Year 16, Day 181 - 6/30/24 - Movie #4,772
BEFORE: OK, June is over after tonight, but I'm going to squeeze one more into June and double-up on Trump films today. I need to do this so I can land the right film on July 4 - this will get me back on track after I added too many documentaries at the last minute, like "Butterfly in the Sky" and "Remembering Gene Wilder". My bad.
Donald Trump carries over from "You've Been Trumped". And here's the format breakdown for June:
3 watched on Hulu: I Love My Dad, Paint, Somewhere in Queens
1 watched on Disney+: Wish
THE PLOT: A chronicle of the confrontation between billionaire Donald Trump and feisty 92-year-old Scottish widow, Molly Forbes.
AFTER: This is (more or less) a follow-up to yesterday's film, really an update on what happened to Molly Forbes, who went five years without running water in her house after the disputes with Trump over his golf course in Scotland, and Donald Trump, who was running for President in 2016. The documentary director Anthony Baxter was riding kind of high after his first Trump film got noticed, and was able to secure two more sit-down interviews with Trump, probably because Trump was taking any and all interview opportunities while running for office. But once Trump realized who Baxter was, he got a lot more reticent to talk about the disputes in Scotland. Oh, he built that golf course, but there was so much bad publicity around its construction that hardly anybody golfed there.
Baxter also met with Don Jr., interviewed him about his hunting in Africa, and then also had a meeting with him regarding the situation with Molly Forbes, how her well water ran dry after the road to the golf course was built, and he promised to look into it, and that her situation would be resolved as soon as possible. But of course, that was another lie. In the end Michael Forbes, Molly's son, had to get some construction equipment out there and restore the pipe that brought water from the underground spring to Molly's well, which had been quite obviously blocked by Trump personnel. Then once he did fix the pipeline, the Trump organization sent him a bill for the work that he did himself. Yeah.
Baxter clearly improved as a director, because there are some rather good juxtapositions here, like Trump talking about how much he loved his mother on one side of the screen, and the suffering Molly Forbes on the other side, after Trump had stated that she reminded him of his mother. Molly's water crisis is also shown in comparison to the one in Flint, Michigan (there he goes, borrowing from Michael Moore again) and noting that Trump was holding one of his first rallies just a few miles away from Flint, and never visited that city or inquired about the water situation there, or really showed any concern at all for the suffering U.S. citizens (and voters) who lived in Flint.
Then Baxter went to the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, and brought Michael Forbes along to see the madness there. Michael spoke with likely Trump voters about what Trump did to him and his mother during the golf course construction, and it would be nice to think that he changed a few minds, but the problem there is, once a MAGA voter makes up their mind to vote for Trump, it's very hard to persuade them that Trump is not fit to be President. In fact, he never was qualified, either by his experience or by his morals, he never even really wanted the job, he just ran to increase his brand and his popularity, and it was the fluke of the Electoral College that won him the job.
Surprisingly, it's eight years later and we're right back in the same place - only he's up against Biden again, not Hillary, and Biden is supposedly the only person who beat him in a Presidential Election, which isn't completely true because Trump never won the popular vote, not once. It's just our wacky system that gave him the job, and only because he was more popular in certain states. Now, thanks to last week's debate performance by Biden, suddenly everyone's determined that he's too old and should maybe not run again - no, this would be a bad idea, because Trump might easily beat Kamala Harris, there are still too many sexist old men who could never bring themselves to vote for a female President, that's part of the reason Hillary Clinton lost. Biden should stay on the ticket, and after the election, if he's not up to the job, he can step down then, and we'd finally have a female President.
OK, let's assume for the moment that age is a deciding factor here, and Biden's demeanor during the debate wasn't a fluke. That's one strike against him, and OK, maybe having a son who had a drug problem and also bought a gun is a second strike. So it's age and Hunter Biden, I'll go one more level in and say that the way Biden touches women and smells their hair sometimes is very cringey. OK, three reasons to not vote for Biden. But come on, I've got at least a HUNDRED reasons to not vote for Trump. Don't believe me? Here we go...
1. 34 felony convictions for falsifying business records in conjunction with paying off a porn star. 91 criminal charges overall.
2. Paying off a porn star, who he definitely slept with, even though he's denied doing so since.
3. The election interference that resulted from paying off that porn star and trying to keep that story from being published.
4. The additional fraud convictions in the state of New York for increasing the values of his properties to obtain business loans and decreasing them when filing tax records.
