Megamouth in North Dakota

At a rally in North Dakota on Wednesday, President Donald Trump made the baseless claim that the “very special guy” (Kennedy) chose to retire during his presidency because Kennedy thinks Trump will pick the “right” replacement.

“I’m very honored that he chose to do it during my term in office because he felt confident for me to make the right choice and carry on his great legacy,” he said in remarks met with shouts and applause from supporters. “That’s why he did it.”

  TPM

If Kennedy was worried about a Democrat naming his replacement, is he worried that Trump won't serve out his first term? Is whoever is pulling Kennedy's strings worried about that? I'm still very curious as to why Kennedy retired now.

Never one to shy away from kicking someone while he’s down, Trump took aim at the recently-dethroned Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY) Wednesday night at a rally in Fargo.

“One of my biggest critics, a slovenly man named Joe Crowley, got his ass kicked,” he said.

  TPM

By a bigger critic of yours, you dumbass. Ocasio-Cortez is calling for your impeachment.

Okay, take it away, Daniel Dale...

We would, but it's our duty to know just how unhinged he is.

Trump begins by noting that the crowd is very big and that, he says, there is a bigger crowd outside.

Exact same thing he said at every other rally.

Trump is thanking various people, including, at length, pillow entrepreneur Mike Lindell. "You ever see this guy with the pillows on Fox? My pillow guy, Mike Lindell...he does make a great product, great pillows. I actually use them, believe it or not."

Trump on Democrats: "Now they have a new leader. Who's the new leader? Maxine Waters is their new leader...I think she's taking over."

Another feud he's decided to start.

Trump begins to attack North Dakota candidate Heidi Heitkamp for her vote against Obamacare repeal, then quickly forgets about her and starts criticizing Republican non-candidate John McCain for his vote against Obamacare repeal.

"Obamacare is essentially dead," Trump falsely claims for the 28th time.

Yes, Dale is actually keeping track of the lies.

"Obamacare is essentially dead," Trump falsely claims for the 28th time.

A vote for Heitkamp, Trump says, is "a vote for Schumer, Pelosi and Maxine. Maxine, she's a beauty."

"I mean she practically was telling people the other day to assault."

[...]

Trump briefly touts the Supreme Court ruling upholding the travel ban. There is a U-S-A chant. Then he starts mocking the media and Hillary Clinton's crowds. Then he says NFL ratings are down because people are watching him instead.

Trump is doing the thing about how the TV stations don't show the crowds. This crowds-related segment is lasting much longer than the travel ban segment.

"The late, great Cecil B. DeMille would not have set it up this way," the president says of his rally, then returns to the travel ban, then notes Anthony Kennedy's retirement.

I can't even imagine all the disorganized debris whirling around in his head.  It's a big, empty space, though, so there's room for plenty.

"We really have to take our hats off to Justice Kennedy. Thank you very much," Trump says. He adds "we have to pick one" who's on the court "for 40 years, 45 years."

So mark off all the justices on his short list that are over the age 40.

Trump says Kennedy's retirement makes the issue of Senate control one of the most essential issues of our time.

So maybe that's why they told him to retire now? To excite the base to get out and vote?

Trump guarantees that Heitkamp will vote against his Supreme Court pick. She voted for Gorsuch.

Trump says Democrats want judges who will "throw open the jailhouse doors and destroy your freedoms."

Trump hails ICE agents: "They're mean. But they have heart."

Hmmmm. How does that work?

"We're sending MS-13 out by the thousands. By the thousands," Trump says. This is an exaggeration. ICE says it arrested 405 MS-13 members in the first quarter of fiscal 2018.

[...]

Trump is repeating his usual graphic remarks about MS-13 chopping up innocent girls: "They cut people up in small pieces. Beautiful young women walking home from school."

They take babies out of incubators and throw them on the floor, too, I bet.

"We've already started it...it's already begun, and it's beautiful," Trump falsely says of a border wall that has not begun.

Trump claims that San Diego is very happy about how the wall is there, though all that is there is prototypes of the wall and though even the Republican mayor is opposed to the actual wall.

"We're respected again," Trump says to applause. "All over the world we're respected again." Respect is subjective, but public approval of the U.S. has plummeted in almost every country except Russia and Israel during Trump's tenure.

