The day of the tweet, the United States reported a total of 959 cases, with over 114,000 confirmed worldwide.
Trump spent the weekend preceding the tweet golfing. He later rated his response on COVID19 a 10/10.
Trump regularly downplayed the severity of COVID-19 since it first spread.
In advance of Hurricane Dorian, a White House source to Axios claimed that Trump said, “I got it. I got it. Why don’t we nuke them?” The source said that everyone present was shocked by the suggestion.
Trump immediately called the report fake news, even though a senior White House official defended his suggestion by saying, “His goal — to keep a catastrophic hurricane from hitting the mainland — is not bad. His objective is not bad.”
Trump went on to suggest he’d not even heard of Axios, the outlet that broke the story, despite having had multiple interviews with them and tweeting their stories in the past.
Trump also altered a map of the hurricane’s path with a Sharpie after incorrectly claiming that it would affect Alabama.
Axios – Scoop: Trump suggested nuking hurricanes to stop them from hitting U.S.
Wired – While You Were Offline: Could a Nuclear Bomb Stop a Hurricane?
Time – President Trump Denies Wanting to Nuke Hurricanes to Stop Them From Hitting the U.S.
USA Today – You can’t nuke a hurricane to stop it, as Trump reportedly suggested. Here’s why
In another instance, Trump tweeted a gif of himself wrestling CNN to the ground. He has long called CNN and other press media “the enemy of the people,”
The Hill – Media criticizes Trump for retweet portraying CNN as blood on his shoe
Chicago Tribune – Trump retweets image depicting ‘CNN’ squashed beneath his shoe
Trump has repeated the remark several times at rallies, in interviews, and over Twitter, disparaging anything critical as fake news. He has also suggested taking the press credentials of those critical of him.
The New York Times – Trump Calls the News Media the ‘Enemy of the American People’
Business Insider – Trump tweets the media is ‘the enemy of the American People’
The Hill – Trump ramps up rhetoric on media, calls press ‘the enemy of the people’
USA Today – Trump again calls media ‘enemy of the people’
Trump spent some 40 minutes attacking his various enemies at a Minneapolis rally. He accused the Washington establishment of pillaging America, despite being in power for three years and himself constituting the establishment. He called Democrats “very sick,” and said Nancy Pelosi is “either really stupid or she’s really lost it.”
He again made claims about the Biden family, calling Hunter Biden a loser, and saying of his father Joe Biden, “He was only a good vice president because he understood how to kiss Barack Obama’s ass.” He denounced recent surveys and news reports about the White House as “crooked” and bad for America.
Trump targeted the Mueller investigation and FBI agents Lisa Page and Peter Strzok, mimicking them their amorous relationship: “‘Oh, I love you so much. I love you, Peter!’ ‘I love you too, Lisa! Lisa, I love you. Lisa, Lisa! Oh God, I love you, Lisa.’”
He also targeted the more recent inquiry into his withholding military aid from Ukraine in exchange for political favors, saying, “The do-nothing Democrat extremists have gone so far to the left that they believe it should not be a crime to cross our border illegally and that it should be a crime to have a totally appropriate, casual, beautiful, accurate phone call with a foreign leader.”
Finally, Trump targeted the mayor of the host city, as well as the state’s freshman US Representative Ilhan-Omar, who he called an “America-hating socialist.”
The New York Times – At Minneapolis Rally, an Angry Trump Reserves Sharpest Attack for Biden
Politico – ‘These people are sick’: Trump’s ire against Washington boils over
Newsweek – Nancy Pelosi is ‘either really stupid or she’s really lost it,’ says Trump in fiery Minneapolis political rally
During a speech, Trump railed against media reports on him, saying it’s all fake news.
BBC News – Donald Trump: ‘What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening’
Trump has also retweeted an image of a bloody CNN crushed under his shoe. He has long railed against the press, calling them “the enemy of the people.”
ABC News – Critics pounce on Trump after CNN wrestling tweet
The remark prompted Melania’s spokeswoman to say that she watches “any channel she wants.”
The New York Times – Spotting CNN on a TV Aboard Air Force One, Trump Rages Against Reality
Newsweek – CNN troll Trump: ‘Thanks for watching, Melania!’
The talking points in question were various disparaging remarks about four Congressional lawmakers Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.), and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.). While his tweet claimed there were no talking points prepared, clear pictures of them surfaced. He had also said the four women, despite being US citizens, should “go back” to their own countries, and said that they were “incapable of loving America.”
Additionally, the upper right corner of the page had the words, “some people,” and “alcaida” prominently hand-written. The former is a common justification that Trump uses (e.g. “I’m intelligent. Some people would say I’m very, very, very intelligent”), while the latter appears to be a misspelling of Al-Qaeda. Trump has also misspelled his officials’ name, his wife’s name, and his own name.
The Week – Trump claims he didn’t have ‘talking points’ to degrade Rep. Ilhan Omar. Here’s a picture of him holding them.
Newsweek – DONALD TRUMP FALSELY CLAIMS HE DIDN’T HAVE ‘TALKING POINTS’ ON MINORITY CONGRESSWOMEN, DESPITE PHOTOS
