President Donald Trump seems to be feeling the pressure of the upcoming election. On Friday, before a trip away from the White House for yet another round of campaigning, Trump stopped outside the White House for a brief impromptu press conference. While speaking with reporters, Trump made a series of nonsensical and quite frankly ridiculous proclamations. For example, he said that he thinks that Republicans will win back the U.S. House in the upcoming elections — despite the overwhelming odds against them — and he also claimed that his own campaign has drawn the “biggest crowds in the history of politics.” President Trump sounds, quite simply, like an unhinged megalomaniac.
Trump also vehemently complained about the restrictions on large gatherings that Mayor Muriel Bowser has in place in Washington, D.C. Trump petulantly claimed that the city is “shut down,” which is simply not true. He’s made similar claims about other states, claiming, for instance, that Pennsylvania is locked down, but he’s lying. His comments do not reflect the reality of the measures that are actually in place to help stem the spread of the Coronavirus. There’s not some dystopian lockdown.
Trump calls Pennsylvania's governor Tom Wolf, whom he threatened earlier in the interview, "this clown," falsely claiming again that Pennsylvania and North Carolina are on statewide lockdown.
He then falsely claims again that Wolf is the one "counting our ballots."
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) October 26, 2020
Nevertheless, when asked about his Election Night plans, Trump complained to reporters as follows:
‘We haven’t made a determination. We have certain rules and regulations — you know, Washington, D.C., is shut down. The mayor shut it down. So, we have a hotel — I don’t know if you’re allowed to use it or not, but I know the mayor has shut down Washington, D.C., and if that’s the case, we’ll probably stay here or pick another location. I think it’s crazy — Washington, D.C., is shut down. Can you imagine?’
Check out his comments below:
Trump is mad that Mayor Bowser is taking basic public health precautions to slow the spread of coronavirus in Washington DC, because he wants to have a big party at the Trump International Hotel that he still owns and profits from on election night pic.twitter.com/t2NfPMuVcE
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 30, 2020
He subsequently discussed his campaign’s crowd sizes — although he has repeatedly been found to misrepresent these crowd sizes. He told reporters:
‘We’ve got the biggest crowds in the history of politics, and I think you will all be witness to that, because there’s never been anybody that has ever had bigger crowds or more enthusiasm than we have.’
Subsequently, he discussed Coronavirus-connected economic relief. Negotiations over another round of this relief have been stalled for months. The Democrat-led House passed a new relief bill months ago — and the Republican-led Senate has refused to take it up.
Sounding stunningly disconnected from the reality of Republicans’ electoral chances, Trump claimed to reporters:
‘We will have a tremendous stimulus package immediately after the election, and I think we’re gonna take back the House. I think we’re gonna do very well in the Senate — a little bit more complex, frankly, and I think we’re gonna have a fantastic presidential election.’
Watch Trump below:
"We will have a tremendous stimulus package immediately after the election, and I think we're gonna take back the House" — there will be a pile of gold bricks stacked on my bed tomorrow morning, and I'll give them to you immediately after I wake up pic.twitter.com/6KjMU1rX1F
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 30, 2020
