said, “People don’t realize, you know, the Civil War, if you think about it, why?”

In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Trump wondered, “People don’t realize, you know, the Civil War, if you think about it, why?”

Trump argued that President Andrew Jackson, who died 16 years prior, could’ve stopped it: “He was really angry that he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War, he said, ‘There’s no reason for this.'”

He defended the claim on Twitter.

President Andrew Jackson, who died 16 years before the Civil War started, saw it coming and was angry. Would never have let it happen!
https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/859209801175269376

Trump later said people don’t realize “Republicans really did the thing” during the Civil War, though the end result was “questionable.”

The Hill – Trump: ‘Why was there the Civil War?’
CNBC – Trump: ‘People don’t ask that question, but why was there a Civil War?’

Toronto Star – ‘People don’t ask that question. But why was there the Civil War?’ Trump asks
Trump Twitter Archive

chose an Education Secretary who sought to use public schools to “advance God’s Kingdom?”

Betsy DeVos, Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Education, was a longtime advocate of charter schools and redirecting tax dollars to private and Christian schools.

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Betsy DeVos. Wikipedia

DeVos’ family was among the richest in the nation, with a worth over $5 billion. Her husband was former CEO of Amway and her brother founded the private military firm Blackwater. She and her family used their significant wealth for political influence within the Republican Party. In a 1997 editorial, she wrote, “I have decided to stop taking offense at the suggestion that we are buying influence. Now I simply concede the point. They are right. We do expect some things in return.”

In 2001, she said education reform was a means to “advance God’s kingdom.” In a separate interview, she said she sought “to impact our culture in ways that are not the traditional funding-the-Christian-organization route, but that really may have greater Kingdom gain in the long run by changing the way we approach things – in this case, the system of education in the country.”

Despite never being an educator, DeVos was nominated to be Secretary of Education by Trump. She was confirmed by the Senate in a narrow 50-50 vote, where the tie was broken by Vice President Mike Pence. During the confirmation hearings, DeVos said guns had a place in schools, giving the example of defense against grizzly bears.

During her tenure, DeVos sought to allocate federal funds to private schools by arguing it to be a component of “state’s rights.” She failed to divest from 24 assets as required by law, attempted to cut funding for the Special Olympics, revoked Obama-era rules about for-profit universities and sexual assault reporting on campuses, and was investigated for using personal email accounts to conduct government business.

In a 2018 60 Minutes interview, she struggled to answer various questions, including why the Michigan charter school programs she pushed in her home state of Michigan were failing students.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, she attempted to redirect millions of dollars in relief from public schools to private and religious schools until the move was prevented by a federal court. She also called for the full re-opening of schools, saying, “there’s nothing in the data that suggests that kids being in school is in any way dangerous to them.”

The Atlantic – What Betsy DeVos Did (and Didn’t) Reveal About Her Education Priorities
The New York Times – Betsy DeVos and God’s Plan for Schools
Politico – Trump’s education pick says reform can ‘advance God’s Kingdom’
The Hill – Trump education pick once touted school reform to ‘advance God’s Kingdom’ 
The Los Angeles Times – Betsy DeVos squeaks through as Education secretary after Pence casts first-ever tie-breaking vote
The Atlantic – DeVos Digs Herself Deeper
Citizens for Ethics – Betsy DeVos’ financial disclosure fails to account for divestiture of 24 assets
Associated Press – DeVos defends plan to eliminate Special Olympics funding
Politico – How the new DeVos rules on sexual assault will shock schools — and students
The New York Times – DeVos Repeals Obama-Era Rule Cracking Down on For-Profit Colleges
USA today – Betsy DeVos used personal email for work in ‘limited’ cases, according to internal investigation
NPR – DeVos Faces Pushback Over Plan To Reroute Aid To Private School Students
Politico – Judge strikes down DeVos plan to boost pandemic relief for private schools

Wikipedia – Betsy DeVos

called Paul Ryan “Ron”?

During an April 18, 2017 speech in Paul Ryan’s hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin, Trump repeatedly referred to the former Speaker of the House as Ron.

The mistake came after Trump and Ryan worked together for months on a new healthcare plan that ultimately never materialized.

Trump and Ryan were often at odds with each other during the campaign, particularly after Ryan referred to Trump’s remarks about a Mexican-American judge as racist.

Trump also called national security advisor John Bolton “Mike Bolton,” Vice President Mike Pence “Mike Pounce,” and Apple CEO Tim Cook “Tim Apple.”

GQ – Donald Trump Kept Calling Paul Ryan “Ron” at a Wisconsin Event
Independent – Donald Trump forgets Paul Ryan’s name and calls him Ron twice
Politico – Inside Trump’s Feud With Paul Ryan

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

thought “clean coal” was physically cleaned by miners?

