted by 45 should now understand that Speaker/Leader Pelosi is like their Mama Bear. Pelosi rose to this horrible occasion and did the remarkable thing of putting a Congressional Record on the books. Now that the "Squad" sees how it works, they should gather around Speaker Pelosi and begin the art of compromise. They will learn from her and she will help them legislate. I hope they see what a great thing Pelosi did for the party, the country, and for them. Then together we beat 45!
5
Near as I can tell, most people who are truly afraid of "The Squad" are Democrats who think that only a safe, bland, old white man can beat Trump in 2020. And, well, Democrats who have a lot of money to protect from "socialists." They may well be much the same group.
How about a counter-theory: Trump is demonizing the four freshman Congresswomen, not because he has some master plan to run essentially against them all the way to 2020, but because he's ever the opportunist, thinking only in the moment of the current news cycle, leaping to foment division and weakness among his opponents wherever and whenever he finds it.
Under this theory, Trump is perfectly happy to run against Biden. Indeed, he prefers it, because Biden, despite his current lead in head-to-head polling this far out, presents no incalculables. Trump believes he can rip through Biden in the end as he ripped through Hillary, because Biden has next to nothing to offer that Hillary didn't. He's not a woman to energize women voters, and he's not African American. As Trump has noticed and as Democrats persist in denying, Biden is old and tired and slow, decidedly not the old debate pugilist he once was. Getting Democrats to turn on their own, and turn away from their base as Trump would never turn from his, is Trump's entire seat-of-the-pants, reality-tv game in a nutshell.
Democrats afraid of their own shadow, building up Trump to be the evil stable genius he isn't, are only helping him, as Frank Bruni is here.
3
The sad thing, of course (and that phrase is chosen deliberately), is that millions upon millions of people agree with his thinking in some form or another.
These four women might be well liked in certain locales, but in a majority of places they are outright detested.
4
In truth, Democrats have passed a lot a serious policy in the House. It's no surprise that much of it dies a premature death on Mitch McConnell's desk. His reign of terror over the country, as much as Trump's, needs to be terminated in 2020 if not before.
That said, Democrats must present a unified front in presenting their legislative record as well as standing together, AOC and other progressives on stage with Pelosi and other moderates, and stating that we are one party that has enough trumpism, enough racism, enough lies and enough disgracing America to the world. Every move we make as Democrats must be focused on reclaiming America for all Americans, not just Trump's debased base and big money puppeteers, and putting it into simple language that all Americans can hear and embrace. It's time for unity; let's not blow our last best opportunity.
I watched the interview in which Ilhan Omar noted that her college terrorism professor's shoulders rose, and his voice rose, when he said the words Al Queda. She noted that people don't do that when they say "England" or "the US" or the word "army." She clearly found it unreasonable that the professor tensed up. I think Ilhan Omar sees the Middle East and Al Queda from the backside, as it were, from the perspective of a person who grew up with such organizations in the neighborhood or in the refugee camp. For her, Muslim extremists were quite likely familiar characters; maybe they aided her family with social services. They do not alarm her. She doesn't share most Americans animosity for "Islamic extremists". Omar is not at war with Al Queda. She understands their motives. She grew up in a country while American-made bombs were falling on it. She found refuge in the USA, but she's also PTSD to America; she must be triggered every day by American attitudes. She is no cult figure like Farrakhan; she is a fair representative of the feelings and opinions of many average Muslims around the world. We can learn by listening to her, and by observing her. I admit, she makes me uncomfortable. But that's OK. She will not harm America by being in our Congress, she will make us stronger, smarter, and more resilient.
8
Well said. Sorry Dems, this is no time for candidates to tout their own personal ideals, take the road less traveled, push high-falutin' causes, reach for the top goal, change course, complicate strategies, for one-upmanship. Stay the course and get Trump OUT. That's all. It's really that simple. That is the message. Practice your debate and go for his jugular.
2
I would agree that at the level of Social and National Media Trump is using the "Squad" to "tar and feather" the entire Democratic Party so that his committed voters aren't tempted to sway from his "religion". He is trying to motivate his followers to go after the Squad with pitchforks the way George Romero's populace would go after zombies with pitchforks. In the real world of the States where Trump gained his electoral plurality, however, will that identification really sway voters when they see a mild mannered down to earth Joe Biden instead of a left-leaning four headed Zombie breathing socialism and redistribution ?
Yes, let’s have another Centrist Democrat for a candidate who stands for nothing and if President dose nothing.
1
He's also very good at deflecting. He swung at these four Congresswomen, as charges against Jeffrey Epstein also implicated him, and a week before Robert Mueller testifies to Congress. He's very good at this kind of distraction. Let's ignore it as noise, and focus on the awful things Trump has actually done.
2
“The Squad” could have been a real force of political change. But they will get votes only from those who do not ask “Great programs. How will you pay for them.”
The few explanations offered by any of the 4 are very vague and naive. The ages are 29, 37, 42 and 45. So some of the older ones could have spoken up about that with more mature answers.
AOC strikes me as one of those people I remember from grad school. Angry and a charismatic speaker. But more a person who likes the sound of her own voice than a person with a vision or a plan. What she promotes you can hear on any summer night when people the age of AOC’s grandparents sit around and talk about what the country needs.
“The Squad” will definitely help Trump get elected. The Dems know that they need a centrist candidate to win in 2020. Pelosi just needs to get a game plan together to get behind such a candidate in the next 11 months.
Tick tock.
4
Assuming the economy continues to thrive Trump has just won re - election.
1
I'm surprised the next logical motive wasn't in the article: by vilifying the progressive squad, Trump dares the Democratic candidates to publicly come to their defense, then once a nominee is picked, that defense of the progressives can be used to thwart a general election pivot to appeal to moderates.
1
Do we really believe his racially charged attacks on these 4 women of color will sell with a majority of voters in Pennsylvania, Michigan & Wisconsin? He and the Republicans may believe the majority of voters in those states are that nativist and reactionary - I believe they are wrong - decent people are not going to underestimate Trump or take things for granted as they did in 2016.
If the incumbent in the middle of an economic recovery wants to make the election about racism, I say "proceed Governor" .........
3
This "only a non-politician can save us" experiment has failed. Time to stop bemoaning the faults and minor flaws of the D party and band together to remove trump from the WH. If that means having a less-than-perfect candidate, so be it. This country cannot survive another trump term. I will be surprised if I live to see America restored to what it was pre-2017.
4
Did Bruni and Friedman coordinate their op-eds today? Because they certainly read the same: "please, Dems, don't stray too far to the left."
Were they both asleep during all of 2016? Are they so disoriented in our current political moment and unable to deal with reality that they're really advocating we repeat a losing general election strategy?
While the answer to the first question is likely "no," the answer to the second is likely "yes."
3
@Kurt
As someone who meets and speaks with real live Trump supporters, mainline Dems and Independents virtually every day, believe me Dude, "as goeth Brooklyn, so goeth the Nation" isn't a thing.
3
@Glenn Baldwin
If the party spends the whole election cycle chasing Trump supporters and the mythic independent swing voter then we’ve already lost, one of the lessons from the last general election.
Issues-based polling and the geographic diversity of The Squad - none of whom represent Brooklyn, just so we’re clear - suggests that a progressive platform is a promising approach nationally.
In contrast, the apocryphal Einstein quotation about insanity seems to apply here to people who seem intent on running a Hillary 2.0 in 2020 for fear of scaring away moderates.
This is the problem with the Democrats. They respond rather than forcing the other party to respond or forcing them to admit that THEY, the GOP are destroying the middle class in America. None of this requires dirty tricks or politics. All it takes is repeating back to the GOP what its politicians and leaders have said or done in the past that has hurt most Americans. The so-called tax overhaul is a prime example. The tax breaks in it are permanent for the richest families and corporations. For the rest of us those breaks go away in a few years.
The ACA, aka Obamacare, is not working well for most of us. The subsidies cut out at too low of an income level. The deductibles are too high and the networks too narrow. There is no continuity of care and no way to avoid unexpected costs. We need Medicare for all and it ought to include dental care and other things left out of the usual health insurance. More older Americans might find jobs if our employers didn't have to pay for health insurance for us.
Racism is nothing new in America. Nor is incompetence. What is new is having a president supported by a party that refuses to acknowledge how damaging that president's actions are to the welfare of the country as a whole. The GOP is playing a dangerous game here. I do hope they remember that it doesn't take much to set off the spark when there's a drought in the forest.
7/16/2019 12:40pm
3
Frankly, I'm tired and worn out by the excessive yapping by Trump, the Mod Squad and even the Speaker.
What the president said should be neither shocking nor surprising. People will believe what they want and what they see when it comes to Trump. Okay.
Time to shelve this little bitter chapter right alongside all of the other bitter, negative and hurtful things and acts this president has done and said.
It's time to re-group, move on and move forward Democrats. Shift gears and start thinking how the party can come together and carve out a win-able platform other than "Tromp Trump in 2020". Right now, we've got nothing concrete - only ethereal issues that sounds great on paper but in reality won't float even on mud.
Tick tock folks. We have little more than a year to come up with a strategy that is solid and will work.
4
I am so happy that AOC has the voice that she does, even the many times I wish she would quietly listen and learn. I'd love to see her get an advanced degree, develop legislative expertise (which involves patience and coalition building), and then run for Chuck Schumer's seat in 2028. She's too talented and valuable to flame out and end up hosting a show on MSNBC.
3
Thomas Friedman is shocked that some people are still profoundly unsatisfied with US healthcare and the important, yet woefully inadequate ACA?
He’s surprised that some look to address a humanitarian surge of migrants without the level of criminalization powering camps and ICE raids?
He’s shocked by the desire to address the health of a shadow population reluctant to access public services apart from ERs and have no way to buy insurance?
Does he lament the need for the Democratic Party to find its strongest leader capable of withstanding the looming 2020 Trump attack-tornado through a challenging test of ideas and leadership qualities in a primary?
I usually love Friedman’s articles.
But this “we’re gonna lose because of leftists” article is ironic precisely because of his glib derision of voters supporting these proposals. Nothing demoralizes turnout like being told your ideas and contributions are crazy or unwelcome.
Perhaps “wonderful ideals, too bold for my taste, but let’s discuss when one of us gets in the Whitehouse” might be more appropriate given his thesis.
There are countless “Trump’s going to win if Dems don't stop XYZ” articles out right now. It’s understandable. People still remember 2016 like a horror movie come to life.
And yet, I doubt there will be the same 3rd-party interest and stay-at-home apathy this time around. Trump narrowly won the electoral college with fewer votes than Jill Stein got. People likely won't forget that part either.
2
This next election is a referendum as to who wins the ideological civil war now in progress in America: will the side that represents racism and white nationalism win? Or the side that represents the Republican Party of Abraham Lincoln and the end of slavery, the end of subjugation of women and people of a different sexual orientation from mine, the end of segregation and racism codified in our laws, and truly holding out the U.S. as the last great bastion of freedom and opportunity for people’s trying to escape tyranny throughout the world? I vote for the latter as this is the America that I want to live in and pass down to posterity.
1
Trump may see the constant demonization of "The Squad" as his path to victory. But what exactly is the most effective counter to this strategy? Because Trump and the Republicans won't stop with The Squad. Even if Democrats - including Biden - rush to move to the political right of Steve King, they are going to be branded as communists, because that's what Republicans do.
Are Democrats afraid of or incapable of making coherent, persuasive, arguments for ANY progressive policies, even the the least controversial ones? That seems to be the case. If so, why exist?
For over 30 years, Democrats have sat in a terrified defensive crouch as Republicans brand anything they propose as wicked socialism, while pulling the political center further and further to the right.
And the mainstream press is an active participant. After all, how often do you hear them asking Republicans if their policies are too far right? NEVER
But Democrats are wimps. They don't try to sell their policies, they just cry about Republicans mischaracterizing them.
1
Trump is in fact running against AOC, Omar and other members of the squad - who are now the face of the Democratic party and have pushed it left to the point of unelectability in 2020.
5
We deserve the government we get, and if caging and abusing children, regardless of their legal status, isn't a bright red line, then maybe this country doesn't deserve to be saved from Trump.
5
I'm afraid that this shocking story will devolve so, by November 2020, white supremacy will be just another voter option.
It's the job of the media to keep people fully informed about the implications -- and not just the temperature -- of the story.
1
I could hardly believe that the moldy old “America, love it or leave it” bumper sticker was resurrected by our president to drive the same old wedge as it drove fifty years ago. And those good old boys from yesteryear used it to rally support—among other dubious causes—for the war in Vietnam. Well, I guess if your cause is questionable, you’ve got to muster support somehow, and scapegoating and race baiting are tried and true.
3
How insightful, “he’s ignorant, not stupid...”
I just listened Dallas Republican women on the TV
who reiterated their support for Trump and I despair.
Democrats have a moral obligation to condemn
Trump’s racism. He has made these four
outspoken women, outliers in the Democratic Party,
the rationale for supporting him. And it is working for him.
He likes to think of himself as a genius. He forgets
to add the word evil. Evil genius. I feel like I am standing
on a shore watching a ship sink.
2
Considering the amount of death threats this 4 women face on a daily base, they should be provided with security details 24/7.
2
Mr. Bruni, let’s make it clear. Trump is racist. Ilhan Omar is anti-Semitic (she refused invitation to visit synagogues in her own district).
I’m Jewish. I live in Minneapolis. I want both gone from government. The sooner, the better.
9
Considering the amount of death threats this 4 women face on a daily basis, they should be provided with security details 24/7.
4
Of course Donald trump knew exactly what he was doing with his "go back" tweet.
And the fact that he's a racist isn't exactly news either.
2
If Trump wants to attack women of color, he would do well to remember this from the South Africa freedom struggle "Now you have touched the women you have struck a rock: you have dislodged a boulder: you will be crushed."
1
Trump is scared to death by impeachment in the House. He is scared to death of investigations into his criminal activities. That is why he diverts attention by saying racist saying hoping his 37 percenters are enough to reelect the criminal. Will not work this time, After January 2021, he will be indicted and put in handcuffs and do the perp walk in New York.
2
Actually, he is running against AOC, and doing well at it. The Democrats need to change that pretty quickly if they want to win the next election. Change who's in office before you announce you're changing everything else, I say.
2
The latest Trump reveal is no surprise: nothing new was revealed about his character. What he said about AOC et al. he has said in dozens of other ways before, perhaps not so baldly. Is anyone surprised?
I think what the real press and all other media have to pay attention to when Trump releases an incendiary tweet like this is what else is going on that should have our attention, but doesn't because his tweet has ignited an instant diversion. "Look at this!" Trump says with his tweet--not that thing over there, probably something that could harm him.
2
Trump's strategy is the political equivalent of wife beating. The Republican voters, senators and members of Congress aren't so numb as to not get what he's doing, but they understand if they go along and don't say anything, he'll bash someone else.
6
Kellyanne Conway today re “What’s your ethnicity,”
Trump et al., “He’s tired . . . a lot of us are . . . tired of America . . . coming last . . . to people who swore an oath of office.”
Enough said. Impeach them all. And if they’re so “tired of America,” let them all go back to the swamp from where they come . . . Alright already?
3
Donald Trump Wishes He Was Running Against Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
There! Fixed it!
1
We overestimate Trump and his minions. He simply wants the Old White Man Club to continue its rule. Women and people of color should always be submissive. When they are not, he rages and bullies because he’s always gotten his way—never based on merit, intelligence, or hard work—but just because he’s a white conman. He can’t compete and he knows it.
5
@Facts Matter - "He can’t compete and he knows it."
He is doing a great job at competing. The Dems are under the impression that only Biden can beat Trump in the next election. And just in the last two weeks, I heard Biden say into the camera, "There is not a racist bone in my body". Before that? He was downplaying all his hands-on with women rubbing their shoulders and smelling their hair. Meanwhile, Booker wants an apology and we saw Harris at the debates. Biden's own party keeps calling him out for acting like, well, acting like Trump.
Trump will win as long as a Democrat runs against him:)
1
Could AOC run, she would beat Trump by a record breaking majority and show him for the bigoted, ignorant, lying huckster that he is.
2
In this screed, Mr. Bruni makes the same point over and over again: the hyperbolic stupidity of the modern Democrats can be laid at the feet of that dastardly Mr. Trump.
He baits them. He infuriates them. He tweets. He’s strategic. He’s cruel. He’s melodramatic. He’s just a bad, mean man.
Mr. Bruno speaks as a person that doesn’t know what it means to take responsibility for one’s words and deeds.
1
Well, he may wish he were running against Cortez and he probably doesn't know she is too young but Frank Bruni should.
I think the only thing he understands is, that hate & scapegoating if constantly triggered would prevail over reason and would deliver him his fanatical base...
He's an essence of a hateful, ugly character that's why he is connecting with his base.
I recently check comments on AOL, what a cesspool!!!
Scary, hard to see how we can live as a nation in any semblance of harmony and goodwill.
6
I am near tears as I write this; I do not blame the NYTimes, but please stop the pseudo objectivity. Political football, whistle-blowing or not, this racism is monstrous, dehumanizing and destructive to us people of color. Consider it’s toll and forget the ratings.
5
I feel the exact same way sometimes, however; my feelings of dehumanization evolve into anger. I channel that anger by confronting those who would have me keep my opinions to myself, or tell me I should go back to my country. Texas?
The coward is denigrating women he won't have to debate. AOC would destroy him.
5
You hit this one out of the park, Frank.
1
i'm still waiting for the Times to denounce the Squad's implicit anti-semitism, i'm also still waiting for the Times to cover yesterday's anti-semitism conference, how about one word instead of the thousands of thousands about Eric Garner who died of asthma.
4
I started reading this article and comments then stopped. I can only take so much horror in one day. I would like the Times to greatly expand their science and food sections.
2
Americans will never recognize fascism, even though it might slap them in the face. It happened "before" and it can happen again.
It happened in another country, of course, not in lily-white America.
4
Ignorant but not stupid. One of the best one-sentence descriptions I’ve seen of our beloved president. He needs to be defeated but running to the left is a loser’s gambit.
Actually Donald is indeed running against AOC. Why? Because the Democrat party is clearly in awe of her as evidenced by the self-destructive leftist blather that dominated their candidates' debate, and because media like the Times lionize her constantly and give her enough ink to fill an ocean. And as Tom Friedman points out on this very page, the voters will have none of it. They recognize an ill-bred, ignorant, loudmouthed freshman for what he or she is. and they will not allow her politically and economically illiterate orations to prompt the takeover of the United States by poorly educated children who have emerged from America's colleges knowing even less than they did before they began their 'education' in gender studies, conflict resolution and 'graphic' novels.
4
Kraft, trump, Epstein think AOC and Omar are Masseuses.
2
Frank
What is your job? Free press, forth estate yet you help Trumps mission; these women are not radical but here you are pushing the Trump lies. This is no different than Birther another example of media failure.
2
Please allow me to correct President Trump's July 16, 2019 tweet for him: "I don't have a Racist bone spur in my body!"
7
Bingo.
Sad that we have to live in a country where the leader uses such cynical strategies against those oppose him. Trump has zero appetite for unifying the people of this country. Yeah, well, I guess that is just a naive thought anyway. In the end, he is just delivering what his ravenous base wants. And I don't want to part of that group ever. So where does that leave us?
2
Demagoguery, vitriol, hate, and fear are the only thing DJT has to run on. With the 2019 deficit at $1T, KJU threatening to resume nuclear testing, Iran increasing enrichment, trade deficit with China increasing, ongoing efforts to take access to health affordable health insurance away from millions of U.S., 7 acting Cabinet Secretaries, etc... hate is all he's got.
3
DJT is going to win...I do not want him to win, but he will.
1
His strategy is divide and conquer. Looks like if he can fuel the hysteria, he may succeed. Life is stranger than art. No he can't go after Warren because she actually has a plan. He promotes chaos and incites fear and hatred. It is tragic for us all and his base is deluded.
2
Aside from all the more complex analysis of his intentions, if Trump is telling 3 of these Congresswomen that they should go back to the broken and crime infested countries, they're from... isn't he then describing America as broken and crime infested? And as the president, isn't he ultimately to blame for this, or for not caring enough to fix it?
He IS running against AOC. She is the brush he will paint the entire D party with. It will probably work, for all the reasons in the Friedman piece today.
3
“...Democratic strategists were, according to a report in Axios, circulating a private poll of potential swing voters — white people with two years of college or less — that showed that 74 percent of them recognized Ocasio-Cortez’s name but only 22 percent had a favorable view of her, while 53 percent recognized Omar but only 9 percent saw her favorably.”
