Remember when Trump…

suggested Americans gather for Thanksgiving amid the biggest COVID-19 spike to date?

During  his Thanksgiving proclamation, Trump suggested that Americans gather for the holidays:

I encourage all Americans to gather, in homes and places of worship, to offer a prayer of thanks to God for our many blessings.

Senior Trump officials also echoed the sentiment, despite it being contrary to the advice of the CDC. Most notably, senior COVID-19 advisor Dr. Scott Atlas suggested that in-person celebrations of Thanksgiving be held with elderly family members, as it may be “their final Thanksgiving.”

Scott Atlas resigned soon after amid the resulting out roar.

That Thanksgiving, the United States had totaled over 13.3 million cases of COVID-19 and suffered nearly 270,000 deaths.

The Hill -Trump encourages Americans to ‘gather’ in Thanksgiving proclamation despite coronavirus surge
Forbes -Trump Proclamation Urges Americans To ‘Gather’ For Thanksgiving. Public Health Officials, Biden Beg Please Don’t
Independent – Trump urges Americans to ‘gather’ for Thanksgiving in direct contradiction of official Covid guidance
WhiteHouse.gov – Proclamation on Thanksgiving Day, 2020
New York Magazine – Trump COVID Adviser Scott Atlas Is on a Hot Streak of Dumb Ideas
Worldometer – Coronavirus, United States

fired the head of election security for contradicting claims on mass fraud?

Two weeks after the 2020 election, head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Chris Krebs was fired by Trump for contradicting the President’s claims of mass fraud.

Chris Krebs official photo.jpg
Christopher Krebs, former Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Wikipedia

CISA, an organization created by legislation signed by Trump, sought to ensure the integrity of the election, and after announced it to be among the most secure in American history. It also sought to dispel rumors and conspiracy theories directly on its website’s “rumor control” page. Many of these had been spread by Trump himself, who attacked Krebs on Twitter.

On the day of his ousting, head of the CISA Chris Krebs also noted on Twitter that such claims were in every case “unsubstantiated or are technically incoherent,” and said of his agency, “we did it right.”

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency – #Protect2020 Rumor vs. Reality
Associated Press – Trump fires agency head who vouched for 2020 vote security
PBS News Hour – Trump’s firing of top election security official unsettles lawmakers
BBC News – Trump fires election security official who contradicted him
Wikipedia – Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
Wikipedia – Chris Krebs

lost the 2020 election?

Initial results on election day showed states too close to call in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona. As mail-in votes were tallied across the next three days, all eventually were called for Joe Biden, solidifying his victory over Trump.

The final electoral college result were 306-232, exactly the margin Trump won by in 2016.

While Clinton had some 3 million more votes than Trump in 2016, Biden secured nearly 7 million more. Still, polls ahead of the election had indicated that Biden was on track to obtain an even larger victory.

2020 Electoral College results. Wikipedia

Biden announced his victory in a speech on the evening of November 7.

Trump refused to concede, and for the following month, claimed mass fraud while his legal teams filed lawsuits across multiple battleground states, without success.

Wikipedia – 2020 United States presidential election
The New York Times – Biden Wins Presidency, Ending Four Tumultuous Years Under Trump
Associated Press – EXPLAINER: Why AP called the 2020 election for Joe Biden

tried to prematurely claim victory in the 2020 election?

In the late hours of Election Day, Trump claimed victory and announced a series of litigation.

Trump also took to Twitter as ballots were being counted, claiming that the election was being stolen

Trump went on to “hereby claim” Michigan, which was won by opponent Biden.

Two days after the election, Trump reiterated his claims about mass fraud in a conference, while litigation his campaign advanced in swing states of Georgia and Michigan had already been thrown out.

On November 7, Biden’s victory was announced. For the following month, Trump’s legal team engaged in dozens of lawsuits while he flooded Twitter with claims of fraud and victory.

Reuters – Trump campaign loses lawsuit seeking to halt Michigan vote count
US News & World Report – Trump Campaign Loses Legal Fights in Georgia and Michigan, Vows Nevada Lawsuit

had his Twitter hacked?

In October, 2020, a Dutch security expert announced that he had been able to guess Trump’s Twitter password, “maga2020!”. Without any two-factor authentication, he was able to immediately gain full access to the account. He immediately contacted the US’ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) about the matter, and Trump’s password was soon after changed.

The same expert claims to have accessed Trump’s Twitter in 2016, guessing the password “yourefired”.

Twitter responded by saying, “We’ve seen no evidence to corroborate this claim, including from the article published in the Netherlands today.” Neither Trump or his campaign had any comment. A week later, The Republican Party announced that hackers had stolen over $2 million from Trump’s campaign.

