The NY Times has a terrific and hilarious story about the Sadness of Tangerine Trumplandia and you might want to get a glass of breakfast wine to truly enjoy every pathetic detail – you can read the full piece here. Election Night started out jolly in the White House, where Trump and his people were watching the returns on Fox News. They were happy with Florida being called so early for Trump. But the mood soured when Fox News became one of the first networks to call Arizona for Joe Biden. The rest is history:
When Fox called Arizona: Mr. Trump and his advisers erupted at the news. If it was true that Arizona was lost, it would call into doubt on any claim of victory the president might be able to make. What ensued for Mr. Trump was a night of angry calls to Republican governors and advice from campaign aides that he ignored, leading to a middle-of-the-night presidential briefing in which he made a reckless and unsubstantiated string of remarks about the democratic process. Standing in the East Room at 2:30 a.m., he dismissed the election as a “fraud” and claimed he wanted to stop the counting of votes and leave the results to the Supreme Court.
They called Fox News and whined too: Jason Miller, Mr. Trump’s political adviser, disputed the accuracy of the call on Twitter and frantically called Fox News, asking the network to retract it. He was unsuccessful. Instead of retracting it, the decision desk at Fox News doubled down on its call, putting Arnon Mishkin, the head of the desk, on air to defend the call. Several hours later, The Associated Press also called Arizona for Mr. Biden. Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, was also in touch with Rupert Murdoch, the Fox News owner, as the night wore on. And on Wednesday morning, Mr. Trump’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien, insisted the president would win Arizona by 30,000 votes.
Trump just sat in the residence all day Wednesday: Mr. Trump spent much of Tuesday evening and early Wednesday watching election results roll in on Fox News from the White House residence, where he connected with several Republican governors on the phone. In conversations with Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas and Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, he asked about the possibility that fraud was being committed, according to people briefed on the call. As the map closed in on the Trump campaign on Wednesday, with Michigan and Wisconsin being called for Mr. Biden, the president was not seen in public all day. A Marine who stands guard in front of the West Wing doors when the president is in the Oval Office had not been spotted all day.
Trump’s East Room speech: Mr. Trump’s advisers tried to persuade Mr. Trump to speak in the East Room before Mr. Biden made his remarks in Wilmington, but they were unsuccessful. Instead, they sat and watched as Mr. Biden set the tone for the night. So it was hours before Mr. Trump actually appeared in the East Room. In the Oval Office, he huddled with aides who discussed how to frame the state of the race and whether he could declare victory or should take a more subtle tone. He did not choose the latter approach. “This is a fraud on the American public,” he told a crowd of supporters at 2:30 a.m., in remarks that were immediately criticized even by some of his allies, like Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor. The president continued: “This is an embarrassment to our country. We were getting ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win the election.”
The blame game about Arizona, and the election: Outside the White House, finger-pointing about what went wrong had already begun. Some aides said that Mr. Trump had often resisted entreaties from Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, and Brad Parscale, his former campaign manager, and others to spend more time in Arizona. But they said he had resisted in part because he did not like traveling west and spending the night on the road. They and several other aides had also tried and failed to get Mr. Trump to stop attacking an Arizona favorite son and war hero, Senator John McCain, a Republican whom the president has continued to criticize even after the senator’s death two years ago.
Jared was making calls! Mr. Kushner was making calls, looking for what he described as a “James Baker-like” figure who could lead the legal effort to dispute the tabulations in different states, according to a person briefed on the discussions. (Mr. Baker led George W. Bush’s successful recount case in 2000.)
Yesterday, I giggled every time I looked at the Arizona vote, and this is why. Arizona was John McCain’s revenge. Arizona was what turned things around in Trump’s fascist peabrain. While the vote margin in Arizona has gotten tighter in the past 12 hours, Biden will likely win the state with a bigger vote margin than he won Wisconsin and Nevada. LMAO. And just the thought of this fascist a–hole sitting in the residence all f–king day, calling people to whine about “fraud” because… you know, votes were being counted… it’s just a wonderful image to have.
Trump: Don’t mail in your vote. Vote in person
Trump when he doesn’t have any mail-in ballots: pic.twitter.com/6DiPGpptTo
— Anthony Moore (@AllThatandMoore) November 4, 2020
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
I picture him sitting in the oval office, petting the executive chair like Smeagol, saying over and over again: My pretty.
He will bark and destroy anyone who is not on his side. He called up Fox News Wednesday and blamed them for some of this as well. Can you imagine if Biden or Hillary did that to a major news source????
I can only imagine how he must have reacted when Fox News announced he lost a key state. And I love who you stated Arizona is John McCain’s revenge. that was GOLD.
The closest thing to James Baker Jared could find was Rudy Giuliani
Lol, right? Why didn’t they have these lawyers all lined up? The Dems did. Trump and his minions are so incompetent.
