Trump continues to use presidential events for political purposes

His campaign, not taxpayers, should pay for these events. Congress should hold Trump accountable.

As Campaign Season Heats Up, Trump Has Turned the Official Into the Political

and it's over. It's remarkable how Trump has completely obliterated the line between taxpayer-funded official White House events and political rallies. pic.twitter.com/Khfady9UWE
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 7, 2020

“You better go out and vote on Nov. 3,” Trump says at National Prayer Breakfast, an official event and typically a bipartisan one
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 6, 2020

This is an "official" event. Trump is now mocking Democrats' Iowa problems at length, saying, "They can't count simple votes, but they want to fix your health care system." He also mocks Pete Buttigieg as a nobody.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) February 7, 2020

Trump’s speech, delivered from behind a lectern w/a presidential seal, was billed as an official WH event + his travel was not paid for by his campaign. But it was indistinguishable in much of its content from remarks He delivers at his MAGA rallies.https://t.co/cztg7Jw5XW
— Annie Karni (@anniekarni) October 4, 2019

Trump turning a WH (taxpayer funded) event on Medicare into campaign rally: “These are maniacs. Elizabeth, Pocohantas. When I used to hit her, I thought she was done. But she came back from the ashes. Now I’m gonna have to do it again because I don’t see Sleepy Joe making it.”
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) October 3, 2019

Trump is now telling this official event in Michigan about the expected size of the crowd at his rally tonight in Iowa. "It's all over the news," he says.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) January 30, 2020

Trump ends LSU event by turning it into a rally: "You got a good [POTUS] now – even though they're trying to impeach the son of a bitch! Can you believe that?… we took out those terrorists like your football team would've taken out those terrorists!"

Players look uncomfortable pic.twitter.com/5z6PipzB61
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 17, 2020

Here's a sample of the just-concluded official Trump speech at a community college in North Carolina. pic.twitter.com/saEW1ECIVC
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) February 7, 2020

Impeachment polls

“Americans are more eager to impeach Trump now than they were at similar points in the impeachment sagas of Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon.” https://t.co/TVWJGRM6vi
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) October 4, 2019

In perilous times: Americans are now inclined to support impeaching President Trump and removing him from office, a USA TODAY/Ipsos Poll finds. https://t.co/gaXxb809Se
— USA TODAY Politics (@usatodayDC) October 3, 2019

New USA Today poll:

Americans support House *impeaching* Trump by 45-38

They support *Senate conviction and removal* by 44-35 (!)

Note: 30% of Republicans say pressure on Ukraine to smear Biden is an abuse of power.

And it's early. More will come out.https://t.co/nIaJRZgP7E
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) October 3, 2019

Know there's a lot of other news today, but we have a tracker of impeachment polls up. https://t.co/H6uMspjp68
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) October 2, 2019

“A majority of voters support Congress’ current impeachment proceedings, but nearly a quarter say there is nothing President Trump could do that would cause them to support impeaching him and removing him from office, including 49 percent of Republicans.” https://t.co/5kF4YWgFka
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) October 2, 2019

35 percent of the voters who are against impeachment, oppose it *just because* they're worried it will hurt democrats politically, new polling from yougov/PCI finds https://t.co/ZfD7JRW55D
— aída chávez (@aidachavez) October 2, 2019

There's significant movement among Democrats and independents; less among Republicans.

Among Democrats, support for impeachment has gone from 72%->80% post Ukraine.

Among indies, it's gone from 34%->42%

Among Republicans, it's gone from 10%->12%.
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) October 2, 2019

IRS does not audit the rich as much as the poor

i might be one of a handful voters whose top ten issues include “reform and reinvigorate the IRS to go after the rich” https://t.co/ocp7CZizDx
— b-boy bouiebaisse (@jbouie) October 3, 2019

IRS audit rate for households with incomes over $10 million.

