PoisonPill Posted April 18 Posted April 18 (edited) https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trumps-harlem-bodega-visit-should-scare-the-heck-out-of-democrats Quote A cheery young Hispanic working single mom who should terrify the Democrats had just picked up her 1-year-old son from his babysitter on Tuesday evening when she encountered a crowd at Broadway and W. 139th St. in Harlem. None other than Donald Trump was just beyond a line of police barricades outside the Sanaa Convenient store. "I was amazed to see him," 31-year-old Sabrina Vargas later told The Daily Beast. "Just to see what everyone jokes about—his hair, the color. It was kind of breezy." Trump had come directly from his criminal trial to a neighborhood he might have been expected to avoid for fear of a hostile reception. The visit was the idea of Francisco Marte, head of the Bodega and Small Business Group. Marte reached out to Trump last week through a Republican in New York's Dominican community to discuss a major issue for his members—crime—which is pretty rich considering the ex-president is in the middle of a felony trial. Trump's people responded with an invitation for Marte to come to Trump Tower. "I said, 'I'd love to have him in the bodegas,'" Marte told the Daily Beast. Marte sent a list of possibles. One was Sanaa Convenient, formerly known as the Blue Moon. The small grocery was in the news in July 2022 after an altercation that ended with a clerk named Jose Alba fatally stabbing a man who came behind the counter and assaulted him. Alba was initially charged with murder, but Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg determined that he acted in "lawful self-defense." On Saturday, Marte got word that Trump had decided upon Sanaa Convenient. "What they told me was Trump doesn't listen to other people. He chose it himself," Marte recalled. "They told me not to tell anybody." As the time of the visit neared, Marte got the go-ahead to alert his members about what he viewed as history in the making. "The first time a president is coming to a bodega," he said. The police closed off the immediate vicinity with barricades. The Secret Service searched everyone inside the perimeter to ensure there were no firearms in the immediate area of Trump—who then suggested in his remarks that a gun could have prevented the stabbing at the store. "If you have a gun, then you'd never get robbed," Trump said. "That would be the end of it." The Secret Service had no control over any verbal weaponry in the crowd outside the bodega. Marte says that many of those near the front were affiliated with his group and were welcoming even though a good many are immigrants from what Trump has called "dirty country." ("He doesn't mean everything that he says," Marte explained.) Some folks towards the back were hostile, calling out "Traitor!" and "Dump Trump!" Vargas arrived in the midst of it, having just collected her son, Makhai, after a shift as a table server at the Hard Rock in Times Square. "You had a lot of mixed emotions," she recalled. "I saw some women upset. I saw a lot of people happy. And a lot of people who seem confused." But, by her estimate, only 15 percent of the onlookers were manifestly negative. She herself had only positive things to say. "I liked his suit," she said. "It looks like he lost some weight." She added, "He looked happy. He always looks happy." She noted one exception: "Not when he's in court." Vargas said that when the crowd cheered, little Makhai joined in. She was asked if she also cheered. "I did," she allowed. In response to Trump's remarks on crime in the city, Bragg's office posted online that it is down in Manhattan 6 percent overall year to date, with shootings down 39 percent, murder down 23 percent, and robbery down 3 percent. But Vargas doesn't feel safe while commuting—a side effect of the societal unraveling that began with the pandemic at the end of Trump's term as president. "It feels [like] every time I'm on the subway or every day that I ride the bus, there's always an incident that's going on," she said. "It's usually the mentally ill people that are causing a disturbance or attacks." She added, "I see a lot more dangerous situations than I did before. When [Trump] was here. It wasn't really like that." She is not greatly troubled by Trump's criminal trial. "Everyone says that he deserves to go to jail," she said. "I think as long as he has money, he will be fine." Vargas had never seen Trump on The Apprentice, but she had seen his cameo in Home Alone. "I thought, 'Oh wow, look at him, so young, so back in the day," she recalled. Trump insisted on being included in the movie as a condition for allowing it to be filmed in The Plaza Hotel. The producers had intended to cut his scene until the audience at a test screening erupted into cheers when he appeared. For all of Trump's sins and lies since then, and despite the dire threat he poses to democracy, he drew similar cheers in Harlem on Tuesday. And it should scare the hell out of the Democrats that those who joined in included a working woman who should be a vote they can count on. "I think Biden could do a lot better," Vargas said. Edited April 18 by PoisonPill
Popular Post mercurialworld Posted April 18 Popular Post Posted April 18 Did he also get a ham and cheese on bread with an orange drink and chips? 17
