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July 30, 2019 - Real Coffe - Scott Adams
01:01:28
Episode 613 Scott Adams: Let’s Play “Is the President a Racist or do I Have TDS?”
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Well, as my title suggests, I'd like to play a few rounds of Is the President a Racist or Do I Have TDS? Now, the I in this case is not me.
This is the players.
So anybody who would like to play the game today, I'll invite you into the guest area.
To be a guest, you have to be on a mobile device.
It doesn't work on a laptop.
And press the little icon on the bottom that has little happy faces.
And that will put you in queue.
And if I select you, you will go live on audio.
Let's talk a few other things while people are thinking about it.
So when we play the game, you each are going to get to have one point.
So each player... Only gets to say one reason why they think the president's a racist.
Just one. And then I will respond.
And I will judge them whether that's a good reason or they have TDS. All right.
Let's talk about President Trump's attacks on Representative Cummings.
Is it working? There's some indication.
Was it CNN, I think, was reporting that Maybe the president's aides have some disagreement about whether these attacks on Baltimore and Elijah Cummings are effective.
Here's my judgment.
Effective. They are very effective.
At this point, when you think of Elijah Cummings, what do you think about?
Two weeks ago, if I said, Elijah Cummings...
What's the first thing you think of?
If you know politics and you know the players, probably most of the country would say, I didn't even know there were representatives.
But the people who are paying attention, the people who know the major players, what would they say if you said, Elijah Cummings, what's your first thought?
You would say, the lion of civil rights.
You'd say one of the most respected Hardest fighting, civil rights, warriors in the entire government.
But today, July 30th, 2019, I say Elijah Cummings.
What do you think of?
Rats. You think of Baltimore.
You think of Baltimore and you think of complete breakdown.
You think of complete leadership failure.
You think of corruption.
I'm not saying that Elijah Cummings is corrupt.
I'm saying that's what you think of when you think of Baltimore.
And now the president has associated Baltimore and rats and insects with Elijah Cummings.
Now, is that effective?
Yeah, I think it is.
It's effective on a bunch of different levels.
Number one, it's effective because it's probably going to make something happen.
There's a good chance that just the attention that's being paid to Baltimore, and Baltimore is sort of a surrogate for the inner cities elsewhere, it probably will create some new energy.
It might raise the priority.
It might free up some money, it might free up some talent that had otherwise been somewhere else.
So, with this much focus from the most important focuser in the country, the President, is that good?
Probably. Probably.
Now, we don't know, but I have to think that calling out a problem is generally good, if it's a problem that people could make a difference on, and I think they could.
How about politically?
Is it helping him that everybody is calling the president a racist because he used the word infestation?
Well, the first few days, the Democrats probably landed a punch.
They probably did.
But, in the next few days, you start seeing videos of President Obama referring to crime infestation, other people saying it, and then you say, oh, now I get it.
That's just a word.
How many words are there that really mean racist things that we didn't know about?
If you had told me a month ago that the word infestation used in conjunction with an inner city, when you're talking literally about the vermin, the actual vermin, the animals, the creatures, and the bugs, if you told me that that was racist a month ago, I would have just laughed.
I said, that's just a word.
Are you kidding me? But the Democrats did a pretty good job of convincing people, you know, all along that was always a bad word.
The whole time.
You didn't know it. Maybe I didn't know it.
Nobody knew it. But the whole time, that's been one of those words that secretly tells you that you're thinking bad things.
But here's the thing. It is ridiculous.
It's completely ridiculous.
But... Here we are.
And I think what breaks the president is a racist thing is when it stretches too far to the point where even the people who were believers say, alright, well that's a little bit too far.
How many Democrats, maybe none, so I'll just ask the question, how many Democrats saw this accusation that the word infestation when talking about actual rats was racist?
Because, you know, hey, he only uses these bad words against places that have brown people.
How many Democrats said, well, I don't know about that.
That, to me, just seems like a word that people use to describe the actual thing he's talking about.
Do you think there were no Democrats?
Just none anywhere in the country who heard that and said, infestation?
That's not racist. That's just a descriptive word that people commonly use.
Maybe some. But, how many people on the right were convinced, let's say Trump supporters, were convinced that he's a racist because of it?
How many people were on the fence and said, ah, well, I was on the fence, but now he's used this word infestation and, ah, okay, now I guess he must be a racist.
Maybe none. People were either already there or they weren't pushed there by that word.
So I think that one of the things the president does well is he knows when he has a free punch or free money on the table, whichever, whatever analogy you want to use.
He couldn't be more accused of being a racist.
That wouldn't be possible.
There was no place to go.
He can't be any additionally more accused.
But he can make you think about rats and the The other thing that's good is that Elijah Cummings, apparently one of the issues, he was trying to go after the personal information or financial information for Ivanka and Jared.
And the president had sort of drawn a line there and said, that's too far.
