DNC on George Floyd and Trump’s Response

DNC Chair Tom Perez released the following statement on the killing of George Floyd and the shameful response of Donald Trump:

“The killing of George Floyd is another tragic case of the violence Black men face in America every single day. No person of character and common sense can watch the video footage of what police did to George Floyd without being horrified. And yet, this president has done nothing to heal those wounds. Instead, he has sown division; he has advocated violence against protestors, rather than condemning the racist violence that launched these protests in the first place. We will not heal as a nation through silence, but through justice, through progress, through activism and action. George Floyd is the name we’re chanting today. Yesterday it was Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery. Before that it was Botham Jean, Eric Garner, Philando Castile, Walter Scott, Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Sandra Bland, Alton Sterling, Freddie Gray, Laquan McDonald. We will keep saying their names. We will keep honoring their lives. And we will keep seeking justice for their families and the families of those whose tragedies weren’t captured on video by fighting to end police brutality and the institutional racism that pervades every aspect of our society. So long as Black men and women cannot breathe, we cannot rest.”

Trump Just Tweeted A Clip From A TV Show That Was Totally Making Fun Of Him

The clip came from Larry David’s MAGA-centric episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

President Donald Trump shared a video clip he seems to think shows that “tough guys” support him.

Just one problem: The footage of a biker reacting to a “Make America Great Again” cap was from an episode of Larry David’s HBO show “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” And the episode not only mocked the caps, but called them “a great people repellent.”

On Monday, Trump tweeted the clip, which contained at least eight profanities: Continue reading.

Trump Turns MLK Day Tweet Into Tribute To His 2017 Inauguration

The president cared more that Jan. 20 marked the third anniversary of his inauguration than the commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday.

Donald Trump decided to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day the only way he knows how: with a tweet focused on himself.

On Monday, the president tweeted that the day marked the three-year anniversary of his inauguration before somehow tying that into the commemoration of King’s birthday.

Donald J. Trump

@realDonaldTrump

It was exactly three years ago today, January 20, 2017, that I was sworn into office. So appropriate that today is also MLK jr DAY. African-American Unemployment is the LOWEST in the history of our Country, by far. Also, best Poverty, Youth, and Employment numbers, ever. Great!

62.9K people are talking about this

Considering the many times the president used racism and racist rhetoric to build up his campaign and his real estate business, it’s no surprise that many Twitter users weren’t exactly impressed.

President Trump’s error-filled holiday tweets on the border wall

No, construction hasn’t begun on President Trump’s wall and there is not funding to begin construction. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

“Need to stop Drugs, Human Trafficking,Gang Members & Criminals from coming into our Country.”

—President Trump, in a tweet, Dec. 27, 2018

Over the holidays during the government shutdown, President Trump repeatedly posted on Twitter a variety of rationales for why a wall along the southern border is necessary. He also spoke to reporters before and after his brief post-Christmas visit to Iraq. We’ve covered many of these issues in previous fact checks, but here’s a quick overview for readers who might have missed — or tried to ignore — the tweets between Christmas and New Year’s Day.

“The Democrats don’t want it, because they don’t want open borders, and yet every one of those Democrats approved the wall, or a fence, or very, very substantial barriers. Every single one. I don’t think there’s one — but let’s assume, let’s use the word, almost everyone approved a wall, or a fence, or exactly what we’re talking about, as little as three years ago.”

—remarks after Christmas video conference with troops, Dec. 25

Sen. Charles E. Schumer and many Democrats (though notRep. Nancy Pelosi) voted for the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which was signed by President George W. Bush and authorized building a fence along nearly 700 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border. But the fence they voted for is not as substantial as the wall Trump is proposing. Trump has called the 2006 fence “such a nothing wall.”

View the complete January 2 article by Glenn Kessler on The Washington Post website here.

Internet mocks Trump for ridiculous Christmas Eve boast that he is already building the wall

The president is completely self-destructing.

