Here’s all you need to know; the lying liar is running again — except now The NY Times is able to use the “L” word describing a Trump word dump. Here’s the initial fact check. Here are the headers from it:
Trump exaggerated his record on oil and gas.
Trump’s incomplete border wall did not stop unauthorized immigration and drugs.
Trump’s tax cut was not the biggest in history.
There’s more detail at the link, but who cares? Repeating lies and exaggerating his record is what he does. The gratuitous insults and incoherence can be taken for granted. We’ve see this show before; the sequel is not going to be any better.
In case you were interested, the fact check also included links to these goodies.
Donald Trump, Post-Presidency
The former president remains a potent force in Republican politics.
Schadenfreude anyone?
The account of his address by Michael C. Bender and Maggie Haberman thankfully does not include a transcript of his remarks. (I managed to avoid watching any video of it.) The opening is refreshingly to the point:
PALM BEACH, Fla. — Donald J. Trump, whose historically divisive presidency shook the pillars of the country’s democratic institutions, on Tuesday night declared his intention to seek the White House again in 2024, ignoring the appeals of Republicans who warn that his continued influence on the party is largely to blame for its weaker-than-expected showing in the midterm elections.
And then there’s this:
His unusually early announcement was motivated in part by a calculation that a formal candidacy may help shield him from multiple investigations into his attempts to cling to power after his 2020 defeat, which led to the deadly mob attack by his supporters on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
emphasis added
The report is largely a tallying of the myriad of ways the former guy is tap-dancing through the minefields around him. There’s more than a hint of snark in this bit:
Indeed, he hopes that a candidacy could give pause to prosecutors who may be considering criminal charges, particularly in connection with the Justice Department’s investigation into highly sensitive documents that Mr. Trump held at his private Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, according to the friends and advisers, who insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Wait for it...
It was at Mar-a-Lago, the scene of that possible crime, that Mr. Trump on Tuesday declared his determination to reclaim the presidency.
emphasis added
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.
“We will make America wealthy again,” he said as he concluded. “We will make America strong again. We will make America proud again. We will make America safe again. We will make America glorious again. And we will make America great again.”
Second verse same as the first, a little bit louder and a little bit worse. And then the report gets to the point:
In his rambling hourlong address, Mr. Trump gave an exaggerated picture of his accomplishments before announcing his candidacy. He quickly fell back into his typical rally fare, full of false statements, inflammatory discussion of immigration and crime, and nods to right-wing culture-war issues.
Notably, he did not dwell on his 2020 election loss, though he called for an elimination of all early voting, absentee voting and electronic voting machines. “Only paper ballots,” he said.
And he repeatedly expressed grievance over the ongoing investigations into him and his family, denouncing the F.B.I. search of his property to retrieve documents, among other inquiries. “I’m a victim,” Mr. Trump told the crowd bluntly.
emphasis added
If the coverage of the former guy continues in this vein going forward… it would be a refreshing break from the past.
With the announcement out of the way, the ‘good’ news is that we can now go back to following the multiple criminal cases building against Trump and the Trump crime organization, with the added bonus of a possible GOP civil war. As for covering his campaign — the less said, the better.