Category: Anti-American

Trump: Some governors have gone too far on coronavirus restrictions

President Trump on Sunday said he believes some governors have “gone too far” in imposing restrictions meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Trump told reporters at a White House briefing that he did not have an issue with the protesters who have flouted social distancing guidelines to voice displeasure with the restrictions, which have shuttered businesses and spiked unemployment.

“Some have gone too far. Some governors have gone too far. Some of the things that happened are maybe not so appropriate,” Trump said. “And I think in the end it’s not going to matter because we’re starting to open up our states, and I think they’re going to open up very well.”

“As far as protesters, you know, I see protesters for all sorts of things,” he added. “And I’m with everybody. I’m with everybody.”

The president initially declined to specify any particular governor he thought had gone too far before knocking Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) and Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D), suggesting the latter deserved to be protested for signing new gun laws.

“If you take Michigan, there were things in Michigan that I don’t think they were necessary or appropriate. Everyone knows that,” the president said. “I think the governor of Michigan — we’re getting along very well — but I think the governor of Michigan probably knows that.”

Whitmer has seen her name floated as a possible vice presidential pick, which may have made her a bigger target for Trump.

Trump has in recent days sympathized with protesters who turned out by the hundreds in states across the country, flouting the same social distancing guidelines the White House has put in place to stamp out the virus that urge Americans to avoid gatherings of 10 or more people.

The president on Friday threw his support behind protesters in Minnesota, Michigan and Virginia who held demonstrations to oppose stay-at-home orders and other restrictions meant to curb the spread of the virus, calling to “LIBERATE” those states. All three are run by Democratic governors.

Small protests have formed in recent days in Michigan, Ohio, Virginia, Minnesota, Texas and Florida, with others planned for the coming week. Some demonstrators have waved Trump flags or worn apparel bearing the president’s name.

Trump said the protesters he’s seen in press coverage are showing a “love of our country.”

State leaders have expressed concern that Trump’s call for liberation could foment civil unrest and encourage the demonstrations. Public health experts have warned that the large gatherings could further spread the virus, extending the need for social distancing. 

The coronavirus has infected more than 755,000 people in the U.S. as of Sunday night, according to Johns Hopkins University data, and killed more than 40,000.

The White House’s phased approach to reopening the U.S. economy calls for governors to make the final determination on when they can lift social distancing guidelines. But Trump’s continued acceptance of the protests threatens to incite further animosity toward state leaders. 

Vice President Pence said during Sunday’s briefing that Americans should “heed your state and local authorities.”

The president has been adamant about the need to reopen the economy, which has been a central tenet of his reelection campaign. But he insisted on Sunday that the lifting of restrictions would prioritize safety.

“There are a lot of great things happening, and we’re going to start to open our country,” he said. “It’s like a beautiful puzzle.”

[The Hill]

Donald Trump Threatens to Close Congress Unilaterally

At his coronavirus press conference on Wednesday, President Donald Trump issued a stunning threat-slash-promise-slash-constitutional fantasy. Complaining that Democrats were blocking his judicial appointees, the president said that the Senate should either end its current pro forma session and come back to Washington amidst a pandemic to approve his appointees or officially adjourn so that he can make recess appointments. “The Senate has left Washington until at least May 4,” Trump said. “The Constitution provides a mechanism for the president to fill positions in such circumstances, the recess appointment it’s called. The Senate’s practice of gaveling into so-called pro forma sessions where no one is even there has prevented me from using the constitutional authority that we’re given under the recess provisions. The Senate should either fulfill its duty and vote on my nominees or it should formally adjourn so that I can make recess appointments.”

“If the House will not agree to that adjournment,” he continued, “I will exercise my constitutional authority to adjourn both chambers of Congress. The current practice of leaving of town while conducting phony pro forma sessions is a dereliction of duty that the American people cannot afford during this crisis. It is a scam what they do.”

Trump is likely referencing Article 2, Section 3 of the Constitution, which provides that the president can “on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper.” Does he have the power to actually do this, though? According to this 1964 article from the New York Times the Senate Parliamentarian issued an opinion in that year, regarding presidential authority to adjourn Congress: “The answer is yes—but only under, certain unusual circumstances. These conditions are so limited that a President has never exercised the power to adjourn Congress.”

