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Another rip-roaring news week in this bizarro nightmare the United States can’t collectively wake up from. Naïvely, I thought we could #StickToNaturalDisasters with Hurricane Maria blitzing through the Caribbean and the horrific earthquake in Central Mexico. (There was a minor one in California, too, if you consume the news in order that always puts America first.)
Unfortunately, humanitarian aid and disaster remediation were only two items on last week’s agenda. The United Nations suffered through another f*cking Trump stump speech, partly I’m sure, designed to confound and distract from the most recent screw-up in Syria in which airstrikes accidentally struck the Syrian Army, killing dozens of troops. In case you were wondering, our position is pro-Syrian Army, so this was a bad thing.
There was turmoil in St. Louis, after another white police officer was acquitted in the lethal shooting of Anthony Lamar Smith. Crime: being black.
In Baton Rouge, two more black men were shot and killed in separate but equally racially suspect circumstances.
In case these incidents might inspire anyone to kneel alongside Colin Kaepernick, Trump took to his favorite media, tweeting “Sports fans should never condone players that do not stand proud for their National Anthem or their Country. NFL should change policy!”
Lesley Abravanel
Lesley Abravanel—journalist, game show champ, mother, citizen—almost never saw this tweet.
That’s because the president had blocked her on Twitter the week before. I caught up with Lesley to find out more about what happened.
(Jillian Conochan) Please describe your general opinion of Donald Trump.
(Lesley Abravanel) In short and on Twitter, I call him a demented racist dotard (Thanks, Kim Jong Un!). I also throw in repugnant, incompetent, incapable, imbecilic, and narcissistic. There’s not one nice adjective I can use to describe him. Not one.
(JC) Leave it to a non-native English speaker to uncover an absolutely nuclear insult for our Commander-in-Chief. It works on at least 3 levels.
(LA) I never thought I’d see the day where I was rooting for the foreign threat to our democracy over our own homegrown threat. And I see what you did there.
(JC) Thanks for noticing. Have you always had a negative opinion of Donald Trump? Or was there ever a time when you enjoyed his theatrics? The Apprentice season 1, for example? No judgment.
(LA) I always thought he was a putz. I did watch The Apprentice and laughed at how awkward he was. I also laughed whenever he spoke on TV because it was always to reassure himself how great he was. But it was comedy more than the tragedy it is now with him as our president. I threw up in my mouth saying that.
President Donald Trump. I have never used those three words together except to describe a horror.
There is no place for his ego or theatrics in Washington or anywhere, frankly, outside of his gilded Manhattan cage or prison, where he belongs.
(JC) If we set up a GoFundMe to have a cell on Rikers Island gold-plated, that can be one in the same.
(LA) And ultimately cost less than his security detail at Mar-a-Lago!
(JC) Where did you stand after Trump was elected? Were you more in the “let’s give him a chance” camp or in the “he’s already out of chances” camp?
(LA) Oh, I was and still am a staunch, rabid, diehard Hillary supporter. I was sick to my stomach when he was elected. Devastated like most people who couldn’t believe this was reality and not reality TV. I never fell into the “let’s give him a chance” camp because he didn’t deserve a chance. Sure, I hoped he proved to be less repugnant than he is, less incompetent, less demented, but straight out of the gate—InaugurationGate, to be specific, he proved to be exactly what 66 million plus of us thought he was—out of his league.
(JC) Was there ever a turning point in your opinion of Trump? A last straw? Hailing from a school in which corporeal punishment was championed (“Donald Trump should be publicly smacked.”), I have always been firmly anti-Trump, however he managed to make me detest him even more with his Phoenix rally, to the point now that I can’t even hear his name without feeling splinters in my veins.
(LA) I have never wavered in my disgust for Trump. There has been absolutely nothing redeeming about him. In fact, he continues to dig his hole even deeper into the abyss. I saw the best meme that said something about rock bottom having a basement and there was Trump’s face. It’s going to be a hell of a cleanup after he gets out of office. But it will be worth it. Sooner than later, we hope.
(JC) Amen, sister. Let’s get to the good stuff. Last week, @realDonaldTrump blocked you on Twitter. What did you say that caused this reaction?
