He has the best campaigns

Wow.

Also, he's a business wiz.

Lunatic on stage

"The 2020 presidential election, that election, the 2020 presidential election, was by far the most corrupt election in the history of our country," Trump baselessly claimed in a speech before the North Carolina Republican Party, continuing his false grievance about an election he lost.

He said Democrats "used COVID" and "used mail-in ballots to steal an election." He called it a "third-world election, like we've never seen before." He derided it as the "crime of the century" and claimed that the "country is being destroyed, perhaps by people who have no right to destroy it."

  NPR

Begging the question: who HAS a right to destroy it? I guess himself?

"I'm not the one trying to undermine democracy," Trump said, "I am the one who's trying to save it, please remember that."

That received his biggest applause of the night.

Lunatic audience, too.

"As we gather tonight, our country is being destroyed before our very own eyes," [...] "Crime is exploding. Police departments are being ripped apart and defunded. Can you believe that?"

Frankly, no.

Trump warned of "vicious" and "violent" people who "hate our country" and that "drugs" are "pouring in." If that sounds familiar, it's because it hits many of the touchstones of Trump's culture-war, grievance-based politics — the kind that he used dating back to first campaign announcement off in 2015.

[...]

"We're going to take back our country, and we're going to take it back at a level that is very, very good for our country," Trump said, "and it's good for our citizens, because we can't allow bad things to happen to our country."

He added that "bad things are happening, perhaps like never before."

[...]

This speech kicks off what's likely to be a spree of summer campaigning. It was Trump's first public address since his speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February.

[...]

Before his speech, Trump boasted that the room would be "packed, all records broken."

Trump himself is the broken record. Repeat detail-less bullshit about "them" being "bad" and him being the solution.

"I am looking at it very seriously," Trump told ally and conservative media personality Sean Hannity in April about whether he will run again. "Beyond seriously. From a legal standpoint, I don't want to really talk about it yet. It's a little too soon."

From a legal standpoint? The only "legal standpoint" that could be a problem in talking about it is that he's under scrutiny in several lawsuits. And that's not actually a legal standpoint. He's not legally barred from talking about it in any way.

It's a good bet Trump will likely tease out his final decision until the very last minute, effectively putting the other candidates in a deep freeze.

And raking in donation dollars to put in his pocket.

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

Still fighting the lost cause

Gettysburg seems appropriate. Trump and MAGAland do seem to be unable to let go and move on from lost causes.  

I'd check before I went to make sure it's actually Wyndham Hotel and not, say, an auto parts store or something.

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

UPDATE:

LOL.  Fortunately, it's in the UK, so probably Giuliani's incompetent crew didn't call them.

UPDATE:  Trump canceled.

Going hard after that farm vote

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

Quid pro quo in the time of Covid

Patriots

This is the Trump campaign's rally backdrop:

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

UPDATE:

Ooops

Isn't she getting the same miracle cure Trump got?

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

Welcome, MAGAheads

This ought to get him some votes, eh?

Jesus.  He saved suburbia.  If the "please like me" doesn't win 'em over, I'm sure that will do it.

Reminds me of Jeb Bush: "Please clap."

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

Dexy Don

There's no fool like an old fool.

That reminds me of this clip:

He's going to become addicted to dexamethasone, isn't he?

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

Keeps him out of the White House

President Trump has asked his campaign to put him on the road every single day from now until Nov. 3.

Behind the scenes: His team is in the process of scheduling events to make that happen, two sources familiar with the discussions tell Axios. But not everyone thinks this is a good idea. One adviser said, “He’s going to kill himself.”

  Axios

As long as it doesn't happen before November 3.

The campaign is more worried than ever that seniors — a crucial voting bloc — are abandoning Trump over his handling of the pandemic.

"He really f----d up with seniors when he said not to worry about the virus and not to let it control your life," one Trump adviser told Axios. "There are so many grandparents who’ve gone almost a year without being able to see grandchildren."

Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh tells Axios: “The president has personal experience with COVID and understands what people are going through."

Oh really? He couldn't visit his grandchildren? (Did he visit them anyway?) He lost his job? Let's make sure he does. Not that he'll understand it had anything to do with the coronavirus. But we don't have to care what he understands once he's out of the White Hosue.

Spread some more Covid, Don Covita

That's 2,000 fools if they go.

President Donald Trump on Saturday will address hundreds of supporters on the South Lawn of the White House before traveling to Florida on Monday for a rally, marking his return to public events after being hobbled by the coronavirus.

Guests for Saturday’s event won’t be tested for the virus and won’t be required to wear masks, setting off fresh concerns that the White House itself has become a vector for the disease.

  Politico

Going for herd immunity in a big way. Herd idiocy.

Although the president’s physician, Sean Conley, has previously said Trump could likely resume such activities starting Saturday, it’s unclear if the president has tested negative since falling ill, or whether he is still contagious.

The fact that we're not being told should give us a fucking clue.

On Saturday, Trump will speak to a crowd gathered by conservative activist Candace Owens, whose Blexit Foundation encourages Black Americans to leave the Democratic Party.

His speech is being billed as “Remarks to Peaceful Protesters for Law & Order,” according to an invitation. He’ll address the crowd from the Truman Balcony off of the Blue Room, a large state room on the main floor of the White House.

Ha. Covita.

In a statement, the White House said attendees will be “instructed” to wear a mask while at the complex, but will only be screened for Covid-19 with a temperature check and “brief questionnaire" — not a test. The statement added that attendees will be “strongly encouraged,” but not required, to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s coronavirus guidelines, such as social distancing and mask wearing.

Also...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention drafted a sweeping order last month requiring all passengers and employees to wear masks on all forms of public and commercial transportation in the United States, but it was blocked by the White House, according to two federal health officials.

The order would have been the toughest federal mandate to date aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus, which continues to infect more than 40,000 Americans a day. The officials said that it was drafted under the agency’s “quarantine powers” and that it had the support of the secretary of health and human services, Alex M. Azar II, but the White House Coronavirus Task Force, led by Vice President Mike Pence, declined to even discuss it.

[...]

The administration requires the task force to sign off on coronavirus-related policies.

[...]

“Local and state authorities need to determine the best approach for their responsive effort depending on how the coronavirus is impacting their area.”

  NYT

So if one state requires masks on airplanes and an adjoining one doesn't, are passengers required to mask up mid-air?

“I think masks are the most powerful weapon we have to confront Covid and we all need to embrace masks and set the example for each other,” Dr. Robert R. Redfield, the C.D.C. director, who oversaw the drafting of the order, said in a recent interview.

Then take the advice of your predecessor and stop being a wimp.

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

UPDATE 10/11:

"This evening I am happy to report that in addition to the President meeting the CDC criteria for the safe discontinuation of isolation, this morning's COVID PCR sample demonstrates, by currently recognized standards, he is no longer considered a transmission risk to others," White House physician Dr. Sean Conley said in a memo.

"Now at day 10 from symptom onset, fever-free for well over 24 hours and all symptoms improved, the assortment of advanced diagnostic tests obtained reveal there is no longer evidence of actively replicating virus," Conley added, stopping short of saying that Trump had tested negative for the coronavirus. He also did not say whether the president was still exhibiting symptoms. 

  NPR

Gee, I wonder why. Also, the guidelines say you're cleared when you're fever-free IF you're not taking drugs that reduce or mask fever.

The White House said this week that it would update when the president had tested negative for the coronavirus. But by Saturday evening, no such announcement had come.

Always with the pledges

Why hasn't he done it before?  Why can't he do it now?  It's scam bullshit just like his $200 prescription drug cards he says he's going to be sending senior citizens. 