At a 2017 Phoenix rally, Trump championed “clean coal,” though he seemed unclear as to what it was.

We’ve ended the war on beautiful, clean coal, and it’s just been announced that a second brand new coal mine where they’re going to take out clean coal – meaning they’re taking out coal, they’re going to clean it – is opening in the state of Pennsylvania.

“Clean coal” has nothing to do with the mining and extraction process. It refers to various complex technologies used to mitigate the carbon emissions that arise from burning coal, the dirtiest of fossil fuels. Championing coal was a core component of Trump’s 2016 campaign.

President Donald Trump holds up a Trump Digs Coal sign as he arrives to speak during a Make America Great Again Rally at Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington, West Virginia in August.
Trump at a rally in West Virginia. Saul Loeb—AFP/Getty Images

Because of the cost associated with developing and implementing such technologies, the term “clean coal” has been derided by critics as a fabrication. The Sierra Club has long maintained that “clean coal” is an oxymoron, and that there is no way to “clean” coal to any substantive degree that would be superior to alternative forms of energy.

Despite being a climate change denier, in 2017, the CEO of the United States’ largest coal company agreed.

Murray Energy Corp. CEO Robert Murray explained, “Carbon capture and sequestration does not work. It’s a pseudonym for ‘no coal.’ It is neither practical nor economic, carbon capture and sequestration. It is just cover for the politicians, both Republicans and Democrats that say, ‘Look what I did for coal,’ knowing all the time that it doesn’t help coal at all.”

Live Science – Trump Touts ‘Clean Coal’: What Is It, Really?
Sierra Club – There’s nothing clean about coal and nothing funny about its impacts

E&E News – Pruitt will launch program to ‘critique’ climate science
Wikipedia – Coal pollution mitigation

filled out the wrong birth date on an absentee ballot?

When voting in the 2017 New York City mayoral election, Trump penned the wrong birth date for his ballot. According to the New York Daily News, despite being born on June 14, 1946, his ballot application listed July as his birthday, which could have led it to be considered invalid.

The rest of Trump’s family fared no better with their absentee ballots. Trump’s wife Melania failed to sign her ballot, rendering it invalid. His daughter Ivanka mailed hers too late to be counted. His son-in-law Jared Kushner failed to vote at all.

Donald, Melania, Ivanka, and Jared. AP / Paul Sancya

Trump also later registered to vote using the incorrect address.

New York Daily News – Why Melania, Ivanka and Jared’s mayoral election votes didn’t count
Snopes – Reports: Trump Family’s Votes Weren’t Counted in New York Mayoral Election

announced that he would shut down DACA?

DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, was a program created by President Obama that allowed undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation. It also allowed those people to become eligible for a work permit if they had no felonies or only minor misdemeanors on their record. It included some 700,000 people.

In September of 2017, Trump’s administration announced that it would shut down the program.

Trump put the onus on Congress to decide whether or not to create a permanent version through legislation.

Congress failed to pass any legislation on the issue, but the phase-out of DACA was held up in courts, and is to be taken up by the US Supreme Court in 2020. Trump also later blamed Democrats for DACA’s demise.

The New York Times – Trump Moves to End DACA and Calls on Congress to Act
NPR – Trump Ends DACA, Calls On Congress To Act
Wikipedia – Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals

mocked “low I.Q. Crazy Mika” for “bleeding badly from a face-lift?”

Trump attacked the hosts of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, in tweets where he said she was “bleeding badly from a face-lift” when he saw her at his Florida resort.

Brzezinski responded with a tweet that showcased a box of Cheerios that had on it, “made for little hands.” It was a reference to when Trump defended the size of his hands and penis during a Republican primary debate.

The press secretary at the time, Sarah Huckabee Sanders defended the tweets:

I think the president has been attacked mercilessly on personal accounts, by members on that program, and I think he’s been very clear that when he gets attacked, he’s going to hit back… I think the American people elected somebody who’s tough, who’s smart and who’s a fighter and that’s Donald Trump.

The show hosts and Trump had had a long and contentious relationship. There have also been subsequent jabs at each other, such as when Brzezinski referred to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as “a wannabe-dictator’s butt boy,” for which she later apologized.

Trump has also accused Brzezinski’s husband and co-host Joe Scarborough of murder.

The Hill – Trump mocks ‘low I.Q. Crazy Mika’ for ‘face-lift’
Business Insider – Trump lobs attack at ‘low I.Q.’ Mika Brzezinski, says ‘Morning Joe’ host was ‘bleeding badly from a face-lift’ at Mar-a-Lago
The Guardian – Trump targets Morning Joe co-hosts in latest Twitter tirade against media
BBC News – Trump mocks TV host Mika Brzezinski’s ‘bleeding facelift’

accused Joe Scarborough of murder?

