Trump's fair fail delivers one embarrassment after another

[0:00] OK, so I want to start with something that has been all over my feed for all of the wrong reasons and probably yours, too, although it has been so delightful to take all of this in. [0:10] And that is the wild toad ride that is Freedom 250 or the great American State Fair that Donald Trump and his, you know, knockup team has been running across the board. [0:22] OK, and it's been all over my feed for a range of reasons because it has had a lot of issues, one of them being huge power outages. [0:28] And the power outages caused things like the Ferris wheel is anything more American than the Ferris wheel to stop running, melting ice cream. [0:36] If there ever was ice cream in a lot of these places, melting ice cream because the freezers apparently weren't working. [0:43] Extreme weather. A lot of performers dropped out of performing at this because they didn't think they were signing up to do a Trump event. [0:51] They were surprised, some of them, when they were announced as part of the lineup. [0:55] Vanilla Ice, that guy, still stayed in it. [0:59] And yet he had to cancel his performance or his performance canceled due to inclement weather that never really, I guess, came in the form of a heat wave. [1:08] So a lot of things have not been going well. [1:11] The other thing is visitors have been sharing photos and video of what they are seeing on the National Mall, which is, of course, where the fair is taking place. [1:19] And let's just say it is not what anyone would envision when they would have thought of or mapped out the Great American State Fair. [1:29] Look at that photo. OK, that is all of those parts you're seeing that are green should be covered with people attending the Great American Fair. [1:39] There is also the Ferris wheel that I already mentioned that wasn't working for a while. [1:42] Look at how empty that is. You could just do cartwheels across that. You could have a soccer game. [1:50] There is nobody attending this fair. And it looks pretty sad and depressing, to be totally honest. [1:56] I mean, America's 250th anniversary only comes once, really. And that's what it particularly looks like. [2:03] And it kind of raised this question. And we were talking about this. [2:06] Does Donald Trump know what a state fair is? Has he been to a state fair? [2:10] You may be wondering this, too, because what bizarre photos we're seeing take place there? [2:15] And the answer is, and you can find this fairly easily, that he has definitely attended a state fair before. [2:20] He went to the Iowa State Fair back in 2015. So he knows what a state fair is supposed to look like. [2:26] That is a fantastic state fair that happens every year. [2:29] He enjoyed a piece of pork on a stick. Beautiful, graceful. Donald Trump. [2:34] Oh, there you go. You're not going to unsee that image. That's him eating pork on a stick. OK. [2:39] He also arrived at the state fair. And this really explains a lot on his personal helicopter that was, of course, branded as one does. [2:48] I think Bernie Sanders actually made fun of this at the time for a good reason. [2:52] That's how he arrived at the state fair. So it answers in some ways a lot of questions like, does this guy know what a state fair is supposed to be? [2:59] He arrived in a suit jacket on his helicopter to the Iowa State Fair. [3:03] Maybe that explains why this whole thing is such an abject failure, because he doesn't really know what it means to be a host of one. [3:11] Or maybe that's part of the explanation. OK. [3:13] Speaking of awkward, out of touch candidates, I will say Donald Trump isn't even the most awkward, the most out of touch. [3:19] That award generally goes to his vice president, J.D. Vance. [3:24] And J.D. Vance, it is now we're now in the second half of 2026 officially. [3:29] This guy has hired a lot of Trump's political team. He's in 2028. [3:34] He's a mentoring candidate. He will do anything to get there. We all know that. Right. [3:38] Well, part of what he's decided to do to attempt to get there is imitate Donald Trump. [3:43] And this really does not work. But I just have to play his attempt. [3:49] You ever seen these old cartoons where you've got the angel on the shoulder and the devil on the shoulder? [3:54] Well, because I'm speaking to all of you, our great patriots and service members, I've got the angel on my shoulder saying, J.D., don't be partisan. [4:03] We're going to make this nonpartisan. And then I've got the devil on my shoulder who wants to talk about every time that Joe Biden fell up or down the stairs. [4:10] I mean, first of all, the only person obsessed, really, I mean, who's driven the obsession with Joe Biden is Donald Trump. [4:18] And other people followed when he was in elected office. He's not an elected office. [4:23] The man is battling cancer. And J.D. Vance is so pathetic that he has to make a Trumpian like joke that fell flat. [4:30] Did you hear any response in the audience? Not really, because