Tag: Donald Trump

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Trump Rant: “‘Garbage’ Fox News Doing Nothing To Get Me Re-Elected!”

Donald Trump

In a series of tweets today, Donald Trump called out conservative news channel Fox News for “doing nothing” to help his re-election bid this fall. “Many will disagree, but Fox News is doing nothing to help Republicans, and me, get re-elected on November 3rd,” Trump tweeted. “Sure, there are some truly GREAT people on Fox, but you also have some real ‘garbage’ littered all over the network, people like Dummy Juan Williams, Schumerite Chris Hahn, Richard Goodstein, Donna Brazile, Niel Cavuto, and many others,” he continued. “They repeat the worst of the Democrat speaking points, and lies. All of the good is totally nullified, and more. Net Result = BAD! CNN & MSDNC are all in for the Do Nothing Democrats! Fox WAS Great!”

Considering the news network has been extremely pro-Trump during his administration, the virtual backhand was something of a surprise. Among others, former Republican lawmaker Joe Walsh called Trump out for “whining” and tagged Fox News hosts asking if it’s their job to get Trump re-elected. “The biggest crybaby in the history of this planet whines that Fox News isn’t helping him get re-elected. What say you Bret Baier? Is that your job? To help get Trump re-elected? What say you @ Fox News Sunday? Chris Wallace? What say you Dana Perino? Brit Hume?”

Also in TrumpLand today, the Donald offered this word salad when asked about his most recent test for coronavirus: “I tested very positively, in another sense, this morning. I tested positively toward negative, right? No, I tested perfectly this morning — meaning I tested negative. But that’s a way of saying it: positively toward the negative.” America, I give you – the president of the United States.

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How Joe Biden Wins The 2020 Electoral College

Super-smart guy Doug Sosnik, who was White House political director during President Clinton’s successful reelection race, writes for Axios:

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s most likely paths to 270 Electoral College votes:

1. Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Arizona: Biden wins all three states — his best option, given the political environment. (see above)

2. Michigan and Pennsylvania + two congressional districts — Nebraska-02 and Maine-02.

3. The Rust Belt: Biden wins Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

4. Michigan and the Sunbelt: Biden carries Michigan, Arizona and North Carolina.

5. Florida +1: Biden carries Florida, getting him to 261 electoral votes. A win in any of the other battleground states would put him well past 270.

The bottom line … Biden’s best strategy:

• Make putting Michigan out of reach for Trump the top priority. • Lock up Pennsylvania. • Prioritize winning Arizona, Maine-02 and Nebraska-02. • Focus remaining resources on Wisconsin, North Carolina and Florida.

Read Doug’s full analysis, “The Post-Political-Realignment Electoral College Map,” here.

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Irony Of The Day: Trump Calls Obama ‘Grossly Incompetent’

L-R Former President Barack Obama, Donald Trump
After Barack Obama offered some veiled criticism of the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic during two virtual commencement addresses he gave on Saturday, Donald Trump responded today calling the former president “grossly incompetent.” For over three years, Obama refrained from any comment on the Trump administration despite Donald Trump blaming the former president for a multitude of issues. Those include claims of “broken tests” for the coronavirus (a virus that didn’t exist when Obama left office) and “bare cupboards” of federal medical supplies three years into the Trump administration. But during an online speech to 2020 graduates, Obama referenced the current efforts to end the coronavirus health threat without using Trump’s name. “More than anything, this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain that so many of the folks in charge know what they’re doing,” Obama said during Saturday’s speech. “A lot of them aren’t even pretending to be in charge.” On Sunday, Trump was asked by reporters about Obama’s comments as he entered the White House. “Look, he was an incompetent president, that’s all I can say. Grossly incompetent,” said Trump. It goes without saying that Obama dealt with H1N1 so well that most Americans forgot about it. He also handled Ebola so expertly that only two people contracted it within the U.S. and they both recovered. And, of course, Obama gave Trump a thriving economy and a comprehensive pandemic response plan. Some conservatives denounced Obama for saying anything at all pointing to a tradition of previous presidents withholding criticism of their successors. But, Trump has spent three years blaming Obama for everything he possibly can, which is also, a break from tradition. My take is: Trump set the tone with his attacks on the previous administration. At some point, you do begin to reap what you sow. So, there’s that…

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Obama: Pandemic Has Torn Back Curtain On Idea Folks In Charge Know What They’re Doing

Former President Barack Obama (screen capture)
During a virtual commencement address to the graduates of 74 historically black colleges and universities across the United States on Saturday, former President Barack Obama took a veiled swipe at the nation’s leaders for the inconsistent handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying “a lot of them are not even pretending to be in charge.” He also referenced the shooting death of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery, a black man shot in Georgia while jogging through a white neighborhood when two white men attempted to stop him.