5. Claiming to know nothing about that fraud and throwing his accountants under the bus.
6. Calling the attorney general of Georgia and asking him to "find" 12,000 more votes. This was code for creating false votes, thereby admitting he lost, because if he really thought he'd won the state, he would have just asked for a recount.
7. Never admitting that he lost the 2020 election, or even that Biden got more votes.
8. Blaming election workers for tampering with the votes and opening them up to harassment from his followers.
9. Trying to replace the electors from certain states with fake electors hand-selected to submit false electoral ballots for him.
10. Continuing court cases in several states to try to reverse the 2020 election results, when there was zero evidence of tampering with voting machines or ballots.
11. Pressuring the vice-President to interfere with the ceremonial counting of the electoral votes in the 2020 election.
12. The January 6 insurrection, inciting his followers to march on the Capitol.
13. Watching the results of the insurrection from afar, and waiting hours to act in any way or ask his followers to stand down.
14. Keeping classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and failing to reply to requests from the FBI to return them. (Whoops, forgot, Biden did this too, OK, let's call this one a wash.)
15. Being found liable for sexual abuse in the Jean Carroll case.
16. Defaming Jean Carroll during and after his trial for sexual abuse.
17. The other 2 dozen women who have claimed sexual misconduct or harassment on his part. I won't list names here, but you can look up the list online. Even if you allow that some of them might possibly lying or over-reacting, which I doubt, it's still TWO DOZEN charges.
18. Connections to Jeffrey Epstein, not just being photographed with him, but also being on that list of people who flew on his jet and went to his island, where bad things probably happened.
19. Admitting in an interview that he would never allow the "Epstein List" to be released, but no, sure, release the JFK files and the UFO files.
20. Clearly being sexually attracted to his own daughter, calling her "gorgeous" in interviews and claiming that if he weren't her father, he'd want to date her. Ewwwww....
21. Making fun of a handicapped reporter and doing a horrible impression of him on camera.
22. Hanging out with Kanye West or Ye or Yeezy or whatever he's calling himself this week.
23. Appointing THREE Supreme Court justices during his term, all of whom were clearly conservatives, while claiming that they weren't chosen because of that.
24. Appointing one of those justices just days before the 2020 election, when four years previous, the possibility of Obama appointing a replacement for Ruth Bader Ginsburg was nixed because it was "too close to the election".
25. The overturning of Roe v. Wade, a direct result from appointing those clearly conservative judges.
26. Dismantling the U.S. pandemic response team months before an actual pandemic. Sure, nobody saw it coming, but keeping the response team active would still have been the better move, even if there were no pandemic.
27. Disputing the scientific advice about masks and social distancing during the pandemic, which included hosting "Super-spreader" events in the Rose Garden during lockdown.
28. Suggesting that people could fight COVID using either light, bleach, Ivermectin or Hydroxy-chloroquine, when there was no medical evidence that any of that would help.
29. Claiming that the COVID pandemic would disappear "like magic" once spring came. Then when spring came and COVID was still here, claiming it would disappear "like magic" after the election. It didn't even start to disappear until months after the vaccines came out in early 2021.
30. Allowing cities and businesses to open in April 2020, ignoring all medical and scientific advice, and this turned out to be before the second and third waves hit.
31. Taking credit during the recent debate that he "got us through COVID", when, let's be honest, he didn't do a damn thing.
32. Halting U.S. funding to the World Health Organization, yep, just when everybody needed the W.H.O. more than ever.
33. Speaking of that, golfing nearly every day while he was in office, when he had previously taken Obama to task for golfing once a week instead of working.
34. While we're at it, the whole "birther" debate that he started, suggesting that Obama was not a U.S. citizen and was perhaps born in Kenya instead of Hawaii.
35. Way back, suggesting that the Central Park Five be put on death row for raping a woman in Central Park, when it turned out years later that they were innocent.
36. Saying he would build a wall to keep Mexicans and other immigrants out, and that he'd make Mexico pay for it. Didn't happen.
37. Saying in 2015 that Mexico was sending criminals like rapists and drug dealers across the border.
38. Having kids put in cages and separating them from their parents after crossing the border. Remember that one? The parents were deported but not their children, and there are still hundreds of children who have not been reunited.
39. After a neo-Nazi protest in Charlottesville, claiming there were "good people on both sides". Nope, Nazis are just not good people, by definition.
