Candidates Who Haven’t Grabbed Trump’s Attention
On the other hand, there are several Democratic candidates Trump hasn’t appeared to comment on yet.
They include former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton, California Rep. Eric Swalwell, Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, former Maryland Rep. John Delaney, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro and Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.
He also hasn’t lobbed anything at entrepreneur Andrew Yang, author Marianne Williamson or Miramar, Fla., Mayor Wayne Messam, who are all also running for president.
Why Joe Biden Wont Be Sleepy In Debating Donald Trump
Trump will be in a difficult position on Tuesday night not only because he has consistently depicted Biden as a senescent doofus, but also because he is way behind in the polls.
Donald Trump doesnt think there should be any debate about it. On Sunday, he insisted that former vice-president Joe Biden submit to a drug test before their debate in Cleveland on Tuesday evening: I will be strongly demanding a Drug Test of Sleepy Joe Biden prior to, or after, the Debate on Tuesday night. Naturally, I will agree to take one also. His Debate performances have been record setting UNEVEN, to put it mildly. Only drugs could have caused this discrepancy??? It was classic Trump, an attempt to raise questions where none exist.
But Trump is making a grave mistake if he truly believes that he can rattle Biden with spurious accusations of performance-enhancing drug use. For months, Trump has been labeling his Democratic opponent Sleepy Joe. There are lots of imponderables surrounding the debate, including the fact that the two candidates dont know each other. But Biden may well enter the debate positioned to go on the attack.
Jacob Heilbrunn is the editor of The National Interest.
Image: Reuters.
Trump Did Not Issue Statement On Bidens Covid
CLAIM: Former President Donald Trump in a statement wished President Joe Biden a speedy recovery from COVID-19 and referred to his own fight against the virus as Herculean.
APS ASSESSMENT: False. This statement is fabricated, a Trump spokesperson confirmed on Twitter. It does not appear among the former presidents public statements on his website or on social media.
THE FACTS: Social media users shared a fabricated Trump statement as real this week after news broke Thursday that Biden had tested positive for COVID-19.
The statement, formatted to look like genuine Trump press releases, acknowledged Bidens diagnosis, then turned the attention back to Trumps own bout with COVID-19 in 2020.
I hope Sleepy Joe is able to bounce back quickly, much as I was, the bogus statement read. Doctors described my fight against the China virus as Herculean, and not meaning the woke Disney Hercules but rather the Kevin Sorbo one. The Lou Ferrigno one as well.
The fake statement then wished Biden a speedy recovery and said that no one wants Vice President Kamala Harris to take his place.
When Trump issues public statements, they appear on his website or on the social media platform he founded, Truth Social. The fake statement did not appear on either.
Trump spokesperson Taylor Budowich confirmed the statement was fake, tweeting that it was obviously designed by some prankster. Numerous other fabricated Trump statements using the same format have circulated in recent months.
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Trump Revives ‘sleepy Joe’ Attacks But Gets The Facts Wrong
President Trump kicked off the first of his three reelection rallies in Pennsylvania on Monday by renewing his attempt to depict former Vice President Joe Biden as sleepy and confused. But it was Trump who got his facts wrong.
In a speech in Allentown, Pa., that stretched over 81 minutes, the president seized on a purported flub first tweeted by a Republican operative and picked up by Fox News in which Biden appeared to begin saying the name of former President George W. Bush rather than President Trump during a virtual campaign event.
Trump misstated the source of the quote, attributing it to CBSs 60 Minutes, which had broadcast interviews with the presidential candidates Sunday night.
Did you watch him on 60 Minutes last night? Trump asked the crowd. Did you see yesterday when he called me George? No, no, I dont if I like George. No, not George. Not George. What a mess.
Can you even imagine losing to a guy like this? the president continued. He cant even remember my name. Now, Im not that big of an ego guy. He should be able Im the candidate, good candidate. He could not remember my name yesterday. This is who youre putting in office.
