Post AljMLqpikqcDb2clua by Tom_Joad@toad.social
(DIR) More posts by Tom_Joad@toad.social
(DIR) Post #Al2oSw0iLYF8bGei6y by Tom_Joad@toad.social
2024-08-17T02:15:33Z
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We're going to do a thread about how Trump learned to fire up a crowd. And why he is afraid of the new Kamala/Walz ticket.It's time to talk about Trump & the WWE!😜
(DIR) Post #Al2oSxT6vSYH7cwu0m by Tom_Joad@toad.social
2024-08-17T02:17:14Z
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Trump first hosted the WWE Wrestlemania in 1988. He'd been watching wrestling since he was a kid.In 2007 Trump became part of the story-line at WWE.He was the 'face' & McMahon played the 'heel'.At Trump's command, cash rained down on the fans.https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2669447-donald-trump-a-history-of-the-presidential-candidates-involvement-with-wwe
(DIR) Post #Al2oSymI3dUJBOvjXs by Tom_Joad@toad.social
2024-08-17T02:19:51Z
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Trump becomes a regular part of the WWE storylines.In 2009 he & McMahon announce that Trump had bought the WWE from McMahon.He hadn't really, but the stock dropped 7% overnight, because the WSJ wasn't in on the kayfabe (wrestling slang for Fake, Babe!)Later he would pretend to charge McMahon twice the price.He said "I can do anything I want." Wrestling fans went wild.
(DIR) Post #Al2oT03hIP0R9g59Jg by Tom_Joad@toad.social
2024-08-17T02:20:46Z
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All of this time, of course, Trump was learning the art of manipulating a crowd of a certain type (and very large crowds) from masters of crowd manipulation.Say whatever you like about McMahon's politics or how dumb the wrestling is, the WWE is huge business.
(DIR) Post #Al2oT17dLFkUSAvo5g by Tom_Joad@toad.social
2024-08-17T02:22:51Z
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When Trump entered politics, it wasn't like people couldn't see in his bombastic style the lessons Trump had learned in the WWE. They did, very quickly.https://www.salon.com/2015/08/17/donald_trump_professional_wrestler_how_the_billionaire_body_slammed_gop_politics_and_why_it_matters/
(DIR) Post #Al2oT295XKVTcycTzs by Tom_Joad@toad.social
2024-08-17T02:26:17Z
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In wrestling, everyone has a nickname.It helps people follow the storyline & identify the character. Hulk Hogan. Macho Man Randy Savage.Trump assigned all of his opponents a nickname. Little Marco Rubio. Low Energy Jeb Bush.Crooked Hillary. Then Crooked Joe Biden & Crazy Kamala.It's a simple playbook.
(DIR) Post #Al2oT3ERUuNqzs8Gyu by Tom_Joad@toad.social
2024-08-17T02:28:09Z
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Along with the rise of Trump, we also saw the rise of Pizzagate & QAnon. These were bizarre conspiracy theories about satanic elites that supposedly ruled the world, that Donald Trump was secretly working to defeat. Who else was writing storylines out there?
(DIR) Post #Al2oT4FBjcZg8TUNma by Tom_Joad@toad.social
2024-08-17T02:32:37Z
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The NYT & Washington Post started counting all of the lies told by Trump during his term as POTUS. He clocked in at well over 35,000. The lines between reality and fantasy weren't just fading, they were disappearing for many. In wrestling this is kayfabe, or 'fake, babe!'
(DIR) Post #Al2oT5Up4yfu1FoNn6 by Tom_Joad@toad.social
2024-08-17T02:38:43Z
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What Vince McMahon did was stop pretending that wrestling was real. This got rid of any limitations on how weird the storylines could be. It went from kayfabe to neo-kayfabe, or "Yes, it's fake, except for the parts that you chose to believe are real"https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/03/24/trump-wrestling-mcmahon-villain-election-00088590
(DIR) Post #Al2oT6gYepejhwJGim by Tom_Joad@toad.social
2024-08-17T02:40:34Z
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People have compared QAnon to an Alternate Reality Game, but why not wrestling?It has demonic characters, battles between good and evil, and most importantly the suspension of disbelief.Like neokayfabe, the audience may believe it's over the top, but perhaps partially true.
(DIR) Post #Al2oT7ZVMXbmSM19Mm by Tom_Joad@toad.social
2024-08-17T02:44:24Z
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But back to our main character.Trump learned from WWE that the important thing was to get people excited, to 'draw heat'. It didn't matter as a 'face' or a heel, if you could generate excitement, you would win. Trump never went for subtleties & nuance.He wanted to fire you up, and it didn't matter if the storyline was totally over the top. The crowds would eat it up and worship him for it.
(DIR) Post #AljMLobp1YJEhM6dyC by Tom_Joad@toad.social
2024-08-17T02:46:38Z
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Now, though, Trump & his poorly chosen VP pick are on the back foot. When Biden dropped out, Harris unexpectedly hit the ground running & are generating a huge amount of their own heat.While Trump & Vance are being made to look like fools & just weird, which is castrating the DJT image
(DIR) Post #AljMLpUPkZyhQfeF3w by Tom_Joad@toad.social
2024-08-17T02:49:38Z
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JD Vance apparently understands all this.He held a rally last week at the ECW Arena. (Extreme Cage Wrestling) but only drew a crowd of a little over 200 in a 2,000 seat arena.(Smaller than the crowd for Somoa Joe versus Necro Butcher)(sometimes I think JD is secretly on our side🤣)https://www.indy100.com/politics/jd-vance-philadelphia-rally-ecw
(DIR) Post #AljMLqJofT5w05hIBM by Tom_Joad@toad.social
2024-08-17T02:50:50Z
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So things seem to be going less that wonderful for the Trump campaign. Vance brings more Ice than Heat. Even with his ear scratch, Trump doesn't seem to have the Mojo he used to.
(DIR) Post #AljMLqpikqcDb2clua by Tom_Joad@toad.social
2024-08-17T02:52:40Z
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Meanwhile, social media has been set on fire by Walz and Harris. Even if most of the media let the GOP and Trump push them around still.Hey, @nytimes are those cancellations starting to hurt yet?
(DIR) Post #AljMLsH3Oi4c46Q79c by Tom_Joad@toad.social
2024-08-17T02:54:03Z
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@nytimes Have to add this. Just in:Linda McMahon, Former WWE Boss & wife of Vince McMahon (under FBI investigation), Leading Donald Trump’s Transition Teamhttps://www.thedailybeast.com/linda-mcmahon-former-wwe-boss-leading-donald-trumps-transition-team
(DIR) Post #AljMOLN2BklcsxOYDY by amerika@annihilation.social
2024-09-06T15:24:26.600165Z
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@Tom_Joad Only in the Leftist hugbox. Everyone else is cringing. The nerd-bullies who were teacher's pets are calling us "weird."Oh no.Anyway.
(DIR) Post #AljMQNU9ITKE1Vh0ng by amerika@annihilation.social
2024-09-06T15:24:48.751920Z
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@Tom_Joad I think he's waiting out the media blitz.