40. Proud Boys "Stand back and stand by". Basically, refusing to condemn white supremacists.
41. Having BLM protesters who were U.S. citizens SHOT AT with rubber bullets because he wanted to cross the street and hold up a Bible for a photo op.
42. The 2016 travel ban he implemented, which just happened to focus on countries that had Islamic majorities.
43. Failing to end the war in Afghanistan - he had no right to say during the debate that Biden botched our retreat from Afghanistan when he had made no attempt at all to end our country's longest-running war during his own term.
44. Falsely claiming that thousands of Arabic people in New Jersey were cheering on 9/11 when the World Trade Center was collapsing.
45. Claiming in 2016 that he had been against the war in Iraq, when he had in fact supported it in 2002.
46. Getting out of the Vietnam War draft by claiming to have "bone spurs". Remember, years later he couldn't even tell a reporter which foot they were in.
47. Refusing for years to release his tax returns, as most Presidents or presidential candidates had done in the past. Well, thanks to the fraud trials, at least we now know why.
48. Claiming that global warming was a Chinese hoax.
49. Claiming that COVID-19 came from a Chinese lab instead of a market.
50. Fabricating the original story about Hunter Biden's laptop.
51. "Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the missing 30,000 e-mails..."
52. Having close business ties to Russia and Putin.
53. Allowing his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to be put in charge of domestic affairs, international affairs, and the pandemic response when we wasn't qualified to handle any of those things.
54. All of the shady business deals that resulted from Jared Kushner being in charge of international affairs.
55. Supporting fossil fuels and coal over renewable energy sources like solar power and wind power, making up stories about dead birds seen around windmills.
56. Having the U.S. surgeon general and his doctor falsify his weight. Vanity, thy name is Trump.
57. Drawing on a map of a hurricane's path with a Sharpie to match the prediction that he made about which states were in danger of getting hit with bad weather. He just couldn't admit that he was wrong, not even by one little bit. So, when in doubt, just change the data!
58. Tossing paper towels at hurricane victims in Puerto Rico. Yeah, that'll fix it, because the hurricane was "very wet, in terms of water".
59. That very phony press conference in December 2017 where he claimed his administration was being successful in cutting government red tape and he had that massive stack of paperwork on stage with him, supposedly symbolizing the unneeded regulations that we would eliminate. Come on, you know all of that paper was blank, right?
60. Delaying aid to Ukraine unless they committed to investigating his chief political rival, Joe Biden. Remember quid pro quo? This is what got him impeached the first time.
61. Hiring Robert DeJoy, the worst postmaster general ever, and nearly defunding the post office to prevent mail-in voting.
62. Being the ultimate "nepo baby", being born on third base and then taking credit for the run. He wouldn't be anywhere without his father securing loans for him to start him off in business, of course he also claims to be a "self-made" man, which is blatantly untrue.
63. Being so against Obamacare and how successful it was, he kept making claims that under his administration he would abolish ObamaCare and replace with a better system that would benefit everyone, people could keep their doctors, and it would be wonderful. We're still waiting.
64. Claiming that when he was President, there would be "so much winning" that we'd get tired of winning, whatever that means, it just didn't happen either.
65. Trump Steaks. It was a scam.
66. Trump Air. It was a scam.
67. Trump Water. It was a scam.
68. Trump Vodka. It was a scam.
69. Trump University. It was a scam.
70. Trump Bibles & Trump NFTs. Yep, you guessed it.
71. Hating on John McCain, someone beloved by both parties. "I like heroes who don't get captured..."
72. Threatening to withdraw from NATO.
73. Actually withdrawing from the Paris climate accords.
74. Trying to abolish the EPA.
75. Complaining about too many imported goods from China, while his line of clothing and his daughter's line of clothing and jewelry were all made there.
76. Calling Elizabeth Warren "Pocahontas" when she claimed a small amount of Native American heritage.
77. Belittling all of his political opponents in 2016 with nicknames, from "Lyin' Ted" to "Little Marco". Throw in "Crooked Hillary" while you're at it.
78. Hiring Steve Bannon to run his campaign, and then continuing to listen to his advice.
79. Hiring Paul Manafort as a campaign chairman, then he served two years in jail for tax fraud, foreign lobbying and witness tampering.
80. Overcharging the government for members of the Secret Service to stay in his hotels while they protected HIM.
81. Spending so much time outside the White House at resorts that are owned by him, which means that the U.S. government paid for trips that cost an estimated $142 million in four years, and most of that money went to Trump properties.
