Trump To Counter-Program Nerd Prom With Campaign Rally

April 19, 2018

Comments

As I noted earlier this month, President Trump has once again decided to skip the White House Correspondent’s Dinner and instead will hold one of his patented campaign-style rallies:

President Donald Trump will be in Washington during this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner — Washington, Michigan, that is.

The Trump campaign announced on Tuesday that the President will hold a campaign rally in Washington Township on Saturday, April 28, at 7 p.m. ET, during the annual dinner put on by the association representing the White House press corps.

This will be Trump’s 11th rally in Michigan, as well as his fifth rally in the Detroit area, since he announced his candidacy for president back in June 2015, according to his campaign.

“While the fake news media will be celebrating themselves with the denizens of Washington society in the swamp that evening, President Trump will be in a completely different Washington, celebrating our national economic revival with patriotic Americans,” Trump campaign chief operating officer Michael Glassner said in a release.

This isn’t a first for Trump, of course. After deciding to break the long-standing tradition of the President attending and speaking at the annual dinner for the association representing the White House Press Corps last year, he ended up counterprogramming the event with a rally in Pennsylvania at which he attacked the media in his usual fashion. As I’ve said before, it’s probably for the best that Trump doesn’t generally attend these events. It’s clear that he doesn’t enjoy them, that he doesn’t really have a sense of humor, and that he surely can’t stand for the kind of self-deprecating humor that previous Presidents from Reagan to Obama were able to engage in and with so easily when they spoke at the event.

36 responses to “Trump To Counter-Program Nerd Prom With Campaign Rally”

Liberal Capitalist

April 19, 2018 at 8:57 am

As I’ve said before, it’s probably for the best that Trump doesn’t generally attend these events. It’s clear that he doesn’t enjoy them, that he doesn’t really have a sense of humor, and that he surely can’t stand for the kind of self-deprecating humor that previous Presidents from Reagan to Obama were able to engage in and with so easily when they spoke at the event.

Snowflake. Sad.

No way he could go. He is a satire-rich target.

9
Daryl’s other brother Darryl

April 19, 2018 at 9:05 am

Item #1: President Dennison would charge a 19 year old, armed with an AR-15 and a large capacity magazine, unarmed.
Item #2: President Dennison is afraid of being picked on by some nerds.
Only one of these Items is true. Some people actually believe Item #1. Yes, Bunge JKB TMzero, I’m talking about you.

11
Mister Bluster

April 19, 2018 at 9:28 am

President PUD! What a DUD!

3
d

April 19, 2018 at 9:46 am

Asking a pathological narcissist to act outside of their perceived self-interest and in a context where they will be expected to be denigrated / denigrate themselves is a tough row to hoe.

It’s like saying to the agoraphobe: C’mon just come with us to Coachella. It’ll be cool, I promise. You can chill in the tent if you get weirded out like you do.

In his mind, derision in the form of humor is torture. People there will purposefully undercut his competence and his authority. They will be making fun not just of his ludicrous behaviors, but also of the core of his being – the stuff that makes Trump Trump.

It would be impressive if Trump were to attend. He is an ahistorical President in the modern context – one who cannot abide the two hours it would take to pretend to abide derision in the form of a joke so he would appear to be “in on it”, and therefore perceived as more menschy. He cannot even pretend to laugh at himself.

Even Nixon did Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In.

In 2011, Comedy Central did a roast of Trump with Jeffrey Ross, Seth MacFarlane, Gilbert Gottfried, Whitney Cummings, Snoop Dogg, Larry King, Marlee Matlin, Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, Lisa Lampanelli and Anthony Jeselnic.

I need to see this.

And why the hell is The Situation from Jersey Shore involved with this thing? Maybe it is a like on like bit – a narcissistic d-bag drags another narcissistic d-bag as narcissistically d-baggier than even himself.

And Marlee Matlin?

4
Charon

April 19, 2018 at 9:58 am

@Liberal Capitalist:

Snowflake. Sad.

No way he could go. He is a satire-rich target.

Such a petty little coward. And such gullible fools at his rallies.

4
d

April 19, 2018 at 10:02 am

“d” comment 09:46 was from de stijl. Moderator, please release.

Since I have your attention, I have to input my Name and Email every time I comment on a new thread (hence the”d” nym – usually typing d autoloads my de stijl nym and the first letter of my e-mail autoloads that as well, as long as I click on it correctly which apparently I didn’t do this time).

And the “Preview” function is flat-out broken. It may be an artifact of the server move the other day. Maybe not, but they are linked in time anyway.