And when Elijah Cummings, as part of his job being head of the oversight committee, what is it?
The oversight and reform committee tried to get their information.
And the president said, well, watch this.
Hold my beer. I'm going to turn you into the image of rats in Baltimore.
And then he did it.
Here's why that's good.
Even if it makes no difference for Elijah Cummings, even if it makes no difference to what's happening at the moment, if you're a representative and you're watching what the president is doing to Cummings, and he is really ripping him apart, the president is leaving a mark.
Elijah Cummings will never be the same person.
He never will be. He will always be painted with us.
And it's more recent than his accomplishments, which we consider among the greatest things that Americans can do, which is fight against discrimination and bigotry.
So he's really putting a mark on him.
The president is putting a mark on Cummings.
So if you're a representative who has not yet come after the president with full force, do you think it's a good idea?
Because the president has made it very clear that if you come after him, he's going to single you out, he's going to brand you, and it's going to stick.
It's not going to wash off.
So maybe if you're a representative, you say to yourself, you know, maybe I'll talk about health care today.
How about that?
Yeah. If you're someone else, you're watching what's happening to Cummings, and you're saying to yourself, maybe I don't want to be in that fight.
Now, Cummings, one thing we can say about Cummings, right, is that he's tough, he's brave.
We know that from his history.
Very tough, very brave.
He certainly can take it.
He can take the heat. Cummings probably will be fine, even though his reputation will be damaged, because he's tough.
But the people watching this Are going to say, maybe I don't want to get in the cage fight.
So you're always playing for the next move, and the president's getting some advantage there.
That's easy to miss.
All right. Does it feel to you that the anti-Trumpers, they went from being, I don't know, frightened and political and all the things that people are, to something that's beginning to feel, to me, Like a zombie apocalypse.
Does it feel like that?
Let me put it this way.
When people disagree with Republicans, they usually think, well, those Republicans are too religious or they're too strictly interpreting the Constitution or they think that, you know, different opinions on abortion, etc.
But it feels like just opinions about stuff.
When people disagree with the Republicans, it seems like they're disagreeing on topics, on philosophy, on priorities.
Totally normal stuff.
But when I look at Democrats now, it doesn't feel like that.
It doesn't feel like they are people who are disagreeing on topics and politics and philosophy.
It feels like they have become mindless zombies Who are just sort of marching through the field saying, racist, racist.
What's the topic today?
Well, what about the debt?
Racist, racist.
How are things in Baltimore?
Racist, racist.
Brains must need brains.
What do you think about healthcare?
Racist, racist.
What about energy? Racist, racist.
There's only one thing that they can do.
That's it.
They don't have a second speed.
There's nothing there but zombies.
And I think the zombie stuff is literally Trump derangement syndrome.
Now, I'm not qualified to make a medical judgment, but allow me to make a medical judgment.
There is something deeply mentally troubling about About the people who see racism in literally everything.
So, speaking of that, Alyssa Milano recently said, she said, and you know Alyssa Milano, she's a famous anti-Trumper and actress.
She said, quote, I keep getting DMs asking me if I'm okay, she wrote.
Truth is, I'm feeling hopeless.
Hopeless? Think about that.
The United States, right now, right now, is the best it's ever been.
And the world is the best it's ever been, by far.
If you go back a hundred years, poverty is, what, ten times greater?
The odds of war today?
In the United States, right now, the odds of war, very, very small.
Maybe we drop some bombs somewhere, but the odds of war?
Vanishingly small. But, Alyssa Milano is feeling hopeless.
Or as I like to say, racist!
Racist! All right, let me continue.
She continued. Mass shootings, corruption, lies, racism, xenophobia, crimes against humanity, and the Republican Party is not standing up to the tyranny.
It's a lot. So she's puzzled as to why the Republicans are not standing up to mass shootings, corruption, lies, racism, xenophobia, crimes against humanity.
Why are Republicans not standing up against those things?
Because they don't exist.
Some of them exist. But for the most part, they're imaginary.
Now, the shootings, of course, are real.
So I'm not saying corruption exists and people lie and stuff.
But the lying, of course, is not the big problem.
She throws lying in a list with crimes against humanity.
Does that feel right?
Here are the things that are wrong with the country.
Mass shootings, crimes against humanity, racism, xenophobia, and lying.
Lying? Lying?
Lying is just everyday politics.
Is that really on the same list with that other stuff?
And she says that the Republican Party is not standing up to the tyranny.
Who in the Republican Party is in favor of mass shootings?
Which Which elected member of the federal government is saying, racism?
Yeah, that's okay.
None. What is she imagining?
What crimes against humanity are Republicans in favor of?
None. They don't see them.
When Republicans look at the kids in cages, they say, we don't want kids in cages.
We don't.
But we're also looking at all the alternatives.
We're considering the trade-offs and all that.
But the kids in cages, nobody wants that.
There's nobody who wants it a little less than somebody else.
