Trump lashes out after FBI announces investigation of Biden bus incident

“In my opinion, these patriots did nothing wrong,” he said in a tweet about supporters who surrounded a Biden campaign bus in Texas.

President Donald Trump lashed out at the FBI on Sunday after it said it was investigating reports that a caravan of his supporters harassed a bus belonging to Joe Biden’s campaign.

“In my opinion, these patriots did nothing wrong,” Trump said in a tweet. “Instead, the FBI & Justice should be investigating the terrorists, anarchists, and agitators of ANTIFA, who run around burning down our Democrat run cities and hurting our people!”

Trump revisited the story on Monday, inaccurately claiming that a report of the FBI investigation was “FALSE” and tweeting that his supporters “did nothing wrong.” He again said the FBI should be investigating “ANTIFA” instead. Continue reading.

Trump put up walls to immigrants, with stinging rhetoric and barriers made of steel and regulation

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President Trump has at times spoken favorably of immigrants during the past four years, echoing conventional Republican praises for those who arrive in the United States legally. But in his less scripted moments, like at a rally in Minnesota in late September, Trump’s words fully align with the policies he has put in place, and something electric happens between the president and his supporters.

The event took place as the Trump administration prepared to cut the number of refugees eligible for admission into the country to 15,000, the lowest level since 1980. The president told the audience that his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, would reverse that and “turn Minnesota into a refugee camp.”

The crowd hissed and booed. The president stood basking in the sound, a throng of Americans jeering at immigrants who seek shelter in the United States legally, fleeing religious persecution, torture, genocide. Continue reading.

The FBI is now investigating ‘Trump train’ that surrounded Biden campaign bus

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“Biden camp cancels multiple Texas events after a “Trump Train” surrounded a campaign bus” was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into a Friday incident in which a group of Trump supporters, driving trucks and waving Trump flags, surrounded and followed a Biden campaign bus as it drove up I-35 in Hays County, a law enforcement official confirmed to The Texas Tribune Saturday.

The confrontation, captured on video, featured at least one minor collision and led to Texas Democrats canceling three scheduled campaign events on Friday. The campaign officials cited “safety concerns” for the cancellations. Continue reading.

Scoop: Trump’s plan to declare premature victory

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President Trump has told confidants he’ll declare victory on Tuesday night if it looks like he’s “ahead,” according to three sources familiar with his private comments. That’s even if the Electoral College outcome still hinges on large numbers of uncounted votes in key states like Pennsylvania.

The latest: Speaking to reporters on Sunday evening, Trump denied that he would declare victory prematurely, before adding, “I think it’s a terrible thing when ballots can be collected after an election. I think it’s a terrible thing when states are allowed to tabulate ballots for a long period of time after the election is over.”

  • He continued: “I think it’s terrible that we can’t know the results of an election the night of the election. … We’re going to go in the night of, as soon as that election’s over, we’re going in with our lawyers.” Continue reading.

Trump asserts dictatorial power over top government employees

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In a major power grab, Donald Trump signed an executive order on Oct. 21 that asserts he has vast new authority to punish federal employees with demotions or firing without cause. It’s a Trumpian assertion of a right to cronyism and personal fealty to him.

This executive order purports to grant Trump dictatorial-like power over thousands of career federal managers and executives. They are now at risk of losing their jobs and careers unless they blindly follow Trump’s agenda with abject loyalty to his whims.

This Executive Order on Creating Schedule F In The Excepted Service, if allowed to stand, largely will overturn an 1883 law that was passed to reduce corruption among federal government executives by creating a career civil service based on documented merit. The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, passed in 1883 in the unexpected presidency of Chester A. Arthur, covers most federal employees, who earn promotion via competitive exams. Continue reading.

Trailing in the polls, Trump enlists his administration and co-opts the government to bolster his reelection

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In the final days of the 2020 election season, President Trump has featured his White House press secretary as a star at his campaign rallies, where she has triumphantly joined him onstage.

Trump’s daughter Ivanka, a senior White House adviser, has stumped for him and on Saturday posted a stylized photo with uniformed law enforcement officers in Wisconsin, a key battleground.

His top aides, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser Robert O’Brien, have found pressing official business in a number of swing states, traveling there on taxpayer money. Continue reading.

Videotape Reveals Corporate-Funded Plan To Try To Overturn A Trump Loss

The right-wing group behind the “Stand your ground” laws began working in February to challenge a Trump election defeat.

A powerful corporate-funded right-wing organization that includes state legislators and lobbyists was already mobilizing early this year to overturn a possible election loss by President Donald Trump, according to a videotape of an official discussing the plan.

“Obviously we all want President Trump to win,” said Lisa Nelson, chair of the controversial American Legislative Exchange Council, which was responsible for getting the at-times-lethal “Stand your ground” laws enacted in several states.

“Really what it comes down to is the states and the state legislators,” Nelson noted in remarks in February, recorded in a videotape obtained by Documented, a watchdog group that tracks corporate influence on public policy.  Continue reading.

Dishonesty Has Defined the Trump Presidency. The Consequences Could Be Lasting.

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Whether President Trump wins or loses on Nov. 3, the very concept of public trust in an established set of facts necessary for the operation of a democratic society has been eroded.

WASHINGTON — Born amid made-up crowd size claims and “alternative facts,” the Trump presidency has been a factory of falsehood from the start, churning out distortions, conspiracy theories and brazen lies at an assembly-line pace that has challenged fact-checkers and defied historical analogy.

But now, with the election two days away, the consequences of four years of fabulism are coming into focus as President Trump argues that the vote itself is inherently “rigged,” tearing at the credibility of the system. Should the contest go into extra innings through legal challenges after Tuesday, it may leave a public with little faith in the outcome — and in its own democracy.

During his final weekend of campaign rallies, Mr. Trump continued to sow doubt about the validity of the election, making clear that he would deem any outcome other than victory for him to be corrupt. At a rally in Philadelphia, which has a sizable nonwhite population and a Democratic-led government, he asserted that the city would falsify the results. “Are they going to mysteriously find more ballots” after polls close, he asked. “Strange things have been known to happen, especially in Philadelphia.” Continue reading.

McConnell Vows To Continue Court Packing Even If Republicans Lose

Instead of focusing on a viable stimulus plan to help the American people and the country’s flailing small businesses, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is focused on doing the one thing he and his Republican colleagues said Democrats would do: pack the courts.

During an interview with Conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt, McConnell admitted that he will continue to fill the courts with conservative judges who will likely uphold their views and strike down opposing views.

“We’re going to run through the tape. We go through the end of the year, and so does the President,” McConnell told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. “We’re going to fill the 7th Circuit. And I’m hoping we have time to fill the 1st Circuit as well.” Continue reading.

‘Deadly Sins’ Ad Busts The Myth That Donald Trump Is A Religious Man

“Trump’s connection with religion is like his connection with reality — it is nonexistent and he assaults it every day,” said the progressive PAC MeidasTouch.

President Donald Trump’s attempts at positioning himself as a religious man are roundly debunked in a new ad from the progressive PAC MeidasTouch.

The 2-minute spot released Friday, titled “Trump’s Deadly Sins,” shows how the president has repeatedly failed to adhere to the Ten Commandments.

“Trump’s connection with religion is like his connection with reality — it is nonexistent and he assaults it every day,” the PAC wrote on its website.  Continue reading.