The Signorile Report

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On my SiriusXM show, Roy from Oklahoma —a Trump supporter —called in while I was discussing Donald Trump’s weekend rally in Youngstown, Ohio, and the horrifying, Hitlerian salute that his supporter gave him, raising their arms out front and upward, with one finger pointing.

All over TV and social media people made references to “Heil Trump!” as his supporters were showing they were deeply loyal to him in a frightening way.

The music playing while Trump was speaking was a QAnon anthem, as Trump, desperate for support, has gone full QAnon. The one-finger salute was a show of loyalty by those immersed QAnon, who believe a hideous, dangerous conspiracy in which Trump is a messianic figure who is going to save them from the demonic forces of pedophiles and perverts in the Democratic party.

Whatever you want to call it, you can’t deny it reflects flat out fascism and authoritarianism — people following the dictator blindly — and the salute just made the Nazi comparison all the more apt.

Roy professed shock at my pointing all of this out, asking if my comments are “actually for real.” I couldn’t quite understand what he meant, so I pressed him further.

He then denied the salute was anything like a Nazi salute and tried to compare the Trump rally attendees to people “in church, holding their hands up.” That of course only proved the point further: they see Trump as some God-like figure.

Roy then told me the story of a salesman he met who told him the secret to being successful: “People are stupid; treat ‘em that way.” His point, I guess, was to say that I was like a salesman. But, as I pointed out to him, he was perfectly, brilliantly describing Trump’s strategy: People are stupid; treat them that way.

Roy then got completely stumped when he tried to tell me Trump never misled anyone on COVID — why he picked COVID, I don’t know — and I pointed out the facts, the lies, the “inject with bleach” suggestions and the numbers of deaths due to COVID because of Trump. Roy couldn’t refute the facts at all, just kind of meandering, and I just had to tell him the obvious truth, that he was just like the people the salesman told him about: “Stupid.”

Listen in and let me know your thoughts!

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Hollywood, Florida, October 10, 2020. YES Market Media

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During a discussion about Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida on my SiriusXM program, Paul from Florida called in, claiming that he and many Republicans have changed their party affiliation to NPA (no party affiliation, or independent) because of a “loss of anonymity” and being “targeted for who you are” and what you “may or may not believe in.”

I found this at first confusing, then fascinating — then just an outright bonkers lie.

First off, most Republicans who’ve switched to become independents have done so because the GOP has become so extreme, and, as I told Paul, independents nationwide now lean more Democratic than Republican.

But then, this claim that Trump-supporting Republicans are afraid to be known as GOP in Florida, of all places, is completely laughable.

The Villages, the sprawling and massive retirement community, is crawling with people in MAGA hats and Trump flags on their golf carts. All over the state people are walking around with “ULTRA MAGA” t-shirts.

The truth is, as callers to the show from Florida confirmed later, Democrats are the ones targeted, including those who had Biden signs on their lawns. One woman said a man came to her door because she had a Biden sign and proceeded to eviscerate her and tell her to vote for Trump in 2020.

Paul claimed that the threat against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh by a man with a gun near his home was proof of what he was saying. But, I told Paul, unlike him Kavanaugh is a public figure — and of course it’s wrong to threaten him — and Democratic public figures receive death threats daily, including the president, vice president and members of Congress.

According to the Department Homeland Security, however, the overwhelming terrorist threat to average Americans right now is from right-wing white supremacist groups and individuals. DHS issued a bulletin in June warning Americans about such threats and the bulletin is in effect until November of this year.

There have no no left-wing terrorist groups or planned violent attacks — as what happened on January 6th, when groups like the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and others coordinated an attack, which right-wing political leaders appeared to know about — but it is the Trumpists right now who are threatening more violence, targeting the FBI and anyone on the left.

Anyway, as I explained a lot of this to Paul, the snowflake hung up.

Listen in and let me know your thoughts!

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While discussing the the FBI search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort on my SiriusXM program, Tim from Alabama called, claiming he had been in the “intelligence end” of things.

According to Tim, what Trump did is done “all the time” by people “at that level.” When I explained that no one had done this — taking a truckload of boxes of top secret documents, including about weapons programs, to their home after leaving the presidency — he said, well, we don’t know that, and they could do it they wanted.

As you can imagine, all roads eventually led to….Hillary Clinton’s emails.

Tim then said we don’t know a lot about this — and I countered that we certainly do, and that Trump had lied when he said Obama had taken documents home after being president. The National Archives put out a statement saying it was patently false.

Tim then pulled what all Trumpists do when trying to rebut something: “Well, I have no idea ]about that]. I hadn’t heard that.” It’s as if, because they don’t know the news and the truth, then it doesn’t matter. And he still insisted Obama could have done it if he wanted to — as if the Republicans wouldn’t have gone completely and totally berserk if that happened.

It went downhill from there for Tim. He ho was trying to present himself as objective but was clearly deep in the Trump cult, and could not defend Trump’s actions though he lamely tried.