Except Biden was not referring to Trump by the wrong name. He was addressing the comedian George Lopez, who was interviewing him for a live stream called I Will Vote.
If someone who is undecided, or maybe thinking about not voting, why should they vote and why should they vote for you? Lopez asked Biden.
Trump Tells Supporters: We’ll Find Clinton’s Deleted Emails
From CNN’s Jeremy Diamond
President Trump revived his focus on his former rival Hillary Clinton’s deleted emails, vowing “we’ll find” her emails “somewhere deep in the State Department.”
“Were going to find them somewhere deep in the State Department. Well find them,” Trump said, though it was not clear exactly how or who would be doing the finding.
He did, though, mention Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee who has been involved in the counter-investigations Trump has called for.
Trump then said he would have gotten “the electric chair” if he had deleted emails.
“But can you imagine if I got a subpoena think of this if I got a subpoena for emails, if I deleted one email, like a love note for Melania, its the electric chair for Trump,” the President said.
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Why Do They Call Him Sleepy Joe
A lot of Trump’s nicknames seem to play into whatever narrative he’s trying to construct in order to discredit his opposition. For Hillary Clinton, it was the imagery of her as a corrupt politician. He constantly played into the collective distrust many people had of the Clintons and he’d bring up the email scandal where she had emails hosted on a private server.
Something that both he and members of his administration and White House aides did as well after he took office, although there are some slight differences between the two usage cases.
The name of “Sleepy Joe” comes from Trump’s suggestion that Joe Biden is suffering from a cognitive decline of his mental faculties.
Joe has gone on record saying some either off-color or unintelligible things, something that’s been attributed to a stutter that he suffers from. Cognitive mental decline isn’t uncommon in individuals who are Joe’s age, either. The man was born in 1942 and is nearing 78 years of age at this time of writing.
There are reports of Ronald Reagan often asking members of the Secret Service staff at times where he was, but once they reminded him, he’d be “back on track” so to speak.
So “Sleepy” Joe was part of the narrative that Donald Trump and his administration were lining up in their attack of Joe Biden, questioning the mental fortitude of the DNC’s top presidential pick and if he would be capable of actually running the country and holding coherent discussions.
Joe Biden Laughs At Trump’s ‘sleepy Joe’ Tweet Questioning His Intelligence: ‘everybody Knows Donald Trump’
Former Vice President Joe Biden, the latest candidate to enter the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, laughed off a tweet from President Donald Trump that dubbed him “Sleepy Joe” and questioned his intelligence.
“Everybody knows Donald Trump,” Biden said as he stopped for pizza at Gianni’s in Wilmington, Delaware. The key player in the administration of President Barack Obama laughed and waved off a journalist as he asked about the president’s tweet, which backhandedly welcomed Biden to the 2020 race.
“Welcome to the race Sleepy Joe. I only hope you have the intelligence, long in doubt, to wage a successful primary campaign. It will be nasty – you will be dealing with people who truly have some very sick & demented ideas. But if you make it, I will see you at the Starting Gate,” the president tweeted after Biden announced his long-expected candidacy, his third bid for the presidency, on Thursday.
Biden has set his campaign in direct opposition to Trump. In a video shared on social media to announce his campaign, he said he could not bear to stand on the sidelines. “If we give Donald Trump eight years in the White House, he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation,” Biden said. Speaking to reporters after he picked up his pizza, Biden said it was time for America to return to its true self and be accountable to its allies.
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Trumps Sleepy Joe Nickname For Biden Isnt Working Even Trump Knows It
Among the things President Trump seems to pride himself on is branding his opponents with some devastating nicknames.
This should not be news to anyone even casually paying attention. From low-energy Jeb Bush to Lyin Ted Cruz in the 2016 Republican primary to Crooked Hillary Clinton in the general election, Trump has continued the mocking nicknames through his presidency. There is even a long Wikipedia page devoted to tracking all of the monikers.
