Tag: Donald Trump

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Trump Trashes Supreme Court Justice In New Book

Donald Trump

Donald Trump (public domain)
In the new book – Landslide: The Final Days of the Trump Presidency – author Michael Wolff shares some surprisingly bitter remarks by ‘the former guy’ about Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. “There were so many others I could have appointed, and everyone wanted me to,” Donald Trump told Wolff in an interview for the book. From Axios:

“Where would he be without me? I saved his life. He wouldn’t even be in a law firm. Who would have had him? Nobody. Totally disgraced. Only I saved him.”

For Kavanaugh to not do Trump’s bidding on the matter of ultimate importance — overturning the election — was, in Trump’s mind, a betrayal of the highest order.

Wolff writes that Trump feels betrayed by all three justices he put on the court, including Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, but “reserved particular bile for Kavanaugh.”

Recalling the brutal confirmation fight, Trump said: “Practically every senator called me … and said, ‘Cut him loose, sir, cut him loose. He’s killing us, Kavanaugh.’ … I said, ‘I can’t do that.'”

“I had plenty of time to pick somebody else,” Trump continued. “I went through that thing and fought like hell for Kavanaugh — and I saved his life, and I saved his career. At great expense to myself … okay? I fought for that guy and kept him.”

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CNN’s Jim Acosta Compares Trump To Karens – ‘I Want To Talk To The Manager Of Twitter’

CNN’s Jim Acosta began a segment today showing clips of ‘the former guy,’ Donald Trump, hugging the American flag at past appearances at CPAC. “Now, the same man who gripped the Stars and Stripes won’t let go of something else: the idea that he’s still president,” said Acosta. Mediaite has the transcript:

“A couple of weeks ago I compared Trumps’ comeback tour to the circus, full of sideshow acts and clowns. I later got an email from an expert on the circus industry. This person pointed out that comparison actually was not fair.

“Because unlike the chaos of Trump world, a circus is carefully composed and organized. That’s a great point. Comparing Trump to a clown is most definitely an insult to clowns. He’s more like one of those mask-hating customers at the grocery store.

“You’ve seen them. A Karen, or whatever the name would be in Trump’s case. You can almost hear him saying, ‘I want to talk to the manager about the election, I want to talk to the manager of Twitter or Facebook.’”

This is truly spot-on. Watch below – the report includes video of Trump’s press events which are carefully staged to pretend to be ‘presidential’ instead of being held in front of a golf club.

(h/t JoeMyGod)

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Legal Pundits On Trump Lawsuit: ‘The Trap He Created For Himself’

Donald Trump
On Wednesday, Donald Trump sued Twitter, Facebook and Google for banning him from certain websites, claiming they violated his First Amendment rights. According to the Washington Post, the suits allege “that the companies violated Trump’s First Amendment rights in suspending his accounts and argues that Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, which is owned by Google, no longer should be considered private companies but ‘a state actor’ whose actions are constrained by First Amendment restrictions on government limitations on free speech.” Legal experts were quick to point out the U.S. Constitution is clear that the First Amendment constrains only government actions, not those of private companies. The First Amendment reads: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Bolding is mine. You’ll also notice nowhere in the Constitution is it stated there is a constitutional right to Facebook. Or Twitter. Or YouTube. In an interview with Bill O’Reilly, Trump was told he would have to give a deposition for the legal action to which the Donald said he’d love to talk about the lawsuit, the election and any little thing. But legal pundits say the lawsuit lays its own trap for Trump as he would have to answer many, many, many questions under oath. Keith Olbermann tweeted, “This is the dumbest thing Trump has ever done. It’s wonderful. I remind you from personal experience that when you sue somebody you have to give a multi-day deposition on anything relevant to the topic…in this case, like your role inspiring the 1/6 Coup.”

Former White House counsel John Dean retweeted adding, “This should be a nationally televised deposition…. Please schedule it next week. Don’t move to dismiss, which would be the normal move. Make him deal with the trap he created for himself. He will lose on the merits!”