Nobody wants it. So it seems to me that the Democrats are in sort of a dream illusion zombie state.
In which, when we look at them, they don't even seem to be operating like regular functioning human beings.
I don't mean to dehumanize them.
That's not where I'm going with this.
I'm saying that the look, from my perspective, is that they've lost their minds.
And when I say lost their minds, I don't mean permanently, and I don't mean that they're dumb.
They're not any dumber than any other collection of people.
People can be pretty dumb, just in general.
But Democrats' problem is not that they're dumb.
Democrats' problem is not that they have some permanent organic problem.
But at the moment, something has clicked off their whatever little bit of critical thinking they might have had.
People don't have a lot of it, so it doesn't take much to turn it off.
And they are actually in some kind of a dream slash nightmare in which the best way to describe our daily experience, according to Alyssa Milano, is mass shootings, corruption, lies, racism, xenophobia, crimes against humanity.
That's the world they're actually experiencing.
Do you know what world I experienced today?
I woke up and it was a nice sunny day.
I thought about my 401k and I liked it.
I thought about the odds of war and I thought very low.
I thought about the problems in this country which are big, such as the inner cities, and I thought to myself, I know a whole bunch of people who just this week volunteered to help on the inner city problems.
I'm watching people step up right in front of them because the president called it out.
And people said, okay, that's our new priority, Republicans.
The leader of the Republicans, the leader of the right, is just calling out a thing that needs to get fixed.
People on the right look at him and say, yep, he's right.
The president's right.
That needs to be fixed.
And the Republicans who are saying that, are they saying, because all the white people live in Baltimore?
No. No.
No. The Republicans are looking at it, same as their president, saying, that is a serious, serious problem.
Needs a little more priority.
Let's fix it for the black people, the brown people, and the people of all types who live there.
That's exactly what Republicans are thinking.
I've never met a Republican who didn't have, essentially, that point of view.
Of course, if there's a way to help, But we just don't want to pour a bunch of money into the local government and it doesn't get used the way we want it to be used.
We can't do it that way, but we all want to help.
So I'm seeing the most positive, optimistic, can-do, step-up kind of a world that I've ever experienced.
Probably the best world of my life.
And I wake up into that world every day.
Alyssa Milano wakes up into a nightmare.
But the nightmare is one of her choosing because she and I live in identical worlds.
Like Alyssa Milano, I am a privileged white person in America with resources, living in nice homes and stuff.
But she wakes up into a nightmare and I wake up into an imperfect paradise.
It's imperfect and I certainly want to fix everything that's not working.
And by the way, I put effort into it.
I don't just talk about the inner cities.
I've actually put work into it, as you know.
It tried to be helpful for Bill Pulte's efforts on the Blight Authority.
And by the way, don't we need more Bill Pulte?
I wake up every morning and I'm seeing Bill Pulte in his Twitter philanthropy, hashtag Twitter philanthropy, Helping people who are in desperate need of help.
And that makes me feel hopeful and positive.
That's the world I wake up into every day.
Now, I was just watching a YouTube video by Dr.
Gary, blah, blah.
Maybe somebody can remember his last name.
It was talking about the subjective nature of happiness.
Alyssa Milano and I wake up into an identical world.
I mean, it's as close as you can get.
She and I, except for gender, we're sort of the same person.
I'm older, but we wake up into these privileged situations and she wakes up in a nightmare and I wake up in this wonderful situation.
You can see that subjectively we're able to interpret our surroundings with a great deal of flexibility.
I can interpret my world as working out well, still lots of problems, and I'm going to jump in and help when I can.
She's waking up into a nightmare and wonders why the other people don't see it.
Let me tell you why the other people don't see it.
They're just not waking up into your nightmare.
Other people are not in your nightmare.
They can't see your nightmare.
She's created a The sort of world that she lives in that's a nightmare and we're not in it.
So of course we can't see it.
So I would argue that the president's philosophical background, very similar to my own, which was the power of positive thinking.
You can actually reinterpret your experience to be more positive without losing sight that there are major problems in your attention right away.
That doesn't change even if you think you're having a good day.
You still know you've got to take care of business.
That doesn't change. So I wish the Democrats had some way to get past the politics so they could experience what I experience every day.
And I think some of you experience it too.
I'd love to see your opinions.
But my experience of life is that it's pretty good and getting better.
And I wish everybody could feel that, because it's great.
I wake up into that every day.
Even if I'm having a bad day, you know, I can still have a bad day personally, but I still wake up into a world that's pretty darn good.
Pretty darn good and getting better.
All right. Here's what else I like about the President's attacks on Elijah Cummings in Baltimore.
And I'm going to say something that will sound simple.
And watch how it just sinks in.
So you're going to feel something in a moment, right?
I'm going to say something, it'll just sound like a normal sentence.
It'll just sit there, and then it's going to wash over you.
You ready for this? When the president attacks Elijah Cummings in Baltimore, he is identifying a problem and talking about it.
