Weekend Quotables
How long has the USS Lincoln been at sea? "Not long enough," says Trump.
President Donald Trump
Trump said on Friday that he would designate the Strait of Hormuz a territory of the United States “pretty soon,” as the status of the waterway, a global chokepoint through which a fifth of global oil and gas passes, remains in a military and diplomatic deadlock. — Al Jazeera
Me: Just as soon as he’s done seizing the Panama Canal and Greenland, making Canada the 51st state, and turning Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
Iran responds
Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, also responded, saying,
“The Strait of Hormuz cannot be seized by tweet, nor by aircraft carrier, nor by issuing an order, nor by an election speech.” — Al Jazeera
Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s Minister of National Security
Ben‑Gvir said Israel should conduct nightly targeted assassinations in Gaza, killing 30–40 people each night. He added that these should include people who “do not pose an immediate threat” and described Palestinians as “not worthy of life” and “not even people.”— AP
Me: When Adolf Hitler told Josef Hell in 1922 that his “first and most important job” would be to erect “gallows after gallows” until “the last Jew in Munich is exterminated,” he was speaking the same language: murder as a nightly chore, a bureaucratic routine.
Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff
“Trump doesn’t want to do his job but wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie.” — August 16, 2026 rally in Georgia
Ossoff made a much more important, longer statement at the Georgia rally, giving us a lesson in how MAGA economics works for the oligarchs.
When he first announced the tariffs, you remember that? He called it Liberation Day, and it crashed the markets because it was clown policy. You remember that?
OK, so follow me through on this. He announces the tariffs on April 2 of last year. The markets tank nonstop for like a week because it’s a disastrous trade policy, and six days into the crash, April 8, Trump buys millions in stock. I’m talking Amazon, Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Berkshire Hathaway, and then the very next morning, April 9, he posts on Truth Social, quote, “This is a great time to buy.” Three exclamation marks.
OK, now listen to this. Three hours and 41 minutes after that post, one day after he bought millions in stock, he canceled the tariffs and triggered one of the biggest same-day rebound rallies in market history.
He’s trying to get money. And you saw, now he’s offering paid subscriptions to presidential announcements, right? Just understand what’s for sale here: The sitting president’s pronouncements on war and peace and economic policy delivered first to paying customers.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.)
Jeffries said it plainly. In Sunday’s Meet the Press interview, he confirmed he does not support Medicare for All, despite having co‑sponsored earlier versions from 2013–2021.
When Kristen Welker asked whether he personally supports Medicare for All, Jeffries answered: “No… I haven’t co‑sponsored the Medicare for All legislation that has been introduced over the last several years.”
Rep. Ro Khanna responds
“Medicare For All is arguably the most important priority,” Khanna said on Sunday. “It would save money, and it would save lives.” — NBC, Meet the Press
This week’s Hitting Left show with my guests, Rep. Kelly Cassidy and Alaina Hampton. Listen to it here. Plus music by Eliza Gilkyson, Colvin & Earle, and Springsteen.