Trump says favorable things about QAnon

This is terrible. Trump likes anyone who likes him. At least a few Republicans have disagreed with him on this.

“We once had Republican leaders that would work to keep extremists from the levers of power. Now they embrace them and their crazy and dangerous ideas." https://t.co/jlUNsN8lTM
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) August 20, 2020

This is one of the most dangerous things Donald Trump has done as presidenthttps://t.co/3TtODtPlQI pic.twitter.com/zy8uqC8Rd3
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) August 20, 2020

NEW: Rep @Liz_Cheney becomes the highest-ranking House Republican to denounce QAnon.

“QAnon is dangerous lunacy that should have no place in American politics," she said in a statement, after I asked for comment.

Yesterday, Trump said he "appreciates" the support of QAnon ppl.
— Melanie Zanona (@MZanona) August 20, 2020

Jeb Bush slams Trump's QAnon comments: "Nut jobs, racists, haters have no place in either party" https://t.co/VTHQsLEYXI pic.twitter.com/m7cZltyK2o
— The Hill (@thehill) August 20, 2020

.@BenSasse on Trump’s remarks on Q-Anon yesterday:

“Q-Anon is nuts — and real leaders call conspiracy theories conspiracy theories. If Democrats take the Senate, blow up the filibuster, and pack the Supreme Court – garbage like this will be a big part of why they won.”
— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) August 20, 2020

When asked about the central premise of QAnon, Trump didn’t question the validity of the movement. Instead he offered his help. Me and ⁦@kevinroose⁩ on the consequences of that: https://t.co/bZL73a50KL
— Katie Rogers (@katierogers) August 20, 2020

It really can’t be underscored how repellent and dangerous Trump’s playing footise with Qanon like this is. It’s not just harmless dingbattery. It is wrecking families and inspiring kidnappings. It is very likely to yield further violence. He could put an end to it overnight. https://t.co/PjF3hNPKvi
— Julian Sanchez (@normative) August 20, 2020

Never before have I had to mention satanic cannibals on @ABCWorldNews, but just minutes before I went on the air tonight, @realDonaldTrump praised those promoting a fringe and insane conspiracy theory that the FBI has warned poses a potential domestic terror threat — pic.twitter.com/sajtR3eppD
— jonkarl (@jonkarl) August 20, 2020

Trump on QAnon: "I understand they like me very much, which I appreciate. These are people that love our country."

FBI on QAnon: "These conspiracy theories very likely will emerge…occasionally driving both groups & individual extremists to carry out criminal or violent acts."
— Joshua A. Geltzer (@jgeltzer) August 19, 2020

Trump thinks these people love our country but people who disagree with him hate our country. I hate Trump but I don’t think he hates the country even though he is pals with our enemy Putin.

Why isn’t every prominent Republican saying this ——> https://t.co/BDdZGqSlZi
— Charlie Sykes (@SykesCharlie) August 20, 2020

going to revise my timeline here and say QAnon will be GOP orthodoxy next year if Biden wins and takes office. https://t.co/h8vdmFPatA
— b-boy bouiebaisse (@jbouie) August 19, 2020

It's truly amazing that the FBI issued a warning about these QAnon folks during the Trump presidency and he acts as if he's never heard of what they stand for. He's either being a remarkably lazy president or he's worried about offending any possible supporter. https://t.co/MuhufW9fUf
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) August 19, 2020

FBI: The deranged QAnon conspiracy theory poses a potential domestic terrorism threat

Combating Terrorism Center at West Point: it's a public security threat & potential domestic terror threat

Trump: "these are people that love our country."
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 19, 2020

!!! Trump is told that QAnon believes he's saving the world from a secret satanic cult of cannibals and pedophiles. He says, "Well, I haven't heard that. But uh, is that supposed to be a bad thing? Or a good thing? If I can help save the world from problems…"
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 19, 2020

This QAnon answer is a fucking disgrace. It's a death cult. The FBI identified QAnon as a violent domestic terrorism threat and Trump is pretending not to know what it is while absolutely encouraging them and incentivizing more insane behavior.
— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) August 19, 2020

Trump seems to now be openly encouraging followers of the QAnon conspiracy. "I don't know anything about it other than they do supposedly like me."
Reporter then explains the unhinged theory QAnon and Trump says:
"If I can help save the world from problems, I'm willing to do it."
— Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) August 19, 2020

Trump says that he "appreciates" that QAnon — a movement supporting a conspiracy theory — likes him "very much."