“You’re being asked to find your way in the world in the middle of a devastating pandemic and terrible recession. The timing is not ideal. And let’s be honest. A disease like this just spotlights the underlying inequalities and extra burdens that black communities have historically had to deal with in this country.

“We see it in the disproportionate impact of covid-19 on our communities, just as we see it when a black man goes for a jog, and some folks feel like they can stop and question and shoot him if he doesn’t submit to their questioning.

“Injustice like this isn’t new. What is new is that so much of your generation has woken up to the fact that the status quo needs fixing; that the old ways of doing things don’t work; that it doesn’t matter how much money you make if everyone around you is hungry and sick; and that our society and democracy only works when we think not just about ourselves, but about each other.

“More than anything, this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that the folks in charge know what they’re doing. A lot of them aren’t even pretending to be in charge.”

Cue the Trump Twitter rant in 3, 2, 1…

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Trump Praises Protesters Anti-Media Behavior “Great People!”

On Thursday, a local TV reporter tweeted video footage of him being berated by anti-shutdown protesters in the New York City borough of Long Island shouting “fake news” and “the enemy of the people.” “You’re disgusting. You are the virus!” shouted one attendee. “Traitor!” said another. News 12 Long Island reporter Kevin Vesey shared the video writing, “The level of anger directed at the media from these protestors was alarming. As always, I will tell a fair and unbiased story today.” In the video you can see people getting in Vesey’s face using anti-media rhetoric. Extremely disconcerting. Making matters worse, Donald Trump, who opened the door for this ever-devolving public discourse, retweeted the video attacking the reporter with his own ugly attacks of “FAKE NEWS IS NOT ESSENTIAL” and praising the protesters as “great people!” Sad.

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Medical Journal: Trump’s ‘Inconsistent And Incoherent’ COVID-19 Response

Donald Trump speaks to reporters at the White House (screen capture)
As the U.S. COVID-19 death toll passes 85,000, one of the world’s oldest and best-known medical journals published an op-ed calling out the Trump administration’s ” inconsistent and incoherent national response to the COVID-19 crisis.” The new editorial by The Lancet notes that, following two months of stay-at-home restrictions, infection and death rates have declined in those states hardest hit like New Jersey and New York. But recent outbreaks in Iowa and Minnesota raise disconcerting questions regarding the effectiveness of the federal response. The op-ed accuses the administration of, among other things, minimizing top officials at the CDC, as well as creating an “intelligence vacuum” in China when it pulled the last CDC officer from the country in July 2019. “The Administration is obsessed with magic bullets — vaccines, new medicines, or a hope that the virus will simply disappear,” it continued. “But only a steadfast reliance on basic public health principles, like test, trace, and isolate, will see the emergency brought to an end, and this requires an effective national public health agency.” The editorial closes with a call for new leadership in the White House writing, “Americans must put a president in the White House come January 2021, who will understand that public health should not be guided by partisan politics.” Meanwhile, during a press event today, Trump told reporters the country will overcome the COVID-19 crisis with or without an effective vaccine, claiming that the disease will “go away at some point” either way.

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Swing State: Biden Leads Trump By 6 Points In Florida Poll

You see a lot of chatter on social media along the lines of “Ignore the polls, they were all wrong in 2016.” In truth, ALL the polls weren’t wrong. If you look at the RealClearPolitics average of polls at the end of the 2016 campaign, Hillary Clinton led Trump by an average of 3.2 points. Remember, national polls basically gauge the popular vote. Hillary won the popular vote by 2.1 points, off by a point which just about every polling organization would give you as margin of error. My point being national polling might give a sense of the electorate at a given time but it won’t predict the election. If you want to follow the race, watch the six or seven swing states (Wisconsin, Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Arizona, Minnesota) that will decide the election. I say “decide” because let’s face it, we know California and New York will go blue. We know Tennessee and Indiana will go red. Which brings me to today’s polling from Florida, where Trump beat Hillary by just 1.2 points. According to a Florida Atlantic University poll released today, former Vice President Joe Biden leads Donald Trump by 6 points in the Sunshine State. The survey, conducted May 8-12 shows Biden with 53 percent support while Trump garnered 47 percent. The same poll in March showed Trump with a slight lead, 51 percent to 49.