These are abysmal numbers, and the squad is proving to be a liability in the effort to win back the White House in 2020. Trump’s egregious tweets have given the Democrats and the squad a brief reprieve, but now they must all work together as a team to focus on the main priority of unseating him. That means cooperating with Pelosi and not making outrageous claims of racism against her, because she disagrees with some of their policies. Time to grow up and understand the difference between advocacy and accomplishment, as well as the time and place for each.
2
It does seem obvious that Trump will benefit more from "the squad" taking center stage than the Dems ever will. Pelosi gets this. But the "insider" Dems are being eaten by their longterm commitment to identity politics, where skin color and gender are the prisms through which politics is understood. Most of Americans don't think like that, even tho the Dem pols are certain they do. It's this misread of Americans that is likely to lead to Trump's reelection.
And yes, Frank, you too are part of the problem. You write that people worry that "the future of both the Democratic Party and the country belongs as much to women and to people of color as to anyone else" and that is why the Squad is disliked. In fact, the dislike of these four congresswomen is easily explained by their extreme left focus on the private wealth of Americans, which they want to confiscate and redistribute in accordance with their own values. There is plenty of reason for many Americans to dislike this Squad that have nothing whatsoever to do with race or gender. Can you see through your own prism of identity politics to recognize this reality?
1
It bothers me that you can say that Joe Biden "radiates decency", Mr. Bruni. There's no question but that he's much more decent than Donald Trump, but we can see that there are a lot of women and people of color for whom Mr. Biden doesn't radiate decency. His past record wouldn't be that much of a problem if he could show that he'd really learned better, but he's reacting as what he's always been: a professional politician with the values of a professional politician. This column "radiates" a sense of "the Democrats are going to drive away white, male voters". But what you imply is that the Democrats should pander to a certain image of white, male voters, and assume that women and non-whites will turn out in really big numbers just because it would be convenient for white, male Democrats if they did. We can do better than that. We should do better than that. It would be smart to do better than that.
1
@Stephen Merritt - "I think the Democratic Party could stand a liberal George Wallace — someone who's not afraid to stand up and offend people, someone who wouldn't pander but would say what the American people know in their gut is right,” Biden told the Philadelphia Enquirer on Oct. 12, 1975, referring to the racist then-Alabama governor.
Radiates decency.
I completely agree! He is afraid to run against Biden or any other sensible and powerful legislator with experience so he is attacking young female junior House members of color. he is a dyed in the wool bully and will only pick on those who are more vulnerable. We also have Fox news and Tucker Carlson to thank for this strategy!
5
He is running against AOC et al...because regardless of who wins the Democratic nomination, it will be ‘The Squad’ that everyone remembers as representing the Democratic Party.
3
In the '60s & '70's the chant was "Love it or Leave it!" rather than improve it while staying.
1
"He’s ignorant, not stupid. And he understands that if he causes enough offense and creates enough melodrama, the screaming in the public square will be so loud that many battered and baffled Americans won’t be able to hear the inner voice that’s telling them what they should and at some level do know: that he must go."
The above describes Trump to a blunt tee.
The real question remains what the Democrats plan on doing about it. If they do not speak out against his "questionable" remarks, then that silence could be interpreted as condoning it. But by speaking out that creates a different and possible distracting scenario.
Responding against Trump is one thing but fixating and beating his words to death only plays into his hand, possibly like this brilliant article by Frank Bruni?
Sometimes too much attention on any given topic backfires. I'm hoping the Democrats's response to this issue won't backfire on them.
1
Trump could say McConnell's wife should go back to China, and the GOP would still remain silent. Trump is completely untouchable. The question is: WHY is Don made of Teflon?
4
Like it or not the "Squad" is the face of the Democratic Party 2020. Done deal. It won't matter who the Ds nominate those women will rile up the base even more that Nancy Pelosi ever could and the Republicans know it. They will be a feature at every campaign event going forward and that isn't going to help re-capture the middle.
Oh well, wake me in 2024. We can try again.
6
Bruni writes: "It’s no accident that around the same time that Trump fired off his racist tweet, Democratic strategists were, according to a report in Axios, circulating a private poll of potential swing voters — white people with two years of college or less — that showed that 74 percent of them recognized Ocasio-Cortez’s name but only 22 percent had a favorable view of her, while 53 percent recognized Omar but only 9 percent saw her favorably."
That's why Democratic strategists are worthless. What Democrats need to do to win is to mobilize young people and people of color to come and vote in record numbers. You DON'T DO THAT by attacking young women of color.
Did those Brainiac strategists poll those marginalized voting groups to see how they felt? Young people and people of color don't need to be persuaded that the Democrats are the better choice—unlike too many older white people—but they DO need to be persuaded that Democrats will actually ACT in their interest once elected. (Nancy Pelosi is not setting a good example in that regard.)
Why do Democratic "strategists" [sic] think it is smarter to run after the votes of people who think Trump might be an acceptable choice rather than energize the constituencies who already know who Trump is and reject him?
2
He actually is standing against the squad if you haven't noticed. And you can add Bernie to them.
Every time one of them opens their mouth swing voters turn right and Republican voters who are sick of Trump decide to hold their noses and stay with him.
Trump is a master at fear tactics, he sure has you frightened Frank and the campaign hasn't even started.The Dems don't as yet have a nominee and you are preaching doom and gloom. This 70 year old white guy is banking on enough other older white people not to vote for trump solely for the reason of keeping a white guy in the WH, enough of them such as myself voted for Obama twice.
You seem to forget that trump has not delivered on most of his pledges and promises. I suspect that regardless of who the Democratic nominee is they will hammer way at this. From the two debates I have seen I don't think that there are any frontrunners at this time who are afraid of him, If anything trump despite his tweets and bravura is running very scared. He really doesn't want to have to run against anyone, he wants to be appointed POTUS for life. That is what despots do.
4
Newsflash: Trump is a racist!
Yawn.
I'm sorry but you need something better than that Democrats if you expect to win in 2020. I'll offer an example of what you might say:
People right now are dying, literally dying, because of lack of access to affordable insulin. We Democrats commit to either price controls or public funds to purchase insulin for those who can't afford it.
That is an issue most people can get behind.
But.......it doesn't involve illegal immigrants, transgendered folks, or abortion, so the Democrats are not really interested. Because ultimately their message to Americans is "we really don't care about you, we just care about our cause celebres."
And no matter how disingenuous Trump is, his message to Americans is "I am for you."
$10 Trump will be re-sworn in as President in 2021.
1
Anyone who thinks that the defeat of Trump in the next presidential election will eradicate the racism, bigotry, xenophobia and hatred is delusional. The delusion springs from the mythology that white America has long subscribed to ; that America is greatest country ever and that all people are treated equally. I don't care how many times the jets flyover at sporting events, this country is a lie.
6
I live in the district Ocasio represents. I like the way she beat Joe Crowley. He deserved to lose. He didn't live in the district and he sent an aide to a debate. Imagine that sending an aide to a debate. I don't however, understand Ocasio. Is she about herself or the district? She seems more intent on further her own agenda rather than helping the district. She was against the Amazon deal, which would have brought jobs to the area. Yet she is for the "Green New Deal", where she believe people who are unwilling to work should be paid by the government. (that was quickly removed from the deal when it was made public) Trump is a racist who is using her for his own benefits, but she isn't shy about playing the race card either. Pelosi criticized her, but instead of responding to the criticism, she sneakily insinuated that Pelosi is racist because Pelosi had the nerve to criticize her, a "person of color". She is an amateur and it shows, which concerns me because the more she is isolated and mocked, the less is going to be able to advocate for the district, if she ever had that in mind to begin with.
11
Scherie Murray is the answer to one of our problems.
1
Trump is ALREADY running against Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
2
It should be news to no one that Trump is a racist (among other things). That said, I think it’s odd that we’ve spent the last four days emoting about it. The time could be much better used developing a world view as to which policies and which candidates can help us move forward from here.
Clearly, Trump is baiting the progressive left, and trying to rally the very worst among his base. To the extent that the cable talking heads and columnists take the bait, Trump will succeed in mobilizing both extremes, to the detriment of any hope of defeating Trump in 2020.
177
@Garrison1
AGREED! In fact, I believe Trumps strategy WAS to have have us emote over it. And to dominate the news cycle. Why? To divert attention from the actual news at the border AND jeffrey epstein. Riling up his base wasn't the goal, just some icing on a PR cake. We all either already KNOW he's a racist (its not like this was news or this comment came out left field) OR the remaining people LIKE that he's racist. He didn't gain nor lose anything EXCEPT control of the news cycle.
People are losing their minds over his comments as if they're the first black mark on a clean record for him. "The Squad" has been in office since January. He held off on attacking them until he need to sway the media away from a scandal. Trump sucking isn't news –– but we continue to treat it like it is. And forfeit the ACTUAL news from being reported and discussed. Epstein and the molestation of young girls and his money trail should be the main story at every outlet -- and now they're not. Maybe Trump isn't as stupid as we all think he is.
19
@Garrison1
Agree. He runs on pure instinct, nothing more, nothing less. This changes minute by minute. So keeping up with 'instinct' is not the way to go.
Dems need to do their thing, not his.
8
@Garrison1
"Clearly, Trump is baiting the progressive left..."
Actually, Trump is using the progressive left to bait the moderates. And they bit...hard.
12
I beg of you, everyone: please IGNORE him.
Yes, you can.
5
Trump won't be happy until he has morally and monetarily bankrupted America as his infantile philosophy of life is : it does not matter whether you win or lose but how you lay the blame.
2
You know what? I'm a life long Democrat. And if it weren't for the supreme court issue, I might even vote for Trump over one of the far lefties now thinking they have a snow ball's chance.
I'm amazed at the collective ego of the Squad who are so taken with themselves they actually think they are allowed as much space as we are giving them. They are nobodies barely out of college! Did they go to college? They are back benchers. Clueless blind ambition. Let's move on.
5
@Mary Rivka
1. Lifelong Democrats don't vote for Trump. He is anathema to everything democracy stands for.
2. Stop asking for perfect candidates. No human is perfect.
3. These young women are not nobodies. They were elected.
Why is the answer always for minorities to keep their mouths shut until a better time or to placate those who would rather not hear criticism? I’ve heard this refrain for over six decades, and frankly it gets tired. It’s like being in an abusive household where family members tiptoe around to avoid the abuser’s wrath. Trump and his supporters yell, scream, denigrate and demand punishment for their opponents but we’re told just to find a way to maneuver around them. President Obama was expected to keep his cool so as not to be seen as the angry black man. Trump throws tantrums like a preschooler and his base admires his “toughness.”
2
Bruni’s analysis is off. Of course there was an element of strategy to those tweets, but the strategy wasn’t to avoid running against Warren or Harris, it was to increase the likelihood that he’ll be running against them.
By going after the Squad, he forced the entirety of the left to circle the wagons around them. For darlings of the identity left, like Warren and Harris, this circling of the wagons only raises their profile and their approach. This is all to Biden’s detriment.
This isn’t Biden’s game, to the extent that he even has the energy anymore to advance an approach or to the extent that he’s ever had a workable approach. Keep in mind, Biden has run twice before, abysmally. And he was recruited by Obama specifically to assuage the fears of skeptical, non-identity type Dems. So Trump beating Biden is entirely possible.
But beating Harris or Warren is not just possible, it’s possible to beat them on epic Mondale scale. Here’s why: they’re already on board with decriminalizing illegal border crossings, with bussing, with eliminating private healthcare. They’re already on board with reparations.
And while Trump is a lech, what’s their identity strength? A prosecutor who identified as an Indian 2 years ago, from a family that owned slaves? How well is Kamela the Cop going to resonate with the base? Or let’s take Warren. Pocahontas anyone? Or the fact that she was a $400K a year professor at Harvard? Trump is going to savage both. That’s his plan. And it’s good!
I notice that whenever Trumpists don’t have much by way of facts or can’t really explain what they’re talking about, they start changing the subject real fast and throwing more and more new accusations.
Why is that, do you think?
1
@Robert - Because they watched Hillary during interviews?
I am afraid that the bellicose rhetoric on both sides is going to re elect Trump. His strategy to appeal to his constituency of closet racists and openly racists will work, just like it did in 2016.
This country’s soul is still pretty racist, or at least “prejudiced”, to use a more benign term, and Trump knows it and is exploiting it.
Shame on the the Democrats for playing into his strategy and not recognize the danger of getting involved in a food fight, you may end up being sent away from the table in 2020!
2
Exactly. Donald Trump wanted these four Congresswomen to be the face of the Democratic party and he succeeded
2
Why can't we just split this country up? We're always going to be fighting in this cold Civil War (the Civil War never ended, only the hot part did). I'm so distraught over this never-ending struggle. It's killing this country. Let's make peace and divide up. Perhaps we'd all be happier and more productive. The blue states (and perhaps blue cities amongst red states) become one, the Southern/Midwest/Mountain unite as one. Yes, there would be lots of problems to solve. But I think we could do it.
This marriage can't be saved. I think we're all feeling abused by each other.
And the world might be relieved that this 'most powerful nation' with a lot of nukes/aggression can stand down.
Of course, I want a wall around the New England states. We have a lot of water which will be non-existent in the new Southern Country. And they have a lot of guns. Hmmmmm.
Trapped. No way out. Abused. Lied to. Gaslighted. Delusional.
It's a bad marriage. Love turned to hate. Very, very sad and tired of it all.
4
The things that people like the squad, Warren , Sander's and their supporters want is not what the average American wants. If Trump can pin open boarders, taking away all private insurance, free college and medical for illegals on the DEMs he will win and these far left people Wii of helped him.
2
Trump's claim that he will "marry" the democratic party and all its candidates in 2020 to the views of four members of Congress ignores Trump's enthusiastic embrace of white supremacists, extreme nationalists and anti-democratic rulers around the globe.
You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.
The Times itself agrees with Trump's strategy:
"The president boasted of “marrying” Speaker Nancy Pelosi to “the Squad,” betting that he can cast the entire Democratic Party as radical."
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/16/us/politics/trump-election-squad.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage
Call me crazy, but I think AOC could readily beat Trump. If advertising is any yardstick, she is far more cast-able to sell just about anything. He, on the other hand, is a bloviating bimbo that I cannot imagine in any TV commercial.
Yes, Frank, the Donald is ignorant....and he's also stupid. As has been observed by many, Trump lives ONLY in the moment. Quite frankly insight is far beyond his mental capacities. By suggesting that Trump has a strategy you're suggesting he has at least some intellect.
I don't think so. In fact he has demonstrated over and over that he is.....well....rather stupid.
It's commentaries like this that make me feel done with democrats not the only 4 leaders we have at all.
2
And so newspapers have come to this: in today's news the occupant of the White House repeats obviously bigoted comments made in his earlier tweets, he plans to use this as a tactic in his reelection campaign, lots of frightened followers love it, and yet another NY Times opinionist finds a way to blame the dreaded "Squad" for the eventual success of these underhanded dealings.
Really? This is news? No, it's not new and it's not newsworthy (and yes, I know the difference). How easy it has become to write "news reports" and opinion pieces; just plug in Republicans Racist and Democrats Divided, and each day's story practically writes itself.
Here's a NY Times editorial piece I'd like to see: "Newspaper Plans to Stop lazily Republishing Twitter." Social media is fun, but people who need to get their news from tweets are for the birds.
4
@Marco Great response, thank you.
I’ve never heard any of the Democrats advocate for “open borders”; please put that old straw man away.
2
@Nick Yurchenko Every single Democratic presidential candidate raised their hand in the affirmative in response to the question "Would you like to decriminalize migration." Decriminalizing migration means that illegally crossing the border is not a crime. Hence, open borders. Do not confuse people.
3
He is running against AOC &Co. Anyone in their right mind would.
1
The President may not be racist against their color. He sees that they are advocating for the most vulnerable people among us and that is what angers him. They are advocating for the poor, the working class and the disenfranchised, disaffected and the fringe dwellers. This is what he and his ilk do not like. He advocates for the wealthy and connected, who he has always wanted to be but is not. He has no clue what that he is here as a Public Servant for all people. He spews hate since he hates himself. He came from one of the most diverse boroughs and liberal cities in the country but brought no humility with him. Its people of color and other ethnic heritage that are offensive to him. It is those that have made so much on the backs of others that see behind them the least. That is why these true advocates for change for all, make him seethe.
2
"He's ignorant, not stupid." Oh, how wrong you are.
Have you heard this man speak? "Incoherent" is too mild a word. Trump cannot speak a simple declarative sentence without spiraling off on a dozen different tangents. One would think that English was his second language. And only brazen stupidity explains his racist tweets about "The Squad."
The man openly admits that he has not READ A BOOK in over 20 years! He stumbles over using a Teleprompter. He has his daily briefings delivered verbally, with complex issues reduced to bullet-points, because he lacks the attention-span (and the intelligence) to summarize and synthesize the massive amount of information that a President must process every day.
There is no grand master plan at work here. Trump is flailing, lashing out in every direction, like the immature man-child that he is. "The Squad" is simply the newest shiny object within Trump's field-of-vision. By the end of the week, he will grow bored with them and ignore them.
You folks at The New York Times need to stop portraying Trump as some nightmarish bogey-man out of a Stephen King novel. Call him out for what he is--a liar, a racist, a bully, and a fool. He has no hidden intelligence. He is no idiot-savant of political strategy. He is simply a reality TV star who fooled too many people into voting for him. He and he base are NOT unstoppable.
Trump attacked "The Squad." They hit him back--HARD. I wish more members of Congress would show such courage.
@Jack Connolly - I can't remember the last time I read a book. However, I spend hours a day reading textual material covering everything from recording engineering to living soil management to bonsai gardening and top it off with some foreign language study for fun (currently working on Mandarin, Hawaiian, and brushing up on my Spanish and Hebrew). But read something off of Oprah's book list? Sorry, no time for such stuff. Get a copy of "What Happened" by Hillary? No, thanks, I watched her election and already know what happened, Hillary. You ran.
If AOC is considered a "woman of color", could I qualify as a "man of color", as a descendant of Sicilians, with darker skin?
3
an antonym is another name for the same thing.is that what you wanted to say?
@michele surdi Look up "antonym," it means whatever is the *opposite*. The usage is correct. A "synonym" is is another word for the same thing.
2
Frank seems to think that AOC and her fellow Young Pioneers will not be on the ballot in November of 2020. Technically true, but the lunatic fringe of the party will drive Kamala Harris (the intersectionalist leader of the party will win the nomination) so far left that she will be unelectable, especially as her own views are so malleable she makes Trump look like Edmund Burke. The GOP will have a field day with her comments on reparations, open borders and gun confiscation. Frank is spending too much time with the likes of his neo-Marxist colleague Farhad Manjoo and social justice warriors like Sarah Jeong. Those two are clearly doing a great job of enforcing ideological purity at the Times, but in the real world, their ideas will not only not play in Peoria, they could create a Senate super-majority for the GOP. It makes one wonder if they are indeed Trump Campaign moles. Maybe Kevin Roose could do an investigation.
1
You mean he ISN'T???
When did this happen?
Why was I not informed?
Many Democrats are defining themselves as antonyms to Trump. That’s different from merely opposing him, and it might not be the way to go.
Trump gets that. He’s ignorant, not stupid.
Exactly. Ignorant as a brick --but possessed of that feral cunning focussed on finding his next meal. I'm afraid some of these new House members, who clearly project intelligence, are acting quite stupidly --as if strategy is irrelevant --and may get themselves and those sympathetic with their essential cause eaten in 2020.
174
@Jim Bishop Trump vs. AOC: an epic battle of epic egoes. The loser? The United States of America.
8
@Jim Bishop: You've nailed something important about Trump that most people don't consciously recognize.
Indeed, Trump is utterly ignorant - and he's just as ruthlessly cunning in his determination to create distractions & sow disruption/lies in an effort to get himself 4 more years of golfing and tweeting at taxpayer expense.
Trump will literally say and do anything to keep himself (and his family) in power for another 4 years - and he has ZERO interest in the good of the country and of the majority of its citizens.
19
While I agree and appreciate most of the thoughts in this piece, I find it odd that the Russian internet trolls aren't mentioned. Their strategy, probably helped by hacked Dem polling, will be to split the Democrats. I, for one, am convinced that the Russians got Trump elected with this strategy in 2016.
I must admit to being confused. Trump is denegrating these women as socialist, and apparently that is bad. Meanwhile his best friends live in North Korea and China, two communist countries and Russia a former communist country.
