Someone really should stop Trump from having unscripted conversations with the press. Wednesday mornings comments to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House proved once again that the inmates are truly running the asylum in Washington, D.C. these days.
Heading to the Southern Border to show a section of the new Wall being built! Leaving now!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 5, 2019
Trump weighed in on many of the news stories of the day, and each answer was more dishonest and ridiculous than the last. He insisted that the “economy is so strong,” that more people want into the country, which has created a crisis. Earlier in the week, he said that it was Democrats and the loopholes around asylum claims that were to blame.
In truth, Trump’s endless rants have frightened the poor and desperate people suffering in Central America to try to file an asylum claim before Trump makes good on his promise to close the border, and his “zero tolerance” policy requires Border and Customs officials to detain every migrant who crosses the border, crowding detention centers and creating a crisis of human rights violations.
Trump had a quick answer for those issues, though. We’ve “built a lot of wall.”
‘We’ve built a lot of wall. A lot of wall. And it’s new wall. You know when we rip down an old wall and then replace it, it’s called a new wall.’
No, it’s called a replacement fence. There is no new wall where none stood before.
Trump, talking to reporters on the South Lawn: "I have not read the the Mueller report, I haven’t seen the Mueller report." Says he doesn't care about the report because he's been "fully exonerated." (Fact check: The report is not fully exonerating.)
— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) April 10, 2019
When asked about the Mueller report, Trump once again deflected to the origins of the investigation. He reminded his rabid fanbase that they should absolutely believe his version of the report’s conclusions, just not any of the people who wrote it.
‘I have not seen the Mueller report. I have not read the Mueller report. I won. No collusion, no obstruction. I won. Everybody knows I won…I’ve been totally exonerated…You know why we fight back? Because I knew how illegal this thing was. It was a scam…This was an illegal witch hunt…what they did was treason.’
Unlike former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, William Barr seems more than willing to start investigations on Trump’s demand, including one on how the investigation into the alleged collusion began. Trump said that people really want to see that, although there are no indications that that is true.
‘There is a hunger for that to happen in this country like I have never seen before, including all of the millions of people that voted for me.’
Trump pushed back against the idea that senior aide Stephen Miller is the mastermind of the administration's immigration policies following a purge of Department of Homeland Security officials https://t.co/n21YDNc5O3
— POLITICO (@politico) April 10, 2019
Trump also bristled at questions about Stephen Miller, who some news pundits are crediting with the shake-up at Homeland Security and the inhumane border policies Trump is pushing for ahead of the 2020 elections. Trump loves to take credit for other peoples’ accomplishments, but no one had better imply that every single policy coming from the White House wasn’t personally written by Trump himself.
‘Stephen is an excellent guy. He’s a wonderful person. People don’t know him. He’s been with me from the beginning. He’s a brilliant man, and frankly, there’s only one person that’s running it. It’s me.’
.@RepTedLieu didn’t know how to begin describing the views of far-right pundit Candace Owens — so he let a clip of her defending Hitler speak for itself pic.twitter.com/2g6oqr3Vqb
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) April 10, 2019
When asked about the appearance of Candace Owens in front of Congress on Tuesday, during which Rep. Ted Lieu played an audio recording of Owens’ own words excusing the actions of Adolf Hitler, Trump defended her and said that playing her own words in court was “a terrible thing.”
‘I think that’s a terrible thing that he would do that…I know her. I think she’s a fine person.’
Congratulations, Candace. You’ve now joined the list of Trump’s “very fine people” along with the neo-Nazi marchers from Charlottesville.
SDNY and FBI knew a lot about Trump finances even before they raided Cohen office. https://t.co/PmAKlQuaCE
— Patrick W. Watson (@PatrickW) April 10, 2019
Trump also denied that there is any investigation into his personal finances, which is just absurd. Multiple investigations are being conducted by the Southern District of New York, including the reimbursements to Trump’s personal attorney and “fixer” Michael Cohen for illegal campaign donations that were never reported.
‘My finances are very clean. I don’t think there is an investigation. If you say it, I don’t know it, but I don’t think there is an investigation.’
There are, of course, multiple investigations. Gaslighting is a favorite tactic for Trump.
For Trump’s full, unhinged comments, see video below:
Featured image screenshot via YouTube
