Bill Maher is 'feeling nervous' about Trump winning after Republican convention
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/...convention
INTRO: Comedian Bill Maher said he was feeling 'nervous' about President Trump winning the election in November after the Republican National Convention. "I am feeling less confident about this -- maybe it's just their convention bump got to me, but I'm feeling less confident than I was a month ago," Maher told MSNBC's Joy-Ann Reid on The ReidOut. "I feel very nervous, the same way I did four years ago at this time," he added... (MORE)
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What if Facebook Is the Real ‘Silent Majority’?
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/27/techn...ty.htmlsww
EXCERPT (Kevin Roose): . . . But what sticks out, when you dig in to the data, is just how dominant the Facebook right truly is. Pro-Trump political influencers have spent years building a well-oiled media machine that swarms around every major news story, creating a torrent of viral commentary that reliably drowns out both the mainstream media and the liberal opposition.
The result is a kind of parallel media universe that left-of-center Facebook users may never encounter, but that has been stunningly effective in shaping its own version of reality. Inside the right-wing Facebook bubble, President Trump’s response to Covid-19 has been strong and effective, Joe Biden is barely capable of forming sentences, and Black Lives Matter is a dangerous group of violent looters.
Mr. Trump and his supporters are betting that [...] a “silent majority” will carry him to re-election. ... while I’m not a political analyst, I know enough about the modern media landscape to know that looking at people’s revealed preferences — what they actually read, watch, and click on when nobody’s looking — is often a better indicator of how they’ll act than interviewing them at diners, or listening to what they’re willing to say out loud to a pollster.
Maybe Mr. Trump’s “silent majority,” in other words, only seems silent because we’re not looking at their Facebook feeds. To be sure, Facebook is not the only medium where right-wing content thrives. [...] But the right’s dominance on Facebook, specifically, is something to behold. ... political campaigners have pointed out, correctly, that being popular on the internet isn’t a guarantee of electoral success. ... In addition, Facebook’s older, more conservative user base may not reflect what’s happening on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, which draw a younger crowd. Still, the platform’s sheer scale makes it vital to understand...
[...] Mr. Trump’s surging popularity showed up online before it showed up in any polls in 2016. And even though much about Facebook, and American politics, has changed in the past four years, the basic laws of social media physics still apply. Controversy wins. Negative beats positive. All attention looks good to an algorithm. Brad Parscale — the digital director of Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign — told “60 Minutes” that of everything Mr. Trump did that year, the thing that actually moved the needle was Facebook. “Facebook was the method,” Mr. Parscale said. “It was the highway which his car drove on.” That highway is still open. And right now, the fastest cars on it have MAGA bumper stickers... (MORE - details)
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'Are you mentally prepared to be outsmarted by Trump again?': Michael Moore warns Democrats of Trump 2020 victory
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/...20-victory
INTRO: Filmmaker Michael Moore warned that Democrats are facing a November loss, as support for President Trump is "off the charts.""Are you ready for a Trump victory? Are you mentally prepared to be outsmarted by Trump again? Do you find comfort in your certainty that there is no way Trump can win? Are you content with the trust you've placed in the DNC to pull this off?" he wrote on Facebook on Friday.
"I'm warning you almost 10 weeks in advance. The enthusiasm level for the 60 million in Trump's base is OFF THE CHARTS! For Joe, not so much," warned Moore. "Don't leave it to the Democrats to get rid of Trump. YOU have to get rid of Trump. WE have to wake up every day for the next 67 days and make sure each of us are going to get a hundred people out to vote. ACT NOW!" Moore continued... (MORE)
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How much does Herschel Walker represent religious Blacks?
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/...ice-issues
EXCERPT: Herschel Walker delivered a speech during the Republican National Convention last week, lauding President Trump as a friend and denouncing those who have called him a 'racist.' "It hurt my soul to hear the terrible names that people called Donald," Walker said during his remarks last Monday. "The worst one is racist. I take it as a personal insult that people would think I've had a 37-year friendship with a racist. People that think that don't know what they're talking about. Growing up in the Deep South, I've seen racism up close. I know what it is. And it isn't Donald Trump." (MORE)
https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/2020/august...to-worship
EXCERPT: "I just saw that the First Amendment — freedom of speech — and people are protesting ... You know, peaceful or not peaceful. But I also saw that we have the freedom of religion. Why are we not going to church?" he continued. "Why are we not fighting to go to church? You know, we can do peaceful church outside..." In recent months, Walker has been an outspoken conservative critic of the riots and Black Lives Matter's demands, tweeting in July, "I don't want to defund the police. I don't want to tear down statues. What about my freedom of speech? I want to be united as Americans..." (MORE - details)
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/...convention
INTRO: Comedian Bill Maher said he was feeling 'nervous' about President Trump winning the election in November after the Republican National Convention. "I am feeling less confident about this -- maybe it's just their convention bump got to me, but I'm feeling less confident than I was a month ago," Maher told MSNBC's Joy-Ann Reid on The ReidOut. "I feel very nervous, the same way I did four years ago at this time," he added... (MORE)
- - - - - -
What if Facebook Is the Real ‘Silent Majority’?