And here's the sentence that's going to change how you think about this.
You can't fix what you can't talk about.
And the Democrats are trying to make it hard to talk about a place that has a large black population with a leader who is a civil rights hero.
It's hard to talk about it.
The President of the United States promised us when he was running for election.
He told us in direct language I'm going to ignore political correctness.
What's the biggest problem you're watching right in front of your eyes?
The biggest problem that you're watching right in front of you play out is that the Democrats can't talk about the problem.
They want that problem to be untalkaboutable, not really a word, but let's say it is, because they need to protect the reputation of a hero.
They want to make sure that nothing sounds racist or bigoted.
They have restraints that this president does not have.
He told you, I don't have that restraint.
Now, we have seen that he's not, you know, the Democrats want to paint him as a crazy old guy who will say anything, you know, and he can't be trusted because he'll just blur things out.
Well, he visited the Queen of England, There wasn't any blurting, was there?
No blurting. He did that entire trip with royalty, all these rules, which spoon do you use, how fast do you walk, when you're with the queen, do you bow, all this stuff.
How did he navigate all that stuff?
No problem. No problem.
Do you know why? There wasn't anything he needed to say.
to the Queen of England that couldn't be said, you know, through the regular structure of the rules and the way they were getting along.
He didn't need to be politically incorrect.
There was no point to be politically incorrect with the Queen.
No point! But with Baltimore, is there a point to walk into the hornet's nest and say, I'm covered with hornets and your frickin' city is a pile of trash.
It's infested.
It's full of rats.
Hornets biting him.
You're a racist. You're a racist.
You can't say that about Elijah Cummings.
You're a racist. You're a racist.
And he stands there in the middle of the hornet's nest.
Bite, bite, bite, bite, bite, bite, bite, bite, bite, bite.
And he still says, still, I feel it.
Still, Baltimore is a mess.
And your leaders are failing you.
Did that need to be said?
Wow, it needed to be said.
It really, really needed to be said.
And when they called him a racist for saying it, what did he do?
Double down. He doubled down.
That's why you elected him.
I say you because I didn't vote.
For those of you who are new, it looks like we got some new people here.
But I didn't vote for Trump because I don't vote.
It allows me to be slightly less biased than I might otherwise be because I haven't joined a team per se.
Yeah, Trump is doing what he promised to do.
He's taking the stings and he's allowing people to talk about the thing that needs to get fixed for the first time.
How much were we talking about Baltimore a year ago?
Not. Not at all.
Now, it might be that the president's, you know, the final straw, the thing that made him go off on Elijah Cummings had more to do with politics than the fact that Cummings was going after his family, but I'm pretty sure that should stop too.
Do I have any problem that the president went after, you know, one of the heroes of civil rights who was out of line?
Nope. Nope.
I don't care who gets out of line.
Cummings is out of line.
When he's coming after the president's family, just fishing for trouble, they don't even have some specific thing, they're just fishing for trouble.
Is he doing a good job as an elected representative?
No, not even close. He's not doing his job.
You can hold two thoughts in your head at the same time.
Elijah Cummings can be a hero of civil rights.
He can be a great man in lots of ways.
I hear good things about him.
Mark Meadows likes him.
That's good enough for me.
So he's endorsed by people of all types.
So that all can be true.
But he's not doing his job at the moment.
I'm sorry. Does that make anybody feel bad?
He's not doing his job.
He is failing his job and Because of who he is, his reputation, his position, it's hard for anybody to move against him, except one person.
There's one person in the world who will walk into a hornet's nest and say, well, it looks like I'm going to be bitten by or stung by a thousand hornets if I say this.
And then he says it.
And a thousand hornets sting him.
And then he says, you know what?
I just got stung by a thousand hornets.
Watch this. And then he says it again.
And then he says it again.
And then we get used to it.
And then we can talk about it.
Because he keeps saying it.
We're talking about it. We can't stop.
And next thing you know, you're talking about the thing you couldn't talk about.
And then, only then, can you fix it.
If you've ever worked for a business, you know, a big corporation, for example, If there are topics you can't talk about, and there always are, there's always going to be somebody's pet project.
There's always going to be something going on in a big corporation that you can't really talk honestly about because there's some political or whatever problem.
Does that thing ever get fixed?
Never. Never.
If you can't talk about it, you can't fix it.
Period. That's it. Unless something lucky happens, I suppose.
The president is taking care of that.
All right, let's talk about the democratic debate, which is tonight.
I'm going to take some calls in a moment, people who want to.
I'm looking for the zombies, not the people who are living in the good world.
So if there are any zombies who want to argue that the president's racist and it's right in front of our eyes, why can't we see it?
I'll be taking those in a moment, but let me talk about the upcoming...
Debate. So I guess tonight's the first of the two debates, the second phase of the debates.
And correct me if I'm wrong, is Harris and Biden, they're on the stage together again?
