Fruit Loops and Taco Talk

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For weeks, journalists — some of them stoked by Donald Trump — have been complaining that Kamala Harris has yet to do an interview or a presser.

Instead of doing that yesterday, Kamala’s campaign released this video she and Tim Walz filmed in Detroit — really just one of the first days they had spent much time together.

 

In addition to Kamala scolding Walz for not answering the first call she made to offer him the Veep slot, there’s a great conversation about music (both agree on Prince, whereas Walz’ tastes may match Doug Emhoff’s more than Kamala’s herself), and a conversation about tacos that has driven far right trolls nuts.

They think Walz is lying when he says he doesn’t eat anything much spicier than pepper. As a long-time Midwesterner, those trolls are going to faceplant if they think they’re going to convince Midwesterners that a bland palate is anything but authentic.

This conversation would have been around August 7. The next day, when Madame Vice President and her running mate got Mexican food in Phoenix, she warned the staff to tone down the spice on Walz’ dish, because he couldn’t handle more than  black pepper.

But that’s the point. This video is, effectively, a kind of campaign selfie (something the campaign had already been doing, most notably when Barack and Michelle Obama called to endorse the Vice President). It’s the kind of thing that can go viral on TikTok among younger voters who really just want politicians to come off as real people.

By comparison, Trump did another event he billed as a press conference, though he didn’t take his first question until 46 minutes in.

With just a few exceptions, the questions are abysmal, mostly pro-Trump horse race questions asking for reassurances that he’ll be able to surge past Harris and Walz.

Journalists think they’re offering value with such interactions. They’re just fooling themselves. At this stage, voters really are more interested that Kamala and Coach Walz have genuinely held musical taste.

Trump presser questions

When have you last spoken with Bibi Netanyahu and what did you counsel him about cease fire? Trump at first answered when was the last time he saw Bibi. He went on to say he had not spoken to him since, which given the context may not rule out a conversation.

Why did god save your life?

Credit card debt softball.

Many of your allies say your personal strategy is not working, and is adding new people a sign of shifting strategy. I’m entitled to make personal attacks [on her because] I don’t have a lot of respect for her. She called me weird. They tell me I should be nice. They want to put me in prison. [Lies about his extensive efforts to put Hillary in prison.]

Nikki Haley said Republicans need to stop whining about Kamala Harris. Would you consider having Nikki Haley on the trail with you. All we have to do is lie about our opponent being a communist or a socialist.

Should the Federal government be responsible for determining food prices. She wants no fracking.

I know you say you’re leading but a Fox News poll out just yesterday has you up by just one point. How do you break away.

What’s your plan for holding China accountable [maybe for COVID?] if you get reelected?

You praise how Elon Musk treats workers, saying if they go on strike every one of you is gone. Are you really comfortable with companies who threaten to fire workers who go on strike? Sean O’Brien said firing workers who want to organize is economic terrorism. The Black population is absolutely threatened. The Hispanic population is absolutely threatened.

Tim Walz has been saying that you want to get things so that you can campaign on it. I wish I didn’t have to do this. Tampons in the bathrooms.

[Trump tries to end.]

Do you regret debating Biden so early in this race? Jake Tapper and Dana Bash were absolutely straight. ABC is the most unfair of all the networks. You know they’re hiding her, just like they’re hiding him.

[Trump tries to end.]

Wheaties or Cheerios? What happens to all these groceries? She’s 100 years old, she wants my autograph.

[crowd shots, occasionally with shouted questions, inaudible question]

What do you think about Ukraine’s incursion into Russia?

Can you say anything about the hacking of your campaign? I don’t like it. Really bad. I’m not happy with it. Our government shouldn’t let that happen. Does there need to be a government response? Yeah there should be. Our government should not let — they have no respect for our government.

Kamala Harris is cutting in on blue collar voters. Do you have a plan on how to push back on that? Do I have a plan? I have a plan.

[Trump tries to end.]

[More gladhanding.]

[Walt Nauta comes and whispers to Trump. After several more attempts, Trump leaves.]