(LA) It took him long enough! I tweeted something about how small the crowd was at a pro-Trump rally the day before. I’ve called him really awful, albeit deserving names since he announced he was running for prez, but it took a tiny tweet about crowd size for him to block me. Goes to show you the mentality, or lack thereof, of our so-called POTUS.
(JC) In the moments that followed, how did you feel?
(LA) Like I hit Twitter lottery, won the Pulitzer and a participation trophy all in one. It is a badge of honor that this demented loon can’t handle the truth and has been so bugged by my words that he blocked me.
Besides being honored and elated, I was actually appalled. Who the hell is this man to block people? HE works for us. As a result, I am trying to get in on the class action suit filed against Trump by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. Not only as a member of the press, but as a human being, I am constantly disgusted by Trump’s ignorance and abuse of the First Amendment.
(JC) A true roller-coaster of emotions. I admire you taking action, but also having a sense of humor about it. And now, you are officially #BlockedByTrump royalty.
(LA) Oh yeah, I also set up a stealth Twitter account to continue following his idiocy.
(JC) Clearly, blocking is effective (sarcasm).
(LA) Flipping back and forth between two Twitter accounts is a small price to pay for staying woke, as the kids say, and keeping an eye on what this insane man is saying.
(JC) What are your predictions on Trump’s future?
(LA) Hmmm, predictions are hard to make. Remember, it was predicted that the rightful winner of the popular vote would become president. But it is my sincerest, deepest hope that between Robert Mueller and the will and spirit of The Resistance, demented racist dotard Real Donald Trump will be in real trouble and really out of a job soon.
(JC) I couldn’t agree more. So, to summarize…
(LA) Once in a blue moon, I still hear people saying the detestable, “He won, get over it.” It’s not even about that anymore. This man is doing everything he can to decimate our democracy. Forget the fact that he is infantile and spends most of his time tweeting absurd pettiness. He has absolutely no clue what he’s doing. His staff appeases him. I’m sorry to say that John Kelly, who was supposed to reel him in, can’t do that job either; he’s a better General than he is a babysitter.
The divisiveness Trump has created in this country has done irreparable damage.
Pretty much everything he has done or hasn’t done (see: Puerto Rico) has been a major disaster. North Korea, for instance, really? As Hillary said, “A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man you can trust with nuclear weapons.” When Kim Jong Un called him a ‘dotard,’ many of us found ourselves agreeing with him. When you find yourself agreeing with Kim Jong Un, you know you’re up shit’s creek.
Donald Trump has made Nixon look downright Kennedyesque. He has us yearning for someone, anyone, an amoeba to take over. Amoeba are more qualified. But seriously, Trump has ushered in a very frightening, sad (Ed. note: Sad!) time for our country, and it is a time I hope will be short enough for us to say ‘remember when’ and explain to our young kids that Trump was a boil on the ass of democracy and one that democracy ultimately lanced out. Praying!
(JC) In 140 characters or less, what would you say if you met DJT face to face?
(LA) You’re demented. Resign.
(JC) Any other interesting details from the Life and Times of L. Abravanel we should know?
(LA) Before Trump, I pretty much tweeted solely about the demise of pop culture thanks to a big catalyst called the Kardashians. I cover celebrities, restaurants and nightlife—you know, fun, important news—for the Miami Herald, among other places. I yearn to go back to that place where we can all just sit back, drink cocktails, and discuss Beyoncé’s baby names. But, alas, the times they have ‘a changed. My political tweets get much more traction than my celeb stuff. For that, I guess I can thank vile Donald Trump, though I prefer to thank Hillary Clinton, who has inspired me to persist, resist, and never back down.
(JC) Where can we find you?
(LA) I’m @lesleyabravanel on Twitter and Facebook. Yes, that’s me, in spite of my profile pictures being The Dotard himself; they will remain that way until Trump is ousted. People have asked me why I won’t change them, and it’s sort of like when an athlete grows a beard until the playoffs are over. No sleep and no picture change till impeachment. Or something.
(JC) Thank you so much, Lesley. Viva La Resistance! ✊
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