Category: Authoritarian

Fox News Hosts Hannity, Pirro Shill For Trump at Rally: ‘All Those People in the Back are Fake News’

Fox News host Sean Hannity denied that he would campaign on stage during President Donald Trump‘s final rally before the midterm elections, but as it turns out… that’s exactly what happened.

Hannity was billed by the Trump campaign as a “special guest” for the president’s speaking engagement in Missouri, even though he originally insisted that he would only interview the president backstage and host his show from the venue.

A Fox News spokesperson also told Mediaite that “Hannity will only be hosting his show from that location and interviewing the president.”

Hannity mingled with the crowd and hosted his show in front of the rallygoers, before interviewing the president. Eventually, he was summoned to the podium by Trump, where he started by taking aim at media covering the rally.

“All those people in the back are fake news,” Hannity said.

Hannity insisted that he had no idea Trump was going to invite him up, nonetheless, he showered Trump with the praises he had in his opening monologue from earlier in the evening.

Fox News host Jeanine Pirro was also at the rally as part of Hannity’s show, so Trump eventually invited her to the stage as well, and she too delivered litany of compliments for the president.

“If you like the America that he is making now, you’ve got to make sure you get out there tomorrow if you haven’t voted yet, everyone you know…get them out there to vote for Donald Trump and all the people who are running for the Republican Party,” Pirro said.

Interestingly, Fox News did not carry the speech live.

[Mediaite]

Trump on prospect of Dems demanding his tax returns: ‘They can do whatever they want’

President Trump on Monday downplayed the possibility that Democrats could demand his tax returns if they retake control of the House in Tuesday’s elections.

“I don’t care. They can do whatever they want and I can do whatever I want,” Trump said when asked if he was concerned Democrats may go after his tax returns if they win the majority.

Trump spoke to reporters upon arriving in Fort Wayne, Ind., for one of three campaign rallies he was set to hold on Monday. He suggested that a Democratic majority would force the White House to “have to work a little bit differently.”

“It’ll all work out but I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Trump said, expressing confidence in Republicans’ chances on Tuesday. “I think we’re doing very well in the House. I think we’re doing very well in the Senate.”

Democrats and critics of the president have suggested that Trump’s tax returns could reveal potential conflicts of interest, and liberal groups have urged Democratic lawmakers to demand the president’s filings should they regain control of the House.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said last month that compelling Trump to turn over his tax returns would be “one of the first things we’d do” if Democrats win back the House majority.

Under federal tax law, the chairmen of congressional tax committees can request tax returns from the Treasury Department and review them in a closed session before voting to make all or parts of the returns public.

While Trump may protest such a request, the decision would ultimately fall to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Mnuchin told The New York Times earlier this month that he would work with the department’s general counsel and the general counsel for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to address any requests should Democrats win the House.

The president broke with decades of precedent when he opted not to release his tax returns during the 2016 presidential campaign.

The White House has repeatedly brushed off questions about releasing Trump’s taxes after the election, claiming the documents were under audit and therefore could not be made public. Financial experts, reporters and lawmakers have noted that the president could still request that they be released.

Calls for Trump to release his returns intensified following a New York Times report that cited records and interviews indicating the president engaged in “dubious” tax practices to shield income from his father’s real estate empire from taxes. Trump and the White House blasted the story, though they did not refute specific claims.

[The Hill]

Trump defends controversial ad, telling reporter ‘your questions are offensive a lot of times’

President Trump on Monday responded to critics calling his controversial anti-immigration ad “offensive” by saying “a lot of things are offensive.”

A reporter asked Trump about the widespread controversy over the ad, which NBC and Fox pulled from the airwaves on Monday.

“I don’t know about it,” Trump said. “We have a lot of ads. And they certainly are effective, based on the numbers that we’re seeing.”

“A lot of things are offensive,” the president told a reporter pressing him over the ad. “Your questions are offensive a lot of times so, you know.”

The ad, paid for by the Trump campaign, links the so-called migrant caravan heading towards the southern border with Luis Bracamontes, a man convicted of killing two U.S. police officers. It accuses Democrats of seeking to bring people like Bracamontes into the U.S., particularly through the caravan.

Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler gave Trump “four Pinocchios” for claiming in the ad that Democrats brought Bracamontes back into the country. A review of court records by the Post reveals his case was handled primarily by Republicans.

CNN over the weekend said the ad is “racist,” saying the network declined the opportunity to be paid to air the ad.

The ad comes as Trump has leaned into immigration as an issue to stoke his base ahead of Tuesday’s elections.

[The Hill]

Trump accuses CNN of ‘Fake Suppression Polls and false rhetoric’

President Trump on Monday accused CNN of promoting “fake Suppression Polls and false rhetoric” one day before the 2018 midterm elections.

“So funny to see the CNN Fake Suppression Polls and false rhetoric,” Trump tweeted. “Watch for real results Tuesday.”

“Don’t fall for the Suppression Game,” he added. “Go out & VOTE.”

He ended the tweet by touting the country’s impressive economic growth.

Trump’s tweet came hours after a new CNN poll showed Democrats continuing to hold a double-digit lead over Republicans in a generic congressional ballot among likely voters.

The poll also found Trump’s approval rating at 39 percent overall, with a 55 percent of those polled disapproving of his job performance. That is the worst pre-election approval rating for any president ahead of their first midterm election, CNN reported.

Other polls indicate slightly higher approval ratings for Trump, with polling analysis website FiveThirtyEight placing him at a 41.9 percent approval rating on Nov. 5.

A Harvard-Harris poll released last week found Trump’s approval rating at 44 percent among registered voters and 46 percent among likely voters.

Thirty-three percent of registered voters in the poll said their midterm election votes will be a signal of support for Trump while 40 percent said it will be a signal of opposition to the president. Twenty-seven percent said they are not voting according to their disposition on Trump.

An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll in late October found Trump’s approval rating ahead of the midterm elections at a higher level than former President Obama’s ahead of the 2010 midterms.

The poll found Trump’s approval rating at its highest level for that poll yet, at 47 percent. Obama’s approval rating was at 45 percent around the same time in 2010, according to a similar NBC/Wall Street Journal poll taken in late October 2010.

The new CNN poll surveyed 1,151 likely voters between Nov. 1-3 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent.

Most polls have Democrats at an advantage on generic congressional ballots and the party is widely expected to win back the House on Tuesday.

[The Hill]

Trump Says He Told U.S. Military at Border to ‘Consider it a Rifle’ if Migrants Throw Rocks

During an address on immigration from the White House on Thursday, President Donald Trump took questions from the press.

At one point, in response to a question from a reporter about if he would foresee a situation where the military may fire on the Central American migrants making their way to the border, he said that the United States military will consider a rock held in the hands of migrants the same as a firearm.

“I will tell you this, anybody throwing stones, rocks, like they did to Mexico and the Mexican military, Mexican police, where they badly hurt police and soldiers of Mexico, we will consider that a firearm,” Trump said. “Because there’s not much difference. When you get hit in the face with a rock, which as you know, that was very violent a few days ago. Very, very violent.”

Then a little while later he doubled down, saying that he considers a rock like a rifle: “They’re throwing rocks, viciously, and violently. You saw that three days ago. Really hurting the military. We’re not going to put up with that. They want to throw rocks at our military, our military fights back. We’re gonna consider, and I told them consider it a rifle. When they throw rocks like they did at the Mexico military and police, I say consider it a rifle.”

Just one week ago, in an interview with Fox News, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen downplayed the possibility of the US military opening fire on the migrants, saying, “We do not have any intention right now to shoot at people…They will be apprehended, however.”

[Mediaite]

Trump says he tells the truth, “when I can”

President Trump, who has frequently made false and misleading statements while in office, told ABC News’ Jon Karl that he tried to tell the truth, “when [he] can”.

“Well, I try. I do try … When I can, I tell the truth. And sometimes it turns out to be where something happens that’s different or there’s a change, but I always like to be truthful.”

By the numbers: The Washington Post’s Fact Checker reported last month that Trump made more than 5,000 false or misleading statements in the first 601 days of his presidency, an average of 8.3 claims a day.

[Axios]

Trump Defends Calling Media ‘Enemy of the People’: ‘It’s My Only Form of Fighting Back’

In a newly-released portion of Axios’ interview with Donald Trump, the president once again defended his anti-media rhetoric while brushing off the idea that someone will eventually get hurt because of it.