"I've heard these are people that love our country," he says.
— Felicia Sonmez (@feliciasonmez) August 19, 2020

Oh my God. Asked about the Qanon movement Trump says he doesn’t know much about them except that they like him very much.

No, seriously, that was exactly what he just said.
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) August 19, 2020

Donald Trump just praised Q-Anon from The White House.
— Don Winslow (@donwinslow) August 19, 2020

An ex-SEAL who posted Soros conspiracy theories is accused of throwing IEDs at protesters. Other ex-SEALs share QAnon content with threats to act on it. What happens when violent theories reach special forces? https://t.co/dUVpf8Ysmg
— Kelly Weill (@KELLYWEILL) August 18, 2020

'This Is a Virtual Cult!' CNN's Stelter Goes Off on Trump's 'Incredibly Dangerous' Winking at QAnon https://t.co/IzNYENHpZR
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) August 20, 2020

Sally Yates, fmr. acting US attorney general fired by Pres. Trump, says it’s “frightening and incredibly irresponsible” for the President to seemingly encourage members of the conspiracy theory group QAnon. The FBI has suggested the group is a potential domestic terrorist threat. pic.twitter.com/GYKkfuHVXb
— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) August 20, 2020

Two questions have been flitting around in my head: How is QAnon best described and how is it best asked about?

So I asked a number of journalists who’ve been covering it how they would answer. https://t.co/Ew9ckkzlnk
— Philip Bump (@pbump) August 20, 2020

#IntoAmerica: What is QAnon? The beliefs associated with it range from the merely strange to the downright dangerous.

.@trymainelee talks to @oneunderscore__ about why he thinks we should be paying attention.

Listen now: https://t.co/zoYbeAnjTq pic.twitter.com/hV4oZhUkH2
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) August 20, 2020

More on Trump lies 8/20/20

In past years, Trump has blamed California leaders for deadly wildfires in their state citing a lack of proper forest management. He has repeated his overly simplistic claim about the fires today, saying leaders didn't "clean the floors" https://t.co/qsbPPxs5zU
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) August 20, 2020

The Trump campaign has sent out advance excerpts of his speech attacking Biden. Many of the prepared claims are false or misleading.

Most of Trump's dishonesty is ad-libbed. In campaign season, though, more lying gets written into his texts. This also happened in the midterms.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 20, 2020

This is why I think it’s pointless for Biden to debate Trump. Trump will lie and lie and lie.

No and no.

Harris criticized Biden during the primary for some past comments and positions related to race, but she began by saying, “I do not believe you are a racist.”

Harris also didn’t call Biden incompetent. pic.twitter.com/xHsteyEnD4
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 20, 2020

A common response to Trump's lying is "well, they all lie." I think it's important to note how asymmetrical the lying is.

You have hours of numerous Democrats speaking with no objectively false claims. It's rare to get ten minutes falseness-free from this president.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 20, 2020

Again, Gallup showed at the time that the vast majority of Americans (66%) approved of the Obama administration's handling of H1N1.

Currently, Gallup shows only 36% of Americans approve of Trump's response to coronavirus and other surveys reveal even lower numbers. https://t.co/arM3spPSSh
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) August 18, 2020

Trump in April 2019: I was named Michigan Man of the Year six or seven years ago
Trump in November 2019: That happened about 10 years before the 2016 election
Trump in July 2020: That happened 10 years ago
Trump in August 2020: That happened 11 years ago https://t.co/jfJEgTiTau
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 17, 2020

As others have noted, I should’ve mentioned that Biden also took questions from four Black and Hispanic journalists for a conference event on August 6. https://t.co/9weG7u2TpR
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 17, 2020

Odds of this making the nightly news tonight? https://t.co/6WrbgtNrRr
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) August 17, 2020

Trump now claiming the Postal Service loses $3 to $4 **per package.**

Fact check: "USPS, by its own calculation, says revenue from package deliveries far exceeds costs. "

4 Pinocchioshttps://t.co/dGeyJybT8z
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) August 17, 2020

To prove his point about fraud with mail voting, Trump keeps citing cases that…aren't about fraud at all.

