Category: Ill-Tempered

Liz Cheney’s remarks at a Harris campaign event evidently struck a nerve with Trump

 

At a recent Kamala Harris campaign event, former Representative Liz Cheney delivered a powerful message urging voters to reject what she called the “depraved cruelty of Donald Trump.” This bold statement sent ripples through Republican circles, prompting a swift and vitriolic response from Trump himself on his social media platform, Truth Social. He not only attacked Cheney but also criticized her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, who has also endorsed Harris.

In his lengthy post, Trump condemned Liz Cheney for her participation in the January 6 House select committee and disparaged her father’s historical decisions regarding the Middle East. He referred to the Cheneys as a “pathetic couple” suffering from what he termed “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” This animosity isn’t new; it’s rooted in Cheney’s outspoken criticism of Trump and her pivotal vote to impeach him following the January 6 Capitol riots, which significantly contributed to her primary defeat in 2022.

Despite the backlash, Cheney remains a staunch critic of Trump, asserting that he is unfit to lead the country. During her speech, she stated, “What January 6 shows us is that there is not an ounce of compassion in Donald Trump. He is petty, he is vindictive and he is cruel.” Her remarks struck a nerve with Trump, highlighting the intensity of their ongoing feud.

Cheney’s endorsement of Harris aligns with a broader strategy to attract anti-Trump Republicans, demonstrating her commitment to opposing Trump’s influence in the Republican Party. She praised Harris for her efforts to unite reasonable individuals across the political spectrum, further solidifying her stance against Trumpism.

While Cheney’s decision to support Harris may seem surprising given their party differences, it reflects a growing trend among some Republicans who are increasingly disillusioned with Trump’s leadership. Harris is actively courting this demographic, despite facing criticism from within her party for these efforts.

However, the potential impact of GOP endorsements for Harris remains uncertain. The Cheney name carries significant historical baggage, particularly due to Dick Cheney’s controversial tenure in the Bush administration, leaving many Democrats wary of his endorsement. This dynamic illustrates the complex and often contentious landscape of American politics as the 2024 elections approach.

 

Trump’s False Claims About Immigrants Eating Pets Spark Controversy During Debate

During a recent presidential debate, Donald Trump propagated a baseless and racially charged rumor regarding Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, claiming they were consuming pets. This statement, made in front of an audience of 67.1 million viewers, has been criticized for reinforcing harmful stereotypes. The rumor originated from fringe online communities, particularly from a neo-Nazi group known as Blood Tribe, which initially circulated the idea of pets being eaten in August. Trump’s comments were seemingly amplified by his running mate, Senator JD Vance, who has made similar claims about the influx of immigrants in the area.

Trump’s assertion was not only unfounded but also drew immediate backlash from various quarters, including his own party members. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham expressed concern, emphasizing that the focus should be on serious issues related to immigration, such as crimes committed by undocumented individuals, rather than whimsical claims about animals. This reflects a broader trend where Trump has consistently highlighted immigration issues, often framing them in a controversial manner.

The spread of the rumor on social media has been significant, with a notable increase in posts discussing the issue leading up to the debate. Research indicated that mentions of Haitians allegedly eating pets surged dramatically on platforms like X (formerly Twitter) in the days prior to Trump’s comments. Vance himself contributed to this narrative, posting about the supposed dangers posed by Haitian immigrants, which helped transition the rumor from fringe discourse to a mainstream debate topic.

Despite the sensationalism surrounding the issue, local law enforcement in Springfield reported no credible evidence supporting claims of pets being harmed. In fact, the claims about pets being abducted and eaten have been dismissed by the Springfield police, highlighting a disconnect between the online narrative and reality. Vance later acknowledged that these rumors could be false, yet continued to leverage them politically.

The incident underscores how fringe conspiracy theories can permeate high-profile political discourse, especially through the lens of social media. Trump’s use of this rumor during a prime-time debate illustrates a tactic of drawing attention to specific grievances that resonate with his base, despite their lack of factual basis. This approach is indicative of a broader strategy to mobilize support by highlighting perceived threats associated with immigration.

The debate echoed a long-standing pattern in Trump’s political career, where he has utilized inflammatory rhetoric regarding immigration, often to stoke fear and division among his supporters. Critics argue that such tactics detract from substantive discussions about immigration policy and public safety, instead prioritizing sensationalism and fear-mongering.