1
de stijl

April 19, 2018 at 10:04 am

@d:

Dammit! Now even the autoloud thinks I’m “d”

Grr!
Charon

April 19, 2018 at 10:07 am

Here is what the Hoarse Whisperer says (about Trump’s NPD behavior):

There are only two driving impulses: 1) Avoid shame;and 2) Collect adoration and esteem. That’s it. There is no other priority or concern

twitter

2
MarkedMan

April 19, 2018 at 10:16 am

@de stijl: FWIW, the name and email field autoload will disappear after a short time. It won’t stick with “d”
de stijl

April 19, 2018 at 10:30 am

@d:

Being in the moderation queue actually frees me up for a thing I need to do, which is to quasi-apologize to @Liberal Capitalist from the “Republicans Blaming Trump For Declining Support For Tax Bill” thread.

I read a bit the other day that was provocative: that text interactions seem antagonistic because people just use the “like” or up-vote button when they agree, but comment when they have something more to say other that “I agree.”

Often-times, that new comment is a new take or an extension of the original comment, and not *meant* to be antagonistic, but it reads as and feels antagonistic.

I know, this also can be seen as one of those non-apologies that contain the phrase “… I’m sorry if you misinterpreted my words as a personal attack…”

And we’ve been conditioned to understand anything that could be potentially be seen as antagonistic as actually antagonistic just to protect ourselves from abusive interlocutors.
Kathy

April 19, 2018 at 10:31 am

He could just log on the internet and see actual, vitriolic vituperation aimed at him 🙂

Like this:

Q: How do you define gross stupidity?
A: 144 Donald Trumps.

2
MarkedMan

April 19, 2018 at 10:31 am

Take a look at the Michelle Wolf’s (she’s this year’s headliner) take on Trump’s election, and you will instantly see why President Whiny Little B*tch couldn’t come within 100 miles of the place. It’s not just that she calls him out for what he is, because any comedian would do that. It’s that she’s an average looking woman who would never be impressed by a phony like Trump and doesn’t hesitate to get angry and in your face whenever she feels like it. Trump gets his rocks off by treating women like sh*t. If he tried that on Michelle Wolf she would slap him silly and then wedgie his fat *ss.

2
James Pearce

April 19, 2018 at 11:07 am

I think it’s funny that Trump ditching this dinner, and holding his own counter-programming rally, is being interpreted as fear. No, it’s absolutely brilliant…if you want to diminish the status of the White House Correspondents Association and to rally your troops.

(Seriously, guys, if quips could take down Trump, we’d be talking about President Clinton attending the dinner, not President Trump skipping it.)

And frankly, Washington, Michigan is an inspired choice. You know what they say, “n% of success is just showing up.” Agree with them or not, but there is a not insignificant number of voters who will appreciate the president coming out to impress them rather than trying to impress the self-important windbags on TV.

1
de stijl

April 19, 2018 at 11:13 am

@d:

Why would anyone down-vote that comment?
de stijl

April 19, 2018 at 11:24 am

@James Pearce:

I think it’s funny that Trump ditching this dinner, and holding his own counter-programming rally, is being interpreted as fear. No, it’s absolutely brilliant…if you want to diminish the status of the White House Correspondents Association and to rally your troops.

One action might improve Trump’s standing, and improve his poll numbers, and recruit new voters to his party. Holding a rally to chuck red meat at your flying monkeys is not that action.

Holding a rally holds the line and that’s it.

6
de stijl

April 19, 2018 at 11:36 am

@James Pearce:

And frankly, Washington, Michigan is an inspired choice. You know what they say, “n% of success is just showing up.”

Please tell me how holding a campaign-style rally in MI improves his standing.

2
KM

April 19, 2018 at 12:21 pm

@James Pearce :

Agree with them or not, but there is a not insignificant number of voters who will appreciate the president coming out

This part of the sentence is true…..

to impress them

and this part’s BS. He’s not there to impress them, *they* are there to worship him. While voters really like it when politicians remember they exist, a rally’s whole point is to, you know, rally people to your side. He has no intention of doing anything other then having them applaud him. They’re supposed to be impressed by him even show up, not by him working!!!

1
de stijl

April 19, 2018 at 12:34 pm

@KM:

More voters will decide against voting for Trump just by sitting in traffic waiting for the motorcade to clear the intersection than will be recruited.

And we’re talking tiny, tiny numbers. Like 12 new votes against Trump vs. 2 new votes for Trump because of the Michigan rally.
James Pearce

April 19, 2018 at 12:51 pm

@de stijl:

Holding a rally to chuck red meat at your flying monkeys is not that action.