Fiscal 2015: 34.69%
2016: 18.79%
2017: 14.52%
2018: 6.66%https://t.co/E06XegRI0e
— Richard Rubin (@RichardRubinDC) May 20, 2019

Trump pursues phony Crowdstrike conspiracy theory

This crackpot conspiracy theory blames the Democrats and Ukraine for 2016 election interference. It gets Russia off the hook which of course appeals to Trump.

New from me:

A conspiracy theory called “The Insurance Policy” consumed President Trump’s inner-circle. Their connection? They all absolved Russia.https://t.co/CMMwlg8ScM
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) October 3, 2019

It feels somewhat reminiscent of Russian propaganda campaigns themselves—an effort not to advance a single narrative as much as to flood the zone with disinfo and speculation to the degree that an average overseer throws up his hands and decides the truth is simply unknowable https://t.co/YyTYDgQ3CO
— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) October 1, 2019

ok i honestly did not understand the crowdstrike thing until just now, did not know it was connected to the Seth Rich thing, and am blown away once again by how the most powerful man in the world is getting his info https://t.co/SbtH84tSB1 pic.twitter.com/Eu5k44UzKH
— the norms misser (@cd_hooks) October 1, 2019

Unless I missed someone, Bossert appears to be the first Trump former administration official to condemn the president over the Ukraine call and the focus on who did the hacking in 2016: https://t.co/jHLQjEA3XQ
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) September 29, 2019

The Crowdstrike conspiracy that President Trump asked the Ukrainian to investigate started as a 4chan post, then was laundered through almost every step of this handy-dandy chart I made in 2017.

4chan rumors become self-fulfilling prophesies—and they eventually cite themselves. https://t.co/fziI2f1BBH
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) September 27, 2019

The Crowdstrike conspiracy theory Trump mentioned on his call with Zelenskiy started, of course, on 4chan. Here are the origins: https://t.co/oEBkQNn65t
— Miriam Elder (@MiriamElder) September 26, 2019

Absolutely Critical: The references to "Crowdstrike" and the "server" are abt a conspiracy theory that the DNC hack was an inside job and that Russia was framed for it by Ukraine and the DNC. It's the same theory that says Seth Rich was murdered. https://t.co/j55ZMx0UoP via @TPM
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) September 25, 2019

The Trump-Ukraine phone call memo reveals that Trump pressed Zelensky to investigate CrowdStrike, a private cybersecurity firm that the DNC hired in 2016 to probe whether it had been hacked, and that Trump incorrectly suggested is owned by a Ukrainian. https://t.co/BfmWWA7H5q
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) September 25, 2019

Update on farmers 10/3/19

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said today that there are no guarantees that smaller dairy farms will survive:

"In America, the big get bigger and the small go out." https://t.co/lnKA0tdcEb
— Axios (@axios) October 2, 2019

In Wisconsin, 1,200 dairy farms have gone out of business in the last 2 years. Here’s the sympathetic response from Trump’s Ag Secretary:

“In America, the big get bigger and the small go out.”https://t.co/5Scaieyv0h
— Chris Lu (@ChrisLu44) October 2, 2019

It takes a rare fella to say so plainly that America is essentially a monopoly culture, and that the ultimate goal of a free market is to achieve the absolute minimal amount of actual competition. https://t.co/xVgIizVGMy
— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) October 1, 2019

U.S. farmers receive $14.03 billion so far in government trade aid https://t.co/ZOO0AIU460 pic.twitter.com/Q7iRWjlLmy
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) October 2, 2019

NEW: In Iowa, farmers are turning on Trump. It's not just trade. Trump is undercutting ethanol

"I supported Trump in the last election. Today, if the election were held, I don’t think I could vote for him,” said Kelly Nieuwenhuis, a corn & soybean farmerhttps://t.co/tUhKxR5E3x
— Heather Long (@byHeatherLong) October 1, 2019

This is a curious re-election message for farmers.

(551 Wisconsin dairy farms have disappeared so far this year, up from 465 the year Trump took office.)https://t.co/5rQpcCO3sR
— Alex Wayne (@aawayne) October 1, 2019

Trump's Ag secretary Sonny Perdue in visit to Wisconsin says dairy farms may need to get bigger to survive.

