MORNING SHOTS.THE BULLWARK
Maybe You Can Get Tired of All the Winning?The Voice of America thinks I'm a piece of shit.
TIM MILLER DEC 22, 2024
I was standing beside the step-and-repeat at James O’Keefe’s annual AmFest afterparty nursing a bourbon and coke when out of the corner-of-my-eye emerged a face that was mostly familiar, minus the signature sepia blur. The face was approaching fast. Wide TV anchor smile. Caked on make-up. Main-character energy.
I quickly realized I was in its sights.
Immediately I’m greeted with the familiar booming, midwestern-announcer voice.Knowing that I was on enemy turf I attempted a pleasant return greeting, hoping to disarm and signal that I came in peace.
“DON’T TOUCH ME,” Kari Lake screams in my face, I assume in reference to a bit of discomfort with mid-interview physical contact that I had expressed in our last encounter. “YOU ARE A PIECE OF SHIT.”
The face briefly collects itself and appears to look back and see if her husband was taping the exchange. One of the many observers of the scene—and let me tell you, it was a SCENE—later told me that they thought Cameraman Lake had missed the approach, possibly the cause of Kari’s decision to double back for more.
She turns back around.
“You are a piece of shit!” she repeats over, and over, and over, and over, and over, staring up at me with increasing rage in her eyes and at times pinching my arm like an angry grandmother.1Lake goes on to make a series of other accusations about my integrity. Among them: That I don’t care about “fentanyl mothers,” that I am a “fake news” “liar,” and that I was hiding my signature pearl necklace underneath a button up shirt. (On this last count, at least, I can conclusively say that she was incorrect. )
The attack subsided when an unlikely peace-maker emerged from the growing crowd of onlookers: The right-wing conspiracist Laura Loomer, who you may recall as the Trump hanger-on who briefly became a lightning rod during the 2024 campaign. Loomer made her way through the crowd of onlookers, stood next to Lake and echoed her assessment that I was a lying POS, but in a tone that was more appropriate for a public gathering. Loomer’s calm-disdain-mixed-with-curiosity about my presence seemed to cause Lake’s manic rage to peter out.
Throughout Kari’s tirade, I think I mostly smiled awkwardly. Though who can say. Unless she releases the video, I can’t be sure what I looked like. I remember looking around at my surroundings with low-grade anxiety and trying to assess whether this was real life or if I had mistakenly taken a hallucinogenic gummy.A few times I attempted to congratulate Lake on her new role as the nominee to be the director of the Voice Of America. At first I was trying to de-escalate, but eventually I confess that I was mocking her.
Right now you’re probably asking yourself, “How did I wind up in this situation?"
Well, for three years now I’ve spent the days before Christmas with these people at AmericaFest, TPUSA’s annual Gathering of the MAGAalos.
I listen to strangers rant about how JFK Jr. is still alive (Yes, this happened yesterday, he even took out his phone to show me evidence). I meet characters like “The Deep State Marauder.” I slog through speeches and listen to insights from the MAGA svengalis. All of it to better understand the challenge our country faces and bring you a few laughs. Even if it means letting Trumpy Looney Tunes call me a piece of shit. Are you not entertained?
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/maybe-you-can-get-tired-of-all-the
I thought this was pretty funny