But his nickname for Joe Biden, Sleepy Joe, just doesnt seem to be effective in bringing him down. Biden is up double digits in national polling and leading in six important swing states, which would easily make Biden the next president. Of course, theres a lot more behind those polls than an ineffective nickname.
That said, the polls have caused Trump apparently to rethink the Biden nickname, at least according to the Washington Post, which reported he is considering changing Bidens nickname. The options? Swampy Joe, Creepy Joe, and Corrupt Joe.
A Pew Research Poll this week may have proven just how tired the Sleepy Joe name is politically. The poll found that among registered voters nationwide, Trump has a 16-point advantage over Biden in the quality of being energetic. Yet, the same voters gave Biden had a 10-point lead in terms of whom they would vote for.
In other words: voters accept the Sleepy Joe premise, but still prefer him over Trump.
You Cant Let Any Attack Go Unanswered
Give the current national crisis, few strategists believe Trump can successfully reframe the election as anything but a referendum on his record in office. Democrats say his scattershot messaging suggests his campaign is struggling to find a line of attack that sticks.
But even a marginal impact on support or turnout could make a difference in what will likely be another close race, said Ben Tulchin, a top pollster on both Bernie Sanders campaigns for the Democratic nomination.
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Trump Recognizes Sarah Sanders: We’re Gonna Miss Her
From CNN’s Betsy Klein
President Trump appeared to again break from prepared remarks to recognize outgoing press secretary Sarah Sanders, who tweeted earlier today that this was her last trip aboard Air Force One as a member of the White House staff.
“My only special interest is you I dont have a special interest, I dont care. And by the way, by the way, a woman who has been so good so talented so wonderful and were sort of going to be losing, I have a feeling shes going to be running for a certain gubernatorial position,” Trump said
He continued: “But a woman whos a special woman, and her father, by the way, hes out there fighting for us all the time, Sarah Huckabee Sanders.”
Trump then beckoned her to the stage for brief remarks, where she appeared to receive the biggest applause of the evening.
Her voice appearing to crack, Sanders called it the “honor of a lifetime” and said she had the opportunity to sit on “front row of history and watch you drastically change our country for the better.”
She told the crowd she will spend time with her kids but will continue to be a strong voice for the administration.
“We’re gonna miss her,” he said as he re-took the podium, calling Sanders a “warrior.”
Hole Lot More To Fishnets
GAZING through The Sun yesterday, I noticed that fishnet stockings are back in fashion.
An array of celebs, including singer Dua Lipa, were pictured, their pins clad in the kind of hosiery made famous by burlesque dancers.
Great. I think they complement a nice pair of legs and add a little sexual allure.
Although my wife doesnt like the way they sag around my knees.
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From Sleepy Joe To A Destroyer Of The American Way Of Life Trumps Attacks On Biden Make A Dystopian Shift
President Trump has launched a slash-and-burn campaign against an exaggerated caricature of his Democratic opponent, casting former vice president Joe Biden as a destroyer of basic freedoms and a threat to voters safety who would let terrorists roam free and abolish the American way of life.
His new dystopian vision, with militant and extreme language not typical in American politics, marks a sharp departure from Trumps previous effort to cast Biden as Sleepy Joe, an establishment politician with deteriorating mental abilities. It marks the latest effort, orchestrated by Trumps advisers, to shift the conversation from rising coronavirus infections and deteriorating public support for the presidents pandemic response.
In new advertising, tweets and public statements that began to appear earlier this month, Trump has argued that the presumptive Democratic nominee is a harbinger of chaos and destruction, depicting a fantastical scarecrow largely divorced from reality.
The author of many of Trumps most pugilistic public statements, Miller has raised concerns to other White House aides that the campaigns messaging has not been tough enough on Biden, officials said, and a cadre of White House officials have begun working on campaign issues through their private email accounts and text message chains.