Trump has gotten pretty far by chucking red meat to his flying monkeys, who are full and fed but not yet sated.

Meanwhile, our side is scorbutic: toothless and fatigued, thinking red meat is for the other guys and we can get by on the glow of our own righteousness and the ache of empty bellies.

Please tell me how holding a campaign-style rally in MI improves his standing.

Define “improves his standing.” If nothing else, it will improve his standing with those in attendance, don’t you think?

@KM:

While voters really like it when politicians remember they exist, a rally’s whole point is to, you know, rally people to your side.

Yeah, exactly. Now you know why he’s going to a rally in Michigan and not the WHCA dinner….
de stijl

April 19, 2018 at 1:34 pm

@James Pearce:

Define “improves his standing.” If nothing else, it will improve his standing with those in attendance, don’t you think?

“Eyes on the prize” utterly confuses you, doesn’t it?

Seriously…

If nothing else, it will improve his standing with those in attendance, don’t you think?

You must be trolling or fooling, because no one could be that stupid to say that in a public forum. If you’re not kidding with that statement, I just don’t know how to interact with you.

You do realize that a super-committed voter only gets to vote exactly one time? Like, a 110% full-in committed voter counts as 1 vote , not a 1.1 vote? You do know that, yes?

2
KM

April 19, 2018 at 1:42 pm

@James Pearce:

Yeah, exactly. Now you know why he’s going to a rally in Michigan and not the WHCA dinner….

As @de stijl noted, these people are *already* on his side or they wouldn’t be attending. You’re not going to find many Trump-curious people anymore and even fewer willing to go to a rally in MI in this weird weather. This is more analogous to a midnight Wens church service then a typical rally – the only people who are going to attend are the people who think going to a midnight Wens service is a good idea aka the hardcore faithful. He’s not picking low hanging fruit, he’s grabbing it off the ground.

Also, I’m curious as to whether you think it would have been brilliant for any other Pres to skip the dinner in favor of a spontaneous rally. It’s kinda funny how this logic is suddenly manifesting during the Trump years instead of being a constant criticism of the dinner in general. Is it always a waste of time to you?

2
de stijl

April 19, 2018 at 1:52 pm

When someone’s tactical suggestions are actively counter-productive or passively neutral in effect, and they have no strategic vision that will lead to success, you can ignore them, yes?

1
de stijl

April 19, 2018 at 2:02 pm

@James Pearce:

Meanwhile, our side is scorbutic: toothless and fatigued, thinking red meat is for the other guys and we can get by on the glow of our own righteousness and the ache of empty bellies.

Can one feel pity and contempt simultaneously?

Yes.

Yes, they can do that.

1
Neil Hudelson

April 19, 2018 at 2:06 pm

@James Pearce:

Seriously, guys, if quips could take down Trump, we’d be talking about President Clinton attending the dinner, not President Trump skipping it.

Literally no one was saying this. But good job on beating down that straw man. Helluva fighter, isn’t he? He keeps coming back to life, and you keep beating him back down, thread after thread.

3
James Pearce

April 19, 2018 at 2:46 pm

@de stijl:

“Eyes on the prize” utterly confuses you, doesn’t it?

Not at all. Since Trump was elected, I’ve seen hopeful skepticism harden into grateful support. People who voted for him because he was the Republican and they couldn’t stand Hillary are now starting to genuinely like him, and for this very thing, too.

Trust me, I don’t want to have to tell you this stuff. I’d like it very much if you’d just kind of intuit on your own.

@KM:

I’m curious as to whether you think it would have been brilliant for any other Pres to skip the dinner in favor of a spontaneous rally.

I honestly don’t care if the president (any president) goes, or doesn’t go, to this dinner. It’s completely unimportant in every way: personally, professionally, politically.
An Interested Party

April 19, 2018 at 3:09 pm

Since Trump was elected, I’ve seen hopeful skepticism harden into grateful support. People who voted for him because he was the Republican and they couldn’t stand Hillary are now starting to genuinely like him, and for this very thing, too.

One would think that would raise his poll numbers significantly, which have gone up slightly, yes, but still aren’t very good, considering all these people who supposedly genuinely like him now…

1
James Pearce

April 19, 2018 at 3:09 pm

@Neil Hudelson:

Literally no one was saying this.

Most liberals, I think, would feel pretty stupid saying out loud that they think quips can “destroy” Trump.

But that’s only because John Oliver, Stephen Colbert, and Jimmy Kimmel tried….Kathy Griffin, too. Chelsea Handler?

Like, maybe they don’t believe that….anymore. But there are clearly still some that still believe that.
Neil Hudelson

April 19, 2018 at 3:14 pm

@James Pearce:

So your comments are addressing Messrs Oliver and Kimmel?

