Trump Has Meltdown At Press Conference While #TrumpMeltdown Trends
President Trump holds a joint press conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö – October 2, 2019 (PBS)
#TrumpMeltdown was trending at number 3 on Twitter in the United States before the press conference even began. By the end of it, it had reached number one, and for good reason.
President Trump has had a rocky few weeks. A whistleblower complaint and the White House’s release of a memo detailing Trump’s illegal effort to extort Ukrainian President Zelensky into interfering in the 2020 election triggered a formal impeachment inquiry last week. As each day passes, we learn new details about the White House’s effort to coverup this corrupt act, as well as his other calls with foreign leaders.
President Trump’s Republican supporters have floundered with dishonest defenses of the call as support for the impeachment inquiry has topped 50%. The apparent strategy is to create conspiracy theories about the whistleblower complaint and hope their voters don’t read the damning memo the White House released. Trump, who believes himself to be his best messenger, has taken to Twitter in a flurry of unhinged tweets, ranging from false accusations of treason to defamatory, dangerous rhetoric about the whistleblower.
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Wednesday’s press conference began in routine fashion, with both Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and President Trump giving statements. There was, however, an interesting moment:
“You have here a great democracy,” Finnish President Sauli Niinistö tells Pres. Trump, after saying he’d visited several museums in Washington, D.C. “Keep it going on.” https://t.co/JsAo4rT8TM pic.twitter.com/Zval2ZA012
— ABC News (@ABC) October 2, 2019
President Trump then began taking questions. First, a question about impeachment from Fox News’ John Roberts. In response, President Trump proceeded to launch into a rant attacking House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) for paraphrasing Trump’s call with the Ukrainian President, stating “I think he had some form of a mental breakdown.” Trump then goes on to falsely accuse Schiff of treason:
Fox News gets the first question and Trump immediately goes on a lengthy rant. He ultimately accuses Adam Schiff of “a criminal act” and “treason.” pic.twitter.com/97fJSFs6SQ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 2, 2019
President Trump went on to continue his absurd defense of his request for President Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden, claiming it was a perfect call:
Trump ranted uninterrupted for about 5 minutes pic.twitter.com/n9COglDPyG
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 2, 2019
Then, without any evidence whatsoever, President Trump claimed that Schiff helped write the whistleblower complaint:
Trump accuses Adam Schiff of helping the whistleblower write his complaint. He then advises reporters to ask Putin how tough he’s been on Russia. pic.twitter.com/iTGChor2rv
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 2, 2019
That talking point came from a New York Times story that reported Schiff was given advanced notice about the complaint, but that was actually a standard protocol:
I am told by spokespeople for both @SenatorBurr and @MarkWarner that it would be ***standard practice*** for intel committee to tell a potential whistleblower to hire counsel and file a complaint with an agency IG or the IC IG.
**Bipartisan. Both parties say this.**
— Olivia Gazis (@Olivia_Gazis) October 2, 2019
President Trump proceeded to launch into another defense of his call with the Ukrainian President and lied about it being word-for-word. The memo itself says it’s not verbatim.
Looking to make a difference? Consider signing one of these petitions:Trump says the Ukraine call memo released by the White House is “exact” and “word for word” — even though it says on the very first page that it is not in fact a transcript pic.twitter.com/xQZGHlT7Gf
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 2, 2019
President Trump went on to call himself a stable genius (again) and to make false claims against Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. It’s important to note that the Trump Administration is seeking cooperation from Ukraine, Italy, the UK, and Australia (that we know of) in their effort to discredit the Mueller probe.
TRUMP: “There are those who think I am a very stable genius, ok?” pic.twitter.com/oUw8lTvYqx
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 2, 2019
TRUMP: “I will be bringing a lot of litigation against a lot of people having to do with the corrupt investigation, having to do with the 2016 election.” pic.twitter.com/bjTMICdNrx
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 2, 2019
If Mueller’s report was so totally and completely exonerating of President Trump as he has claimed, then why is he seeking help from multiple foreign powers to discredit it?
President Trump then went on to angrily attack Reuters White House Correspondent Jeff Mason.
Trump berates @jeffmason1 after Mason presses him to actually answer the question he asked (he never does). The Finnish president can’t help but chuckle at the shit show. pic.twitter.com/Uc6G4HvE7r
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 2, 2019
If President Trump was hoping to convince the American people he wasn’t guilty of the illegal act he has already admitted to (asking Ukraine for the Biden probe), his defensiveness has backfired.
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