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Book: Trump Considered Using COVID To Delay Election

Donald Trump speaks at the White House (photo: public domain)
According to an excerpt from the new book by Michael Wolff, “Landslide: The Final Days of the Trump Presidency,” Donald Trump was reportedly exploring ways to postpone the 2020 election last summer. From Yahoo News:

“People can’t get to the polls. It’s a national emergency. Right?” Trump was quoted as saying. Mark Meadows, then the White House chief of staff, stepped up to say that that was not a constitutional possibility, Wolff wrote.

But Trump seemed unconvinced. “I’m sure there might be a way, but … well …” he said, according to Wolff.

Trump again raised the idea a few days later at a debate-preparation session in Bedminster, New Jersey, with Chris Christie, according to Wolff.

“I’m thinking about calling it off,” Trump told Christie, the book says.

According to Wolff, Christie then told him, “You can’t do that, man,” adding: “You do know, you can’t declare martial law. You do know that, right?”

A spokesperson for Trump denied the stories via Twitter.  

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Arizona GOP Official Dodged Trump Phone Calls Seeking To Flip Election Results

Donald Trump has asked a federal court to force Twitter to reinstate his account

Donald Trump (image public domain/White House)
The New York Times reports Donald Trump reached out to the top Republican in Phoenix twice via phone as his aides were attempting to overturn Arizona’s 2020 results, according to the official, who said he let the calls go to voice mail.

Clint Hickman, then the chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, said in an interview on Friday that he let the calls — made in late December and early January — go to voice mail and did not return them. “I told people, ‘Please don’t have the president call me,’” he said.

At the time, Mr. Hickman was being pressed by the state Republican Party chairwoman and Mr. Trump’s lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani to investigate claims of fraud in the county’s election, which Mr. Biden had won by about 45,000 votes.

The Arizona Republic obtained the records of the phone calls from Mr. Trump and Mr. Giuliani after a Freedom of Information Act request.

There were no significant irregularities in Maricopa’s vote tallies, according to election officials there who have repeatedly refuted Trump’s claims.

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High-Ranking Trump Exec Surrenders To Face Charges

Allen Weisselberg

Allen Weisselberg
Allen Weisselberg (image via Trump Organization)
From the New York Times:

Donald J. Trump’s long-serving chief financial officer, Allen H. Weisselberg, surrendered on Thursday to the Manhattan district attorney’s office as he and the Trump Organization prepared to face charges in connection with a tax investigation, people with knowledge of the matter said. As part of that inquiry, the prosecutors in the office of the district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., had been examining whether Mr. Weisselberg failed to pay taxes on valuable benefits he and his family received from Mr. Trump, including private school tuition for at least one of his grandchildren, free apartments and leased cars.

The prosecutors, who are also working with lawyers from the office of the New York State attorney general, Letitia James, have also investigated whether the Trump Organization failed to pay payroll taxes on what should have been taxable income.

You can see Weisselberg self-surrender today in the video clip below.

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News Round-Up: June 25, 2021

Out singer/songwriter KENTÖ

Out singer/songwriter KENTÖ
Out singer/songwriter KENTÖ
Some news items you might have missed: • Nevada Independent: After receiving a cancer diagnosis in March 2020, Shawn Dixon decided she would organize the first-ever Pride parade in her small town of less than 8,000 residents. Her dream of “years and years” will become a reality in Winnemucca, Nevada, on July 16 & 17. • Reuters: Respect LGBT rights or leave the European Union, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told his Hungarian counterpart as the bloc’s leaders confronted Viktor Orban over a law that bans schools from using materials seen as promoting homosexuality. • Instinct Magazine: The valedictorian of a New Jersey high school was almost censored and silenced during his graduation speech by his principal when he began to touch on mental health and his sexuality. But thankfully, the student’s memorization skills saved the day.  