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

"Hydrosonic missles"

Trump in Ohio:

Originally slated to speak at 4:30 p.m., Trump did not take the stage until nearly 6. Because of the location of the venue, Air Force One was able to pull up in front of the hangar, allowing the president to go directly from the plane to the stage, along with Ohio Governor Mike DeWine.

[...]

Trump began by telling the crowd the event was not a rally, but a chance to talk to friends about jobs. Very few attendees wore masks at the event. Earlier in the day, Lt. Governor Jon Husted was booed when he suggested the crowd should put on masks.

[...]

When introducing Ohio Republicans, the crowd booed DeWine, who is unpopular with some in his own party due to his hard stance on the virus. “No one’s done what I’ve done for the military,” Trump claimed. “We have weapons, the likes of which no one has seen before. We have the greatest weapons in the world. I call them the super duper weapons. Hydrosonic, but I call them super duper, because no one understands hydrosonic.”

In fact, there is no such weapon as “hydrosonic” and the president appears to be referring to hypersonic missiles.

Trump also took a few moments to discuss his response to Covid-19, claiming that we would see a vaccine by the end of the year. “It’s very sad when the Democrats try to make that a political issue,” he said.

[...]

He continued: “It’s not that [Biden] wants to crush America, but he will just out of gross incompetence. He will surrender to the virus, just like he surrendered to China and just like he surrendered to the radical left.”

[...]

“Get out and vote on Nov. 3rd, and before, depending on if you have one of those fake ballots. Be careful, that thing is going to be a mess. And the Democrats want it to be a mess,” he told the crowd. “They want to have a mess at the end of the evening on Nov. 3rd, so we have to fight it out.”

[...]

“Joe Biden is weak. He’s too scared to stand up to the radical left of his own party. If Biden is elected, China will own America. If Biden is elected, you will have a depression the likes of which you have never seen before,” Trump told the cheering crowd.

[...]

“He lied to you, he abused you, and that’s why it’s time to retire him,” the president then said about Biden.

  Courthouse News

Joe Biden isn't the president.

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

Cracked

Whacko in Chief did a town hall last night.

Here are some doozies from Aaron Rupar's video clips.

And they'll do it, too.

I wish that were a joke.

This one will send him through the roof

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

Trump campaign super spreaders going forward

Speaking at an airport hangar to a packed-in crowd in Latrobe, Pa., Trump claimed journalists had spread rumors of the president having "mini-strokes" because "they want to try and get me to be on Biden's physical level."

It was an echo of Trump's repeated attacks on Biden's health and mental capability throughout the campaign. Trump's lengthy defense of his visit to Walter Reed was also reminiscent of his 17-minute explanation at a Tulsa rally in June of his halting descent down a ramp at a West Point graduation ceremony.

Trump's allusion to his hospital visit wasn't the only attack he leveled on Biden's acuity. He also mocked the Democratic nominee for wearing a mask during campaign events and observing social distancing measures.

"Have you ever seen a man who likes a mask as much as him?" Trump said. "It gives him a feeling of security. If I were a psychiatrist, I'd say this guy has got some big issues."

[...]

"Joe Hiden’ gets off his airplane, grabs and shakes a rather stunned man’s hand (like in the old days), then touches his (Joe’s) face and mask with the same hand. No crowd, no enthusiasm for Joe today. Law & Order!" Trump tweeted.

During his Latrobe event, Trump also called on the audience to try showing up to the polls after sending in mail-in ballots; an echo of comments from Wednesday when he encouraged North Carolina voters to cast their ballots twice amid a broader campaign against mail-in voting.

  Politico

No more dog whistles

Bring out the racist, fascist megaphones.

Lara Trump recently joined Republican congressional candidate Laura Loomer at a campaign event in Florida, throwing the support of the Trump name behind the far-right activist and self-described Islamophobe.

President Trump's daughter-in-law and campaign adviser was photographed with Loomer, the GOP nominee to challenge Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) in a reliably blue district, at a campaign event with some pictures showing a lack of face masks and social distancing.

[...]

