A Complete Analysis Of Trump’s 177th Unpresidented Week As POTUS

From Left: President Donald Trump at a press conference in Trump Tower in the aftermath of the Charlottesville rallies, Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017 in New York. Right: White supremacists rallying in Charlottesville, VA. (AP)

Trump’s first major typo after winning the election was spelling Unprecedented incorrectly. He infamously tweeted “Unpresidented.” This typo is emblematic of his administration: An impulsive, frantically thrown together group of characters with virtually no oversight. After Trump was sworn in, I started writing the weekly “Unpresidented” column, analyzing every week of his presidency. This is week 177.

During the most politically perilous moment of his presidency, when he is consistently down by double digits against Biden, while the economy is battered, coronavirus is surging in red states, and racial justice takes center stage, President Trump spent much of his week defending monuments that honor racist traitors to the United States.

This was a week of contrasts. On Monday, while congressional Democrats unveiled police reform measures and Joe Biden met with George Floyd’s family, President Trump met with law enforcement. This came as Trump officials like HUD Secretary Ben Carson, Attorney General William Barr, Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf, and White House Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow denied the existence of systemic racism in policing.

The entire Trump Administration has made clear they don’t believe the very real problem of systemic racism exists. Of course, they know it exists, they just do not care. This was made even more clear by President Trump’s opposition to renaming military bases that honor the Confederacy, in spite of bipartisan calls for it. Trump also retweeted accounts who were complaining about protestors taking down statues of historic racists. On top of this, Trump said he’s done more for black people than any president except Lincoln, but said Lincoln’s legacy is “questionable.”

This is nothing new of course. President Trump’s racism spans his entire life and we’ve covered it extensively here at Rantt Media. Trump also defended Confederate statues and called neo-Nazis protesting their removal “very fine people” in 2017. Trump, at the time, referred to the Nazi protests as them defending their heritage, and has since said removing Confederate statues erases history.

For the last time, taking down Confederate monuments is not about “erasing history” or “America’s heritage.” It’s about choosing what parts of our history we celebrate. To honor racists who became traitors to the United States to try and keep black people enslaved is disgusting. Germany doesn’t have public statues honoring the Nazis. America shouldn’t have public statues honoring the Confederates.

The Confederacy lost. They were traitors to the Union and they lost. We should not honor them. They represent the worst of us. We should take them down and replace them with iconic Black Americans who have always been the people to push this country to live up to its stated ideals. Although taking down Confederate monuments is symbolic, it’s important. These monuments are the visual representation of the fact the Confederacy never truly died. It was kept alive via botched Reconstruction, Jim Crow laws, and now, Trump. Let’s tear them down and finally reconstruct.

Everyone but President Trump seems to understand that we’re in a racial justice reckoning right now. Roughly 80% of Americans support the Black Lives Matter protests, huge companies like NASCAR are making landmark decisions to take down the confederate flag, and the NFL endorsed the kneeling protests they once blackballed Colin Kaepernick for. The times are changing but Trump still stands against that change. Trump is firmly opposed to not only leaving the confederacy in the past, he’s still opposing kneeling protests in sports.

President Trump’s laser focus on his base is actually bleeding his support. On Tuesday morning, after a CNN poll indicated he was down 14 points to Biden nationally, one of the first things Trump did was smear a 75-year-old man who had his skull cracked by Buffalo police, citing a conspiracy theory he saw on the right-wing propaganda network OANN. Trump claimed the man was a member of Antifa with absolutely zero evidence.

Needless to say, smearing a 75-year-old man who we all saw police shove to the ground, then blood came from his ear, is not appealing to anyone. President Trump is in competition with himself to stoop to new depraved lows for no particular reason at all. He’s a lot less intelligent than people give him credit for. Trump is doing nothing to expand his base. In fact, he’s doing the exact opposite.

Everything President Trump has done throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and these racial justice protests has only damaged his re-election odds. He’s shrinking his base every single day, picking the wrong side of every issue. This can be seen in the military backlash against Trump. His authoritarian overreach backfired. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley apologized for his role in Trump’s church photo op after the LaFayette Square attack on peaceful protestors.