For years republicans were fiercely opposed to communists but now it is alright to snuggle up to them while criticizing others for being mildly interested in the welfare of others...
1072
@Michael
Those countries are authoritarian, or totalitarian, depending upon how much you know about how each country actually functions.
They are not socialist, where money is spent on various groups for the general social welfare.
36
@Michael
most americans, it seems, have no clue what socialism means.
socialism is not communism.
true socialist countries- oz, canada, NZ, britain, sweden, germany, spain and other EU countries, japan.....usually have longer life expectancies, lower infant mortality rates, longer vacations, national health care with full coverage for everybody at much lower per capita costs, tiny percentage of murders, no capital punishment, better infrastructure, maternal/paternal maternity leaves, independent commissions to eliminate gerrymandering, more press freedom..
horrible things.....
147
@Michael
It is really very simple:
Communism .neq. Socialism
Totalitarianism .neq. Communism
7
Why is it that when someone disagrees with AOC or Ilhan Omar, the immediate response from many on the left is that this person must have a problem with their gender or race? It was absurd that Ocasio-Cortez suggested that Pelosi was "targeting women of color" when she criticized her squad, and many Democrats recognized this. There are moderate Americans who disagree with the politics of Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez or question the manner in which Congresswoman Omar discussed US-Israel relations that had nothing to do with their backgrounds. If the Democrats believe that any disagreement stems from some form of racial or gender-based prejudice, they will have no chance of retaking the White House next year.
510
@BD Many people clearly do have a problem with their race, gender, and in Omar's case, religion. It's sometimes difficult to disentangle which criticisms stem from that and which are legitimate. Certainly Omar's comments about Israeli lobbying have been more closely inspected by some people because of her background.
31
@BD
White people think AOC was ridiculous. People of colour know that it's not. Their opinions are treated as annoying and radical. America's problem isn't just Trump-style prejudice. It's also Pelosi- and Biden-style prejudice.
19
@BD Trump didn't simple "disagree with them," which would not be racist, he told them to "go back to where they came from," which is the definition of racism and xenophobia.
If you're debating semantics over what constitutes racism, to paraphase Jeff Foxworthy, you might be a racist.
51
Truer words were never spoken:
"That the price of giving him eight years in the White House could be the soul of a great nation. That we can’t afford that."
But the distillation of what Trump is and why he must go, after 900 days of this circus, still has not been arrived at.
What pox has affected the brains of our countrymen that this poseur has been allowed to run wild over our democracy? Why can't we define it and agree to end the carnage of our American dream at the hands of this great fraud and his ignorant enablers?
What weakness has overtaken us. Can we ever recover?
736
@LKF
Alarmist and hyperbolic much?
6
@LKF If this election is about kitchen table issues: jobs & uniting this country there's no way the Democrats lose. If it's about reparations, immigration, & AOC there's no way we win. This week we saw a preview of Trump's 2020 election strategy. He wants & needs a foil to energize his base. Making AOC & her allies the face of the Democratic party is a brilliant strategy. This is the only issue that would compel independent swing voters to hold their nose & vote for Trump. AOC & her cohorts are out of step with the not only the overwhelming majority of voters but the majority of Democrats. I've about had it with the progressive fanatics who keep trying to push the Democrats off the cliff or into a circular firing squad. Amazing that after losing to Trump by alienating working-class voters, we're scrounging for issues that will alienate them even more. Free healthcare for illegal immigrants? You can't be serious. The more benefits we give, the more will try to get here. It's an impossible equation. If we lose this election you blame it on leftist zealots pushing divisive issues like this. The biggest question implied but not answered in this article is can Democratic Moderates & progressives co-exist in the same party. I would say absolutely not. The voters we need to win back the country have different values. There's no way to bridge the gap. If any of the far-left candidates are the nominees in 2020 we will lose decisively. We need to steer a course towards the center.
50
@Ricardo Sahs
Actually, LKF is more like the canary in the coal mine.
33
Democrats are wrong. Not in what they are saying about Trump's gang of 4 attack, but what they are omitting: who you are (in this case, where are your origins) matters as much as what you say. Democrats can pretend that people will be completely open to persons with recent (they or their parents) from places with very poor governing institutions who come here and try to tell us how to fix our broken ways, but that pretense won't impress the all-important center (don't bother with the Trump right).
This is _not_ an all-out critique of the gang of 4, I think in fact their voices can indeed be part of what makes America a better place. But they are overplaying their hand, right into Trump's hand.
3
“Medicare for All” has anyone polled the Corporations who provide insurance to employees as to there position on healthcare?
Would the Chamber of Commerce like to decriminalize border crossings?
Are regulations for controlling our climate consistent with Corporate business plans?
This election campaign is barely started. There are too many assumptions being made. Let’s allow all the debates to play out.
The 2018 midterm elections can be viewed as a success for being about policy, about what really affects people, about what this country wants and needs. The “Squad” said it: “Don’t take the bait.” The media are so hungry, so greedy to boost their influence, that they gave the presidency to Trump by giving him unlimited coverage and publicity, probably billions of free political advertising. They should be ashamed.
Some of the debate surprised me, also. The question about giving medical care to migrants: I didn’t understand that to mean unlimited coverage, but to give them the medical care they need to survive. Medicare for all: in every country I know of, there IS supplemental insurance; everyone I know is happy on our current Medicare, but most of us have a supplemental policy. My husband had huge medical costs during five years of lung cancer, but we were not strapped financially. And people/congress must understand that nothing comes free, that funds must come from somewhere—and right now funds are coming from the middle class; the wealthy must pay more, as they did in those nostalgic 1950s.
So ignore Trump, don’t play his game. Let’s have an election about real people and what they want and need. And media, stop giving him free publicity.
2
If the Dems want to win, unity is required. ALL policy positions should be subordinate to beating Trump and electing Dems. Includes reparations, Medicare for All, and anything militating against stability. Outbursts by the squad and Pelosi should be recognized as giving aid to a racist party intent on institutionalizing its minority rule against America's attempt to make a democratic Republic.
The way to absolutely insure a Dem victory for President is to move now to support, adopt and co-op the Green Party.
Congressional Dems should approach The Greens' leadership and request that given the serious threat to the Republic and the planet they not field a candidate in 2020, but throw their organization behind the Dem. The quid pro quo could be a commitment to place a Green as Sec of Interior and/or head of the EPA. Dems should invite the Greens in on meetings now for their input and offer their leadership key posts in a new Dem administration.
This would elevate the Green Party with a presence in a D.C. position of power & build the party from the bottom up– especially if a key legislative goal of the new coalition is a ranked voting system that would make 3rd parties viable.
Take a lesson from a parliamentary system of how to gain power by forming coalitions against a united Repub party.
Also useful for the Dems to fund a right wing third party challenge to Trump just as the Repubs successfully funded the Greens to the detriment of Gore, Hillary and the planet.
2
The "Squad" is fighting hard against Trump's racism and sexism, but they may be making the cardinal error of letting their opponent pick the field of battle and set the terms of conflict.
At the same time, it seems like Democratic Congressional leadership is not fighting hard enough. Chuck Schumer in particular has rolled over on fast tracking judicial confirmations in a manner that is going to have a very long tail.
What is Nancy Pelosi doing? Is she really just treading water, hoping to pass "message bills" that stand no chance in the Senate? And putting off any reckoning for Trump until November 2020?
I think (hope?) she is too smart for that. I think (hope?) Speaker Pelosi recognizes that August recesses are for angry constituents (viz. Tea Party, 2010). Maybe Robert Mueller's testimony on July 24 will set up pro-impeachment rallies in August, rather than anti-impeachment rallies that would result from an impeachment referral.
Hey Squad -- maybe use your Twitter and your public whatever to show your strength in turning out some angry progressives.
3
If I were faced with a choice of either Trump or Ocasio-Cortez, I would have to repeat my vote of 2016: a write-in candidate who is a linear descendant of one of the respectable Republican presidents of the 20th century.
For disclosure, I believe myself to be a progressive liberal of the center.
2
I am a white girl who's family emigrated from Ireland in the 1890's. I wish I could go back.
4
@ original flower child Kensington, Md.
WHY and whatever for?
Frank. This is one great analysis.
Trump's playbook of 2016, carefully kept in a shelf has been brought back. We are here in 2019. A little more than a year, before the next elections. If it was cucumber sandwich in 2016, now it would be better - perhaps, chicken or steak sandwich.
One has to look at - how did this subject on 'racism' come from? Mr. Trump's sudden concern for Nancy Pelosi? Mr. Trump playing the role of a referee, labelling the 'Squad' as unpatriotic. What followed after that, is all in the news.
What we see here is the great tactics which Mr. Trump is adopting. He is now a seasoned politician, no more the student. He has got better in the game. In 2016, it was immigration. Today, immigration is still there. The 'racism' card is now an add on to the list. This will be the main topic in debates in the future months. It is going to be uglier.
The question is. Will the Democrats be concentrating to counter Mr. Trump's attacks on the 'Squad' and the party?
The Democrats should be evaluating the results of the 2016 elections, and what helped them in 2018. Healthcare is causing more concerns to people today, with this threat to repeal the ACA. Right now, people want to know what policy proposals the Democrats have - whether it is to address the future of healthcare, education and research, infrastructure, income inequality, and so on.
Mr. Trump will continue doing what he has to do, to get re-elected. What will the Democrats do? The voters are watching.
1
If this is the strategy that Trump and the Republicans think will be effective and will succeed in keeping them in power, what does that say about the American electorate?
2
Trump hates AOC because she is a good looking, well educated, articulate woman who tells him no. He thinks that women exist to say yes. That is evidence of something much deeper, which is why he has so many credible accounts of sexual assault. To state what seems obvious, Trump is a sick man.
1
Maybe. But he does that help you
@PB - Trump doesn't hate AOC. She is a gift from heaven. Personally, I just wish she would go to her office and get some work done rather than try and be a YouTube star which is all she is at this point. I would not vote for her under any conditions. Open borders? They don't even do that on Star Trek and they are light years ahead of us in social issues.
3
@tom harrison
AOC is representing her district, not yours and they liked her enough to send home a long time, senior Congressman. You may not like her, but she will be around long after most people in this country are dead and buried.
And the assertion that she is for open borders is wrong, not surprisingly. Here is what she actually said on NPR, (source: Chicago Tribune 29 June 2018) “We have to have a secure border,” she told host Steve Inskeep. “We need to make sure that people are, in fact, documented.” So you can vote for whom you wish, just get the facts straight.
And one final point: if you think that we have a crisis at the border, you need to do some traveling to the rest of the world. We do not have a problem, at least one that can't be solved with some management and some diplomacy. Relatively speaking, this is nothing. Trump is just making it a distraction.
Travel to Japan where the population is decreasing by 25% and a significant % is either under 14 or over 65. Or to Russia, where 30% of the population under the age of 30 is leaving. Or China where the male/female population is way out of whack. Or Europe in general, where all countries are facing a population decline which translates directly into declining standards of living.
The world population by 2100 will top 10 billion. Of that, fully 40% of the world will be in Africa, which now comprises only 16% of the population. And you think we have problems.
Trumps attack on American citizens is an attack on my neighbors, friends, family and me. The fact that he uses demonizing lies to create hatred toward those who do not agree with his policies is despicable and not what a president of the people should be. He has already stated the "enemies of the people" publicly, including democrats, the press and many others who do not agree with his insane rantings and so called policies.
So far, every accusation that Trump hurls at others is in actually what he is or is doing himself. The only one buddying up to dictators is Trump, not these four women. The real enemy of the people is Trump. He is the enemy of democracy and all that we stand for.
5
Trump is aided and abetted by that mean Stephen Miller who is his senior adviser on immigration. They are a deadly combo.
Whether Trump impulsively made those statements or whether reasoned thought went into the tweet(s), such conduct has no business in the United States of America. Racial minorities comprise a very large percentage of this country, and to disavow them does not meet the American standard. After all, one day this country’s majority will be people of color (sorry Donald).
Another out of touch NYT Op-Ed columnist that has it backwards. Trump is scared of these women because he knows how powerful their ideas are and how they can energize a Democratic base.
Trump is scared of them like he is scared of Bernie. He'll get pummeled on the issues day after day and no amount of racism and xenophobia can change that. Ironically, Trump's hard stance on immigration has forced the American people left on that issue.
Fascists like Trump know that true left politics is what will defeat them. These four brave women represent that. They are the future and quite frankly, need to the present. Nancy Pelosi's jabs only holds our country back and headed towards a path of victory for.....Trump.
4
I don't think he is scared of them. He loves them. The more you encourage them the more likely he is to be reelected, then you can spend the next four years moaning about him.
1
@Frank - Trump loves these ladies because they give him something to work with.
@Frank The Squad might indeed energize a certain part of the Democratic base but at the cost of turning off moderates, independents and all the demographic groups they have openly scorned.
I voted for Ms. Omar in 2018, but I will vote for whoever opposes her in 2020.
Engendering hatred or fear of your opponent has long been a Republican tactic. Make him--or even better her--as scary as possible. Exaggeration, lying, and any other tactic are in bounds. Make every Democratic a minority and gay loving, flag-hating, intemperate liberal intent on taking away everything you the voters hold dear. It helps if they can be painted as a scary feminist. Then, run against this phantasm.
If you essentially serve your donor class and the elites and really do nothing that helps your voters, then you need to fool the voters all the time into thinking the opponent is their enemy. Trump enthusiastically follows the path scouted by other Republicans before him.
1
@T. Schultz - Right now what the Dems are running on is fear of Trump for 4 more years. Fear of billionaires and corporations. They run the same model.
1
Here’s a radical, daring challenge for all in the mainstream media (except Fox). Get together and agree to ignore everything Trump for a set period of time. Resist the urge, no matter how strong, to report and comment on his actions. Just sit back and watch him implode. Report on other things of interest that normally get shunted to the back pages in order to breathlessly report on his latest craziness. Ya see, he wants the attention, needs the attention to survive and seem relevant, and you all play into his hands nicely each time you report on him or analyze his actions. You’d be doing America a great service in the process. Kind of like a colonic cleansing every so often. Good for the body, good for the electorate. Just hoping...
3
@Tony Baynard
Sage advice but Democrats are addicted to hating Trump. They have a perverse fixation on him which is all consuming.
1
@Tony Baynard - The media loves Trump because he generates clicks. The media gave him so much help in the last election because they are capitalist enterprises that are in it for the money. He was great for news.
Journalism died with Cronkite. Now, all we have are various degrees of the National Enquirer posing as journalism. "An anonymous source said..." - we have a similar concept in the LGBTQ community. Its called gay gossip and it goes something like, "Hey girlfriend, what till you hear what happened but you didn't hear it from me". The main difference is that gay gossip tends to be more accurate.
Anyone who approved of tRump's comments was going to vote for him already. He's not expanding his base. In fact, he's so far underwater with women he can't win unless he cheats.
But, of couse, he will cheat.
2
Trying to make sense of the crazy behavior of Donald Trump one question that immediately comes to mind is whether he is crazy like a fox or just plain crazy . I think the answer is both . There is madness and there is strategy . He has severe personality flaws . He has out of control antisocial tendencies and narcissism . That is the reason he lies all the time , insults foes and allies and breaks every rule of decorum we should expect from a President . That is the madness part . But he also knows that there are people in this Country , like in any country in the World , that approve of his racism , xenofobia and misogyny . he is trying to rally those people and make them go to the polls and vote for him . That is the strategy part . He is a new Caligula and that is the scariest part of all .
1
The public needs to understand that the "Squad" represents where the next generation leadership of the Democratic Party want to go.
It is not only fair but responsible for Trump (and Pelosi) to point that out to Americans in general, and the Democratic Party rank and file, in particular.
If you don't want to go where Ilhan Omar wants to lead, it is better to say so now.
3
No it isn’t. First, it’s not a given that represent the future. Second, predictions are hard, especially about the future. When the future arrives, they themselves may see it differently. As Trump likes to say: we’ll see.
Whatever will be, will be. Vote on the policies you think matter now, and let the future take care of itself.
1
Trump wants political discourse to reside on the level of ad hominem attacks.
By passing the resolution, the Dems make the mistake of taking him seriously.
Trump suffers from something somewhere between psychosis and borderline personality disorder. Dialectical behavior training teaches you that the best way to deal with beyond the pale behaviors of this type is not to engage, but to ignore and walk away.
The media MUST STOP treating E V E R Y S I N G L E T W E E T with breathless breaking news seriousness. I want to read about the climate crisis, solving economic inequality, technological innovation. Tweets should only be mentioned - and never quoted - in passing.
2
@unreceivedogma - The media will only stop covering when we stop clicking. But if you are like me, you jump out of bed every morning to see what ridiculous thing Donald has done in the last few hours. He is more entertaining than anything currently on t.v.
So, Reps are not afraid of supporting Trump with all his bigotry, but Dems are afraid of four combative women? Maybe that is the recipe of Trump winning - cowardice of Democrats. Seems like many of their supporters stand for nothing, and will vote for whoever who will promise them to preserve the old ways when women and non-whites knew their place .
Trump is just trying to distract us, with the media's help of course, from Robert Mueller's upcoming testimony. Those of us who are on to him know that the "stable genius" is, in fact, quite unstable and extremely stupid. Hopefully enough voters will realize this in 2020 and decide they no longer want to live in a perpetual reality show, but I am not optimistic.
1
We progressives have a true conundrum. Ridding the country of Trump is paramount. But our 40 year slide into right wing extremism and oligarchy must end really soon. Are those goals in conflict in 2020? AOC is inspiring to the young, yet she scares the pants off the Fox Newsists. Disgruntled Republicans want us Democrats to nominate a Republican light (perhaps Biden or similar). Despite allowing their party to disintegrate into the gutter, they assume a voice in telling Democrats what to do. The young are our future, and if ignored (by a Biden), we will lose many to further disillusionment. I want us to stay true to our progressive manifesto, but Trump must not be allowed to steal another election. What do we do?
1
Back the squad!! Vote D and speak up!
This is not some grand political strategy thought out by Trump. He’s not that smart. This is his dog-eat-dog world displayed front and center. He’s a coward and frightened to the core projecting his fear, anger, and resentment on to others. In this case, four women of color who reject Trump’s predator mentality. He’s the grand victim and his victimized core love it. Remember, he’s their voice.
His hateful language will bring this country to violence and blood letting. There is no doubt.
Is it “smart” the way a wounded, vulnerable beast lashes out?
If the Democratic leadership weren’t such wimps, disparaging of the most inspiring members, they could continue to weaken and wound the beast in the White House. Instead, they lay down while he tears at the fabric of America, it’s rule of law, it’s power of diversity and the institutions that fight for these values.
See Clinton, Hillary; 2016 Presidential race: pundit wisdom.
The only solution is impeachment, which would dredge up the past, rather than allow Trump to bury it by creating new drama.
Today it is AOC, tomorrow it will be something else. He is a showman, and what he is trying to cover up are the facts.
1
Tom Steyer is the Democratic candidate from the financial elite who can intellectually and financially crush Trump.
@Steve Bolger - Who??
Anybody wondering why Trump did not demand that Justin Amash "go back to where he came from?"
RACISM? Of course!
But is it Trump's racism, or his calculated and cynical belief in the racism of his followers? Trump's factual faith that his Republican collaborators will not stand up against racism gave him the clear path for exciting his Klan.
1
I have been a working class Dem now retired and a Vietnam Vet. So I've seen a lot happen in America. I agree with Bill Maher (the silly King of Weed) that the Dems "eat their own". These four women Representatives while intelligent and well spoken (unlike Trump) who haven't even served for one year on the job are so pumped up by the arrogance of the popularity for their win that they now think they know how to run the Democratic Party and don't have to respect or listen to any of the experienced politicians like Biden or Pelosi. With this arrogance and reliance on race as some Honorary Badge of Honor (just listen to Kamala Harris) doesn't appeal to most moderate Democrats like myself. Keep it up and watch Trump further destroy American Democracy for another four years.
2
Whatever they do, any dems who are on the same stage as trump, respond only to comments about policies and issues. Leave him to do the denigrating, insulting, bashing, trashing. Do not respond. Ignore.
I despise trump with every nano ounce of my being. But even if we get rid of trump, if we leave Mitch McConnell as majority leader in the Senate this country will continue to stagnate. Show me a list of what the Republicans have done, over the last 10 years, that in any way, shape or form has benefited the average American citizen and any forward progress for We The People. Especially since 2016 it has been an all out attack on anything meant to protect We The People from the exploitation of the greedy, right-wing, ruling class.
