shut down the government over funding for the border wall?

Starting on December 22, 2018, the federal government was shut down for 35 days over Trump’s promise to veto a budget that didn’t include nearly $6 billion in funding for a border wall with Mexico.

Trump claimed that most of the 800,000 federal workers affected by the shut down wanted it to continue until the wall received funding.

As his approval rating declined over the shut down, Trump eventually instead declared a state of national emergency in order to attain funding through other means, siphoning billions from the Defense Department, despite originally claiming that Mexico would pay for it. The shut down was the longest in American history.

The Wall Street Journal – U.S. Government Shuts Down Over Border Wall Funding 
Reuters – Backing down, Trump agrees to end shutdown without border wall money
Wikipedia – 2018–2019 United States federal government shutdown

took credit for Obama’s Veteran’s Choice bill?

Throughout his presidency, Trump claimed multiple times that he was responsible for the Veteran’s Choice Program, which allows veterans to seek care outside of VA medical facilities. The bill as part of a bipartisan effort signed into law in 2014 by Barack Obama. Trump signed the Mission Act in 2018, which expanded on the Veteran’s Choice Program

During an October, 2018 rally in Tennessee, Trump said,

We just passed choice. That was 44 years, they’ve been trying to pass choice. They’ve been trying to pass that one for many many decades. They couldn’t do it. We got it passed.

At a May, 2019 rally in Pennsylvania, Trump reiterated his claims:

We passed VA Choice and VA Accountability to give our veterans the care that they deserve and they have been trying to pass these things for 45 years.

Dr. Richard Stone, Executive in Charge of the Veterans Health Administration, said Trump’s expansion was to “almost be a non-event,” as wait times were longer in private hospitals than VA facilities, and the use of private hospitals by veterans had begun to decline in response.

Trump again made the claim in an August, 2020 press conference, but when pressed on the inaccuracy of the claim, left abruptly.

Associated Press – AP FACT CHECK: Trump takes credit for Obama’s gains for vets
Rolling Stone – Trump Takes Credit for Veterans Healthcare Program That Started Under Obama
Slate – Watch Trump Abruptly End News Conference After He Is Challenged on Veterans Choice Lie
Snopes – Trump Takes Credit for Obama’s Gains for Vets
Military.com – A Million Veterans Have Looked Into Private Care Since Mission Act Rollout​
Wikipedia – Veterans’ Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act of 2014

demanded that his preferred Florida candidates win without counting absentee and military voters?

In the 2018 Florida midterm and gubernatorial election, Republicans alleged widespread voter fraud. Neither the state’s monitors or law enforcement had any reason to believe it was the case.

Trump took to Twitter to demand that absentee ballots, which are largely from active duty military members, be ignored.

Trump also alleged widespread voter fraud in 2016, and created a commission to investigate, which found no evidence of fraud.

Snopes – Would a Proposal by President Trump Exclude Overseas Military Votes in Florida’s Elections?
Military Times – Are those Florida ballots that Trump says showed up ‘out of nowhere’ from military absentee voters?
Time – President Trump Attacked Mail-In Ballots in Florida. Here Are the Facts

revoked a rule for reporting on drone strikes?

In March of 2019, Trump signed an Executive Order that ended reporting for the number of strikes and casualties, both civilian and military, by drones outside of the direct purview of the military. This includes all those conducted by non-military agencies like the CIA, effectively allowing the President to deploy drones against any target, civilian or military, in secret.

Since 2017, the Trump administration has given the CIA broader scope and less restrictions on drone strikes abroad. The move has actively counteracting former President Obama’s efforts to increase transparency and transition the authority for drone strikes to the military, where the National Defense Authorization Act still requires reporting. While Obama’s 2013 Presidential Policy Guidance sought to tighten restrictions on drone strikes in areas not designated as an active battlefield with American troop presence, the Trump administration expanded the definition of battlefields, rendering the distinction useless.

Trump has also advocated targeting the families of suspected terrorists and threatened to bomb cultural sites.

BBC News – Trump revokes Obama rule on reporting drone strike deaths
Time – President Trump Cancels Rule Requiring U.S. to Report Civilians Killed in Drone Strikes
Business Insider – Trump quietly rewrote the rules of drone warfare, which means the US can now kill civilians in secret
NBC News – Trump Administration Wants to Increase CIA Drone Strikes
Foreign Policy – Trump Inherited the Drone War but Ditched Accountability

took Putin’s word over his own intel agencies about Russian election interference?

On July 16, 2018, Trump and Putin met at a conference held in Helsinki, Finland. At the conference, when asked about Russian interference in the 2016 election, Trump remarked:

I have President Putin. He just said it’s not Russia. I will say this. I don’t see any reason why it would be…So I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that president Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today. And what he did is an incredible offer. He offered to have the people working on the case come and work with their investigators, with respect to the 12 people. I think that’s an incredible offer.

Before the conference, Trump and Putin had a two-hour meeting in private, with only a single translator present.

At the conclusion of the 2018 Helsinki conference, Putin offers Trump a gift, remarking “the ball is in your court.”

After the conference, Trump reiterated his position on Twitter.

US intelligence agencies were in agreement that Russia had actively interfered in the 2016 election. In April, 2020, the Republican-controlled US Senate affirmed their findings.

ABC News – Trump casts doubt on US intelligence, calls Putin’s meddling denial ‘strong and powerful’
MarketWatch – Trump Today: President says Putin denial of election interference was ‘powerful’ 
Business Insider – Meet Marina Gross, the interpreter who was the only other American in the room for Trump and Putin’s 1-on-1 meeting in Helsinki
Vox – Read the full transcript of the Helsinki press conference
Wikipedia – 2018 Russia–United States summit
Politico – Senate Intel report confirms Russia aimed to help Trump in 2016

said a synagogue mass shooting could’ve been avoided with “protection”?

