pardoned Joe Arpaio, who was convicted for illegally detaining immigrants?

The former Arizona sheriff had become infamous for running Tent City, known for its harsh conditions and being what Arpaio himself referred to as “a concentration camp.” The resources put into detaining immigrants also sapped county resources, leading to a backlog of various other violent crimes.

Arpaio was convicted of contempt for violating a judge’s order preventing him from detaining immigrants based on racial profiling and their legal status. Though he was unlikely to serve any jail time, Trump issued a pardon. The pardon was controversial in how it eschewed tradition, including any layers of review or even a formal application by Arpaio.

Arpaio later ran for US Senate, but lost the primary. In an interview during his campaign, he seemed to be unaware that acceptance of a pardon is tantamount to an admission of guilt, per the US Supreme Court finding in Burdick v. United States.

USA Today – Analysis: Trump’s bold Joe Arpaio pardon breaks with presidential tradition
The New York Times – Trump Pardons Joe Arpaio, Who Became Face of Crackdown on Illegal Immigration
NPR – Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio Under Fire For Mishandled Sex-Crime Cases
Wikipedia – Burdick v. United States
Wikipedia – Pardon of Joe Arpaio
Wikipedia – Joe Arpaio

claimed to distance himself from his businesses, using stacks of unlabeled folders as proof?

Presidents divest their private businesses, usually putting them in a blind trust, in order to avoid conflicts of interest and breaking the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution. While blind trusts are not necessary to fulfill the requirements of the Emoluments Clause, Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush all did so, while Obama placed his holdings into standard index funds.

Trump refused either a blind trust or relinquishing ownership of his company. He instead said he would resign from all positions and hand control to his sons, with the promise that they would not discuss anything business related.

In January 2017, Trump held his first press conference as President-Elect. He used a large stack of unlabeled folders as proof that he had handed over his company to his sons. He did not allow reporters to look at their contents.

Image result for trump stacks of folders

Don and Eric are going to be running the company. They’re going to be running it in a very professional manner. They’re not going to discuss it with me. Again, I don’t have to do this.

Trump also called the emoluments clause of the Constitution “phony” and claimed that Article II of the Constitution gave him “the right to do whatever I want.” Trump also repeatedly promised to release his tax returns both during his campaign and after becoming President.

The Washington Post – Donald Trump won’t do what Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush did
MarketWatch – Ethics laws don’t require Trump to give up control of his ‘unprecedented’ portfolio 
Reuters – Trump says won’t divest from his business while president
The Hill – Trump barred reporters from examining stacks of folders at press conference
Britannica – What Is the Emoluments Clause?

said he was the least anti-Semitic and least racist person “you’ve ever seen in your entire life”?

Trump made the remark to Jake Turx of the Jewish publication Ami Magazine, who had not accused Trump of being Anti-Semitic.

Number one, I am the least anti-Semitic person that you’ve ever seen in your entire life. Number two, racism. The least racist person.

Politico – Trump, asked about reports of anti-Semitic threats nationwide, says he’s not anti-Semitic
CNBC – Donald Trump: I am the least anti-Semitic person that ‘you’ve ever seen in your entire life’

was said to be “like an 11-year-old child” by Steve Bannon?

Steve Bannon, head of Brietbart News and considered the architect of Trump’s campaign, made the remark to a friend in November 2017. Bannon also described the office as already having taken a toll on Trump, saying he believed the President had “lost a step.”

Bannon left his chief strategist role at the White House in August.

Steve Bannon
Steve Bannon. AP Photo / Gerald Herbert

Vanity Fair – “I have power”: Is Steve Bannon running for President?
Business Insider – Steve Bannon reportedly joked to a friend that Trump is ‘like an 11-year-old child’
The Hill – Bannon joked that Trump is like ‘an 11-year-old child’: report 

was called an “idiot” and “dope” as smart as a kindergartener by his National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster?

National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster derided President Donald Trump’s intelligence at a private dinner with Oracle CEO Safra Catz, according to several sources with knowledge of the conversation.

Four sources told BuzzFeed News they heard about the incident from Catz. McMaster referred to Trump  as an “idiot” and a “dope” with the intelligence of a “kindergartner,”, according the the sources

Oracle and the Trump administration denied the comments that Catz later recounted.

Buzzfeed News – Sources: McMaster Mocked Trump’s Intelligence At A Private Dinner

railed against new aircraft carriers and their digital deck propulsion system, demanding that they return to “goddamned steam”?

In an interview with Time, Trump recalled the conversation.

I said, “You don’t use steam anymore for catapult?” “No sir.” I said, “Ah, how is it working?” “Sir, not good. Not good. Doesn’t have the power. You know the steam is just brutal. You see that sucker going and steam’s going all over the place, there’s planes thrown in the air.”

It sounded bad to me. Digital. They have digital. What is digital? And it’s very complicated, you have to be Albert Einstein to figure it out. And I said — and now they want to buy more aircraft carriers. I said, “What system are you going to be—” “Sir, we’re staying with digital.” I said, “No you’re not. You going to goddamned steam, the digital costs hundreds of millions of dollars more money and it’s no good.”

Foreign Policy – Trump Wants New Aircraft Carriers to Turn Back to ‘Goddamned Steam’ Power Catapults

said of the Charlottesville protests that “there were some very fine people on both sides”?

At Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017, a rally named Unite the Right was held to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Those in attendance included the KKK, neo-Confederates, and neo-Nazis. The organizer of the rally, Jason Kessler, was a self-avowed white supremacist and Neo-Nazi.

File:Charlottesville 'Unite the Right' Rally (35780274914) crop.jpg
Unite the Right Rally. Wikipedia

On the second day of the rally, a white supremacist drove a car through a crowd of counter-protesters, injuring 28 people, and murdering Heather Heyer, a 32-year old woman. It was ruled a terror attack by the city and the FBI. A police helicopter responding to the events also crashed, resulting in the deaths of two Virginia state troopers.

When questioned about the rally, Trump remarked, “you have blame on both sides,” and “you had very fine people, on both sides.” He went on to say, “I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and white nationalists because they should be condemned totally.”

The Atlantic – Trump Defends White-Nationalist Protesters: ‘Some Very Fine People on Both Sides’
NPR – Events Surrounding White Nationalist Rally In Virginia Turn Fatal
Real Clear Politics – Trump Didn’t Call Neo-Nazis ‘Fine People.’ Here’s Proof.
Wikipedia – Unite the Right rally
Wikipedia – Jason Kessler

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