Who knew? Source of the description about Republicans being "weird"---- President George W. Bush
There’s nothing weird about calling Trump weird.
Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota is getting big props for giving his rejuvenated party the political buzzword of the moment: “weird.”
In a series of recent public appearances, Walz has been tossing that word around like confetti to describe the bizarre comments that flow with alarming frequency from Donald Trump, along with Senator JD Vance of Ohio, his vice presidential nominee.
“Listen to the guy. He’s talking about Hannibal Lecter😧 and shocking sharks 🦈and whatever crazy thing pops into his mind,” Walz said on CNN. “I thought we gave him too much credit. One of the things is when you just ratchet down the scariness or whatever, you just name it what it is.”
And for Democrats, that name is “weird.”
But perhaps the weirdest thing about the proliferation of that word is that it wasn’t Walz or any other Democrat who became the first to call Trump and his antics weird (well, at least publicly).
It was former Republican president George W. Bush.
On Trump’s first day as this nation’s 45th president, he delivered arguably the most dystopian inaugural address ever. Instead of a conciliatory speech about unifying the country after a long, bitter campaign, Trump portrayed the country he was elected to lead as a seething hellscape of “rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones” and overrun by crime, drugs, and gangs.
After Trump’s speech, published reports said Bush, who was on the dais with other dignitaries and invited guests, was allegedly overheard by three people offering his one-line critique:
“That was some weird s---.”
What made Bush’s comment so remarkable wasn’t the profanity. It was his use of a word that lots of people that day probably uttered as they listened to Trump’s strange speech. And that’s what makes its resurrection so perfect for this, well, weird political moment.
Democrats have spent years calling Trump what he is — a budding authoritarian, a racist, an existential threat to democracy, a liar, and most recently, a convicted felon. He’s managed to spin those insults into symbols of strength and defiance against systems and institutions he falsely claims are rigged against him and, by extension, his followers.
His campaign has garnered millions from T-shirts emblazoned with his mug shot, and his subordinates have spread the disgusting lie that being a convicted felon could boost his appeal to Black voters. But it’s highly unlikely that Team Trump will be adding any T-shirts with “weird” and the former president’s face to their merchandise page.
Trump’s entire persona is about projecting blunt masculine power. Beyond that, he is as humorless as a clenched fist, scowls more than he smiles, and has no sense of humor, especially about himself. Being called “weird,” a common word that isn’t highfalutin or elitist, is deflating for Trump.
Punchy and monosyllabic, “weird” also sounds like a counterpunch to “woke,” except that the meaning of the former remains intact unlike Republicans’ dog-whistle perversion of the latter. And it shows yet again that while Republicans can dish out nasty names for their political opponents, they can’t stand being called them.
On X, Vivek Ramaswamy, the former Republican presidential candidate, called Democrats leaning into the word “weird” “dumb & juvenile.” This from a man who, during his failed campaign, mocked Harris’s and Nikki Haley’s intelligence and echoed anything Trump said.
Unburdened by uncomfortable questions about President Biden’s age or mental acuity, Democrats are acting brand new and concocting all kinds of ways to jab at Trump’s greatest insecurity — being laughed at. It’s why as president Trump never attended the White House Correspondents Dinner, especially after 2011 when then-president Obama roasted Trump, to his face and to the audience’s delight, about his lies concerning Obama’s citizenship and eligibility to be president.
At some point, Trump may do what he usually does — try to co-opt “weird” and use it against his political opponents. But it’s unlikely to have the same impact. He would drop it like a sledgehammer instead of a relatable off-the-cuff comment, however scripted it has become. Plus, Democrats have this on their side: Republican obsessions with women’s reproductive choices, berating overworked and underpaid teachers and librarians, and acting like the self-appointed arbiters of Harris’s racial identity is, at the very least, weird.
For the foreseeable future, Republicans should get used to hearing that word. But Hillary Clinton, who throughout her decades-long public life has been called exponentially worse things than weird, offered a solution on social media for Republicans and their hurt feelings:
“If Republican leaders don’t enjoy being called weird, creepy, and controlling,” she wrote, “they could try not being weird, creepy, and controlling.”
