Trump make the remarks at an October, 16 2020 rally in Macon, Georgia.
Running against the worst candidate in the history of presidential politics puts pressure on me.
Could you imagine if I lose? My whole life, what am I gonna do? I’m gonna say I lost to the worst candidate in the history of politics. I’m not gonna feel so good. Maybe I’ll have to leave the country, I don’t know.”
During an October 15, 2020 town hall, Trump refused to denounce the QAnon conspiracy theory when asked by host Savannah Guthrie. QAnon holds that Trump was waging a secret war against a secret cabal of Satantic Democrats that engaged in a mass pedophile ring.
GUTHRIE: All right, while we’re denouncing, let me ask you about QAnon. It is this theory that Democrats are a satanic pedophile ring and that you are the savior, of that. Now can you just, once and for all, state that that is completely not true, and disavow QAnon in its entirety?
TRUMP: I know nothing about QAnon.
GUTHRIE: I just told you.
TRUMP: I know very little. You told me, but what you tell me, doesn’t necessarily make it fact. I hate to say that. I know nothing about it. I do know they are very much against pedophilia. They fight it very hard. But I know nothing about it. If you’d like me to-
GUTHRIE: They believe that it is a Satanic cult run by the deep state.
TRUMP: …study the subject. I’ll tell you what I do know about. I know about Antifa, and I know about the radical left, and I know how violent they are and how vicious they are. And I know how they are burning down cities run by Democrats, not run by Republicans.
Betsy DeVos, Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Education, was a longtime advocate of charter schools and redirecting tax dollars to private and Christian schools.
Betsy DeVos. Wikipedia
DeVos’ family was among the richest in the nation, with a worth over $5 billion. Her husband was former CEO of Amway and her brother founded the private military firm Blackwater. She and her family used their significant wealth for political influence within the Republican Party. In a 1997 editorial, she wrote, “I have decided to stop taking offense at the suggestion that we are buying influence. Now I simply concede the point. They are right. We do expect some things in return.”
In 2001, she said education reform was a means to “advance God’s kingdom.” In a separate interview, she said she sought “to impact our culture in ways that are not the traditional funding-the-Christian-organization route, but that really may have greater Kingdom gain in the long run by changing the way we approach things – in this case, the system of education in the country.”
Despite never being an educator, DeVos was nominated to be Secretary of Education by Trump. She was confirmed by the Senate in a narrow 50-50 vote, where the tie was broken by Vice President Mike Pence. During the confirmation hearings, DeVos said guns had a place in schools, giving the example of defense against grizzly bears.
During her tenure, DeVos sought to allocate federal funds to private schools by arguing it to be a component of “state’s rights.” She failed to divest from 24 assets as required by law, attempted to cut funding for the Special Olympics, revoked Obama-era rules about for-profit universities and sexual assault reporting on campuses, and was investigated for using personal email accounts to conduct government business.
In a 2018 60 Minutes interview, she struggled to answer various questions, including why the Michigan charter school programs she pushed in her home state of Michigan were failing students.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, she attempted to redirect millions of dollars in relief from public schools to private and religious schools until the move was prevented by a federal court. She also called for the full re-opening of schools, saying, “there’s nothing in the data that suggests that kids being in school is in any way dangerous to them.”
On March 6, 2019, Trump referred to the CEO of Apple as “Tim Apple.”
Trump defended the mistake by saying it was done intentionally to save time.
At a recent round table meeting of business executives, & long after formally introducing Tim Cook of Apple, I quickly referred to Tim + Apple as Tim/Apple as an easy way to save time & words. The Fake News was disparagingly all over this, & it became yet another bad Trump story!
Trump also called national security advisor John Bolton “Mike Bolton,” Vice President Mike Pence “Mike Pounce,” and former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan “Ron.”
John Bolton, former George W. Bush ambassador to the United Nations, served as a national security advisor for Trump from April 2018 to September 2019.
Trump repeatedly referred to him as Mike Bolton to aides and in public.
Michael Bolton is a famous singer.
Trump also called Apple CEO Tim Cook “Tim Apple,” Vice President Mike Pence “Mike Pounce,” and former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan “Ron.”
In a September 12, 2019 address to House Republicans in Baltimore, Maryland, Trump accidentally referred to Vice President Mike Pence as “Mike Pounce.”
Trump also called national security advisor John Bolton “Mike Bolton,” former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan “Ron,” and Apple CEO Tim Cook “Tim Apple.”
On October 9, 2020, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said, “Trump might be ridiculous for the rest of the world, but he is sane and wise man for the Taliban.”
Mujahid explained their support: “We hope he will win the election and wind up U.S. military presence in Afghanistan. When we heard about Trump being COVID-19 positive, we got worried for his health, but seems he is getting better.”
Two days prior to the endorsement, Trump tweeted that all remaining US personnel in Afghanistan should be home by Christmas.
We should have the small remaining number of our BRAVE Men and Women serving in Afghanistan home by Christmas!
In October 2020, a March remark by Dr. Anthony Fauci was used in a Trump campaign advertisement. Fauci immediately condemned its use, saying it was taken out of context, and noted that he had never publicly endorsed a candidate.
Trump defended the advertisement on Twitter:
They are indeed Dr. Fauci’s own words. We have done a “phenomenal” job, according to certain governors. Many people agree…And now come the Vaccines & Cures, long ahead of projections! https://t.co/ANqKL4eBqJ
Dr. Fauci subsequently supported pulling the advertisement altogether.
Dr. Anthony Fauci says “it’s really unfortunate and really disappointing” that the Trump campaign featured him in an ad touting the President’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
During the first presidential debate on September 29, 2020, Trump was asked by moderate Christopher Wallace to unequivocally denounce white supremacist groups. Instead of doing so, he told once such group – the Proud Boys – to “stand back and stand by.”
WALLACE: You have repeatedly criticized the vice president for not specifically calling out antifa and other left-wing extremist groups. But are you willing, tonight, to condemn white supremacists and militia groups and to say that they need to stand down and not add to the violence in a number of these cities as we saw in Kenosha and as we’ve seen in Portland? Are you prepared to specifically do that?
TRUMP: Sure, I’m prepared to do that. But I would say almost everything I see is from the left wing, not from the right wing. If you look, I’m willing to do anything. I want to see peace.
WALLACE: Then do it, sir.
BIDEN: Do it. Say it.
TRUMP: You want to call them? What do you want to call them? Give me a name, give me a name, go ahead — who would you like me to condemn?
WALLACE: White supremacists, white supremacists and right-wing militia.
TRUMP: Proud Boys, stand back and stand by. But I’ll tell you what: Somebody’s got to do something about antifa and the left. Because this is not a right-wing problem — this is a left-wing problem.
The Proud Boys, which is designated as a far-right hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, called the president’s comment a tacit endorsement.
The following January, the leader of the Proud Boys was banned by a judge from Washington DC for weapons and vandalism charges.