Why? It’s doubtful they read these threads.

And your comments very much appear to be addressing people on OTB, not whatever tv channel you are watching at any given time.

1
de stijl

April 19, 2018 at 3:30 pm

@James Pearce:

Trust me, I don’t want to have to tell you this stuff. I’d like it very much if you’d just kind of intuit on your own.

Your evidence is this:

Since Trump was elected, I’ve seen hopeful skepticism harden into grateful support. People who voted for him because he was the Republican and they couldn’t stand Hillary are now starting to genuinely like him, and for this very thing, too.

You’ve “seen” that, have you? That psycho-behavioral insight is awesome!

People who voted for Trump are starting to like him more than before?

Let’s repeat that for effect:

@James Pearce: You said , “People who voted for Trump are starting to like him more than before.”

Can you not read?

You do realize that a super-committed voter only gets to vote exactly one time? Like, a 110% full-in committed voter counts as 1 vote , not a 1.1 vote? You do know that, yes?

Do you not understand that undercuts your own argument?

You are clueless. You are approaching adorable status. You have nothing to tell me. I’ll intuit what I want to, thanks!
de stijl

April 19, 2018 at 3:35 pm

Down-vote the crap out of me if I engage with this person again. I’m done.

2
James Pearce

April 19, 2018 at 4:11 pm

@Neil Hudelson:

So your comments are addressing Messrs Oliver and Kimmel?

They’re addressed to anyone who thinks Trump can be defeated with quips. If you don’t think that, then they’re not addressed to you and you don’t have to argue with me about it.

@de stijl:

Down-vote the crap out of me if I engage with this person again.

What I said wasn’t all that objectionable. It’s a different viewpoint from yours, so yeah…disagree with it all day. Please. You think it’s ever stopped me?

But if you can’t do that, if you’re just going to go “You’re clueless!”…..yeah, you shouldn’t engage.
Kathy

April 19, 2018 at 4:23 pm

Apologies for the swear word at the punchline. I hope this doesn’t get stuck in moderation.

One day during the 2016 campaign, Trump’s plane encountered a very bad hailstorm. First the plane was shaken this way and that, in very bad turbulence. Then the torrents of water and ice coming down killed one engine. Finally the second engine died.

The pilots try desperately to restart the engines as the plane slowly loses altitude. Then the captain announces “Hold on tight, folks. We’ve lost both engines, and we’ll try to dive to force enough air in them so we can start them again.”

The plane enters a steep dive, gaining more and more speed every second. The passengers, including Trump, can see the ground rushing up to smash them into bits.

Suddenly both engines roar to life and the pilots pull out of the dive. Inertia keeps the plane going down, as the engines ever so slowly spool up to provide thrust. The plane comes within fifty feet off the ground before it manages to gain altitude again.

The pilots head to the nearest airport and land safely within a few minutes. No one is hurt or injured.

The first person to disembark the plane is a three-foot tall man with orange skin and a bad comb over. He’s wearing clothes that are many sizes too large for him.

“Who is that?” a ground crew man asks the pilot, pointing at the short man.

“Oh, that’s Donald Trump.”

“I didn’t realize he was so short.”

“He’s not. He just had the shit scared out of him, that’s all.”

3
teve tory

April 19, 2018 at 6:45 pm

@de stijl: The commenters here are generally pretty good. There are, however, about 4 or 5 for whom disengagement is the best strategy.

1
James Pearce

April 19, 2018 at 8:44 pm

@teve tory:

The commenters here are generally pretty good.

I used to think that too. But there’s a lot of smugness in the face of…well, Trump, and I can’t help but hear the faint strains of “Nearer my God To Thee” being playing by the Titanic’s band.

There are, however, about 4 or 5 for whom disengagement is the best strategy.

Maybe I should try that. I take on all comers. It may not be good for your reputation, but it’s good for your endurance.
de stijl

April 19, 2018 at 11:29 pm

Both Atlanta‘s kicked freaking ass tonight (I missed last week so it was new to me.)

Paper Boy in the nail salon and then the woods and then the girls at the “Drake” party.

“I put my foot up in this.” And then he just does it while he’s making pasta. So effing stupid. So awesome.

Almost as good as the French girl Old Spice commercial where she yells at Old Spice to leave the chickens alone.
de stijl

April 19, 2018 at 11:44 pm

There were two times this episode where Paper Boy “lost time” i.e., may have entered / exited a fugue state. And it is not clear that Woods Man actually exists.

I thought Legion was trippy.