That's right, right? Harris and Biden are both on this first group.
Because I was trying to think what is likely to happen.
And I'm going to give Kamala Harris some political advice.
There are almost 5,000 people watching this periscope.
At least one of you must have a way to get to Kamala Harris.
Kamala, if you want to win the presidency, are you ready?
If you want to win the presidency tonight, I'm going to tell you what to say tonight.
Well, you win the nomination, you won't win the presidency.
Because President Trump is going to destroy anybody who runs against him.
It's not going to be close. Well, at least you could get the nomination.
That would feel pretty good, I would suppose.
So here's how Kamala Harris can take the nomination.
She can bring up age.
If Kamala Harris brings up age, she is the Democratic nominee.
Because you know what everybody who is a Democrat is thinking?
What about age?
Do you know what nobody on the Democrat side is saying?
Age. There's somebody who just came on here and said that my stepson is dead because of my ego.
Nice people, right?
Who is it who woke up this morning and said, Let's go publicly insult the guy with the dead son.
Somebody woke up and said, I think that will be my good play today.
I'll go after him for his dead son.
I think I'll blame it on him.
Yeah, I'll blame it on him.
Good people here.
So I know I have the right people here, because...
I was trying to attract the zombies, so I have at least one zombie here.
Well, I blocked him, so you won't see that zombie.
But I'm welcoming all the zombies, and I'm going to open it up for questions in a moment.
All right, let me just finish this point.
The Democrats are the ones who can't talk about certain things.
They restrict themselves as much as they try to restrict other people.
Nobody wants to be an ageist, but everybody's thinking it.
There's nobody watching this race who isn't thinking, yeah, but what about age?
What about age? What about age?
He's old. He's old. He's old.
He's old. That message is running in your head continuously, but nobody's saying it out loud.
If Kamala Harris gets on stage tonight and she says, you know, I see how it would be hard to distinguish all the people up here, but let me make a suggestion to the voters.
Pick somebody who's from a younger generation so we have a chance.
Don't pick someone who won't have the trust of all the country because there is something about age that makes us lose a step.
She could say, when I'm 75, if I tell you I'm running for president, don't vote for me.
Imagine that. Imagine that line.
Imagine Kamala Harris saying, let's be honest, folks.
Age takes a toll.
If I'm 75 and running for president, I'm going to ask you right now, don't vote for me.
That would be the only headline.
Every other headline would disappear, and nobody would disagree with her.
Nobody. No Republican, no press person, no Democrat.
Oh yeah, people would argue, because we're an arguing culture.
So people would pretend they disagree with her, they would pretend it didn't matter, etc.
Interesting. Somebody says Swalwell said it.
He did. And what happened?
It was the biggest headline, right?
Swalwell's comment was a big headline.
But you need somebody in the top four to say it before it becomes important.
So the messenger is as important as the message.
Right now Warren is the young person in the top four.
And the young person in the top four, if she says it, it's a completely different thing than if the guy who can't possibly win says it.
So, yeah. So Swalwell saying it would not be nearly as important as Kamala Harris saying it.
So there's my advice to you, Kamala.
If you'd like to be the nominee, and by the way, I've predicted that she will be, all she has to do is bring up age.
Because people will hoot and they will holler and they'll say maybe it's unfair.
They will talk about older presidents.
They'll talk about Reagan.
They'll talk about Trump's age.
They'll talk about all kinds of historical things.
But Biden and Sanders will disappear.
Their poll numbers will disappear.
The Democrats need somebody to be honest with them.
Do you think that the Democrats are thinking, let's get the guy in his mid to late 70s?
They're not. They're thinking it's the best they got.
But if Kamala Harris calls it out for the stupidity that it is, and it is, if I can be honest, electing somebody as old as Bernie or Biden, it's just not smart.
If you have other good choices, it's just not smart.
It's not a political difference.
It's not a philosophical difference.
There are some things that are simply just not smart.
And if you consider that Kamala Harris and Joe Biden don't really have much difference in terms of their policies, I mean there are differences, but probably not giant gulfs.
It's all acceptable within the Democrat universe.
I would think Simply pointing out the age difference would be the end of the story.
So look for that. I'm not going to predict she does it, by the way.
But I do predict that this message will get to her.
And maybe.
Maybe. You never know.
All right. I'm going to take some callers.
Here's the game and how it's played.
The game is called, is the president a racist or do I have TDS? You each get to give me one piece of evidence, one only, one per caller.
I want you to state it sort of succinctly.
I don't want a background.
I don't want to hear about your history.
I don't want to hear the context, the philosophy or anything like that.
Just say, I believe he's a racist.
Here's one of the reasons.
That's the game. Now, generally when I do this, I end up with a bunch of people who are not actually here for that reason.
So I might have to cycle through a few.
But let's see what Tom has to say.
Tom, can you hear me?
This was available, and I'm actually one of the good guys.
