Tag: Donald Trump

Posted on

Trump To Georgia Officials: ‘Find 11,780 Votes’

Donald Trump

Donald Trump
Donald Trump (screen capture)
In an extraordinary phone call between Donald Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Trump urged Raffensperger to “find 11,780” so the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia could be reversed. The hour-long phone call was obtained by the Washington Post. From the Washington Post:

“The people of Georgia are angry, the people in the country are angry,” he [Trump] said. “And there’s nothing wrong with saying, you know, um, that you’ve recalculated.”

Raffensperger responded: “Well, Mr. President, the challenge that you have is, the data you have is wrong.”

At another point, Trump said: “So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state.”

The rambling, at times incoherent conversation, offered a remarkable glimpse of how consumed and desperate the president remains about his loss, unwilling or unable to let the matter go and still believing he can reverse the results in enough battleground states to remain in office.

“There’s no way I lost Georgia,” Trump said, a phrase he repeated again and again on the call. “There’s no way. We won by hundreds of thousands of votes.”

You can listen to the excerpts below.

In addition to being harmful to our democratic process, Trump’s desperation is really very sad and pathetic. He continued his empty, baseless claims on Twitter, of course.

Posted on

Congress Overrides Trump Defense Bill Veto

Donald Trump

Donald Trump
Donald Trump (image via Flickr/White House)
And stay out! In a virtual backhand, the Senate voted today to override Donald Trump’s veto of the $740 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). From the Washington Post:

The Senate on Friday voted to turn a $741 billion defense authorization bill into law over President Trump’s objections, delivering the first successful veto override of his presidency in the waning days of his administration.

The 81-to-13 vote in the Senate, just days after the House also voted in overwhelming numbers to back the legislation, was one of two rare rebukes of Trump on Friday from Republican lawmakers.

Ahead of the vote on rejecting the president’s veto, Senate Republicans blocked a Trump-endorsed effort to increase the size of stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000.

The House of Representatives voted 322-87 on Monday to overturn Trump’s veto. This is the only veto override of Trump’s presidency. The defense bill, which funds the armed forces, also includes a pay increase for the men and women in our military. Normally, this is a bill that gets widespread bipartisan support. But Trump wanted legislation to allow lawsuits against tech companies like Twitter, which the Donald longs to sue because they’ve taken to tagging his disinformation tweets with warning signs. He also opposed language in the defense bill that would rename 10 military bases currently named after Confederate leaders.

Posted on

NY Times: Trump Didn’t Want Folks COVID Tested Unless In ER And Vomiting

Donald Trump

Donald Trump
Donald Trump (photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr – CC License)
The New York Times spoke to several White House insiders regarding the whys and wherefores of Donald Trump’s failed response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The upshot seems to be practically every decision was predicated on: what would it mean for Trump? Between Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and not-an-infectious-expert Dr. Scott Atlas bending to Trump’s ego, scientists and doctors had a tough time getting solid health policy implemented. Trump thought wearing face masks wouldn’t appeal to his base, so he didn’t really encourage their use. And he really hated how the positivity rate of testing ‘made him look bad.’ Trump reportedly didn’t want folks tested for COVID until they were so sick they landed in an emergency room and were vomiting. From the New York Times:

It was a warm summer Wednesday, Election Day was looming and President Trump was even angrier than usual at the relentless focus on the coronavirus pandemic.

“You’re killing me! This whole thing is! We’ve got all the damn cases,” Mr. Trump yelled at Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and senior adviser, during a gathering of top aides in the Oval Office on Aug. 19. “I want to do what Mexico does. They don’t give you a test till you get to the emergency room and you’re vomiting.”

Mexico’s record in fighting the virus was hardly one for the United States to emulate. But the president had long seen testing not as a vital way to track and contain the pandemic but as a mechanism for making him look bad by driving up the number of known cases.

“I’m going to lose,” Trump told Kushner during one exchange. “And it’s going to be your fault, because of the testing.” In another episode, Jared Kushner and Hope Hicks tried to get Trump to embrace face mask use but with Meadows and adviser Stephen Miller pushing back, the Donald refused. Read the full report at the New York Times.