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86 replies
  1. ToldainDarkwater says:

    To me, the pushback on the Walz-Harris video means that they are scared of this stuff, and want to frame it as “bad” so their supporters and leaners don’t look at it, or take away something other than “they are so cute together”.

    • bloopie2 says:

      Agreed. And I guess in a campaign you can’t stay silent, so they ignore the old maxim, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all”. They can’t offer us Trump and/or Vance being nice – either as themselves, or to Americans. So, they are nasty. Who needs more nasty people in their lives? Not me.

      • Parker Dooley says:

        “If you haven’t got anything nice to say about anybody come sit next to me.”
        -Alice Roosevelt Longworth

    • emptywheel says:

      I think they’ve succeeded in preventing Walz from going REALLY viral. But that doesn’t make JD any less of an anvil around Trump’s neck.

  2. Discontinued Barbie says:

    He definitely has a plan. Project 2025 is the plan. The authors can’t wait to stroke his ego while pulling his strings to implement their weird theocracy. They have no real loyalty to him and will burn him in a heartbeat if it suits their needs down the line. They just figured out it is so unbelievably easy to manipulate him with power and money. A purely transactional politician with no ideology other than his own ego.

  3. BobBobCon says:

    This event ought to put to rest the myth among so many liberals that the press is out for clicks and ratings. What’s obvious is that they’re being handed a golden opportunity to run with an attention grabbing and truthful narrative that Trump has cracked, but they’re passing up huge audience numbers to normalize him instead.

    You can’t rule out that the press has some interest in better ratings. But wildly misleading and dull headlines along the lines of “Trump Attacks Harris on Economic Issues, Hopes to Shift Focus” can’t compete in terms of ratings potential with “Rambling Trump Struggles To Offer Coherent Jobs Policy.”

    The truthful headline will anger conservatives, but a rightwing feud is good for ratings, especially when it is more defensible than mushy equivocation. What’s more after years of concern about Biden, truthful reporting on Trump’s collapsing thinking would strengthen rather than weaken arguments about objectivity.

    But press execs aren’t concerned with any of that. I think there is a mix of reasons, including ideology, psychology, weak thinking, and institutional inertia with a dash of economics thrown in that keeps people like Joe Kahn and Will Lewis from pushing honest and engaging reporting. But liberals would be in a much better position as press critics if they opened their minds to issues beyond just ratings and clicks.

    • Ebenezer Scrooge says:

      A very good point on the press. You’re absolutely correct: a “Trump is cracked” line from the press would be a ratings bonanza.

      • BobBobCon says:

        The flip side is that years of normalization , bothsidesing, and hiring people like Ronna Romney McDaniel has coincided with massive declines in ratings and audience numbers.

        The best counterargument press defenders can come up with is that MSNBC has sunk along with them, but the problem with that claim is that MSNBC isn’t doing a good job on the left either. They’re essentially sticking to the old media models, trying to deal with Trump by posing somewhat different questions, when they need to think about deeper structual problems.

        • Rayne says:

          MSNBC’s problem is NBC which constantly restrains the cable network from leaning into its left-of-center audience.

          Shouldn’t be surprised given the legacy garbage lingering from “Neutron Jack” Welch’s acquisition of NBC while he was GE’s CEO, having paid too much heed to Karl Rove on tax policy.

  4. Jenny T says:

    Thank you for sharing the video, I had not seen nor heard about it. Guess I need to get on TikTok bc the MSM is mostly just running with Trump ramblings

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    • emptywheel says:

      Thus far they’ve just released this on YouTube, but Walz just got a TikTok account, which he calls his TimTok.

