Hello everyone, welcome to “News Perspective,” I’m Li Xin.
Today’s focus: A German magazine labels Trump as the “number one enemy” and Musk as the “number two enemy,” as Musk upgrades security measures; Trump and Musk compete in swing states for voters, battling in 7 key swing states; the CCP cracks down on “black humor,” yet the most popular “black humor” among netizens is “Xi Jinping” and “Central Propaganda Department”!
Today is October 22 (Tuesday). Billionaire Musk, who has already gone all in to support Trump, might not have imagined being labeled as the “number two enemy” by the German media.
Musk’s support for Trump now seems to spare no effort, personally investing time, money, and creativity that has astounded the world. Recently, he initiated a controversial daily giveaway of $1 million to swing state voters who sign in support of the First and Second Amendments of the Constitution, continuing until the election day. This move has sparked great controversy, with the Governor of Pennsylvania demanding an investigation, and when asked about it, Harris was quoted saying that someone is already “looking into it,” which likely refers to individuals within the justice system carefully reviewing Musk’s actions.
Despite the challenges Musk faces, he remains spirited, participating in various campaign events as if vigorously selling himself for votes. According to Fox News, Musk attended a campaign event supporting Trump in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on the 20th. While interacting with the crowd, Musk mentioned being featured on the cover of Germany’s “Der Spiegel” magazine recently, where he was dubbed as the “number two enemy,” with Trump being the number one enemy.
Musk claims he is simply supporting democracy and working to safeguard the Constitution to ensure Americans have free and fair elections. He indicated, “I will certainly upgrade my security measures. I might as well cancel the convertible car parade,” a statement seemingly alluding to the assassination of President Kennedy during a convertible car procession in 1963.
On the other hand, Trump also made a surprising move by working at McDonald’s, frying fries for 15 minutes, responding to Harris’s claim of having worked at McDonald’s in the past. Trump’s team has continuously questioned whether Harris had indeed worked at McDonald’s, with some relevant personnel denying it while others support the claim. Considering the conflicting accounts, it’s challenging to reach a definitive conclusion, especially regarding an incident that occurred 40 years ago, and McDonald’s stated they have no records of such employment.
Born with a silver spoon, Trump never worked at McDonald’s in his youth, but now, at the age of 78, he has put on an apron and personally worked at McDonald’s. The elderly gentleman is certainly putting in remarkable effort for the election campaign. This move has undoubtedly had an impact, as Trump’s odds in the Polymarket election betting markets continue to rise, reaching 63%, while Harris is at 37%; however, in polls, the two candidates remain neck and neck.
Recently, Democratic presidential candidate Harris has been actively giving speeches in battleground states like Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
On Monday, Harris demonstrated a bipartisan compromise attitude during an event in the Philadelphia suburbs, pledging to adopt “good ideas no matter where they come from” and to “cut through red tape.” She also urged for a “healthy two-party system in America that can engage in intense debates on fact-based issues.”
That day, Harris joined forces with her Republican ally, Liz Cheney, for multiple events. Harris is seeking support from all potential voters, aiming to persuade undecided individuals and mobilize Democratic voters who may be considering abstaining from voting, especially in areas where support for Trump may be dwindling.
Cheney is not the only Republican supporting Harris. Last week, over 100 former Republican lawmakers and officials traveled to Harris’s event at Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania, where General George Washington led hundreds of soldiers across the Delaware River, securing a significant victory during the Revolutionary War.
On Monday, while inspecting storm damage in North Carolina, Trump criticized the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) emergency response personnel, stating that their work was hindered by armed disturbances and a plethora of misinformation.
Currently, Trump and Harris are neck and neck in polls across the 7 key swing states, with neither having a lead exceeding 2 percentage points. According to the New York Times’ average polling data, the support rates for both candidates in battleground states are nearly equal, including North Carolina. The support rates for Harris and Trump in North Carolina on Monday were 49% and 48%, respectively.
In the U.S. presidential election, a candidate must secure enough electoral votes across all 50 states to win. Currently, there are a total of 538 electoral votes nationwide, with California possessing the highest at 54, while even the states with smaller populations have at least 3. The winning threshold is to reach or exceed 270 electoral votes.
Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia are considered the 7 key swing states for the 2024 election.
The Washington Post stated that Pennsylvania, with 19 electoral votes, is of utmost importance in this election. Winning in Pennsylvania might require only securing two additional swing states to reach the 270 electoral vote threshold for victory. The Democratic vote percentage in the Philadelphia metropolitan area has declined from 85% in 2012 to 81% in 2020. Harris must halt this downward trend.
