Category: Unpresidential

Trump questions authenticity of ‘Access Hollywood’ tape

Leave a comment

President Donald Trump has questioned the authenticity of the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape in which he bragged about being able to grope women, The New York Times reported over the weekend, despite the fact that Trump immediately apologized for his remarks when the video surfaced.

Trump’s decision to stick with Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore despite sexual harassment allegations against him is rooted in the President’s own sexual harassment scandal during the 2016 election.

“He sees the calls for Mr. Moore to step aside as a version of the response to the now-famous ‘Access Hollywood’ tape, in which he boasted about grabbing women’s genitalia, and the flood of groping accusations against him that followed soon after,” the Times reported. “He suggested to a senator earlier this year that it was not authentic, and repeated that claim to an adviser more recently.”

CNN has not independently confirmed the New York Times’ reporting. The White House has not responded to CNN’s request for comment.

During the election, several women accused Trump of previous instances of sexual harassment and the 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape of Trump released in October 2016 caught him saying on a hot mic: “And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything … Grab them by the p****. You can do anything.”

Trump’s reported denials mentioned in the New York Times directly contradict his apology following the tape’s release.

He said in a short video statement hours after the video surfaced: “I said it, I was wrong, and I apologize.”

[CNN]

Trump: Media should compete for ‘FAKE NEWS TROPHY’

Leave a comment

President Trump took a shot at the news media on Monday ahead of a busy week that could help determine the fate of his agenda.

“We should have a contest as to which of the Networks, plus CNN and not including Fox, is the most dishonest, corrupt and/or distorted in its political coverage of your favorite President (me),” Trump tweeted. “They are all bad. Winner to receive the FAKE NEWS TROPHY!”

Trump also mocked NBC’s “Morning Joe” for airing a pre-taped segment the day after Thanksgiving.

“The good news is that their ratings are terrible, nobody cares!” he wrote.

The president’s messages come one day after he returned from South Florida, where he spent Thanksgiving with his family.

Trump made five trips to his golf courses and took repeated jabs at the media on Twitter over the holiday weekend.

His latest shots come just hours before he is set to meet with members of the Senate Finance Committee to discuss their push to pass a major tax-reform bill.

Senators are hoping to approve the legislation in the coming days in an effort to send a finished product to Trump’s desk before Christmas. But some Republicans in the upper chamber are not yet satisfied with the bill.

Congress must also race to pass a funding bill before Dec. 8 in order to avoid a government shutdown.

[The Hill]

Trump Urges Voters to Pick Roy Moore Instead of ‘Liberal Jones’

Leave a comment

With a little more than two weeks until a special election for the Senate in Alabama, President Trump on Sunday doubled down on his criticism of the Democratic nominee, Doug Jones, and reiterated his support for Roy S. Moore, the Republican candidate, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by a number of women.

“The last thing we need in Alabama and the U.S. Senate is a Schumer/Pelosi puppet who is WEAK on Crime, WEAK on the Border, Bad for our Military and our great Vets, Bad for our 2nd Amendment, AND WANTS TO RAISES TAXES TO THE SKY,” Mr. Trump tweeted on Sunday morning.

“Liberal Jones would be BAD!” he tweeted less than an hour later.

In response, the Jones campaign said Mr. Jones’s record as a prosecutor “speaks for itself.”

“Roy Moore was unfit for office before nine Alabama women served as witnesses to all Alabamians of his disturbing conduct,” Sebastian Kitchen, Mr. Jones’s spokesman, wrote in an email. “Doug Jones is continuing to focus on finding common ground and getting things done for real Alabamians.”

During the Alabama Republican primary, Mr. Trump endorsed Senator Luther Strange on Twitter, then deleted some of those tweets after Mr. Strange lost the runoff in September.

On Sunday, the president claimed that after he had supported Mr. Strange, the candidate “shot way up in the polls” — a claim he also made in September — but “it wasn’t enough.”

It has been widely reported that Mr. Strange did not advance in the polls after Mr. Trump’s endorsement.

The latest poll numbers indicate that Mr. Moore is in a tight race. Alabama historically votes Republican but the allegations against Mr. Moore have taken a toll.

Most of the women who have accused him of sexual misconduct said it occurred when they were teenagers and Mr. Moore was in his 30s. He has denied the allegations.

“I don’t remember ever dating any girl without the permission of her mother,” Mr. Moore told the Fox News host Sean Hannity.

High-ranking Republicans have not been convinced.

“I believe the women,” Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, has said.

Mr. Trump, however, has remained skeptical.