1
What I worry about is that while DJT is ignorant, he is nevertheless, foxy. His goal is to undermine America, its form of government, its institutions, its commitment to liberty and justice for all. Who is his coach? Putin? Un? Navarro? Miller? Bannon? Now he tries to delegitimize Congress, and his sycophants applaud him. We need to be frightened as a people and very wary.
1
Can we all take a deep breath and wait to see who the nominee is before freaking out? Let him rant and rave against these four young women - who are incredibly brave considering the hate and threats they must be receiving in the thousands - to rev up his base. I guess he's got nothing better to do. How about we focus on the fact that not one GOP senator has nothing to say.
1
Spot on. AOC & her cadre are going to get him re-elected. Pelosi has been yelling about this for the last 6 months, but she is old and out of touch.
The young revolutionaries know better. You are either part of the solution or part of the problem. Now get out of our way. Long live the Revolution.
So do I. He would loss for sure She is so much smarted then him.
Let's face it - Trump is betting on the inherent stupidity and ignorance of the American people. America should be so proud!
1
Except that putting them "front and center" actually diminishes the women's authority as a threat to 2020 reelection. Democrats under Pelosi and Schumer are going to flock in horror towards a moderate center. Not coincidentally, this is the same exact place they've already staked a position.
Past as prologue. Trump attacks what he fears. Next year is a turnout election. Trump has bet his future on his base. He wants the most boring candidate possible. If the left doesn't turnout, he wins. He wants to run against Biden. 4 out of 5 top candidates, there is absolutely zero chance of splitting the Democratic base. Biden is the only one who can convince voters to stay home.
That's why Trump needs Democrats to fear the left. He needs an opponent voters won't get excited about.
1
The habit of the establishment of turning reality on its head, is why the Party of Trump feels perfectly comfortable lying all of the time.
These theories that Trump would rather run against AOC, who has the debate skills of a lawyer, and is popular with the actual base of the Democratic Party, instead of Biden, who has a habit of putting his foot in his mouth and losing presidential elections is establishment fantasy.
They say Trump attacks Biden, so he is afraid of Biden, and Trump attacks AOC so he wants to run against AOC. That is not logic. That is wishful thinking.
The Democratic Party controlled Congress for nearly 60 years straight, when they unapologetically taxed the rich, to do do big things for most people, from the Interstate Highway system to Social Security.
Since the centrists took over the Democratic Party, turnout is down, and Republicans control Congress most of the time. (Republicans controlled the House for 14 and the Senate for 16 of the last 20 years.) That is a losing record, and the centrist Democrat response to that failure is to say, "don't promise anything big to most people, because we don't have the votes to push it through congress." This is a complete misunderstanding politics.
In order to get good things done, you don't compromise with bad things, you get on your soap box and strongly advocate for good policy.
Then your base comes out to vote because you detailed how you would help them, and you have a mandate to PASS your policies.
1
He most certainly is running against AOC and the gang of four. And he will win.
5
Trump is running against AIC. He has made her the poster child of extremist policies no one in either party is going to support. AIC, Pelosi, Maxine Waters. A gift that keeps on giving. Throw in Whoppee and a few others and Trump does not need to spend s penny
The only question for 2020 is whether Democrats can hold the House while being trounced in the presidential election. History indicates it is very unlikely
2020 to 2025–total republican dominance. god help us
2
As a student of history it strikes me that many, if not most, Americans haven't the foggiest notion of what "socialism" is.
The only thing they "know" is that they "don't like it." I remember seeing a TV interview some years back of a Tea Party Rally in which an elderly woman remarked, "they better not touch my Medicare!" Apparently she doesn't realize that Medicare is a form of socialist medicine.
4
@Cristino Xirau
America is a center right country where socialism is still a four letter word. You can make a case that Medicare or Social Security is a form of socialism but many Americans don't see it that way. They have paid into both programs their entire working lives so they don't see this as socialism but as benefits they have purchased and are due. You could make a better case that progressive income tax is a form of socialism.
It's telling that Bruni chooses to fear monger over Trump using identity politics as an electoral cudgel 2020 rather than pointing out that Ocasio, Pressley, Omar, and Talib are fighting for working class people of ALL backgrounds. (i.e. Medicare For All, student debt forgiveness, protection against predatory lending)
It seems as if the thing that scares Bruni more than anything (even the election of Trump) is a rising diverse coalition of working class people willing to take power back from the hands of the 1% he represents.
2
@JT: I don't see much articulation of deep understanding of finance and scalable organization in any of the presidential candidates, including Trump.
1
Mr. Bruni, I am neither threatened by The Squad's gender nor race.
I will support Trump because I feel threatened by The Squad's apparent desire to completely remake this country into a socialist, no-border nation obsessed with racial and gender bean-counting.
I'd love to vote for Condolezza Rice, if only she'd run.
The media often laments the "divisiveness" of our national political discourse. Claiming that anyone who doesn't vote for Democrats does so due to racism and sexism does not help matters.
8
@Mike Mahan: The public sector of a mixed economy is socialistic. That distinguishes it from the private sector. The public sector coercively takes money by taxation, and spends it for the ostensible benefit of the public at large, according to the allocations of the government, be they dictatorial or democratic.
3
@Mike Mahan
May I suggest that a "socialist" United States might be preferable to a "fascist" United States which would seem to be the result of any administration headed by Donald J. Trump?
1
that is a great picture. I is now hanging on my wall to remind me daily how much I will vote for Donald Trump in 2020. Thank you Mr. Bruni.
2
I think you're giving Trump WAY too much credit. You spent so much time analyzing the hateful tweets of a racist, arguing that he had a plan. Come on. His plan is chaos. HE is chaos. And he IS a racist. That's it. He doesn't even read, so he certainly isn't dissecting polls and data and who votes how and why. He is aiming for HATE. And he's hit a bullseye every time. The only thing that will stop him is a wave of Americans VOTING to tell him he's on the wrong playing field.
7
Say what you will (and think) about Trump, in less than three dog years, he's managed to own the entire Republican Party through his fear-based dictatorial leadership of the complacent and complicit. Meanwhile, the Democrats have thus far remained leaderless, clueless and quarrelsome in their quest for unity that
could save this country from itself. Dèjá vu. That slow motion train wreck we witnessed on the way to 2016 is occurring again. And we're witnessing it again in real time.
The rest is just noise.
3
And what is the soul of America in the age of Trump? Sixty percent of her citizens believe it resides in the Statue of Liberty, and 40% believe it resides in cages at the southern border.
Of course Trump was going to use the squad to define the Democratic Party. He needs favorable turf on which to fight the 2020 election battle, and a political ideology that even many in the Democratic Party view as too extreme was a gift. And he was never going to pass up an opportunity to wrap that gift in racial animosity.
Four young women of color were an easy target, and until he comes up with an even more base and inflammatory strategy to retain power, he will continue to portray them as THE reason America is not yet great again.
Trump is a failure as president, and he is a corrosive influence on our country. Going into an election year, he has to obscure that inconvenient truth. His use of bigotry to accomplish that end is indefensible. But it is also completely unsurprising.
5
@Patricia: The US public doesn't even understand that the human "soul" is software that we develop for ourselves after birth to cope with the circumstances we are born into.
" Was it an infantile expectoration or part of a grand plan? "
Considering the pathetic behavior on continuous display by Mr. Trump, I would tend more toward the former.
The Democrats are disorganized. They can't get their act together. They can't muster any enthusiasm which, aside from policy course correction, is what the country desperately needs.
The Republicans don't exist except for a handful who remember Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Reagan. They are the Trump Party in everything but name.
How ugly will it get? We haven't seen anything yet. Just wait until the nominating conventions. That is, if Trump hasn't declared martial law before then and Fox News is just fine with it.
6
How should we respond to trump’s vile provocations? Ignore him. Pelosi should point out that he is targeting these congresswomen unfairly for effect and that no one will take his bait, then change the subject.
Has anyone ever beaten trump or even taken him down a few notches by expressing outrage at his ravings? Bruni is right that he will become even grotesque as the election nears.
4
Oh, Frank, Trump is going to be running against Omar and Occasio-Cortez, and Talib and Pressley...
They're the best argument he can have to run in the 2020 election...
Those four are more scary than he could ever be.
7
Yes. Trump's statement about the four members of the Squad is terrible. Since i expect this of Trump, i am more worried that these four women due to their inexperience will keep playing into his hands and undermine the Democrats in their efforts to retake the Senate and the WH. Also, the Squad's recent accusation that Pelosi is a racist has lost them considerable support from the average Democratic base. I don't know if there is a way to wake these women up. I am losing hope, as they seem truly taken by the spotlight the media has given them and their extreme righteousness.
4
Why this agonizing over a few off-the-cuff "tweets". That all is fluff and nonsense, a silly kerfuffle. These four congresswomen are powerless and largely clueless, out of touch in their socialism with most of America.
Donald Trump is doing plenty of things that matter. Things that have a real effect in the real world, affecting peace and prosperity. Debate those. Ideas are fine, but execution is much, much more important. And how much executive experience do these women have? Not much. So they don't matter.
4
Trump's tweets were a brilliant political move. The fact that it worked out perfectly for him is frightening, precisely because so many people quickly realized exactly what he was doing and yet his opponents still did exactly what he wanted them to do. If Trump is stupid, then his left-wing opponents are certainly not any smarter.
3
Hopefully, after Trump's latest blast and the response, the Squad will go into hibernation until after the election
5
Another great column...just one thing to add - the world also cannot afford another 4 years of him.
2
I wish. Then someone could point out the ridiculous hyperbole of comparing AOC and the "squad" to mass murderers like Mao and Stalin who killed and starved millions collectivizing agriculture and purging their respective countries of elites and the intelligentsia.
I could make an apt comparison between Trump and another world leader who fought real Communists. And it would pain me to do so, so I won't.
Trump is like a kid desperate for attention. He doesn't care if it is positive or negative--the only thing he fears is being ignored. I wonder what would happen if the whole world decided to ignore him.
5
With all due respect, I disagree with Mr Bruni. I don’t think Trump has the mental capacity to devise such complex plot. I think he watched something he found offensive about the 4 female Democrats on Fox, grabbed the phone and tweeted the first set of insults that came to his mind. That’s it.
4
Excellent piece, I couldn’t agree more.
1
What Trump wants? The Media keeps putting these four together on camera. They finally found politicians they could agree believe. They're to good to do their job. They're here to save the world. Imagine how overwhelming anyone's first day at Congress. Bet you can learn something new everyday especially if you have qualifications or experience.
True story. In a NYC bar a coworker explained away the troubles of his country. He was fourth generation American but it was his country. After hearing about hundreds of years of injustice the story teller needed a break, so did I. The bar tender with a heavy accent from the storytellers "country" tells me he never set foot there and doesn't know what a a hole it really was. Adding that's why he'd never go back. Ever happen to you?
The “Squad” are out for themselves.
They are four people from very safe districts who can do incredible national damage.
If they didn’t exist, Trump would try to invent them.
9
Trump's behavior is increasingly suspect. He needs a psychiatric evaluation by several independent physicians. I say this seriously and not in jest. He could imperil the nation. Then, all the currently silent republicans could analyze the mess left behind and claim 'I am not a doctor, so I couldn't know'. Same as they say they're not scientists as the seas keep rising.
5
Well said Frank. Trump is ignorant because he does not care about anything except his own needs. He needs to win & gloat over somebody or group. He needs the roar & approval of the crowd. He has set up the perfect storm to create so much fog and smoke that he could very well win. I think that perhaps he knew enough that by going after their race and gender & their politics he could really rev up his base. I disagree with these 4 Democratic women on their approach to issues . To attack them as he did is beyond the tactics of Nixon. This attack is so ugly as to defy description. What is also abhorrent is how Trump has taken his hateful spiel to such levels. I do not find it surprising that the Republicans are silent on this issue. They sold their soul to the devil a long time ago. I also do not find it surprising that once again the Democratic Party could very well shoot itself in the foot. They seem to somewhat understand that Trump is a dirty fighter but also seem to truly lack a grasp of how low he will go to win re-election. The 2020 election may become an extremely nasty & violent business Trump is about "blood & soil". The enemy that we defeated in Europe nearly 80 years ago is back again. This time it appears in the form of a bloated out of shape petulant 8 year in a 72 year old male body. Those that fail to learn from history may well repeat it. I never thought that I would live to see such a deviant president in the White House.
Trump is the disease, the Squad is the vaccine. The reality is that AOC could crush Trump in the presidential election, if she were old enough to run. She has the same - or greater - effect on Dems as Obama, and that drives turnout. Warren, Biden? Not so much. Harris? Maybe.
The opportunity they missed at their presser was to talk about Trump’s relationship to the news that gave rise to Trump’s tweets - Epstein. Omar landed a few good punches though.
Intelligent, caring people, both in politics and in other areas know what he is doing. It's the classic bait and switch and we fall for it every time. Trump says something incredibly nasty that people decry, all the while doing something equally nasty that our government misses by a mile. I'm starting to think our House and Congress are blind, deaf, and dumb. When are you going to focus on what's being done rather than on Trump's tweets!
1
You don’t think this has Nancy Pelosi written all over it. She realize early on that this is the future and she also realize that these four women will be Trumps undoing
Blah-blah-blah, Frank. Trump's already counting his "Benjamins" thanks to Pelosi and the so-called squad treating 2020 like a pie-eating contest.
To my chagrin as a lifelong Democrat, Trump will get re-elected because the Democratic Party is aligning itself with the statements made by AOC, Tlaib, Pressley and Omar, not with their right to make those statements.
Worse yet, Trump wins in a landslide when he fires Pence and drafts Nikki Haley as his Veep.
And when he wins in 2020, he'll say the Democratic Party made it a lot easier for him than Hillary did in 2016.
5
President Trump is not afraid to run against ANY of the Democratic candidates. They are all radical and Biden is incompetent. He will crush any one of them. Wait until they debate face to face. Exposing the squad now is just a part of his brilliance. They are not being targeted because they are women nor because they are " of color."( a very condescending term I might add). They are being targeted because what they say is anathema and repugnant to most mainstream Americans. President Trump will win the electoral college rather easily in 2020.
4
as long as "the squad" continues to get coverage from the media that seems so fascinated with her/their/its doings, trump will score. you have only yourself to blame.
6
Spot on. The only omission was not including the Republican Party as infected carriers of Trump’s poisonous venom.
I don't understand why the 4 women making up the "squad" are described as 4 women of color. Ms. Tlaib's ancestors came from the Middle East and Ms. Ocasio c. is hispana. We hispanics are so designated because of our cultural background, the Spanish language, etc. not by our color. We come in all colors, shapes and sizes. God bless us all!
3
Funny how all the Time's Picks agree with Bruni yet Trump's ratings improve.
NYC could turn out a million more D votes and it wouldn't make any difference in the Electoral College, the only stat that counts.
The Times crowd seems to have learned nothing from 2016.
4
Trump only targets those whom he deems inferior, powerless, vulnerable and weak, namely women, minorities, the poor and the disabled. He's too much of a coward to pick a fight with someone who fights back because they might win. to paraphrase Bugs Bunny, he don't know us very well, do he?
1
Bruni is right. Repulsive and vile as Trump is, give him credit: He is picking his 2020 opponent, not the Democratic Party.
To get the maximum rise out of his media supporters and white base, he has chosen as his opponent:
1. Women,
2. Of color,
3. From (more or less) urban environments,
4. Who favor more left wing social policy ideas (which he can easily label as “socialist”), and
5. Who favor economic policy ideas he can label as “income redistribution”, thus energizing his rich Republican donor base.
Sure, he will try to tie Biden, Sanders, Warren and the like to the Squad. But what this may also mean is that he thinks Kamala Harris has a good shot of being the Democratic nominee, so he is trialing his themes now in advance of facing her later.
1
Biden “radiates decency the way Trump glows orange from makeup and tanning beds.”
If it was “decency” that led him to support the bill that made it nearly impossible for working Americans to declare bankruptcy- then the word decency is now a pejorative.
2
I suggest that if President Trump wants to lambast “the squad” the field is fertile for counter attack.
1- Trump has faced criminal charges at least three time that I know of. He had to reach settlements for housing discrimination in NYC in the 70’s.
2- He had to pay a settlement for his fraudulent Trump Universty.
3- His foundation was forced to pay settlements for miss-appropriation of funds.
4- There is plenty of evidence that he violated campaign laws with payment to Stormy Daniels.
5- He up till just last week continued to surround himself with administration staff and cabinet members who have been forced out of office for corruption or illegal acts.
If Trump wants the squad to go back to their corrupt crime infested homes, no passport is required!
How many criminal or civil indictments do the squad have collectively?
The President is way to quick to pair the word infested with countries with populations primarily of color. Perhaps just yet another example of deflection....
3
Caution, caution, caution.
That's what is called for, over and over again.
And yet, such political angst didn't win the White House, it hasn't gotten us a reasonable and modern health insurance system, it hasn't gotten us a tax regime that is even remotely fair to workers, it hasn't moved the needle on mass shootings, and it hasn't broken the united front of racist ideology couched in code words presented by the Republican party.
Indeed, generating excitement seems to be the true key these days, so why is the author so concerned about excitement being generated in those who support younger, non-white candidates who better reflect their own beliefs and values?
1
"That the price of giving him eight years in the White House could be the soul of a great nation. That we can’t afford that."
Unfortunately, Republicans and their constituents have been brainwashed into thinking the exact opposite if a Dem wins. They believe a Dem will destroy the nation. The right-wing mindlessly views any Dem leadership as flawed leadership without reading any policy. The electorate of the right lives in vacuums completely devoid of facts and evidence. It is pure insanity.
Trump turns everything into a schoolyard brawl. “Send them back” has the perfect ring to it, from here to Nov. 3, 2020. Dems need to quickly and strongly rebuke being branded as “America haters.” To have an opposing view is not to hate America. It’s what makes America [great]. The Trump supporters who would chant “Send them back” probably opposed everything about Obama, but no one called them out as haters or told them to leave during the 8 years of that administration. The Squad needs to take a backseat, or they will get Trump re-elected and may well wind up relegating Democrats, and the two-party system, to the dustbin. That’s Trumlp’s and McConnell’s end game. They want to be the ruling party for eternity.
He also thought that making Nancy Pelosi the face of the Democratic Party was a winning strategy in 2018. Just as voters focused on their candidates in House and Senate races in 2018, they will focus on the person running for President in 2020. So should media outlets like the NYT.
On the PBS News hour Mark Shields pointed out that none of them has ever been in the minority party and don't have a clue about what it actually takes to get anything accomplished.
What an embarrassment.
2
Trump has way too much time on his hands. Is he doing the job of president? Who is doing that job because I can’t believe he is. The Democrats need to focus on his lack of job performance and the fact that the White House is currently unoccupied by a commander in chief. It is inhabitable by a Twitter addict and an army of enablers.
3
He is, and all she (very loudly) stands for.
He is running against AOC and Omar. And they love it. Now what?
1
I for one can’t wait for 4 more years of Trump. It’s more certain now then ever before.
Bruni wants the Squad to sit down, shut up and wait their turn. The Democrats have lost enough elections by acting like a kinder, gentler version of the Republicans. For the first time in years, I believe that the party is regenerating itself. Bruni would have it stifle new ideas in favor of a safe, risk-averse campaign for 2020. Which is exactly how we got trump in 2016.
21:00 EDT, 7/16
When you combine racism and misogyny, you get the Republican Party.
I really appreciate AOC and her colleagues. May they prosper in their efforts to help make our country a better place.
1
The Dems need to come together and unify under two simple banners:
1. Crime and Cover-Up: To deal with the present threat (aka Donald Trump), they need to fully investigate and address the Crime & Coverup
2. Moral Capitalism: Their policies and legislation will be based on Moral Capitalism akin to that of FDR. They will be the party that for now will fine-tune based on common sense, fairness, equity...to drive education, health and economic opportunity for all....
I would like to have a Trump - AOC debate.
Who do you think will win?
Democracy requires knowledgeable voters. The battered and baffled are choosing ignorance.
“The soul of a great nation,” as you call it, was battered and beaten during the Vietnam War and has never recovered.1
2
Such a silly, misguided article. Trump’s linking the Democratic Party with the Squad in the minds of swing voters—-political genius.
2
Trump has a motto which says “America First”. If you believe in these words, like he does, you can’t say those things about women who are American citizens born in the US. But then, if you see who Trump really is, you also understand those crazy and wrong statements.
