Remember when Trump…

had cadets travel back to campus and undergo quarantine for a speech amid the COVID-19 pandemic?

In April, 2020, Trump announced that he would give the commencement speech for the graduating class at West Point on June 13. West Point officials were reportedly surprised by the decision, as they had sent home the class in March amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the press conference, Trump discussed how the ceremony would be socially distanced, saying that he didn’t like the look and preferred it “nice and tight.”

1,106 cadets were summoned from across the country back to their campus in New York, which was the epicenter of COVID-19 at the time. The graduating cadets were required to live in quarantine for the two weeks leading up to the speech, confined to their dorms and being required to stay in assigned cohorts. 15 had tested positive for COVID-19, though officials said that no one else was infected.

Illinois US Senator Tammy Duckworth, who lost both of her legs serving as a helicopter pilot in the Iraq War, was among the most outspoken critics of the decision:

15 of the cadets tested positive for COVID-19 shortly after their return.

The New York Times – Graduating West Point Cadets Isolate for Two Weeks Ahead of Trump Speech
The New York Times – 15 West Point Cadets Test Positive for Coronavirus
Vanity Fair – Trump Is Making Cadets Return To Campus So He Can Give A Speech
CNN – Trump says he’ll deliver West Point graduation speech to socially distanced crowd

retweeted Russian propaganda about Biden?

On August 16, 2020, Trump retweeted audio purportedly between Biden and former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko from a February 18, 2016 recording.

Trump’s retweet of what intelligence officials already confirmed to be Russian propaganda. CNN

The video had already been described by US intelligence officials as part of a Russian campaign to attack and spread conspiracy theories against Trump’s 2020 opponent, Joe Biden.

The excerpt of the retweeted conversation centers on the ouster of Ukraine’s chief prosecutor, who had previously investigated the owner of a Ukraine energy company where Biden’s son, Hunter, once held a board seat. During the Obama administration, Biden led the charge to oust the prosecutor in the first place, with backing from several European allies, because of his failure to pursue corruption cases.

The account that originally tweeted the recording was suspended.

Trump has also tweeted a video about Biden flagged by Twitter for being misinformation, and in another instance, had his account restricted for spreading misinformation about COVID-19.

Associated Press – Trump retweets purported audio of Biden call with Ukraine
CNN – Trump retweets Russian propaganda about Biden that US intel agencies say is intended to influence 2020 election
USA Today – Explainer: Biden, allies pushed out Ukrainian prosecutor because he didn’t pursue corruption cases

was called a liar and a brat with no principles by his sister?

In August of 2020, tapes of Maryanne Trump Barry discussing her brother, Donald, were leaked. Mary Trump, Donald’s niece, recorded 15 hours of her talks with Barry in 2018 and 2019 for her book, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man, published in July.

Throughout the released tapes, Maryanne is only critical of her younger brother, Donald:

…his goddamned Tweet and the lying. Oh my God. I’m talking too freely, but you know. And the change of stories, the lack of preparation, the lying, the holy sh*t.

Maryanne went on to call Trump a “brat,” and discuss how he paid someone to take his entrance exams for college:

In another tape, Marryane stated that Donald “has no principles,” and disparaged his border policy:

Trump’s response was, “Every day it’s something else, who cares. I miss my brother, and I’ll continue to work hard for the American people. Not everyone agrees, but the results are obvious. Our country will soon be stronger than ever before!”

Maryanne Trump Barry, former Senior United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Maryanne Trump Barry. American Legal News

 

Maryanne was a federal judge until 2019. She was appointed by Reagan to the District Court of New Jersey and by Clinton to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. She resigned amid a probe into whether she and her siblings engaged in in fraud to limit the tax liability of their inheritance. Because the investigation in her instance only sought to determine whether she’d violated judicial conduct rules, it concluded with her resignation.

The Washington Post – In secretly recorded audio, President Trump’s sister says he has ‘no principles’ and ‘you can’t trust him’
USA Today – ‘He has no principles. None’: Maryanne Trump Barry tears into her brother in secretly taped audio
Axios – Trump’s sister says “you can’t trust him” in audio leaked to WashPost
Newsweek – Trump Says ‘Every Day It’s Something Else, Who Cares’ to Sister’s Secret Audio Recording
American Legal News – Maryanne Trump Barry Resigns in Face of Ethics Investigation
Wikipedia – Maryanne Trump Barry

repeatedly suggested being President for more than 2 terms?

The Washington Post compiled multiple instances up to 2019, including one in which he expressed admiration for China’s lack of term limits:

Trump retweeted a claim that he should have two years added to his term because of the Mueller investigation.

In a deleted tweet, Trump reiterated the sentiment that two years had been “stollen”:

Twitter Users Bake Donald Trump Over His Deliciously Weird Typo ...

He reiterated the suggestion a month later.

The remarks on additional terms resurfaced as the 2020 election neared. Trump tweeted a meme about his never ending presidency:

On August 17, 2020, Trump said that he wanted a third term because of the Obama administration’s supposed spying on his campaign. The conspiracy theory, often referenced as Obamagate or Spygate, has been debunked.

Trump reiterated the claim on August 24, the first day of the Republican National Convention. He suggested 12 more years “because we caught them doing very bad things in 2016.”

The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution states, “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.”