      • Capemaydave says:

        I spend time these days going thru Facebook reels…Harris is well repped Walz not so much…good oppirtunity I thinl

  5. TimothyB says:

    Great post in a great series of posts.
    Harris and Walz are campaigning on character. Not just Trump’s bad character, but their own honesty, openness, emotional intelligence, love of America, love of life (music! Food!), normality.
    Reporters are just baffled by Harris and Walz. Reporters have been baffled by Trump forever and a day. The two kinds of bafflement pose extremely different problems and opportunities for the two campaigns. Reporters have given up trying to hem in Trump, partly because “it isn’t news” that he’s like that, partly because his machine will cut off access after a reporter does all the hard work to hem him in.
    Harris and Walz are playing it dead right, at least for now, to let the reporters whine while staying extremely visible. Political reporters have no clue how to interview them in a way that would be substantively useful to voters, just like they have no clue how to help voters with Trump. All the political voters could do is establish their power above the candidates. Let ’em whine, don’t talk about the whining.
    This could change if political reporters stay the course on their current lunatic bet that Harris needs them more than they need her, for enough months. But she’s a toughie, and unlikely to fold her hand just because of whining.

  6. dogshelpgod says:

    What is wrong with those two people in the video? They talk in complete sentences, they respond to questions, they smile, they laugh, they care about other people. They appear to be, dare I say, “normal.”

  7. Peterr says:

    “They think Walz is lying when he says he doesn’t eat anything much spicier than pepper. As a long-time Midwesterner, those trolls are going to faceplant if they think they’re going to convince Midwesterners that a bland palate is anything but authentic.”

    Church potluck in the midwest: tuna noodle hot dish, seven layer dip (for those who like spicy), cole slaw, baked potato bar, and a thousand variations on jello salad.

    Church potluck in the SF Bay area: a dozen varieties of shrimp cocktails, crab salad dips, a bajillion variations on tacos (beef, chicken, tofu, veggie, shrimp, fish, crab, . . .), artichoke salads, dozens of Asian dumpling dishes, fresh crab, . . .

    The only time I ever saw a jello salad in my decade in the Bay Area was when a congregation decided to prank their pastor with a welcome back potluck as he returned from a sabbatical in Central America. They pulled out the old 1960s hymnals from storage for worship that morning, then had nothing but tuna noodle casseroles and jello salads on the buffet table for the meal. The pastor just died laughing.

    • P J Evans says:

      I haven’t been to a church potluck since the mid-60s, and back then it *was* pretty bland. (We also had ice-cream socials, with cake as well.) “Italian” was usually canned spaghetti or ravioli, Chinese was Americanized and bland, and the rest was…not there at all.

      • emptywheel says:

        I said it wrong and now I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say and where I got “casserole” from and I think it might be NY but could even be PA.

        Is there a map?

        I also don’t say “pop” like I’m supposed to.

        • klynn says:

          Lower midwest gal here. I’m a “soda” and “casserole” person with an occasional “Kraft” for “mac-n-cheese” and “Coke” dropped for any cola soda. Outright name dropping!

        • harpie says:

          Sometime in the last few months, I saw an interactive article/questionnaire at NYT [it was not new]. There were about ten word/phrase-choice questions and then they could ascertain which region of the country you came from. I think casserole/hot dish was one question. I can NOT figure out where that is right now. arrrgh!

        • Ebenezer Scrooge says:

          “Casserole” was the bane of my wife’s early childhood. It involved three cans and an oven. She grew up in Queens in the 1960’s & ’70’s. Fortunately, she threw her mom out of the kitchen at age 10, to everybody’s relief.

        • John Colvin says:

          The dialect questionnaire nailed where I grew up (San Antonio, TX). I think it was largely because I used the term “access road” to refer to the roads alongside a freeway. The quiz also taught me that some people in the Upper Midwest (WS) use the term “bubbler” to refer to a water fountain.

        • Rayne says:

          Casserole is French — that’s what my maternal family called it on the French Canadian side. Probably explains why you’d have picked it up in New York along Lake Ontario. Root word “casse” is also found in “cassoulet.”

          Hotdish is probably the influence of Germanic languages like Swedish and German. I can’t see it being influenced by Finnish. It’s easy to see the connection knowing Swedes call a computer storage device a “hårddisk” — one word, modifier and noun combined.

          You got me about “pop.” I always said pop not soda even though I lived part of my childhood in CA. I’ll blame my Yooper mom for that, too.