The clause as written seems to require that the president can only force the Senate to adjourn “in Case of Disagreement between them,” which suggests that it operates in cases where the House and Senate disagree about a date for adjournment. But the House and Senate have already agreed on a date: Jan 3, 2021.

Trump, it seems, needs Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and a majority of Senators to come back to Washington to adjourn the Senate, which would then trigger a disagreement with the House of Representatives, as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi would presumably then refuse to adjourn. On Wednesday, McConnell’s office said that he had spoken with Trump about the recess appointment question, but also indicated that he would not be altering Senate rules to get Trump his appointments. If McConnell were to adjourn along a party-line vote—possibly blowing up the filibuster in the process—theoretically, Trump would then adjourn the two disagreeing bodies. Recess appointments under this scheme would last only until January of 2021, but it would still be an unprecedented power grab. As historian Michael Beschloss tweeted, “Wilson, Taft and FDR were all urged to adjourn Congress and all refused.”

“They know they’ve been warned and they’ve been warned right now,” Trump said. “If they don’t approve it, then we’re going to go this route and we’ll probably be challenged in court and we’ll see who wins.”

Indeed, if Trump did manage to get Senate Republicans to go along with this plan, one wonders what the conservative-controlled Supreme Court might do. In 2014, the Supreme Court validated the legitimacy of holding pro forma sessions for the purpose of preventing recess appointments in NLRB v. Noel Canning, but that case did not involve the use of this unprecedented mechanism by a president. It would be challenged on a number of fronts.

“It is unclear that we have an extraordinary occasion in the sense that the Framers were using it,” University of Richmond School of Law Carl Tobias told me in an email. “It is not surprising that the provision has never been invoked, because no president has ever found the existence of an extraordinary occasion that warranted exercise of this power, even [though] the [United States] had the Civil War and two declared World Wars, while the House and Senate have always been able to agree on a time to adjourn.”

It’s possible that the move is also just intended as a feint to distract from Trump’s disastrous response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the spiraling economy. “Trump desperately wants to change the subject—away from the pandemic he’s so badly handled that’s killing Americans and toward this,” Georgetown Law professor Josh Geltzer told me. “It’s important to explain why he is out of step with American constitutional traditions. But it’s also important not to let him change the focus at this critical time.”

Ultimately, the real concern is that someone has advised President Trump that he has the power to adjourn Congress and he’s building an argument for it; his White House Counsel and Justice Department are doubtless crafting the fanciful legal scaffolding right now. As is often the case when the president makes broad claims about untested constitutional authority, the worry is less that he will adjourn Congress tomorrow, and more that he is recreationally floating insane notions, bolstering them with in-house analysis, and laying the groundwork for emergency powers he may someday seek in earnest. It’s happened before and there is no reason it can’t happen again.

[Slate]

Trump accuses governors of ‘mutiny’ as tensions mount over reopening

President Donald Trump compared strain between himself and a group of governors to the film “Mutiny on the Bounty,” as tensions mounted over when and how to reopen economies amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“A good old fashioned mutiny every now and then is an exciting and invigorating thing to watch,” Trump said in a tweet. “Especially when the mutineers need so much from the Captain,” he added.

Trump addressed his comments to the “Democrat Governors,” after a group of six eastern states on Monday said they would jointly develop a plan to reopen the region’s economies and schools. After the announcement, Massachusetts, which is led by a Republican, joined the effort.

The governors of California, Oregon and Washington announced similar plans. Those states are led by Democrats.

Monday, Trump asserted he had authority to open states, a claim that drew fire from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, among others.

[MarketWatch]

Watch Trump Admit to Mail-In Voting, Literally Seconds After Calling Mail-in Voting ‘Corrupt’

President Donald Trump made clear that he believes that mail-in voting is a horrible and easily corruptible process during Tuesday afternoon’s press conference, as Wisconsin held an election amid the coronavirus pandemic.  But when pressed, he admitted that he himself votes by mail, because he can.