Fox may regret calling AZ. Magats trying to disrupt vote counting in Maricopa county were chanting “Fox News Sucks!” last night. Teehee 😂
ChillyWilly- small correction, they were not trying to disrupt the count in AZ. They were doing that in MI, shouting “stop the vote,” which is the most Un-American thing I’ve ever seen.
In AZ, they were shouting “count every vote” because they think that will help Trump, unlike MI, which would help Biden. These partisan assholes don’t care about fairness. They just want to win. That they can simultaneously shout “stop the vote” and “count the vote” at the same time is laughable…. make up your minds, morons.
The hilarious thing about AZ though? They actually stopped the counting when the protesters mobbed them, because it was unsafe for poll workers. So the stupid mob was shouting “count every vote” even though that was what they were already doing. Then they caused the count to stop with their stupidity…and got mad. Yikes, the stupid burns.
You’re right, Rapunzel! I can’t keep track of which states should stop counting and which should KEEP counting ! Guess I’m not as smart as these here Magats! 😉
Apparently AZ’s last batch of votes that were counted last night favored the orange menace. But that would have to repeat for every batch going forward in order for him to win the state and that’s very unlikely. I live here and I think it was early to call AZ, but I still think it was the right call. Sidebar – many of those MAGA asshats were carrying semi-automatic weapons at the protest. How is that okay??? Meanwhile, I am so proud of AZ. Our Secretary of State, Katie Hobbs, has done an amazing job of enabling all of us to vote. Spoiler alert – she’s a democrat.
The Maricopa County Recorder is also doing an amazing job. He was on social media before the election, saying “I don’t know care who you vote for, just vote!” He is very serious about counting every vote.
What do the fools with the rifles think? Are they going to shoot the ballot counters? Then the votes won’t get counted! ARGH.
John McCain revenge! Yessssss! Thank you Arizona. I still get goosebumps when I think of his literal midnight thumbs down on the Senate floor, thereby saving the ACA.
I saw a meme that said, The McCains Send Their Regards. I loved it.
Yeah…AZ doesn’t like people who dis our war heroes. As much as this state frustrates me at times, I was so happy to see that people didn’t forget Trump’s treatment of McCain, who is roundly respected on both sides of the aisle here.
I also heard last night on CNN that Atlanta’s very blue area around Atlanta is John Lewis’ district showing up, so the Arizona John and Georgia John are coming to play and take down Trump’s presidency.
I like the imagery of them clinking glasses in heaven in honor of their people showing up. In my head RBG is at the table too.
How this man doesn’t have a stroke daily boggles the mind.
Who said he’s not?
@ HEMP. I have had 2 strokes myself. He’s more like teetering on the edge of a full blown gonzo nervous breakdown.
Any.Day.Now.
I think covfefe was a minor stroke.
person woman man camera tv, this test was after a stroke I believe.
I definitely think he had a stroke when he was taken so suddenly to Walter Reed that time.
I definitely think he had a stroke when he was taken so suddenly to Walter Reed that time.
I know someone on the Fox decision desk and they are not the Trump lackeys who are on air. They are more… fact-aligned.
but…why? it doesn’t show. why not position yourself to be a reputable news source instead of a baby dictator’s mouthpiece? nah.
Because being the baby dictator’s mouthpiece (or running the Republican propaganda machine, however you want to phrase it) brings them lots of viewers. And those viewers then vote R and it keeps the Rs in power and the cycle keeps going.
I was reading yesterday that the decision desk is contracted out, so that’s why its one of the few things there that aren’t biased.
I have checked in a few times and they are reporting the vote count just as cbs, cnn and msnbc. They are not saying trump has already won. I was releived.
If Arizona does turn Blue make no mistake about it, that was the work of thousands of on the ground activists resisting decades long racist Republican policies, especially those of Joe Arpaio. This is why we say the work happens at the community level. All these politicians will claim that they put the work in to win but in reality it’s been groups like LUCHA, PUENTE, The Young Center, and countless others that organized communities, particularly the Latinx community to vote BLUE. My friends, who work for some of these, even set up mariachi and Banda parades around neighborhoods to promote the democratic ticket.
“If Arizona does turn Blue make no mistake about it, that was the work of thousands of on the ground activists resisting decades long racist Republican policies,“
That’s what is coming out as effective for dems across the country. Not money pouring in for ads or ghosts of dead white people but door to door canvassing and engaging voters on a local level so they then also care on a national level.
Thank you to everyone who has known this and been doing the work.
Thank you and all who worked so hard!
So….Arizona. Yeahhhhh. Getting waaaaaay too close for my personal sanity. The numbers are flipping.
Someone talk me down please
Yes I need some reassurance as well! Where are the rest of the votes being counted from?
Maricopa county I believe?
Any fellow readers from Arizona can help?
