Category: 2020 Election

Trump’s worldview forged by neglect and trauma at home, his niece says in new book

Washington Post logoA tell-all book by President Trump’s niece describes a family riven by a series of traumas, exacerbated by a daunting patriarch who “destroyed” Donald Trump by short-circuiting his “ability to develop and experience the entire spectrum of human emotion,” according to a copy of the forthcoming memoir obtained by The Washington Post.

President Trump’s view of the world was shaped by his desire during childhood to avoid his father’s disapproval, according to the niece, Mary L. Trump, whose book is by turns a family history and a psychological analysis of her uncle.

But she writes that as Donald matured, his father came to envy his son’s “confidence and brazenness,” as well as his seemingly insatiable desire to flout rules and conventions, traits that brought them closer together as Donald became the right-hand man in the family real estate business. Continue reading.

Donald Trump’s Lies, Misogyny And Loyalty Problems On Full Display In New Attack Ads

The conservative Lincoln Project, progressive MeidasTouch and author Don Winslow targeted the president with their new viral videos.

The anti-Donald Trump attack ads are coming thick and fast on social media from organizations on both sides of the aisle.

Conservative group The Lincoln Project, progressive PAC MeidasTouch and bestselling writer Don Winslow each targeted the president with new supercuts.

The videos, all posted in the 24 hours prior to Tuesday morning, quickly racked up millions of views on social media. Continue reading.

The Memo: Trump’s race tactics fall flat

The Hill logoPresident Trump waded anew into racial controversy on Monday, criticizing NASCAR for banning the Confederate flag at its events.

In the same tweet, Trump suggested that the sport’s only Black driver, Bubba Wallace, should “apologize” over an incident where a rope tied into a noose was found in the driver’s garage at the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.

Trump lambasted the incident as a “HOAX” — an investigation found the rope had been there for months, though it was not Wallace who first found it — and added, “That & Flag decision has caused lowest ratings EVER!” Continue reading.

Millions of Americans are about to find out how badly Trump and the GOP have screwed them over

AlterNet logoRobert Reich, writing for The Guardian, weighs in on the fairy tale that our country is somehow “roaring back,” as Donald Trump characterized it when he hawked a report last week based on misleading unemployment statistics, numbers which were already woefully out of date at the time they were released:

The US economy isn’t roaring back. Just over half of Americans have jobs now, the lowest figure in more than 70 years. What’s roaring back is Covid-19. Until it’s tamed, the American economy doesn’t stand a chance.

As former Labor Secretary Reich notes, “The uptick in jobs in June was due almost entirely to the hasty reopening, which is now being reversed.” Continue reading.

Trump is betting on a foolish path to win in November

AlterNet logoOn the Fourth of July, a day meant to celebrate American independence, Donald Trump once again focused on creating a racist spectacle. Despite concerns about spreading the coronavirus and starting wildfires, Trump insisted on having a fireworks-heavy celebration at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, which was clearly a campaign rally no matter how much the taxpayers were bilked for it. Of course, the president’s speech was pure culture-war vitriol, complete with classic Trumpian projection, this time when he called anti-racist activists “fascists,” an extraordinary word choice that obviously better suits him.

Despite the propaganda photos equating Trump with the carving of Abraham Lincoln on the mountain, his speech was once again better understood as a celebration of the Confederacy. Trump sniped at those who would “tear down our statues,” “defame our heroes” and “indoctrinate our children,” a slam clearly aimed at Black Lives Matter protesters who object to monuments celebrating white supremacy and who seek to “indoctrinate” people with the revolutionary argument that racism is wrong. Continue reading.

The trolling event played out as intended. The choice of Mount Rushmore, carved by a Ku Klux Klan-linked white supremacist who also carved the infamous tribute to the Confederacy on Stone Mountain in Georgia, helped drive home Trump’s campaign theme to his most overtly racist followers: White supremacy is the truest form of patriotism. Continue reading.

White House claims remdesivir decreases coronavirus mortality rate

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Monday claimed the mortality rate of the coronavirus has decreased due to, among other things, the use of the drug remdesivir — which has not been clinically proven to have any effect on the COVID-19 mortality rate.

McEnany brought up the drug in response to a question about coronavirus testing after a reporter asked about President Donald Trump’s saying that the U.S. “tested almost 40 million people, by so doing we show cases 99% of which are totally harmless.”

Most experts say that it is too soon to focus on a decrease in mortality because deaths lag behind an uptick in case numbers. Continue reading.

Trump’s intel briefer breaks her silence

In rare public remarks, the veteran intelligence officer tip-toed around the complexities of her job.

A career CIA officer explained in rare public remarks on Monday what she’s learned about adapting intelligence briefings to the unique style of a particular “customer” — in her case, President Donald Trump.

Beth Sanner, a senior official at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence who also serves as Trump’s primary intelligence briefer, never mentioned the president by name during an event hosted by the non-profit Intelligence & National Security Alliance on Monday.

But the unusual core challenge of her job — delivering intelligence to Donald J. Trump — was unavoidable as she discussed her own briefing techniques in detail, explaining that while she strives to be competent and fearless, she also tries not to be off-putting and aims to tailor briefings to a customer’s particular style. Continue reading.

Tell-all book by President Trump’s niece to be published two weeks earlier on July 14

Washington Post logoA highly anticipated book by Mary L. Trump, the niece of President Trump, will be published two weeks earlier than planned after a court last week allowed Simon & Schuster to continue distributing copies. The book will be published on July 14 because of intense interest in it, the publisher announced Monday.

While the publisher last week was released from a temporary restraining order, Mary Trump is still under the order and is contesting it. In the meantime, her publisher released the book jacket and a news release that promised a sweeping indictment of the president’s psychological makeup.

“From this explosive book,” the news release said, “we learn how Donald acquired twisted behaviors and values” such as that “cheating is a way of life,” “taking responsibility for your failures is discouraged” and “qualities like empathy, kindness and expertise are punished.” It did not provide specifics, leaving that for the book’s publication. Continue reading.

Trump’s niece condemns him as having the maturity of a 3-year-old in brutal new excerpt

AlterNet logoDespite efforts by members of the Trump family and their allies to prevent Mary L. Trump’s new tell-all book from being released, it looks like the book will be coming out sooner than previously expected. According to CNN’s Brian Stelter, Simon & Schuster has announced that the release date for “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man” has been moved from July 28 to Tuesday, July 14 “due to high demand and extraordinary interest.”

Simon & Schuster also released the book’s back cover, containing insights into its contents and saying of President Donald Trump: “Today, Donald is much as he was at three years old: incapable of growing, learning or evolving, unable to regulate his emotions, moderate his responses, or take in and synthesize information.”

It continues; “His father, Fred, became his only available parent. But Fred firmly believed that dealing with young children was not his duty…. From the beginning, Fred’s self-interest skewed his priorities.” Continue reading.