Okay, Tom.
Have a great day. Thank you, Tom.
I appreciated that he fessed up.
So I'm going to pick somebody who...
Oh, Anton.
Anton, but you have a flag from another country next to you.
I want an American. That would be good.
LT. I have a good feeling about LT. LT, can you hear me?
Hi. How are you?
All right. Good.
Are you here to play...
Is the president a racist?
Go. Give us your...
I'm assuming, would it be true to say that you have a number of reasons?
Well, you said you just want one, so I was going to just name one.
Okay. Try one.
I think it was in the 70s he was sued for housing discrimination.
Correct. So that's your best one?
Well, that's one, so...
Okay. Let's deal with that one.
Do you remember whether President Trump himself was implicated in that?
Do you know if he was personally implicated?
Personally? I'm not sure.
Yeah, the answer is no.
There's actually no evidence that the President was even aware of it.
Did you know that? No, I didn't.
Yeah, his staff was shown to be discriminating.
Now, I'm not going to make a defense of discrimination, but I'm just curious if you were aware of this distinction.
Apparently the staff was doing it because they thought...
You know, it was their job to make the building profitable.
So they were managing the building.
They wanted to have it all filled with renters and they would all be paying their rent and stuff.
And the concern was that if they allowed black people to rent, it would discourage other white people from wanting to live there.
So in other words, it wasn't so much that they thought Trump was a racist or that the people making the decisions were personally racist, but they were making an assumption about other white people being racist.
And they were saying, huh, this might be bad for business, because independent of what we think, and who knows if they were racist or not, you know, that's not in evidence.
But it was actually, I'm old enough to remember, when that was a common business assumption, was that people would say, well, I'm not a racist, but I worry that my other customers might be.
Have you ever heard that distinction?
I'm not defending racism, I'm just saying.
Have you ever heard it described that way?
Well, I mean, if it's his company, he's the head, so the responsibility, it lies with him.
Yeah, absolutely. I agree with you 100%.
So the way society is organized, somebody has to be responsible.
And in the case of a company, it's the boss, period.
But you could be responsible without actually being aware of it.
Would you agree? It's profitable, but...
Yeah, I would say that you could say for sure he should have had a handle on it.
But we also observe that he's run a whole number of businesses very hands-off.
I think he's had 400 businesses with his name on it.
He's always got more going on than most of us can handle.
Do you imagine that he's a very detailed...
Kind of a manager in all of his businesses, or do you think he sort of sets them up and then steps back and does something else?
I'm not sure about that, but it being so many, I assume so.
Yeah. Well, anyway, let me run by you a philosophical rule that I would like to suggest society take.
It's a rule that we would like to apply to ourselves, and I'd like your opinion on this, and And therefore, we should apply it to other people, sort of the golden rule, you know, treat other people the way you'd like to be treated.
I have a rule that we should not judge public figures by actions that are over 20 years old.
And the reason is, if you think about who you were 20 years ago, would you want to be judged by that person?
Because almost certainly you're a different person now, wouldn't you say?
Would you say that's true of you? Yeah, I would say so.
Yeah, when I look at things I did, let's say in my 20s or whatever, and I think to myself, my God, I would never do that today.
Should I be judged by that when every cell in my body has died and been replaced?
My brain is completely reprogrammed by my experience.
I would say I'm a completely different person.
I mean, take crime, for example.
The reason that – well, not the reason, but people in their 20s and 30s are far more likely to commit crimes.
People in their 50s and 60s are far less likely just because of age.
You're literally just a different person and you don't have the same risk profile and you don't feel the same about your place in society, etc.
So would you accept – we're not talking about President Trump in particular – But do you think society would be better off with a rule that says, you know, you may have done some bad things in the 70s when a lot of people were doing bad things, and honestly, we didn't know any better.
Ignorance is never an excuse, right?
You don't get off. The police don't let you go because you didn't know it was illegal.
So not knowing is an excuse.
But we were dumber, less effective, more bigoted people.
30 or 40 years ago.
There's no question about that.
Would you agree that people were more bigoted 30 years ago?
It's hard to say because there's a lot of bigoted people now, so I can't really measure that.
I mean, that's just, I guess, guesswork.
You sound youngish.
How old are you? I'm 35.
35, yeah. So you're young.
At my age, I'm 62 or something.
I remember the 70s, and there were things that were just routine and seemed normal to us at the time that would be so grotesquely unacceptable in 2019.
It would just make your head spin.
If you watch old TV shows and stuff, you'll see things.
I was watching even Family Guy.
I was watching the... The animated show Family Guy, a rerun.
It was a rerun that must be 10 years old or something.
And they were doing things that even 10 years ago you couldn't do today.
Those shows would never get on the air because we've changed so much in terms of what we think is acceptable.
But at the time, there probably wasn't a big upcry because the world was sort of a rougher place.
People were a little more unkind, a little less likely to do something right.