(btw I spent some time traveling through AZ years ago and it’s stunning)
I believe they’ve gotten most of Maricopa County. What’s left is Pima County, which is much more democratic leaning than Maricopa. We will be ok!
I am in maricopa county and yes I believe we still have many votes being counted. AZ has been early ballot by mail since the 90’s. Its a well oiled process, however the USPS has been having significant delays for months and I suspect that delayed even early voters getting their mail ballots counted early. I and many others hand delivered my ballot to registered drop boxes in my city. The workers there told me they had seen shocking volumes of drop offs, unprecedented.
My concern is the in person voters, possibly for Trump that would have come in on election day but assuming those are already in the tally numbers? Make no mistake there are a LOT of MAGA residents here, but I suspect they are just more demonstrative than us Biden supporters.
I moved 3 democrats (one of them a first time voter) here from the east coast last year so part of the blue wave coming into the state 🙂
Arizona is still for Biden
https://twitter.com/ppollingnumbers/status/1324301003357855744?s=21
AZ here. I said this upthread but will repeat it here. The last batch they counted last night heavily favored Trump (I think he got 57% in that last batch). It’s highly unlikely that will repeat itself in subsequent batches and he is not expected to take Arizona. Even the Republican pundits here are openly stating that the chances of a reversal here are slim.
I am quite proud of my state. We flipped blue AND legal weed baby! Learning that the AZ call ruined a bunch of Republicans’ night, well thats the delicious blue icing on top our blue cake that we eat in celebration of Joe Biden!
Congrats! I’m so jealous of weed legal states!!
Lucky you! Still in a red state here. AZ is my hubby’s home state and we love to visit.
Moved here last year bringing three blue voters. I have always lived in a political state (NH, VA) and did not dream AZ would become so pivotal in this race.
Gee, I wonder why diaper Donnie refuses to spend a night away from his own bed………
Speaking of fraud . . .
Last night, I read a Trumpster post on voter fraud, which says the Democrats will be caught for fraud because their fake ballots don’t have radioactive isotope water marks like the real ones.
That’s right, radioactive isotopes. You didn’t misread me.
Radioactive. Isotopes. On ballots. Handled by humans. Printed by the government for voting security.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Btw, the Trumpster spelled radioactive as radinactive. 😂
So I dug into the conspiracy, and it gets crazier. They’re saying DHS (Dept. of Homeland Security) printed all the ballots and put in these measures. Da fuq? Leaving radioactivity aside, elections and ballots are a state matter. It would be illegal for the federal government to interfere with the state run elections by printing the ballots.
At least some posters were saying they used non-radioactive isotopes. I guess that’s something.
But I can’t stop laughing. The Dept. of Homeland Security put radioactive isotopes on all the ballots…. because nothing’s more secure than radioactive isotopes on your ballot, right? 😂😂
And it gets funnier… the National Guard is being deployed… to detect the radioactive isotopes! National guardsmen with Geiger counters! Catching the Dems in their chicanery! Oh, the drama.
So you heard it here first:
1. DHS illegally printed all the ballots for the state run elections.
2. These ballots were irradiated.
3. The Dems were unaware of all of this and printed a bunch of non-irradiated fake ballots, walking straight into this DHS trap.
4. The specially trained radiaiologists of the National Guard will be called in (illegally, by DHS instead of the state governors.)
5. These Guardsmen will detect the fake Dem ballots and clean up the election fraud, since the radioactive isotopes on the genuine ballots was magical radioactivity that didn’t contaimate the non-radioactive fake ballots.
6. And this magical radioactivity also made nobody ill.
Good Lord, this conspiracy theory is dumber than Pizzagate.
And the original Trumpster that couldn’t spell radioactive? Edward Earl Sutton of the Tennessee 6th congressional district.
Wait…WHAT?????
This was magnificent!
Im gonna be honest I couldn’t stop laughing after “radioactive “ 😂
Um WTF. That’s literally batshit. People actually believe that?
That is insane, quite literally!
The only reason AZ would be blue is because people from CA, WA, and OR are moving there in droves. If you call Uhaul they don’t have any trucks to move to CA from AZ. My roommate is moving to Utah and the truck from Uhaul is $2k because they’re not available.
When I voted on Monday in AZ there was a Dem outside that gave me a cheat sheet. So yes the Dems were outside polling locations, but there are a TON of Trump supporters in AZ. It’s kind of disgusting. So if the numbers are flipping, it’s because ALOT of voters in AZ like Trump unfortunately.
This would not be the only reason. BIPOC Activists have been putting in the hard work and in most cases their bodies on the line for decades, they deserve their rightful credit. We don’t need to be erasing them from the narrative especially since white folks and politicians always like to take the credit for their work.
This!