Echo opinion commentary published in the Boston Globe by Renee Graham.
It’s accessible, snarky, and absolutely true.
It’s accessible, snarky, and absolutely true.
Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota is getting big props for giving his rejuvenated party the political buzzword of the moment: “weird.”
In a series of recent public appearances, Walz has been tossing that word around like confetti to describe the bizarre comments that flow with alarming frequency from Donald Trump, along with Senator JD Vance of Ohio, his vice presidential nominee.
And for Democrats, that name is “weird.”
But perhaps the weirdest thing about the proliferation of that word is that it wasn’t Walz or any other Democrat who became the first to call Trump and his antics weird (well, at least publicly).
It was former Republican president George W. Bush.
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| "That was some weird shit!", said President George Bush |
After Trump’s speech, published reports said Bush, who was on the dais with other dignitaries and invited guests, was allegedly overheard by three people offering his one-line critique:
“That was some weird s---.”
What made Bush’s comment so remarkable wasn’t the profanity. It was his use of a word that lots of people that day probably uttered as they listened to Trump’s strange speech. And that’s what makes its resurrection so perfect for this, well, weird political moment.
Democrats have spent years calling Trump what he is — a budding authoritarian, a racist, an existential threat to democracy, a liar, and most recently, a convicted felon. He’s managed to spin those insults into symbols of strength and defiance against systems and institutions he falsely claims are rigged against him and, by extension, his followers.
His campaign has garnered millions from T-shirts emblazoned with his mug shot, and his subordinates have spread the disgusting lie that being a convicted felon could boost his appeal to Black voters. But it’s highly unlikely that Team Trump will be adding any T-shirts with “weird” and the former president’s face to their merchandise page.
Trump’s entire persona is about projecting blunt masculine power. Beyond that, he is as humorless as a clenched fist, scowls more than he smiles, and has no sense of humor, especially about himself. Being called “weird,” a common word that isn’t highfalutin or elitist, is deflating for Trump.
Punchy and monosyllabic, “weird” also sounds like a counterpunch to “woke,” except that the meaning of the former remains intact unlike Republicans’ dog-whistle perversion of the latter. And it shows yet again that while Republicans can dish out nasty names for their political opponents, they can’t stand being called them.
On X, Vivek Ramaswamy, the former Republican presidential candidate, called Democrats leaning into the word “weird” “dumb & juvenile.” This from a man who, during his failed campaign, mocked Harris’s and Nikki Haley’s intelligence and echoed anything Trump said.
Unburdened by uncomfortable questions about President Biden’s age or mental acuity, Democrats are acting brand new and concocting all kinds of ways to jab at Trump’s greatest insecurity — being laughed at. It’s why as president Trump never attended the White House Correspondents Dinner, especially after 2011 when then-president Obama roasted Trump, to his face and to the audience’s delight, about his lies concerning Obama’s citizenship and eligibility to be president.
At some point, Trump may do what he usually does — try to co-opt “weird” and use it against his political opponents. But it’s unlikely to have the same impact. He would drop it like a sledgehammer instead of a relatable off-the-cuff comment, however scripted it has become. Plus, Democrats have this on their side: Republican obsessions with women’s reproductive choices, berating overworked and underpaid teachers and librarians, and acting like the self-appointed arbiters of Harris’s racial identity is, at the very least, weird.
For the foreseeable future, Republicans should get used to hearing that word. But Hillary Clinton, who throughout her decades-long public life has been called exponentially worse things than weird, offered a solution on social media for Republicans and their hurt feelings:
“If Republican leaders don’t enjoy being called weird, creepy, and controlling,” she wrote, “they could try not being weird, creepy, and controlling.”
Labels: Boston Globe, Donald Trump, Governor Tim Walz, Hannibal Lecter, JD Vance
posted by Juliana L'Heureux | 5:15 AM
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