A Complete Analysis Of Trump’s 186th Unpresidented Week As POTUS

President Donald Trump (AP), Postmaster General Louis DeJoy (Official Photo), and a USPS truck (Creative Commons)

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 186.

As a candidate, Trump welcomed Russia’s election help in 2016. As President, Trump extorted Ukraine in an effort to get election help in the form of a Biden probe announcement. Now, Trump is openly waging an assault on the USPS in an effort to cheat in the election, again.

When Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) warned about how much more damage President Trump could do if he wasn’t removed from office during the impeachment trial, this is the kind of democracy-eroding corruption he was talking about. Trump has eroded every institution he could get his hands on, and the USPS is his next target.

On Thursday, President Trump appeared on Fox News and openly admitted that he was opposing funding for the USPS because he wanted to sabotage mail-in voting. When talking about Democratic proposals to give $25 billion to the USPS and an additional $3.6 billion specifically for election, Trump said this:

“They need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots.  If they don’t get those two items, that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting because they’re not equipped to have it.”

As usual, President Trump said the quiet part out loud. As we’ve already covered here at Rantt Media, Trump’s assault on the USPS is a blatant voter suppression tactic and an outright attack on American democracy itself. President Trump’s false claims of voter fraud have continued in spite of the fact the Trump Administration’s own voter fraud commission was disbanded after it found no evidence of widespread vote fraud.

Of course, President Trump’s withholding of funding is just the beginning of his assault on the USPS. After Trump megadonor Louis DeJoy was appointed Postmaster General, he immediately began cutting overtime for employees, firing people in leadership, and making efforts to slow down the mail. Outrage about DeJoy’s actions hit a fever pitch this week as reports of mail sorting machines being deactivated and mailboxes being taken off the street began to flood social media. The USPS Inspector General is currently probing this and DeJoy has been asked to testify by Democrats before the House on August 24.

These corrosive actions are not just an attack on the USPS and the election, they’re an attack on vulnerable Americans in the middle of a pandemic. Countless stories began to surface of medication not being delivered to vulnerable Americans (including Veterans), business activity slowing, etc. As the reports of overt the dismantling of the USPS continued to pile, Trump began to try and backpedal. The outrage was too great for him to continue this without doing severe political damage to himself.

First, President Trump took to Twitter and began conceding on each point of the COVID-19 relief negotiations he was blocking while lying and blaming it on Democrats (they support the relief he claims they blocked). In a series of tweets, Trump claimed that Democrats ware blocking measures such as relief checks to Americans and funding states. Democrats already approved these measures in their House bill, the Heroes Act. Trump is blocking these measures, as he said out loud, because of USPS and funding of states. But, he’s apparently backtracking on those stances as well.

President Trump is very predictable. Just like it was clear he was sabotaging COVID-19 talks in order to do his flimsy, unconstitutional executive actions, it’s clear what he’s doing now. Trump wants a deal, so he’s doing everything he can to make it seem like he won the negotiations when he lost. This was transparent gaslighting to prepare his base for his incoming cave on Democratic demands.

At one of his coronavirus briefings later in the week, President Trump falsely stated that Democrats are not approving proper funding for the USPS, in spite of the fact it’s him who is singlehandedly blocking USPS funding that Democrats are trying to pass. This was just shameless blatant lying.

It was literally days before that Trump told Fox News that Democrats want to give the USPS $25 billion but he’s blocking it because of mail-in voting, as we noted above. Since Trump is now falsely blaming Democrats for blocking USPS funding, it’s clear that he is very aware of how corrupt his attacks on the USPS look and the damage it’s doing to people’s lives. After Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), who is currently down in the polls in her re-election campaign, wrote a letter to the Postmaster General about the mail delays, others must’ve also spoken to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and McConnell likely spoke to Trump.

This behavior fits within a pattern throughout Trump’s presidency. President Trump continues to be the authoritarian Icarus flying too close to the sun, then once he’s cornered himself into an untenable political position, he just outright lies and blames Democrats for what he’s doing.

