On the day of his tweet, the United States had 541 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
Trump dismissed concerns about COVID-19 for months as it spread across the United States.
Boston Globe – Trump tweets a meme of himself fiddling, drawing a comparison to Roman emperor Nero
Worldometer – Coronavirus, United States
Trump made the tweet four days after openly admitting to withholding funds from the USPS in order to prevent mail-in voting. Trump also selected Louis DeJoy as Postmaster General, who has been accused of conflicts of interest and working to degrade the USPS’ operations.
CBS17 – ‘SAVE THE POST OFFICE!,’ tweets President Trump amid recent USPS controversy
Politico – Voters sue Postal Service and Trump over changes ahead of election
On August 13, 2020, Trump explained his reasoning behind withholding funds from the United States Postal Service amid the COVID-19 pandemic and ahead of the general election:
They want $25 billion — billion — for the post office. Now they need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots. But if they don’t get those two items, that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting.
Trump’s Postmaster General for the USPS, Louis DeJoy, a large campaign contributor with tens of millions in assets of USPS competitors, has also been accused of dismantling the USPS ahead of the election. Days later, Trump tweeted “SAVE THE POST OFFICE!”
Trump long held that mail-in voting is rife with fraud, though he and his family vote by mail.
Business Insider – Trump admits he’s refusing to fund the US Postal Service to sabotage mail-in voting
Associated Press – Trump admits he’s blocking postal cash to stop mail-in votes
New York Magazine – Trump Admits He’s Starving the Postal Service to Sabotage Voting by Mail
The Guardian – Trump admits he is undermining USPS to make it harder to vote by mail
During an August 17, 2020 speech, Trump pointed to New Zealand’s surge in COVID-19 cases as an example of how other countries weren’t handling COVID-19 well.
All of a sudden a lot of the places they were using to hold up, they are having a big surge, and I don’t want that, I don’t want that. But they were holding up names of countries and now they’re saying, whoops! Like even New Zealand, you see what’s going on in New Zealand. They beat it, they beat it, it was like front page, they beat it, because they wanted to show me some. The problem is, big surge in New Zealand.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern pointed out, “I don’t think there’s any comparison…we quite easily see that New Zealand’s nine cases in a day does not compare to the United States’ tens of thousands.”
New Zealand, which had completely eradicated the virus, recorded 9 new cases the day prior, totaling 1,631 cases and 22 deaths. On the same day, the United States reported approximately 40,000 new cases, totaling 5,631,457 cases and 174,272 deaths. Even adjusting for population, the United States had 131 times as many deaths.
The Guardian – Trump calls out New Zealand’s ‘terrible’ Covid surge, on day it records nine new cases
Worldometer – Coronavirus
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.
NPR – Trump’s Racist ‘Birther’ Attacks On Harris Are A Return To Familiar Territory
The Daily Beast – Trump Promises to ‘Take a Look’ at Bogus Kamala Harris Birther Claim
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
Trump previously complained about low flow toilets that require one to flush “10 to 15 times,” directing the EPA to investigate.
Market Watch – Trump wants ‘perfect’ hair from stronger water flow in the shower — his Energy Department delivers
Miami Herald – Trump wants better water flow in his shower. Here’s what that means for you
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.
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.
Chicago Tribune – Trump tweets congratulations for QAnon supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene after she wins GOP nomination for US House in Georgia
Politico – Republicans called her videos ‘appalling’ and ‘disgusting.’ But they’re doing little to stop her.
Wikipedia – QAnon
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.
The Daily Beast – Trump: Biden Is Insulting Men Everywhere by Picking Woman as Running Mate
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
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!”
Trump brought up the idea of being put on Mount Rushmore in a July 2017 rally, though he said he was “totally joking.”
CNN – New York Times: White House reached out to South Dakota governor about adding Trump to Mount Rushmore
ABC News – Trump denies WH asked about adding him to Mount Rushmore, then calls it a ‘good idea’
Argus Leader – Mount Trumpmore? It’s the president’s ‘dream,’ Rep. Kristi Noem says