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/27/techn...ty.htmlsww
EXCERPT (Kevin Roose): . . . But what sticks out, when you dig in to the data, is just how dominant the Facebook right truly is. Pro-Trump political influencers have spent years building a well-oiled media machine that swarms around every major news story, creating a torrent of viral commentary that reliably drowns out both the mainstream media and the liberal opposition.
The result is a kind of parallel media universe that left-of-center Facebook users may never encounter, but that has been stunningly effective in shaping its own version of reality. Inside the right-wing Facebook bubble, President Trump’s response to Covid-19 has been strong and effective, Joe Biden is barely capable of forming sentences, and Black Lives Matter is a dangerous group of violent looters.
Mr. Trump and his supporters are betting that [...] a “silent majority” will carry him to re-election. ... while I’m not a political analyst, I know enough about the modern media landscape to know that looking at people’s revealed preferences — what they actually read, watch, and click on when nobody’s looking — is often a better indicator of how they’ll act than interviewing them at diners, or listening to what they’re willing to say out loud to a pollster.
Maybe Mr. Trump’s “silent majority,” in other words, only seems silent because we’re not looking at their Facebook feeds. To be sure, Facebook is not the only medium where right-wing content thrives. [...] But the right’s dominance on Facebook, specifically, is something to behold. ... political campaigners have pointed out, correctly, that being popular on the internet isn’t a guarantee of electoral success. ... In addition, Facebook’s older, more conservative user base may not reflect what’s happening on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, which draw a younger crowd. Still, the platform’s sheer scale makes it vital to understand...
[...] Mr. Trump’s surging popularity showed up online before it showed up in any polls in 2016. And even though much about Facebook, and American politics, has changed in the past four years, the basic laws of social media physics still apply. Controversy wins. Negative beats positive. All attention looks good to an algorithm. Brad Parscale — the digital director of Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign — told “60 Minutes” that of everything Mr. Trump did that year, the thing that actually moved the needle was Facebook. “Facebook was the method,” Mr. Parscale said. “It was the highway which his car drove on.” That highway is still open. And right now, the fastest cars on it have MAGA bumper stickers... (MORE - details)
- - - - - -
'Are you mentally prepared to be outsmarted by Trump again?': Michael Moore warns Democrats of Trump 2020 victory
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/...20-victory
INTRO: Filmmaker Michael Moore warned that Democrats are facing a November loss, as support for President Trump is "off the charts.""Are you ready for a Trump victory? Are you mentally prepared to be outsmarted by Trump again? Do you find comfort in your certainty that there is no way Trump can win? Are you content with the trust you've placed in the DNC to pull this off?" he wrote on Facebook on Friday.
"I'm warning you almost 10 weeks in advance. The enthusiasm level for the 60 million in Trump's base is OFF THE CHARTS! For Joe, not so much," warned Moore. "Don't leave it to the Democrats to get rid of Trump. YOU have to get rid of Trump. WE have to wake up every day for the next 67 days and make sure each of us are going to get a hundred people out to vote. ACT NOW!" Moore continued... (MORE)
- - - - - -
How much does Herschel Walker represent religious Blacks?
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/...ice-issues
EXCERPT: Herschel Walker delivered a speech during the Republican National Convention last week, lauding President Trump as a friend and denouncing those who have called him a 'racist.' "It hurt my soul to hear the terrible names that people called Donald," Walker said during his remarks last Monday. "The worst one is racist. I take it as a personal insult that people would think I've had a 37-year friendship with a racist. People that think that don't know what they're talking about. Growing up in the Deep South, I've seen racism up close. I know what it is. And it isn't Donald Trump." (MORE)
https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/2020/august...to-worship
EXCERPT: "I just saw that the First Amendment — freedom of speech — and people are protesting ... You know, peaceful or not peaceful. But I also saw that we have the freedom of religion. Why are we not going to church?" he continued. "Why are we not fighting to go to church? You know, we can do peaceful church outside..." In recent months, Walker has been an outspoken conservative critic of the riots and Black Lives Matter's demands, tweeting in July, "I don't want to defund the police. I don't want to tear down statues. What about my freedom of speech? I want to be united as Americans..." (MORE - details)