The Signorile Report

Mike from New Hampshire was aghast at hearing listeners discuss the coronavirus pandemic

Welcome to The Signorile Report, where you’ll read hard-hitting political commentary and exposés; find interviews with newsmakers; hear me “engage” with right-wingers who call my radio program; and connect with like-minded, passionate people everywhere committed to fighting against hate and corruption. Subscribe now to get all of this in your email box a few times a week.

Describing himself as “patriotic, Second Amendment strong," Mike from New Hampshire claimed that he “stumbled across” my radio program while going down the dial on SiriusXM and couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He was the epitome of a right-wing crybaby.

Specifically, listeners were calling in to discuss the latest, most horrific actions of coronavirus-infected Donald Trump, and the implications for the pandemic nationally.

Mike began by trying to refute the number of coronavirus deaths, claiming it’s all inflated, and showing himself to be a Covid-19 denialist.

It ended with my telling him about the great mental health programs he can avail himself of under the Affordable Care Act.

Listen in, and let me know your thoughts!

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The CDC urged against trick-or-treating, parties and haunted houses. Robert from Pennsylvania called me a liar for saying so.

Welcome to The Signorile Report, where you’ll read hard-hitting political commentary and exposés; find interviews with newsmakers; hear me “engage” with right-wingers who call my radio program; and connect with like-minded, passionate people everywhere committed to fighting against hate and corruption. Subscribe now to get all of this in your email box a few times a week.

Last week, I pointed out that the Centers for Disease Control, which has been terribly inconsistent and dangerously unreliable on the coronavirus pandemic because of the way Donald Trump is manipulating the agency, seemed to be doing the right thing in urging families to cancel traditional Halloween festivities.

Those included door-to-door trick-or-treating, wearing costume masks (which can complicate the use of face masks), parties of any kind, trunk-or-treating, indoor haunted houses, hay rides or tractor rides, and well, a bunch of other things.

“Many traditional Halloween activities can be high-risk for spreading viruses,” the CDC said. “There are several safer, alternative ways to participate in Halloween.”

But because I used the word “cancel” for the traditional Halloween activities, it drove Trumper Robert to call my SiriusXM show and accuse me of lying, and well, it just went downhill from there: I admit I just lost it and used A LOT of four-letter words!

It enrages me that, while we’re in the middle of a pandemic, this anti-science, anti-mask, anti-restrictions group of people is hellbent on doing whatever they want. A selfish, reckless element is infuriated that we’ve even suggested “canceling” traditional Halloween festivities — while people are sick and dying and our president claims all is fine and is helping the virus to transmit at his rallies.

I know — I probably should have kept my temper on this one. But sometimes it’s hard!

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Clark from Missouri then tried to push Trump talking points

Welcome to The Signorile Report, where you’ll read hard-hitting political commentary and exposés; find interviews with newsmakers; hear me “engage” with right-wingers who call my radio program; and connect with like-minded, passionate people everywhere committed to fighting against hate and corruption. Subscribe now to get all of this in your email box a few times a week.

Seems a week doesn’t go by without a Trump supporter calling my in to my SiriusXM show in claiming to want to talk about one thing and then pushing another.

Clark called to say he was volunteering at a Trump campaign office where everyone was “happy” about the attacks on Trump because it only means he’ll get more support.

That made little sense. But of course, this is a Trump supporter.

When I asked if we just shouldn’t criticize him at all if we’re opposed to him, and if he criticized Joe Biden, he switched into a rant of Trump talking points.

I had to shut him down and make him address the issues — nonetheless it ended the usual way it does with Trump supporters.

Take a listen and let me know your thoughts!

(And btw, the photo above has nothing to do with any of it, but it’s just another photo of Trump looking like an idiot with adoring fans looking on.)

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"The negative coattails of Donald Trump" could bring down John Cornyn, he says. "There's real political justice in what's going to happen."

Welcome to The Signorile Report, where you’ll read hard-hitting political commentary and exposés; find interviews with newsmakers; hear me “engage” with right-wingers who call my radio program; and connect with like-minded, passionate people everywhere committed to fighting against hate and corruption. Subscribe now to get all of this in your email box a few times a week.

Beto O’Rourke is on a mission to turn Texas blue this year, and he spoke with me on my SiriusXM show about the work he and his group, Powered by People are doing to make that happen at every level of government. Some in the political class have said it’s a stretch — that Texas will eventually turn blue but might not do so this year — but then again, those same people didn’t think O’Rourke’s surge in 2018 was probable either.

The former Texas Democratic congressman came within three points of beating the odious Senator Ted Cruz in 2018, and created a movement across Texas, bringing along races down ballot that were part of the blue wave — in the U.S. House and in the Texas Legislature — and laying the groundwork for 2020.

When O’Rourke’s bid for the presidency didn’t work out, he declined another Senate run, challenging John Cornyn, and committed himself to grassroots organizing in his state.

