It seems like the Trumpapalooza didn’t get as much attention as he wanted, especially since the 9/11 commemorations were the day after it was over. Trump, by the way, went to the Pentagon commemoration because he couldn’t blather for two hours at the NYC one (I read that somewhere and it’s a fact too good to check.)
A couple of things about Trumpapalooza. First, did you know that it was the opposite of free?
Some members balked at high attendance fees. Republican House members were being asked to pay $25,000 for convention tickets and lodging, according to people familiar with the situation and granted anonymity to speak frankly about the private arrangement.
An additional 2,000 tickets were distributed by the House GOP's campaign arm, largely to donors and others to attend the convention. Other tickets were allocated to state parties to distribute as they saw fit.
"Per the RNC, this is a ticketed fundraiser and rally, not a traditional national convention," the Denton County Republican Party in Texas wrote in a Facebook post, which advertised packages from $5,000 to $20,000.
I knew this was for suckers, but, man it really was for suckers.
Second, I thought I’d highlight a good response from Becca Balint, the lone Rep from Vermont. I highlight it because she’s a no drama, almost always right Democrat who does a good job with her social media. It really isn’t that hard.
That’s from her Instagram, which is such a walled garden that I’m not going to bother to figure out how to link. She’s @repbeccab on the socials.
Third, JD Vance made big headlines with his racist bullshit, and I want to defer to Steve M for the whole rundown on how this slimy, bad politician gets an absolute pass from the media. Steve quotes a couple of terrible, horrible, no good NYT stories that show just how hard they’re trying to make Vance happen.
That said, one guy who wasn’t there was Marco Rubio, and look at this:
I don’t put a lot of stock in these kinds of polls at this time of the campaign cycle, but Rubio keeping his head down seems to be working, for now. I don’t want to be over confident about Vance’s inevitable failure, but I think we have a model for his career trajectory in Ron DeSantis. The Times and other political press were doing backflips, cartwheels and standing on their heads trying to make that black hole of charisma into the next big thing in Republican politics. DeSantis seems to have vanished without a trace, except for him continuing to afflict his home state, even though he was more than willing to out-MAGA Trump. And DeSantis wasn’t even associated with the failing Trump Administration.
Also, note that the only Democrat above water in a media environment toxic to Democrats is the guy who’s going after corruption hammer and tongs.
Anyway, back to the Trump’s convention. It sucked. The end.