“Forty years is a long time. He’s run eight races, and this has never come up,” Mr. Trump said on Tuesday. “He says it didn’t happen.”

[The New York Times]

Trump Promotes Antisemitic, Conspiracy Website: I ‘Wish the Fake News Would Report’ Like This

Leave a comment

President Donald Trump shared an article about the website magapill.com showcasing his “accomplishment list” — though, aside from including a faulty link, the Twitter account associated with the site frequently posted content that was antisemitic or conspiratorial in nature.

“Wow, even I didn’t realize we did so much. Wish the Fake News would report! Thank you,” tweeted the president — promoting an article from a site that believes Seth Rich was “murdered” by Hillary Clinton and banking is corrupted by “certain bloodlines.”

The front page of the website is titled “President Donald Trump’s Accomplishment List.” This page touts articles — in a Drudge Report style format — that supposedly reflect the president’s successes on the economy, crime, and business.

However, things get significantly stranger and disturbing when examining MAGAPill’s Twitter account, as the site obsesses over conspiracy theories — including the idea that Luciferianism, in part, controls the world, along with George Soros and the Vatican.

In the same wild flow chart, the account shares the theory that “banking families” — a seeming reference to the Jewish community — control all of the world’s financial institutions for their gain. “Banking families, Certain bloodline families have dominated global financial institutions, including: BIS, FED, IMF, World Bank, Wall Street,” states the chart.

Ironically, Trump’s tweet praising the work of MAGAPill came just after a post in which he attacked CNN as “fake news.”

[Mediaite]

Trump lashes out at CNN, calls Fox News ‘MUCH more important’

Leave a comment

President Donald Trump on Saturday blasted CNN, calling it a source of “fake” news and comparing it unfavorably to its competitor Fox News.

“@FoxNews is MUCH more important in the United States than CNN, but outside of the U.S., CNN International is still a major source of (Fake) news, and they represent our Nation to the WORLD very poorly,” he said on Twitter. “The outside world does not see the truth from them!”

CNN’s communications team fired back minutes later, tweeting, “It’s not CNN’s job to represent the U.S to the world. That’s yours. Our job is to report the news. #FactsFirst.”

Trump’s remarks come at a significant time for the media outlet, whose parent company Time Warner is merging with AT&T in an $85 billion deal. The Department of Justice has sued to block the merger, and legal experts have speculated that Trump’s previous comments about CNN may be brought up during the litigation.

CNN is a frequent target of Trump’s ire, and he has labeled the network “fake news,” “dishonest,” “disgusting” and “ratings challenged” in the last several months alone.

Trump’s Saturday tweet also marked the second time in as many days that Trump lashed out at a major media outlet on Twitter. On Friday, he went after TIME Magazine, claiming he “took a pass” at being named its “Person of the Year.”

“Time Magazine called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named ‘Man (Person) of the Year,’ like last year, but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot,” Trump tweeted. “I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway!”

The magazine shot down at Trump’s claim shortly afterward, tweeting that “the President is incorrect about how we choose Person of the Year. TIME does not comment on our choice until publication, which is December 6.”

[AOL]

Reality

What Donald Trump did today was give dictators around the globe validation on their own attacks on a free and open press.

No, really. This is what dictators do.

While almost every dictator from Mao Zedong, to Joseph Stalin, to Adolf Hitler has branded some part of the population as an enemy of the people, its specific application to the free press has more recent examples.

  • In September 2014 the head of the military junta that rules Myanmar said the media was constantly: “condemning and providing false information again, with some truths omitted, some issues exaggerated, and some news reported without scrutiny.”
  • In 2007, Hugo Chavez shut down the RCTV and then made a televised address, on all channels, in which he branded the media group Globovision his next ‘enemy of the state.
  • In 1997 Russian state media named Noyaya Gazeta-Mir Ludei (The New Newspaper-World of People), a small 15-member of staff paper that scrutinised the actions of the regional government, was called ‘unpatriotic’ and ‘enemy of the state’.

 

Trump picks fight with CFPB, calls agency a ‘total disaster’

Leave a comment

President Trump is picking another fight with the Washington swamp by naming his own man as temporary boss of a federal agency conservatives hate.

“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, has been a total disaster as run by the previous Administrations pick,” he tweeted Saturday.

“Financial Institutions have been devastated and unable to properly serve the public. We will bring it back to life!” the tweet said.

Leadership of the bureau — the brainchild of liberal Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren — was put in play Friday by the resignation of director Richard Cordray.

Before he left, Cordray named his chief of staff as his interim replacement. Cordray’s permanent replacement will be decided by Trump and the Senate.