Vroom Vroom Posted April 18 Posted April 18 Not enough money for rallies. Needs to stage visits to restaurants to campaign. A true man of the people
Reginald Posted April 18 Posted April 18 What a weird time to be alive. Everyone knows this man is a convicted rapist, serial pedo, scammer, would-be dictator. We're asking for our own destruction 7
qurl Posted April 18 Posted April 18 they (his campaign) are acutely aware of how easy it is to stage $h!t like this … him mingling with minorities to make it seem like they generally support him when obviously they don't, this is no different than his Chick Fil A publicity stunt last week 1 5
Taylena Posted April 18 Posted April 18 A massive defeat of epic proportions is coming for Joe Biden in November. Dems have chosen to blame everyone else but their own party for picking a barely functional genocide supporter old fart that is losing to a (quoting @Reginald) "convicted rapist, serial pedo, scammer, would-be dictator". 1 4 1
Bethenny Frankel Posted April 18 Posted April 18 If you actually looked into this matter, all the cheering people for Trump are there because his PAC paid them to be there. His motorcade got booed horrifically, do you really think real New Yorkers love Trump? 5
Dr. Alexander Posted April 18 Posted April 18 Oh please. They knew where to go and who to call to show up. Like the time he hired a group of Black drug abusers and homeless Black people to show up outside his rally (or was it when he went to jail?) 2
BeenTheShit Posted April 18 Posted April 18 His campaign puts out ads and pays minorities to attend those rallies/campaign stops. Ever wonder why they're always front and center? 3
Moloko Plus Posted April 18 Posted April 18 Y'all gonna be seeeeeething when he wins the next election
Princess Aurora Posted April 18 Posted April 18 (edited) I hope Sabrina Vargas was paid very well to say that stuff cause it sounds staged to me Edited April 18 by Princess Aurora
PoisonPill Posted April 18 Author Posted April 18 56 minutes ago, Reginald said: What a weird time to be alive. Everyone knows this man is a convicted rapist, serial pedo, scammer, would-be dictator. We're asking for our own destruction I think in order to effectively attack you need to stick with actual known facts. Or else youre the same as the far right conspiracy nuts. He's not a convicted rapist, a civil jury found him liable for defamation against a woman accusing him of rape. There is no credible evidence of him being a "serial pedo." 2
Dr. Alexander Posted April 18 Posted April 18 11 minutes ago, PoisonPill said: I think in order to effectively attack you need to stick with actual known facts. Or else youre the same as the far right conspiracy nuts. He's not a convicted rapist, a civil jury found him liable for defamation against a woman accusing him of rape. There is no credible evidence of him being a "serial pedo." Well there is credible evidence that he is racist so… 1
PoisonPill Posted April 18 Author Posted April 18 10 minutes ago, Dr. Alexander said: Well there is credible evidence that he is racist so… That's a thought/feeling that can't be proven by evidence, but yes I agree he does hold and express racist thoughts. Yet his inappropriate racial comments seem to mainly offend white liberals while his support continues to grow with voters of color across all demos. 4
GhostBox Posted April 18 Posted April 18 I guess he's going to win NY then huh! watch out for sleepy don
bad guy Posted April 18 Posted April 18 Not that Trump would ever win NY in an election but the polls have shown him slowly getting gaining in the state, while Biden has been losing support across the board. Again, he won't flip NY but people do support him and his poll numbers with latinos and especially his gains with black voters should be a wake-up call to Democrats (it won't be). 1
Dr. Alexander Posted April 18 Posted April 18 7 minutes ago, PoisonPill said: That's a thought/feeling that can't be proven by evidence, but yes I agree he does hold and express racist thoughts. Yet his inappropriate racial comments seem to mainly offend white liberals while his support continues to grow with voters of color across all demos. You are stupid as ****. If someone calls someone else a racial slur and says they hate XYZ, that isn't evidence that person is racist? His racial comments offend exactly who they are targeted at and POC's support isn't going from Biden to Trump. It's going from Biden to nobody at all.
suburbannature Posted April 18 Posted April 18 28 minutes ago, PoisonPill said: That's a thought/feeling that can't be proven by evidence, but yes I agree he does hold and express racist thoughts. Yet his inappropriate racial comments seem to mainly offend white liberals while his support continues to grow with voters of color across all demos. girl, what? his BEHAVIOR and WORDS support it
PoisonPill Posted April 18 Author Posted April 18 58 minutes ago, Dr. Alexander said: You are stupid as ****. If someone calls someone else a racial slur and says they hate XYZ, that isn't evidence that person is racist? His racial comments offend exactly who they are targeted at and POC's support isn't going from Biden to Trump. It's going from Biden to nobody at all. We'll have to leave it at that, since you can't seem to engage in a disagreement without personal attacks.
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