Now, Joe Biden is running even with Donald Trump in several polls, as Biden staffs up in the state. More GOP-controlled House seats across Texas are endangered, as are GOP state legislators. And Air Force veteran and educator M.J. Hegar has a shot at taking down Cornyn, coming within single digits in polls. Even O’Rourke to me he was surprised at how quickly Cornyn has seen his approval tank and is facing a strong challenge.

So, anything can happen. But it’s not going to happen unless people work hard.

O’Rourke spoke with me about the horrendous actions of Donald Trump and the revelations in the Woodward book, as well as about how much Cornyn is tied to Trump. He discussed the ways his group is working at all levels and how people can help out in turning Texas blue.

I posted the full interview here, as so many listeners, and so many followers on Twitter who heard some of the clips, asked me to post it all. So take a listen. And of course let me know your thoughts.

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“It Was All a Lie: How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump”

Welcome to The Signorile Report, where you’ll read hard-hitting political commentary and exposés; find interviews with newsmakers; hear me “engage” with right-wingers who call my radio program; and connect with like-minded, passionate people everywhere committed to fighting against hate and corruption. Subscribe now to get all of this in your email box a few times a week.

Recently I interviewed former Republican strategist Stuart Stevens on my SiriusXM show about his new book, “It Was All a Lie: How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump,” and how he left the GOP, having diligently working in it for many years, after he realized it was a sham. (You can listen to the entire interview here, and I really think it’s worth hearing.)

Stevens has been a GOP strategist for decades. He has served as strategist and media consultant to dozens of House members governors, senators, presidents and presidential candidates, including Bob Dole, George W. Bush, Mitt Romney, John McCain, Chuck Grassley, Rob Portman, Dan Coates and others.

Unlike some others who’ve left the party, Stevens concludes in his book that Donald Trump didn’t take over the Republican Party but is rather the embodiment of it — that the GOP has always been racist to the core, and Trump was readymade for it. I found that admission more refreshing than others Never Trumpers, even if it sometimes is hard to fathom the rationalizations people like Stevens made.

Stevens said he came to realize that the things he believed the GOP stood for — strong defense against Russia, free trade, personal responsibility, taking on deficits, among others — were all just a facade. Racism was and is the main issue, and he admits he used it in elections to win, though was almost unconscious about how he used it.

Stevens described to me that it was easy not to think that race was the the primary issue that motivated most Republican voters, because those around him — a bubble of elites, if you will — cared about all those other big issues much more. He said Trump winning the primary and then the election in 2016 woke him up to the reality.

Some have criticized him, saying he couldn’t be that naive, or that he’s still not answering to his work for Mitt Romney in 2012, which wasn’t that long ago. But his insights into the GOP and what drove it and drives it — and Trump — now are illuminating and important. So I thought you should hear the entire interview.

Here’s an excerpt:

“A lot of it was a feeling that we were on the right side of history. And there was almost an inevitability of the party. Plus, we did acknowledge failures. And that’s very important to note. In many ways this is all about race. In 1956, Eisenhower gets 40% of the Black vote. In 1964 with Goldwater it drops to 7%. And it never comes back. So since 1964 the Republican Party has failed to attract African-Americans.

“Now, we used to admit that that was failure. And I think that mattered. I think what you aspire to is important. Now the party is — you don’t even hear about it being a big tent anymore. And it’s jut really become comfortable with white grievance.

“So I guess, when I woke up in the morning I felt I was working for the side of the party that was the more positive and brighter side. And I think I probably was — I just thought people would fight, that they would fight for what they believed in. I think national parties should serve as circuit breakers. And that never happened. Republicans never pulled the circuit on Donald Trump.”

Listen to the entire interview, however, and let me know your thoughts.

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The caller to my show claimed the “real God” backs Trump

Welcome to The Signorile Report, where you’ll read hard-hitting political commentary and exposés; find interviews with newsmakers; hear me “engage” with right-wingers who call my radio program; and connect with like-minded, passionate people everywhere committed to fighting against hate and corruption. Subscribe now to get all of this in your email box a few times a week.

Clark from Tennessee called into my SiriusXM show and began by saying that Donald Trump has kept most of his promises and that that’s why he’s voting for him and that any “God-fearing American” should, or the country will go to hell in a hand basket.

He said, when he’s talking about “God-fearing” Americans, “I’m not talking about phony evangelists or phony Christians” — like Jerry Falwell Jr. — but the “real God.”

How did he square “real God” backing a rapist and adulterer and liar? Well, you have to listen to this to believe it.

And yes, I had to completely eviscerate this poor, damaged soul, who, unfortunately, is an example of many people in our country. (There’s always the hope that some of them are listening who might be wavering, who might hear how ridiculous they sound.)

Whatever made them this way, they are dangerous to our rights and freedoms when they use their vote to hurt others.

Let me know your thoughts!