Posted on

Donald Trump Calls For Georgia Governor To Resign

A prosecutor in Georgia is reportedly in the early stages of investigating Donald Trump for attempting to overturn the election results in the state

A highway sign indicating the Georgia state line Donald Trump called for the Republican governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp, to resign from office today because Kemp wouldn’t attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. After counting the ballots three times in the Peach State, the results show President-elect Joe Biden won the state by 12,000 votes. Trump also tried to allege that some kind of conspiracy theory that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s brother works for China and somehow figures into the mix. By the way, did I mention Brad Raffensperger doesn’t have a brother? In related news, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reports an audit of over 15,000 voter signatures from the election didn’t find a single fraudulent absentee ballot as Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed. The report by the Georgia secretary of state’s office released Tuesday. From the AJC: “There were 10 absentee ballots that had been accepted but voter signatures didn’t match or signatures were missing, according to the report. But agents from the GBI and investigators with the secretary of state’s office contacted those voters and confirmed they had submitted those ballots.”

Posted on

Donald Trump Signs Stimulus Bill, Wins Nothing With Delay

Donald Trump (screen capture)

Donald Trump signed the new stimulus package approved by a bipartisan Congress after days of delays
Donald Trump during ABC News Town Hall (screen capture)
UPDATE: After waiting days to sign the stimulus package passed in Congress by overwhelming margins and negotiated with Donald Trump’s Treasury Secretary as his stand-in, Trump finally signed off on the package. His delay may have cost Americans on unemployment $300 each in enhanced federal benefits, thank you very much. Politico rightfully ripped Trump a new one:

THAT’S IT? President DONALD TRUMP made all this noise about the Covid relief and government funding bill only to sign it and get nothing in return?

TRUMP got taken to the cleaners.

WHAT A BIZARRE, embarrassing episode for the president. He opposed a bill his administration negotiated. He had no discernible strategy and no hand to play — and it showed. He folded, and got nothing besides a few days of attention and chaos. People waiting for aid got a few days of frightening uncertainty.

ZIP. ZERO. ZILCH. If he was going to give up this easy, he should’ve just kept quiet and signed the bill. It would’ve been less embarrassing.

The Washington Post reports Donald Trump has signaled to aides he will sign the stimulus and spending bills passed by Congress potentially avoiding a crisis.

President Trump has indicated that he will sign the stimulus bill into law before Monday night’s deadline and avert a government shutdown, two people familiar with his plans said Sunday evening, a move that would release $900 billion in stimulus funds as soon as possible.

Trump’s new decision to sign the bill came less than a week after he demanded changes to it and had suggested he would refuse to sign it into law. On Tuesday, he referred to the bill as a “disgrace” but he signaled on Sunday he would sign it after all.

The government was set to shut down on Tuesday if Trump did not sign the bill into law. The spending package also included a new round of stimulus checks, unemployment aid, and small business assistance, among other things.

Folks close to Trump say it’s still not a done deal as the Donald has apparently changed his mind on signing the bill several times. The bipartisan bill that was negotiated with Trump’s Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, was overwhelmingly passed in both chambers of Congress. Trump threw an unexpected wrench into the deal when he suddenly demanded $2,000 checks (instead of $600) to be sent to all eligible Americans.

Posted on

Trump: Florida ‘Doing Well’ Without ‘Lockdowns’ As State Passes 21K Deaths From COVID

New York state is about to drop its face mask mandate as COVID-19 cases continue to drop in the Empire State.

Donald Trump tweeted today criticism about the pandemic situation in California adding that Florida is “open & doing well.” According to the Orlando Sentinel, Florida added 17,042 positive COVID-19 cases today bringing its total to 1,264,588 as the death toll from the virus has risen to 21,135. The Sunshine State has a population of around 21.5 million, which breaks down to one in 17 people in the state who have now tested positive for the virus. California has almost double the population (39.5 million) of Florida and has fewer cases per capita than Florida. Across the U.S., one in 18 have tested positive for the virus, and one in 98 globally. So, no – that’s not doing “well.”