A self-described "proud Islamophobe," Loomer has been banned from several social media platforms for violating policies around hate speech.

In 2017, she tweeted "how many more people need to die before everyone agrees that Islam is cancer & we should never let another Muslim into the civilized world?" That same year she was banned from Uber and Lyft after she tweeted that “someone needs to create a non Islamic form of @uber or @lyft."

In 2018, Loomer was removed from Twitter after she persistently harassed Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress. She was removed from Facebook and Instagram in May 2019 for similar harassment.

[...]

[S]he has baselessly suggested that the 2018 high school shooting in Parkland, Fla., was a "false flag event" and celebrated the death of 2,000 migrants at sea.

Several congressional Republicans have nonetheless endorsed Loomer, including Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) who have both endorsed Loomer.

She has also received the support of President Trump.

  The Hill

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

Because no one has stopped him yet

Millions of Americans who are struggling to put food on the table may discover a new item in government-funded relief packages of fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy and meat: a letter signed by President Donald Trump.

The message, printed on White House letterhead in both English and Spanish, touts the administration’s response to the coronavirus, including aid provided through the Farmers to Families Food Box Program, a U.S. Department of Agriculture initiative to buy fresh food and ship it to needy families.

The letter is reminiscent of Trump’s effort to put his signature on stimulus checks and send a signed letter to millions of recipients. It’s the latest example of the president blurring his official duties with his reelection campaign, most prominently by hosting Trump’s acceptance speech for the Republican nomination last week on the White House lawn.

  ProPublica

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

Never forget: he relishes breaking the law and getting away with it

He's been doing it all his life.

Joe Biden is focusing on President Trump’s virus management, while the president is hammering a law-and-order message.

  NYT

And isn't that rich? Law and order for YOU; lawlessness and chaos for him.

Aides to Mr. Trump said on Friday that their line of attack would not change. They plan to repeatedly highlight Mr. Trump’s familiar “law and order” message, and are blunt in their assessment that they will benefit politically from violence erupting at some protests.

Which absolutely implies the possibility of them CAUSING it.

Mr. Trump and his allies spent four nights hammering Mr. Biden with misleading and often false claims about his record on fighting crime and support of the police.

Mr. Biden, by contrast, has charged Mr. Trump with a failure of leadership, particularly regarding his handling of the pandemic, for which Americans give the president low marks. The question of which argument feels more urgent to the American people is likely to play a critical role in determining the outcome in November.

Never mind which is more urgent - which is TRUE, ffs?

Mr. Trump and Republicans also focused on social unrest and the protests against police brutality in Kenosha, Wis., suggesting that the incidents of violence there show the kind of breakdown in order that would proliferate under a Biden presidency. They asserted falsely that Mr. Biden supports defunding the police.

This is a laughable tactic, but will no doubt work with Trump's base: look at what's awful happening under Trump if you want to know what will happen under Biden.

The issue of crime and social disorder is not being taken lightly, Democrats in touch with the Biden campaign said, and they expected Mr. Biden to seize more opportunities in the coming days to emphasize that he makes no excuses for the outbursts in some cities where peaceful protests have soured into scenes of violence.

I hope he emphasizes that it's happening under Trump.

“Donald Trump has anchored his case for re-election on ignoring the pandemic that he’s allowed to spin out of control and bizarrely highlighting violence and discord happening on his own watch — and that he himself has inflamed,” said Andrew Bates, a Biden spokesman.

[...]

Mr. Trump’s campaign aides are projecting an aggressive campaign schedule more typical of a normal election cycle than one taking place during a pandemic.

[...]

Mr. Trump’s campaign aides are projecting an aggressive campaign schedule more typical of a normal election cycle than one taking place during a pandemic.

[...]

Mr. Trump’s aides said he enjoyed the frustration and anger he caused by holding a political event on the South Lawn of the White House, shattering conventional norms and raising questions about ethics law violations. He relished the fact that no one could do anything to stop him.

We the people can.