Last summer a group of children calling themselves the “USA Freedom Kids” appeared at a Trump rally. According to NY Magazine, they became an instant sensation “because of the contrast between the adorableness of the performers and the quasi-fascistic undertones of their lyrics”. Like the line “Deal from strength or get crushed every time.”
Maybe they should have listened to their own lyrics, because apparently the group and their manager didn’t “deal from strength”.
They were supposed to be paid $2,500 for appearing, but then they were told that they could instead have a free table to sell CDs. They accepted, but when they arrived they found there was no table. They performed anyway, but when they returned to their car, they discovered that all their merchandise had been stolen. Next, they were asked to fly to Iowa to appear at Trump’s rally to help veterans. But Trump stiffed them again, not only not paying them, but he didn’t even reimburse them for their travel costs.
Yes, this is the same rally where Trump somehow forgot to donate the money he promised to the veterans until he was reminded by the media, and then only gave around half of what he claimed he had collected for them. So the kids are in good company — people who have been “crushed” by Trump.
The group is now suing Trump. Good luck with that.
13 Comments
Sorry to hijack this thread but here’s a reminder why Johnsons a car crash too http://www.businessinsider.com/gary-johnson-syria-aleppo-what-is-2016-9
To Jonah, has anyone ever gotten a response for that question from Trump? The answer sounds very Trumpish. I give him a pass. He is still better than Voldertrump.
As to the original post. Stupid is as stupid does. No one should get taken advantage of, but that old saying “fool me once” certainly applies here.
Jonah, I think the Aleppo thing is overblown. Reading a printed article about it makes it very easy to wonder how he could not know what Aleppo is. But Johnson even explained that when he heard the name (completely out of context) he misunderstood. Once he understood he gave an answer. You can argue that it wasn’t a great answer, but except for the misunderstanding, this would not have been news.
If we are going to rule out a candidate just because of a simple misunderstanding (and not rule out someone like Trump, who really is a car crash, a train wreck, and a nuclear bomb explosion almost every day) then that doesn’t say much about our politics.
There are plenty of reasons to not vote for Johnson (wanting to eliminate Obamacare and replace it with a totally free market health care system is a good one), but this isn’t one of them. Even Libertarians should recognize a completely inelastic market when they see one.
And as Wildwood points out, Trump probably would not know what Aleppo is even if you spelled it out for him. Or worse, he’d talk about what a good job his Russian pal Putin is doing over there.
This is a lawsuit Trump needs to throw as much money at to win as is necessary, because losing would tell the public in very loud words that he stiffs little girls.
I absolutely disagree Johnsons gaffe was overblown. It seems clear he did not know what Aleppo was and he should have in my opinion. Thats how complicated this world has become when even a previously obscure syrian city is now important.
Here’s some commentary by BI http://www.businessinsider.com/gary-johnson-what-is-aleppo-president-2016-9
This is not a comparison with Trump. IT just means that both are unqualified to become president in these complex times.
Jonah, I think we are violently agreeing. We both think Johnson is not qualified to be president — along with Trump, Sarah Palin, and a few dozen other politicians I can think of.
That article you linked to is good because it makes the connection to his bad ideas about the economy (which is the point I made in my last comment). He knows he doesn’t know much about Syria, and would likely seek help from others before doing anything there. But he thinks he does know how to fix the economy (including healthcare), and that is what scares me about him.
I am less scared of Johnson because he will not win, but he might take votes from Trump. Perhaps Clinton as well, but not as many, I think. Trump is the scariest, so anything that gives voters an option is good. I think this was blown out of proportion, simply because the Republicans are afraid he’s taking votes from them. Had he not been close to the numbers needed to show up at a debate, there would have been little attention paid to what he said.
Well, he lost their vote.
Maybe they could help make an ad for Hillary? _She’ll_ pay. Or better yet, she’ll pay in advance and they mention it in the ad!
Actually, I’ve seen numbers that show that the third party candidates are taking more voters from Clinton than from Trump.
IK I’m holding my hands over my ears and eyes and pretending you did not just make that last statement. Nononononono!!!
And to add to that terrible suggestion, this morning we felt the earthquake here in St. Louis from the New Madrid Fault and I just found out that Trump is coming to speak at “She who shall not be spoken”s funeral. I feel DOOM is in the air. Voldertrump and Schlafly in the same building. Surely the end of times.
Wildwood, then definitely don’t read this — http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/election-update-is-gary-johnson-taking-more-support-from-clinton-or-trump/
Or http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/clintons-third-party-headache-226700
Honestly, I’m relieved that Clinton is losing more to 3rd parties than Trump. Historically, people move away from third party candidates as the election gets closer and the stakes get more real.
This means that as people get over their flirtation with Johnson or Stein, it’s Clinton who they will come back to. Her numbers will rise and Trump’s will remain unchanged.