Oh please. It was Speaker Pelosi who triggered this inanity when she decided to scold "The Squad" in an interview with Maureen Dowd. Then Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez retaliated, telling the Washington Post that Pelosi had been "outright disrespectful." She accused her of "the explicit singling out of newly elected women of color." Trump jumped in and in his bizarre fashion defended Pelosi. The stupefying volley ball game continued until he finally let loose with one of his trademark primitive racist comments, which should have surprised no one. Except Speaker Pelosi, who apparently was shocked, shocked shocked and decided to ask Congress to administer a rebuke. Except she made certain that the language of the rebuke was 100% unpalatable to Republicans and thus the rebuke morphed into a political fracas on the floor of the House of Representatives, the aftertaste of which is now trending annoying. Take away? Trump unscathed, Pelosi reprimanded for a "personality" attack on Trump, and the performance of the Democrats flaccid. Not good. Not good one iota.
1
One can only wish that Trump was running against such an outstanding American as against Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She is everything that Trump isn't. Ocasio-Cortez wouldn't even break a sweat in sending Trump into the racist-dustbin of history.
1
"That the price of giving him eight years in the White House could be the soul of a great nation."
No, we already lost our soul under eight years of Obama. Trump is living proof that anything is better than an empty suit.
1
" He's ignorant, not stupid. "
I don't think it's quite that simple.
These four are also a tool for promoting discord in the Democratic ranks, because as the recent feud between them and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi demonstrated, plenty of their fellow Democrats find them too fantastically idealistic, too censorious of those who disagree with them, too quick to play the race card, too much.
Not sounding like Frank Bruni, he not liking how they sound, calling them out on it, not liking that they aren't awe struck into silence is them fermenting discord.
1
Mr. Bruno, I am not concerned that “the squad” makes Democrats look more liberal than than they are in reality. I AM concerned that 20 presidential candidates in a debate give the same impression. If that continues, the 2020 election will be ceded to the worst president we’ve ever had.
2
I'll put money on Trump's next move.
Trump invites the Squad to a "sit down" at the WHITE House to make peace, and sooth concerns.
The Squad declines the invitation.
Trump declares that he is the "bigger MAN."
Anyone want to bet?
2
I learned something from the Parkland School shooting victims.If you go right at Trump...challenge him....disagree with him forcefully....call out his disingenuousness ....you get attention from the media and the public.A.O.C. and her contemporaries know how to do it.To this 75 year old man,they are a breath of fresh air.That some grumpy old Fox News addicts(and Democratic centrists) see them as a threat is a good thing.It tells me they are on the right track.They are shaking the Democratic party awake from a deep ideological sleep.As to the polls,sure they recognize the names,sure they don't think they like them but very few of the respondents could tell you one thing any of these young congressman has proposed.The train left the political center several years ago...the Republicans realize it while "moderate" Democrats wish for the"good old days' ,for a return to civility,for a chance to stop thinking about Trump's latest teaser tweet.The sooner we all realize we can't roll back the clock,the sooner we can effectively take on Trump.....and defeat him.Go ahead,call the "squad" socialists...so what.Do you think most younger votes care?The term is an old bogeyman from the 50's when our elders feared that communism was taking over the world and now, Putin is Trump's great pal."The Times They Are A-Changin"...go back and listen.
268
@Iamcynic1 Unfortunately there are still a whole lot of those who were growing up in the 50s and 60s who hear "communism" when "socialism" has been the word (and concept) put forth. These folks vote at far higher percentages that younger generations and some in those groups will still conflate socialism with communism. -- and vote against it. The GOP has always been able to play the race card far more effectively than the Dems and this time conflating it with "socialism" will be their strategy.
18
@Iamcynic1. I’m old enough to remember George McGovern, are you? As Tom Friedman says, the revolution will wait.
9
@Iamcynic1 Yes . There is this trivial and mercantile idea of politics, that is also with the democrats, and that brought Trump to power.
The young democrats in the congress represent the light into the future.
It is sickening to see thse 70 to 80 year old lesson tellers who have never done anything . No imagination.
9
I’ve come to believe that the squad & their backers actually want Trump to be re-elected.
They understand that their platform is too radical to win majorities in 2020 but that four more years of Trump could push the country far enough to the left for them to win both houses & the presidency.
Their miscalculation could be around the courts...they would have to minimally take back the Senate by 2022 to prevent a generation of conservative justices.
2
@Gailmd
reminds me of some of my more crazy radical friends in the 60s who thought that pushing the government right would finally bring about the true revolution. How did that turn out?
Trump's reelection strategy is simple - just repeat his 2016 win. Lose popular vote by millions, but win electoral college. This system is fundamentally antidemocratic, and should have been abolished long ago. However, the EC has allowed people like GWB and Trump, two wholly unqualified candidates, to somehow emerge as president.
6
Thank you Frank, you inevitably wade through the “smoke and mirrors”.
As much as Trump is erratic, the only thing the White House resident cares about is winning. He sees a DEFINITE WINNING STRATEGY in keeping this “Squad” Routine going.
While I appreciate and fully recognize that it is essential to energize the Democratic “base”, I also have witnessed over my 50 years as a LIBERAL Democrat, Single Parent, Grandmother and NOT an “Elite!” that the emotion and anger in many Democrats make it hard to win National Elections with the current Electoral College.
Isn’t it time for AOC and Saikat Chakrabarti, who by the way, was part of Bernie Sanders campaign, to ensure a Democratic candidate win the White House? Ms. Ocasio-Cortez has years ahead of her to rise but frankly, the fate of the country is at stake! I am worried for my children, grandchildren, my extended family and all.
We cannot RISK a LOSS in 2020! Time for putting egos in line, strategize and Dump Trump!
12
As to open borders, I am guessing that many Democratic voters like me, also do not think it is a good idea. The more progressive policies supported by the "left-left" should be pursued at the state level. The party should note that distinction so that it can adopt a more moderate platform for federal elections, while still expressing interest in/support for those more "controversial" ideas.
2
The Democrats need to do 3 things to win:
1.) Stay united for the Democratic candidate no matter who it is - liberal, progressive, moderate, Biden, Sanders, whoever. No staying home, no voting 3rd party - no matter what.
2.) Do not propose policy ideas that are perceived to be so far out of the mainstream they will alienate average, regular, everyday, middle-class people.
3.) Loudly propose and support a comprehensive immigration plan along the lines of the 2013 plan that easily passed the Senate and which most voters find sensible and reasonable.
If we do these 3 things, Trump will lose big. Stay focused on winning, not getting every single possible thing you want.
7
THANK YOU, Frank Bruni! What an excellent and clear assessment of the risks with face of being manipulated -once again - in the 2020 election.
4
Largely agree Frank but you are missing one key point. Namely that no matter how much Trump and the GOP try to paint the Dems as "the Squad", it only works because there is no nominee. Part of Trump's power is that he's the ONLY voice on one side and commanding the ultimate bully pulpit. Meanwhile the opposition to him comes from dozens of different sources in politics in the media. However once there is a Dem nominee, that person is going to be the singular voice contending with him and talking nonsense about Omar or Ocasio-Cortez will just make it clear he's deflecting. No matter how much he may want to run against AOC, he's going to be running against Biden, or Warren, or Harris and he won't be able to hide from the withering light they're going to shine on everything about him as the media laps it up.
1
Yes, the Squad becomes the new Willie Horton. This did not start with Trump and it will not end with Trump. Democrats can put forth candidates to appease, like Joe Biden, or to be inclusive like Mayor Pete. Maybe they will win. The problem is that winning the Presidency will not save us from health care bankruptcy, economic polarity, erosion of labor rights, attacks on women’s rights, global warming, cruel immigration policy and incoherent foreign policy without a resounding mandate. Solutions to all these issues are what the Squad seeks as do many of their supporters. Liz Cheney threw out the real gauntlet saying she disagreed with their policy solutions not their gender, race or religion. Democrats should respect each other’s ideas even if they do not agree. Nancy Pelosi should never have allowed Dowd to print that belittling quote about the Squad. Instead challenge the Republicans and their President on policy every minute of every day. This will show the vast majority of voters who see through the racist baiting that there are leaders who understand their problems and have solutions.
1
@Daniel Salazar- Unfortunately 10s of millions support Trump precisely because of the racist baiting.
Mr. Trump wishes he was running against AOC? I wish that AOC were running against Mr. Trump.
What a refreshing idea that someone in politics says what she means and means what she says. So refreshing in comparison to Mr. Biden, for example, who pretends to be for the common man while in reality he consistently supports the bankers.
Mr. Trump beat Hillary Clinton in the last election (yes, I know she won the most votes, but he's in the White House and she isn't) because we could not trust anything she said. Let's not see another Democrat who rivals Ms. Clinton or Mr. Biden at speaking out of both sides of the mouth.
I like the way AOC speaks clearly and to the point, and I'd like her chance to win a race against Mr. Trump just for the fact that what she says is to the point and truly reflect who she is. Too bad she's too young to meet the constitutional requirement for age.
3
What's sad to me is that the Squad and a host of progressive Democrats can't see the larger playing field. They are so taken with Trump's outrageous behavior that they miss the reality of the country. They are so caught up appealing to their base, the miss the whole country. Diversity is at work here, racial, ethnic, economic, regional, cultural and intellectual. It involves more than color. Trump need only peel off 10 -15% of the electorate to squeak out another victory. This is not inconceivable if segments of the electorate are turned off by the progressives' more extreme solutions and choose either to vote 3rd party or not at all. the Democrats are in danger of being painted into a Progressive Box to the detriment of all.
8
Democrats won back the House in 2018 by focusing on the issues that affect everyone: healthcare, jobs, education, Social Security & Medicare, etc. These are issues that join us together.
Democrats will win again in 2020 by keeping the same focus. Elizabeth Warren is doing that now, and leading the party in the right direction regardless of who gets the nomination.
As ever, the GOP is focused on divide-and-conquer. Don't take the bait.
4
If Warren keeps rising in the polls and signing on to everything AOC proposes then pretty much Trump WILL be running against AOC.
2
It would be interesting to see the poll being touted by a "top democrat". Neither Bruni's article nor the linked Axios article give any details about the origin of the poll, its methodology, the actual questions, or any independent measure of its randomness. It's perfectly possible that the DNC is behind this poll and got the result it wanted. The DNC's history may be prologue here.Who is the top democrat? A Pelosi ally?
1
@WJF
Thank you for that clarity.
Here's a suggestion in talking to a Trump supporter regarding Mr. Trump's pet peeve of immigration.
First, ask them if refugees in excess of the capacity of the detention centers to safely hold them should be removed from confinement, executed and buried in mass graves. I desperately hope they would not sanction that.
Then, ask if all refugees should be released from detention and left alone to do whatever they would wish to do in this country. Clearly, only a thin sliver of Americans of all political stripes would choose this option.
So, now we have defined the boundaries of the discussion between the irresponsible and the unthinkable.
Lastly, ask them what they would wish if they or their children or grandchildren were among the refugees. Unless you are a member of the First Nations, you are an immigrant or a slave or a descendant of one of these two groups.
By narrowing the discussion in this way, we can remove much of the vitriol and seek a rational and humane immigration system in a world only facing increasing pressure for relocation from dangerous and unlivable locations.
2
Sorry, but nope.
Because I can tell you the response, which we saw yesterday:
“What’s your ethnicity?”
A response that’s right up there with, “Do you hef relatives in POLAND?” And, “Let me see your papers.”
The Squad will hopefully recognize that while they represent their districts, they do not represent the vast majority of Americans, most especially, the Americans in the center who will decide the next election.
Nancy Pelosi has the right vision on how to win the election in 2020. The Squad should trust her experience and instincts and follow her lead.
13
This is one of my favorite style columns along with its content, for which I like the columnist. It’s true that Mr. Trump deployed his unique instinct to stir situations in order to create new circumstances. In this controversy, he also consequentially promoted those new congresswomen, who are now recognized widely and probably in the American modern political history, as the Squad. Bruni, besides, points out that the progressive agenda is temporarily quiet for the racial offense made by Mr. Trump to be counter-weaponized by Democrats (selon my paraphrase). As for AOC, she would be able to jump start toward a new direction for her political maturity, which is also the opportunity, consequentially given by Mr. Trymp. It will depend on her willingness and strength, I think.
There is a scene in the 1955 film "East of Eden" in which the townspeople in a California farming community in 1917 form a mob that menaces a middle-aged German immigrant businessman and his family -- tearing up his garden, threatening him, his wife, and his father as they sit on their porch -- because the United States has just announced it is going to war against Germany.
"Go back where you came from!" yells someone from the mob.
Fortunately, the sheriff arrives and disperses the mob/
The vote last night was a necessary step, no matter the political fallout. The Republicans in Congress seem willing to let Trump run roughshod over our democracy, but that is not acceptable.
Everyone in this country except for black Americans whose ancestors were slaves and Native Americans has immigrant ancestors, some more recent immigrants than others.
Like the German immigrant in the movie, and like Trump's German grandfather.
7
If Democratic strategists convince party leaders that the route to victory is pursuing the votes of "white people with two years of college or less" Trump will win. Period.
7
One thing you're absolutely right about is that Trump is baiting the Democrats. Why do the Democrats have to swallow the bait? I can accept that identity based attacks must be countered, but the response must be calibrated so as not to alienate those who object to the squad on substantive grounds.
7
I believe Mr. Bruno has seen this clearly. In business negotiations sometimes you want a mad dog and other times a chess player - the comments and response to Trump indicate he has been successful in this regard. But there are politics on both sides that I suspect the non-aligned will recognize. Surely the President knows he will not win over those Americans who wanted him impeached from day 1. Likewise the Democrats have shown expedient outrage when they failed to condemn anti-Semitism but are now in high dudgeon-it is clear which voting group the Dems think they need and which they take for granted.
2
Mr. Bruni ‘s analysis, while articulate, is one based on fear. The statistics noted in the op ed are what we already know... the least educated will dislike women leaders, be pro trump and will want a white America. Another way to look at trump’s racist attacks on Congress women is that it is a ploy to move us off Epstein, the boarder atrocity and his attempts to dismantle healthcare. If Democrats stand strongly together against racism they will endure and perhaps become a party that resonates with the country’s need for a more hopeful future.
2
It’s hilarious and telling how worried everyone is about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. But again: she’s not running for President! She just got duly elected to Congress and is now serving her first term. That’s it.
It is frightening how far the country has moved to the right side of the margin (in age and politics) that a 79-year-old billionaire like Nancy Pelosi is the unquestioned leader of the working class party.
4
1. You think elections run on rationality?
2. You think it’s a good idea, O Progressive, to attack Nancy Pelosi because of her hubby’s money?
"...circulating a private poll of potential swing voters — white people with two years of college or less — that showed that 74 percent of them recognized Ocasio-Cortez’s name but only 22 percent had a favorable view of her, while 53 percent recognized Omar but only 9 percent saw her favorably."
Let's see if those Hillary Clinton supporters who were so quick (and wrong) to blame Bernie Sanders for Clinton's impossible loss, call out the Squad for the damage they're already doing to whoever the Democratic nominee turns out to be.
5
First off, St. Bernie WAS partly responsible. Along with a lot of other stuff, not least of which was Hillary.
Second off, what is it that you think Bruni’s talking about?
"Many Democrats are defining themselves as antonyms to Trump. That’s different from merely opposing him, and it might not be the way to go."
it all depends on how strong the level of fear is. Fear is dominating this country on both sides. Trumpists want to roll back the clock when all imigrants were blue-eyed, blond hair Poles, Germans, and Norwegians.
And those of us seeing this as an existential clash seek a strong moral leader to make up for the rot and corruption permeating Washington.
But in the end, the solution likely lies in how realistic each party's appraisal of voters.
Take the cliche, "that's not who we are." I hate that phrase with a passion because it never follows up with the obvious: that is who we are, unless we appeal to America's better angels.
4
Trump's hard core base is made up of individuals who feel that neither mainstream party represents their interests. These voters in important electoral college swing states that Trump was able to win over from Democratic "blue wall" control in 2016 are Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Maine. It is no coincidence that these swing states are formerly heavily unionized states which suffered significant losses due to NAFTA under Clinton when they gradual lost their jobs as manufacturing was exported to countries with cheaper labor & no union rules. When 2016 rolled around and the only choices to voters appeared to be Hillary Clinton vs. Jeb Bush, many working class voters were rightfully angry that the establishment was picking the candidates. Wikileaks documents hacked into by the Russians & published with the encouragement of Trump on the campaign trail confirmed their worst fears about mainstream Democrats. Clinton was chosen by the party elite while Sanders was purposefully undermined at every step. Thus, the "I don't care anymore" attitude that elected a trolling, anti-PC reality TV star who said all the right things with speech that mimicked the underdog working class white tongue. Suddenly downtrodden & forgotten white men were kings again held up to be worshipped by the opportunistic grifting candidate. Instead of blaming robotics & trade policies, Trump scapegoated immigrants & people of color as the enemy. Thus the need to constantly rile up his smitten base.
2
This essay was brilliant, I thought. And I thought also of the recent NYTimes essay explaining that some Trump voters put up with him because they fear the alternative. And I do not like to think it is just about abortion but I could be wrong. I think people may see the alternative as Medicare for All ( right away, as Sanders has said) and open borders .
I know some people also just honestly like Trump. That is a hard sentence to write. And some wealthy people like tax cuts and some business people like fewer regulations-or protections- for labor and the environment.
Thank you for this essay. I can’t forget that 47 per cent of Americans say they approve of the job Trump is doing. And some of those people are my friends and neighbors I suppose. This essay helps me understand those people better.
Anne Harris
4
I am proud of the Democrats: I am proud that women have stood up to the President as he has subjected a lot of women to terrible attacks in his policies and his stated personal attitudes. He is a man who has either directed or ignored the taking of children from their mothers or their families along with penning men with standing room only for days and it is just and right that he be confronted. He has given us reason to fear his ability to pardon. No one is safe from him. I am encouraged by the women and men who have confronted him. Thank you Mr. Bruni and thank you to the New York Times for continuing to print so many points of view and so many reader comments.
2
If the election is a referendum on Trump, he loses. If a referendum on the Left in America, he wins. He is working to make it the latter, and all 23 presidential candidates seem to be helping him.
19
I hope the Squad reads this thoughtful analysis and wises up and refrain from not inflicting four more years of Trump on the country? The question is; Do they have the humility and wisdom to wait their time (after Trump loses) to let loose all their vitriol? Probably not- So welcome to four more years of Trump
12
I would be interested in a different kind of analysis of the four members of the squad. To what extent do they support Elizabeth Warren and her carefully formulated policy proposals?
In what way do the statements of each of the 4 help or hurt Elizabeth Warren?
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Citizen US SE
3
Assuming that President Trump had an ulterior motive when he tweeted his original attack on the four congressional women of color gives him too much credit. Rather than seeing this as a campaign strategy, the New York Times analysts should know by now that Donald Trump‘s outrageous tweets are emotional not intellectual. Only after the fact do he and his aides try to put a political or cultural spin on yet another example of the president’s early morning outbursts. The man is out of control and seems to be losing what little civility he ever had. We can only wonder how long it will take for congressional members of the Republican Party to regain their loyalty to principle rather than loyalty to this man who is destroying the office of the presidency tweet by tweet.
3
The mainstream opinion is that Dems will lose in 2020 if the “squad” views are seen as representing them; therefore, the Democrats would do well to distance themselves, and embrace more centrist views and select a “moderate” candidate such as Biden. Nothing could be further from the truth. Democrats who nurture this idea still haven’t learned from the 2016 debacle in which they went with the more centrist and status quo Clinton over the more left leaning and anti-status quo Sanders. There has been a profound leftward shift in the politics of the people of this country that has only been exasperated by the growing economic peril and income disparity that is radicalizing the population. People want single payer, or Medicare for all, because in many cases this is a life and death issue. They tire of the obscene concentration of wealth that is coupled with growing poverty and the losing of purchasing power by workers who struggle to survive financially. People tire of corporations and the wealthy who increasingly pay less taxes which shifts a greater tax burden to themselves. People want a decent wage for all and thus support the $15 an hour minimum wage increase and support making college accessible to all who qualify even if that means doing away with tuition. The squad rode these views into office despite being inexperienced neophytes because in actuality they are the ones who are the mainstream. Think again Mr. Bruni, Trump has made a great miscalculation.
7
You are wrong. Biden would have won in 2016. Almost any democrat other than Hillary would have won. It was a HILLARY problem. She is not well liked. And that’s coming from someone who likes her a lot.