After asking Trump about his idea to roll back birthright citizenship, Jim VandeHei used multiple points of the interview to question Trump over the implications of calling the press the “enemy of the people.” VandeHei noted that Trump has a major platform between his rallies and his status as president, so he said “there’s got to be a part of you that’s like: ‘Dammit, I’m scared that someone is gonna take it too far.’”

“I think I’m doing a service [by attacking the press] when people write stories about me that are so wrong,” Trump responded. “I know what I do good and what I do bad. I really get it, OK? I really get it better than anybody in the whole world.”

Trump’s remarks come after CNN – one of his favorite media punching bags – was targeted by multiple bomb threats that came through the mail in recent days. These IED packages were allegedly sent by one of the president’s supporters who was arrested last week on suspicion of being the perpetrator for the attempted mail bombing campaign.

Trump continues to bash the media and various critics who were targeted by the recent threats, and judging by his remarks to Axios, he feels no responsibility for how supporters of his may react to his riling them up against the press.

“It’s my only form of fighting back,” Trump said. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t do that.”

[Mediaite]

Trump Goes After the Media for Coverage of His Pittsburgh Visit: Trying to Spread ‘Anger and Division’

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump held a rally in Florida where talk quickly turned to pointing fingers at the media for sowing “anger and division” in wake of the tragedy in Pittsburgh.

Trump started out by addressing the horrific slaughter of 11 at a Pittsburgh area synagogue on Saturday.

He then talked about his visit to the city, a visit that was met by protesters.

Earlier today, Trump said that there was only a “small protest” in Pittsburgh, something the Washington Post and other outlets noted was not quite accurate.

Yet speaking of the visit at the rally, Trump doubled down.

“Yesterday’s visit to Pittsburgh was about coming together as a nation to comfort and to heal,” Trump began.

Then, venting against the media, the President of the United States said this: “After this day of unity and togetherness, I came home and sadly turned on the news and watched as the far left media once again used tragedy to sow anger and division.”

The crowd booed at the mention of the media.

“Sadly, they took a small group of protesters, far away from where we were because we could not have been treated better,” Trump continued on. “The first lady and myself, but we’re representing the presidency, and they did everything in their power to try to play it up and push people apart. That’s what’s happening.”

The crowd booed again.

“It was fake, and it was make-believe what they said. I came home, looked forward to seeing it, and it was sad,” Trump further opined. “When we talk about division, this is a big part of the division, right there. The far left media has spread terrible lies and stories about the Trump Administration and the tens of millions of people who make up our great movement, the greatest political movement in the history of our country.”

[Mediaite]

Trump Uses ‘Enemy of the People’ Line Attacking ‘Fake News’ to Cheers at FL Rally

Once again President Donald Trump used the line “enemy of the people” to attack the “fake news” at his Florida rally tonight.

Trump opened by talking about his visit to Pittsburgh and bashing the media for critical coverage of the visit.

He moved on and talked about the great “movement” of his supporters, but as he listed successes of his administration, he went back to attacking the press:

“We have forcefully condemned hatred, bigotry, racism, and prejudice in all of its ugly forms, but the media doesn’t want you to hear your story. It’s not my story, it’s your story. And that’s why 33 percent of the people in this country believe the fake news is, in fact––and I hate to say this––in fact, the enemy of the people.”

The crowd cheered.

Trump went on to say that the media should stop stoking resentment.

[Mediaite]

Trump Blasts Paul Ryan for Contradicting Him on Birthright Citizenship: ‘Something He Knows Nothing About’

President Donald Trump ripped into Paul Ryan on Wednesday over his comments on birthright citizenship, in a stunning rebuke of his own party’s House Speaker just a week before the midterm elections.

“Paul Ryan should be focusing on holding the Majority rather than giving his opinions on Birthright Citizenship, something he knows nothing about!” Trump tweeted. “Our new Republican Majority will work on this, Closing the Immigration Loopholes and Securing our Border!”

The Wisconsin Republican broke with Trump on Tuesday when he rejected the president’s expressed desire to end birthright citizenship through executive order.

Ryan said in a radio interview that Trump “cannot end birthright citizenship with an executive order.”

[Mediaite]

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