S*** the President Says – 6/8/2020

Ladies and gentlemen, behold, some s*** the president said during the previous week:

We begin this week with this bizarre explanation for firing tear gas, rubber bullets, and at least a few fists at peaceful protesters and members of the clergy so our president could walk to a nearby church and hold a bible upside down like a dead animal. The explanation was childlike: people were assaulted because of the riots the night before? Have you ever known the cops to show up to a crime scene 24 hours after the crime and just arrest the first person they saw? No? Of course not. That would be insane.

So much of the Trump presidency is just warmed-over Richard Nixon fare, repackaged with orange hair and all caps. I have no idea to what our president was referring here, but it’s worth noting that an actual American majority disapproves of Trump’s handling of the protests.

Not according to black people, he hasn’t. Recent polls show African Americans going to Biden by about 80 points.

Possible exception of Abraham Lincoln. He isn’t sure. No word on whether our president has heard of the Civil Right Act of 1965. He didn’t seem aware of it when he settled that federal lawsuit for housing discrimination against African Americans.

“Hopefully George [Floyd] is looking down right now and saying, ‘This is a great thing that’s happening for our country.’ It’s a great day for him, it’s a great day for everybody.”

6/5/2020 at the White House.

Wow. Walking out to a microphone to say it’s a “great day” for a recent murder victim is bold flavor. Was justice served in the George Floyd case? No, not yet. Did his death lead to some type of reform to ensure similar murders will not happen? No, and Trump has not proposed any such plan. Was Floyd un-murdered, somehow? Also no. Nothing constructive has happened at all, but “Trump rebrands failure as rousing success” is a story we’re all plenty familiar with, so let’s hope for the best but keep low expectations until at least January of 2021.

“Today is probably, if you think of it, the greatest comeback in American history.”

6/5/2020 at the White House.

Here, our president touts an unexpectedly good jobs report that turned out to be a massive typo. Plus, roughly 500 Americans per day are still dying of COVID-19. We are “opening” our economy in many places despite not meeting the CDC guidelines for doing so. So, any job gains today will likely result in increased preventable death, in turn making a future economic shutdown all the more likely just because it feels easier today than coming up with a plan. Trump wants you to think this is the Miracle on Ice. It’s more like scoring a late goal and losing 6-1.

“They say if you’re heavy – so I say thank goodness, I’m in perfect shape – thank goodness. But if you’re heavy, [COVID-19] is not good.”

6/5/2020 at the White House.

The president is, in fact, obese.

Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski (AK) says she may not vote for the president, so of course he immediately threatens retribution, which is nice.

It took longer than I hoped or expected, but it seems our president’s decision to unleash the military to tear gas peaceful protesters was the straw that broke the camel’s back. After former Trump Admin. Defense secretary Jim Mattis laid into Trump this week, an avalanche of others followed. George W. Bush won’t even support Trump’s re-election, meaning zero ex-presidents support the current one. Oh, and Trump didn’t fire Mattis. Mattis quit.

Reminder: Erie is a swing County in a swing state and this is an election year. Consider this tweet your own, personal Save The Date. Vote. Preferably for an adult.

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That’s our report for this week. Be sure to check out the links for more info on any particular topic and, as always, thanks for reading.