@Gail Giarrusso We very much disagree. Biden has the same baggage as Hillary: he is associated with the status quo, gets his money from corporate interests and the wealthy, is a 1%er himself, as well as supporting three strikes and the Bill Clinton OmniCrime bill that led to the over incarceration of thousands of black men for mere possession. He also has his unique talent for making gaffes, such as his teaming with segregationists and who knows what he will yet say. But mostly people just want change from the status quo, and that is how Trump and Sanders positioned themselves, although Sanders was way out polling Trump in 2016. Trump will crush Biden, who excites no one.
All the Democratic candidates should know that the have entered the biggest episode of The Apprentice by voluntarily putting all their cards on the table while hoping to be the last one to be ejected from the Island.
Sorry, people, this is not a winning strategy.
You’re toast already.
6
There's much in AOC's ideology that I disagree with, but choosing her ideology over Trump's should be easy for anyone with a shred of decency.
15
“A shred of decency” excludes anyone still supporting this president.
Trump realizes that most Americans find the squad's views repellant and he is taking advantage of that. He is a right-wing radical and is trying to make himself look better by pointing out left-wing radicals. It is pure political calculation, not spontaneous venting. The Democrats need to get their house in order.
6
It seems anywhere in the world where a society is divided along religious or racial lines, it lacks cohesion and shared sense of belonging. With mass migration as it is, I can only see this getting worse not better. I can completely understand why a large proportion of Americans wish to slow migration down. For those that wish to help developing countries, there are many other ways, other than migration.
5
There is certain symbiosis between the Squad and Trump. They keep each other in the headlines. The 4 women have been in a state of outrage since before they were elected to Congress. Yes, Trump was outrageous, but by insisting that Trump's insults were directed at their race rather than their radicalism, they are doing him a favor.
4
@George. Would these four candidates appear to you to be "in a state of outrage" if they were men? Sorry if I'm making sexist assumptions, but red flags go up for me when men refer to women as "outraged" since often it refers to behavior that would be seen as "assertive" or something else positive if they were men.
13
@eml16 I trust most people - including men - can tell the difference between anger and assertiveness. If men - as you assert - couldn't fairly judge women's behavior and motivations, how could they be trusted to vote for them in elections.
Of course, Trump wants to run against AOC, he said it himself in his next tweet. He said he's forcing the Democratic party to defend those four, and make the Squad the face and the soul of the Democratic party, so everybody sees what the party really is.
5
You may agree or disagree with the positions of some of these dems - the squad (or any of the actual candidates).
But they are all subject to checks and balance. I can’t see any of them trampling the constitution, obstructing justice etc. And they are all decent people- unlike the current occupant of the WH.
15
You could sum this up by saying "the Squad" is bad for the Party if the goal is to get Trump out of the White House.
If that is what you mean then I agree 100%.
2
The way to neutralize the problems you posit would be for a couple of white Congress women to join the Squad. Then the diversity of race could be trumpeted as the unity of the American People (not something Trump would want to encourage ) - and they could “go back” to the work they so clearly want get done.
6
Well observed, Frank. A penetrating analysis of the fierce, complex, and threatening political cross-currents right now. And the single most crucial insight--"Many Democrats are defining themselves as antonyms to Trump. That’s different from merely opposing him, and it might not be the way to go." An open border, an open unlimited checkbook, unceasing sanctimonious virtue-shaming. Not only are these exploitable issues for the Trump and Republican congressional campaigns. They are misguided period.
7
Well, AOC is running AGAINST President Trump. No doubt of it.
So, it makes sense strategically for him to run AGAINST her too.
No surprise there.
The nature of a democracy is simple - AOC has her ideas and they're up for the judgment of voters. If she attracts more voters to her ideas (assuming they're adopted by the Democratic Presidential candidate), her ideas will win out.
Simple.
It remains to be seen if American voters decide that AOC's ideas are solid. This judgment will have little to do with race. Will have little to do with misogyny. Will have little to do with anything - other than the merits.
6
I think he is (running against her). He will probably succeed in convincing many voters that whichever candidate Democrats finally settle on is a flaming left-wing radical. The question is how many he will convince. With AOC & Co. as the image of the Democrat Bogeyman he may convince a lot of reasonable people to vote for him (see Friedman's column today).
2
While I generally agree with the premise of this piece, it wasn’t that long ago that the erudite political pundits on both sides told us with all certitude that the Democrats’ biggest liability and the Republicans’ easiest and most desired target was one Nancy Pelosi. 2018 proved otherwise.
5
@KJ not really. Nancy Pelosi and every other willfully blind baby boomer in Congress poses a far greater threat to those of us who want to see a return to pre-Reagan governance. The pundits in 2018 were right about sensing that the Dems are mired in the past and refuse to give new leadership a chance—even though their ideas are actually supported by most (non-NYT) working Americans. Now it’s just the mental gymnastics that allow sand people to claim that a 79-year-old billionaire has a finger on the pulse of America and understands its needs better than a group of 30-year-old women from working class backgrounds. Absurd.
1
Framing this argument will not matter when he goes up against Biden who seems to have weathered the Harris storm. People don’t vote for Vice Presidential candidates what makes you think they will give two hoots about the squad come November 2020. What congressman or woman had any bearing on the 2016 election? Yep nobody.
5
Trump strategy is indeed to paint the Dem party as the Squad and then run against a far left party instead of the nominee. Could work... unless the nominee has the stature to credibly swat down the Squad and make the party and the race his or her own. Now who might that be... or not be?
4
Swat down AOC and you swat down me and my family, my neighbors and my friends. She represents us.
So you people in the media should stop helping trump. The squad isn't far left but you contribute to that image and allow trump to paint them that way. Their policies are things that FDR could have proposed. They aren't pushing for the destruction of capitalism, just crony capitalism.
The media has a responsibility to tell the truth and stop letting trump paint the picture.
They want a clean environment, affordable housing, affordable education. Oh my, how horrible!
Tell the people what they stand for. They are responsible policies that will help the people.
No other leader wants to tear his country apart like trump does. To him it's all about him.
38
"Many Democrats are defining themselves as antonyms to Trump."
Right on.
The whole opinion piece is right on. Trump knows exactly what he's doing and the Democrats are falling into his trap.
4
in the press conference AOC talked about their policies including universal healthcare and education for all. Yet some how she is a crazy, dangerous radical that risks getting Trump elected. Seriously?
18
Right. I don’t think he can handle a debate with AOC. She is not afraid of him. Even if he starts walking behind her.
7
He's running? I thought he was king for life. Until he hands the throne to Ivanka, of course.
5
Let’s leave out, “the soul of a great nation.” We have Biden for that oxymoron. Let’s just settle for “the excuses of an experimental nation,” and uphold them politically, not dogmatically.
If Trump wins re-election using this strategy, then America deserves what it gets.
2
How many times have we heard that Trump (and his followers) require an enemy/adversary, real or imagined, to direct their vitriol. How many lies are we supposed to absorb? And on and on.
What would happen for just 48 hours —over a weekend when he's his most tweetery self would be ideal— if ALL media embargoed anything pertaining to him? Let's see what happens; after all, he says you are fake news anyway. FOX won't comply, but who cares?
Time is long overdue for media to stop being an instrument of Trump's propaganda. Find other content, both informative and up-lifting. Let him see you have power, too.
13
Sorry Frank, but the Dem candidates for Prez swing to the left is not a reaction to the Trumpster and his show, but a reaction to all the attention and praise you un the media have heaped on the gang of 4. The candidates see them as the dem party and their issues and positions as a road to the nomination. We’ll know in 9 months.
8
Trump wants to run against the cartoon of AOC, not the actual woman. In a televised debate, the actual woman would rip Trump apart and he knows it. She would rip anyone apart and all the Republicans know it. That is why they fear her so much.
10
Donald Trump will go down as the worst president in American history; indeed as one of the worst figures in our long national life together. Of that, there is no doubt in my mind whatsoever. Historians will never complete the task of fully explaining his perfidy.
But he has done one odd service—if you can call it that—to America. By his own ugly views of his fellow humanity he has granted permission to Americans to express their own inhumanity.
The portrait is not gratifying. Yes there are heroes, many of them, maybe even perhaps a majority, who say: enough is enough. We are done with the bigotries and hatreds of the past. Enough. We are going forward and we will not turn back.
But there is a no longer silent minority—it may yet even prove to be a majority, heaven forbid—who say: we too feel the pull of hatred and bigotry in our hearts. And we are glad for the permission to say: this is who we are.
This upcoming election is not about Trump. He is but the occasion.
It is about the identity of our nation, or rather, which DIRECTION we will choose going forward.
Let him bellow and spew his poison, we have heard it all before. It is no longer about him. It is about us.
We are voting to decide the future of our country. Nothing less is at stake in 2020.
7
Well, Frank, there's one thing you've said with which I respectfully disagree. I think Trump is both ignorant and stupid. Why else would the "very stable genius" threaten to sue the schools he attended if they ever released his grades? This is a man who loves to boast, especially about things he's never done. If his grades had been even respectable, he'd be saying that they were the best grades his schools had ever awarded.
He's not really a "very stable genius"; he is, instead, a very unstable coward.
704
@WTig3ner
i didn't read your comment before i posted....ignorant and stupid was my take too.
somewhat cunning with people who were once described the deplorables.
15
@WTig3ner. Because he knows the grades are bad, and they’re bad because he was the quintessential lazy rich son who *expected* to have it all. Meanwhile, has anyone got their hands on those grades? No. Perhaps those threats worked.
25
@WTig3ner
Low grades don't mean he is stupid. They may mean he is lazy and expects things to arrange themselves in his favor. They don't mean he can't manipulate masterfully. We know he can.
25
This is only half right. Trump wants to run against the Squad when they promote controversial policies or say controversial things. That divides Democrats and causes infighting. But when Trump attacks them on a personal level, as un-American, it unites Democrats in their hatred of him and his enablers. And when Democrats are united, when their voters don’t stay home or vote Green or Libertarian, they win and win big. They did in 2008, 2012 and 2018. And they will in 2020 if Trump’s feud with AOC is personal rather than political.
5
Exactly. Thank you.
I am afraid this is all part of his insidious plan. And for all the reasons you outlined, it would be horrible if people elected (using that word losely) him again... what would that say.
5
"He’s baiting them."
Indeed he is and the Democratic party is taking the bait.
Mr. Trump will indeed campaign against and run against the squad and it makes no difference who the real candidate will be.
And the squad by taking the bait makes Mr. Trump's task so much easier.
14
Thank you, Mr. Bruni. Watching these tweets and public reaction to them, as well as the reactions of the targets, I could not help but think that this was the first time I could perceive cunning and strategy in the flood of sewage from Trump's Twitter feed. I hope that, while we condemn the words, we don't fall for the ruse.
11
I think he has a losing political strategy. You don’t win if you don’t get the center on your side. And he refuses to recognize that the center looks nothing like the Republicans on the Hill. That is the reality of the demographic change that has already happened in this nation.
3
"Many Democrats are defining themselves as antonyms to Trump. That’s different from merely opposing him, and it might not be the way to go."
Wise words. We musn't let ourselves be dragged into Trump's WWF vortex.
Dems must craft policies and personas and rhetoric that can keep our base galvanized and optimistic without giving up the purple districts we won in Nov 2018.
maybe I'm wrong--I'd like to hear people's thoughts but a Single Payer system that virtually wipes out private insurance as presently constituted and any immigration stance that sound too much like Open Borders and offering health insurance to undocumented workers should be shelved for the duration of the campaign. Let's offer concrete, easy to grasp benefits for voters.
Only with political power against a formidable opponent that has won more elections down the ticket than we have in the last thirty years and most likely can hold the Senate in 2020 can we even hope to implement a third of what we'd like to.
4
Bruni closes with this statement:
"...the price of giving him [Trump] eight years in the White House could be the soul of a great nation. That we can’t afford that."
The hyperbole of the here and now from Bruni and others that are in a froth over Trump is mind boggling!
From 1837 to 1861, this country endured a string of second, third and fourth rate presidents while the great issue of slavery tore this country asunder, resulting in the bloodiest conflict of this nation's history, the Civil War.
How did the country survive such tumult? The US pre-Civil War was still predominantly an agrarian nation based around small town and citizens equally allied to their state as much as to their country.
The industrial revolution and the great centralization of Federal power and massive corporations from post-Civil War up until the fall of communism was a necessary and enriching advancement of humanity.
Now, even before the nadir of the Trump presidency, the Imperium of the US and Federal dictate over America that has enable corporate hegemony has been in decline.
This should be a revolutionary time in America - a time to turn away from gigantism and return to the community and local based businesses, enterprises, civic groups and government.
It is time destroy the rot and decay of the American Empire and return to the Republic of the US - of the people, for the people and by the people.
5
The “string of third and forth rate presidents” in the first half of the 19th century didn’t matter all that much because the office didn’t have all that much power nor did the immigrant starved country. Today it matters as we slide off the highest peak of human power and success in human history.
4
"Of the people, by the people and for the people" - as long as they're white male people?
AOC is NOT RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT and WILL NOT BE THE NOMINEE, including not the nominee for VP. Ditto with the rest of The Squad.
Stop panicking; this will go away when the Democrats start voting in the primaries and the actual nominee emerges.
This is at least as much a diversion/distraction from the Epstein inquiry and Mueller's testimony next week as it is an attempt to set the terms of the 2020 Presidential election.
And moving to the center with a candidate who will fail to energize the Democratic base and get new Democratic voters registered and out to the polls, is every bit as risky as nominating somebody who is a Scary Leftist.
Just for one hypothetical: what if we nominate Biden and Bernie declines to throw him his support? What if Bernie decides to run as a third-party independent?
3
Putin recently said: "Western liberal multiculturalism is dead".
Trump is blatantly agreeing with Putin again.
I believe Trump does want to break the American experiment apart.
8
I think the guy Trump is bored and lonely, sad , the media gives him so much attention. Strange
3
He is both ignorant and stupid but he found a play that has worked for him over the years. Deny, deny. Bluster, bluster. Pretend you won when you’ve obviously lost. Lie on top of lie. It has all worked for him and it propelled him to the White House thanks to our ridiculous electoral college.
5
We all have to remember that although has media smarts, he also has a team behind him - Miller, Conway, Bolton, Fox "News" and on. He is not savy enough to come up with the cruel tactics alone. The man is repellent and noxious in every possible way. And his family is in lockstep behind him.
He has opened Pandoras Box. The racism that was beneath the carpet for years is now on the loose. There are no longer dog whistles - they are now shouts with an audience. The last cry of the white man. Voting him out of office is only the beginning.
6
Yes I agree that through these 4 representatives he is trying to paint the whole Democratic platform as extremist left wing nut cases with a socialist agenda -socialism being a dirty word to many Americans, believing as they do in the US as the home of free enterprise and individualism. So laying a cynical framework for the next election. However the fact that these 4 are women and that he is constantly demeaning and insulting women cannot go unnoticed and cannot possibly be a good strategy -- either for him or is tone-deaf daughter whose major initiatives are presumably to support and promote women.
1
With Pelosi wedded to her crazy “sisters” now I believe you have a good point.
If Biden gets cozy with Pelosi and the radical left tries to throw him a lifeline then he goes down with the ship in a New York second!
3
DJT hides behind his (empty) desk and shields himself from the difficulties of real, face-to-face confrontation. He is terrified of it because...he cannot hold his own, intellectually, vis-a-vis anyone with a brain. Careful what he wishes for - AOC (complicated, I know) would surely clean his clock in a face off. Guaranteed.
3
Finally! An article in the NYT that I actually agree with. I am an independent, but so far I plan to vote for Trump in 2020, just like I did in 2016. The NYT and CNN are getting close to being permanently blocked on my Google searches like the Washington Post, because they are so partisan and hateful that they are no long news organizations in my mind.
The squad is totally playing into Trump's hand as the author well articulated. When they came out with a response that was mean spirited and hateful, then voters on the fence are going to say "yeah they're jerks and they deserved it." Had the squad chosen to be introspective instead with more of a problem solving tone of "how did we get to this low point," and "what can we do to move forward in a positive direction," then there would have been more sympathy. But the squad is not interested in making peace, they are only interested in making war and many can clearly see that.
I sometimes say to myself "who are they speaking too." In particular AOC and Omar are so hateful that I wonder who they are trying to win to their way of thinking. They are so extreme left that they already have an uphill battle. But who are they speaking to when they denigrate other American citizens on the Border Patrol, or when Omar shows her hostility for Jews. I can tell you one thing for sure they are not speaking to me! Who does Presley think she is to tell who and who not to run for office? Egomaniacs is the only answer I can think of.
13
And Trump is not an egomaniac?
Would you call them egomaniacs if they were men, or would they be "decisive"?
I know one thing, I wish Donald Trump would go back to wherever he came from.
8
Reading all the encomia of “the squad” put me in mind of the Russian Revolution and led me to some reading about the personalities involved and what their revolution - and themselves - became. A socialist utopia sounds like a grand idea until you realize you’ve starved millions of your countrymen to death in a vain attempt to perpetuate it. How do you judge the success of a revolution that requires you to murder the comrades who fought for it with you? I doubt any of the bolsheviks in 1917 thought it would come to that.
7
Mr Bruni
Excellent column; thank you.
But don't forget all the students who look to you for enlightenment, who are wondering, isn't it suppose to be "T wishes he were running against ..."
Even though many people doesn't like Trump. He has two important merits : clear agenda and its consistency.
His message in the last election was timely and resonated many of the votes especially in the conservative side.
Globalism removed American jobs, broken immigration system invited many illegal immigrants who killed the low waging labor markets and the economic inequality can be only resolved by making more jobs by invigorating economy by all means. (About labor market, even in California, the most liberal and progressive state, there is no labor union for low wage workers because there is no laborers that can organize one. Illegal immigrants are allowed to stay here but they are not allowed to organize themselves because it's not possible. How can people who cannot stay in this country legally organize any legal union?)
Trump picked problems of this country with pin-point accuracy and republicans eventually succumbed to this outlier because they understood he was right.
Democrats are still resisting him, but it's fruitless because his agenda is still clear and right and he is beaming with his second merit by keeping many of his promises.
There is no way to overcome him in the coming election. What they have to do is to succeed him in the next of the next term with right agenda at that time which still is not seen, though.
18
@Young If that were really true -- which it is not -- then trump would not have rely on racist, sexist attacks and harrassing the country with his obscenity every single day. He would just run on his record. The problem is that he has no record except policy failure and overt ignorance, sloth, jealousy, and spite.
11
@Young You're right about one thing. Trump is consistent. He lies all the time and panders to dictators.
6
@Lila Bear
He is talking just like an average person.
Measuring his words with outrageous metric of political correctness is liberal media and some democrats.
Requiring very high standards of speech for politicians is kind of barriers to entering political arena by liberal elites.
4
His finest hour, and his bases' reason to be alive: say nasty things and watch the liberals jump up and down. There's nothing more important, not climate, not healthcare, not infrastructure, not their family farms, not their coal mining or manufacturing jobs.
397
@Tom J
Deep gratification from trolling. It scratches the itch more pleasurably than food or sex.
You can’t fight the impulses of the reptilian brain – I suppose decades of jousting from the couch as we watched TV zingers and fake wrestling has made us addicted to it.
It should have a name so we can call it out. Stephen Colbert, where are you?
3
@Tom J
Yes it may not provide them with jobs, wage increases, health care or pensions but by golly they get to stick a fork in snowflake. Small things amuse small minds.
7
"...the four congresswomen of color." Time and time again we see this phrase being used--mostly by white readers, we assume--as part of their comments regarding the much ballyhooed Trumpian twitter controversy over the past weekend. Which brings to mind this reaction by a university colleague of ours whenever similar remarks were made in his presence: "And what color is that?" he would retort knowingly. We recommend fellow readers ponder the phrase very carefully as it is most revealing about the North-American penchant for its frequent use. Does it say something subtle and not very well-hidden about how Anglo-Saxons view others not of their own racial lineage? To us, originally from a multi-racial society in the Caribbean, this is the most baffling trait associated with white North-Americans. Go figure!
9
Democrats need to inspire and mobilize the millions of Americans under the age of 35 to vote. If they cannot, there will be a terrible price to pay. Trump and the republicans will bankrupt the country by the time he leaves and it will be in shambles.
Perhaps it will be a fitting end to the American experiment and its consumer driven society. I am not hopeful.