Listen in and let me know your thoughts!

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In a discussion about protesters who gathered peacefully outside a Morton’s SteakHouse in Washington DC while Justice Brett Kavanaugh ate inside, Steve from Minnesota called my SiriusXM show.

Immediately he asked what if the “other side” got this idea, and began “harassing” AOC in a restaurant, referring to Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

That can only draw a laugh. I pointed out, first off, that no one was “harassing” Kavanaugh, who never even came into contact with the protesters and slipped out the back door. But more than that, Democrats have faced protesters — and harassment and violence — from the right for decades. Anti-abortion radicals have long been harassing women at abortion clinics — and doctors and healthcare workers have been killed.

No one should face violence, I said, like what we saw on January 6th. But everyone in public life has faced peaceful protests, and should expect that.

Steve kept going back to his same talking points, about the “slippy slope” and the “other side.”

It was almost like a threat. And it also shows how pathetically scared the right is when it comes to protest. The fact that Kavanaugh slipped out the back door, unable to face the people who stood up against his ripping a right from millions, spoke volumes.

Listen in and let me know your thoughts.

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In a discussion of high gas prices, Brian from Colorado called into my SiriusXM program to say President Biden is a hypocrite for asking oil companies to use leases they have but are refusing to use because he promised during the presidential race to “destroy” their industry. This is a talking point of the right, and it needs to be debunked.

Of course, Biden made no such promise, as I explained to Brian, but he did talk about and has talked about getting us off of fossil fuels to save the planet and also helping oil companies transition to green energy — something some of them are doing. So no, there wasn’t any claim during the campaign of “destroying” oil companies but of transitioning them, something that might take a few decades.

What Biden is doing now, however, is demanding the companies pump oil in the short term, while we’re still dependent on fossil fuels, because supply shortages and the war in Ukraine have driven up prices. The companies have the leases to drill in new areas but are refusing to use them because they want the prices — and their profits — to soar.

Brian first tried to pose as someone who was a supporter of Biden — or perhaps neutral — when he was in fact a Trumper, as I dragged out of him.

This is a lie that that the right keeps pushing: That Biden is somehow engaged in contradictory behavior by asking the companies to stop price-gouging by pumping more oil. Doing so doesn’t mean you can’t stick to commitments to get the country off of fossil fuels in the long term and move on to green energy.

Let me know your thoughts!

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In a discussion of the Uvalde, Texas massacre, Bob from New Jersey called into my SiriusXM program — a “gun rights” defender of the Second Amendment as an amendment that is absolute — to say “you guys are out there, man.”

Bob said the Aecond Amendment was written to protect us from a “tyrannical government.”

If that’s the case, shouldn’t he be able to buy a surface-to-air missile, since the “tyrannical government” could be coming to his home in black helicopters?

Bob didn’t want to answer the question, nd claimed it was “apples and oranges.” He tried to change the subject. But when pinned down, forced to offer what is the only logical conclusion to his claim, he said, “Yeah,” he should have surface-to-air missile.

“Why not? If it’s protecting me,” he stated.

So Bob walked right into Crazyland. And once there, it’s hard to leave.

“So should you be able to have a nuclear weapon?” I asked

Bob then claimed he “doesn’t need” a nuclear weapon, but didn’t say the government should ban it.

I had to then just explain that this is where showed he is a “clown,” since many amendments to the Constitution has regulations and laws written around them.

The twisted reasoning and hypocrisy in these individuals’ arguments must be challenged, because, when pushed, they are forced to admit ridiculous and dangerous things, which only shows how radical and extreme they are.

Listen in and let me know your thoughts!

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During a wrenching discussion about the Uvalde, Texas child massacre, Chris in Indiana, a “gun rights” supporter, called my SiriusXM program. He initially tried to change the subject to the school not being completely locked down, as well as the confusing and questionable response of law enforcement.

Those are not issues to be discounted, and investigations are underway, and we need answers. But the fact that things broke down shows that Republicans’ claims that the answer to this horrendous mass violence is more security are bogus. The GOP is also the party of incompetence and greed, and it doesn’t even fund or enforce the very measures it claims are the antidote to gun violence. Governor Greg Abbott has blood on his hands for the response by law enforcement, in addition to his having signrf laws that loosened gun restrictions in Texas.

More than that, the focus by Republicans and callers like Chris on security — and turning schools into maximum security prisons — takes the discussion away from the real story: The 18-year-old shooter had 2 AR-15s, weapons of war. And those weapons are marketed to teenagers.

When I brought it back to that, Chris then asked what laws would prevent this shooting?

I went through at least three: a) banning assault weapons; b) not allowing 18-year-olds to buy guns and; c) background checks which would pick up the violent behavior of this and other killers, including the Buffalo mass shooter.

Chris then tried to change the subject to….Chicago, and shootings there.