One of my least favorite myths about Trump is that he’s some kind of mastermind with genius political instincts when in reality he’s a reactive, depraved, undisciplined simpleton who would’ve been a nobody if he wasn’t born on a privileged cloud worth hundreds of millions.

While President Trump was making blunder after blunder, Joe Biden was leading. Joe Biden spoke eloquently at George Floyd’s funeral via video. It was even aired on Fox News. This was Biden at his best. His superpower has always been empathy and finding meaning in pain, and he certainly did that in these remarks. Those are traits Trump is incapable of embodying.

This contrast between both sides was made starker when comparing the Democratic and Republican proposals for police reform. Democrats have proven they take systemic racism seriously and are taking action right now, not later. Their proposal went beyond simply banning on chokehold and included an end to qualified immunity, which Senate Republicans and President Trump oppose ending.

The Republican Party’s shift in stance on policing is mostly rhetorical, and in response to brutal polling and prominent military leaders turning on Trump. In the coming months, we must never forget that the initial Trump Administration response was to call protestors “thugs,” unleash the military on them, and deny systemic racism exists in policing.

The difference between the two parties and presidential candidates could not be clearer.

Keep this week in mind on November 3rd.

Let’s dive into another Unpresidented week.

The Trump Recession

Day 1,236: Monday, June 8

President Donald J. Trump, joined by Vice President Mike Pence and members of the White House COVID-19 Coronavirus task force – – Thursday, April 16, 2020. (Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian)

Monday’s top stories:

• NBC News: It’s official: The U.S. entered a recession in February
• Reuters: Mourners pay tribute to George Floyd as pressure mounts for U.S. police reform
• The Guardian: George Floyd protests enter third week as push for change sweeps America
• NBC News: Congressional Democrats unveil sweeping police reform bill that would ban chokeholds, no-knock warrants in drug cases
• The New York Times: New York City Begins Reopening After 3 Months of Outbreak and Hardship
• USA TODAY: Trump fumes after CNN poll finds 7-point drop in approval in one month, Biden leading by 14
• Axios: Concerned about “brutal” internal polling, Trump’s top aides plot new theme
• The Guardian: Minneapolis lawmakers vow to disband police department in historic move
• CNN: Biden says he doesn’t support defunding police
• The Washington Post: Powell endorses Biden, says Trump is a liar and a danger to the nation
• The Washington Post: Analysis | Attorney General Barr’s dishonest defense of the clearing of Lafayette Square
• The Daily Beast: New COVID-19 Cases Top 1,000 for Fifth Day in a Row in Florida
• CNBC: WHO warns most people still at risk of coronavirus infection as mass gatherings resume worldwide
• NBC News: Mitt Romney takes part in protest supporting Black Lives Matter near White House
• Business Insider: An online voting system used in Florida and Ohio can be hacked to alter votes without detection, researchers found
• Los Angeles Times: Get tested for coronavirus if you’ve been to a protest, health officials urge
• Reuters: Rights groups urge U.N. to investigate U.S. ‘police violence’
• BBC: NZ to lift restrictions as virus cases hit zero
• The Washington Post: New York Times editorial page editor resigns after uproar over Cotton op-ed
• HuffPost: John Oliver Expertly Disarms Right-Wing Talking Points Over ‘Defund The Police’
• NBC News: Prosecutors formally request to talk with Prince Andrew in Epstein investigation
• Rantt Media: The US And Brazil Have The Most COVID-19 Cases. That’s No Coincidence.
• Rantt Media: Interview: Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Lessig Talks Electoral Reform
• Rantt Media: Canada Filed The First Incel Terrorism Charge. How Do We Combat This Threat?
• Rantt Media: The German AfD Makes Appeals To Russian-Germans

Assaults On Democracy In Georgia

Day 1,237: Tuesday, June 9

Georgia Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp gives a thumbs-up to supporters, Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2018, in Athens, Ga. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Tuesday’s top stories:

• NBC News: Georgia election ‘catastrophe’ in largely minority areas sparks investigation
• The Washington Post: ‘Fight for my brother.’ As George Floyd is laid to rest, his family implores the nation to continue quest for justice
• The Washington Post: 14 states and Puerto Rico hit highest seven-day average of new coronavirus infections
• Vox: Trump tweeted a conspiracy theory that an elderly man knocked over by police is “antifa provocateur”
• Bloomberg: Trump’s 2020 Path Gets Trickier With U.S. Formally in Recession
• CNBC: Dr. Anthony Fauci says coronavirus turned ‘out to be my worst nightmare’ and it ‘isn’t over’
• The Daily Beast: Trump’s New Favorite Channel Employs Kremlin-Paid Journalist
• NBC News: NYPD officer seen in video shoving woman to ground is charged with assault
• Axios: U.S. Navy to ban displays of Confederate flag
• CNN: GOP senators — led by Tim Scott — work to craft police reform proposal amid national protests
• CNN: Trump Jr.’s Mongolian sheep hunting trip cost taxpayers about $75,000, documents show
• CNN: Satellite images of Wuhan may suggest coronavirus was spreading as early as August
• CNN: 2020 primaries: 4 things to watch in Tuesday’s down-ballot races
• HuffPost: William Barr Flatly Contradicts Trump’s Story That He Was In His Bunker For ‘Inspection’
• CNN: Police unions dig in as calls for reform grow
• Bloomberg: As Many as 25,000 U.S. Stores May Close in 2020, Mostly in Malls
• BBC News: North Korea halts all communications with South
• The Daily Beast: Tucker Warns Fox Viewers That the Black Lives Matter ‘Mob’ Will ‘Come for You’
• Reuters: Iran says it will execute man convicted of spying on Soleimani for CIA
• Rantt Media: Social Media Needs To Do More To Tackle Disinformation

Police Reform Hearings

Day 1,238: Wednesday, June 10

Wednesday’s top stories:

• NBC News: ‘It’s a lot of pain:’ George Floyd’s brother tearfully demands police reforms during emotional hearing
• The Washington Post: Coronavirus hospitalizations rise sharply in several states following Memorial Day
• Bloomberg: Second U.S. Virus Wave Emerges With Texas Hitting Record
• Politico: White House goes quiet on coronavirus as outbreak spikes again across the U.S.
• The New York Times: Beyond Georgia: A Warning for November as States Scramble to Expand Vote-by-Mail
• CNN: Justice Department dropping Flynn case is ‘a gross abuse of prosecutorial power,’ court-appointed lawyer says
• The Guardian: Minneapolis police department pulls out of union contract negotiations
• USA TODAY: Louisville police release the Breonna Taylor incident report. It’s nearly blank.
• NBC News: Louisville detective reassigned as authorities question ‘no-knock’ warrant in Breonna Taylor case
• CBS News: George Floyd and Derek Chauvin “bumped heads” while working at nightclub, former coworker says
• NBC News: Officer on video saying he’ll ‘choke you out’ before man dies is charged with manslaughter
• CBS News: Joe Biden wins Georgia and West Virginia primaries
• CNN: Voter registration grows amid ongoing protests
• The New York Times: The Army Was Open to Replacing Confederate Base Names. Then Trump Said No.
• CNBC: Fed sees interest rates staying near zero through 2022, GDP bouncing to 5% next year
• AP: NASCAR bans Confederate flag from its races and properties
• The New York Times: Aggressive Tactics by National Guard, Ordered to Appease Trump, Wounded the Military, Too
• CNBC: A housing ‘apocalypse’ is coming as coronavirus protections across the country expire
• CNN: Trump campaign demands CNN apologize for poll that shows Biden leading
• CNBC: Amazon bans police use of facial recognition technology for one year
• CNN: Jon Huntsman announces he has coronavirus
• HuffPost: West Virginia Elects Its First Out Transgender Official
• Politico: ‘Blood in the water’: Dems get unexpected opening against Trump in Iowa
• CBS News: Biden says there’s “absolutely” systemic racism in law enforcement and beyond
• Reuters: Little evidence of antifa links in U.S. prosecutions of those charged in protest violence

