Opinion
Voices: After the Elon Musk-Donald Trump rally, there’s a better word for Republicans than ‘weird’
Ryan Coogan
Sun, October 6, 2024
A few months ago, before he was the Democratic nominee for vice-president alongside running mate Kamala Harris, Tim Walz struck gold when he pointed out in an interview just how “weird” the Republican party has become over the past few years.
It was a word that really struck a chord – not just with Democrats, who have struggled to articulate the shift in their opponents’ ideological positions since 2015, but with Republicans as well, who took the slight very, very personally, and didn’t seem to have a response to it.
I mean, how could they, after two of their biggest representatives on the world stage – Donald Trump and Elon Musk – met at a long-anticipated rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday evening and gave us… whatever that was?
In theory, the event should have been a slam dunk – Trump returning to the site of his attempted assassination, defiant in the face of death, and accompanied by the richest man in the world and “real life Tony Stark” (yes, we really used to call him that).
Instead what we got was the propaganda equivalent of an air ball, as the two men’s combined presence somehow managed to be even less than the sum of its parts – presumably putting us well into negative territory. They spread lies, they inflamed political tensions, and they targeted the vulnerable – all in a day’s work for two men who could afford to pay people to teach them social skills, but instead choose to be the poster boys for “white nationalism, but somehow even stupider”.
At this point, though, you have to wonder if “weird” is the right word anymore. Maybe “embarrassing” would be better. The pictures to come out of the event certainly are – one shows Musk in the middle of a jaunty little half-hop while Trump looks on like a disappointed father; another has Musk leaning in to talk to Trump with a look on his face that reads as “finally, the approval my father never gave me”.
One picture from the event shows Elon Musk in the middle of a jaunty little half-hop while Trump looks on like a disappointed father (Reuters)
But I know I’m not really being fair, there – people rarely look good in candid photographs. What’s actually embarrassing is that Musk turned up to do the rally at all, after Trump summarily humiliated him on Truth Social, a Trump-owned competitor to Musk’s own terrible website, just two short years ago:
"When Elon Musk came to the White House asking me for help on all of his many subsidised projects,” wrote the former president, “whether it’s electric cars that don’t drive long enough, driverless cars that crash, or rocketships to nowhere, without which subsidies he’d be worthless, and telling me how he was a big Trump fan and Republican, I could have said, ‘Drop to your knees and beg,’ and he would have done it…”
Well, I guess he finally did it, didn’t he? Actually, dropping on his knees and begging would probably have been a little less embarrassing – not just for Musk, who Trump humiliated, but for Trump too, who in holding the rally tacitly admitted that he needed campaign help from somebody he deems “worthless”.
Maybe the word is “disgusting”? That’s the word I’d use to describe Elon Musk’s prediction that “If [Republicans] don’t vote, this will be the last election”. It’s the kind of scaremongering that no democracy should have to weather, but it’s doubly disgusting when it happens at a rally for the guy who oversaw an attempted insurrection at the previous election.
Has Musk forgotten that, of the two candidates, only one has described themselves as a “dictator”? Or that Americans “won’t have to vote anymore” if he wins? I can’t imagine he has, to be honest – if I had to guess, I’d say he’s just talking out of his SpaceX.
Maybe “pathetic” is better? It was certainly pretty pathetic, the way Trump hit the same old tired talking points. Here he played all the hits, treating us to such classics as “Joe Biden is paying for sex change operations for illegal immigrants”, and “my political opponents tried to kill me”. At one point he even boasted about not needing a teleprompter… while reading from a teleprompter.
But I suppose that if I really had to pick just one word to describe the American political right in its current form – one word that summed up all their failings, both ideological and personal – I suppose it would have to be “losers”.
It’s the party of losers like Musk, desperate for validation but totally incapable of earning it. It’s the party of losers like JD Vance, who knows that he can’t actually back up any of his so-called beliefs, and so makes up stories about immigrants eating people’s pets to frighten voters into being on his side. It’s the party of losers like Marjorie Taylor Greene, who seems to sincerely believe that “they” – whoever “they” are – can control the weather.
And hopefully, come 5 November, it will be the party of two-time loser Donald Trump – and we’ll never have to hear any of his weird, embarrassing, disgusting, pathetic ramblings ever again.
Voices: After the Elon Musk-Donald Trump rally, there’s a better word for Republicans than ‘weird’
Ryan Coogan
Sun, October 6, 2024
A few months ago, before he was the Democratic nominee for vice-president alongside running mate Kamala Harris, Tim Walz struck gold when he pointed out in an interview just how “weird” the Republican party has become over the past few years.
It was a word that really struck a chord – not just with Democrats, who have struggled to articulate the shift in their opponents’ ideological positions since 2015, but with Republicans as well, who took the slight very, very personally, and didn’t seem to have a response to it.
I mean, how could they, after two of their biggest representatives on the world stage – Donald Trump and Elon Musk – met at a long-anticipated rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday evening and gave us… whatever that was?
In theory, the event should have been a slam dunk – Trump returning to the site of his attempted assassination, defiant in the face of death, and accompanied by the richest man in the world and “real life Tony Stark” (yes, we really used to call him that).
Instead what we got was the propaganda equivalent of an air ball, as the two men’s combined presence somehow managed to be even less than the sum of its parts – presumably putting us well into negative territory. They spread lies, they inflamed political tensions, and they targeted the vulnerable – all in a day’s work for two men who could afford to pay people to teach them social skills, but instead choose to be the poster boys for “white nationalism, but somehow even stupider”.