President Trump’s new deflection effort to falsely blame Democrats for his own sabotage of the USPS is just one of the desperate ploys he’s been launching. This week, it was confirmed that Trump’s son-in-law, and White House Advisor, Jared Kushner has been secretly meeting with Kanye West, who openly admitted he’s a running spoiler campaign to harm Joe Biden. It isn’t just GOP operatives trying to engineer Kanye West’s spoiler campaign, it’s the Trump team themselves.

Meanwhile, The Washington Post reported that President Trump and the RNC are already preparing to challenge the vote count in every state. President Trump knows that’s it’s very likely he’s going to lose, so he’s doing everything imaginable to hold onto power. If Trump loses, the period of time between November 3, 2020, and January 20, 2021, will be the craziest time in modern American politics. If he wins, the crazy period will last much longer than that.

In another one of his coronavirus briefings this week, President Trump said that the biggest problem in the election will be the Democrats—his fellow Americans—and not Russia, China, and Iran—foreign adversaries. Trump accuses others of being treacherous and non-patriotic while he’s the least patriotic president in US history.

Speaking of US history, we have to talk about the huge glass ceiling that was broken this week. Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) made history by becoming the first Black and Indian woman to be on a major party ticket after Joe Biden selected her to be his running mate. Within hours of the Tuesday announcement, President Trump had already called Kamala Harris “nasty” and “angry,” very quickly dipping into his bag of sexist and racist phrases.

Not even a full four hours since Kamala Harris was chosen as Biden’s VP, Fox News’ Tucker Carlson was on Fox Fake News echoing the sexist language, this time suggesting Harris slept her way to the top. Worse than this, it didn’t even take a full 48 hours for racist Birtherism to be thrown at Kamala Harris. A Newsweek column was published alleging Kamala Harris’s parents weren’t citizens when she was born so, somehow, she’s not eligible to be VP. That is an outright lie. Any editor with a modicum of common sense would’ve anticipated the racism this piece would’ve sparked. At first, Newsweek doubled down, but they subsequently apologized. But the damage was already done.

When asked about these allegations, President Trump refused to condemn them and instead chose to fuel the fire by first saying he would look into it and praising the writer. This is all they have. This is what desperation looks like.

In the Democratic nomination signing event with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, a reporter asked Harris what she thinks of Trump and the GOP attacks on her. Harris answered: “I’m signing this cause I’m in this race to win with that guy right there…” She is not taking Trump’s bait.

Now, back to President Trump’s mishandling of the coronavirus. At one of his briefings, President Trump said Biden should stop playing partisan politics with coronavirus while he… *checks notes* …blocks a COVID-19 relief bill because it funds the USPS and mail-in voting and he’d rather Americans risk their lives at the ballot box if it means he suppresses the vote and wins.

President Trump also continued to misrepresent what his executive actions do. Trump said they he will not let people get evicted and cited his executive order. Trump’s executive order on evictions did not reinstate the federal eviction moratorium, it merely advised HHS and CDC to “consider” if it was necessary to reinstate it.

President Trump also continued to try and die on his “reopen schools” hill, incapable of learning from his mistakes. Trump pushed premature state reopenings and it led to the surge in cases we are still living with. States that lifted restrictions prematurely had to reimpose them. First, it was restaurants. Now, the same will happen with schools. A Georgia school literally just had to quarantine about 1k students and staff. How many times do these same mistakes have to be made before the lesson is learned? How many more deaths?

Meanwhile, Congress adjourned without a deal, only for Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to call back the House for emergency measures regarding the USPS. McConnell’s Senate is still in recess. It’s really something to watch some Senate Republicans oppose $600 a week in unemployment benefits because they think it incentivizes Americans not to work, while the Senate repeatedly takes vacations in the middle of a pandemic only they have the power to provide relief for.

