He let them take them over the coals

Posted: June 30, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Trump was being interviewed by Maria Bartiromo on Fox yesterday (June 29, 2025). She asked him about the tariffs on China and he responded that Biden had a trillion dollar deficit with China, adding that “he (Biden) let them (China) take them (U.S.) over the coals.” This is a mashup of “rake them over the coals” (call to task or reprimand severely) and “take them to the cleaners” (cheat one out of one’s money or possessions). “Rake” and “take” seem to have confused the speaker here. You can hear this at the :39 mark:

https://open.substack.com/pub/davidblackmon/p/watchread-president-donald-trump?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

A shout out to Mike Kovacs for hearing this one and sending it in!

The deck is tilted against Trump

Posted: August 19, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A very perceptive follower noticed at the bottom of the screen on Fox News a chyron read: “…in Mueller investigation deck tilted against Trump.”  This is a congruent conflation of “deck is stacked” and “the scales (balance) are tilted”, both meaning that one side has gained advantage.  You can’t tilt a deck of cards (unless you’re Penn Jillette).  A shout out to Eagle-Eared, and in this case, Eagle-Eyed, Frank King for spotting this one.