Trump mocked for posting photo of a ‘blank sheet of paper’ touting ‘many things we’ve done for healthcare’

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President Donald Trump is harping on his failed “60 Minutes” interview that he walked off from after veteran CBS News host Lesley Stahl began asking him questions about the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday.

CNN reports Trump has been pushing his chief of staff to release the White House’s recording of the interview, and barely minutes after that segment aired the President tweeted out photos of him with Stahl.

President Donald Trump is harping on his failed “60 Minutes” interview that he walked off from after veteran CBS News host Lesley Stahl began asking him questions about the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday. Continue reading.

Federal Judge Strikes Down Attempt To Delay Trump Rape Case

The United States Department of Justice received a public rebuke from a federal judge on Wednesday.

At issue was a hearing about the DOJ’s efforts to have taxpayer-funded lawyers defend President Donald Trump in a civil case over whether he defamed E. Jean Carroll after she accused him of sexual assault.

The DOJ attempted to delay the case after a government attorney was denied access to the courthouse due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. Continue reading.

Former CIA official reveals the ‘weird’ reason intel officers are ‘terrified’ to brief Trump on Russia

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U.S. intelligence officers responsible for briefing President Donald Trump on the country’s potential threats are reportedly “terrified” to brief him on anything Russian-related due to concerns about his possibly explosive reaction.

During an interview with GQ magazine, former CIA official Marc Polymeropoulos weighed in on Trump’s perplexing affinity for Russian President Vladimir Putin to like him. At this point, Polymeropoulos insists no one is willing to brief the president on anything involving Russia.

“No one’s going to brief anything on Russia to the president,” Polymeropoulos told GQ correspondent Julia Ioffe. “They’re terrified of doing that. I know that from the briefers. Because he’ll explode and the whole thing will get derailed, because he has this weird affinity for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin.” Continue reading.

With 219,000 Dead, Trump Says Media Are ‘Dumb Bastards’ For Reporting On Covid-19

Donald Trump referred to journalists reporting on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic as “dumb bastards” during a campaign rally in Arizona on Monday.

“They’re getting tired of the pandemic, aren’t they? Getting tired of the pandemic. You turn on CNN, that’s all they cover,” said Trump, pointing to the press at the back of the crowd. “You know why? They’re trying to talk everybody out of voting. People aren’t buying it, CNN, you dumb bastards. They’re not buying it.”

More than 219,770 Americans have died from the virus so far, and the death toll continues to rise by the hundreds every day. Continue reading.

As Trump’s Language Grows More Heated, Fears Rise of Political Violence

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The plot to kidnap the governor of Michigan is only the latest in a growing list of election-related threats. Some experts say the president is emboldening extremists.

The arrest of more than a dozen right-wing extremists who are accused of targeting the governors of Michigan and Virginia is only the latest example of threats of violence, in some cases egged on by President Trump, that loom over the final weeks of a historically divisive race.

In rural Iowa, Laura Hubka, the Democratic chair of Howard County, recently took out a concealed-carry gun permit after signs for Democratic candidates in her region were vandalized with bullet holes and she was personally threatened, she said.

In central Wisconsin, Tom Stepanek’s wife sat him down last month at the kitchen table and warned him that the president might not accept a peaceful transfer of power if he lost in November. “Are you sure you want to be doing this?” she asked her husband, who is the chair of the Waushara County Democrats and had also been threatened. “You’re going to be a target here,” she told him. Continue reading.

Ex-State Dept. official who leaked Pentagon Papers: Trump is an ‘enemy of the Constitution’

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A former U.S. Defense and State Department official is speaking out and urging progressives to vote for Democratic presidential Joe Biden due to President Donald Trump’s threat to the Constitution.

Daniel Ellsberg published an op-ed in the Detroit Metro Times asking the American public to back Biden in the upcoming presidential election. Ellsberg, who identifies as a progressive voter who initially supported Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) presidential campaign, admitted that Biden was not his first candidate of choice.

While Ellsberg expressed concern about Trump’s repeated dismissals of climate change warnings, he also stressed how important it is to combat the growing threat to the United States’ democracy.

“More urgently, we’re facing an authoritarian threat to our democratic system of a kind we’ve never seen before,” Ellsberg said. “Right now he is even casting unwarranted doubt on the validity of mail-in ballots, and in other ways as well putting in question for the first time in our history whether he would peacefully leave office after a full-accounting of votes cast by Election Day gave the majority in the Electoral College to his opponent.” Continue reading.

Top general did not give his consent to be used in Trump political ad

The photo featuring Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley was used without the officer’s “knowledge or consent,” according to a defense official.

President Donald Trump’s campaign is running an online political ad that uses an image of his vice president, his Pentagon chief and his most senior military adviser watching the raid on ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi from the Situation Room on Oct. 29, 2019.

“President Trump wants you to request your ballot,” the ad says. Clicking on the ad, which includes the tagline “Paid for by Donald J. Trump for President, Inc,” leads to the Trump campaign’s voter sign-up page.

But the campaign didn’t seek approval from Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley to use his image in the ad, a defense official said. “This photo, like many others, was not used with [Milley’s] knowledge or consent,” said the official, who requested anonymity to speak about a sensitive topic. Continue reading.

White House signals stronger coronavirus precautions, but Trump continues to resist

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The White House offered an informal nod to coronavirus best practices Tuesday, with mask-wearing prevalent after months of flouting public health recommendations and new internal guidelines for interacting with President Trump, who tested positive for the virus late last week.

But the biggest source of resistance appeared to be Trump himself, who, despite having just come home from a three-night hospitalization, was defiant — lobbying to return immediately to work in the Oval Office, discussing an address to the nation as early as Tuesday evening and clamoring to get back on the campaign trail in the coming days.

At least nine White House employees have now tested positive for the virus, including senior adviser Stephen Miller, who got his result late Tuesday, a senior administration official said. Trump’s aides, allies and advisers find themselves grappling with how to implement more safety measures and precautions without displeasing their boss, who continues to say — as he did in a tweet Monday — “Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life.” Continue reading.

Trump Didn’t Disclose First Positive Covid-19 Test While Awaiting a Second Test on Thursday

President received positive result on Thursday evening before making an appearance on Fox News in which he didn’t reveal those results

WASHINGTON—President Trump didn’t disclose a positive result from a rapid test for Covid-19 on Thursday while awaiting the findings from a more thorough coronavirus screening, according to people familiar with the matter.

Mr. Trump received a positive result on Thursday evening before making an appearance on Fox News in which he didn’t reveal those results. Instead, he confirmed earlier reports that one of his top aides had tested positive for coronavirus and mentioned the second test he had taken that night for which he was awaiting results.

“I’ll get my test back either tonight or tomorrow morning,” Mr. Trump said during the interview. At 1 a.m. on Friday, the president tweeted that he indeed had tested positive. Continue reading.

Trump boasted he made insulin so cheap ‘it’s like water.’ Americans with diabetes beg to differ.

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Early in Tuesday night’s presidential debate, President Trump claimed he had drastically lowered the price of insulin, a lifesaving drug taken in some form by more than 7 million Americans with diabetes.

“Insulin, it’s going to — it was destroying families, destroying people. The cost,” the president said. “I’m getting it for so cheap it’s like water.”

That came as a shock to the Americans who shell out hundreds of dollars a month on insulin, a number of whom posted triple-digit pharmacy bills to social media immediately after the president’s assertion. Continue reading.