Wisconsin dairy farmer at Dem presser: "What I heard today from the secretary of agriculture was there's no place for me." https://t.co/5dabWBKSWj via @patrickdmarley
— Molly Beck (@MollyBeck) October 1, 2019

Farmers find another reason to get frustrated with President Trump https://t.co/Adnr1sNGVO pic.twitter.com/GKaxMk782k
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) September 29, 2019

Just so that you know where all this money is going: “More than 92% of the country’s 2.1 million farmers are non-Hispanic whites, and more than 86% of those farm operators are men.” https://t.co/X9s0vbfRwK
— Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) September 23, 2019

Night of the Living Dead – 10/1/68

Night of the Living Dead is available on DVD and Blu-ray through the Criterion Collection

George A. Romero with Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, and the rest of the ensemble during the making of Romero's terrifying and trenchant masterpiece NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, a horror movie that changed horror movies, which premiered on this day in Pittsburgh, PA in 1968. pic.twitter.com/IcI1JK3Ulo
— Tribeca (@Tribeca) October 1, 2019

George Romero's classic, Night of the Living Dead, was released on this day in 1968. #horror pic.twitter.com/CHMUwcHRZk
— Holidaze Halloween 🎃 (@QueenHalloweenW) October 1, 2019

Love For The Brothers: Duane Jones https://t.co/C29f446dUS
— Black Women Horror Studies (@GraveyardSister) December 30, 2019

Recent polls – 9/20/19 update

Fox News poll: Trump approval on…

International trade
38% approve
53% disapprove

Foreign policy
36% approve
54% disapprove

Guns
35% approve
56% disapprovehttps://t.co/TfdFWHIV9i
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 20, 2019

WH'2020 poll (Fox News):
Biden 52
Trump 38

Sanders 48
Trump 40

Warren 46
Trump 40

Harris 42
Trump 40https://t.co/7HXQMaGB2o
— Reid Wilson (@PoliticsReid) September 18, 2019

A new Fox News poll shows Donald Trump losing to every Democratic frontrunner in the 2020 election https://t.co/8wf5XCr9sy
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) September 19, 2019

Is Trump a racist?

– 46% of white voters said yes
– 80% of black voters said yes
– 55% of Hispanic voters said yes

(This is according to a Quinnipiac poll) pic.twitter.com/cCYzYkdlxB
— Bloomberg TicToc (@tictoc) September 15, 2019

A new poll finds Americans agree that taxpayer-funded stays at Trump hotels by government employees are a conflict of interest. Trump's failure to divest opened the door to this and other conflicts, and it's good that Congress is finally starting to act.https://t.co/GzxcCMJXAH
— Noah Bookbinder (@NoahBookbinder) September 18, 2019

91% of Republicans approve of the job Trump is doing

5% of Democrats feel the samehttps://t.co/Jg8zdMp1hY
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) September 20, 2019

Pres. Trump's job approval rating rose slightly in the latest @GallupNews poll, possibly in response to the Democratic debate on Sept 12. The polarization is stunning: 91% of Republicans approve of the job he's doing, along with just 5% of Democrats.
— Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) September 20, 2019

NEW POLL: Over one-third of Americans support beginning impeachment inquiry against Trump https://t.co/2dj4FBf98k pic.twitter.com/y21xN9Y7tI
— The Hill (@thehill) September 18, 2019

icymi

Do you definitely plan to vote for Trump for reelection as president or do you definitely plan to vote against him?
ALL
For Trump 38%
Against 52%
WOMEN
For 29%
Against 62%
MEN
For 49%
Against 42%
(NPR/PBS/Marist Poll, RV 9/5-8/19)
trend: https://t.co/HcOtBdvPmE
— PollingReport.com (@pollreport) September 14, 2019

The panel on @Hardball discusses the new ABC-Washington Post poll and a CNN poll, which shows that President Trump is heading into the fall with his approval rating slipping. https://t.co/UfSLdRNEuK
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) September 11, 2019

