During a March 22, 2020 COVID-19 press conference Trump was told that four US Senators were in isolation, including Utah US Senator Mitt Romney. He replied, “Romney’s in isolation? Gee, that’s too bad.”
Romney was the sole Republican Senator to vote to impeach Trump earlier in the year.
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.”
Trump railed against Senator John McCain for being the deciding vote against the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Even after McCain’s death, Trump called his behavior “disgraceful,” among other remarks:
We needed 60 votes, and we had 51 votes. And sometimes, you know, we had a little hard time with a couple of them, right? Fortunately, they’re gone now. They’ve gone on to greener pastures—or perhaps far less green pastures. But they’re gone. They’re gone, Bill. I’m very happy they’re gone.
One day after Trump endorsed @MarthaMcSally, he's bashing her predecessor John McCain saying he’s “happy” that he’s gone.
Trump and McCain had a long and mutual animosity. Trump infamously said he didn’t consider the former Vietnam pilot and Viet Cong prisoner a war hero because he was captured.
During the primaries, Trump attacked Republican Senator Linsdey Graham, who had recently called Trump a “jackass.” Aside from calling Graham an “idiot” and “lightweight,” Trump also gave out Graham’s personal cell phone number.
After Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg was selected to be Time’s Person of the Year for 2019, Trump responded over Twitter:
So ridiculous. Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill! https://t.co/M8ZtS8okzE
— Trump War Room – Text TRUMP to 88022 (@TrumpWarRoom) December 12, 2019
Thunberg didn’t reply directly, but updated her Twitter bio to read, “A teenager working on her anger management problem. Currently chilling and watching a good old fashioned movie with a friend.”
At a rally in Hershey, Pennsylvania, Trump remarked, “The FBI also sent multiple undercover human spies to surveil and record people associated with our campaign…Look how they’ve hurt people. They’ve destroyed the lives of people that were great people, that are still great people. Their lives have been destroyed by scum. OK, by scum.” Trump repeated claims that he and his campaign were spied on by the FBI, and that the FBI knew that the Mueller investigation was “a hoax.”
The remarks came just a few days after his Department of Justice’s inspector general issued a report on the Mueller investigation. It found that the investigation into Russian election meddling, which began before the 2016 election, was justified. It also concluded that the Mueller investigation was not tainted by political bias. Trump has referred to the Mueller investigation in the past as an “attempted coup.”
Trump targeted Congressional Democrats at the rally, who had recently begun drafting articles of impeachment. Trump characterized it as “the lightest, weakest impeachment…This is ‘impeachment light.’ This is the lightest impeachment in the history of the country.” He also claimed that America would collapse he wasn’t reelected, joked about staying in office for decades, and teased a guard for being “too politically correct” in the removal of a female protester.
Trump grew angry when it began taking too long for the security to eject the female protester, mocking the guard with arm gestures for being “too politically correct” in not being rough enough in removing her. He said to the crowd, “I’ll tell you, law enforcement is so great. That particular guy wanted to be so politically correct. We don’t want to be politically correct. I don’t know who he was. He didn’t do the greatest job.”
Trump argued that the governor was failing in managing the forest fires because he refused to “‘clean’ his forest floors,” and instead was doing what “his bosses, the environmentalists, demand.” The fires were not located in forested areas, and clearing brush from forests is already a widely employed tactic. Trump previously referred to this as “raking” the forest floors.
The Governor of California, @GavinNewsom, has done a terrible job of forest management. I told him from the first day we met that he must “clean” his forest floors regardless of what his bosses, the environmentalists, DEMAND of him. Must also do burns and cut fire stoppers…..
..Every year, as the fire’s rage & California burns, it is the same thing-and then he comes to the Federal Government for $$$ help. No more. Get your act together Governor. You don’t see close to the level of burn in other states…But our teams are working well together in…..
….putting these massive, and many, fires out. Great firefighters! Also, open up the ridiculously closed water lanes coming down from the North. Don’t pour it out into the Pacific Ocean. Should be done immediately. California desperately needs water, and you can have it now!
Trump made the remark about the probe into his into his abuse of power regarding withholding Ukrainian military aid. He also claimed that the probe was “without due process or fairness or any legal rights,” despite the House’s use of investigative and impeachment powers as outlined in the Constitution. One would assume that the single chamber of Congress would not be able or allowed to conduct an ostensibly illegal investigation into the President. The probe was to investigate Trump’s call to the President of Ukraine where he asked for damaging information on Joe Biden in exchange for military aid that had already been granted by Congress.
So some day, if a Democrat becomes President and the Republicans win the House, even by a tiny margin, they can impeach the President, without due process or fairness or any legal rights. All Republicans must remember what they are witnessing here – a lynching. But we will WIN!