Georgia possesses 16 electoral votes, which had been won by the Republicans in 2012 and 2016, yet in 2020 became the final straw that led to Biden toppling Trump, ultimately winning by a slim margin of less than 12,000 popular votes.
North Carolina has 16 electoral votes, a state the Democrats have not won since 2008. However, in the past three U.S. presidential elections, the vote gap between the red and blue sides has been less than 4 percentage points, with Trump even winning North Carolina by just 1 percentage point in 2020.
Michigan holds 15 electoral votes and had been a solid “blue wall” state for the Democrats for 30 years, but Trump emerged victorious in 2016 with a narrow 0.2 percentage point lead, flipping the local political landscape.
Arizona (11 electoral votes) was won by the Republican candidate in the 2012 presidential election by a margin of 200,000 votes. However, Biden defeat Trump by a margin of 10,000 votes in 2020, marking the second time that the Democrats have won Arizona since the 1940s.
Wisconsin (10 electoral votes) saw a Democratic win of nearly 200,000 votes in 2012, yet Trump achieved a comeback victory by 0.8 percentage points (approximately 23,000 votes) in 2016. Biden reclaimed victory in 2020 by about 0.6 percentage points (approximately 21,000 votes).
Nevada (6 electoral votes) is considered a reliably blue state, with Democratic candidates winning in the past four presidential elections. Current polls indicate fierce competition between Trump and Harris.
The Cyberspace Administration of China and the Ministry of Education issued a notice declaring the launch of a special campaign titled “Clear and Regulate the Use of Language on the Internet” to target prevalent “inappropriate and uncivil” language on online platforms. The official stance promises to crack down on fabricated “online black humor,” “lame jokes,” and the misuse of indirect expressions.
The term “Clear and Regulate” derives from “cleaning up the online atmosphere.” In reality, this series of actions has intensified online censorship and tightened freedom of speech.
This news sparked extensive discussions on Chinese social media platforms such as Sina Weibo. Following the review and cleanup, most of the remaining netizen comments mainly consist of affirming terms like “positive energy,” while deleted critical voices often manifest as “black humor” such as “mind your own business” and “such an idiot.”
Many netizens believe that the prevalence of internet euphemisms and indirect language on the Chinese web is closely related to censorship. The key reason being, “We want to speak well, but you won’t allow it,” leading to the emergence of abstract expressions and increased alienation in Chinese discourse. When freedom of speech is suppressed, the only way to express oneself freely is through alternative non-standard language.
Earlier, due to Baidu Tieba blocking the term “idiot,” many netizens used the term “umbrella soldier” as a replacement, prompting official media to condemn the stigmatization of the term “umbrella soldier.” Eventually, to stop people from using “umbrella soldier,” Baidu was forced to unblock the term “idiot” and restore it to the public. This incident is known as the “prisoner exchange” between netizens and authorities.
The most commonly used “black humor” term, as nominated by netizens, is “Xi Jinping.”
For well-known reasons, tens of thousands of derogatory terms related to Xi Jinping have proliferated across the Chinese internet, such as “two hundred catties,” “Winnie the Pooh,” “banana peel,” “fatty tiger,” “compass,” and “a man in Beijing,” among other peculiar labels.
The biggest hub of black humor, as selected by netizens, is the “Central Propaganda Department.”
On a platform, netizens said: “Indeed, there is too much black humor and lame jokes that need to be addressed! For example, calling dictatorship ‘democratic centralism,’ embezzlement as ‘efficient and frugal,’ troubles as ‘dynamic zeroing,’ unemployment as ‘streamlined employment,’ and later as ‘flexible employment’; calling a political disaster a ‘natural disaster,’ convoluted exploration, violating reproductive rights as ‘family planning,’ state capitalism as ‘socialist characteristics,’ backward practices as ‘not forgetting the original intention,’ and who knows which unethical person came up with these black humor terms.”
On October 17, the China Population and Development Research Center announced the initiation of the “New Round of Sampling Survey on Population and Family Development Conditions” to comprehensively analyze the reasons why Chinese people “do not want to give birth or dare to give birth.”
In response, some netizens questioned, “Isn’t the answer obvious? Don’t you have any insights into the reasons for not wanting to have children?” Indeed, a review of some black humor and lame jokes from recent years reveals that the answer lies right on the surface.
These include: indiscriminate childbirth, the last generation, the unmotivated youth, demographic dividend, social balancing, soft ribs, human ore, child chicken…
On October 16, the international human rights organization “Freedom House” released the 2024 Global Internet Freedom Report, stating that global internet freedom has declined for the 14th consecutive year, with China ranking last for ten consecutive years.
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