The Post-ABC News poll finds among registered voters:
Biden 55- Trump 40
Sanders 52 – Trump 43
Warren 51 – Trump 44
Harris 50 – Trump 43
Buttigieg 47 – Trump 43https://t.co/NtRRFZbmDd
— Terri Rupar (@terri_rupar) September 11, 2019

icymi

Do you support or oppose requiring political campaigns to report any information they receive from foreign governments to the FBI?
Support 87%
Oppose 7%
(Quinnipiac U. Poll, RV, 7/25-28/19)
more: https://t.co/219lgnboRD
— PollingReport.com (@pollreport) September 20, 2019

Trump’s bribing farmers who are losing out because of his tariffs

Trump is bribing farmers to make up for the damage he is doing with his tariffs. I wonder what Republicans would do if a Democratic president gave billions of dollars to primarily Democratic groups like women-owned businesses or HBCUs?

"At $28 billion so far, the farm rescue is more than twice as expensive as the 2009 bailout of Detroit’s Big Three automakers, which cost taxpayers $12 billion." https://t.co/nTsH1I6et9 via @BW
— Mike Dorning (@MikeDorning) September 19, 2019

Size matters. Big U.S. farms get even bigger amid China trade war https://t.co/gBepdToioR pic.twitter.com/ZB79guchvA
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) September 18, 2019

I told you: Farmers won’t blame Trump. https://t.co/hrG6u3ZSjx
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 10, 2019

Trump-loving farmers don’t blame him for the trade war — and instead think the ‘deep state’ is out to get them https://t.co/0cXPsZ4PRb
— Raw Story (@RawStory) September 10, 2019

Farmers are getting bribed with huge bailouts that compensate them for the destruction of their export markets. Businesses are being intimidated by the "exclusion" process that gives some of them a break from tariffs … 2/ pic.twitter.com/t9gVteuuYy
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) September 10, 2019

The vice president of the North Dakota Farmer's Union, Bob Kuylen, says he lost $400,000 because of Trump's trade war with China. Kuylen says farmers have "pretty much lost all of our markets since Trump took over." https://t.co/jamqfKbQ0H
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 31, 2019

It's heartbreaking to see farmers left behind by @realDonaldTrump. From expanding access to health & mental health care to combatting climate change, there's so much Dems can do to support them. We must make sure these communities are part of our platform https://t.co/kmHW0Ht9Ak
— Grace Meng (@Grace4NY) March 8, 2020

Trump’s war on blue states

Trump attacks blue states that didn’t vote for him but they are doing much better economically than states that support him.

A remarkable new study from @BrookingsInst shows that Red and Blue America are diverging economically way faster than you thought.

This is fertile ground for Trump's dual demagoguery: His combo of industrial virtue-signaling and hating on urban America:https://t.co/bIaWhB5Pjf
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) September 19, 2019

More dramatic evidence that the modern GOP, defined in hostility to social & demographic change, is being marginalized in the dynamic metros driving the economy: in 08, GOP House districts had greater median income than D seats. Now Dem seats have 8k more in $ than R seats. Wow. https://t.co/LyOCXVeYRb
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) September 19, 2019

Trump's push to revoke #californiawaiver on #climatechange follows his pattern on taxes, immigration, education, clean water: he's pursuing a "reverse federalism" to constrain and/or punish blue states. My take. https://t.co/Ob4HLjHV2T
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) September 19, 2019

New York is the latest blue state targeted by President Trump | Analysis https://t.co/up7zXxFU9r pic.twitter.com/7eU3Qp6Vcs
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) February 6, 2020

We must see the whistleblower’s complaint

It appears that the Trump administration is violating the law by not turning it over to Congress. Apparently, Trump wanted the Ukraine to investigate Biden’s son in return for military aid. How much corruption does Pelosi need to see. Impeachment was already justified and this just adds to its validity. As usual, Republicans try to confuse the issue. They will let Trump get away with anything as long as he appoints conservative judges.