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Cowardly Matt from Kansas City pretends he’s anti-Trump to get on the show, gets creamed

Welcome to The Signorile Report, where you’ll read hard-hitting political commentary and exposés; find interviews with newsmakers; hear me “engage” with right-wingers who call my radio program; and connect with like-minded, passionate people everywhere committed to fighting against hate and corruption. Subscribe now to get all of this in your email box a few times a week.

Ellie Burgin from Pexels

Listeners to my SiriusXM show know that I have no problem taking calls from Trump supporters and debating them — or more so, refuting their idiotic but often dangerous claims. I’m all about more speech, more discussion, airing out views.

But the thing I really can’t stand is someone who fakes who they are and what they want to talk about when they’re screened. They’re cowards who won’t say they’re Trump supporters — and then think they’re pulling some kind of prank when they get on, even though it’s totally lame.

That’s what Matt from Kansas City did, calling in as we were discussing the Republican National Convention (and the Open Thread on the convention continues here), and I had to just hand his ass to him.

[Sorry the audio is distorting out a little when I raise my voice, as I was really going over the level and didn’t adjust for it. Yeah, was seeing red!]

Take a listen. Let me know your thoughts!

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Marty from Minnesota called to defend Chris from Long Island, but only further dug a hole for both of them.

Welcome to The Signorile Report, where you’ll read hard-hitting political commentary and exposés; ,find interviews with newsmakers; hear me “engage” with right-wingers who call my radio program; and connect with like-minded, passionate people everywhere committed to fighting for equality and justice.

I promised in the last post with the call from Chris in Long Island, New York, that I’d send this follow up call. Marty from Minnesota called my SiriusXM show last week in response to my conversation on the show the day before with Chris, who’d called to explain how truly offensive it was that I’d called Donald Trump a “b*****d.”

Marty protested my entire tone, and how I respond to Trump supporters in general.

Then he claimed he was actually on “the left” until “cancel culture” came into being. This was pretty hilarious considering that this right-wing myth of “cancel culture” is a relatively new phenomenon, certainly arising until well after Trump’s presidency —and hasn’t received enormous attention until recently, with Trump using it in speeches and tweets.

He then tried to claim Joe Biden was a bad as Trump when it came to making offensive remarks. Yeah, this was quite a joke. Let me know your thoughts!

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Chris from Long Island said he couldn’t “remember” Trump using any offensive language like that.

Welcome to The Signorile Report, where you’ll read hard-hitting political commentary and exposés; ,find interviews with newsmakers; hear me “engage” with right-wingers who call my radio program; and connect with like-minded, passionate people everywhere committed to fighting for equality and justice.

On my SiriusXM show last week, I called Donald Trump a b*****d for canceling the Republican National Convention in Jacksonville — and protecting all his GOP buddies from coronavirus — but still demanding children be sent to school, even in states surging with Covid-19 cases and where parents are adamantly opposed.

Chris called in from Long Island, New York. He’d previously called in to defend Trump. He said, by calling Trump a b*****d and using such foul “language,” I lowered myself, or some such thing— to which I replied I’m not the president of the United States. I’m a radio host. I’m doing my job. It’s Donald Trump who has denigrated the office of the presidency — and is certainly not doing his job.

Listen in and let me know your thoughts. I’m particularly interested in hearing if you think I don’t give him a chance — as he claims — and am too hard on him.

The next day Marty from Minnesota, another Trump supporter, called to take issue with me for this call. I’ll send that one out shortly too.

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He also defended Trump’s latest racist fear-mongering attack on Joe Biden.

Welcome to The Signorile Report, where you’ll read hard-hitting political commentary and exposés; ,find interviews with newsmakers; hear me “engage” with right-wingers who call my radio program; and connect with like-minded, passionate people everywhere committed to fighting for equality and helping each other out.

Roger from Ohio, a Trump supporter, called in to my SiriusXM show this week to respond to my noting that Donald Trump’s Rose Garden press conference — which was really like a campaign rally slamming Joe Biden — was incoherent, 53 minutes of blathering, directionless ranting. Reporters were stunned that Trump used the Rose Garden in such a partisan way — frankly I’m not sure why they were surprised — and the consensus was that it was a confusing mess, a “meandering monologue.”

But Roger claimed it was only “incoherent” to me because I couldn’t understand Dear Leader.

When I said I understood just fine, including Trump’s coded racist attacks, he blew his stack.

Roger then began defending Trump’s latest hollow on Joe Biden claiming Biden is going to harm “property values” in suburbs because of a push for “low-income housing.” This simplistic and inaccurate line of attack stemmed not from anything Biden said recently, by the way, but from the fact that the Obama administration was actually enforcing the Fair Housing Act — yes, a civil rights statute.

It’s a message of Trump’s that promotes segregation and discrimination against black people — something Trump did himself as a real estate developer in New York in the ‘80s, caught red-handed — that is just not landing in the suburbs during this campaign because, as I told Roger, it’s blatantly racist and the country has gone through a dramatic shift.

He floundered and flustered and it got heated as I tried to give him some facts. Let me know your thoughts and if you think I was too hard on him.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.signorile.com/subscribe