At this point, though, you have to wonder if “weird” is the right word anymore. Maybe “embarrassing” would be better. The pictures to come out of the event certainly are – one shows Musk in the middle of a jaunty little half-hop while Trump looks on like a disappointed father; another has Musk leaning in to talk to Trump with a look on his face that reads as “finally, the approval my father never gave me”.
One picture from the event shows Elon Musk in the middle of a jaunty little half-hop while Trump looks on like a disappointed father (Reuters)
But I know I’m not really being fair, there – people rarely look good in candid photographs. What’s actually embarrassing is that Musk turned up to do the rally at all, after Trump summarily humiliated him on Truth Social, a Trump-owned competitor to Musk’s own terrible website, just two short years ago:
"When Elon Musk came to the White House asking me for help on all of his many subsidised projects,” wrote the former president, “whether it’s electric cars that don’t drive long enough, driverless cars that crash, or rocketships to nowhere, without which subsidies he’d be worthless, and telling me how he was a big Trump fan and Republican, I could have said, ‘Drop to your knees and beg,’ and he would have done it…”
Well, I guess he finally did it, didn’t he? Actually, dropping on his knees and begging would probably have been a little less embarrassing – not just for Musk, who Trump humiliated, but for Trump too, who in holding the rally tacitly admitted that he needed campaign help from somebody he deems “worthless”.
Maybe the word is “disgusting”? That’s the word I’d use to describe Elon Musk’s prediction that “If [Republicans] don’t vote, this will be the last election”. It’s the kind of scaremongering that no democracy should have to weather, but it’s doubly disgusting when it happens at a rally for the guy who oversaw an attempted insurrection at the previous election.
Has Musk forgotten that, of the two candidates, only one has described themselves as a “dictator”? Or that Americans “won’t have to vote anymore” if he wins? I can’t imagine he has, to be honest – if I had to guess, I’d say he’s just talking out of his SpaceX.
Maybe “pathetic” is better? It was certainly pretty pathetic, the way Trump hit the same old tired talking points. Here he played all the hits, treating us to such classics as “Joe Biden is paying for sex change operations for illegal immigrants”, and “my political opponents tried to kill me”. At one point he even boasted about not needing a teleprompter… while reading from a teleprompter.
But I suppose that if I really had to pick just one word to describe the American political right in its current form – one word that summed up all their failings, both ideological and personal – I suppose it would have to be “losers”.
It’s the party of losers like Musk, desperate for validation but totally incapable of earning it. It’s the party of losers like JD Vance, who knows that he can’t actually back up any of his so-called beliefs, and so makes up stories about immigrants eating people’s pets to frighten voters into being on his side. It’s the party of losers like Marjorie Taylor Greene, who seems to sincerely believe that “they” – whoever “they” are – can control the weather.
And hopefully, come 5 November, it will be the party of two-time loser Donald Trump – and we’ll never have to hear any of his weird, embarrassing, disgusting, pathetic ramblings ever again.
Kelby Vera
Sun, October 6, 2024
Elon Musk is getting roasted for his over-the-top appearance at Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.
The tech billionaire seemed overjoyed to be with the Republican presidential candidate during his return to the site of his July assassination attempt, where Musk was photographed jumping for joy while behind Trump on stage.
But people on X, Musk’s own social media platform, couldn’t help but cringe at his exuberance, taking to the site formerly known as Twitter to mock his right-wing cheerleading routine.
Many pointed out how Trump was giving Musk some serious side-eye as he bounced up and down on stage.
Others compared the Tesla CEO to a rambunctious child out past his bedtime.
And people weren’t ignoring Musk’s awkward address to the crowd, where he proclaimed himself “Dark MAGA” and condemned the possibility of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris getting elected.
Musk publicly announced he was backing Trump back in July after President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate against his two-time rival, but the businessman reportedly began funneling millions into Trump’s campaign through a super PAC months prior.
It appears that Musk’s endorsement was one of his more sound investments as of late. (Last month, it was reported that X’s value had plummeted nearly 72% since his 2022 acquisition of the company.)
In August, Trump said he plans to offer Musk a cabinet position if elected.
Check out all the best reactions to Musk’s rally appearance right here:
A Picture Showing The Aftermath Of A Donald Trump Rally Is Going Viral
Matt Stopera
Matt Stopera
BUZZFEED
Mon, October 7, 2024
Donald Trump returned to Butler, Pennsylvania, for the first time since his assassination attempt and was joined by none other than Elon Musk.
Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images
It was at that rally that we got this picture of Elon Musk that I was forced to see a thousand times against my will.
Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images
Sorry.
Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images
Another image from the rally is going viral, and it's this picture of the rally aftermath.
Mon, October 7, 2024
Donald Trump returned to Butler, Pennsylvania, for the first time since his assassination attempt and was joined by none other than Elon Musk.
Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images
It was at that rally that we got this picture of Elon Musk that I was forced to see a thousand times against my will.
Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images
Sorry.
Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images
Another image from the rally is going viral, and it's this picture of the rally aftermath.
The picture was taken by reporter Elizabeth Landers showing a field covered with trash.
Naturally, people are pretty grossed out by it.
"This is how they 'Make America Great Again'??!!!," one person said.
"Straight up thought that this was a picture of Woodstock 99," another person said.
And a bunch of people called it a metaphor for his campaign.
"This picture represents the whole maga party and all that support it," one person said.
"Hey, look, it's a metaphor for America after Trump," another person said.
And this person asked the important question: "Can you imagine what their homes look like?"