On October 27, 2018, the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was attacked by a mass shooter. 11 people were killed and 6 others wounded. It was the most deadly attack on American Jews in the nation’s history.

The shooter posted repeatedly online about his racist and anti-immigration views. Before the shooting, he posted that he would target those who “bring invaders in that kill our people.” He continued, “I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in.”

A woman stands at a memorial outside the Tree of Life synagogue after a shooting there left 11 people dead in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh on October 27.
The memorial outside the Tree of Life synagogue. Brendan Smialowski, AFP / Getty

When asked about the shooting, Trump described it as a “terrible, terrible thing” before going on to say that gun laws “had little to do with it” because “if they had protection inside, the results would’ve been far better.”

After the interview, Trump made his way to Air Force One, where he dropped his umbrella at the door.

The New York Times – 11 Killed in Synagogue Massacre; Suspect Charged With 29 Counts
USA Today – Pittsburgh synagogue shooting: What we know, questions that remain
Wikipedia – Pittsburgh synagogue shooting

blamed Democrats for DACA’s demise?

When asked about DACA during the annual White House Easter Egg roll, Trump said,

The Democrats have really let them down. They really let them down. They had this great opportunity. The Democrats have really let them down. It’s a shame. And now people are taking advantage of DACA and that’s a shame.

Trump himself was responsible for ending DACA, though its phasing out has been held up in courts since.

The Wall Street Journal – Donald Trump Says DACA Is Dead Because Democrats ‘Didn’t Care’ 
Time – ‘The Democrats Have Really Let Them Down.’ President Trump Brought Politics to the White House Easter Egg Roll

invited Kanye West to the White House?

Kanye West has been a vocal supporter of Trump throughout his Presidency, citing their shared “dragon energy.”

In October 2018, Trump invited Kanye to the White House. During his visit, Kanye embarked on a stream-of-consciousness speech for some 20 minutes.

Referencing his MAGA hat, Kanye said, “It was something about when I put this hat on, it made me feel like Superman. You made a Superman.” He went on to say Trump was “on a hero’s journey right now.”

Kanye also boasted about his IQ, and noted his diagnosis for bipolar disorder before seguing into how “we can empower pharmaceuticals, we can empower our industries, we can empower our factories.”

On his past remarks about Bush not caring about black people in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Kanye explained, “I was programmed to think from a victimized mentality. A welfare mentality.”

On improving crime and education in Chicago, Kanye continued, “we have to make it more exciting. We have to mix curriculums. You play basketball while you’re doing math. You learn about music while you meditate in the morning.”

After Kanye finished, Trump concluded, “What do you after that? …That was quite something.”

During an interview amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Kanye explained his continued support: “I buy real estate. It’s better now than when Obama was in office. They don’t teach you in school about buying property. They teach you how to become somebody’s property.”

The New York Times – Kanye West’s White House Rant Steals Trump’s Spotlight
NPR – ‘Quite Something’: Kanye West Makes A Statement In The Oval Office
USA Today – Here’s every word of Kanye West’s bizarre meeting with President Trump
ABC News – Kanye West during Trump meeting at White House: ‘If he don’t look good, we don’t look good’
GQ – Inside Kanye West’s Vision for the Future

appointed a CDC Director who had claimed AIDS was God’s judgement?

Dr. Robert Redfield, appointed to head the Center for Disease Control in 2018, had a long and controversial history with his approach to AIDS.

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Rob...
Dr. Robert Redfield / Wikipedia

During his tenure as a Major at the Walter Reed Medical Institute, Dr. Redfield was one of the architects of Army policy regarding AIDS. It included mandatory testing with no confidentiality, and those that tested positive were quarantined, faced various administrative punishments, or were dishonorably discharged. Redfield explained, “The reason we have done what we have done is that we think it’s good medicine – and it’s medicine that might work in the civilian sector, as well.” He was a proponent of H.R. 2788 that sought to allow HIV testing without consent and force states to have doctors report the names of positive cases.

Redfield wrote an introduction to the book Christians in the Age of AIDS, which read:

It is time to reject the temptation of denial of the AIDS/HIV crisis; to reject false prophets who preach the quick-fix strategies of condoms and free needles; to reject those who preach prejudice; and to reject those who try to replace God as judge.

He also regularly denounced use of condoms and needle exchange programs to prevent its spread throughout his career. The CDC says that proper use of condoms can reduce risk of HIV transmission.

Upon taking office, Redfield claimed that his views had since changed.

Redfield’s predecessor, Brenda Fitzgerald, was appointed by Trump in 2017 and resigned after a report of conflicts of interests involving her investments, including various tobacco stocks.

Vice President Mike Pence, leader of the COVID-19 task force, also has a controversial record with public health and science.

Foreign Policy – Meet Trump’s New, Homophobic Public Health Quack
CNN – Why Trump’s new CDC director is an abysmal choice
AP News – Health official who urged abstinence says views have changed
Congress.gov – H.R.2788 – Kimberly Bergalis Patient and Health Provider Protection Act of 1991
Center for Disease Control – Condom Effectiveness
The New York Times – Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, C.D.C. Director, Resigns Over Tobacco and Other Investments

dismissed criticism because of “Trump Derangement Syndrome?”

Trump Derangement Syndrome, a descendant of Bush Derangement Syndrome, is a phrase used to deflect criticism by painting it as rabidly unreasonable. Accepting criticism isn’t one of Trump’s strong suits, because despite his claims of humility, he has also said that he doesn’t admit to mistakes.

The Daily Beast – POTUS: ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ Is Why People ‘Hate’ My Friendship With Putin
The Hill – Trump urges followers to read Dershowitz book arguing against impeachment
Wikipedia – Trump Derangement Syndrome

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