      • Peterr says:

        I am bilingual, and also welcoming of folks regardless of their culinary orientation.

        The Kid’s instant reaction to Walz’s recipe would be say “It’s a nice start, but it needs . . . something.” Then he’d add cayenne — lots of cayenne — and poke around the spice rack for other additions. Cumin would make an appearance, as would a couple others. Then he’d dig out a couple of jalapeño peppers and add them, and rather than pre-shredded cheddar cheese, he’d likely shred a mix of cheddar and pepper jack cheese himself. And for serving, he’d have his own homemade guacamole as a topping.

      • Baltimark says:

        Very little “hotdish” on the I-80 corridor in Iowa. Of course we were also 50-75 miles south of the Lutheran Line. I wouldn’t call that latitude “Lower” (being mostly or completely north of KS, MO, IN, OH, and to a little lesser extent IL), but I’d certainly admit it’s not particularly “Upper” either.

      • boatgeek says:

        Preferably pronounced the Minnesota way, “hat dish”. I’ve been through many a green bean casserole in my day. (Always casserole, my mom’s family was from between Flint and Detroit). Those French fried onions on top. Good times.

        We had friends where the wife was from Minneapolis and was constantly poking fun at her husband that he was too Norwegian to like spices. He came from a little town where it mattered which of the three Lutheran churches you went to. There was one Swede in town, but “there’s no harm in him.”

        Turkey taco tot hot dish will ring true with many, many people.

        • Eichhörnchen says:

          Josh Katz’s book is great too. I do the quiz with my linguistics students on the first day of the semester as an icebreaker.

        • harpie says:

          I just think that is so cool!
          Having so many variations for some of the answers is amazing!
          It certainly pegged me pretty well.

          I was wrong about the casserole/hot dish question, though.

        • John Lehman says:

          Born and raised in northwest Ohio,
          10 miles north it was creek
          10 miles south it was crick…and all the older folks spoke a Swiss dialect of German.

        • Rayne says:

          Reply to John Lehman
          August 16, 2024 at 7:54 pm

          Oh that, definitely. When I live in central Ohio as a kid, all I heard was “crick.” When I moved north to Michigan as a tween, it was “creek.”

          This kind of thing would get under my Yooper mother’s skin; she scolded us regularly for picking up speech habits from Ohioans. I recall “tar” instead of “tire” and “arn” instead of “iron” and any use of “y’all” were likely to make her levitate.

        • earlofhuntingdon says:

          I lived in northern Texas for a spell. When my kids came home from school and started to say they were “fixin'” to do something, it was time to go. And we lived in a northern ghetto.

      • Savage Librarian says:

        That was fun. But it pegged me for 3 places I have never lived: A combination of Boise, Des Moines, and Detroit.

        • Peterr says:

          It may be that it reflects the folks who taught you how to speak – parents, primary school teachers, etc. — who lived there.

          (When I went to Germany as an exchange student in high school, I quickly saw that my German had a New England accent. Then I realized that my Jewish native-born German teacher emigrated as a child to NE in the early 1930s. I never lived there, but she did.)

        • P J Evans says:

          A guy on my train – doctor, occasional media guy – pegged me as having Tennessee in my background. Not too far off – my father was from Oklahoma, and his father was from Kentucky, and I’d spent four years in west Texas, all of which had an effect. But mostly I’m California standard. We did have some local variations – locations could be “over by” somewhere else.

      • Legonaut says:

        Mrs. Lego & I took it when it was released. It accurately identified Grand Rapids, MI (born & raised) and Albany, NY (where we lived for 15 yrs.) as my most likely origins.

        Mrs. Lego had an additional hotspot in north central Tennessee, where her father hailed from, which we found interesting and hilarious.

        Just a couple of data points for anyone trying it out. YMMV.

      • blueedredcounty says:

        I grew up in a tiny Chicago ‘burb a bit southeast of O’Hare. Never said pop, always soda. But my best friend (57 years now) always laughs about something that seems highly localized for our neighborhood/grade school. We never called them gym shoes or tennis shoes – it was just “gyms.”