Trump again threatens tariffs on imported Mercedes and BMW cars. He boasts of his steel and aluminum tariffs.

"United States Steel is opening up six plants," Trump says, though the company has only announced it is restarting furnaces at the Granite City, Illinois plant. The company didn't respond to my five requests to tell me if Trump's repeated "six plants" claim has any truth.

And the American Institute for International Steel is suing Trump because of the tariffs.

Trump is giving his usual fictional description of the previous and current state of the solar industry. This time he adds a complete lie that a formerly struggling solar firm is now thinking of opening "10, 11 or 12" plants. All of this is completely invented by Trump.

Some people say, the world's greatest inventor.

Trump now makes it "7" new U.S. Steel plants, claiming the CEO called him to say, "We haven't opened up a new plant in 32 years, and now we're opening up 7 of them - six of them (expansions), and we're going to build a new one."

The company will not tell me if any call happened.

Steel, solar, steel. Keep up, people.  Never mind the lies.  You've got to keep up with the topics.

Trump gleefully recounts his "what the hell do you have to lose" campaign question to African-Americans, explaining he used to read "the horrible statistics on crime and education" and such. He says his aides told him this was a "horrible" thing to say but he didn't care.

For the 22nd time, Trump falsely claims wages have just started to rise: "For the first time in 22 years, wages are rising again." Wages started rising in 2014. The pace last month was the same as the pace in Obama's last full month in office.

President Donald Trump on how he felt after his VA reform: "I am the smartest person. My uncle was a great professor at MIT for 40 years...but I'm smarter than him, I'm smarter than anybody."

Dear god.

President Donald Trump, in 2018, brings up Hillary Clinton, and then says, this is a direct quote: "When is she going to get over it? When does she get over it?"

There is a brief "lock her up" chant. Trump says Clinton is "guilty, guilty, guilty," complaining that he is subjected to a Russia "hoax" but nobody "looks at her."

Trump says he was the first Republican to win Wisconsin since Dwight Eisenhower in 1952. He was the first Republican to win Wisconsin since Ronald Reagan in 1984.

Trump says he used to be considered "an interloper" but now a poll "came out" that said, he says, "He's the most powerful, most popular Republican in the history of the party."

Trump on his trade battles: "A game of poker: a game that we can't lose...Just play the game for a little while. It's a game we can't lose."

For the 41st and 42nd time, Trump falsely says the U.S. is "down $500 billion" with China. It has never once had a $500 billion trade deficit with China. It was $337 billion last year. He says that you can't lose if you're down $500 billion.

Trump chides critics who criticzed him for boasting about his chemistry with Kim Jong Un: "No no, it's a good thing."

The president on people criticizing him on trade: "It's like rushing the turkey out of the stove. The women can tell me. And some of the men...have to be politically correct...in the old days...but it's true, some of the men can tell me."

Nuts. Pure, unadulterated nuts. And, keep up, people: trade, Kim Jong Un, trade, come one, you can do it.  Like a tennis match where you watch the ball going back and forth across the net.  Easy.

Trump criticizes Canada's dairy tariffs, then falsely says Canada just raised those tariffs a few months ago.

Trump says he'll let rich guys do their own rocket stuff and space exploration, but then, if they make accomplishments, he will seize the glory and "give them no credit."

He said that last time. I wonder if he thinks taking advantage of rich people plays well with the base. But then, he brags about how rich he is.

Trump falsely says people are saying, "Any time Trump gets a poll, add 12 to it." Nobody says this.

He does.

Trump scoffs at the "elite," calling them "stone-cold losers." This time he boasts about his base as "the super-elite" instead of just himself: "We got more money, we got more brains, we got better houses, apartments, we got nicer boats...we're the elite."

What. The. Fuck.

Surely these people know they don't have more money, better houses and nicer boats. And, weren't we just dissing the rich guys? Okay, people, if you aren't able to keep up here, it's completely understandable. Rest yourselves. You're going to need your strength.

Trump reads a note he says he was given about how Canada is unfair to American wheat growers, then says, "Do you know what that means? I don't know what the hell it means...what the hell does that mean?" He dismissively tosses away the card on which this was written for him.

Whaaaaaat? Did he read the wrong card?

Trump: "We will make America loving again. Loving. Loving."

Well, that's a lie they don't want to hear.

 ...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.