Trump wants Office of Management and Budget director Mick Muvaney to be the agent’s interim boss. Mulvaney has called the agency “a sad, sick joke.”

Senior administration officials said Saturday that a 1998 law trumps the agency’s internal rules — and they won’t shy from a court fight over the dueling interim directors.

“We have gone out of our way to avoid an unnecessary legal battle with Director Cordray,” one official said. “But his actions indicate that he wants to provoke one.”

[New York Post]

Reality

A “disaster”? Maybe fore Trump’s Wall Street friends. Below are several key accomplishments that have benefited consumers since the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was enacted:

Securing Almost $12 Billion in Consumer Relief

  • The CFPB helped over 29 million individual consumers receive $11.8 billion dollars in due relief, while responding to over 1 million consumer complaints since openings its doors.[2]
  • Through enforcement action alone, the CFPB reduced $7.7 billion in consumer debts while winning $3.7 billion in compensation for consumers.[3]
  • Nearly 50 million households have benefited from new CFPB mortgage servicing protections that protect consumers from surprise costs and terms when repaying their mortgage, and offer additional protection if a borrower falls behind on their mortgage payment.[4]
  • More recently, the CFPB, partnering with the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, uncovered deceptive banking practices at Wells Fargo Bank defrauding millions of customers.[5]  Enforcement action by the CFPB forced Wells Fargo to pay full refunds to consumers harmed by illegal practices and to pay a $100 million penalty for their wanton behavior.

Protecting Service Members from Predatory Practices

  • The CFPB’s enforcement actions provided $130 million in due compensation to service members, veterans, and their families that were harmed by illegal private sector predatory practices.[6]
  • In collaboration with the Department of Defense (DOD), the Office of Servicemember Affairs at the CFPB visited more than 145 military installations, handling over 71,000 consumer complaints from service members and their families,[7] and advised DOD on better rules to protect service members from financial exploitation.[8]

Saving Consumers $16 Billion in Undisclosed Credit Card Fees

  • The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act, now under CFPB jurisdiction, reined in the usurious late fees charged on credit cards, limited predatory practices targeting young consumers on college campuses, curtailed sharp interest rate hikes, increased access to consumer credit, and made credit card costs more transparent, saving consumers more than $16 billion in undisclosed fees.[9]
  • The number of new consumer credit cards increased steadily since implementation and enforcement of the CARD Act to 6.5 million new credit cards and $37.5 billion in available credit in July of 2016.[10]
  • In collaboration with private industry, the CFPB made it easier for stay-at-home spouses to gain access to credit cards by allowing them to use total household income in their applications for new accounts or higher credit limits.  This has helped more than 16 million married individuals who do not work outside the home access necessary credit.

Trump claims he turned down TIME Magazine ‘Man of the Year’ in 2016

Leave a comment

In a Friday afternoon tweet, President Donald Trump claimed that in 2016 after winning the U.S. presidency he turned down being named “Man of the Year.”

“Time Magazine called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named ‘Man (Person) of the Year,’ like last year, but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot,” Trump tweeted. “I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway!”

Trump previously got caught with a fake TIME magazine cover on the walls of his properties. TIME asked that the fake covers be removed.

In 2012, Trump dissed TIME claiming they lost all credibility.

“I knew last year that @TIME Magazine lost all credibility when they didn’t include me in their Top 100,” Trump tweeted.

In 2015, Trump seemed to play a game of chicken with TIME, saying he knew they’d never pick him.

“I told you @TIME Magazine would never pick me as person of the year despite being the big favorite They picked person who is ruining Germany,” Trump tweeted.

TIME could end up being purchased by Charles and David Koch, conservative billionaires who are looking into purchasing the parent company, Meredith Corp. The media empire publishes Family Circle and Better Homes and Gardens among other titles. They are rumored to have approached Time Inc. about a possible deal worth more than $500 million, the Los Angeles Times reported.

[Raw Story]

Reality

TIME disputed those remarks, however, writing on its own Twitter account, “The President is incorrect about how we choose Person of the Year. TIME does not comment on our choice until publication, which is December 6.”

Trump uses Egypt attack to plug border wall, immigration restrictions

Leave a comment

In denouncing the terror attack on a mosque in Egypt, President Trump on Friday renewed his calls for for tighter immigration screening in the U.S, and a wall along the border with Mexico.

Trump said he would Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi “to discuss the tragic terrorist attack, with so much loss of life,” adding on Twitter: “We have to get TOUGHER AND SMARTER than ever before, and we will. Need the WALL, need the BAN! God bless the people of Egypt.”