As the fallout continues, political analysts and commentators are left to ponder the implications of Trump’s comments and the role of misinformation in shaping public perception. This incident serves as a reminder of the potent intersection between social media, political rhetoric, and the dissemination of false information, particularly concerning immigration.

Ultimately, the Springfield rumor illustrates the challenges faced in combating misinformation and the potential consequences it holds for public discourse and policy discussions.

 

Trump mocked as ‘feeble’ after confusing Jimmy Kimmel and Al Pacino in bizarre rant

 

Former President Donald Trump faced mockery and criticism after confusing late-night host Jimmy Kimmel with actor Al Pacino in a social media rant. Trump’s error-filled diatribe on Truth Social claimed Kimmel stumbled during the Oscars, which was actually presented by Pacino. The confusion led to Trump being labeled ‘feeble and confused’ by opponents.

Despite Trump’s claims of Kimmel’s poor performance, reviews of the 96th Academy Awards were generally positive, with ratings climbing for the third consecutive year. Al Pacino, not Kimmel, announced the Best Picture winner, and the actor’s odd delivery was due to producer instructions to skip reading all nominees again.

The Biden-Harris campaign quickly seized on Trump’s misstep, highlighting it as another example of his confusion and flubs. The incident underscores the former president’s tendency to make complete misstatements, providing ammunition for his critics.

Trump’s mix-up between Kimmel and Pacino was widely criticized, with the incident showcasing his penchant for errors and misinformation. The confusion further fueled the ongoing narrative of Trump’s struggles with accuracy and his opponents’ efforts to capitalize on his missteps.

 

Donald Trump Rages at Judge, Calls for Immediate Recusal

Donald Trump criticizes Judge Merchan for imposing a gag order before his hush-money trial in April, calling for the judge’s immediate recusal and sanction. The case involves allegations that Trump falsified payments to lawyer Michael Cohen, which Trump denies. Trump insists the case is a political witch hunt to interfere with the election. He accuses the DOJ of bias and coordination against him to aid Joe Biden’s reelection. Trump’s attacks on Merchan and his daughter have escalated, claiming a social media post aimed at his imprisonment.

Judge Merchan recently imposed a gag order on Trump, prohibiting public comments about the trial’s participants, except for Merchan and prosecutor criticism. The judge cited Trump’s history of inflammatory remarks as the reason for the order. Trump’s campaign to discredit the case and the judge continues, with accusations of political bias and unjust legal actions.

Trump’s denial of the charges and insistence on the case’s dismissal reflect his ongoing fight against the legal challenges he faces. The upcoming trial is crucial as it marks the first of four criminal cases against Trump. The former president’s rhetoric on the case is central to his campaign narrative as he seeks to regain the presidency.

Despite the gag order, Trump remains vocal on his Truth Social platform, using it as a tool to rally supporters against what he perceives as biased legal proceedings. The escalating conflict between Trump and Judge Merchan underscores the contentious nature of the upcoming trial and its potential implications for Trump’s political future.

Trump Vows to Veto Defense Bill Over Amendment to Rename Military Bases Named After Confederates

President Donald Trump vowed to veto a $740 billion defense spending bill unless Congress drops a proposed amendment to rename U.S. military bases named after Confederate leaders.

As the country faces ongoing social unrest over the death of George Floyd, the public debate continues on whether Confederate figures deserve to be publicly honored with statues or major instillations bearing their names. Amid these calls for racial justice, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has proposed an amendment for the Defense Authorization Bill that would require the names of Confederate leaders to be completely scrubbed from several military bases over the next 3 years.

Trump has repeatedly defended monuments honoring Confederates in recent weeks, and on Tuesday night, he used his racially-charged insult for Warren again while promising to veto the bill if her amendment gets through.

[Mediaite]

Trump Slams Fox News for Hiring Former DNC Chair Donna Brazile: ‘Where Are You Roger Ailes?’

President Donald Trump took yet another swipe at Fox News for hiring Democratic pundits, this time former DNC Chair Donna Brazile.

Brazile trended on Twitter after getting into it with co-hosts on The Five Tuesday afternoon. In response to one tweet saying Brazile should not be on Fox News, the president went after Fox in a tweet referencing the infamous CNN debate questions controversy and invoking the late Roger Ailes.

“She gets fired by @CNN for giving Crooked Hillary the debate questions, and gets hired by @FoxNews. Where are you Roger Ailes?” Trump tweeted.

