Don’t worry folks. I won’t blister your eardrums with onetime wannabe country crooner Lara Trump’s rendition of Tom Petty’s I Won’t Back Down. I just find it funny that given all the fuss over Trump daughter-in-law Lara Trump’s failed attempt at a singing career and the angry I’m/she IS a great singer and there’s a conspiracy to keep radio stations from playing her awesome cover of Tom Petty’s classic, it’s own version of not backing down Ms. Trump has just backed down. The new RNC co-chair began her tenure with a flourish, announcing major changes including mass firings and eliminating some initiatives. Cutting Minority Outreach Centers, and also funding for Early/Mail-In Voting drives. Backlash was swift and fierce and now Lara and the RNC saying Where did you get such crazy notions? We aren’t cutting that stuff!
Yep, Miss “I won’t back down” has just… BACKED DOWN!
Let’s go back a few days shall we? I should note that in the case of the Minority Outreach Centers the move to curtail that effort actually began back in January. With Trump’s takeover of the RNC and installation of the wife of Fredo 2 (aka Eric Trump) as co-chair the purpose of that organization is now about one thing and one thing only. Helping Donald Trump and doing whatever the hell he told the RNC to do. When it comes to early and mail-in voting Trump has railed against it. Except sometimes he’s been for it. Frankly he no longer seems to know what the hell he thinks on the topic. One day he thinks it will help him, the next it’s a plot to “steal” the Presidency from him.
However, when it comes to minorities we all know Trump is stone cold racist. His idea of minority outreach is finding a handful of non-white people (Tim Scott for example) to hold up as “proof” he loves minorities and they ALL love him. However he needs cash, tons of it in fact and that’s why he blitzkrieged the RNC. Do you think he wants them actually spending a single dollar on leasing space and paying staff to provide minority outreach? Of course not. So, as NPR reported several days ago a major overhaul of the RNC began. Over 60 staff were fired, although it was said some could re-apply for a job. Things didn’t stop there:
The cuts also included local staff that ran the committee’s community centers, in African American, Asian and Hispanic communities.
I can’t say I’m surprised and as I already pointed out back in January when Ronna McDaniel was still running the show a decision was made not to sign any more leases for such centers. Cutting loose the staff and breaking the leases (I can hear Lara Trump and her co-chair Michael Whatley saying “So sue us!”) was a logical step. More money available to shovel to Trump despite claims no such thing will happen. (Sure, and if anyone believes that I’ve got a ticket for them on Trump’s airline to his “magnificent” Trump Tower Moscow where breakfast, lunch and dinner will be Trump Steaks washed down with Trump Vodka)
Anyway, the initial reaction and not just in non RWNJ outlets and political circles was to put it kindly along the lines of incredulous Are they out of their f**king minds? commentary. The same was true with a lot of GOPers when it comes to early/mail-in voting I should add. Republican operatives, actual professionals who actually know sh*t have long lamented the fact that while the GOP started all this decades ago to snag senior citizen votes that Democrats had seen the value in expanding this and for a long time have been kicking the GOP’s butt and winning elections. A problem made worse by Trump’s years of railing against early/mail-in voting I should add.
In any case, the backlash was so swift and fierce Lara Trump and her co-chair went public saying they never, ever pinky-swear promise never even had such a crazy idea pop into their heads. Oh no they said, according to Axios. According to the linked article Whatley sent a three page memo to members Thursday saying the programs were safe:
“Despite what you may have heard, we are not closing community centers,” Whatley wrote.
He added that the early voting initiative was safe as well, and “will continue educating and empowering voters to feel confident in early voting and voting by mail.”
Yes, Lara Trump personally weighed in as well. Again from Axios:
“Yeah, well, actually, we are keeping those all open,” Lara Trump told Fox News on Thursday.
Color me skeptical. First, as I said earlier Trump has for years been convinced the 2020 election was “stolen” from him due to early/mail-in voting. While sometimes a top campaign person temporarily convinces him pushing it can help him moving forward Trump is stuck in the past. His obsession with losing causes him to to figure out how. Rather than admit he’s a piece of sh*t and was rejected by voters he’s concocted a belief system on how the election was “stolen” and early/mail-in voting was a “bigly” reason! Then, as I mentioned earlier the RNC was already in the process of winding down the Minority Outreach Center initiative even before Trump installed his own people at the RNC.
I urge you to read the linked Axios article for the full picture on the time leading up to the Trump takeover of the RNC. It won’t take long and gives a solid history of what’s been going on even before the takeover, which makes the initial decision to gut these programs something that shouldn’t have surprised anyone. The mistake was making a big public deal about the RNC makeover. In true Trumpian fashion Lara Trump just HAD to do her new sheriff in town routine which played about as well as her attempt to become a country music star.
And that’s the funny part for which I hope she will be mercilessly mocked. Lara’s singing career was launched by a crappy, not even good by amateur standards rendition of an iconic rock song by the late Tom Petty. I’m sure she chose it because given who she was she assumed (correctly) people would say “Huh? She wants to be a country music star?” and the choice of song was a statement of defiance by it’s lyrics and very name – I Won’t Back Down. Well, if she didn’t quite “back down” she quietly abandoned her country singer ambitions and the whole matter was if not forgotten (thankfully) largely so.
However, with her newfound “power” Lara Trump set about being boss lady and issuing marching orders and letting folks know by grab she was kicking ass and taking name and getting rid of stuff. Like early/mail-in voting and minority outreach.
And now? She’s been forced to back down!
Let me toss my lib-tard idea of why Mrs. Dumpfs wanted to record that song.
A: Tom Petty is dead and can’t sue them for using it as a rallying anthem.
B: Even if he IS dead and his publishing company sues us, I’ll just use MY rendention of the tune and I’ll get sweet sweet royalties.
C: my husband too dumb and lazy to come up with all this intrigue and smart-people plans so if any family member wants to be be vice president I’m gonna have to do it myself.
You’re probably right. I’d thought it was because she really, really enjoys humiliating herself-after all, look who’s she married to. I’m just too cynical I guess. lmao