The Banter Brief: Trump Threatens Americans With Violence. Again.
When will this madness end?
Welcome to this week’s edition of The Banter Brief!
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1. Most Important Story Of The Week
Yes, that was the president of the United States threatening to use violence against American citizens. Again.
At this point Americans have come to expect this sort of disgraceful behavior from their president, but it must under no circumstance ever be normalized. Remember: this is not normal. The Republican Party might turn a blind eye to Trump’s attempts to divide the country and exacerbate racial tensions, but the rest of us cannot. In desperately uncertain and trying times decent, sane people need to rally around the growing racial justice movement sweeping the nation, and work diligently towards getting this vile human being out of office.
Trump has no election strategy given the economy is in tatters, so will do everything in his power to set the country on fire to activate his base. Trump understands his supporters will rally around him if he continues to “own the libs” (ie. direct the police to brutalize them), so expect more of this in the coming months.
Runner Up: Excerpts from John Bolton’s new book has been doing the rounds, and for good reason. It turns out Trump likely committed multiple impeachable offenses while Bolton was around. Bolton might be a psychopathic warmonger, but there are many reasons to believe his story.
Go deeper with Banter Members:
Bolton Is A Weasel, But That Doesn't Mean He's Lying
Bolton says Trump appeased multiple dictators to help him cheat in the election. The question is, who didn't he ask? - by Bob Cesca
(image: Getty Images)
2. Poll Analysis
This week CNN reported a quite stunning trend in the presidential landscape that does not bode well for Donald Trump. Biden’s widening lead in the national polls is being mirrored at the state level — and not just blue states:
The latest state polls imply that Biden has a double-digit advantage nationally given that Clinton won the popular vote by 2 points. These state polls are in sync with the national polls that show Biden's lead at 10 points.
Importantly, many of these polls have been conducted across states that are the heart of the 2020 battleground. States like Arizona and Wisconsin are included in this group. Polls have also been conducted in states that Biden would like to win, but aren't must wins for him, such as Ohio and Texas. Crucially, these are demographically distinct states in different regions of the country indicating that Trump is losing ground in a lot of different places.
All together, it's the latest evidence that Trump cannot count on the electoral college to save him. The leads that Biden is earning right now are well outside any potential polling miscue like the one that occurred on the state level in 2016. The former vice president, simply put, is well ahead of Trump at this time.
3. Quote Of The Week
“Why is it that the same people who don't think White Privilege exists believe there is a Deep State and some non-existent guy named Q has all the answers?”
- Mark Cuban
4. What to Watch
What: ‘Queen of the South’. Vicious Mexican drug cartels finally meet their match in a rising, unlikely female drug lord who matches their cunning, but leads with her heart.
Why: A nearly flawless series starring Alice Braga Moraes who plays drug lord Teresa Mendoza. Ballsy and intelligent, ‘Queen of the South’ combines a gripping narrative about the inner workings of drug cartels with equally gripping performances by the excellent cast. Moraes is particularly impressive as a lead making the show entirely believable. Make sure to be disciplined about bedtime though - the show has an annoying knack of making you stay up far later than you had planned.
Where: Netflix
5. Good News
We’re doing this segment to keep you sane and hopeful during these times, and recently there hasn’t been much to get excited about. But this week the Supreme Court blocked Trump’s bid to end DACA, the program protecting undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children.
Also, Senators are pushing to make Juneteenth, the day that marks the federal government’s order to free slaves in Texas on June 19, 1865 a federal holiday.
See you next week!
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Read the latest for Banter Members:
Bolton Is A Weasel, But That Doesn't Mean He's Lying
Bolton says Trump appeased multiple dictators to help him cheat in the election. The question is, who didn't he ask? - by Bob Cesca
The Stephen Miller/Donald Trump Speech on Race Relations: First Draft
"We’re here for an important reason—to deal with the racial nightmare that Barack Obama brought to this country." - by Rich Herschlag