Well, before I go, the thing about Trump, it seems like he uses, I guess you would call it, identity politics to, I guess, strengthen his support as far as with race.
And that's the main thing I don't like about him.
Now, I hear a lot of people say that, but do you...
Would you, or have you ever heard this?
I'll just ask you if you've been exposed to this.
I'm mostly associated with being a pro-Trump person, but I don't hear it.
So what you're saying, what you're describing as his using race language is invisible to me.
Do you think I'm lying about that?
Now, we don't know each other, so, you know...
Invisible to you?
Probably, but I mean, there's like, the language he uses is, I don't want to say it's coded, but it's basically like tropes and stuff.
Like, you know, like, go back where you come from and, you know, just like little different things like that.
I mean, it's not like direct, like you say, aha, that's it.
But it's just, you know, it's just like, you know, I guess, yeah, I guess I would say it's coded.
Well, so here's the thing that maybe I can add to your knowledge base.
So you probably hang around with fewer Republicans than I do.
Is that a fair guess?
Fair to say? And I would say in all the last several years since I've been talking about this topic and about Trump, I have never met even one, not even one, Republican or Trump supporter Who believe that his language was racist or any kind of a code to them or telling them something bigoted or anything like that.
I've never met any Republican who hears it that way, but I would agree that almost every Democrat does hear it that way.
What do you make of that since your very point of it Is that he's talking to his base, but I can confirm, and maybe somebody in the comments can confirm there are more Trump supporters in the comments than anything else.
So in the comments, tell me, Trump supporters, how many people in the comments believe that the president is sending you coded tropes and sort of racially divisive language?
How many of you who are supporters of the president hear it?
Yeah, people are saying opposite.
Yeah, Scott, I think it was yesterday, I think he was tweeting about Al Sharpton.
He said he hates whites and cops.
Oh, he was talking about Elijah Cummings?
Who was he talking about? Al Sharpton.
Oh, Al Sharpton.
Yeah. But you know that Al Sharpton and Trump have actually been friends for years, right?
Yeah, yeah, they were.
But you don't think that when they were hanging out together, do you think Al Sharpton thought he was a racist or that President Trump had a big problem with Al Sharpton?
They were just friends. Yeah, you know, he was a business guy.
So the funniest thing about that was Trump calling Al Sharpton a con man.
And, of course, everybody calls Trump a con man.
And I've got a feeling that one of the reasons that Al Sharpton and Trump were friends is that they sort of understood each other's game.
They're both about persuasion.
They're both about hyperbole.
They're both about effect.
To me, all the Al Sharpton stuff Looks like just game playing with somebody he's literally had been friends with and probably would be friends with after his presidency.
They'd probably be hanging out again after this.
So I don't take any of the Al Sharpton stuff too seriously.
But can I get your thoughts on this point?
I think I've introduced a thought that maybe you don't hear from Democrats.
The thought is that the Republicans genuinely...
Like, literally, genuinely, I promise you this is true, I've never heard anybody say that they hear it in his voice if they're supporters.
They think he's talking about treating all Americans the same, and that sometimes that makes people feel unhappy and get offended, but they feel very quick.
What they feel, they hear is he's pro-American, period.
It doesn't matter what you're saying.
The subcategory is if you're American, you're American.
And if you're not American, then it's his job to give you less and give Americans more.
So that's what we hear.
Let me ask you if you believe we hear that.
So you don't have to believe he means it.
I'm not asking you if it's true.
But do you believe me when I tell you that I've never heard any Republican or Trump supporter say that they hear any racist overtones in his language?
Does that sound even believable?
Nah, I can't really say that it's believable because, I mean, I've heard things from, like, people that support Trump and, like, you know, they're, I mean, some are like you, but, like, a lot are not.
They're, like, really have, like, a race thing going on.
But, you know, I think this whole, like, the whole race thing is really, like, a distraction that he uses because, you know, basically, I think the main thing that Trump has done since he's been in office is, like, the tax bill and, you know, it transfers, you know, like, all the I would agree with you on this point that the greatest distinction in society is rich versus poor.
And if you're a billionaire black guy, you have more in common with the rich than you have with any other group at that point.
That would be my take.
So I think you're on to something in that there's a more productive way to look at this situation.
The race stuff does seem like some kind of a distraction.
Let me ask you this.
If you had to be in a situation where you were surrounded by mostly Republicans or mostly Democrats, let's say a work environment, let's say you took a job at a big organization and you knew it was either going to be mostly Republicans or mostly Democrats, which of those two groups would more likely help you succeed in your career?
That's kind of a strange question.
It is a strange question.
Well, I guess a Republican is more a business, I guess.
I guess that's what you're trying to say.
And then, like, the Democrat is more, I guess, a worker, or the worker, I guess.
So, I guess the Republicans, because I guess they're more, like, just for profit.