there really wasn't one. [4:34] Now, it's not just how he's speechifying and giving speeches. And there are so many weird, awkward moments that I could play. [4:41] We could spend all of our time talking about awkward J.D. Vance moments. [4:45] It's also in his personal life. And this was not this did not happen this week. [4:49] But I just thought of it this week. I thought about it this week after watching him give that speech. [4:53] And it's even awkward encounters with his wife. [4:57] Today's special reader is my husband, Vice President of the United States, J.D. Vance. [5:02] Thanks for joining us today, honey. [5:03] Of course. Good to see you. [5:07] I mean, OK, the pat on the leg is like, first of all, they're about to have their fourth child together. [5:15] That's exciting. But the pat on the leg is like they've never met before. [5:20] Maybe they were once in a steady group together. [5:24] Maybe they once were in a bowling league. It's so impersonal. It's awkward. [5:28] OK, so I had to point out that because I also thought about it. [5:32] Now, the other thing that is so interesting about J.D. Vance and it's going to be fun to watch if he he of course he's running for president in 2020. [5:38] And so we're going to be watching this is that he doesn't seem to have like a high level of getting it, of understanding what exactly is happening, including when he is sort of the butt of the joke. [5:47] So this whole series of things transpired this this week. And I just I'm going to I'm going to walk you through it because it just it is it is kind of hilarious. [5:54] So Vance made an appearance on a Daily Wire podcast where he was asked to name who the leading Democrat in 2028 is. [6:02] And he raised the idea that AOC should run. OK, so that was on this podcast. [6:08] Then on Wednesday of this week, she was asked by a reporter about just that. [6:13] And her answer was actually pretty funny. So I want to play that. [6:17] J.D. Vance just said in an interview that he thinks you are going to be the leading Democratic candidate for president in 2020. [6:25] I mean, you know, I hope he is. That's what I'll say. [6:32] He's a Republican nominee. [6:34] Can you see the wheels turning in her head? I mean, I think she's going to run for something, whether it's Senate or president. [6:40] I don't know yet. We don't know yet. Maybe she doesn't know yet. [6:42] But her answer was like, I hope J.D. Vance runs. You know why? [6:46] Because we all see who J.D. Vance is. And he's kind of this awkward duck who does not have the dark charisma of Trump and wants it so badly. [6:57] It's like coming out of his pores. OK, so this story continues because then and this is where it gets awkward. [7:03] Vance was asked later in the day about her response. And here's what he had to say. [7:07] Why do you think Ocasio-Cortez says she hopes that you're the nominee in the 2028 presidential election? [7:14] I don't know. I don't think much about 2028. As you know, my attitude is let's do a good job now. [7:22] Well, you don't know. His laugh was almost like he was honored and flattered by it, like it was a potential big endorser saying he should run. [7:30] Not the person who might run on the other side, who knows what's going to happen when 30 people run, suggesting it would be great for a Democrat if he were the nominee. [7:40] Why? Because she doesn't think he'd be a particularly good candidate. [7:44] He didn't seem to be digesting the joke there. So there's that. [7:47] OK, the next guy I want to talk about, I don't know if it's that he's awkward or just deeply broken inside or possibly both and more. [7:56] And that is, of course, Stephen Miller and Stephen Miller had quite a week because that guy has been hoping, plotting, praying for the end of birthright citizenship. [8:08] I don't know. Since he was in high school, I'm not even totally clear, possibly, but definitely since the beginning of Trump's first term. [8:15] And he was very much behind the executive order that Trump signed when he first got into office, ending birthright citizenship. [8:21] The courts have been considering that for 18 months, which is infuriating on its own. [8:26] But this week, the Supreme Court ensured that birthright citizenship remains the law of the land. [8:33] OK, that had to have been a bad day for Stephen Miller. [8:36] He was maybe he was stress eating, biting his nails, but he all of that and more. [8:42] But he certainly lashed out. [8:44] And it was so telling because it tells you a lot about kind of the darkness in his soul. [8:49] And I just want to play what he had to say, because it is it's important to hear, to be clear eyed about who and what is driving the policy process over there. [8:59] Look, Jesse, I can step tomorrow onto the deck of a 747. [9:03] It does not mean that I am the pilot of that plane. [9:06] I'm qualified to fly it. [9:07] Just physically being on U.S. soil does not make you a citizen or qualified to carry on or capable of executing the inheritance of this