THE LEFT’S MOCKERY
ALWAYS FALLS FLAT
With two assassination attempts and a series of lawfare scams unable to derail the Trump Train, Leftists are increasingly reliant on mockery. The Anti-Trump cartoons, memes and jokes continue to flood social media.
But Leftists face a dilemma — a conundrum, if you will.
Yeah, sure, they’re stuck with Kamala. But that’s not what I’m talking about.
Their problem is more practical: They can’t satirize Donald Trump.
Think about it. You’ve seen all the snide references to “Orange Man.” And yes, The Donald has a ruddy complexion which gives his face an orange hue.
But cartoonists and memesters have never been able to use that effectively. More often than not, the attempts just come off as petty (not to say stupid), as the above image demonstrates.
Orange has no real downside, after all. People like orange. They like the citrus fruit in its native form, and they like the many drinks, candies, cakes and snack items that use orange coloring and flavors.
Oranges have implications of healthfulness and joy. Orange popsicles figure prominently in childhood memories.
Then there are all those odd Trumpian speech patterns, mannerisms, and gesticulations that so annoy them: the goofy facial expressions, the repeated lines, the exaggerations and overblown analogies. And of course there’s how Trump’s spontaneous asides tend to meander around before he gets to the point.
Comedians have struggled to mock the Trump persona for a long time now. They rarely succeed in capturing its subtleties accurately. And when they do achieve an authentic moment, Trump fans love it! — which is especially frustrating to the Left.
The thing is, his stream-of-consciousness delivery is basically how most folks think. Even when Trump’s points aren’t especially clear or cogent, people catch the general drift of his thoughts, and they relate to it.
The Donald’s mockers also haven’t been able to exploit his habit of casting everything in the first person. While he was in office Trump usually avoided the institutional “we” when talking about the policies or workings of his administration. It was: “I” did this, or “I” will do that.
Such characteristic self-focus is evident in his current campaign. Consider how he insists there would be no war in Ukraine “if I were in office,” or how “I had a great relationship with Putin.”
Anti-Trumpers make fun of this way of expressing himself. They see it as self-centeredness and overweening pride.
Trump supporters, on the other hand, see it as a willingness to take responsibility for one’s own actions, a willingness that’s been long out of fashion in politics. Trump is thus perceived as someone who has convictions, a guy with guts.
That image was reinforced by his raised-fist defiance after being shot in the ear…
“Fight! Fight! Fight!”
An email blast sent out after the second assassination attempt was even more assertive…
“I will never slow down. I will never give up. I WILL NEVER SURRENDER!”
Using The Donald’s checkered personal history against him — the playboy lifestyle, the serial marriages, the floozie payoffs, real or alleged — has flopped as well.
There have been attempts to shame Evangelicals over the supposed hypocrisy of championing “family values” while supporting someone with a morally questionable background.
But the problem with trying to weaponize Trump’s past is that it’s too well known. As economists would say in analyzing stock market behavior, it’s already been discounted.
Evangelicals, in particular, have no illusions that The Donald is a saint. But they compare him with flawed characters in Scripture, whom God used to accomplish His purposes: King David? The Apostle Paul?
I guess all of the Left’s anti-Trump jokes, cartoons and memes might amuse the dyed-in-the-wool Trump haters, but that’s of limited advantage. No matter how many reservations they may have about Kamala — and I think there are more and deeper reservations than Democrats and the media will admit — hard-core anti-Trumpers are by and large committed.
Sharing laughs over what are basically “in-jokes” might be fun. And it probably helps to encourage the sense of moral superiority Leftists like to tout. But how many votes will it actually deliver?
Lines are pretty much drawn in this race. Which is why, despite an initial bounce in Kamala’s poll numbers following the Democratic convention and then after the debate, nothing anybody can say about The Donald is likely to make a difference.
What is happening is that Democrats — some very high-profile figures (RFK, Tulsi Gabbard, Alan Dershowitz, and others) — are crossing the line declaring for Trump. They’re basing their decision on serious and long-simmering concerns about the corruption of the Democratic Party and the future of this country.
No stupid mockery can assuage those feelings.
That’s a real quandary for the Left. And hearing about inconsequential Liz Cheney-type RINOs rooting for Kamala does nothing to counterbalance the trend of defections.
This race comes down to a choice between a wildly idiosyncratic anti-establishment candidate, on the one hand, and a sheep-over-the-cliff march toward national destruction on the other.
My advice to the Democrats is…
Enough with the mockery.
Trying to satirize Donald Trump is a no-win proposition.
Give it up.
Not that they’ll listen to me, of course.
NOTE: The image at the top of this column looks to me like something out of “Doonesbury.” Apparently someone picked it up and reworked it into an anti-Trump meme. I found it on a lefty Facebook page.
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It used to be said that all the talent was on the Left. Clearly, that’s no longer the case. Most anti-Trump graphics share one characteristic: the triumph of anger over wit…
…spiced with an ample dose of stupidity…
Somebody in Pennsylvania is spending a lot of money on an anti-Trump billboard campaign. They’re obviously depending on repetition to compensate for a lack of creativity…
But when all else fails, you can always fall back on the good old “Trump as Hitler” trope…
No matter that Russiagate has been definitely proven to be a Clintonite plot. The Left continues to insist that Trump is a stooge of the new Axis of Evil. As The Donald would put it: “Russia, Russia, Russia!” Well, I’ll give points for Photoshop technique…
Speaking of Photoshop, here’s a representation of Vance, Trump and Kennedy that shows some skill. And while the concept is as idiotic as the characters on which it’s based, it actually approaches cleverness…
One assumes this is intended as an insult. But for all I know, The Donald could be behind it. Gotta love the American entrepreneurial spirit…
Lefty memesters often abandon humor altogether, especially when they’re engaging in their fake moralism. If you feel you’re being dissed, you’re right…
At this writing, The Donald has been placed in mortal danger twice. We’ve been hearing a lot of Democrat guff about how we must come together as a nation and turn down the violent campaign rhetoric. Guess the Left hasn’t gotten the memo…
Here’s another humorless graphic that pushes a theory we’ve been hearing recently: Trump is behind it all…
In fairness, Leftists do — occasionally — come close to actual wit, as in this little graphic…
But then, MAGA has memesters too, and they’re more talented. Here’s a pair of images from the Babylon Bee, which has to be the most creative shop on the political scene today…
…and…
There’s other talent around too. I don’t know who produced this graphic, but it’s a very cute response to the Orange Man theme…
Finally, there’s this meme. It’s message is a tad overstated, perhaps, but not entirely inaccurate…
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