Trump first tweeted the claim in 2017 about Lori Klausutis, who worked in Scarborough’s Fort Walton Beach congressional office. She was found dead in the office in 2001. Scarborough served in the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2001 as a Republican for the 1st district of Florida.

File:Lori Klausutis.png
Lori Klausutis

The coroner discovered an undiagnosed heart condition and reported that Klausutis passed out and hit her head as she fell. He said she was not struck by another person. Scarborough was in Washington, DC at the time of her death.

At the time of Trump’s comments, Scarborough was host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe alongside wife and co-host Mika Brzezinski, who was also personally targeted by Trump for “bleeding badly from a face-lift.”

Trump renewed attacks in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the time of the May 4 tweet, nearly 70,000 Americans had died of COVID-19. At the time of his May 12 tweet, it had reached over 80,000.

Scarborough responded on his show, in which he called the comments “extraordinarily cruel” and likened the claims to the Seth Rich conspiracy theories.

AP News – AP FACT CHECK: Scarborough staffer death not a “mystery”
Politifact – PolitiFact: Donald Trump’s Pants on Fire ‘unsolved mystery’ attack on Joe Scarborough
Politico – Trump promotes conspiracy theory accusing MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough of murder
The Hill – Trump raises conspiracy theory to attack MSNBC’s Scarborough
Wikipedia – Joe Scarborough
Worldometer – Coronavirus, United States

appointed Michael Flynn as National Security Advisor despite warnings of his foreign connections?

Michael Flynn is a retired United States Army Lieutenant General who served as National Security Advisor for Trump from January to February 2017.

Retired United States Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn / Wikipedia

As part of the wider Mueller probe into Russian election interference, a phone call from 2016 was unearthed between Flynn and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. After speaking with Trump’s Presidential Transition Team, Flynn had reached out to Kislyak after Obama’s passing of Russian sanctions as punishment for 2016 election interference. Flynn urged Russia to refrain from retaliatory measures, as Trump was already President-elect and could eventually undo the sanctions. The following day, the Russian government announced they would not retaliate. Trump tweeted praise for the decision:

In his recounting of the phone call to the FBI, Flynn denied anything substantive was discussed, including sanctions. Nonetheless, Trump asked Flynn for his resignation in February 2017. He had served as National Security Advisor for a record 24 days.

Trump still defended Flynn, claiming that his lies to the FBI were not about anything illegal, and so he should not be prosecuted for them.

Flynn was charged with perjury for his false explanation to the FBI, and in December 2017, pleaded guilty.

Flynn had also failed to register as a foreign agent for lobbying work he had done on behalf of the Turkish government. Through his Flynn Intel Group Inc, an organization that provides intelligence services to businesses and governments, Flynn worked to defend Turkish hardliner President Recep Erdoğan from anti-government elements. He also failed to disclose income from Russian companies in his financial disclosure forms.

Trump had been warned about Flynn’s conflicts of interest at least 6 separate times, including by Obama during the post-election transition. Obama had himself fired Flynn in 2014.

Despite having pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, sentencing was deferred multiple times until May 7, 2020, when the Justice Department announced that it would be dropping all charges. The explanation provided in the motion to dismiss was that “Mr. Flynn’s statements were never ‘material’ to any FBI investigation.”

Trump defended the move, claiming that Flynn, and by extension himself, had been unfairly targeted by the Obama administration:

He is an innocent man. He is a great gentleman. He was targeted by the Obama administration and he was targeted in order to try and take down a president and what they’ve done is a disgrace and I hope a big price is going to be paid. A big price should be paid. There’s never been anything like this in the history of our country. What they did, the Obama administration did, is unprecedented, never happened, a thing like this has never happened before in the history of our country. And I hope a lot of people are going to pay a big price, because they’re dishonest crooked people, and they’re scum. I say it a lot, they’re scum. …Treason, it’s treason.

Throughout Flynn’s legal troubles, Trump has repeatedly defended him over Twitter:

Business Insider – Trump officials were warned about Mike Flynn at least 6 separate times before removing him
NPR – Michael Flynn Pleads Guilty To Lying To FBI
The New York Times – Michael Flynn Pleads Guilty to Lying to the F.B.I. and Will Cooperate With Russia Inquiry
Axios – Here’s what Michael Flynn has admitted
The Hill – Turkey and Michael Flynn: Five things to know
The New York Times – Michael Flynn Failed to Disclose Income From Russia-Linked Entities
AP News – Justice Department dropping Flynn’s Trump-Russia case
Wikipedia – Michael Flynn

 

More assuredly to come soon

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