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Trump Says New Coronavirus Stimulus Package ‘Dead On Arrival’

Donald Trump speaks at the White House (photo: public domain)
Donald Trump says the new coronavirus relief package being worked out in Congress is a ‘no go’ before it even has a vote. From NBC News:

“DOA. Dead on arrival. Of course, Nancy Pelosi knows that,” he told reporters Wednesday at the White House.

About one-third of the $3 trillion legislation is relief for state, local and tribal governments, which many Republicans are resisting.

The measure also includes assistance to essential workers, an extension of unemployment insurance beyond July, another round of $1,200 direct cash payments and various other measures that are unlikely to gain bipartisan support but serve as an opening bid for Democrats.

Trump ripped into election-related provisions that would require 15 consecutive days of early voting and the option for every American to vote by mail through an absentee ballot, rules that would take effect starting in the 2020 presidential contest.

“Mail-in ballots is subject to tremendous corruption. Tremendous corruption, cheating. And so I’m against it,” Trump said. “And if you look at the bill that Nancy Pelosi is putting in, it has a lot to do with elections. We’re not going to lose elections because of that.”

As NBC News notes, ‘voter fraud’ is an often repeated lie for Trump. But even though he says it over and over, the truth is several studies and investigations by election experts have looked into the issue and no widespread fraud has ever been found. In fact, five state handle their elections completely by mail-in voting: Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and Utah. Additionally, Trump recently admitted that HE voted in Florida’s recent election by mail. And hundreds of thousands of military service members participate in the electoral process by mail every cycle. Trump’s issue with mail-in voting is it enables more Americans to take part, and higher turnout tends to favor the Democratic party.

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Supreme Court Hears Arguments On Subpoenas For Trump Financials

The current U.S. Supreme Court (image: public domain)
The U.S. Supreme Court heard three hours of oral arguments today in multiple cases regarding whether Congressional committees or district attorneys can subpoena the financial records of a president. Donald Trump is trying to fight two sets of subpoenas — one from three House committees and another from Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance. Reading several legal experts, Vance’s office appeared to have fared better during today’s oral arguments than the House’s lawyer. From the New York Times:

The court’s ruling, expected by July, could require disclosure of information the president has gone to extraordinary lengths to protect. Or the justices could rule that Mr. Trump’s financial affairs are not legitimate subjects of inquiry.

But some of the justices’ questions raised a third possibility: that the court could return the cases to lower courts for reconsideration under stricter standards. That would have the incidental effect of deferring a final decision beyond the 2020 presidential election.

The first argument of two the court heard, which dealt with the congressional investigations, seemed to go better for Mr. Trump.

The justices seemed more skeptical of the president’s case during the second argument, in which Jay Sekulow, a lawyer for Mr. Trump, argued that he was absolutely immune from criminal investigation while he remained in office.

The subpoenas ask for documents from Trump’s accountants or bankers, not from Trump himself. The firms have previously said they are willing to comply with the court’s ruling. Chief Justice John Roberts appears to be an apparent swing vote in the eventual ruling.

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Obama: Trump Response To COVID-19 ‘An Absolute Chaotic Disaster’

Speaking with previous members of his administration on a private call, former President Barack Obama called Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus a “chaotic disaster.” He also shared deep concerns about the Department of Justice’s announcement to drop charges against former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. “The news over the last 24 hours I think has been somewhat downplayed — about the Justice Department dropping charges against Michael Flynn,” said Obama in a recording obtained by Yahoo News. “And the fact that there is no precedent that anybody can find for someone who has been charged with perjury just getting off scot-free. That’s the kind of stuff where you begin to get worried that basic — not just institutional norms — but our basic understanding of rule of law is at risk.” Underscoring the importance of supporting former Vice President Joe Biden in the upcoming election, Obama referenced trends in politics today in which “selfish, being tribal, being divided, and seeing others as an enemy — that has become a stronger impulse in American life.” “And by the way, we’re seeing that internationally as well,” he added. “It’s part of the reason why the response to this global crisis has been so anemic and spotty.” “It would have been bad even with the best of governments. It has been an absolute chaotic disaster when that mindset — of ‘what’s in it for me’ and ‘to heck with everybody else’ — when that mindset is operationalized in our government.” You can hear the recording at Yahoo News.