F this white savior narrative. The only thing we do know is that the ONLY reason we are on this position to begin with is that white people as a whole refuse to let go of the priveleges that keep them protected even if it means that we as a country all suffer. We will never be able to progress as a country if our issues with racism are not honestly confronted and not masked with claims of economic populism.
Hats off to all of the grass roots activists, especially the BIPOC groups that are doing the hard work and overperforming to save us from the facists, the Karen’s and bigots. Now would be a good time to donate towards these groups because this isn’t over. Voter suppression is real and we still have a long way to make sure voter participation among historically disenfranchised groups continue to grow.
I don’t see where Marietta said what color our new Arizonans are. There are throngs of people – of all colors – moving here, not just white people.
All this. 💯 Percent
Although grassroots efforts with BIPOC will indeed help bring many states over the finish line, and that impact should NOT be diminished. AZ does have a unique change going on in just the last few years in particular drawing many many new residents from CA due to cost and taxes, not to mention the east coast and other areas. The liberal demographics are changing in this state greatly and the phoenix valley (part of maricopa county) has grown tremendously with more and more building going on, it is rather insane even since moving here a year ago. These demographic changes are one of the reasons we finally felt comfortable ourselves moving here after visiting family for 12 years. There are still a whole lot of MAGA folk here however 😉
To add to What @Heather H said, TONs of people of all races are moving to AZ because of the cost of living in CA, WA, OR, etc is way higher than AZ. The cost of a tiny house in CA for example is $1 mil, (just an example) come to AZ and you can live in a mansion for that price. My dad’s friends just moved from CA and bought a million dollar house in Cave Creek and love the low taxes/gated community they live in. This has been happening since 2015, when I moved from LA to Scottsdale.
And to also add to my statement above, I did not mention anything about race/color etc because it’s everyone. Not just white people. AZ has been a red state for a long time (been here off and on for 14 years), and yes it is changing for the better! Thankfully!
Marietta and Heather I’m not disputing the fact that the demographics in AZ are changing. I’ve seen it myself and have had family move from California to AZ. That being said, an equally important factor is the huge rise of young Latinx voters and a general increase in Latinx votership which could help push counties like Maricopa to (hopefully) turn Blue. All of this which occurred due to the the work of organizations canvasing and local grassroots efforts that have been happening for over a decade as a response to the “show me your papers” and other disgusting anti-immigrant policies and practices that AZ put in place (policies which negatively influenced other parts of the country like my hometown of Riverside Ca). Additionally, Arpaio getting pardoned also incentivized these movements and the communities impacted. So yes while changing demographics do also impact the election, there is also a deeper history here that is tied to BIPOC struggle and that often gets overlooked. And also keep in mind they did all this without any real support from the democratic party since they were too busy pandering to former Trump voters and never Trumpers.
The Orange traitor is tweeting STOP THE COUNT!!! this morning while his sons are freaking out.
I have been blocked by all the trumps. SAD.
Haha that’s a badge of honor.
Just the sons with jail in their future, not Baron.
Hopefully, the crooked Trumps are hiding all their grifted money in Baron’s name, and he’ll get it all when they go to jail. Then, use a big chunk of it to fund planned parenthood and the ACLU. Plus, BLM and UNCF.
Trump is the sorest loser.
…in the history of the world.
Yeah I heard he screamed at Murdoch himself after Fox called Arizona for Biden. Murdoch refused to rescind and that’s why Trump supporters are now so angry at their dependable state tv. Amazing how fast these people turn on eachother, like a pack of zombies in an episode of TWD. Murdoch has more money and more power than Trump has so I don’t think he’s that intimidated by baby hands man.
I am looking forward to seeing Tucker’s orange face twist into an agonizing scream when Biden takes the 270.
“ They and several other aides had also tried and failed to get Mr. Trump to stop attacking an Arizona favorite son and war hero, Senator John McCain, a Republican whom the president has continued to criticize even after the senator’s death two years ago.”
Trump made a huge mistake in how he treated John McCain, (according to my friend who is an Arizonan at heart) when his wife Cindy endorsed Biden that was a huge deal. Huge. Not being that well versed on Arizona politics (well besides knowing that the state is republican by default) I wasn’t aware that she had that much pull.
To add:
I think it’s also the blue that’s coming over from California that’s helping. Someone on Twitter made a remark that republicanism is “old Arizona” while the minority youth are the “new Arizona”.
He is not used to NOT getting his way full stop. Most people by 74 have had disappointments and losses in their life, so that one can handle them properly. He was taught by his father that there is only one winner, it better be you. This ultimately goes back to his constant need for approval by his father when he was alive. If Biden hits 370, what will he do is my concern.
Yes, I completely agree with the call to “COUNT MY VOTE!” P.S. I live in Arizona and voted for Biden/Harris.
Just came to say that fox news is a awful news channel, I used to think that our Indian news channels are garbage but the level of ignorance of this channel just baffled me. It doesn’t seems like a news channels.