Posted on

Donald Trump Continues Whining As Americans Face Losing Unemployment Benefits

Donald Trump plays golf and complains on Twitter as unemployment benefits for 14 million Americans expire today While approximately 14 million Americans are facing the expiration of their unemployment benefits today, Donald Trump is maintaining a full schedule of golf and griping about his failed reelection attempt. Trump surprised Congress by denouncing the recent COVID relief bill which was considered a done deal after being hammered out between House and Senate leaders alongside Trump’s own Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin. After the passage of the stimulus package, which would extend unemployment benefits for those affected by the pandemic, Donald Trump threw a grenade into the negotiations demanding $2,000 payments to eligible Americans. Democrats say they are down for the increased checks, but Republicans have said that figure is dead on arrival in the Senate. Trump also wants legal protections for tech companies (like Twitter which has regularly tagged his tweets as ‘disinformation’) to be terminated so they can be sued. CBS News reported that the coronavirus relief and government spending bill was being flown to Florida Thursday evening for the president to sign — or veto — should he choose to do so. Amid his post-Christmas Twitter rant, Trump blamed Republicans for not fighting to overturn the results of the presidential election, as well as the “Justice” department and the FBI. The Donald also attacked the Supreme Court for refusing to take a look at “absolute proof” of “massive election fraud” that allegedly took place. Meanwhile, dozens of Team Trump lawsuits have failed in courts across the nation. Many of those challenges were ruled against by Republican-appointed judges, and even Trump appointees.

Posted on

Fox News Poll: 42% Say Trump ‘One Of The Worst Presidents’ In History

Donald Trump (image via Flickr/WhiteHouse – public domain)
A new poll from Fox News Channel (of all places!) does not reflect well on Donald Trump and his presidency. Some of the results of the new survey: • 55% of respondents say the U.S. is worse off now than four years ago compared with 32% who say things are better • A majority (52%) disapprove of the job Trump has done versus 47% who give the Donald a thumbs-up • Trump’s best marks come on his handling of the economy which 52% approve of, but he’s underwater when it comes to foreign policy, the pandemic, immigration or health care • 42% of those polled say Trump will be viewed as one of the worst presidents in the nation’s history, only 22% believe he’s one of the best
(graphic via Fox News)
Click over to Fox News for a full rundown of the results.

Posted on

Bill Barr Trolls Trump In Final Press Conference

Attorney General Bill Barr (image via Flickr/WhiteHouse – public domain)
For a guy who couldn’t stand up enough for Donald Trump, Bill Barr had no problem clapping back at the Donald during his last press conference as Attorney General. In the wake of reports that the Trumpster is mulling over declaring martial law and seizing voting machines, calling for a special counsel to investigate Joe Biden’s son, Hunter; and deflecting blame from Russia for the recent cyber attacks on multiple federal agencies, Barr now publicly disagrees with Trump on: Voter fraud: “I see no basis now for seizing machines by the federal government. … If I thought a special counsel at this stage was the right tool and was inappropriate, I would name one. But I haven’t and I’m not going to.” The recent SolarWinds cyber hack: “From the information that I have, I agree with Secretary Pompeo’s assessment. It certainly appears to be the Russians, but I’m not going to discuss it beyond that.” Hunter Biden: “I think to the extent that there is an investigation, I think that it’s being handled responsibly and professionally, currently within the department. And to this point, I have not seen a reason to appoint a special counsel. And I have no plan to do so before I leave.”

Posted on

Romney: Trump Has ‘A Blind Spot When It Comes To Russia’

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) didn’t tiptoe around his thoughts on how Donald Trump is handling his final days in the White House. Asked about Trump’s response to recent cyber-attacks on government and major corporations this week – attributed to Russia – the 2012 Republican presidential candidate told CNN’s Jake Tapper Trump has “a blind spot when it comes to Russia and so you can expect that that’s the response he would have.” Romney also said that “it’s sad in a lot of respects” how the Donald is “casting about” railing about his reelection loss when he could be taking a victory lap with the rollout of the coronavirus vaccines.