Yeah, the Republicans generally have, let's say, a code for life, like a set of rules that they live by.
So the Republicans are, I don't want to say obsessed, but they give their priority to the Constitution and usually the Bible.
And both the Constitution and the Bible are unambiguous about if people are willing to do some work on their own, that we should help out.
And give everybody the equal chance.
I think you would discover, here's maybe the best secret advice that I've never heard anybody give, but this could actually change your life.
Republicans are spring-loaded to be helpful.
They are by nature and by, let's say, socialization.
If you're willing to work hard and play by the rules, Republicans will give you every assistance you could ever want because they love that.
You can make a Republican love you by playing by the rules, having a job, and just being a good citizen and playing by the Constitution.
And then you go to a Republican and say, hey, you've observed me.
I'm a good person. I play by the rules.
I treat everybody fairly.
Can I get a promotion?
And that Republican is going to say, I love you.
I love you. You just played by the Constitution.
That's my rule. And you are compatible with the Bible, even if you're not religious.
You're compatible with the tenets of good life.
The Republicans are going to say, you're the best person that's walked in my door all day.
I give you that promotion. And they're going to say, the fact that you're black is a plus.
Because I would like to be part of a better world.
And if this is part of it, I'm in.
Watch the comments, by the way.
If you have any doubt about what I'm saying being the common way the Republicans think, just look at the comments.
They're all agreeing. It's the biggest hidden secret is that as long as you're willing to play by the same rules, the Republicans are going to give you every advantage you ever wanted because they're...
That is their code.
That's how they live. So I think I lost the connection here.
But let me take another one.
Was that not the greatest call?
How often do you see a civil conversation like that?
I feel like you don't see that a lot.
That was pretty civil.
Let's get somebody else.
Sorry, LT. So thank you for that call.
You're great. Republicans love you.
I love your reasoned approach to the whole conversation.
And I would give you a job tomorrow.
All right, Raul. Let's get Raul.
Raul. Add guests.
Is Raul coming on?
Might have a technical problem.
Raul is processing.
All right.
Oh, Raul, are you there?
Hello?
Raul, I'm talking to you.
Hello?
Looks like we have a bad connection, Raul.
Yeah, we've got a bad connection, but I did select you.
I'm going to have to go move on to someone else.
How about Gaston?
We'll add you, Gaston.
I hope I'm pronouncing your name correctly.
Gaston, can you hear me?
I'm good. Did I say your name right?
Gaston? Perfect.
Like the one from the Beauty and the Beast, Gaston.
All right. So, where do you live, Gaston?
Toronto. I'm a legal immigrant in Toronto.
Legal immigrant from what country?
Ecuador, South America.
Ecuador. Perfect.
You are exactly who I want to talk to.
Are you here to play, is Trump a racist or do I have TDS? No, he's not a racist.
No, I don't see it.
I'm on your side actually.
Let me ask you this, because you have a unique perspective, both from being Canadian and also Ecuadorian.
What is the opinion of the Ecuadorians in terms of the immigrants?
Do they think President Trump is a racist, or do they think he's just protecting his border?
Do you have a sense of that? I've never asked that question before.
Well, there's a lot of emotional people that buy the media bias, but there's a lot of people that think that he's not, that he has to protect his country.
And you have to play by the book and do everything legally.
I am a legal immigrant, so I have to support legalism.
Oops, we lost that connection.
Let me see if I can get somebody else on here quickly.
I'm going to go to Kurt.
Kurt does not have a profile picture, and that means he could be dangerous.
Kurt. Kurt, can you hear me?
I'm doing good.
Thanks for coming on.
Did you come to play, is Trump a racist, or do I have TDS? Oh, absolutely.
Alright, perfect.
Can you give me your one, and I'm only asking people for one, your one best example to prove your point?
Right, so I'm coming at this from a different angle that might be interesting to you, but I actually think Trump is a racist towards white people and actually favors black Americans.
That's no fair.
Come on.
But if we look at prison reform and if we look at Trump's efforts to free ASAP Rocky and other black Americans overseas, we see the president actively courting the African American population and not so much white Americans these days.
Well, you're going to force me to play devil's advocate.
The things that you mentioned were some things for, you know, like Aesop, Rocky, are really just individuals.
It doesn't have any impact on the rest of us at all.
So you could argue that these are for show, but I would argue, and I always have, that the show is the game.
The show is not separate from the actual managing of the country.
The show is part of it.
And if part of the show...
It's to show that everybody counts, that race is not a deciding factor, and Trump will help you get out of North Korea if you're Otto Warmbier, and help you get out of Sweden if you're Aesop Rocky.
I think these are really, even though it's only about one person, we don't like to leave Americans behind.
It's a little bit like the Marines.
So I think that as lessons For who we are and what the government is and how we operate and stuff.
These little anecdotal one-off situations are very valuable, even though it doesn't affect most of us directly.
Well, anyway, thank you, Kurt, for that.
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