In the context of the much-criticized decision to hold the Wisconsin election in a traditional manner, NBC News reporter Carol Lee noted to Trump that he had been highly critical of mail-in voting and mail-in ballots.

Trump agreed, saying “Mail-in voting is horrible. It’s corrupt,” but Lee followed by noting to the president “You voted in Florida’s election last month.”

Trump explained that, “I won’t be able to go to Florida to vote,” noting a difference between “somebody out of state and does a ballot and everything’s sealed, certified and everything else.”

He then went back to how bad he feels mail-in voting to be and made clear that he thinks “mail-in voting is a terrible thing.”

“I think if you vote, you should go, and even the concept of early voting is not the greatest. There’s a lot of things that happen. It’s okay. You should go and vote. I think you should go and you should vote. You look at with a deal where they grab thousands of mail-in ballots in the dump it. I’ll tell you what. I don’t have to tell you. You can look at the statistics. There is a lot of dishonesty going on with mail-in voting. Mail-in ballots.”

[Mediaite]

Trump: Republicans ‘should fight very hard’ against expanded mail-in voting

President Trump on Wednesday urged Republicans to “fight very hard” against expanding mail-in voting, portraying ballot access as a partisan issue amid concerns that the ongoing coronavirus pandemic will make going to the polls unsafe.

“Republicans should fight very hard when it comes to state wide mail-in voting. Democrats are clamoring for it. Tremendous potential for voter fraud, and for whatever reason, doesn’t work out well for Republicans,” Trump wrote in a tweet that appeared to be inspired by a segment “Fox & Friends.”


The president’s tweet marks his latest rebuke of mail-in voting in the last several days. It also comes the day after voters in Wisconsin headed to the polls for the state’s primary after the state Supreme Court blocked an executive order to delay the election due to the pandemic.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that vote-by-mail is “corrupt” and fosters potential for voter fraud, though Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah and Washington already conduct their elections by mail and there is no evidence of widespread fraud in those states.

“I think mail-in voting is horrible. It’s corrupt,” Trump said Tuesday.

When a reporter noted that Trump voted by mail in Florida’s primary last month, the president suggested it was different because he lives out of state.

Democrats have pushed for expanded funding for voting as part of legislation to respond to the coronavirus. Democratic leaders have argued states should be prepared to conduct mail-in voting in November in the event the pandemic continues late into the year and prevents volunteers and voters from getting to polling places.

“It’s about our democracy, it’s about our democracy when it’s even a physical challenge to vote, so we want to have more resources to vote by mail, more same-day registration, more states sending ballots to those who are qualified to vote,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Tuesday on CNN.

Trump and other Republicans have largely rejected the idea of widespread vote-by-mail, with some arguing it would harm the electoral prospects of GOP candidates.

[The Hill]

Trump complains he can’t execute drug dealers after ‘quick trials’ like they do in China

President Donald Trump on Tuesday complained that he can’t oversee the quick execution of drug dealers — and suggested that the United States should start taking its cues from China.

During a talk at the National Association of Counties Legislative Conference, Trump said that authoritarian dictatorships do a better job of stopping illicit drug use in their countries because defendants don’t have all the constitutional protections that they’re entitled to in the United States.

“You go into China, you say, ‘How’s your drug problem,’ they don’t even know, President Xi doesn’t even know what you’re talking about!” the president said. “They have quick trials, and I won’t even tell you what the punishment is, but let me just say it’s very swift.”

The president then said he didn’t believe American citizens were ready to be “tough” on drug dealers like China was.

“I just don’t know whether or not this country is ready for that, but the only countries that don’t have drug problems are countries where the retribution is unbelievably tough,” the president said.

[Raw Story]

Trump Openly Claims Authority to Direct Attorney General To Investigate Anyone He Wants

President Donald Trump addressed the latest kerfuffle-cum-constitutional crisis in a Friday morning tweet following Attorney General Bill Barr’s apparent intervention in the sentencing of Roger Stone.

Stone was found guilty of seven felony counts last November, including lying to Congress and witness tampering during the investigation into Russian intelligence and interference in the general election. As such, prosecutors recommended a seven to nine-year prison sentence, which Trump criticized vocally. Barr eventually intervened to recommend a lighter sentence, to which Trump tweeted his thanks.