3
The fact that Mr. Trump makes racist statements, authors racist tweets, and supports racist policies doesn't necessarily make him a racist - indeed, I believe the probability is very great that his racist persona is a political strategy to fire up his base for the upcoming election. Trump is an outright opportunist who will do and say almost anything, regardless of how offensive or untrue it is, to stay in power and in the limelight. It is unclear if he holds any personal beliefs other than his narcissistic image of himself; an individual who does not truly believe in the democratic principles on which America is based should never be president - he must be defeated in 2020, for if not, as Mr. Bruni so aptly stated, the price of giving him another four years "in the White House could be the soul of a great nation."
6
A repugnant, soulless narcissist occupies the Oval Office. End of debate.
7
@DLC
Ad hominem attacks do not constitute debate except, evidently, for today's liberals.
1
I don’t think that Biden “radiates decency.” ...Perhaps only when standing next to someone as vile as Trump.
Biden’s “oxymoronic public record” was of his own doing, not because of some vague “inevitability.” Nor was his long history of inappropriately touching women a sign of decency. Or his recent tone deaf comments about segregationists. Or his refusal to apologize for his mistakes. And on and on.
If Trump had his way, he wouldn’t run against anybody; he would change the Constitution to appoint himself Emperor Trump for a lifelong term.
5
Trump went deep into white identity politics because he knew the Democrats would respond by going deep into PC-identity politics, which he knew would repel the white working-class voters of the industrial Midwest. The Democrats couldn't resist falling into Trump's obvious trap. Trump did this for the electoral votes in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin -- which he likely just won, unfortunately.
Democrats: ignore him. Stay on message. Talk about health care. Stop letting him set your agenda. Ignore!
15
Frank, I hate to tell ya, but your playing Trump's game. You have perfectly described what he perfectly hopes to create. Everyone, except him, bleating for standards and decorum and such. Cry for the nation that he is readily dismantling with all his minions working industrially out of sight. He is totally counting on Democrats and Liberals doing what they always do, what you are doing, trying to hold a middle ground, trying to keep the ground from shifting. Well the ground HAS shifted. HE shifted it. Didn't you notice? Well the millenials certainly have. They will save us because they are not paying attention to all the mainstream Democratic bleating nor all the heinous Republican howling. They know that THIER world is at stake, their lives, their families, their country. Nancy Pelosi is a talented and long serving patriotic POLITICIAN. Trump is not. What he is is a very talented tactician. Not a strategic thinker, a tactician. He sees everything in little bites, not in world-changing, hugely important sections, timeframes and long-term plays. He does not care about climate change because he knows he won't be around to suffer from him. His family can take care of themselves. For someone who thinks so little of his own family, why are you wasting time to provide a rational response to him? The ladies have it right and Nancy should join them, not the other way around.
3
“That the price of giving him 8 years in the White House could be the soul of a great nation” - don’t forget what James Comey said about Trump eating your soul 1 bite at a time. I’ve thought about that and now you are rightfully suggesting he is (with a lot of help from the GOP) now rant by rant tweet by tweet consuming the soul of the nation. Trump is such an aberration - he really must go.
4
Democrats should empower their revolutionaries because the country now realizes that when there is a choice between a deplorable racist party and a progressive revolution, the racists aka or the current GOP has no place in American political discourse?
The historical GOP dog whistle to their deplorable voters with bigotry, misogyny, christian fascism and self petty may finally ran its course! The political malpractice that Trump is committing to his GOP with his overt hostility towards people of color, the young, women and others, the growing majority may mean the country will move far more to the left than otherwise under a moderate democratic and certainly any GOP government.
Say goodbye to the trickled-down plutocracy and hello to universal care, green new deal, the breaking up of monopolies, the reduction of money in politics, affordable education and all other services that a great nation like our deserves and to which the GOP fought so hard against. The Reagan devolution is dead which made the top 10% richer at the expensive of 90% of us, thanks to their vitriol buffoon leader. A political backlash to the left is exactly what this country needs.
4
At one point in the press conference yesterday, the squad were asked to address Trump supporters directly. But it was a two for one question and the answer only answered part 1.
Part 2 of the question - what would you say to Trump voters?
"We respect you and fight for you more than the President who says he loves you.
He is trying to take away your healthcare, behind your backs.
He is giving his rich friends your money through taxation.
He is stealing from you.
He is taking away the bread and butter you rely on.
We respect you.
He despises you."
2
You forgot one thing: Nancy Pelosi. She's corralled all kinds of people in her career. The squad will dovetail into her agenda: elect a Democrat in 2020 at all costs.
2
Allegations of serial sexual assault and harrassment, and a "re-election strategy" are a good combination these days for a candidate
1
Brings to mind that old Trump trope about the Central
Park Five and all of the obscene lies, disgusting hatred and racist fanaticism he threw at them. Their lives were never the same, regardless of their innocence.
Today, it's The Squad of 4. And the consequences will be far more
devastating to our democracy. History is repeating itself, America, and we're all to blame for not bringing an end to it before it brings an end to us all.
Vote.
3
Stand for nothing, Democrats! Before it's too late!!!
5
@Timjbd
You used triple exclamation points! You've just handed the election to Trump!
2
When you look at the number of "acting" heads of cabinet departments, you realize that this is the work of an actor on "reality" TV...and an obscene, incompetent actor at that whose every word and position seems to be an unsuccessful dirty joke.
For starters, SAG (Screen Actors Guild) should pull his membership for moral turpitude and hatemongering.
The hates that Trump and the collaborating Republicans pander make snuff porn seem benign. But he and his supporters seem to know no shame.
Impeach!
1
Thank you or one of the most clear takes on this situation and all that has passed in regards to Trumps M.O..
The French series French Village must be watched. We are now such a village set in a Nazi onslaught with the same sense of being one step behind the evil machinations even as we can see them unfolding.
We need to get in front of them, and soon. Thanks to insights of Mr. Bruni we might. There will be a price to pay one way or another.
1
America as the land of equality we hoped it would evolve to be will not come into being until the country has succumbed to fascism. Half of our countrymen are arrogant and ignorant; they believe everything this conman says. Until they lose everything, along with the rest of us, to this madman and his oligarchs, they won’t learn. It was a painful lesson for Germany; it will be painful fo us too.
1
The tweet was not racist. Those 4 women are very preposterous, arrogant, and unfair to the country where they achieved what they would never have achieved had their parent or grandparents stayed where they had been born. Also, they do not exactly mince words when it comes to Trump. His vocabulary is clumsy and harsh and often stupid but then that is exactly who DT has always been. After all, did not he use 'crocked Hillary', or 'lying Ted'? Sort of straight talk, isn't it?
And more - Bruni, NYT, and the liberal clique can admire and have high opinion of those four all they want but this "that showed that 74 percent of them recognized Ocasio-Cortez’s name but only 22 percent had a favorable view of her, while 53 percent recognized Omar but only 9 percent saw her favorably." tells all you need to know of them US-wise and it will also tell you that the tweet will be welcome in a much larger audience that an intolerant liberal mind is ready to acknowledge.
6
@ss - Interesting nom de plume.
5
@Zydeco Girl
Good catch.
4
Nice try but you're wrong. There is no master plan here at all. The man is both stupid and ignorant. That's where this is all coming from.
4
Biden radiates decency? How to define decency? How to define racist? Seems there's disagreement on both.
I’d vote for Biden in a minute, if nominated Vs Trump. Even tho he takes money from GOP corporate donors like Comcast.
He’s just infinitely preferable to our atrocious leader, who inspires some of these fun names for the US president by a W. Post commenter--- “Hair Furor, or IL Dunce, or Benedict Donald, or Felonious Trump.”
But, let's face it--if we’re forced to vote for Biden to avoid Trump then our standards have become very screwed up---to use the nicest apt word.
Then it will take who knows how many more years to make the progress we need in our society.
Since racism is at the top of the news, just look up some quotes by those old segregationist senators that Biden worked so well with ‘to get things done”, or eulogized at their funeral. It will make your hair stand on end.
The mildest is the use of the N word as ordinary daily lingo. That's nothing. There's also their explicit, raw ideology of white superiority/black inferiority talk that was perfectly normal for them, and fervently believed.
Biden must have heard this all the time, and yet continued to work with and praise these senators. Just what did he ‘get done’ with them? How did he stand it? He stood it.
1
"These four are also a tool for promoting discord in the Democratic ranks, because as the recent feud between them and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi demonstrated, plenty of their fellow Democrats find them too fantastically idealistic, too censorious of those who disagree with them, too quick to play the race card, too much."
Sounds like Bruni is playing a little of the race card here by doing what Pelosi did, what birtherism did with Obama, and that is to marginalize and create the impression of "The Other", which is then easy to demonize and to tell to "go back where you came from," like Kenya in Obama's case.
Also, Bruni further marginalizes these women when he says incorrectly that many in the caucus feel this way too.
The 4 woman voted with NINETY ONE other Democrats to oppose the Senate bill on detention center funding, yet even now, weeks later, the MSM continues with the trope that these 4 "Others" are the only 4 Democratic votes the bill got, an impression that started with Nancy Pelosi's own words.
Trump's strategy here is simple: Trigger the libs so they move further to the left, then start tweeting about sociailsm or M4A or the GND or health care for illegals and win the swing voters on that.
In 72 hours the MSM will forget all about the racist tweets and move on to revisit Joe Biden's issues with busing
Okay Frank, what do you suggest?
@Alan
Biden, if he wakes up. Klobuchar has the Right Stuff but no support. Ditto for Booker.
Beyond that? A hung Convention and somebody totally different.
Al Franken?
Biden now has a Sister Souljah moment to shut these radical women up. Can he be as shrewd as Bill Clinton was. Millions of white voters will come streaming to his side and it will be a turning point in the primary and then the general election.
3
So, Trump is a racist (idiot) savant. He cannot grasp any policy beyond single word goals—wall, Muslims, greatest. He cannot string together fifteen words into a coherent sentence. His knowledge on any topic, particularly history, is fragmentary at best. His relationship to the truth is to have none.
But his racist diatribe is really evidence of his savvy political skills. Are we really sure on that one?
i'd like to make a correction from the last paragraph.
he is ignorant AND stupid.
he's shown many times that he has no clue about what he's spewing about.
and yet two in five americans think he's just swell.
1
The stock markets are at an all time high, unemployment and interest rates are at or near historical lows. Any incumbent would kill to run for re-election under this scenario. Trump as abhorrent a character he is will be hard to beat, and engaging in a culture war along with our current economy will get Trump re-elected.
Dems, please stick to middle class anxieties and insecurities over affordable healthcare, job and retirement security, social security and Medicare protection. Please do not engage Trump on race or immigration, let Trump sink his own boat on these.
4
Thank you. So well put.
Can we please pay attention and heed?
3
He is running against AOC.
3
This piece is spot on. It’s all part of a carefully considered strategy to position himself as the only viable alternative to the squad of bolsheviks who want to overthrow the American way of life and our American culture. Whoever the Democrat nominee turns out to be, they will be portrayed as the unwitting tool of the ultra liberals who have hijacked their party. That might actually not be too far from the truth. Either way, the left wing Democrats have already done more than their share to get Trump re-elected. The saddest aspect of this is that they refuse to acknowledge it.
5
@Larry
If I read you correctly, you'll be voting for him again.
4
You didn’t read me correctly.
I didn’t vote for him last time.
I won’t vote for him next time.
I still think the Democrats have a self-destructive urge.
Yet again liberals in Congress display their selective indignation. Pelosi meekly responded to repeated and blatant anti-Semitic remarks from Omar and has had next to nothing to say about the continuous insults and false accusations hurled at our Border Patrol, ICE, and Homeland Security in general by the entire (hit) squad. No Democratic leader stood up during Obama's tenure to criticize, much less condemn, his administration's policies to enforce our immigration laws, including building the first enclosures (re: not cages) to separate children from adults. But now when the President correctly identifies four members of Congress who are relentlessly negative in their comments about our country--a slanted stance no true patriot would ever take--Pelosi willfully violates House rules of order and stalks out of the chamber. The Democratic Party leadership then pushes for condemnation of the Presidents remarks. Yet we the American people are expected to participate in this blood sport. How utterly disingenuous and hypocritical and in large measure designed to posture for the national election. Let's be clear: the fact that these are all women of color is immaterial; they constantly put themselves in the position of neo-Puritans raging (in their case) against the right. Were any of them White, Trump would still condemn them, but of course the press won't acknowledge that probability. Yes, the squad is, to quote Arthur Miller, indeed "jangling the keys of the kingdom."
6
I never thought I would see the day the tragedy of 9 11 would be reduced and mischaracterized by a house member as a personal grievance, referencing it as “somebody did something”, although it was the worse thing that’s happened in this country on our land since we were invaded by the British in 1812 and the Civil War in 1865...and reducing it it to ‘somebody who did something’; or no one in the House/Senate or running for office would not automatically defend against anti semitism which has been specifically and boldly targeting Jewish Americans and calling into question their first loyalty to the United States, and, instead of calling out the offense or offenders, the House delivered a muted response of a weakly vague generalized condemnation of all racism and ethnic affronts; or Democratic House members who were once the staunchest supporters of Israel supporting a boycott against Israel, our ally; or Democratic house members using the same tactics and labeling as the President they despise, calling into question anyone’s character or belief in diversity to those who dare question any of their often incorrect facts or their opinions in politics on any issue. In essence, these are the monsters they describe and desecrate. Sigh.
3
Public officials need to be held more accountable for lying. Trump flagrantly spreads dangerous lies in the form of propaganda. He claims that democrats "hate our country" and want to "destroy you" or my personal favorite; "murder babies".
He is blatantly agitating people's most irrational fears to stir them into an emotional rage where they will be easily focused and controlled. Nothing unites quite like a common enemy.
At the same time a less flagrant campaign is occurring that is influencing the more insecure or undecided voters. It's a campaign of shame. They want you to be ashamed of being a democrat, to cringe when you hear "liberal". This is a movement that I think is still relatively opaque, but it is happening and more importantly it is working.
2
I doubt he can even count to ten.
5
From my view the squad deserves to be here more than the donald. I do believe he is going to lose to a woman in 2020, how appropriate. I hope he ends up in prison.
5
If a minority Muslim woman in the house, embraces capitalism, is tough on crime, supports enforcement of the law, limits government control, and denounces illegal immigration, she will become Trump's favorite. At least that is what I think will happen. So is that racism, or ideology?
11
I don't think Trump wishes he were running against Ocasio-Cortez. I think he's afraid Ivanka, his preferred heir to the White House throne, will have to. And being that she has spent her life being trained to pose carefully and smile mutely with her little mouth tightly shut, and isn't at all clever or well-informed, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez would wipe the floor with her.
But I may be wrong. Trump's nastiness may be a diversion or a sign of mental decline or a reaction to extreme fear or a dozen other things. None of them are good for our people.
3
With almost comedic irony, this piece from Politico reminds Democrats of 1972 when middle of the road Muskie (Biden?) was rejected by Democrats in favor of left-wing McGovern with radical ideas to run against an already unpopular and beatable Nixon. The GOP landslide was one of the most lopsided in history.
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/07/16/memo-to-dems-youre-playing-into-trumps-hands-227362
3
@blgreenie
That piece is one of the dumbest things I've read in a while. It reads like it was written by a Republican in hopes that Democrats take his advice. Basically, the advice is: Don't propose any bold ideas and don't develop a platform and campaign that Trump can criticize.
Trump's 2020 campaign didn't just recently begin"in full." It's been at full speed since before the Charlottesville fiasco. He only has one speed, and as long as he can get other people to pay for stuff, he'll be there.
God knows what he thinks, and God probably also knows what the majority of spineless republicans also think. Tom Cole and Joni Ernst have spoken up -- so have the minority that's wiling to commit to racism as a belief system. I had no idea that Lindsey Graham was one of them, but he's made that clear now.
Just an electoral tactic? Not sincere? Of course Trump is a racist. His career in public life, from his early work as a scofflaw landlord to his attempt to chum up a lynch mob against the Central Park Five, and then his takeover of Birtherism, racism has been his standard MO. It's what he falls back on when he's in trouble.
He's in trouble because Jeffrey Epstein is going to jail. So he plays the race card. It's always been his lucky card, before.
2
Pelosi made a serious error by insulting the "Squad" as merely four women with no power. She was obliged to use strong leadership skills to integrate them into the party. This does not speak well for Pelosi as she hands Trump endless raw material to use on his terms for fueling Democratic Party fragmentation.
1
While Trump's tweets were insensitive and offensive, they were not, by definition, racist. The left's (and I should also say CNN's, but that would be repetitive) declarations that they are, simply weakens the Dem's case by transforming a valid argument into a fit of hysteria. Trump, and many others, both Republican and Democrat, strongly disagree with the radical policy proposals, anti-American sentiments, and socialist leanings of "the squad." It's not the black or brown that turns many Americans off to these "women of color." It's the red.
20
Telling four people of color to go back to where they came from, when ALL are US citizens and three were BORN in the US is most certainly racist. Racism isn’t limited to name calling.
4
@Southern Man
The epithet Trump used is a direct example of “national origin workplace harassment” in the EEOC regulations.
Even if you believe it isn’t racist, it’s harassment. Without a doubt grounds for firing and against national law, violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
If he were anyone else in the United States he’d be fired a long time ago.
4
@Tracy St. Pierre No, it's not. If he had told them to go back to their ancestral country because they were not white, then it would have been racist. Being a "person of color" does not exempt one from criticism.
This column is absolutely correct. In a perfect world, do I agree with many of the things "the Squad" propose? Yes. This is not that world.
7
I think it’s time for everybody to calm down... the members of the “squad” represent some of the most liberal districts in the country and no they don’t represent the majority of democrats. I’m all for taking in account some of their concerns but college debt forgiveness and medicare for all are steps too far. Dems need to formulate unifying positions on kitchen table issues ranging from healthcare to true tax reform and infrastructure. It’s easy to get the spotlight when you’re a freshman congresswoman who was a bartending before getting elected but it would be wiser to earn credibility by working with the file and rank and pushing legislation which makes a difference in people’s lives.
21
I agree with you. I think these four women can be powerful future voices for the Party if they listened as well as they tweeted. I suspect most Democrats, like myself, find their voices fresh and compelling. But their approach, burn down the house and rebuild from scratch, isn’t workable. I’d rather see them each take on their causes and promote them through policy proposals. But I sense they lack the patience and maturity for governing.
11
@JWyly
The Democratic Party has become unrecognizable to me as they've moved toward working for the donor class more than the working class. What do they even stand for?
If ever a house needed burning down, it's that one. More power to them.
2
@FCH
Wouldn't working people in both Parties, with college age kids, benefit by forgiving college debt? Or trade school debt? Their kids have no guaranteed factory jobs now. Wal-Mart and the Dollar Stores offer low pay and no benefits. The military is no longer a jobs program; it requires nigh tech skills. Re: a Freshman Congress person has a Degree in economics; she tended bar to pay for a college education. She is from the Bronx and does know about kitchen table issues. She is in touch with real people's lives. How about you a NY Times reader?
3
Trump instincts for a political battle usually seem to be right on. He beat the other 16 republicans and Hillary. He keeps doing outrageous things and we keep saying this is the end of him.
I think enough people in key states(Electoral College) will look at the Democratic leaders (Pelosi + Squad) and think they just don't look like me or could they ever represent me. This is a hard fact that Democrats will learn in 2020.
There will be many Democratic moral victories and being so righteous over the next 18 months, but without a strategy and unity in the democratic party, there will be 4 more years of Trump.
I fear for the Democrat's sanity with 8 years of a Trump presidency.
9
Never mind our sanity, fear for the country.
4
@Don
"I think enough people in key states(Electoral College) will look at the Democratic leaders (Pelosi + Squad) and think they just don't look like me or could they ever represent me. This is a hard fact that Democrats will learn in 2020."
Oh I think that lesson has been learned. Checkout the people at Netroots. They're ready for 2020. I think it will be you who will be very surprised when the con Don is turned out at the ballot box in 2020.
"...don't look like me or could ever represent me." Phlease...
3
@Don
I lived and worked in CT for 22 yrs., Westport. I would have had no problem with Pelosi or these young women. I never voted for Lieberman, a real jerk. CT is a Blue State, as is NY, MA, RI and DE. Don't count your Trump chickens; Epstein will drop the other shoe at some point.
3
2020 will be a referendum on the people of the USA. The outcome of that referendum will determine in large part what the rest of the world thinks of America and Americans. It will also determine the alliances between and around countries for decades to come.
Americans can vote to stand alone and trade alone in Fortress America with dwindling influence and contacts with the rest of the world.