Now, we have to talk about QAnon. On Twitter this week, President Trump congratulated Marjorie Taylor Greene—a racist GOP candidate who promotes QAnon—for winning her Georgia primary. QAnon is a conspiracy theory the FBI says is a domestic terror threat. Last month, we published an article headlined: “The GOP Is Now The Party Of QAnon.” That’s never been more true. When asked about his endorsement of Greene in a briefing, Trump refused a layup opportunity to condemn QAnon. Multiple news reports this week highlighted how quickly this dangerous conspiracy theory has grown, with millions of people flocking to it on Facebook as it infiltrates the #SaveTheChildren hashtag.

Now that we have the Biden-Harris ticket, the choices ahead of us are really simple. There is one ticket that will push America forward, strengthen democracy, and implement policies that will help the American people. The other ticket is embracing far-right authoritarianism and is actively trying to dismantle democracy as we know it.

Who will you choose?

Let’s dive into yet another Unpresidented week.

Stalled Relief Talks And An Incident At The White House

Day 1,299: Monday, August 10

President Trump signs executive actions on coronavirus at his Bedminster golf club – August 8, 2020. (CSPAN)

Monday’s top stories:

• ABC News: Secret Service escorts Trump from briefing room after shooting outside White House
• Bloomberg: Trump End Run Around Congress Fails to Jolt Stalled Relief Talks
• HuffPost: New Coronavirus Hot Spots Emerge In U.S. As Cases Hit 20 Million Worldwide
• The Washington Post: New Trump chief of staff drew hard line during relief talks, challenging Democrats’ approach
• The New York Times: Unwanted Truths: Inside Trump’s Battles With U.S. Intelligence Agencies
• The Washington Post: The lost days of summer: How Trump fell short in containing the virus
• CNN: More than 97,000 children tested positive for Covid-19 in the last two weeks of July, report says
• The Daily Beast: Trump: I’ll Accept GOP Nomination at Gettysburg or White House
• NBC News: Florida reports record number of COVID-19 hospitalizations
• Los Angeles Times: Trump’s unemployment benefit plan won’t work in California, Newsom says
• CNBC: China to sanction Rubio, Cruz, and others over U.S. action on Hong Kong
• NBC News: Nine people test positive for coronavirus at Georgia school captured in viral images
• USA TODAY: ‘They’re not equivalent’: Pelosi says Russian election interference more serious than that of China, Iran
• NBC News: As Biden mulls his choice, women’s groups brace for sexist, racist attacks on VP
• Los Angeles Times: California’s public health director resigns amid questions about coronavirus test data
• CNN: Puerto Rico voting temporarily halted amid lack of ballots
• CNN: New York Times: White House reached out to South Dakota governor about adding Trump to Mount Rushmore
• The Guardian: Beirut explosion: protests outside parliament call for fall of government
• CNN: Trump postpones G7 summit until after US election
• NBC News: Lebanese government resigns as fury over deadly explosion deepens political crisis
• Axios: Riot police and protesters clash in Belarus after “Europe’s last dictator” claims election win
• Quartz: Beijing is moving to demolish one of the only Hong Kong newspapers it doesn’t control
• CBS News: New Zealand marks 100 days without any new reported local cases of the coronavirus
• Detroit Free Press: Sources: Big Ten expected to cancel football season in fall; no games for Michigan, Michigan State in 2020

Biden Picks Harris, Trump Launches Sexist Attacks

Day 1,300: Tuesday, August 11

Senator Kamala Harris (Official Photo) and President Donald Trump (AP)

Tuesday’s top stories:

• AP: Biden picks Kamala Harris as running mate, first Black woman
• Rantt Media: Who Is Senator Kamala Harris? (Biden’s VP Running Mate)
• NBC News: Harris VP pick creates dilemma for Trump campaign
• Forbes: Trump Repeatedly Calls Kamala Harris ‘Nasty’ And ‘Horrible’ In White House Briefing
• The Washington Post: Live updates: Florida and Georgia report highest single-day death tolls since start of coronavirus pandemic
• Reuters: U.S. governors question cost of Trump COVID-19 aid plans, urge talks to continue
• CNN: Putin says Russia has approved ‘world first’ Covid-19 vaccine. But questions over its safety remain
• National Geographic: Fauci ‘seriously doubts’ the Russia vaccine is ready for widespread use
• The Guardian: QAnon supporter denounced for racism wins Georgia Republican primary
• CNN: ‘Squad’ member Ilhan Omar defeats well-funded Democratic primary challenger in Minnesota, CNN projects
• STAT: America’s window of opportunity to beat back Covid-19 is closing
• CNN: US weighs more restrictions on border with Mexico that could include citizens
• CNN: Back-to-school and college football chaos highlight Trump’s failed leadership
• Politico: Republicans retrench in fight for the Senate
• AP: Constraints gone, GOP ramps up effort to monitor voting
• Vox: Why Democrats are holding out for more comprehensive stimulus
• NBC News: DeVos publicly absent as critical decisions are made on public school reopenings
• Axios: AOC to speak at Democratic convention
• Bloomberg: Small Businesses Are Dying by the Thousands — And No One Is Tracking the Carnage
• Vox: The Democratic National Convention just announced its speaker lineup
• CNN: New Zealand reinstates coronavirus restrictions after first locally-transmitted case in 102 days
• CNN: New polls suggest slim Biden lead in crucial battleground of Wisconsin
• The Hill: Poll: Gideon leads Collins by 8 points in Maine Senate race
• Politico: Is Lindsey Graham Actually in Trouble in South Carolina?

Biden-Harris Makes Their Public Debut

Day 1,301: Wednesday, August 12

Former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris (Biden Campaign Photo)

Wednesday’s top stories:

• Politico: ‘Ready to do the job’: Biden touts Harris’ experience in campaign debut
• Politico: Biden raised $26 million in a day after picking Harris for VP
• CNN: Trump reverts to stereotypes as campaign fumbles to respond to Harris pick
• NPR: Funding For Postal Service, Mail-In Voting Stall Coronavirus Relief Talks
• The Washington Post: Inside Biden’s unusual VP pick process: Tough questions, 11 finalists and many lawyers
• CNBC: Accuracy of U.S. coronavirus data thrown into question as decline in testing skews drop in new cases
• The Washington Post: White House clarifies limits of jobless aid plan as talks with Congress dim
• CNN: US government strikes $1.525 billion deal with Moderna for 100 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine
• NBC News: Coronavirus prompts closing of Georgia high school in district with over 1K in quarantine
• CNN: Top Republicans embrace GOP candidate who promoted QAnon conspiracy theory
• CNN: Trump encourages North Carolina supporters to vote by mail, as he attacks voting by mail
• CBS News: Barack Obama says Joe Biden “nailed this decision” in picking Kamala Harris to be his running mate
• NBC News: Florida sheriff orders deputies not to wear masks, bans civilians in masks from office
• Reuters: Thousands stage flower protest in Belarus as EU weighs sanctions
• CNN: 3 men believed to be connected to R. Kelly charged with trying to harass, threaten and bribe alleged victims
• The Independent: UK plunges into deepest recession on record, as economy shrinks 20 per cent in second quarter
• The Sydney Morning Herald: Concerns mount virus returned to New Zealand in refrigerated freight
• CNBC: Putin’s plan for Russia’s coronavirus vaccine is at ‘high risk of backfiring,’ expert says

Trump Admits The Intent Behind His War On The USPS

Day 1,302: Thursday, August 13

Trump admits he’s sabotaging the Postal Service so universal mail voting will be impossible during an election that will be conducted amid a pandemic this November pic.twitter.com/epmxcgwLjK

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 13, 2020

Thursday’s top stories:

• Axios: “That means you can’t have universal mail-in voting”: Trump vows to block USPS stimulus funding
• Vice: The Post Office Is Deactivating Mail Sorting Machines Ahead of the Election
• Oregon Live: USPS removes mailboxes in Portland and Eugene, cites ‘declining mail volume’
• Rantt Media: Trump’s Efforts To Steal The Election Mimic Autocratic Regimes
• NBC News: House Democrats demand Postal Service chief roll back changes ahead of Election Day
• Reuters: Israel, UAE to normalize relations in shift in Mideast politics; West Bank annexations on hold
• CNBC: Senate adjourns through Labor Day without reaching a stimulus deal. Here’s where things stand now
• CNN: More than 2,000 students, teachers and staff quarantined in several schools
• NBC News: Biden reiterates call for nationwide mask mandates at second event with Harris
• Market Watch: Trump uses coronavirus briefing to criticize Biden’s mask mandate, decry mail-in vote, question Kamala Harris’s eligibility as vice president
• ABC News: Kamala Harris receives strong marks as Joe Biden’s VP: POLL
• Rantt Media: Debunking Birtherism 2.0: Yes, Kamala Harris Is Eligible To Be VP
• CBS News: CDC director says U.S. could have “worst fall” ever if public health measures are not followed
• Politico: McCarthy faces QAnon squeeze
• The New York Times: QAnon Followers Are Hijacking the #SaveTheChildren Movement
• NBC News: Michael Cohen book claims Trump colluded with Russia and will ‘never leave office peacefully’
• The New York Times: How Biden Chose Harris: A Search That Forged New Stars, Friends and Rivalries
• Time: Why Some People Are Waiting Weeks for Their COVID-19 Test Results
• Axios: Reporter to Trump: “Do you regret all of the lying you have done to the American people?”
• Politico: Besieged on all sides, Ron Johnson says his probe ‘would certainly’ help Trump win reelection
• NBC News: DOJ accuses Yale of illegally discriminating against white and Asian American applicants
• Axios: When and how to vote in all 50 states
• Market Watch: Trump wants ‘perfect’ hair from stronger water flow in the shower — his Energy Department delivers
• Yahoo News: ‘Antifa’ website cited in conservative media attack on Biden is linked to — wait for it — Russia
• The Daily Beast: Kanye West Says He and Jared Kushner Speak ‘Almost Daily’

USPS Begins To Give In To The Backlash

Day 1,303: Friday, August 14

JUST IN:
From @USPS
“We are suspending the removal of collection boxes at this time. All postings on collection boxes will be removed, as we will no longer be pulling any boxes. “ pic.twitter.com/m9xzOyVx47

— Damian Trujillo (@newsdamian) August 14, 2020

Friday’s top stories:

• CNN: Postal service warns nearly every state it may not be able to deliver ballots in time based on current election rules
• CNN: USPS removes mail collection boxes and reduces post office hours as critics accuse Trump administration of voter suppression
• CNN: Exclusive: Postal service inspector general reviewing DeJoy’s policy changes and potential ethics conflicts
• The Guardian: Surge in Covid cases among children fuels fears over US school reopenings
• Los Angeles Times: California becomes first state to pass 600,000 coronavirus cases
• CNBC: Trump tries to push for a coronavirus stimulus deal — after Congress has left town
• NBC News: Postal workers union endorses Biden, warns ‘survival’ of USPS at stake
• Yahoo News: Biden, Harris sign documents ahead of convention
• NBC News: Obama: Trump trying to ‘actively kneecap’ Postal Service to affect 2020 election
• Reuters: Texas, California governors take heat in battle over school reopenings
• The Washington Post: These are the top coronavirus vaccines to watch
• CNN: Judge orders Trump campaign to produce evidence of voter fraud in Pennsylvania
• USA TODAY: President Trump requests mail-in ballot for upcoming Florida primary, despite rhetoric
• Reuters: Biden campaign raises $48 million in 48 hours after naming Kamala Harris as VP choice
• CNN: New Jersey to adopt mail-in voting for November, source says
• Axios: Trump says he intends to give RNC speech on White House lawn
• The Week: GOP Sen. Susan Collins is ‘concerned’ about U.S. Postal Service delays, she tells postmaster general
• Axios: Netanyahu says he’s “still committed” to annexations despite UAE deal
• NBC News: ‘Resign’: Tens of thousands protest Europe’s ‘last dictator’ after controversial election
• Bloomberg: U.S. Bid to Extend Iran Arms Ban Suffers Stinging Defeat at UN
• Politico: Masks, surgical gowns, testing supplies on FDA shortage list