UPDATE: After some Twitter comments remarking upon how Ailes is dead, the President of the United States actually tweeted a clarification that “I know better than anyone that my friend Roger Ailes died 3 years ago”:

[Mediaite]

Trump visits private golf course as US battles rapid surge in coronavirus cases

Donald Trump visited one of his own private golf courses in Virginia on Saturday as America continued to see fallout from a rapid surge in coronavirus cases. The trip came a day after the US president said he would stay in Washington DC to “make sure law and order is enforced” amid ongoing anti-racism protests.

The president has been frequently criticized for the scale of his golfing habit while in office. CNN – which tallies his golfing activities – said the visit to the Trump National course in Loudon county, just outside Washington DC, was the 271st of his presidency – putting him at an average of golfing once every 4.6 days since he’s been in office. His predecessor, Barack Obama, golfed 333 rounds over the two terms of his presidency, according to NBC.

The visit comes as the number of confirmed new coronavirus cases per day in the US hit an all-time high of 40,000, according to figures released by Johns Hopkins on Friday. Many states are now seeing spikes in the virus with Texas, Florida and Arizona especially badly hit after they reopened their economies – a policy they are now pausing or reversing.

Trump has been roundly criticized for a failure to lead during the coronavirus that has seen America become by far the worst hit country in the world. Critics in particular point to his failure to wear a mask, holding campaign rallies in coronavirus hot spots and touting baseless conspiracy theories about cures, such as using bleach.

On Friday night Trump tweeted that he was cancelling a weekend trip to his Bedminster, New Jersey golf course because of the protests which have rocked the capital, including taking down statues of confederate figures.

“I was going to go to Bedminster, New Jersey, this weekend, but wanted to stay in Washington, D.C. to make sure LAW & ORDER is enforced. The arsonists, anarchists, looters, and agitators have been largely stopped,” he tweeted.

Trump’s latest visit to the golf course put him in the way of some opposition. According to a White House pool media report: “A small group of protesters at the entrance to the club held signs that included, ‘Trump Makes Me Sick’ and ‘Dump Trump’.
A woman walking a small white dog nearby also gave the motorcade a middle finger salute.”

It is not yet known if Trump actually played a round of golf. But a photographer captured the president wearing a white polo shirt and a red cap, which is among his common golfing attire.

[The Guardian]

Trump Declares Brutal CNN Poll ‘FAKE’, Says He’s Retained Another Pollster to Analyze It

President Donald Trump continued to rail against a new CNN poll showing him trailing Joe Biden, sharing a statement from “highly respected pollster” McLaughlin & Associates.

The new poll from CNN shows Biden 14 points ahead of Trump — 55 to 41 — and puts the president’s approval rating at 38 percent.

This morning Trump called CNN polls “as Fake as their Reporting”:

But hours later, the president tweeted again about the “FAKE” poll, this time sharing a statement from McLaughlin & Associates and saying, “I have retained highly respected pollster, McLaughlin & Associates, to analyze todays CNN Poll (and others), which I felt were FAKE based on the incredible enthusiasm we are receiving.”

The statement the president shared says in part, “The latest skewed media polls must be intentional. It’s clear that NBC, ABC and CNN who have Democrat operatives like Chuck Todd, George Stephanopoulos and other Democrats in their news operations are consistently under-polling Reppublicans and therefore, reporting biased polls… Ths bias seems to be an international strategy to suppress your vote.”

The president’s latest tweet about polling got a fair amount of social media attention, with reporters calling out his use of McLaughlin in particular:

[Mediaite]

Trump tweets a letter calling protesters ‘terrorists’

President Donald Trump tweeted out a letter Thursday that referred to a group of protesters as “terrorists,” following their violent ouster from a park near the White House earlier this week.

The letter is signed by Trump’s former lawyer John Dowd and addressed to “Jim” in a probable reference to former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. It lambasted the former Pentagon chief after he called out Trump on Wednesday for threatening a military response to protests that have engulfed cities across the country. In his letter, Dowd referred to a group of protesters who were violently forced out of Washington’s Lafayette Square on Monday as “terrorists using idle hate … to burn and destroy.”

“They were abusing and disrespecting the police when the police were preparing the area for the 1900 curfew,” the letter said.

The White House did not immediately respond when asked whether Trump views the protesters as “terrorists”.

Protesters had gathered in the park to express their outrage at the death of a black Minnesota man, George Floyd, at the hands of a white police officer, with video showing a largely peaceful — if tense — demonstration. Police charged into the protesters about 30 minutes before the city’s 7 p.m. curfew, throwing chemical irritants and hitting protesters and journalists with shields and rubber bullets.