In an interview with ABC News, Barr claimed that he would never be bullied by anyone (including the president) and criticized Trump’s tweets for creating a distraction. It is worth noting that, despite his claims otherwise, Barr appeared to do exactly what Trump had asked, eventually earning Trump’s praise. So that’s the context… still with me?

Ever one to jump on a news cycle, and get ahead of a story, Trump addressed this story obliquely, saying that he has the “legal right” to ask his attorney general to do anything in a criminal case.

“Trump just openly and explicitly stated that it’s perfectly within his authority to direct his Attorney General to open criminal investigations into anyone he wants,” offered Washington Post columnist Greg Sargent, in as a pure expression of what many will see as an open flouting of checks and balances in the U.S. government.

This is the very point made Thursday night on CNN by Jeffrey Toobin following a Washington Post report about this very concept. “The idea [James Comey] committed a crime is absurd. The person in a really perilous condition right now is the CNN contributor Andrew McCabe, who is under investigation from the U.S. Attorney’s office right now. And, you know, has had his case dangling out there. The president obviously wants Andy McCabe prosecuted and it’s just grotesque that you have the President of the United States behaving this way with the power of prosecution exercised in this way.”

The attorney general IS appointed by the president, then confirmed by Congress. And it’s not unusual for the top law enforcement official to work hand in glove with the sitting president. Many might read Trump’s tweet, however, as a rather foreboding omen of what may come to Trump’s political foes.

If he feels that someone has done him wrong, and he can direct the AG to serve as his own personal henchman (of which there is an abundance of evidence) then what is to keep him from seeking investigations into those he feels might threaten his reelection? Oh wait, he’s already done that.

[Mediaite]

Trump Says He Has the ‘Absolute Right’ to Tell DOJ What to Do – but Claims He Didn’t in Stone Case Despite Angry Tweet

President Donald Trump says he has the “absolute right” to direct the Dept. of Justice in who and how it prosecutes, but claims that he didn’t, despite his furious tweet overnight attacking the DOJ and calling prosecutors’ sentencing recommendation of Roger Stone a “miscarriage of justice.”

Trump also called the 7 to 9 year recommendation of jail time for Stone, his ally, confidant, and former campaign advisor, an “insult to our country.” Trump often conflates himself and the nation, as if he is the country.

Saying he did not speak to anyone at DOJ Trump then said, “I’d be able to do it if I wanted I have the absolute right to do it.”

Calling the sentencing recommendation “ridiculous” Trump added, “I thought the whole prosecution was ridiculous.”

“That was a horrible abberition,” he concluded, apparently meaning “aberration.”

[New Civil Rights Movement]

Media


As others stand at attention for anthem, Trump fidgets, points, pretends to conduct the band

President Donald Trump has repeatedly said all Americans should “stand proudly” during the national anthem, and publicly chastises those who don’t as disrespectful of the troops and the flag.

But during the national anthem at his own Super Bowl watch party Sunday night, a brief video posted to Instagram shows Trump greeting guests, adjusting his chair, and straightening his suit jacket as other attendees — including first lady Melania Trump and their teenage son — stand with their hands over their hearts. As “The Star Spangled Banner” crescendoes, Trump raises both of his hands in the air, and twirls them around as if conducting the music.

The video was included in an Instagram story by a real estate agent for a Russian-American firm who frequents Mar-a-Lago and other Trump properties and events.

Trump entered his party at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach as Demi Lovato was introduced to sing the national anthem at Hard Rock Stadium, videos of the moment show. It’s unclear from the video of Trump “conducting” whether the anthem you hear is Lovato, projected on screens around the room, or if a live performer is singing at the club.

(The video appears flipped, or mirrored, likely because it is an Instagram video recorded with a phone’s selfie camera. That is why Melania Trump appears to have her left hand across her chest and there is a backward numeral 4 in the video. The Herald chose to retain the original orientation as it was posted on the social media site.)

The White House declined to provide an on-the-record response to requests for comment. The Trump Organization did not immediately respond. Copies of the video were sent along with the Herald’s inquiries.