I didn’t allow it, as it’s the right’s usual diversion, and I shut him down. But of course, there wouldn’t be so many guns in Chicago or anywhere if people couldn’t go out of state, to Indiana or Iowa or lots of places, and buy guns easily — or buy them on the black market, which are guns that ultimately come from the manufacturers.

Anyway, listen in and let me know your thoughts!

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Okay, one more call from my SiriusXM show this week from the “Overturning Roe is No Big Deal” crowd.

Why do I take these calls? Because we have to refute these people and do it forcefully. And it’s great that we can do it publicly, so that we learn from one another. I also know there are many other people who are out there listening who have these opinions and if we could burst a bubble with even one of them — even if it riles them up and makes them think — that’s good.

In actuality, the calls to my program this past two weeks were overwhelmingly from people who were angry over the draft ruling from the Supreme Court. It was non-stop, and the energy was amazing. I’m going to write on that and post some of the calls because I think pundits are missing how this issue will drive the mid-terms.

But it is important to take on the Joes in Florida of the world.

Joe actually claimed that legislators are smarter than us and smarter than judges. But he then refused to respond when I asked his opinion on the Supreme Court sending many other things back to the states (like contraception) and those “smart” legislators deciding on them, claiming he doesn’t “do hypotheticals” and stating I was “going off on tangents.”

Oh, please. Joe is a coward for not engaging on those issues — and I told him so. Listen in and let me know your thoughts.

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As the discussion over pro-choice protesters gathering in front of the homes of Supreme Court justices heats up, conservatives have been citing a 1950 federal statute in claiming its illegal to protest in front of of judges’ homes with the intent of influencing them.

And a man named Lance from North Carolina who is opposed to abortion called into my SiriusXM show, thinking he was going to pull a “gothcha” by citing the statute.

Nevermind that it is hard to prove that protesters are trying to “influence” a case rather simply expressing outrage at a ruling — or a draft ruling, in this case. The law, a McCarthy Era relic, actually bans such protests at or near any building where a judge or a jury would be, including their residences but also included the courthouse. That would include the Supreme Court, which has been the site of countless protests — including by anti-abortion activists — over the decades. Here’s the law, 18 U.S. Code § 1507, italics added for emphasis:

Whoever, with the intent of interfering with, obstructing, or impeding the administration of justice, or with the intent of influencing any judge, juror, witness, or court officer, in the discharge of his duty, pickets or parades in or near a building housing a court of the United States, or in or near a building or residence occupied or used by such judge, juror, witness, or court officer, or with such intent uses any sound-truck or similar device or resorts to any other demonstration in or near any such building or residence, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

So, theoretically, all of those people who protested at the Supreme Court against abortion broke the law. Yet only now, with pro-choice activists (in one example, one hundred protesters in Justice Kavanaugh’s neighborhood, who are his own neighbors), are we hearing calls to ban or lock up protesters, using a a McCarthy Era law meant to silence Americans. Even some Republicans are opposed to arresting the protesters — though not Senator Tom Cotton.

And this is coming from a right-wing that has been so absolutist on “free speech” that many, including Ted Cruz, defend on free speech grounds the January 6th insurrectionists, who of course engaged in destroying property and engaging in violence against police.

The courts have actually narrowed the scope of the 1950 statute, by the way, allowing banners or signs, for example, which I pointed to as well when Lance called in. Having lost his ability to pull a “gotcha” moment with me, Lance then went on to make some ridiculous statement promoting his anti-abortion views, to which I just had to say, “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

Listen in and let me know your thoughts!

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This one got a little bit heated — mostly on my part, I admit — but I really just can’t deal with people saying the Supreme Court leaked draft decision doesn’t “ban” abortion, and that women can just go to another state for an abortion.

But that is what Dustin from Wyoming called into my SiriusXM program to say — starting off by saying “you’re really making me mad.” He also didn’t understand my assertion that states could ban contraception if the Supreme Court ruled that way, and stop contraception at states’ borders (He seemed to think I was talking about the U.S.-Mexico border, because I guess they’re all just obsessed with that border).

Why should anyone have to go to another state to exercise their rights? That’s the logical question, and I course I posed it. (And of course, some states, like Missouri, are now moving to ban women who reside in the state from getting abortions in other states.) But Dustin still felt states should decided.

Okay, then how would he feel if his sister were raped and forced to have the baby. Would he be okay with it, since most of the laws in states banning abortion have no exception for rape or incest, or, in some, even many medical emergencies? Suddenly, he thought there should be exemptions and, suddenly, he thought maybe the states shouldn’t decide.

I also asked how he’d like it if the Supreme Court allows bans on contraception — as this decision’s reasoning sets up, and some Republicans in states like Michigan have called for that to happen — which wold force Dustin would to drive out of state to get condoms.

Dustin was pretty stumped. He threw out insults, hemmed and hawed, deflected, laughed, asserted his rights as the “father” of a fetus that a woman might abort, claimed my hypotheticals — of which I put out a few others — were not realistic.

But he couldn’t answer the question.

Listen in, and let me know your thoughts!

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