Trump Launches A New Campaign But His Message Is The Same
From CNN’s Kaitlan Collins
President Trumps campaign branded tonights rally as a blockbuster re-election launch. They jazzed it up with new signs, a live band outside the venue and even trotted out the First Family and Vice President on stage for show.
But the minute President Trump took the stage, the crowd at the Amway Center heard the same message that Trump supporters have gotten for the last four years.
Immigration. Fake news. Democrats. Hillary Clinton. Even shot at the Academy Awards. The President is relying on his old playbook and continuing to air his grievances, just like he did before.
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List Of Nicknames Used By Donald Trump
Former U.S. PresidentDonald Trump became widely known during the 2016 United States presidential election and his subsequent presidency for using nicknames to criticize, insult, or otherwise express commentary about media figures, politicians, and foreign leaders.
The list excludes commonly-used hypocorisms such as “Mike” for “Michael” or “Steve” for “Steven”, unless they are original to Trump. Nicknames that Trump did not originate are annotated with footnotes.
The list also includes nicknames used by figures associated with Trump, and nicknames he has promoted via retweeting.
Trump Polls Crowd On 2020 Slogan: Keep America Great Is The Clear Favorite
From CNN’s Jeremy Diamond
President Trump spent several minutes during his rally tonight musing about which slogan to pick for his 2020 campaign: Make America Great or Keep America Great.
So, in Trump fashion, he decided to poll the crowd and Keep America Great was the clear winner, based on cheers.
“My ear drums will never be the same,” Trump said after the cheers for Keep America Great rang out in Amway Center.
But before he polled the crowd, Trump laid out the stakes, making clear he is attached to the Make America Great Again slogan.
“How do you give up the greatest of all time?” Trump asked. “And if I lose people are going to say, ‘What a mistake that was!'”
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Trump Just Formally Announced His Reelection Bid
President Trump just announced he’s officially running for a second term in 2020 at tonight’s rally in Orlando, Florida.
“With every ounce of heart and might and sweat and soul, we’re going to keep making America great again and then we will indeed keep America great,” Trump said.
He continued:
“And that is why tonight, I stand before you to officially launch my campaign for a second term as President of the United States.
The crowd inside the arena cheered after Trump made his announcement.
“I can promise you that I will never, ever, ever let you down. I won’t,” he told his supporters.
Trump went on to thank his family, naming his wife, children, and parents, as well as his late brother, Fred Jr.
Trump has held over 50 rallies since taking office and formally filed his re-election paperwork on Inauguration Day more than two years ago.
CNN’sBetsy Klein contributed to this post.
The Note: Biden Turns Trump Messaging Against Him
Sleepy Joe is signaling that hes very much awake.
The TAKE withRick Klein
Who’s the absent candidate now?
A campaign that looks like no other has a fresh twist. Former Vice President Joe Biden has emerged with new messaging that sounds just a bit like the case President Donald Trump has been making against him.
“Sleepy Joe” is signaling that he’s very much awake — and dialed into a moment where Trump’s leadership is ripe for questioning. Trump called himself a “wartime president,” but with Trump hesitating on mask-wearing and largely quiet amid the surge of COVID-19 cases, Biden said he has “surrendered, waved the white flag and left the battlefield.”
Biden is using the storyline about Russia putting bounties on U.S. troops as evidence of what he calls a “dereliction of duty.” And with Trump questioning Biden’s mental capacity, and having suggested that he wants to avoid debates, the former vice president says he’s itching for direct comparisons.
“I can hardly wait to compare my cognitive capability to the cognitive capability of the man I’m running against,” Biden said in closing his remarks to reporters Tuesday in Delaware.
The new Biden tone won’t be part of every news cycle. Some Trump aides and allies are glad to see Biden leaving his home, with every fresh appearance a chance to redirect campaign attacks and get the president engaged anew with the campaign.
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The TIP withKendall Karson
THE PLAYLIST
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