        • emptywheel says:

          I said “trainers” the other day — a word for “sneakers” (I seem to have retained my upstate NY words most strongly, where I was a kid) that I hate. IIRC I was talking to a shopkeeper.

          But wow, that felt weird.

    • Savage Librarian says:

      Those regional differences! For example, at various times in my childhood I lived in suburbs of Cleveland, Chicago, and Cincinnati. But I can’t remember where and when I learned to call something a ‘couch’ rather than a ‘davenport’ or ‘sofa.’

      As a young child, I only watched TV on Saturday mornings or Sunday evenings. But by the time I was a teen, TV had become much more prevalent and I saw more diversity there than I actually saw in my real life.

      Coffee klatches were something my mother and neighbors routinely had. They would gossip and share recipes, many of them ethnic favorites (German, Slovenian, Italian.) And others were from popular women’s magazines of the time. Yum.

      My mother was a wonderful cook. When I was 10 she offered to make whatever I wanted for my birthday. I asked for Chicken Cacciatore. She was worried that I wouldn’t like it. But I loved it.

      “We Know Where You’re From Based On What You Call These Foods” – Emma Kumer, 3/30/23

      https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/different-regions-give-these-foods-different-names/

  8. Bears7485 says:

    Born and raised white guy in Illinois. I joke with my friends that I honestly didn’t have an authentic taco until I was ~16. Before then it was literally ground beef & cheese on a (usually) chewy hard shell.

    • gnokgnoh says:

      Exactly. South St. Louis tacos were ground beef with a spice packet and shredded cheddar on those awful hard corn shells. I grew up and married a Mexicana. Boy, did that change in a hurry.

    • earlofhuntingdon says:

      When I have the chance, I make do with fish tacos. Taco Surf and Oscars in Pacific Beach are good places to start. But you know you’re in the right place when there are at least fifteen places to choose from. TS also has carne asada and guac to die for. Our once resident Saguaro cactus can attest to it, and it’s just down the road from Windansea beach.

  9. Opiwannn says:

    [tongue in cheek]
    Dr. Wheeler, to be truly authentic, you need to change the headline of this article to Froot Loops and Taco Talk. Since we always cite our sources here: I distinctly remember the cereal O’s shown on the box as part of the name in my childhood (both in ‘froot’ and ‘loops’).
    [/tongue in cheek]

    Thank you for embedding the Harris/Walz video! That was a welcome contrast to everything I’ve seen from DJT/Vance recently…

  10. The Hang Nail says:

    White guy here from Minnesota. I love spicy food. FYI, Mall of America had a hot sauce store for decades. I love the banter, but the stereotyping is getting a bit old.

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  11. jvill_01JAN2021_1338h says:

    When is the media going to start asking questions about this man’s obvious cognitive breakdown that we’re all watching happen before our eyes?

    That man can’t answer simple questions. He can’t focus. He can’t stay on task. His own people say he’s got PTSD…

    When is the media going to stop pretending Trump’s near inability to follow a conversation is not a “campaign strategy,” it’s an old, old man breaking down mentally.

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  12. Eichhörnchen says:

    Tim Walz has been saying that you want to get things so that you can campaign on it.

    I wish I didn’t have to do this. Tampons in the bathrooms

    Are these people for real? Where are the scolds who reported every imperfectly rounded vowel uttered by Joe Biden?

    • Shadowalker says:

      One of the CNN fact checkers contacted 10 school districts, none of them supply tampons in the boys lavatories, for the simple reason it is not required by the law.

        • klynn says:

          I attended a school that had them in the boys bathroom. Why? A few reasons: 1) All the bathrooms were Tornado shelters 2) Football players and wrestlers got bloody noses all the time and a tampon was a great stop measure 3) Older brothers would pocket a few for family members due to cost.

  13. FiestyBlueBird says:

    I watched just a few minutes of Nicole Sandler today. Tough situation, as she recounted a health issue this week. She was brave to even go on, as it was apparent she doesn’t feel well at all. But she wanted to give the update at least on that. I didn’t watch long.

