Originally published at: MAGA 2024 presidential candidate fails basic U.S. Defense question in embarrassing interview (video) | Boing Boing
…
MAGA 2024 presidential candidate fails basic U.S. Defense question in embarrassing interview (video)
9 Likes
The last (original?) MAGA moron to run and unfortunately win knew less than most 3rd graders when it comes to the constitution.
This is far from the barrier it used to be. Remember when an uncomfortable yell was disqualifying?
36 Likes
It truly is a representational government - he is exactly like the people he represents.
2 Likes
“…the land air and sea nuclear deterrent that we won the Cold War with.” -Hugh Hewitt
There’s some pre-MAGA classic conservative nonsense for ya! I don’t know that I ever really considered myself politically aligned until I took a “Current Events” class in HS and had to read morons like George F Will and their bald-faced ahistorical takes like this. So many layers of stupid here.
23 Likes
“…and there was never a major conflict between the former Soviet Union and Western powers again. The End!”
22 Likes
I’d speculate that it’s worse than that - not only is it not a barrier, I would argue that it’s a selling point for the MAGA crowd. They’ve been conditioned to mistrust experience, education, understanding, mastery - anything that they can brush off as “elitism”. The more they can use their ignorance as proof they’re not “part of the swamp” the better.
22 Likes
And I recollect this specific issue came up, and Trump had no idea what the nuclear triad was. That specific display of ignorance kind of got lost, as Trump was such a bottomless fount of ignorance that he immediately went on to embarrass himself with his lack of knowledge in all sorts of other ways.
After Trump, it just generally feels weird to be talking about the ignorance, lack of temperamental suitability, or impaired cognitive ability in general of other candidates, given they’re all going to be better than he was.
25 Likes
Yup, that’s exactly where my mind went. Back in the good old days where we didn’t realize Trump was on the path to win, he failed this exact question from… this exact person.
20 Likes
36 Likes
I wasn’t familiar with it either but I’m Canadian. However, this (America's Nuclear Triad) website is absolutely holy-shitballs-wild! It looks exactly like every single conflict-based video game site I have seen, even to the point of parody.
It has a disclaimer at the top that says " 
An official website of the United States Government" for crying out loud! 
“This is a real website, we promise!”
12 Likes
Bottomless fount indeed. I immediately recalled during one of the debates he spouted off on how he hated the TPP treaty because it would give China a back door. Then Rand Paul highlighted the fact that the TPP purposely excluded China. One of the very few things I have ever appreciated from Rand Paul. Wait, that may be the only thing.
14 Likes
Hewitt, “Are you familiar with the triad?”
Ramaswamy, “Hong Kong or Mainland?”
14 Likes
And then Trump later called the TPP a “bad trade deal with China,” showing that his ignorance was not just bottomless but also a permanent, uncorrectable state.
In every one of those debates, Trump would let loose with a series of howlers that, reasonably, the rest of the debate would have been devoted to just pointing out how incredibly ignorant and stupid they were. The reality was that everyone would sort of sputter in shock and let it go, largely unremarked upon.
16 Likes
Exactly, give a pass to the dumbass. Somehow the media just doesn’t give a shit about how stupid he is as long as he’s good for their ratings
6 Likes
Yah, this is American propaganda that I have heard from many sources, not just conservatives. It’s seemingly widely believed that America “won” the Cold War. Many credit Reagan with strong-arming Gorbachev into ending it, when in fact Gorbachev had already done so of his own volition and had begun tearing down the Berlin Wall before Regan made his inane speech. No doubt Reagan made that speech when he did because he knew it was already happening, so he could claim credit for having bullied Gorbachev into doing it.
Gorbachev was the hero of the Cold War. He’s the one that saw how destructive it was socially, economically, and politically for everyone. He made the decision to blink and be the bigger man.
17 Likes
… although over 100 other countries somehow manage to be “secure” without nuclear weapons
7 Likes
7 Likes
There’s also the reality that the extremely onerous apparatus of the Soviet Union was crumbling rapidly and unsustainable with the limited pool of trading partners they had. China was still a good 15 years out from transforming into a global powerhouse and Cuba wasn’t exactly flooding the market with cash (although this classic cars probably did get wretched mileage). Add in Chernobyl and brewing Democratic revolutionary spirit in Bloc countries and the writing was on the wall.
7 Likes
Indeed, and he saw that the Cold War was hastening that collapse.
8 Likes
I’m not sure this is really all that much of a ‘gotcha’ considering the question itself is bullshit. I don’t know who this guy is, but since he asked Trump the same question and got the same answer, I’d guess he’s a Reagan worshipping war hawk who misses the 80s. Ramaswamy is hot garbage, but not because he couldn’t answer this question.
3 Likes
