By Steve BermanSo it begins…
There’s a debate scheduled for next Thursday, June 27. It’s hosted by CNN, and at the Biden campaign’s request, there’s no audience to feed Trump energy. Trump might not even show up. Biden’s handlers might pull the plug, if the president is determined to be having a sundowning moment. Both candidates had their moments: Biden was led offstage by former President Barack Obama at a fundraiser when he apparently stood in one place too long, leading to speculation of him “freezing” (it’s not the first time). At least one person at the fundraiser hosted by Jimmy Kimmel thought Biden needed a helper (Obama).
Trump met with a group of the nation’s most powerful business leaders, including the CEOs of Apple, JPMorgan, and Walmart. Funny how these guys have no qualms meeting with a convicted felon. Maybe it’s because they both realize that Alvin Bragg customized a case prepared especially for Trump back in 2018, when the crook Michael Cohen was offered a golden handshake by the feds for taking the rap on two campaign contribution violations (when they had him dead to rights on all kinds of tax and financial crimes), tying him to the “hush money”. These CEOs understand that mere felonies won’t stand in the way of presidential electoral politics.
Just like mental decline and advanced age won’t.
Gun collector (he wants your gun) Mike Bloomberg dropped $20 million in Biden’s wallet, adding to another $40 million pledged, bringing Democrat fundraising somewhere in the same universe as Trump’s post-conviction numbers.
Trump and the RNC hauled what the AP called a “jaw-dropping” sum of $141 million in May, which to me is a good indication the felonies didn’t slow down Trump’s campaign. This included a $50 million bullet by Timothy Mellon, scion of the gilded-age Mellon family fortune. The Trump super PAC, MAGA Inc., announced a $3.5 million ad buy in Georgia and Pennsylvania for early July.
Meanwhile, the Biden campaign dropped an insane $50 million in ads for June, to remind the nation that Donald Trump is a convicted felon. As if people had to be told. Funny how the story about how Judge Juan Merchan alerting attorneys of a Facebook post that could lead to severe jury contamination has disappeared. MSNBC even coughed up–out loud–their intention to have the story “go nowhere.” It’s possible the post was just “s**tposting” or trolling. But we’ll never hear about it again, just another day in what Rush Limbaugh called the “drive by media.”
I’ve spoken my piece about Merchan’s screw ups that, to me, will likely lead to all the convictions getting overturned–as long as it’s after the election. And now, Hunter Biden was convicted of a real felony–a gun charge, because the crack-addled son of the then-sitting VPOTUS decided he needed to carry weapons because he always carried cash. The gun ended up in the trash, while the (very real) laptop ended up abandoned at a computer repair shop. The conviction happened despite now-President Biden’s best efforts to shut down the investigation, and tell prosecutors to give his son the smallest slap on the wrist possible in a plea deal. A skeptical judge brought that stinky stream of garbage juice into the sun to marinate, and thus we have an actual conviction in an open-and-shut trial.
Compare that to Trump, who could have pardoned Cohen in 2018 (it was the feds, after all), but let Cohen go up the river, where he lived in relative (for a con) luxury for less than two years, before being released to serve the rest of his “sentence” at his Park Avenue digs.
And that’s not even the beginning. Now is where the real ugly stuff starts.
Fox News published a poll showing Biden ahead by 2 points (within the margin of error), and the rest of the media picked up that softball to highlight how Trump “melted down” when he saw it. But look at the polling averages, for months: Trump leads in every battleground state, where the election will really be decided. Wisconsin (0.3%), Arizona (4.6%), Nevada (5.6%), Georgia (5.0%), Michigan (0.2%), Nevada (5.7%), North Carolina (5.3%), Pennsylvania (2.3%).
They keep saying Biden will eventually slide ahead, and Trump won’t be able to raise money. They keep saying it while it’s not happening, as if saying it will make it happen.
Biden will have spent nearly $50 million in ads plastered all over television and social media in June, and all it got him was a measly two-points in one poll. The debate next week (if it happens) will highlight just how fragile the old man is, and just how crazy Trump is. But the mood of the country is tilting crazy (which is why some Democrats are so in love with Robert F. “brain-worm” Kennedy).
Neither candidate is fit to do another four years. But we are being drawn into the maw of this ugly campaign like the “planet killer” in Star Trek ate whole worlds. The Doomsday Machine has been activated, and it’s being fed an avalanche of cash, from both the filthy rich, and the working people. All I can do it stand by in awe, watching us be consumed.
I’ll end with a stock tip. Conagra Brands. They own the biggest popcorn brand: Orville Redenbacher’s. It’s $28.50 a share, a steal. Believe me, popcorn’s gonna be big after Labor Day.
Follow Steve on Twitter @stevengberman.
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