My video this week breaks down some of his favorite non-examples: https://t.co/LCgGUw8RK0 pic.twitter.com/Ovg5I4wdbJ
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 15, 2020

Trump claimed "Colin Powell says it’s not true" that Russia put bounties on US troops.

Powell didn't; he said early media coverage was overblown compared to how commanders saw the intel. Powell assistant Peggy Cifrino confirms to me: "He did not say that it was not true."
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 15, 2020

President Trump has made many baseless and misleading remarks on mail-in voting. @brikeilarCNN fact-checks some of his false claims. https://t.co/M214WPjRc6 pic.twitter.com/p5r3NdAI5e
— CNN (@CNN) August 14, 2020

Just this past Sunday, Trump said he hadn’t spoken to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. But WH confirms the two met last week on Monday. A WH spokesman says it was a meeting to congratulate DeJoy on being confirmed. DeJoy was confirmed in May. https://t.co/VbnJo7LtG2 pic.twitter.com/w1CtHkyu3X
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) August 14, 2020

Trump amplifies a birther lie about another Black candidate, says a bunch of other false things about Biden, says his usual false things about mail voting.

Fact check with @HolmesLybrand @tarasubramaniam: https://t.co/qourlRTzKC
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 14, 2020

Everyone should read this article from January on @realDonaldTrump’s lying.

It was written by @svdate, who asked today whether Trump regretted his 3-1/2 years of lies to the American people. https://t.co/9DLdWF2tuG
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) August 13, 2020

Asked if he regrets all of the lying he’s done to the American people, Trump doesn’t respond, calls on someone else.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 13, 2020

Trump continued to push the false narrative that several states are in "fantastic shape" when it comes to Covid-19.

Facts First: While the numbers of new coronavirus cases in Florida and Arizona are trending downward, they are not back to pre-June levels. https://t.co/tdwghYgOJE
— CNN (@CNN) August 13, 2020

Trump says people used to tout New Zealand but they "had a massive breakout yesterday."

New Zealand reported six cases yesterday. The US reported 47,408.https://t.co/fcnZ9GLV9s
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 20, 2020

The president is lying about Biden's work to implement the consensus policy of the U.S., the EU, the IMF and others to get rid of a corrupt Ukrainian prosecutor.

The version he is repeating is Russian disinformation. pic.twitter.com/isUggyYrxl
— S.V. Dáte (@svdate) August 20, 2020

Trump says Obama closed down NASA, then boasts that he, conversely, is sending up rich people's rockets.

That commercial crew program was started under Obama.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 20, 2020

Trump falsely says his nonsense that Democrats want to "abolish the suburbs," then exaggerates by saying Cuomo abolished cash bail in New York. (It was ended for some offenses but kept for most violent crimes.)
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 20, 2020

Is it safe to reopen schools?

Trump is pushing for schools to reopen with classroom learning but it is not a good idea in many places. Some schools that opened had to close.

When can schools safely reopen? The answer is part science, part guesswork. https://t.co/IzihZvRPWB
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) August 20, 2020

At least 15 states reporting Covid cases at colleges and universities

Almost 2,000 K-12 students in Mississippi have been quarantined in the state due to possible exposure to Covid-19, according to the state's department of health https://t.co/6Dmux66UPT pic.twitter.com/VTJVpKZQkM
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) August 19, 2020

Dear @realDonaldTrump

You are ACTIVELY refusing to listen to REAL MEDICAL EXPERTS and are doing EVERYTHING in your power to guarantee the DEATH OF MORE US CITIZENS.https://t.co/m8XYI6vsCE
— Don Winslow (@donwinslow) August 19, 2020

Last week, Mississippi had COVID outbreaks in schools in roughly half the counties in the state.

This week, the state health director says there are now outbreaks in schools in 71 out of the state’s 82 counties.

This really isn’t working. https://t.co/6EqoULHAFV
— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) August 18, 2020

NEW: Coronavirus outbreaks in schools are mounting — but it is impossible to track all the cases.

The CDC isn't collecting any data on the virus in schools.

