On Friday, President Donald Trump held a press conference at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club, where members of the club were present while he antagonized journalists. According to CNN’s chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta, Trump was caught telling those club members prior to the press conference that they’d get a chance to see his “killers” in action, in reference to members of the media. It’s staggering that the U.S. is in the throes of multiple national crises, including an economic meltdown that has left tens of millions of people possibly in danger of eviction, and Trump seems concerned with complaining about the media to his rich supporters at his golf club.
According to Acosta, Trump said:
‘You’ll get to meet the fake news tonight. You’ll get to see what I have to go through. Who’s there? Oh all my killers are there, wow. So you’ll get to see some of the people that we deal with every day.’
Before news conf Trump was caught on a hot mic telling people at club…”You’ll get to meet the fake news tonight. You’ll get to see what I have to go through. Who’s there? Oh all my killers are there, wow. So you’ll get to see some of the people that we deal with every day”
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) August 8, 2020
Trump’s persecution complex is absolutely staggering. When he’s placed under even the slightest scrutiny — which is fitting, since he’s the president of the United States — he absolutely melts down. He can in no way seriously handle the responsibilities of the presidency; in the throes of a pandemic that has killed some 165,000 Americans and left millions out of work, he’s concerned with what he’s supposedly being put through by the media.
Over the weekend, following the press conference where Trump’s “hot mic” comments against the press were captured, Trump held another press conference at his Bedminster golf club. He signed a series of executive orders that seemed meant as a sort of cop-out for Republicans amidst ongoing negotiations over a potential new Coronavirus-connected economic relief package. One of the orders outlined a plan for payroll tax deferrals starting in September and running through the end of the year — but first of all, that’s going to mean absolutely nothing to the millions of Americans who aren’t on payrolls because they’re out of work. Secondly, those payroll taxes fund important programs like Social Security — although Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has claimed that Social Security will be funded from the “general fund” as needed, how the Trump administration fulfills that claim remains to be seen.