Politico – Trump again jokes about extending his term past 2024
Politico – Trump: 2 years of my term were ‘stollen’
News18 – Donald Trump Tweets How Two Years of his Term were ‘Stollen,’ Which Is a German Bread
The Hill – Trump retweets Jerry Falwell Jr. suggesting his term should be extended by two years
Rolling Stone – Trump Says He’ll Seek a Third Term Because ‘They Spied On Me’ 
Wikipedia – Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution

claimed that the “deep state” was delaying a COVID-19 vaccine?

There was no proof or elaboration on the claim.

The Food and Drug Administration is an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services, part of the executive branch. The head of the FDA, Stephen Hahn, was nominated by Trump on November 5, 2019.

At the time of his tweet, the United States totaled 5,861,632 cases and suffered 180,202 deaths.

Trump has referred to the “deep state” in the past, including the “Deep State Department,” prompting Dr. Anthony Fauci to struggle in holding his laughter.

Reuters – Trump says without proof that FDA ‘deep state’ slowing COVID trials
The Hill – Democrats tear into Trump’s ‘deep state’ tweet: His ‘lies and recklessness’ have ‘killed people’
Wikipedia – Food and Drug Administration
Wikipedia – Commissioner of Food and Drugs
Worldometer – Coronavirus, United States

called for a boycott of Goodyear Tires?

Ahead of the election, Goodyear Tires banned its employees from having any kind of clothing with political messaging or slogans.

In response, Trump called for a boycott on Goodyear via Twitter.

Goodyear is located in Akron, Ohio, and employees approximately 65,000 people. Both the Mayor of the city and Goodyear itself responded via tweet:

Politico – Trump calls for Goodyear boycott after company bans MAGA attire among employees
CBS News – Trump calls for boycott of Goodyear, claiming company banned MAGA hats
Raw Story – Ohio Republicans doing damage control after Trump ‘assault’ on Goodyear infuriates workers: report

claimed that the Democratic National Convention removed “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance?

Trump made the claim via tweet on the fourth and last day of the DNC in which Joe Biden formally accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination.

The claim was false, as each day of the DNC opened with the full Pledge of Allegiance.

Day 1:

Day 2:

Day 3:

Day 4:

“Under God” was omitted from two smaller individual caucus events, the LGBTQ caucus meeting and the Muslim Delegates Assembly. Each day of the DNC consistsed of some half dozen different individual caucuses.

The phrase “under God” was added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954 amid the Cold War.

Associated Press – AP FACT CHECK: Trump’s distortion on Dems and the pledge
Snopes – Did Democrats Omit ‘Under God’ from the Pledge of Allegiance?
Wikipedia – Pledge of Allegiance, Addition of “under God”

gave a speech to the Boy Scouts?

On July 24, 2017, Trump delivered a meandering speech at the annual Boy Scout Jamboree. Some 40,000 people were in attendance. In it, he railed against political rivals, bragged about his election results from 260 days prior, and went on various other tangents, including a reference to another rich real-estate developer having sex on a yacht.

Amid anger from parents, the Boy Scouts apologized for Trump’s remarks.

Time – Read the Full Transcript of President Trump’s 2017 Boy Scout Jamboree Speech
Business Insider – Trump goes on wild riff to Boy Scouts about a real estate developer and a party with ‘the hottest people in New York’
CNN – The 29 most cringe-worthy lines from Donald Trump’s hyper-political speech to the Boy Scouts
BBC News – Trump boy scout Jamboree speech angers parents
The New York Times – Boy Scouts Apologize Over President Trump’s Remarks at Jamboree

did nothing when Russia likely placed bounties on US soldiers?

It was revealed in June of 2020, that Russia was likely offering bounties to the Taliban to kill US soldiers in Afghanistan. The intelligence was of medium confidence, meaning it was credibly sourced and plausible, but fell short of near certainty. Trump had been briefed in February about the bounty program. Large financial transfers were discovered between the Russian intelligence services and a Taliban-linked account, and Afghan sources alleged that up to $100,000 was offered per American.

Despite the bounty program, Trump advocated for Russia to be returned to the G7, though the proposal was rejected by its other members. Russia was removed from the economic forum in 2014 because of their invasion and annexation of the Crimean peninsula in Ukraine.

Trump said via tweet that he had never been briefed on the matter, labeling it as “fake news,” and claimed that “nobody’s been tougher on Russia than the Trump Administration.” He repeated this claim when asked about US intelligence indicating that Russia was attempting to influence the 2020 election.

In an August 3 interview, Trump said that he never raised the subject of Russian bounties with Putin.

Later in August, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo acknowledged that Russia offered bounties to militants, saying he and the US military warned Russian officials about possible repercussions.

Trump has criticized NATO since his 2016 campaign, and accepted Putin’s “strong and powerful” denial that Russia didn’t interfere in the 2016 election over the word of his own intelligence services.

The New York Times – Trump Got Written Briefing in February on Possible Russian Bounties, Officials Say
BBC News – Afghanistan war: Trump got written briefing on ‘Russia bounties’, reports say
The New York Times – Trump Still Defers to Putin, Even as He Dismisses U.S. Intelligence and the Allies
Military Times – Trump calls reports of Russian bounties on US troops a ‘hoax’
Axios – Exclusive: Trump never raised Russia’s Taliban bounties with Putin
The New York Times – Trump and Putin Discuss Russia’s Attendance at G7, but Allies Are Wary
Politico – Pompeo, Pentagon warned Russia against offering bounties for killing U.S. troops
Reuters – Most Americans believe Russia targeted U.S. soldiers, want sanctions in response – Reuters/Ipsos poll
Wikipedia – Russian bounty program

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