Trump later walked out of the White House through the cleared area for a photo-op in front of St. John’s Epsicopal Church across from the square.

Mattis joined a symphony of condemnations, which came from both parties, characterizing the episode as a grotesque abuse of power.

“Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath [to defend the Constitution] would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens — much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside,” Mattis wrote in a statement to journalists on Wednesday.

On Thursday, several protesters and the Washington, D.C., chapter of Black Lives Matter sued Trump, along with other law enforcement leadership they identified as leading the Monday clash, accusing them of violating the protesters’ rights to free assembly and freedom from unreasonable seizure.

Kristen Clarke, president of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which is among the organizations representing the plaintiffs, decried Dowd’s letter as “abhorrent and a completely false characterization of the peacefully assembled demonstrators who were dispersed through state-sanctioned violence at the hands of government officials.”

“It is remarkable,” Clarke said in a statement to POLITICO on Thursday night, “that President Trump objects so vehemently to those speaking out against racial and police violence while embracing gun-toting activists who take siege of government buildings and violent white supremacists who marched in Charlottesville.”

[Politico]

Trump calls governors facing unrest ‘weak’ and ‘fools,’ urges stronger police tactics

President Donald Trump on Monday lashed out at governors during a White House videoconference, telling them that “most of you are weak” after states grappled with another night of anger and unrest following the killing of George Floyd last week.

In audio of the call obtained by NBC News, Trump berated governors for their response to the protests, repeatedly criticizing New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia, and urged law enforcement to crack down and make more arrests.

“You have to arrest people, you have to try people, you have to put them in jail for 10 years and you’ll never see this stuff again,” Trump said on the call.

Trump called the governors “fools” and expressed anger with Democratic mayors in particular over the protests and unrest ravaging cities nationwide. He was described by one person on the call as “losing it.”

“You have to dominate. If you don’t dominate, you’re wasting your time, they’re gonna run over you, you’re gonna look like a bunch of jerks,” the president said.

The president also called the initial response in Minnesota “weak and pathetic” and called the state a “laughingstock all over the world.”

Trump focused primarily on “antifa,” or anti-fascists, and Occupy Wall Street, which he said was handled well by comparison.

“This is like Occupy Wall Street. It was a disaster. Until one day somebody said, that’s enough,” Trump said.

Attorney General Bill Barr told the governors that the Justice Department believes protestors are heading to other states with less of a law enforcement presence “where they can go and overwhelm the local police forces.” Barr said there needs to be a focus on stopping “professional instigators and the leadership group.”

During the call, Trump claimed to have intelligence showing who the “bad actors” and professional instigators are, though he did not elaborate.

Trump also asked states to enact laws against flag burning saying the federal government would back them up if they did.

The White House billed the event as a “video teleconference with governors, law enforcement, and national security officials on keeping American communities safe.”

Several governors pushed back on Trump’s narrative, including J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, a Democrat, who told Trump he was “extraordinarily concerned about the rhetoric that’s been used by you. It’s been inflammatory.”

Maine Gov. Janet Mills, also a Democrat, said she was concerned about the president visiting her state this week because of security issues. Trump later said that the governor’s concerns made it more likely he would go to the state.

“You know, she’s tried to talk me out of it, I think she probably talked me into it,” Trump said. “She just doesn’t understand me very well.”

Maine is home to Puritan Medical Products, the company the administration compelled through the Defense Production Act to produce coronavirus testing swabs.

Maine is home to Puritan Medical Products, the company the administration compelled through the Defense Production Act to produce coronavirus testing swabs.

Trump’s response to the unrest has been to call for stronger law enforcement rather than calling for calm or addressing the concerns about police brutality and racism that many protestors say drove them to come out. Critics say an escalation in force would exacerbate already high tensions between protestors and the police.

After another night of protests led to fires and vandalism blocks from the White House, Trump spent Monday morning on Twitter blaming the unrest on antifa and accusing staffers of former Vice President Joe Biden of “working to get the anarchists out of jail.”

Trump had no public events scheduled for Monday, after not appearing in public on Sunday.

Trump’s advisers have been divided over what role the president should take in responding to the widest unrest the country has seen in decades. Some say the president should focus his message on Floyd, the black man who died last week at the hands of Minneapolis police, and urge calm.

Others say the top priority is stopping the violence and looting that have taken place in some areas, arguing that the best path to that end is strong police tactics, not presidential speeches.

[NBC News]

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