Tag: Trump thin skin

President erupts at George Conway for ‘Mourning in America’ video, about the ‘deadly virus Trump ignored’

Washington Post logoGeorge T. Conway III, prominent attorney and husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, has been trying with only modest success to provoke President Trump’s Twitter wrath for the better part of his presidency. He finally succeeded close to 1 a.m. Tuesday.

What set Trump off was a video, sponsored by the Lincoln Project, the anti-Trump super PAC that Conway co-founded with other Republicans and former ones. The video, released Monday, lays responsibility squarely at Trump’s doorstep for the severity of the ongoing coronavirusoutbreak, including the deaths and economic damage.

Tens of thousands nationwide have died of the “deadly virus Trump ignored,” says the video, called “Mourning in America,” inspired by President Ronald Reagan’s famous “Morning in America” 1984 campaign ad. Continue reading.

Trump’s unhinged rant about a new attack ad shows his weakness

Washington Post logoPresident Trump’s relentless focus on the most dire public health and economic crises in modern U.S. history must be excruciatingly stressful to him, which is surely why he took a short break Monday night to unleash an insane rant about a digital ad.

That rant comes as new reporting indicates that Trump is rebooting his reelection strategy, to move past the coronavirus and on to his plans to rebuild our economy in spectacular fashion.

But if you unpack the argument in Trump’s rant — yes, there really is an argument there — it actually points to profound weaknesses in his new reelection message, in a way that makes a real statement about the past decade of U.S. politics. Continue reading.

Trump rips media after taking criticism over coronavirus briefings

The Hill logoPresident Trump on Monday ripped the media’s coverage of his administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, returning to a familiar theme as the White House canceled its coronavirus briefing — another signal is it changing its strategy on messaging.

“There has never been, in the history of our Country, a more vicious or hostile Lamestream Media than there is right now, even in the midst of a National Emergency, the Invisible Enemy!” Trump tweeted Monday morning.

Trump’s attacks on the media are old news at this point, but the new tweet came amid changing circumstances at the White House. Continue reading.

Trump finally shows signs of shame as he flees a press briefing without answering questions after disinfectant fiasco

AlterNet logoHas President Donald Trump finally been chastened?

After a brutal day of criticism over his Thursday remarks suggesting an injection of disinfectant could potentially help treat COVID-19 — a frankly ludicrous and dangerous suggestion that experts roundly warned against — the president cut Friday’s coronavirus press briefing short without taking questions.

Has President Donald Trump finally been chastened?

After a brutal day of criticism over his Thursday remarks suggesting an injection of disinfectant could potentially help treat COVID-19 — a frankly ludicrous and dangerous suggestion that experts roundly warned against — the president cut Friday’s coronavirus press briefing short without taking questions. Continue reading.

Trump Campaign Sues Over Ad Reciting His Pandemic Failures

Donald Trump’s reelection campaign filed a lawsuit Monday against a local television station in Wisconsin, accusing it of airing a campaign ad the suit calls “false and defamatory” — even though the ad accurately relays Trump’s comments.

The ad, produced by the Democratic super PAC Priorities USA, uses audio clips of Trump downplaying the new coronavirus.

The audio accompanies a chart showing the number of cases of COVID-19 exponentially growing. Continue reading.

Coronavirus crisis highlights Trump’s resistance to criticism — and his desire for fervent praise

Washington Post logoPresident Trump has lambasted governors whom he views as insufficiently appreciative. He has denigrated — and even dismissed — inspectors general who dared to criticize him or his administration. And he has excoriated reporters who posed questions he did not like.

The coronavirus pandemic has crystallized several long-standing undercurrents of the president’s governing ethos: a refusal to accept criticism, a seemingly insatiable need for praise — and an abiding mistrust of independent entities and individuals.

Those characteristics have had a pervasive effect on the administration’s handling of the crisis, from Trump’s suggestions that he might withhold aid from struggling state governments based on whether he is displeased with a governor to his repeated refusal to take responsibility for shortcomings in the laggard federal response. Continue reading.

Trump’s Virus Defense Is Often an Attack, and the Target Is Often a Woman

New York Times logoNow part of the long list of women the president has insulted: a governor, a reporter, the head of General Motors and, of course, the House speaker.

WASHINGTON — As he confronts a pandemic, President Trump’s attention has also been directed at a more familiar foe: those he feels are challenging him, and particularly women.

“Always a mess with Mary B.,” Mr. Trump tweeted last week, attacking the female chief executive of General Motors, Mary T. Barra, as he accused the company of dragging its feet on producing ventilators. “As usual with ‘this’ General Motors, things just never seem to work out,” he wrote, “this” G.M. apparently referring to the one led by the first female chief executive of an American auto manufacturer.

At least he mentioned Ms. Barra by name. When it came to Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan’s Democratic governor, who delivered her party’s official response to his State of the Union address earlier this year and has been pushing for a national emergency declaration in her state, Mr. Trump did not acknowledge her by name. Continue reading.

Donald Trump: The First U.S. President Who’s Openly Traumatized by ‘Saturday Night Live’

He shows greater disdain for the show than he does for foreign dictators.

Credit: SNL, Youtube screengrab

The end of summer and arrival of fall not only means cooler temperatures and shorter days; it also means the return of NBC’s long-running “Saturday Night Live,” which launched its 44th season on September 29. For President Donald Trump, a new “SNL” season brings with it the fear of being lampooned by Alec Baldwin—and sure enough, “SNL’s” October 13 show opened with a skit poking fun at Trump’s recent meeting with rapper Kanye West (played by Chris Redd). Baldwin’s impression of Trump has been wildly popular, but the president is not a fan. And Trump is the first president in “SNL’s” 43-year history who has been deeply upset by a humorous impression of him.

“SNL’s” lampooning of presidents of the United States is a time-honored tradition going back to 1975, when Chevy Chase (who was part of the show’s original cast along with comic giants like John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd and Gilda Radner) unveiled his impression of President Gerald R. Ford. Chase was unmerciful, portraying Ford as an accident-prone klutz who would leave the Oval Office in shambles. But Ford didn’t react negatively. He even appeared with Chase at a White House dinner in 1976, declaring, “I’m Gerald Ford, and you’re not” (a play on Chase’s famous line, “I’m Chevy Chase, and you’re not”).

Actually, Ford wasn’t a klutz. He was an avid tennis player who had been a college football star, but showing that he could take a joke and appearing with Chase in public was a smart public relations move.

View the complete October 19 article by Alex Henderson on the AlterNet.org website here.

Trump Lashes Out in Error-Filled Tweet About the Media Criticizing His Poor Grammar and Spelling

The following article by Cody Fenwick was posted on the AlterNet website July 3, 2018:

It’s not just the erroneous capitalization that’s the problem.

Credit: AP Photo, Evan Vucci

President Donald Trump decided to lash out on Twitter at the media once again on Tuesday — this time for critiquing his poor spelling and grammar as displayed in his tweets.

And as usual, the tweet was filled with errors:

The first error is that Trump claims to have written books. This is almost certainly false. It’s not clear he’s written any of the books with his name on them. His most famous book, The Art of the Deal, was written with ghostwriterDavid Schwartz, and other ghostwriters were hired for his other books.

View the full article on the AlterNet website here.