UPDATE: Trump demands his actual quotes be removed from the airwaves

UPDATE: after receiving the cease and desist letter, the Super-Pac bought significantly more air time. “The fact that Trump is going to such great lengths to keep the American people from hearing his own words adds to the urgency of communicating them far and wide.”

14 thoughts on “UPDATE: Trump demands his actual quotes be removed from the airwaves

  1. I thought the issue with the ads is that it specifically says “coronavirus… this is their new hoax”. He never called the virus itself a “hoax”. Its deceptive to put those quotes together as “coronavirus” by itself isn’t exactly a quote. I believe a very similar thing happened with an anti joe Biden ad and it was removed.

    1. “Coronavirus…this is their new hoax” literally means that the Coronavirus is a hoax.

      1. He didn’t actually say that. The phrase “this is their new hoax” in context refers to how Democrats describe his managing of the crisis:

        They go, ‘Oh, not good, not good’ … this is their new hoax”

        So in the proper context, the fact that his management of the outbreak is “not good” is the proper antecedent for “their new hoax.”

        The word “coronavirus” on the ad is (obviously) from a different source than the words “this is their new hoax.”

        1. Distinction without a difference. Next, a protracted argument about what the meaning of “is” is.

        2. That is the specific complaint though. That the ad itself. It’s that line. Two separate statements edited together to sound like it was said together. Certainly misleading. The rest of the ad is powerful and is fine.

        3. It could mean either:
          1.He did literally say the Coronavirus is their new hoax. The context is not entirely clear what he meant by that.

          2.On literal life and death matters like this, the words of leaders matter a great deal. When it’s not clear what Trump meant, that, in itself is a problem. This is especially the case given that Trump has seemingly said something on a number of occasions, that it was clear his supporters were meant to take literally, only to later claim he had misspoken.

          1. I don’t agree with point #1. It seems to me clear that he was saying “the Democrats’ latest hoax is that I have bungled the outbreak.”

            BUT

            I agree completely with point #2. Trump preaches to an audience of … er … uncomplicated people who are not really capable of parsing his words, and many of them have indeed assumed that Trump told them the pandemic is a hoax. I think it is fair to blame Trump for not understanding that when there is a critical message his audience needs ideas to be communicated clearly and simply, not in the broad campaign rhetoric he prefers.

            (And it is also possible that he fully meant for his supporters to leave with “the virus is a hoax” as their take-away. I won’t try to read his mind.)

    2. Trump trapped himself on this one. As NM pointed out, the more he complains, the more people will want to see the ad. I would never have known that such an ad existed until he complained about it, thus making it worthy of Other Crap. And the more it annoys him, the more money people will donate to run it. If he gets really annoyed, Bloomberg might buy Fox News, just so he can run that ad in every commercial break.

      And if they have to take out the words “this is their new hoax,” the ad is just as powerful. They can always replace it with one of his many foolish statements as the outbreak first hit the States.

      1. Scoopy, Steverino, when you’re right you’re right. He *treated* the virus like a hoax, but he didn’t say those words all together in that order. Why splice up a lie when the truth is so damning?
        Now, off to a late lunch. Crow is on the menu today…

        1. I hate giving Trump the benefit of the doubt, but it is important not to become what we hate. As Scoopy points out, Trump has already multiplied the impact of this ad, so even if it goes away, it will have done its job.

    3. So another round of mental gymnastics to try to explain away what Trump said and what his supposed ‘genius’ true meaning is this. Here’s a novel thought, why doesn’t he just shut his fucking mouth instead of thinking he has to air his uneducated, uninformed, opinions 24/7 on shit he knows nothing about. Which is pretty much damn near everything.

      How about this for an ad? Shut the fuck up Trump. That’s all it has to say, since he can’t shut his fucking mouth for 20 seconds and thinks he’s the ultra expert on every subject matter in existence, and not in existence, because I’m sure if someone made up some magic subject matter in an invisible country he would make sure to run his mouth on it.

      SHUT THE FUCK UP TRUMP 2020

  2. When you’re selling a shit sandwich, you don’t want unretouched photos of it floating around…
    Yeah any judge worthy of the name is going to bang his little hammer and render a verdict of “get the fuck outta here”.
    Also – bonus Streisand Effect. All of us stuck at home people will hunt down & watch the ad he’s trying to suppress.

  3. The idea that the lawyers who filed this hopeless, ridiculous lawsuit for Trump are fully aware they are swindling him by taking his money to do it greatly appeals to me. But Trump can probably still find true-believers who will do it without payment in advance.

    BTW, if some Trump-appointee judge rules in FAVOR of Trump, that ought to really cause an uproar. I hope more people will turn out to vote against Trump if that happens.

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