  14. Benji-am-Groot says:

    Slightly off topic but solid undercover investigative journalism: Russ Vought caught on tape in secret Centre for Climate Reporting interview expounding on Project 2025 and the Donvict’s full knowledge. Is he lying to pump his own creds?

    I don’t think so.

    Fruit Loops and taco trucks indeed.

    Decent diary by Joan McCarter over at the Daily Kos:

    https:// http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/8/16/2263508/-Project-2025-s-ties-to-Trump-exposed-in-shocking-undercover-video?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_9&pm_medium=web

  15. Zinsky123 says:

    Donald Trump is a broken record (for those of you that remember the days of vinyl), skipping and repeating the same old tired grievances and conservative insider bro braggadocio over and over again. It is pathetic and exhausting, Why the media continues to treat this geriatric buffoon as anything but a criminal deviant is beyond me? He has no depth of knowledge about anything except maybe golf and the latest Stormy Daniels video.

  16. MsJennyMD says:

    Happiness is contagious. Uplifting interview with two joyful and compassionate individuals. The collective consciousness is rising to new positive energy. Their optimism is infectious which is highly needed considering the old negative energy, doom and gloom heard for too many years.

  17. Anomalous Cowherd says:

    There is – or at least, used to be – a Dictionary of Regional American English which included tiny maps showing the distributions of such terms as hoagie, grinder, sub, etc. Lightning bug and firefly. Fascinating stuff. I could spend hours perusing it.

  18. harpie says:

    1] TRUMP at his Exclusive Golf Course Froot Loops talk: “All we have to do is define our opponent as being a communist or a socialist or somebody that’s gonna destroy our country.”

    2] COMER: House GOP sets its sights on Walz The House Oversight Committee is opening an investigation into Democrats’ vice presidential pick. https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/16/tim-walz-james-comer-china-00174403
    Jordain Carney 08/16/2024 01:12 PM EDT // Updated: 08/16/2024 03:56 PM EDT

    […] Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) on Friday announced that he is opening an investigation into Walz’s work related to China, including coordinating student trips, and sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray requesting a swath of documents and any correspondence with Walz related to China. […]

    • harpie says:

      Here’s VIDEO of 1] TRUMP at his Exclusive Golf Course Froot Loops talk:

      https://x.com/atrupar/status/1824201300029936100
      5:47 PM · Aug 15, 2024

      Trump on questions about his strategy: “All we have to do is define our opponent as being a communist or a socialist or somebody that’s gonna destroy our country.”

      He then takes a shot at Nikki Haley and says, “I think I’m doing a very calm campaign.” [VIDEO]

    • Just Some Guy says:

      Seeing as he’s the guy who received pot seeds from China, Comer is gonna look even more ridiculous!

    • Raven Eye says:

      Did anyone make the slightest effort to investigate the Red Square Republicans and their 4th of July trip to Moscow?

  19. ChuckVoellinger327 says:

    “earlofhuntingdonsays:
    August 16, 2024 at 9:46 pm
    I lived in northern Texas for a spell. When my kids came home from school and started to say they were “fixin’” to do something, it was time to go. And we lived in a northern ghetto.”

    What y’all got against “fixin’ to”? lol. St Louis transplant here to Northern Texas 40+ years ago. I dig the localisms. I haven’t worked “over yonder” into my repertoire, yet though.

    • Savage Librarian says:

      I love the localisms here in northeast Florida, where ‘fixin’ to’ and ‘y’all’ can be heard on the regular. Thanks, Chuck.

    • SFTexian says:

      The 1st half of my life was in gulf coast Texas & New Orleans. In ’82 I moved to SF. So I been out here ’bout 40 years now so I don’t hardly talk like ‘at no more? (the question mark just notes a rising inflection on the end though no reply is expected. The i in my moniker is an old usage from Texas independence days I don’t care for so much but I needed an 8th letter.

  21. biff murphy says:

    “Walt Nauta comes and whispers to Trump. After several more attempts, Trump leaves”

    Hollywood Casting…

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