And least 9 states won't release any school outbreak data to the public.

w/@BenjySarlin: https://t.co/s1Vz6Xx88q
— Suzy Khimm (@SuzyKhimm) August 17, 2020

Which U.S. counties can safely open schools this fall? Times Opinion looked at the data to find out. https://t.co/bazribchFH
— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) August 14, 2020

97,000 children reportedly test positive for coronavirus in two weeks as schools gear up for instruction https://t.co/Z8OQePagmW
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 8, 2020

"This is just another way we're flying blind in this epidemic."

— Laurie Garrett on coronavirus spreading in schools but the federal govt not keeping count. https://t.co/zL2Ybt7r7h
— MSNBC Live with Ayman Mohyeldin (@AymanMSNBC) August 20, 2020

No. Just no. If schools are going to reopen (now or in a few weeks or a few months), leaving teachers in the classroom who should be in quarantine will needlessly expose students and other staff. This is reckless, inhumane, and wrong. A pic.twitter.com/lp4duDLOPZ
— Elisa Cardnell (@ElisaCardnell) August 20, 2020

👀👀👀, more from Syracuse: "The students who gathered on the Quad last night may have done damage enough to shut down campus." https://t.co/zWnOOff6pB
— Chris Quintana (@CQuintanaDC) August 20, 2020

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — NC State University announces that all undergraduate courses will move to online instruction Monday amid virus pandemic.
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) August 20, 2020

Trump and his campaign post fake videos and pictures

There is also a fake Pelosi video. Social media needs to take all of this stuff down.

So the Trump campaign has taken over the @washingtonpost home page with ads that take you to a series of YouTube videos that make claims that we have fact-checked as false. Here's a sampling –>
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) August 20, 2020

Trump just RTed this image, supposedly of Seattle Dems protesting in support of mail-in voting.

The image is actually from months ago, long before the vote-by-mail stuff. pic.twitter.com/tpCP6Pr8M9
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) August 18, 2020

ICYMI –> Trump campaign ad manipulates three images to put Biden in a ‘basement’ https://t.co/qvXnFgC6xM
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) August 7, 2020

Biden was photographed touching his forehead while conducting a town hall at an Iowa nature preserve in September 2019.

The Trump campaign edited out his mic and the trees to portray him as stuck in his Delaware basement…though kept his sunglasses. https://t.co/3XT2tmJZHj pic.twitter.com/I2zgIL1x0M
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 5, 2020

New Trump ad:
– Edits mic, trees out of photo of Biden in Iowa to claim he's hiding in Delaware basement
– Uses photo of Biden at Iowa party to claim he's hiding in basement
– Uses photo of him praying after George Floyd's death to portray him as defeatedhttps://t.co/cSTlPxuYvk
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 5, 2020

The false Pelosi video now has 3.1 million views on Facebook.

It had 1.6 million when I saw it first on Sunday.
— Donie O'Sullivan (@donie) August 4, 2020

A number of Democratic lawmakers calling on Facebook to remove the viral fake video of Nancy Pelosi https://t.co/oh1zNbn1ai
— Donie O'Sullivan (@donie) August 3, 2020

But why did Facebook only act after the video had been online for days and amassed 2 million+ views? https://t.co/cbtxSNISKJ pic.twitter.com/3a1a7ldrMb
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) August 3, 2020

NEW: Another fake video edited to make Speaker Pelosi appear drunk is going viral on Facebook — more than 2 million Facebook views since Thursday.

Video also circulated on TikTok.

TikTok has removed it. Facebook has not removed it but has labeled it. https://t.co/ym83lXySkt
— Donie O'Sullivan (@donie) August 3, 2020

Trump supports another bigoted extremist

Laura Loomer's win is part of the leading edge of the Republican Party's transformation — or at least evolution — into an organization that includes provocateurs and conspiracy theorists among its rankshttps://t.co/LCDlhgtyJf
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) August 19, 2020

"It should be a much bigger story that the president of the United States has now enthusiastically endorsed the Congressional run of a virulently Islamophobic far-right conspiracy theorist." https://t.co/STCeKXJFaN
— Christopher Ingraham (@_cingraham) August 19, 2020

'On Tuesday, Republican voters chose [Loomer] over five rivals. This comes a week after Republican voters in Georgia nominated a QAnon follower in another race…Trump did not make this happen. Voters did. Which suggests the depths of the Republican rot." https://t.co/nstSZvE0ok
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) August 19, 2020

Trump is retweeting praise of Laura Loomer, a far-right racist extremist who has called Muslims "savages," from Marjorie Taylor Greene, an unhinged open QAnon supporter.