Americans can vote to throw off the blinders adopted during the last 3 years, blinders that have become more opaque over the decades since Reagan, or they can vote to continue down the Trump racist road back into some imagined golden era, which turns out to be nothing more than a closed and dark coal mine.
Right now, the future of America looks black from here.
12
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend".
Trump knows this (pity not all of his opponents do), saw "the Squad" at war with the Democratic leadership and tweeted.
3
First, I am certain Trump has no idea where any of these congresswomen were born or what country they're from. He's seriously that stupid. Second, Democrats need to fight back against Trump labeling The Squad "socialists". What part of socialism does the frightened white people who voted for Trump not like? The Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security? The bank and auto industry bailouts? If those aren't socialist programs nothing is.
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@Mark Duhe it is a serious mistake to underestimate your enemy. Thinking he is "that stupid" will cause your side (whatever that is), to be lax in ensuring he is ousted at the poles. Nothing can be taken for granted.
And so do I. Too bad she is too young.
1
HRC had it spot on; deplorable.
There's no enlightenment in their future. trump has their votes locked up.
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The worst part of this is thinking that there are Americans who are totally fine with Trump saying these divisive things - in fact, that is one reason they probably voted for him. They’d like to send certain people out of the country and they want to prevent certain people from coming in. Those certain people are non white.
8
Divide et impera. Divide and rule. That is, and has been from the beginning, the tactic of the occupant in the White House. He, like Machiavello, has used the culture of fear to manipulate those who think that different is bad. I agree with you Mr. Bruni, he is ignorant (like this country has never seen before) but not stupid. He is a loser who does not like to loose. He will use whatever tactic to twist, stretch and manipulate people in his favor. Politics have no relations to moral (Machiavello again) Democrats should unite and not fall for it.
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@Aguadejamaica Whoa! Machiavelli taught that the greatest act a public person can achieve is to establish and sustain a republic, not to destroy one. You must cite me an example in his writings in which a self-centered, willfully ignorant leader who cares not for the ultimate fate of his/her state is commended. Machiavelli did not preach immorality for its own sake or for the service of self-interest.
2
Trump would love to run against Biden or Warren, because he knows he would win. The one he simply cannot beat is Senator Bernie Sanders. Many who wanted Sanders in 2016 voted for Trump, hoping he would keep his promises. He has not, and these voters will happily switch to Bernie. Though if they are living deep in “Trump country”, they might not tell their friends.
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I think Frank Bruno may be on to something when he ask if this is all part of Trump’ s master plan to get himself re-elected. Today at the White House, Kellyanne Conway insisted on knowing a reporter’s ethnic background before answering a question. I can just imagine a future press conference....
‘I’ll take your questions now. Yes? Jew in the back?’
‘Hey Asian lady, I don’t understand your crazy accent. Talk English!’
‘The next question concerns Eric Garner. Any “n-word” here that wants to ask me anything?’
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You’re giving Trumps brain too much credit. Donald Trump isn’t a strategic thinker, he doesn’t plan, he doesn’t study, he doesn’t give caution or thought to his public comments, he doesn’t care about anyone not named Donald Trump. Donald Trump is a lot of things but mostly he a misogynist, a racist, and most noticeably an idiot.
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Uuuh, Frank – it's called running against Congress...
https://insideelections.com/news/article/should-obama-run-against-congress
“...most of them say that running against Congressional Republicans probably is what Obama can and should do, at least until he has another Republican target
Further back...
https://uncpressblog.com/2011/09/08/michael-bowen-obama-truman-and-the-challenge-of-running-against-congress/
“...Truman’s rhetorical offensive, in which he promised to “give ’em hell” was incredibly effective largely because of Republican dysfunction. The Republicans were split between moderates under Dewey and strident conservatives led by Ohio Senator Robert A. Taft...
“...Truman capitalized on the schism in the GOP, placing the Republicans in a lose-lose situation. Had Congress put through the bills necessary to fulfill Truman’s call, the President could have argued that he was an effective leader that could whip Congress into shape and solve the nation’s current woes. If Congress took no action, as turned out to be the case, he could contend that the Republicans were unconcerned with the common man and incapable of easing their economic suffering. Truman adopted this line throughout the fall and won a surprising victory in November, widely-regarded as the most shocking upset in Presidential history...
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I strongly disagree with Mr. Bruni.
It does not matter who his Democratic opponent is, Trump will run against his conjured dystopian vision of an America in which minorities have too much power, a Venezuela-style socialist hell, an open border nation overrun by swarthy immigrants.
He will run against an America that disenfranchises already marginalized whites. His voters will cast their ballots for an America of the past. His voters fear future America, a place where people of color are at the table, whose voices are heard.
This future and inevitable America frightens Trump cultists. Trump is their champion because he will one way or another prevent the new America from becoming reality.
His spat with the squad is just a warm-up.
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Frank, I’m taking wagers, on the date he will utter, or scream, the full N-word. Live, on TV. I’ll go with 9/11, as he will NOT be able to display dignity, even on THAT date.
Seriously.
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President Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) will have her day in the sun. Unfortunately she is too young to run for the job in 2020. But make no mistake AOC will be a formidable candidate for the presidency. She has the following characteristics that make her quite suited for the job.
1. She is intelligent. She can put forth a coherent sentence a talent of which the current occupant of the WH can only dream about.
2. She is passionate in helping the "little guy" get a fair deal. The thing in the white house only cares about his reflection in the mirror. He doesn't care about anybody else.
3. She loves this country and the thing in the WH only loves himself. No amount of hugging the flag can change that condition.
4. AOC will not get us into another war in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world.
5. AOC will bring out the best in all of us and have us care about each other. The thing in the WH just wants to divide us and conquers us. The thing is a wannabe dictator in chief. He definitely wants to be treated like the Dear Leader of North Korea.
6. AOC wants us top have medicare for all, free public college
education, and save the planet. What is so wrong about that?
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Trump is going after women because he is really afraid of a different old white man?
Really? Maybe it is because Trump is a misogynist and a racist. Maybe it is because Trump would prefer to put those Congresswomen in concentration camps like he has many other POC, men, women and children. No Trump's hate is an honest hate.
Trump isn't going after them because he fears Joe Biden. Trump knows that Joe Biden is perfectly comfortable working with racists. In fact, Biden would prefer working with racists over the left. The same with Frank Bruni actually.
Frank Bruni has never met a younger woman who he thinks is qualified. In fact, he doesn't trust them much more than Trump does. Though give him a young gay man... And the possibilities...
No, Trump is not attacking women and POC because what he really fears is old white people. Trump knows that there is nothing to fear from them, because as a group they don't support diversity. They are like Frank Bruni who will support the status quo, and trumpet white power because those are the only people Frank Bruni finds electable. The only people "suited" to power.
I ams sick of white men, always white men, always making everything about white men.
Trump does it, because he believes it. And he knows that white people in power will continue to work with him. They might not like it, but they won't take away funding, they won't hold him to account, and when he is out, they will push it under the rug like they did with torture.
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Donald Trump has put the lives of these four young Congresswomen in mortal danger with his outspoken attacks against them along with those of Fox supporter and equally culpable attacker, Tucker Carlson. Trump already has blood on his hands from the deaths of 12 immigrants in U.S. custody at the Southern border; 11 Jewish worshipers massacred in a Pittsburgh synagogue by a follower incensed over their support for immigrants; Jamal Khashoggi, an American resident journalist brutally murdered by his friend the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia; and Otto Warmbier also murdered by North Korean dictator and Trump "love" interest Kim Jong-un. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) has replaced Nancy Pelosi as the poster girl for virulent racism and outright hatred that Trump believes Americans will support in his bid for re-election. If AOC is murdered by a Trump-inspired fanatic, he should be immediately impeached and tried for murder. This is something not seen in America since the Jim Crow era when blacks were lynched by the hundreds. To have a President preaching such vile racism makes one wonder if after Appomattox Courthouse 152 years ago we have Jefferson Davis Trump now in The White House. Every minority, woman, Jew, Muslim, and LGBTQ American should be terrified as well.
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Come on people - this is ALL contrived and manipulated. No one, not even Archie Bunker, is this racist. It's all a trumping game to divide and conquer. PLEASE NYTIMES do not take the bait! I know you have to report - but make it a side show because thats what this is. Thank you.
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Even 'ignorant, not stupid' knows about divide and conquer.
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"He’s ignorant, not stupid."
Exactly. And that's why the Dems have to keep pointing that out incessantly and in the most sarcastic/satirical terms possible.
Trump's kryptonite is humiliation and the opposition has to learn to wield that tool to chip away at his bluster to reveal the buffoon underneath. Righteous indignation at his remarks won't do the trick when you're fighting a guy who is shameless.
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How is our President "ignorant", Mr. Bruni. You need to clarify statements like that, otherwise it's just immature name calling.
2
@Raz Well, can you name the airports that existed during the Revolutionary era?
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Such a dumb move by Trump. Event Maureen Dowd/NYT began attacking AOC on Sunday.
Trump should have let the Dems cannibalize themselves.
Fortunately, they'll begin anew soon - Pelosi can not let the Squad throw the Dems into the gutter.
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Frank, you mean that Trump wishes he WERE running against AOC. Please use the proper subjunctive form. As a professional writer, you should know this.
Trump made a huge blunder in attacking the Squad. If he thought he was going to widen a rift in the Democratic Party, he accomplished the opposite and painted himself as a lynch-mob racist more or less indistinguishable from any KKK member. That's what Schumer jumped on today and "Trump the KKK Imperial Wizard" campaign has started. Every Republican (Trumpist) candidate tying him- or herself to Trump is going to get tarred with the same brush. Thanks, Trump, for this gift.
3
Yeah, you sure don't see him mouthing off to Jerry Nadler or Elijah Cummings...
Typical bully behavior: pick on someone you think can't fight back.
Maybe Trump is also suggesting that Melania go back to where she came from.
4
See W. Post op ed by Trump critic George Conway, husband of Kellyanne, loyal senior counselor to Trump:
“Trump is a racist president” July 15. He says that for a long time he didn’t think Trump was a racist.
“No, I thought, Trump was boorish, dim-witted, inarticulate, incoherent, narcissistic and insensitive.
He’s a pathetic bully but an equal-opportunity bully — in his uniquely crass and crude manner, he’ll attack anyone he thinks is critical of him.
No matter how much I found him ultimately unfit, I still gave him the benefit of the doubt….No matter how much I came to dislike him, I didn’t want to think that the president of the U.S. is a racial bigot.
But Sunday left no doubt... it’s beyond the bounds of human decency. For anyone, not least a president.”
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I hope those who didn't support Hillary, realize their mistake and won't repeat it this time around. Trump has no policy that this country wants, but he can appeal to the Klan and Nazi supports for his base.
3
This goes a long way in decoding what's going on in the head of White House occupant. With everybody tut-tutting and saying "Oh, he said something racist!", the question is, when has he NOT said anything racist. It is also in agreement with what I've been telling people, that Mr. Trump is an ignoramus, but he's not stupid. I'd hate to see Ms. Pelosi and the squad go down in mutually-ignited flames, but I can't see their feud turning out otherwise.
1
AOC points out allowable/legal corruption in Federal Politics of the USA Today
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4779400/aoc-points-allowablelegal-corruption-federal-politics-usa-today
Representative Ocasio-Cortez Testifies on Conditions at Border Detention Facilities
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4806917/representative-ocasio-cortez-testifies-conditions-border-detention-facilities
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez questions Commerce Secretary Ross 03-14-19
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4786361/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-questions-commerce-secretary-ross-03-14-19
AOC. Erosion of American democracy.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4774694/aoc-erosion-american-democracy
Representative Ocasio-Cortez Confronts Gilead CEO Over Truvada Pricing
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4798115/representative-ocasio-cortez-confronts-gilead-ceo-truvada-pricing
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Questions Global Banks
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4791718/rep-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-questions-global-banks
Representatives Omar, Pressley, Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib News Conference
House Freshmen Reps.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?462678-1/representatives-omar-pressley-ocasio-cortez-tlaib-respond-president-trump
Debate on Ocasio-Cortez Amendment on Drug Research
https://www.c-span.org/video/?461462-8/debate-ocasio-cortez-amendment-drug-research
1
Is it no longer possible to criticize a person or color without having the race card thrown in your face?
5
I thought it was the other way around, that Trump is stupid, not ignorant.
1
Wait a second, didn't you tell us that Biden was just a Republican in disguise? So when is it that he is going to tell peiople to go baclk where they came from? Who is Biden's Kellyanne who will challange a question on the grounds that it came from a reporter who would not tell her his ehtnicity and isn't her ethnicity? You tell us it is all the same, unless of course Kamala Harris with her fierce poise wins, and then he shows you what the difference is between the parties. But now Putin will make sure that every Sanders supporter gets your opinion piece in the days before the election. Are you proud of yourself Frank?
1
You're wrong. Trump is both ignorant and stupid. He just turned the squad into sympathetic victims who are on the right side of racism. He put the spotlight on them and when they spoke they didn't sound anything like the irrational monsters you, Trump and the GOP try to make them out to be. This piece seems to support racism as a political strategy and goes out of its way to compliment Trump for being quite despicable.
3
Yes. DT is an Opportunistic Racist.
When he squeals “I don’t have a racist bone in my body!” he believes it. He is a craven and amoral opportunist, bred in the bone, first and foremost, who will say whatever advances the Deal he’s currently making.
The Deal he is currently making is with white America. White, racist America.
1
Well since the old minions of Trump aren’t growing but dying off . I think it is great Trump is taking on these brilliant women who can eat him alive.
Take them on and we all will enjoy the bully have his stupid head handed to him.
Bring it on and the world will see how ignorant this racist president is. We are waiting for his latest stupid statement this evening as the vote is being taken.
Bernie, The four ladies, Warren wow the bully will be exposed for what he is an embarrassment to white spineless men
1
If the choice is between the pseudo-Intellectual left-wing anti-Semitism expressed by bigots like Omar and Tlaib, and the terrifying right-wing anti-Semitism endorsed by a bigot like Trump, then all I can say is BH for Israel!
2
The Republicans have been so successful in painting progressives as the loony left because the Democratic leadership is making it so easy for them to do. Pelosi has been nothing but dismissive and condescending to Ocasio-Cortez from the beginning, as have many of the centrist writers at the NY Times. And the rank-and-file seems to have bought into it too.
As long as entrenched Democrats keep running away from anything left of center, and keep treating the new class, and the whole progressive movement, like embarrassing step-children, Republicans will continue to have their way and Democrats will continue their losing ways. The party is not only bankrupt of courage and new ideas, they're actively fighting against it.
I'm appalled and greatly discouraged to see the degree of hatred cast about, and repeating of Republican talking points, in these comment sections toward anyone who wants to fight the rightward lean of the party.
And don't even get me started on the constant bed-wetting and the cries of "You're handing the election to Trump!" every time a shoe drops.
You win hearts and minds and elections by standing up for people and fighting for them, not by cowering to Republican bullying and being afraid of the bold ideas that are our only hope for the future.
2
I am so sickened to my stomach of such crass displays of cynicism, obfuscation, misdirection, distortion, lies, hipocrisy, and opportunism by Trump and the Republican party. They are playing us like yo-yos one way or the other and continue their attempts at hijacking and twisting any narrative before them and, in turn, us too, for their ideological and nefarious agendas. It is nauseating beyond what words can convey. This is scarily close to the early days of Hitler and his ascent to power and look how that ended. Trump and his party's zero-sum game comes straight from the fascist playbook. Trump's rhetorical style and body language, too, come from the fascist instruction manual. Beware. I never through I'd see the day when the Constitution has been diluted of meaning and used, at best, as a doormat. People, this is frightening. Memo to Nancy Pelosi: Please IMPEACH. NOW.
3
Make that "I never *thought* ..."
Anonymous, were you fired?
2
Trump Epstein 2020
3
Why do people always make Trump out as playing four dimensional chess?
To buy this argument, we have to assume Trump knows something no one else knows, which is that Joe Biden can beat him, and anyone to the left of Joe Biden cannot beat him, and any left politicians raise his profile.
Even if he was a master planner, why think he's correct that Joe Biden can beat him? There's no well he is planning is campaign way, way in advance with such tremendous foresight that he already has his plan in place. Or that the only way to defeat the trap of the electoral genius Trump is to vote for Joe, and tar the Democratic Party as too far to the left?
Parsimony--or the standard of simple explanation--is usually best in explanations. It is a much better way to understand Trump.
We don't have to read his actions like tea leaves. Trump is not a farsighted person, planning years in advance.
Trump reacts to immediate circumstances. Isn't it more plausibly an attempt to distract from the Epstein story? Or from other ominous things looming over him such as the Mueller interview, or the favorable impression made on the DoJ when they interviewed Steele on his dossier?
He gets what he wants from the media every time he acts in this reactive panicked way as coverage threatens to turn against him.
He does this to get the media to turn on its firehose and flush out when evidence looms about behavior he doesn't want anyone to look at. And the media always complies.
1
Good analysis.
Now, are Mr. T and Republicans against the analysis? They most likely agree with it. However, they use it to win elections, not for discussion’s sake’s discussion. They know voters who are not decent are big in number. They keep entertaining that base.
Mr. T is a realist and Republican leadership is a team that will do anything to keep their power: even they are ready to degenerate the US and they are doing it.
1
THe great divider in chief a major reason Putin helped install Trump along with hurting our relations with our traditional allies. Trump is ignorant telling American congresswomen to go back the countries they are from ,three are from the USA dummy and they are doing what they think to better our govt. Many people wish Trump would go back to Russia and build a hotel for Putin and himself.
2
Mr. Bruni claims the Democrats' fondness for open borders and Medicare-for-all (including those who breach those open borders) is just a reaction to Trump.
Sounds like the old Flip Wilson "the devil made me do it" schtick.
3
@esteban rodriguez
Can you provide any evidence Democrats are in favor of open borders?
You sound like an MSNBC debate moderator repeating right-wing talking points.
6
Brilliant strategy. Good luck getting the squad to shut up.
'Anonymous' isn't doing a very good job of saving us.
Maybe AOC can...or Amy or Elizabeth or Kamala or Mayor Pete. Don't give up, fellow Americans.
1
@Nancie
Don't have faith in buttigieg or klobuchar. They only care about their wealthy donors. They have more or less pulled a Biden and promised they are status-quo candidates.
1
This might very well be the first US presidential election with casualty reports, and possibly a body count.
Actually, what we can't afford is to give free health care to undocumented immigrants. FACT.
5
@Roberta
I am a Sanders and AOC-supporter and I agree that free healthcare for illegal immigrants is both bad policy and political suicide.
That said medicare for all citizens and those working here legally would be the best way to expand coverage and lower costs.
Its not often mentioned, but medicare for all, by removing the the cost to companies to insure their workers would essentially be a massive corporate tax cut.
5
Mr. Bruni, I believe you give Trump way more credit than you should for, you know, thinking.
1
One tragic thing about all of this for traditional liberals and Democrats is that even before Trump got involved many liberals,
not white supremists at all, were deeply offended by some of things
members of the Quad were saying. This of course includes the Democratic Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.
7
Why is it wrong for the Democratic Party to have a diversity of thoughts and views?
Republicans seem totally unable to not follow trump like cowed sheep.
2
Ugh Trump just plays the media constantly. It’s almost like there should be a time limit to responding to his “rockets” - every opinion writer gets 6 hours to respond to a twitter storm and then everyone has to change the channel and write about whatever they had in the works before the tweet. I’m really starting to think that the media needs to consult with some really good high school teachers on how to effectively deal with a grandstanding student cuz y’all r chumps
Distraction from failure is the Trump re-election philosophy. And he'll try and do that by becoming more and more outrageous as the failures pile up and people tire of being upset all the time. The key here is the near total abdication of responsibility by elected members of the GOP. They cannot find their spines for fear of being mean-girl tweeted by that bully in the White House. A sorrier bunch of cowards I have never seen. This country and the people who fought and died for it deserve better.
2
Looking forward to Elizabeth Warren publicly carving up Donald Trump like the overcooked turkey he is on the 2020 debate stage.
The guy is an orange fraud, best personified as the President of Trump University, the Birther Liar whose healthcare plan was another 0.1% wealthcare with fraudulent dressing on it.
Democrats should talk about policy ad infinitum while Donald The Menace does his Deplorable act for his base.
Donald can be beaten in 2020.
His expiration dates and bankruptcy court dates are coming soon.
Register.
Vote.
Donate.
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