On Christmas Eve, with the government in the throes of a federal shutdown putting tens of thousands of workers in limbo, President Donald Trump boasted that he is already beginning work on the border wall:

Donald J. Trump

@realDonaldTrump

I am in the Oval Office & just gave out a 115 mile long contract for another large section of the Wall in Texas. We are already building and renovating many miles of Wall, some complete. Democrats must end Shutdown and finish funding. Billions of Dollars, & lives, will be saved!

119K people are talking about this

Leaving aside the fact that Trump, not Democrats, shut down the government (and boasted that he would take credit for it), the president is obviously lying. Congress would need to appropriate funds to hire a contractor to work on the construction of a wall, and the Republican-controlled Senate is not doing any such thing.

Social media quickly pounced on Trump’s absurd boast:

View the complete December 24 article by Matthew Chapman on the AlterNet.org website here.

NY Times reporter: Trump tweet is ‘four-alarm fire’ of obstruction

The following article by Tommy Christopher was posted on the ShareBlue.com website September 4, 2018:

Trump really thinks it’s the Justice Department’s job to help Republicans win the midterms.

Credit: CNN Screengrab

Trump touched off a firestorm Monday when he suggested the Justice Department shouldn’t be prosecuting corrupt Republicans right before the midterm elections.

“Two long running, Obama era, investigations of two very popular Republican Congressmen were brought to a well publicized charge, just ahead of the Mid-Terms, by the Jeff Sessions Justice Department,” Trump wrote. “Two easy wins now in doubt because there is not enough time. Good job Jeff[.]”

Reps. Chris Collins and Duncan Hunter were both indicted last month — Collins on charges of insider trading, and Hunter for using campaign money to fund personal expenses like family vacations.

View the complete article here.

In one tweet, Trump reveals nearly everything he gets wrong about the Mueller investigation

The following article by Philip Bump was posted on the Washington Post website July 23, 2018:

President Trump claimed his campaign was “illegally spied on,” after the release of redacted surveillance documents for former campaign adviser Carter Page. (Reuters)

President Trump attacked two of his most hated enemies on Twitter in the past 12 hours: Iran and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.

In tweets on Monday morning, Trump encouraged his followers to join him in watching “Fox & Friends” on Fox News and then quoted at length comments made on the show about the FBI’s push in October 2016 to obtain a warrant to track Carter Page, a onetime adviser to the Trump campaign.

Over the weekend, the government released a redacted version of the application for that warrant. Some of what was contained was already well-known, thanks to dueling memos from Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) and House Democrats earlier this year debating the validity of the document. Releasing the document didn’t change the contours of that debate significantly, except to further undercut Nunes’s assertions about its significance.

View the complete article here.

Trump thought the British were protesting their health service. They weren’t.

The following article by Karla Adam was posted on the Washington Post website February 5, 2018:

Thousands of protesters marched in London on Feb. 3, demanding more funds for the National Health Service. (Newsflare/AP)

LONDON — President Trump took a swing at Britain’s beloved National Health Service on Monday, tweeting that Britons were marching in the streets because their universal health-care system was financially strapped and dysfunctional, and got a swift rebuke from the British prime minister.

“The Democrats are pushing for Universal HealthCare while thousands of people are marching in the UK because their U system is going broke and not working. Dems want to greatly raise taxes for really bad and non-personal medical care. No thanks!” he wrote. Continue reading “Trump thought the British were protesting their health service. They weren’t.”

Did Trump’s tweet about Michael Flynn’s guilty plea just admit something it shouldn’t have?

The following article by Aaron Blake was posted on the Washington Post website December 2, 2017:

President Donald Trump, in his first comment on Michael Flynn’s guilty plea to lying to the FBI, said there was “absolutely no collusion” between his campaign a (Reuters)

Update: The Post is now reporting that the tweet was authored by Trump’s personal lawyer, John Dowd, according to two people familiar with the situation. The fact that Dowd authored the tweet could limit its salience to the investigation, but the White House still hasn’t publicly corrected anything.

A little more than 24 hours after Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, President Trump finally took to Twitter to offer his thoughts. He may wish he hadn’t. Continue reading “Did Trump’s tweet about Michael Flynn’s guilty plea just admit something it shouldn’t have?”