Breaking News: President Trump’s desire for Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his family is said to be part of the secret whistle-blower complainthttps://t.co/4CmqwICl5B
— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 20, 2019

The Trump Admin is clearly violating federal statute by blocking the head of US Intelligence from providing Congress with a whistleblower complaint described as being of "urgent concern & credible.” The stonewalling must end. What is the President hiding? https://t.co/Yg0LqT5HMd
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) September 20, 2019

Word https://t.co/nsYbqTr7LX
— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) September 20, 2019

We confirm WSJ report that Trump pressed Ukrainian leader to investigate Biden’s son, and reveal WH Counsel Pat Cipollone's role in preventing whistleblower complaint from being sent to Congress. @gregpmiller @mattzap @carolleonnig and me https://t.co/2P4fnQQFXM
— Ellen Nakashima (@nakashimae) September 20, 2019

In fact, that July 25 conversation took place ONE DAY after Robert Mueller’s public testimony on Capitol Hill about the Russia investigation. https://t.co/J6JpTSMD02
— Mark Murray (@mmurraypolitics) September 20, 2019

Traitorous. Utterly traitorous. We have a president who is a traitor. https://t.co/ucMOYKIWUu
— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) September 20, 2019

Why is this classified information?@realDonaldTrump demanding a foreign leader 8 times to get dirt on Trump's political opponent's son during a presidential campaign is not a classified issue, it's a crime. Cannot solicit anything of value from a foreign power to help campaign. https://t.co/cVGdmUubu6
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) September 20, 2019

This is very good from former DNI general counsel Bob Litt. https://t.co/Evu4CkTSNI
— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) September 20, 2019

For those considering whether the whistle blower complaint relates to Trump-Giuliani pressure on Ukraine to create false dirt on Biden…

This is a great backgrounder

cc: @lrozen @gtconway3d @TheViewFromLL2 @brianbeutler @EricColumbus @sam_vinograd https://t.co/fPZCjdQXMA
— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) September 19, 2019

FYI: Administration officials have shared at least some details of the accusations in the whistleblower complaint with the White House, to allow officials to weigh whether to assert executive privilege, an official tells NYT. https://t.co/H5RUvnG4GZ
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 20, 2019

This report is getting a lot closer to the worst-case scenario speculation https://t.co/KeJhVAhXjK
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) September 20, 2019

ZERO proof for this claim. None. https://t.co/pgx0sFWDlc
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) September 20, 2019

Is the House Minority Leader truly unaware that DOJ and ODNI are preventing the whistleblower from coming to Congress? https://t.co/lOLINmQdNR
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) September 20, 2019

Actually he couldn't have come to Congress, @GOPLeader, without potentially losing his job & his clearance. The law includes a workaround that allows whistleblowers to go straight to the intel committees, but once the DNI steps in—as he has—that clause is essentially nullified. https://t.co/wi8LIbK8to
— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) September 20, 2019

Trump and his minions went to great lengths to benefit from foreign interference in our democracy, and engaged in extensive corruption to cover it up.

He got away with it.

So why wouldn't he try the same thing again?

My piece on the Ukraine connection:https://t.co/jbCdyaw36s
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) September 20, 2019

This story about Hunter Biden wound up being extremely prescient.

Especially this exchange, about the author of Clinton Cash/Breitbart editor Peter Schweitzer using the same funnel-to-the-New-York-Times playbook, and almost pulling it off once again.https://t.co/qhYbB4Ek5K pic.twitter.com/B4lvIdXDEP
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) September 20, 2019

There's the obvious problem everyone is discussing, the concern about a possible link to the aid to Ukraine. But a second problem is that you have the President of the United States telling a foreign leader to work on an official matter with a person in his private employ. https://t.co/zvDcAQXz6i
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) September 20, 2019

Note how the last line, Giuliani even concedes the interests of his client, Trump, differ from the interests of the U.S. government https://t.co/xRi5MIKnmc
— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) September 20, 2019