Wi-Fi back: Q: what do you think of Trump's health ? A: looks fine to me, always been a bit crazy Q: if Vance had to take over, what do you make of him ? A: I like him, have you read his book ? Q: Governor Pritzker in your state is in the news ? A: Don't like inherited money elites like him 2/n
😂 inherited $…
Q: the UK media landscape skews pretty right, how about the US ? A: oh, definitely other way round Q: we're concerned about violent right wing protests in the UK, like today in London, a concern for you too ? A: it's the left who are violent in the US (altho some of Jan 6 rioters were right ?) 3/n
I assume you’ve had Botox so your eyebrows simply don’t move?
basically, a wildly different perception of the same 'things', from in all other respects a very regular seeming adult. just wild... 4/4
This is basically 100% of hedge fund PMs fwiw
I had a feeling it might be (also it was a rates guy 😁), but first encounter 'in the wild'.
Was he as inquisitive about your views
yes, he was tbf. seemed a bit surprised Vance wasn't welcomed with open arms, which is kinda how the convo started...
“Aren’t you concerned about the money in politics now - especially from Silicon Valley?” Is a useful off ramp
we kept it nice and light, everyone's on holiday etc. turned the convo to sports and popular culture quickly enough. he learnt that the first international 🏏 match was between the US and Canada in the 19th century 😁
It’s something I’ve noticed is underpinning a lot of people’s motivations is a sense of awareness of something “not quite being right” and with a gentle nudge the focus can be shifted. Certainly better than the screaming and the insults.
for sure. if we'd had more than an hour or so, might have got into that, but we were also getting vibes that while he was curious about our views on the UK, he had no interest in our views on the US (since he could tell they wouldn't mesh from how we talked about the UK). all good, just interesting
The fun thing is I have read Vance's book and Vance now seems nothing like the Vance of 2012 or whenever it was written
Yeah was going to say Vance isn’t actually the Vance who wrote that book , wonder if he ever was
have to think it's been a calculated trajectory...
He likened Trump to Hitler in 2016. So the calculation definitely changed after Trump won.
Does he wear Velcro shoes?
Poor guy. Shallow grave or under the patio?
what got us the most was the complete hand-waving away of the suggestion there might be health issues 🤷♂️
Did you ask about Biden as a comparison? ;)
you know what, he was volunteered as a counter-example of being too old and decrepit 🤪
typical middle-aged american ensconced in the fox (+ rw youtube) media ecosystem, if they mention "marxism" do not ask them how much marx they've actually read
Ignorant people are in all industries and occupations.
Thanks for the update. Meanwhile Elon Musk is calling for the UK Government to be overthrown in a London rally attended by 100,000+.
we heard. very glad to be away...
Sounds ultra-long out the gills.
I’ve heard similar anecdotes from a few people. US and UK. And I wonder if it’s that people’s attitudes have changed or that people who always held these views now feel they can say them out loud? And perhaps they didn’t really change as much as we thought they had a couple of decades ago