The Market Finally Prices In Reality

Day 1,239: Thursday, June 11

Thursday’s top stories:

• The New York Times: Dow slides more than 1,800 points on fears of coronavirus resurgence, more economic pain
• TheHill: US hits 2 million coronavirus cases amid surges in some states
• Vox: 8 states that experts worry are the new Covid-19 hot spots
• CNN: White House coronavirus task forces continues retreat even as virus reemerges
• Politico: Quarantine fatigue: Governors reject new lockdowns as virus cases spike
• NBC News: ‘Slap in the face to black people’: Trump faces backlash over rally on Juneteenth
• CNN: Coronavirus deaths are expected to go down before a sharp rise in September, model shows
• CBS News: Trump rally-goers must agree they won’t sue if they contract coronavirus
• The Texas Tribune: Texas reports largest single-day increase in coronavirus cases
• NBC News: ‘I can’t breathe,’ Oklahoma man tells police before dying. ‘I don’t care,’ officer responds.
• NPR: Biden Outlines Plan To Restart Economy, Including Testing Every Worker
• CNN: Trump administration proposes sweeping changes to US asylum system
• Politico: Ossoff wins Georgia Senate primary, will face Perdue in general election
• USA TODAY: U.S. voter registration plummets during coronavirus pandemic, challenging both parties
• Axios: Senate Judiciary Committee grants sweeping subpoena powers in review of Russia probe
• The Daily Beast: HISTORY! Congress Poised to Get Its First QAnon Believer
• CNN: Virginia protesters tear down a statue of Jefferson Davis
• Axios: Trump administration coordinated International Criminal Court sanctions with Israel
• CBS News: Walmart rescinds policy of locking up multicultural hair products
• CBS News: Australian PM Scott Morrison wants protesters charged, claims “there was no slavery in Australia”

Coronavirus’ Deadly Comeback

Day 1,240: Friday, June 12

Army Spc. Daniel Fields, assigned to the 9th Hospital Center, takes a patient’s blood pressure reading in the Javits New York Medical Station (JNYMS) – March 30, 2020 (US Navy/Barry Riley/Public domain)

Friday’s top stories:

• Bloomberg: Record Virus Numbers Thrust States Into Life-or-Death Choice
• Reuters: ‘This is about livelihoods’: U.S. virus hotspots reopen despite second wave specter
• Rantt Media: Systemic Racism And Brutality In Policing Renders “Good Cops” Irrelevant
• TheHill: Trump on collision course with Congress over bases with Confederate names
• The Guardian: Trump says chokeholds sound ‘innocent and perfect’ and compares himself to Lincoln
• The New York Times: Trump Administration Erases Transgender Civil Rights Protections in Health Care
• CNN: Florida observes Pulse Remembrance Day on the fourth anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting
• NBC News: Joint Chiefs Chairman Milley discussed resigning over role in Trump’s church photo op
• NBC News: White House divide on Floyd response, as some push for tougher tactics
• CNN: Biden supports removing Confederate names from US military assets
• CNN: Minneapolis City Council takes another step to ‘end the current policing system,” council member says
• The New Yorker: Minnesota’s Decades-Long Failure to Confront Police Abuse
• USA TODAY: ‘Faded away into a dark nightmare’: North Korea says diplomacy with Trump has failed
• NBC News: Voter turnout soared in Georgia despite massive primary day problems
• Axios: John Bolton’s forthcoming book includes multiple allegations about Trump misconduct in office
• NBC News: Republicans pick Jacksonville, Florida, as convention site for Trump to accept nomination
• NBC News: Another ‘rainbow wave’? Dozens of LGBTQ political hopefuls are on June ballots
• CNBC: UK economy contracted by 20.4% in April, the largest monthly fall on record
• Bloomberg: Germany Pushes for Speedy Stimulus Rollout as Economy Stumbles
• CNBC: Twitter takes down China-linked accounts spreading disinformation on Hong Kong and coronavirus