Egyptian state media reported that at least 235 people died and more than 130 were injured during an attack on a Sufi mosque in Egypt’s North Sinai region, the deadliest attack ever on Egyptian civilians by Islamic militants.

Earlier Friday, Trump tweeted: “Horrible and cowardly terrorist attack on innocent and defenseless worshipers in Egypt. The world cannot tolerate terrorism, we must defeat them militarily and discredit the extremist ideology that forms the basis of their existence!”

In a readout after the call, the White House said Trump offered his condolences to the people of Egypt after the “heinous attack” on worshippers. Trump “reiterated that the United States will continue to stand with Egypt in the face of terrorism,” the statement said. “The international community cannot tolerate barbaric terrorist groups and must strengthen its efforts to defeat terrorism and extremism in all its forms.”

Trump has used previous terror attacks to promote immigration restrictions that are the subject of many political and legal disputes.

The administration’s proposed ban on immigration from six Muslim majority countries has faced a number of legal challenges. And congressional Democrats have moved to block funding for the proposed wall on the nation’s southern border.

Democrats said the nation has long screened immigrants in an effort to block potential terrorists, and they have accused Trump of making his proposals to keep Muslims and Hispanics out of the United States.

[USA Today]

Reality

Trump proposes a border wall with Mexico to keep out Egyptians and a Muslim ban that does not include Egypt as solutions to prevent terrorism after a terror attack at a mosque in Egypt.

Trump teeing off with Tiger Woods, but vows the round of golf will go ‘quickly’

Leave a comment

President Trump made a rare acknowledgement Friday of his plans to play golf, noting in a tweet that he was teeing off with Tiger Woods but stressing he will play “quickly” before returning to the burdens of the office.

Trump, who is spending Thanksgiving weekend at Mar-a-Lago, said he will play with the golf legend as well as Dustin Johnson, currently ranked the world’s No. 1 golfer.

The threesome is scheduled to tee off at the Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Fla., about 20 miles north of the presidential retreat at Mar-a-Lago.

Trump was careful in his tweet to underscore he planned a quick round. He also said he was going to be talking to the president of Turkey and also focusing on the economy.

He also used his pre-golf morning to blast NFL players who “disrespect” the country, the flag and national anthem with their pre-game protests “without penalty.”
Since taking office, Trump has rarely acknowledged playing golf. In recent years, particularly during the 2016 campaign, he slammed President Obama repeatedly for playing the game, chiding his “work ethic” and even criticizing the president for going to Hawaii during the holiday and taking Secret Service personnel away from their families.

For his part, Trump pledged to largely forego golf while in office, saying he was “not going to have time to play golf.”

After a year in the Oval Office, however, published reports indicate he has played at least 34 times since the inauguration and has visited his golf courses more than 70 times.

In addition, the traveling press is rarely allowed to observe his rounds and aides traditionally decline to say when the golf is played.

This week, after the presidential entourage arrived in Florida, the White House had to correct itself after a spokesperson initially said she was expecting a “low-key day” while the president spent time at the Florida resort. Minutes later, the correction was that the president “will NOT have a low-key day.”

Abut 90 minutes later, however, the press poll noted the motorcade arriving at a Trump golf club near West Palm Beach and left some five hours later, the New York Post reported.

Aides were mum on how he spent the time period, which is roughly the length of a round of golf, unless you play quickly.

[USA Today]

Reality

Donald Trump has visited a Trump property, which he still owns and receives profits from, 34 out of his 45 weeks in office so far.

Trump slams NFL: Anthem protesting ‘continues without penalty to the players’

Leave a comment

President Trump slammed the National Football League on Friday for not implementing penalties for players who protest during the national anthem.

Trump said Friday the “hemorrhaging” NFL has allowed players to become “the boss.” His comments follow Thanksgiving games in which New York Giants defensive end Olivier Vernon knelt during the anthem.

“Can you believe that the disrespect for our Country, our Flag, our Anthem continues without penalty to the players. The Commissioner has lost control of the hemorrhaging league. Players are the boss!” Trump tweeted Friday morning.

A handful of players have continued to kneel during games as the NFL season enters its 12th week.

Trump, who had criticized players who kneel as a form of protest during the campaign, in September suggested NFL owners should fire players who kneel rather than stand during the national anthem. The comments, at a rally, started a feud between Trump and the players who began protesting in unity during the anthem at games.

The NFL said last month it has no plans to implement a ban on kneeling during the anthem. NFL spokesman Joe Lockhart said the commissioner planned to speak to the teams and owners “about how to use our platform to both raise awareness and make progress on issues of social justice and equality in this country.”

[The Hill]

1 … 218 219 220 221 222 … 340