Trump also refused to use secured phones, considering it “too inconvenient.”

Tech Crunch – President Trump’s Twitter accessed by security expert who guessed password ‘maga2020!’
Variety – Twitter Disputes Claim That Donald Trump’s Account Hacked by Researcher Who Guessed His ‘maga2020!’ Password
Independent – Hackers steal $2.3m from Trump reelection fund, says GOP

repeatedly used Russian propaganda in his campaign ads?

In one instance, a Trump advertisement saying to support the troops used footage of Russian jets.

In another, Trump’s campaign used footage from Russian factories and Ukrainian companies.

During the Republican National Convention, in another video railing against riots in US cities after the death of George Floyd at the hands of police, footage was used from protests in Spain.

Person running near a fire set in the streets of Barcelona in 2019.
A screenshot from an RNC video about US protests was actually footage from Spain

Another advertisement featured a Philadelphia woman and her business. She says she was misled by the filmmakers and only learned about it being used for a political advertisement when she saw it on television.

Similarly, Dr. Fauci said his words were used out of context and without permission in another advertisement.

Other advertisements also used stock footage and misleading content, including boxes labelled “MADE IN USA” and championing job growth while showing footage of an Illinois steel plant that had laid off hundreds of workers.

Politico – Trump ad asks people to support the troops. But it uses a picture of Russian jets. 
The Guardian – Trump election ad uses stock military image ‘featuring Russian fighter jets’
Politico – Another pro-Trump ad uses footage from Russia
Buzzfeed News – RNC Video Showing Rioters In “Biden’s America” Is Actually Spain
The Philadelphia Inquirer – Haddon Heights market unwillingly stars in Trump campaign ad
The Daily Beast – Trump Campaign Uses Russian Footage in Ad—Again

said COVID-19 testing is “in many ways foolish”?

At an October 24, 2020 rally at Lumberton, North Carolina, Trump complained about COVID-19’s media coverage. He went on to say that the pandemic would no longer be mentioned after the election, and called widespread testing “foolish.”

He’d previously complained about testing, blaming it for the large number in US cases, and said he’d asked his officials to slow testing down.

The same day Trump made the remarks, the US broke a new record for daily reported COVID-19 cases.

Trump reiterated his claims on Twitter.

The New York Times – U.S. Sets Coronavirus Case Record Amid New Surge
Forbes – Trump Resurrects False Testing Claim As Daily Covid Cases Hit New High

suggested selling Puerto Rico?

After Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, resulting in nearly 3,000 deaths, former acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke said Trump considered selling the US commonwealth.

Trump famously visited Puerto Rico after the 2017 hurricane, and was photographed throwing paper towels into a crowd. He also withheld relief funding. In a separate instance, he suggested buying Greenland.

The New York Times – Leading Homeland Security Under a President Who Embraces ‘Hate-Filled’ Talk
Business Insider – Trump touted selling Puerto Rico after the territory was devastated by a hurricane in 2017, says former official
USA Today – Trump floated idea of selling Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, says ex-Homeland Security head Duke

left hundreds of supporters in the freezing cold after a rally?

After a rally on October 27, 2020 at Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Nebraska, hundreds of supporters were left in freezing temperatures. Buses couldn’t navigate the airport roads, and more delays were created when many decided to walk the few miles back to the parking area. Emergency teams had to tend to those most vulnerable, resulting in 30 hospitalizations.

At the rally, Trump had remarked, “Is there any place you would rather be than a Trump rally on about a 10-degree evening? … It’s cold out here, but that’s OK.”

The Washington Post – Hundreds of Trump supporters stuck in the cold for hours when buses can’t reach Omaha rally
NBC News – Hundreds of Trump supporters stuck on freezing cold Omaha airfield after rally, 7 taken to hospitals
CNN – The perfect metaphor for Trump’s treatment of his loyal supporters

tweeted a satirical news story, believing it to be real?

On October 16, 2020, Trump tweeted a story from a satire site which claimed that Twitter shut itself down to slow the spread of negative news about opponent Joe Biden.

An excerpt from the referenced story reads,

After seeing account after account tweet out one particularly bad story, CEO Jack Dorsey realized he had to take action. Dorsey smashed a glass box in his office reading “Break In Case Of Bad Publicity For Democrats.” Inside the case was a sledgehammer for smashing Twitter’s servers.

“Red alert — shut the servers down! Shut them all down!”

The Babylon Bee’s Twitter responded to Trump’s support.

The Babylon Bee – Twitter Shuts Down Entire Network To Slow Spread Of Negative Biden News
Newsweek – The Babylon Bee Wasted No Time Trolling Trump After He Tweeted Its Satirical Article as News
Wikipedia – The Babylon Bee

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