country. [9:17] We have people from all over the world, from third world nations, nations that on their own would have never invented the wheel, let alone modern technology, let alone medicine, let alone air travel. [9:29] And they can just come into the country, have a baby at a hospital, paid for it by you and me, and then that baby is automatically a citizen. [9:38] I mean, first of all, Jesse Watters' hair, I respect on how he keeps it together there. [9:43] But but Stephen Miller practiced that. [9:47] That is what is going on in his heart of hearts. [9:49] It tells you just a lot about the hatred for the people coming into this country. [9:56] By the way, all of our ancestors came into this country, and Stephen Miller is so driven seemingly by that on a day-to-day basis. [10:04] Imagine living that way. [10:06] But that is also he is also one of the most, if not the most powerful policy person in the White House, and he is a driver of what Trump does. [10:15] So it's important to hear what he has to say because it is a reminder of what's happening there. [10:20] OK, there are moments when you hear a Republican say something and you think, did a Democrat make them do this? [10:29] Is this going to be used in ads all across the country? [10:32] Does this guy know how out of touch this sounds? [10:35] And Troy Nels is sort of he is the gift that keeps on giving on this front. [10:39] But this week he had something particularly out of touch to say. [10:42] And I just I imagine it will be used in some capacity by Democrats. [10:48] And I just have to we just have to listen to it. [10:51] Actually, real quick. [10:52] How do House Republicans make the case that you're fighting for affordability when you go back to your districts? [10:58] Affordability? [10:59] What are you talking about? [10:59] Well, affordability is the big. [11:00] I'm going to go to tomorrow. [11:01] I'm going to well over the fourth. [11:03] I'm going to give me a couple of lobster tails. [11:05] I'm going to get me some nice ribeyes. [11:07] I'm going to sit in my backyard with my family, my neighbors. [11:11] And we're going to be enjoying the fourth, celebrating 250 years, the birthday. [11:18] We're going to be celebrating the greatest president of my lifetime, Donald J. Trump. [11:22] Maybe watch some fireworks. [11:24] I think 60 percent of Americans who are living paycheck to paycheck can afford lobster tails and ribeyes and all of that. [11:30] Maybe not. [11:30] Maybe the 60 percent of America don't work as hard as I do either. [11:34] I mean, I don't know. [11:35] I mean, so much to say here. [11:39] First of all, you have the month of August off. [11:41] You also have a week off for July 4th. [11:44] Also, your whole issue, the whole issue in this country is affordability and cost of living. [11:50] You just basically, I don't, you basically exposed what a lot of people, Republicans specifically, think in Washington. [11:59] He's going to go back and have lobster and ribeye with his family in the backyard. [12:05] What about affordability? [12:06] I don't know anything about that. [12:07] Really? [12:07] That's like the central issue that is going on in this country right now. [12:12] I'm sure there's somebody in the White House who called him afterwards, probably to no avail, but still. [12:17] Okay. [12:18] I promise you all of the people in public office, including Republicans, are not deeply dark and out of touch as Troy Nels is. [12:26] And there was this particular story that I came across this week. [12:29] You may have seen it, too, about the mayor of Aurora. [12:32] And this guy is a Republican. [12:35] He's the mayor of Aurora, Colorado. [12:36] He's a former member of Congress. [12:38] There's a lot of things he said in the past that I certainly don't agree with. [12:41] And I don't even agree with the way he's necessarily handling the policy of homelessness. [12:46] But I think this is important because he's been the mayor since 2019. [12:52] And since late February, every Friday night, he sleeps at the Aurora homeless shelter. [12:58] And then in the morning on Saturdays, he helps serve breakfast. [13:00] And he basically started sleeping in the center because he wanted to see himself for himself personally, how the shelters services were working and find places for improvements. [13:10] And he says it's also helped him make him more compassionate about what people who are sleeping in the shelters experience. [13:18] And he said, you know, you can't categorize people in any particular group. [13:21] You have to see them as individuals. [13:23] Quite frankly, it's made me more compassionate. [13:25] Again, I don't agree with every way he's handling the issue. [13:28] You probably don't either. [13:29] But most a lot of elected officials, most don't put their money where their mouth is. [13:34] They don't actually go and live and try to experience what people are going through. [13:38] He did. [13:38] I think it's pretty heartwarming and maybe it's something more people should do.