This is what the modern Republican Party has become: conspiracy theorists, racists, and unhinged bigots.
— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) August 19, 2020

Four late night tweets/retweets from the president boosting Laura Loomer as she captures the Republican nomination for his D-leaning Florida district. pic.twitter.com/FTIrq5fCMd
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) August 19, 2020

For the second Tuesday in a row, Trump has made a point to congratulate an anti-Muslim GOP congressional candidate, among all the other primary winners. https://t.co/zKiXvcsRv9
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) August 19, 2020

The fact that the GOP was willing and able to get Laura Loomer elected to Congress despite being a far right hate speech spreading conspiracy theorist kook and a “reporter” for Infowars shows, once again, how far off the rails the GOP has gone. Loomer 2024 will be inevitable.
— Touré (@Toure) August 19, 2020

Laura Loomer has been banned/forcibly removed from:

Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Uber
Lyft
PayPal
Venmo
GoFundMe
TeeSpring
Medium
CPAC
Shakespeare in the Park

And won a GOP primary by double digits. https://t.co/EQUTVoXCeI
— Kevin Roose (@kevinroose) August 19, 2020

Loomer was banned by Uber and Lyft after tweeting stuff such as, “Someone needs to create a non Islamic form of Uber or Lyft because I never want to support another Islamic immigrant driver.”

That’s who the President of the United States is openly supporting. https://t.co/PBNOHFq1V3
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) August 19, 2020

Covers: He Gives Us All His Love

“He Gives Us All His Love” was part of Randy Newman’s score for the 1971 film Cold Turkey and also appears on his 1972 album Sail Away. I had not see Cold Turkey. I recently saw part of the film on TV and was shocked that the version was different – it doesn’t have the orchestrated background that the album version does. There is a CD of the film score with a booklet with extensive notes. I could never figure this one out. Was it satire or a straight forward religious song? Based on Newman’s other work, I assumed satire but I don’t see that anywhere in the lyrics.

Over 500,000 Social Security checks come in the mail

I am a retired Social Security employee and I thought that all checks were now electronic. I was surprised to find out that so many checks were mailed. It’s a small percentage of a huge volume. This came to my attention as part of the discussion on Trump’s efforts to damage mail-in voting.

Some conservatives are accusing Obama and other Democrats of lying for saying some people rely on the mail for Social Security checks.

They aren't. Though 99.1% do direct deposit, the 0.9% still getting mail checks is 549,818 people. https://t.co/49pl5uS6ix
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 17, 2020

Again: it is *not* true Social Security completely stopped mailing paper checks in 2013. Again: more than 549,000 people get paper Social Security checks this month, per official data (https://t.co/49pl5uS6ix); including SSI, it's "nearly 850,000" paper checks a month. pic.twitter.com/LOeBrVuTyf
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 18, 2020

Covers: California Stars

“California Stars” has lyrics by Woody Guthrie with new music by Jeff Tweedy and Jay Bennett. The original recording is by Billy Bragg and Wilco. It’s on 1998’s Mermaid Avenue album. It’s probably the best known of the Bragg/Wilco/Guthrie songs.

Covers: For What It’s Worth

Last night at the virtual Democratic convention, Billy Porter performed “For What It’s Worth” with the song’s author on guitar. It was originally a hit single for Buffalo Springfield in 1967. I like the way Porter adds new life and freshness to the song.

Thanks @theebillyporter + Steven Stills for helping us close night one of the #DemConvention! 🎵

So much more to come! Come back tomorrow ⬇️https://t.co/NEJtNqxFPV pic.twitter.com/vqXfLCUVfk
— 2020 #DemConvention 🇺🇸 (@DemConvention) August 18, 2020

Covers: Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear

“Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear” is a Randy Newman song. It was originally recorded by the Alan Price Set in 1967 and appears on Newman’s great 1972 album Sail Away. Even the Muppets covered it!