• ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world
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      38 minutes ago

      I’m getting to where I think a full Steven Cheung denial is the best possible endorsement of truth available. His tears of indignant rage just seem to light the last candle on the cake of whatever exposé is going around this time.

  • pbhj@lemmy.world
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    2 hours ago

    So what happened this week that this whole palaver pushed out of the news cycle?

    • ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world
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      43 minutes ago

      This week the Washington Post released an exposé of the donors to the ballroom fund. You know, the one Trump swore would be used to pay for the new ballroom project that he would help fund himself. The one that never abided by actual donation laws but remains controlled by a PAC that steers the cash into a private account belonging to Trump, all with zero transparency or oversight. The one that has taken in over $350 million in unnamed donations so far. That one.

      Absent from the list is Trump himself, who has said that he is helping to pay for the project.

      Later in the article:

      But the documents show that the vast majority of the funds raised came from companies and wealthy individuals with interests before the federal government.

      Companies or executives of firms that have had contracts with the federal government during Trump’s second term accounted for about half of the total, The Post found.

      It’s well worth reading for the donor list alone, but those are the highlights. This is the c/Politics discussion: it contains both the original WaPo link (paywalled) and free options to read the content.

    • A_A@lemmy.world
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      1 hour ago
      in short :

      President Trump’s new press secretary, Katie Zacharia, was fired Friday, after less than a week on the job, according to three people familiar with the matter.
      Ms. Zacharia had gotten off to a bumpy start with her first and final press briefing on Tuesday, in which :
      1- she largely read off a script and
      2- (she) ended questioning after just three queries (were addressed to her).

      That was followed by an onslaught of headlines about whether she had misrepresented herself as a lawyer — the president called her “an attorney” — despite failing her bar exam.
      https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/16/us/politics/katie-zacharia-fired-press-secretary.html

  • SpruceBringsteen@lemmy.world
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    4 hours ago

    How little vetting must have gone into the decision? Dubious claims of being an attorney aside, if they had done any sort of mock press conference her complete lack of public speaking ability should have been evident.

      • xtr0n@sh.itjust.works
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        3 hours ago

        I don’t want to stick up for Ivanka since she is a garbage person but Katie looks like Temu Ivanka. Or like if you were going to make a porn that’s thinly veiled Ivanka fanfic. I’m not even a fashion girlie but that girl looks kind of a mess. Like she just rolled out of bed, smeared on some brows without her glasses and stumbled up to the podium. Don’t get me wrong, their insides will always be the ugliest insides ever, but those outsides are no prize. I’ve legit seen junkies on the onramp who looked more put together.

        • Taldan@lemmy.world
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          3 hours ago

          Trump isn’t a fashion person. He doesn’t care about fashion or how “put together” she looks. She’s a thin, blonde, white woman with similar enough features to his daughter. Close enough for Trump

        • RFKJrsBrainworm@sh.itjust.works
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          3 hours ago

          Now that you mention it, I saw a junkie outside the WAWA In Ft Lauderdale that was way hotter, but emotionally the same kind of mess probably

    • Taldan@lemmy.world
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      3 hours ago

      I think it comes from the conservative mindset that someone competent and capable in one field will be similarly competent and capable in other fields

      Simply put: They believe in a hierarchy. Some people are imherently better at everything than others

      She was competent and capable in her previous role of being an ass kisser. Because she was able to butter Trump up, it was assumed she would be good at any role, and she had “the look” Trump wanted (she looked like his daughter)

    • Malica@lemmy.zip
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      3 hours ago

      It’s just “is she hot”, that’s all they care about. Also, their idea of hot is terrifying.

    • rem26_art@fedia.io
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      3 hours ago

      got my crypto wallet ready for the totally-not-a-rug-pull Zacharia coin thats bound to show up in the coming weeks

    • jtrek@startrek.website
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      2 hours ago

      It’s like the “only democrats have agency” thing. We as a society don’t seem to hold republicans to any sort of standard. They’re like a fire that burns or a plague that spreads. You can’t expect a fire to be polite.

      Except they’re not an elemental force of nature. They’re people. People with names and addresses and free will. They should be held accountable.

    • BooBees@fedinsfw.app
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      3 hours ago

      You really gotta give up pretending or imagining anyone is holding republicans to the same standard as Dems

  • Hylactor@sopuli.xyz
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    3 hours ago

    I bet the Turnip administration is really upset about the person whose job it is to communicate with the press was really distracting and ineffective. Now they’ll have to waste more time looking for another with just a few short weeks until midterms. I bet they really hate that their pick is a relative nobody and convenient scapegoat. They probably really wanted to field questions about inflation, or oil prices, or food prices, or investments into Russia, or intentionally hamstringing Ukraine, or the Epstein files, or any of the insane things Turnip has said at recent rallies about his own health, or the superficial qualities of his supporters, or the bang up job RFK is doing with measles, or their targeting of political rivals, or their waivering support in traditionally rock solid strong holds, or that list of ballroom doners WP just released. Yup, I bet they’re really embarrassed. We should keep focusing on the card we picked, surely the magician wont use misdirection.

    • Godric@lemmy.world
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      3 hours ago

      In all fairness, if you know going to be asked tough questions, you want a propagandist that can gaslight on the spot, not a slackjaw going “DURRRRRRRRR, me laaaawwwwwyerrrrrrr HURRRRRR”

      Ah well, valuing loyalty > competence strikes again, shocking nobody. I might actually watch SNL this weekend, though.