• New York Times: The Manhattan district attorney’s office has informed Donald Trump’s lawyers that criminal charges against his family business, the Trump Organization, in connection with fringe benefits the company awarded its chief financial officer, Allen H. Weisselberg, could be announced as soon as next week. • Justice Dept: Michael Atkinson, 28, Pablo Ceniceros-Deleon, 21, and Daryl Henry, 24, were sentenced to prison terms for their involvement in targeting gay men for violent crimes. The sentences ranged from 11-22 years for luring five men (using the Grindr dating app) to a vacant apartment in Dallas where they held the men at gunpoint, kidnapped, carjacked, and assaulted them. • Out Music: I recently shared the latest from out singer/songwriter Kentö, and today the artist (top photo) drops the official music video for the single, “Silhouette.” “Silhouette” is the first single from Kentö’s upcoming album release, Strangers, slated for release later this year. Kentö shares, “I feel like I’m finally making music that is really expressing the sounds that have been in my head all along.” https://youtu.be/fVUuXa2UHGw

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News Round-Up: June 24, 2021

Bruno the wonder dog

Bruno the wonder dog Some news items you might have missed: • TBT: As I get to spend more afternoons at the cement pond these days, I do miss my bestie Bruno (above) who always made the sunshine that much brighter. Not sad – happy he happened 🙂 • The Hill: A new study shows 52% percent of LGBTQ adults say that someone had threatened them with violence since they were age 18. Sixty-seven percent of LBQ cisgender women, 75 percent of GBQ cis men and 70 percent of transgender people said they had been bullied often or sometimes before age 18. • Pink News: The crowd erupted into cheers at Wednesday evening’s football match between Hungary and Germany when a supporter ran out onto the pitch with a Pride flag as the Hungarian national anthem played. https://www.instagram.com/p/CQgWxFmL0DZ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link • USA Today: Missouri is becoming a cautionary COVID tale for the rest of the country: It is seeing an alarming rise in cases because of a combination of the fast-spreading delta variant and stubborn resistance among many people to getting vaccinated. Intensive care beds are filling up with surprisingly young, unvaccinated patients. • CNN: In the new book, Frankly We Did Win This Election, Michael Bender of the Wall Street Journal reports that Donald Trump would highlight videos that showed law enforcement getting physical with protesters and say, “That’s how you’re supposed to handle these people. Crack their skulls!” Trump also told his team that he wanted the military to go in and “beat the f–k out” of the civil rights protesters. • ABC News: President Biden and a bipartisan group of senators on Thursday announced they had reached a framework $1.2 trillion infrastructure deal after a White House meeting. Biden emphasized that it all comes “without raising a cent from earners below $400,000.” https://www.instagram.com/p/CQhQirxL22S/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

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New Book: Trump Considered Quarantining Americans At Guantánamo

Donald Trump
A new book by Washington Post reporters Damian Paletta and Yasmeen Abutaleb, Nightmare Scenario: Inside the Trump Administration’s Response to the Pandemic That Changed History, sheds new light on the incredible dysfunction in the Trump White House regarding the bungled COVID-19 response. From the Washington Post:

In the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, as White House officials debated whether to bring infected Americans home for care, President Donald Trump suggested his own plan for where to send them, eager to suppress the numbers on U.S. soil.

“Don’t we have an island that we own?” the president reportedly asked those assembled in the Situation Room in February 2020, before the U.S. outbreak would explode. “What about Guantánamo?”

“We import goods,” Trump specified, lecturing his staff. “We are not going to import a virus.”

Aides were stunned, and when Trump brought it up a second time, they quickly scuttled the idea, worried about a backlash over quarantining American tourists on the same Caribbean base where the United States holds terrorism suspects.

The book is based on interviews with over 180 people including White House senior staff members and government health officials.

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Poll: Trust In U.S. President Soars Under Biden In Global Survey

L-R Donald Trump, President Joe Biden
As Joe Biden takes his first trip abroad as president, he has told the world “America is back.” And according to a new global survey by Pew Research Center, the world agrees. From the Washington Post:

Trust in the U.S. president fell to historic lows in most countries surveyed during Donald Trump’s presidency, according to Pew.

Under Biden, it has soared. In the 12 countries surveyed both this year and last, a median of 75 percent of respondents expressed confidence in Biden to “do the right thing regarding world affairs,” Pew found, compared with 17 percent for Trump last year. Sixty-two percent of respondents now have a favorable view of the United States vs. 34 percent at the end of Trump’s presidency.

“The election of Joe Biden as president has led to a dramatic shift in America’s international image,” the Pew report reads.

Additionally, the survey shows the favorability rating for the U.S. grew 23 percentage points from last year in France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom.