Much of the attention on Thursday’s presidential debate fell upon President Joe Biden’s faltering performance, which has called into question whether he can even remain the Democratic candidate. In the aftermath, some have focused on former President Donald Trump’s nonstop lies.

Left largely overlooked, however, has been the open xenophobia Trump deployed against Palestinians and immigrants, and the silence with which it was met.

The most striking illustration might be Trump’s response to a prompt from CNN moderator Dana Bash, regarding Israel’s war on Gaza and the “humanitarian crisis” that Israel has created while killing thousands of Palestinians.

As Biden insisted that Hamas was the only entity standing in the way of a ceasefire, Trump actually pushed back on the idea. “You got to ask him,” Trump began, referring to Biden, “as far as Israel and Hamas, Israel is the one that wants to go. He said the only one who wants to keep going is Hamas.” He continued: “Actually, Israel is the one, and you should let them go and let them finish the job. He doesn’t want to do it. He has become like a Palestinian. But, they don’t like him because he is a very bad Palestinian. He is a weak one.”

  • Hannes@feddit.org
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    5 months ago

    Anyone that’s surprised that Trump would make matters 100x worse for Palestine is hopefully re-evaluating their media-intake

    That much was clear from when he was president - he basically put Hamas with their backs to the wall by destroying any hope on a two state solution during his term…

    • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
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      5 months ago

      he basically put Hamas with their backs to the wall by destroying any hope on a two state solution during his term…

      Correction: There was never any hope for a peaceful two state solution before or after his term.

      • Hannes@feddit.org
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        5 months ago

        It was unrealistic but there was some hope still left - he buried that hope for good though and now Hamas is doing whatever they can to bring that discussion back on the table…

    • CaptDust@sh.itjust.works
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      5 months ago

      Seriously, for all the “genocide joe” rhetoric I see here and other sites, it’s abundantly clear the other option is "He’s weak, Israel should be allowed to ‘finish the job’ ".

      Voters, do you prefer a level headed voice trying to minimize palestinian casualties, or would you prefer Israel get the all-clear to steamroll Gaza indiscriminately, likely annexing it wholesale? Very clear choices.

      • alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml
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        5 months ago

        level headed voice trying to minimize palestinian casualties

        Biden isn’t doing that though, you can’t send someone the bombs they’re using to cause those casualties and say you’re trying to minimize it. Minimizing Palestinian casualties would be using all tools at your disposal to make Palestinian casualties the as low as possible.

        The question is would you rather a president who openly facilitates the slaughter of Palestinians or pretends to oppose the slaughter of Palestinians while facilitating it.

        The answer is it doesn’t fucking matter, ethnic cleansing is ethnic cleansing.

        • drdiddlybadger@pawb.social
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          5 months ago

          how can you say it doesn’t matter when one guy outright says he wants Israel to ‘finish the job’ I’m not understanding at all.

          • Linkerbaan@lemmy.worldOP
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            5 months ago

            Biden is letting israel finish the job already.

            Israel refused his ceasefire and the UN resolution. And Biden responded by… Promising them he will help them attack Lebanon.

        • Hannes@feddit.org
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          5 months ago

          The answer is it doesn’t fucking matter, ethnic cleansing is ethnic cleansing.

          So if there is going to be a drought anyway and people are dying in a city no matter what you do and one politician says that showers and even using the Bathtub are okay but we should stop using water for the pools and gardens and another is just giving everyone the go to use whatever they want then “both are bad” because the first option is not perfect is just childish

          By not choosing and enabling the 2nd option you are making matters 100 times worse…

          • CaptDust@sh.itjust.works
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            5 months ago

            Everyone should just vote for the water shaman, I don’t understand why American politics needs to be so complex!

          • alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml
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            5 months ago

            If everyone in Gaza is dead or displaced, it literally does not fucking matter. That is the path Israel is on, which Biden is assisting with.

            You are delusional if you think you can win an election on “the other guy will be more vocal in his support for genocide”.

            Instead of coming at me for pointing this out, you should be coming at any dem who isn’t calling for a massive u-turn in policy before it’s too late.

            This is the same head-in-the-sand thinking let everyone around Biden tell themselves that he was fit for this debate.

      • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        The answer from the people saying “Genocide Joe” will be “But BOTHSIDES” and “I refuse to vote for…” because they’re privileged enough or deluded enough to think they’ll be safe from the consequences of a Trump administration.

  • Infynis@midwest.social
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    5 months ago

    I know it’s not new that our two options are Genocide Denier, and Guy the Agrees there is a Genocide, but wants to Help Genocide Harder, but it hurts every time they bring attention to it

  • someguy3@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Well yeah this is the Trump strategy. Throw as much shit as you can to knock the other person around and they don’t have time to respond to it all.

  • Furbag@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    The moderators were less moderators and more like living sheets of lined paper with the questions printed on them. Human teleprompters with no willingness or ability to engage with the speakers, only desiring to feed them question after question. There was no point to having them there. We traded actual moderation for the semblance of decorum by cutting off a microphone.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    5 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Much of the attention on Thursday’s presidential debate fell upon President Joe Biden’s faltering performance, which has called into question whether he can even remain the Democratic candidate.

    The moment embodied a through line of the debate: CNN moderators Bash or Jake Tapper would ask a question; Trump would respond with something off-topic, dishonest, and dangerous; and the moderators, instead of pushing back or even acknowledging the absurdity of Trump’s answers, would simply move on, thanking the twice-impeached former president for his time.

    In response to the same question, Biden said he’s still pushing hard for Hamas to accept a ceasefire deal and made clear that “the only thing I’ve denied Israel was 2,000-pound bombs,” given the risk to innocent people in populated areas.

    Shortly after, Bash followed up with Trump, asking if he would “support the creation of an independent Palestinian state in order to achieve peace in the region.”

    Trump referred to immigrants as hordes of millions coming from “prisons, jails, and mental institutions” into the country to destroy it.

    The debate has triggered a broader reflection on whether a candidate other than Biden would be best suited to put down such cruelty, though some higher-echelon Democrats have thus far refused to entertain that possibility.


    The original article contains 766 words, the summary contains 207 words. Saved 73%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!