For years, Trump has publicly attacked NFL players who chose to kneel in protest during the anthem.

The protest movement was started by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in August 2016 when he refused to stand during the pregame ritual. He described his choice as a protest against racism and police brutality. Within months, other players joined Kaepernick, taking a knee and bowing their heads during the anthem.

Kaepernick is no longer in the league and claims he was blackballed for his actions.

Trump and many others called the protests disrespectful to the flag and to the troops. In 2018, the NFL announced it would begin to fine players on the field for not standing during the anthem, but would allow them to stay in the locker room if they preferred.

Megan Rapinoe, co-captain of the U.S. Women’s World Cup team, refused to participate in the anthem during the 2019 World Cup, provoking Trump’s ire. At Sunday’s Super Bowl in Miami Gardens, Beyonce and Jay-Z stayed seated during the anthem, drawing rebukes from many, especially conservative pundits.

“Maybe they should try another country that allows them a little more freedom & success?” Fox Nation host Tomi Lahren wrote on Twitter.

The Super Bowl watch party at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, just miles from Mar-a-Lago, is a tradition that predates the Trump presidency. It has taken on a new price tag in recent years due to the need for presidential security and travel budgets. Taxpayers will shell out $3.4 million for Trump’s visit to Palm Beach this past weekend, according to an analysis by the HuffPost.

Last year’s party stirred controversy when Trump inadvertently posed for a selfie with a woman who turned out to be Li “Cindy” Yang, founder of the massage parlor where New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft allegedly paid for sex.

[Miami Herald]

Media

‘Maybe we will, maybe we won’t’: Trump doubles down on threat to take oil from Syria

Donald Trump has renewed his threats to forcibly steal oil from Syria, a move which experts say would amount to a war crime.

The president defended his decision to leave a small number of American troops in the war-torn nation after a general withdrawal in October by claiming they were only there to secure Syria’s oilfields.

“They say he left troops in Syria… do you know what I did? I took the oil,” he said during a Fox News interview.

“The only troops I have are taking the oil, they are protecting the oil.”

When the interviewer, Laura Ingraham, attempted to correct Mr Trump by insisting the soldiers were not there to take the oil but to guard the facilities, the president cut her off.

“I don’t know, maybe we should take it, but we have the oil. Right now, the United States has the oil. We have the oil.”

This is not the first time the erratic former business tycoon has publicly mused about stealing Syria’s oil reserves.

In October, shortly after his abrupt withdrawal of US forces and abandoning of their Kurdish allies in the region, Mr Trump said he wanted an American oil firm to fly in to tap Syria’s oil on behalf of the government.

“What I intend to do, perhaps, is make a deal with an ExxonMobil or one of our great companies to go in there and do it properly,” he said.

However, such a move would likely constitute pillage and looting, actions which have long been designated as illegal under international law and the rules of war.

The Geneva Convention, which the US is a signatory to, explicitly prohibits the looting of property during conflict, defining it as a war crime.

“The president appears to believe that the US can sell the oil, based on his statements in the past about Iraqi oil and Libyan oil … thinking that we can loot countries,” Benjamin Friedman, policy director at think tank Defence Priorities and adjunct professor at the George Washington University, told The Independent last year.

“I am sure people in the White House have tried to explain to him that is not how it works.

“Taking the profits from the sale of Syrian oil for the US treasury would be illegal. That would probably qualify as pillaging under the law.”

Ironically, experts say Syria’s oil fields are not much of a prize anyway. Even before the country descended in a chaotic civil war, it only produced about 380,000 barrels of poor-quality oil a day.

In 2018, after its production was several hampered by the conflict, it produced about the same amount of oil as the state of Illinois.

Before he entered the White House, Mr Trump had said several times that the US should have “taken the oil” from the other Middle Eastern nations its armed forces had intervened in, including Iraq and Libya.

Some commentators have speculated that defence officials desperate to persuade the president to permit some US forces to remain in Syria as a counter-balance to Isis and the Assad regime were forced to appeal to his oil obsession to gain his approval.

[The Independent]

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