Days after Kamala Harris was selected to be Joe Biden’s running mate, Trump repeated and amplified false claims about her eligibility to be Vice President at an August 13, 2020 press conference. A new birther conspiracy theory alleged that because Harris’ parents were not both naturalized citizens, she herself would not have been “a citizen at birth.”
Kamala Harris was born in Oakland, California, and is a natural born citizen. Still, Trump, his staff, and his campaign manager have avoided directly acknowledging Harris’ eligibility to run for the office.
Trump was also famously a proponent of the Obama birther conspiracy, wherein he claimed that Obama was Kenyan-born, and so not eligible to be President.
The Department of Energy proposed an amendment to regulations on water fixtures. The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1992 declared a maximum water threshold for showerheads of 2.5 gallons per minute
The candidate, Marjorie Taylor Greene, is a vocal supporter of the QAnon conspiracy theory and had also been criticized for a variety of racist comments. The Republican House minority leader called her remarks appalling.
After her primary win, Trump tweeted his support.
Congratulations to future Republican Star Marjorie Taylor Greene on a big Congressional primary win in Georgia against a very tough and smart opponent. Marjorie is strong on everything and never gives up – a real WINNER!
Trump has long been supported by QAnon, a conspiracy theorist movement that alleges Trump is leading the charge against a supposed left-wing cabal of pedophiles and Satan worshipers.
In an August 11, 2020 interview with Fox Sports personality and OutKick founder Clay Travis, Trump suggested that men were insulted at Biden’s decision to choose a female candidate to run as Vice President.
TRUMP: Well, I think that I would be inclined to go a different route than what he’s done, doing it the way he, first of all, he roped himself into a certain group of people, which is fine.
TRAVIS: He said he had to pick a woman.
TRUMP: He said that. Some people would say that men are insulted by that. Some people would say it’s fine. I don’t know.
Governor of South Dakota Kristi Noem (R) recounted her first meeting with Trump in 2018 at the Oval office:
“He said, ‘Kristi, come on over here. Shake my hand. I shook his hand, and I said, ‘Mr. President, you should come to South Dakota sometime. We have Mount Rushmore.’ And he goes, ‘Do you know it’s my dream to have my face on Mount Rushmore?’ I started laughing. He wasn’t laughing, so he was totally serious.”
According to The New York Times, a Presidential aide reached out to her later to inquire about the process for being added to Mount Rushmore. Trump immediately derided it as “fake news,” because immediately saying “sounds like a good idea to me!”
This is Fake News by the failing @nytimes & bad ratings @CNN. Never suggested it although, based on all of the many things accomplished during the first 3 1/2 years, perhaps more than any other Presidency, sounds like a good idea to me! https://t.co/EHrA9yUsAw
In May of 2020, Trump appointed longtime ally and support Louis DeJoy to Postmaster General of the United States Post Service. According to The Washington Post, DeJoy as of June, 2020, DeJoy and his wife had between $30 million and $75 million in assets of competitors to USPS, representing a clear conflict of interest. He has also donated $1.2 million to the Trump Victory Fund, and millions more to other Republican candidates and organizations.
Louis DeJoy. Wikipedia
In August of 2020, 23 senior officials were removed or re-assigned in what was called part of larger cost-cutting measures. Overtime pay for postal workers to ensure all mail is delivered on time was also removed, leading to backlogs across the country. Critics voiced concerns about delays in mail, especially ahead of the 2020 election. DeJoy’s USPS has also moved to nearly triple the cost of mail-in voting ballots, from 20 cents to 55 cents per ballot. The cost is paid for by the states, already experiencing severe budget issues amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The USPS has long been a target of those wishing to shift its responsibilities to private for-profit entities. In 2006, the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act required that the USPS considers and provides funding for pension and healthcare benefits 75 years out, which no other government agency is required to do.
Reports surfaced of mail boxes and sorting machines being removed and destroyed in multiple states, slowing down mail delivery across the nation. Business deliveries, social security checks, and medicine were delayed.
DeJoy announced that he had no intentions of replacing the removed sorting machines, and the USPS prevented the release of data collected on mail delays.
Trump made the claim after a segment of wall on the US-Mexico border began showing severe “signs of erosion“ months after being completed. Fisher Industries of North Dakota, which built the segment for $42 million, referred to the design a “Lamborghini.”
I disagreed with doing this very small (tiny) section of wall, in a tricky area, by a private group which raised money by ads. It was only done to make me look bad, and perhsps it now doesn’t even work. Should have been built like rest of Wall, 500 plus miles. https://t.co/L8RUPCAhqc
Trump retweeted a video of Stella Immanuel claiming that hydroxochloroquine was a cure for COVID-19. Trump made the unsubstantiated claims about the drug many times, despite there being no evidence for it. She also called masks unnecessary.
Immanuel previously claimed that various gynecological diseases were the result of sexual intercourse with demons and their “evil deposits.” She also claimed that medicines were made from “alien DNA.” In 2019, she was sued for malpractice.
In a subsequent press conference, Trump referred to her as “very impressive,” drawing criticism and ridicule as “demon sperm” became a trending Twitter topic.
In a video posted to Twitter and Facebook, Trump claimed that children were “mostly immune” to COVID-19. The videos, part of a campaign to re-open schools across America amid record case and death numbers, was flagged by Twitter and Facebook for misinformation.
Though the suspension was for 12 hours, the video was quickly removed from both platforms and the suspension dropped.