82, Allowing foreign governments and organizations, like the Kuwaiti Embassy, the Turkish government and a PR firm hired by Saudi Arabia to book events at his hotels and resorts, which is probably a repeated violation of the Emoluments Clause.
83. Diverting other money from his campaign into his own personal family businesses.
84. Pretending to sign over his companies to his sons when he became President. Yeah, right.
85. Claiming to have given millions of dollars to charity, but a Washington Post reporter could only find one donation made over the course of years, somewhere between $5K and $10K.
86. Using his Trump Foundation (an alleged charity) to bid $20,000 at an auction to obtain a 6-foot portrait of himself. Well, at least it was a charity auction, but essentially he just took $20K from his charity and gave it to another, that's not really how charitable donations are supposed to work.
87. Firing FBI James Comey and then blaming Dept. of Justice officials for it. Comey was the one investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 election.
88. Hiring Michael Flynn as his national security advisor, he only lasted 24 days before reports came that he'd lied about meeting with a Russian ambassador.
89. Over 18,000 documented lies while in office.
90. Another classic - blatant discrimination against minority tenants in housing complexes he owned in New York City, which were supposed to have a certain percentage of units set aside for low-income housing, but whenever those families showed up, the units were "unavailable".
91. Tax cuts for the super-wealthy and for corporations, while telling the middle class that he cares about them and that they'll be better off with him in the White House. Just saying it doesn't make it true.
92. Going way back to the inauguration - claiming that the crowd of his supporters on Inauguration Day was the biggest turn-out for any President's inauguration, when the news had clear photos of a light turnout, and quickly found examples of larger crowds for previous Presidents. Still, he refused to admit it was a light turn-out, and he never will.
93. Promising in November 2023 to root out the communists, Marxists and fascists in the U.S. and the "radical thugs that live like vermin". This was a tactic commonly used by Hitler and Mussolini back in the day.
94. Declaring in an interview in December 2023 that he would be a dictator only on "Day One" if he were re-elected, that he'd close the border, start to "drill, drill, drill", then he'd probably go play golf for the next four years.
95. On the age issue, Trump isn't even that far behind Biden, he just turned 78, is that really so much younger than 81? And we keep hearing again and again that Trump took a cognitive test, so what? It was the kind that just confirms that a person can think in the most basic terms, it's about as difficult a test as solving a maze on a placemat at a Chuck E. Cheese's.
96. His name isn't even Trump, the family name was "Drumpf" in Germany and his great-great-great-grandfather changed his name.
97. Cheating on his first wife with the woman who became his second wife.
98. Burying his first wife on his golf course in Bedminster, NJ. It's clearly not what she would have wanted, he either did this to try and get the property a tax break as a burial ground, or so he could piss on her grave after playing a round of golf. Perhaps both.
99. Taking a hard stance on immigration, when his own wife is an immigrant from Slovenia. Convince me that she didn't marry him just to get a green card.
100. Let's call the last one (for now) the treatment of the Scottish people living around the property he bought to create his "world-class" golf course, as related in this film. He cut off a 91-year-old woman's water supply and she had to live without running water for FIVE YEARS. Is that the kind of person you want to re-elect as your President?
OK, so even if I'm being super-hard on Biden, that means the score is 100 reasons to not vote for Trump, and only FOUR reasons to not vote for Biden. Well, my mind's made up, how about you?
Also starring Donald Trump Jr., Anthony Baxter, Michael Forbes, Molly Forbes, Sarah Malone Bates, David Milne, Susan Munro, Alex Salmond, George Sorial (all carrying over from "You've Been Trumped"), Rohan Beyts, Sheila Forbes, Tom Vineyard, Andy Wightman
with archive footage of Wolf Blitzer (last seen in "Shazam! Fury of the Gods"), HIllary Clinton (last seen in "Rosewater"), Vera Coking, Ted Cruz (last seen in "Scandalous: The Untold Story of the National Enquirer"), Mike Pence (ditto), Melania Trump (ditto), Rudy Giuliani (last seen in "The Queen of Versailles"), John McCain (last seen in "The Report"), Michelle Obama (last seen in "Respect"), Bill O'Reilly (last seen in "She Said"), Bernie Sanders (last seen in "Mayor Pete"), Eric Trump (last seen in "The Accidental President"), Ivanka Trump (last seen in "George Carlin's American Dream"), Tiffany Trump.
RATING: 5 out of 10 Mexican flags
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