͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more

I Don't Normally Endorse Candidates

But Since No One Else Seems To Be*, I See an Business Opportunity

Joel Stein

Oct 30

READ IN APP

Listen now · 1:05

I received some weird reactions to my last column, which was about my love for the New York Yankees. Not the normal weird reactions, which are to tell me to drown in a pool of Aaron Judge’s steroids.

These people claimed they understood the subtext of that column. That subtext was that I was supporting Donald Trump.

It wasn’t just Trump haters. As one female doctor wrote in an email, “I suspected, and now am pretty sure, you are voting for Trump. Don’t worry, I won’t tell. Long live the meritocracy.”

But it was also Trump haters. Eric Trules, a retired USC Theater Prof, Allen Ginsberg award winner, former clown, and life-long Yankees fan, wrote in the comments section, “this particular post reeks of Trump, bullies, and master races. Do you think that’s funny?”

No, Eric, I do not think that’s funny. And I certainly don’t think the joke that ChatGPT came up with for me about “Trump, bullies, and master races” is funny:

Why did the bully invite Trump to the "Master Race" seminar?
Because he thought they'd be learning track and field. 😄

We live in a dangerous time when even sports talk is made political.

While I was not writing about politics through sports, and I did write a book about my panic about Donald Trump and populism (In Defense of Elitism: Why I’m Better Than You and You’re Better Than Someone Who Didn’t Buy This Book) and made a series called Best Presidency Ever reminding people of the dangers Trump poses, I will now be extremely clear.

The fine, funny people at the publication McSweeney’s (Dave Eggers, Michelle Quint, and Amanda Uhle) created 270 Reasons, where people write essays explaining why they’re supporting Kamala Harris. Writers such as George Saunders, Margaret Atwood, T.C. Boyle, Jeff Tweedy have contributed, so when they asked me , I saw this as a duty to my career. I would have written about how much I care about Los Angeles County Measure G.

Although the editors cut my musings about the possibility of a President Snooki,

they did run most of it. Here’s the main part of my argument:

Kamala Harris devoted her life to expertise: district attorney of San Francisco, attorney general of California, US senator, vice president. Donald Trump’s career was so frivolous, I’ve interviewed him three times: once at his Miss USA Pageant, once at an Apprentice audition, and once about how he was selling trucker hat merch as a long-shot candidate. I have, obviously, never met Kamala Harris.

Now we’re clear. Unless you read some subtext in this one. Which would be insane, since there was barely text.

*The Washington Post and L.A. Times did not endorse a presidential candidate for the first time in many decades. Maxim endorsed Trump.

Thank you for paying to read my column.

Wait: This is for the people who didn’t pay? Then I owe you nothing. You are the ones contributing to the end of my career.

If you want to pay an exorbitant amount of money to get one extra post a month – which often won’t even be that good – upgrade to a paid subscription here: