attacked Obama over his handling of Ebola?

For four months, Trump railed against Obama’s handling of Ebola during the 2014 crisis. Trump demanded that all travel from Western Africa be immediately halted, promising that the crisis will “ONLY GET WORSE.” Saying that the government’s handling of the crisis was “almost like he’s saying F-you to U.S. public,” he warned about how “All the governors are already backing off of the Ebola quarantines.”

There were 11 total American cases of Ebola, resulting in 2 deaths. Neither of those who died contracted Ebola from within the United States. The CDC announced the first diagnosis September 30, 2014, and the last infected person was released from the hospital November 11.

Ebola outbreak in the United States / Wikipedia

During his Presidency, Trump repeatedly downplayed the severity of COVID-19. His administration implemented limited travel bans that only extended to non-US citizens and residents, failed to implement travel checks and tracing for the disease, and continually pushed for states to reopen their economies. Trump claimed he had total authority over governors to make policy in their states.

Fox News also drew attention for the discrepancy between their reporting on the handling of Ebola under Obama and COVID-19 under Trump.

An incomplete list of Trump’s tweets about Obama’s handling of Ebola follows:

Wikipedia – Ebola virus cases in the United States
Trump Twitter Archive

called in to Fox & Friends where he ranted for 53 minutes?

During the 53 minutes, Trump spoke at length about various conspiracy theories and made several false claims about the ongoing impeachment hearings. Among them, Ukraine’s supposed role in tampering with elections, and how the phone call with the Ukrainian leader at the center of the impeachment hearings was made up. He also directly admitted to holding up the military aid that had been agreed upon by Congress, saying, “I mean, I asked it very point-blank, because we’re looking for corruption. There’s tremendous corruption. Why should we be giving hundreds of millions of dollars to countries when there’s this kind of corruption?”

Trump had also previously called in to Fox & Friends for similar rants.

The New York Times – Trump’s Long List of Inaccurate Statements on ‘Fox & Friends’
Business Insider – Trump essentially admitted on live TV to doing the thing he’s accused of in the impeachment inquiry

said initiatives for easier voting meant no Republican would be elected again?

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and US stimulus packages, Democrats pushed for increased funding for absentee and vote-by-mail options. The proposal was for $400 million to be distributed through the federal Election Assistance Commission and subsequently distributed to the states to ensure that voting would be possible for all, with equal access, even if the pandemic persisted. Critics said the funding suggested was still far too little for such a nation-wide initiative.

During a Fox & Friends interview, Trump declared, “The things they had in there were crazy. They had things – levels of voting that, if you ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.”

When asked about his comments at a press conference, Trump said, “I think that mail in voting is a terrible thing. I think if you vote, you should go, and even the concept of early voting is not the greatest.” Several states allow for voting by mail, and Oregon, Washington, and Colorado do so exclusively.

He had also questioned the validity of mail-in ballots during the campaign.

Trump has justified voter ID laws by claiming that Americans already need ID to buy groceries, and famously said that he lost the 2016 popular vote because of mass fraud.

The Washington Post – Trump just comes out and says it: The GOP is hurt when it’s easier to vote
The Hill – Trump says election proposals in coronavirus stimulus bill would hurt Republican chances
Business Insider – Trump baselessly claimed that expanding voting access would lead to a Republican never being elected in America again
Ballotpedia.org – Absentee voting

said governors should treat him well if they want assistance with COVID-19?

During a Fox News virtual town hall meeting, Trump said, “I think we’re doing very well, but you know, it’s a two way street. They have to treat us well also. They can’t say, oh gee we should get this, we should get that. We’re doing a great job.”

He went on to repeat false claims that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo turned down an offer to buy 15,000 ventilators and that an economic shut down would kill more Americans than COVID-19.

Later that same week, Trump directed Pence not to respond to Democratic governors.

AP News – Flatter or fight? Governors seeking help must navigate Trump
The Week – Trump says governors ‘have to treat us well’ if they want assistance during coronavirus pandemic

claimed that NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo rejected a recommendation to purchase 15,000 ventilators?

During a Fox News virtual Town Hall in which he claimed that America would suffer more deaths from economic closures than COVID19, Trump also attacked Cuomo for failing to purchase 15,000 ventilators. The remarks came amid the governor’s remarks that the state would need 30,000 more, which Trump said he didn’t believe.

Trump explained, “We’re building them hospitals, we’re building them medical centers, and he was complaining about – we’re doing probably more, definitely more for him than anybody else, and, uh, he was talking about the ventilators, but he should’ve ordered the ventilators. And he had a choice, he had a chance because right here, I just got this out that he refused to order 15,000 ventilators. I’ll show this to Bill, take a look at that, Bill, what does that say?” The host he was passing it to, Bill Hemmer, declined to take the paper, remarking, “Is this social distancing, here?”

Trump was referencing far-right conspiracy blog Gateway Pundit. However, there was never any option or suggestion to purchase 15,000 ventilators. The New York Department of Health reported in 2015 that the state would have a shortage of about 15,000 ventilators if a pandemic like the 1918 Spanish flu arose, and also noted that this would be largely due to supply shortages across the country.

Cuomo explained, There is no state in the United States that bought ventilators for the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. The federal government did not buy ventilators for the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. Nobody in the world bought ventilators in preparation for a 1918 Spanish flu pandemic.”

During the same town hall Trump also claimed that shutting down the economy would be more deadly than COVID19 and said state governors should treat him well if they want help.

ABC News – Cuomo knocks Trump’s claim about NY and ventilators
Bloomberg – Cuomo Becomes Trump’s Target After Demanding Ventilators Now
Mediaite – WATCH: Trump Cites Conspiracy Blogger Gateway Pundit to Attack Andrew Cuomo Over Coronavirus and Ventilators
FactCheck.org – Trump’s Misleading Ventilator Counter-Punch at Cuomo

claimed that the economic damage from shutting down the country would be more deadly than COVID-19?

During a virtual town hall on Fox News, Trump said about business closures without evidence that “more people are going to die if we allow this to continue.”

He went on to say, “We have to open this country up. We can socially distance ourselves and go to work, and you’ll have to work a little bit harder and you can clean your hands five times more than you’re used to. You don’t have to shake hands anymore with people. We lose thousands and thousands of people a year to the flu – we never turn the country off. We lose much more than that to automobile accidents. We don’t call up automobile companies and say ‘stop making cars.”

He seemed to indicate that the only reason he allowed such measures in the first place was because of criticism if he hadn’t. “If I would have not done it, we would’ve been unbelievably criticized for not doing it. Somehow the word got out that this is the thing we’re supposed to be doing.”

Trump planned to reopen the economy nationwide by Easter. At the time, the United States had over 65,000 confirmed cases.

During the same town hall, he also wrongly claimed that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo rejected a chance to purchase 15,000 ventilators and said that state governors should treat him well if they want help.

Fox News – EXCLUSIVE: Trump, Coronavirus task force participate in Fox News town hall
Business Insider – Trump just gave a disastrous coronavirus town hall full of misinformation that could kill thousands
The New York Times – AP FACT CHECK: Trump Claims Rising Suicides if US Stays Shut
Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) 

didn’t believe New York needed 30,000 ventilators amid the state’s COVID-19 outbreak?

Trump called into Sean Hannity’s Fox News show to counter New York’s request for more ventilators amid the COVID19 outbreak. New York governor Andrew Cuomo had previously called for the equipment in preparation for an expected surge in cases, and that the only way they could procure more was from the federal government. At the time of Trump’s remarks, the state of New York had over 37,000 confirmed cases and 300 deaths.

He later wrongfully claimed that Cuomo had turned down the chance to purchase 15,000 ventilators in 2015.

The Hill – Trump questions need for 30,000 ventilators in New York
The Washington Post – ‘I don’t believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators’: Trump questions New York’s plea for critical equipment
USA Today – Trump questions NY request for 30,000 ventilators: ‘I don’t believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators.”
Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Map

suggested that Montenegro could start World War 3?

When asked by Fox News host Tucker Carlson why America should have to defend the country, Trump again cast doubt on the core tenet of NATO, the mutual defense of all member nations.

I understand what you’re saying. I’ve asked the same question. Montenegro is a tiny country with very strong people. They’re very aggressive people. They may get aggressive, and congratulations, you’re in World War Three.

Montenegro is a Balkan nation of 630,000 people, and has been a NATO ally since 2017, officially joining during Trump’s presidency. Russia has behaved aggressively towards Montenegro, as it has with other neighbors, waging propaganda campaigns in the lead up to its joining NATO.

Trump infamously pushed the prime minister of Montenegro during a 2017 NATO summit.

Politico – Everything You Wanted to Know About Montenegro But Were Afraid to Ask
NBC News – Trump calls out ‘very aggressive’ Montenegro in latest NATO jibe
The New York Times – Montenegro: What to Know About the Tiny NATO Ally Trump Slighted
Wikipedia – Montenegro

said he would “take out” the families of terrorists?

During a Fox News interview, Trump said that the problem with the US’ handling of the war against ISIS was that “we’re fighting a very politically correct war,” and so “the other thing is with the terrorists, you have to take out their families.”

Any intentional killing of civilian non-combatants is a war crime, though Trump previously asserted that the military wouldn’t refuse any orders from him.

Trump has also said he would reimpose torture techniques, threatened to target enemy cultural sites, and pardoned US soldiers convicted of war crimes.

Time – Donald Trump Says He’d ‘Take Out’ Terrorists’ Families
The Hill – Trump on terrorists: You have to take out their families
Politifact – Geneva Conventions bar Donald Trump’s idea of killing terrorists’ families, as Rand Paul says

called the investigation into Russian election interference an “attempted coup”?

He made the claim multiple times, including on Fox News and on the White House lawn to reporters.

He explained to reporters, “It was an illegal investigation…Everything about it was crooked — every single thing about it. There were dirty cops. These were bad people. If you look at McCabe and Comey, and you look at Lisa and Peter Strzok, these were bad people.” He continued, “And this was a — an attempted coup.  This was an attempted takedown of a President.”

Since then, Trump’s own Department of Justice has determined that the FBI acted appropriately when they first launched the probe into election interference in July 2016, before Trump was elected, and that it was not tainted by political bias.

WhiteHouse.gov – Remarks by President Trump Before Marine One Departure
The Washington Post – Trump says he was the target of ‘an attempted coup’ with Mueller investigation
Politico – Trump: Russia investigations an attempted ‘coup’
The Wall Street Journal – Justice Department Watchdog Finds Proper Legal Basis, But Errors, in Russia Probe
CNBC – Justice Department watchdog finds Trump-Russia probe was not tainted by political bias

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