TRUMP PRESS CONFERENCE: FULL OF “BULL” AS USUAL

…Trump spouting more B.S.

Trump’s national approval ratings continue to decline.

In the president’s latest 81 minute marathon news conference, the president out-did himself in his false claims.  We already know that he has passed the 5000 mark for offering over that many false or misleading claims.  But it was as if he’s proud of that mark and he wants to up the total and get to 6000 lies, ASAP.

Here’s the list of what came out of the 81 minutes of Trump’s “Twilight Zone” statements:

·       “US Steel plans to open eight new steel plants.”: Not true.

·       “He has spent #3.2 Billion on The Border Wall.”: Not true.

·       “The US economy is the best ever”: Not true.

·       Trump: “I was accused by four or five women who got paid a lot of money to make up stories about me. We caught them and the mainstream media refused to put it on television. They refused to even write about it. There were four women, and maybe more. I think the number’s four or five. But one had her mortgage paid off her house, $52,000. Another one had other things happen. And the one that reported it I believe was offered $750,000 to say bad things about me.”

Answer: There is no evidence of payments to any of the 13 women (not 4 or 5) who have publicly come forward with claims that Trump had touched them inappropriately. There’s also no evidence that they are making up stories, as many told friends or family about the incidents at the time.

·       “I’ve had many false charges. I had a woman sitting in an airplane and I attacked her while people were coming onto the plane.”

The Truth: Trump is referring to a 2016 interview in the New York Times with Ms. Jessica Leeds, who described an encounter with Trump in the first-class cabin of a flight more than three decades ago, when she was a traveling business executive for a paper company. It did not take place as people were coming onto the plane, as Trump claimed. Instead, about 45 minutes after takeoff, she said, Trump lifted the armrest and began to touch her. Trump grabbed her breasts and tried to put his hand up her skirt. “He was like an octopus,” Leeds said. “His hands were everywhere.” She then fled to the back of the plane. “It was an assault,” she said.

·       Trump: “Well, the FBI told us they’ve investigated Judge Kavanaugh six times, five times — many times over the years. They know him very well. But here there was nothing to investigate from at least one standpoint — they didn’t know the location, they didn’t know the time, they didn’t know the year — they didn’t know anything. And it’s like, where do you go?”

Response from FBI: “There is nothing to prevent the FBI from updating a previous background check in light of new information. A standard FBI background check, which is what was completed as part of Kavanaugh’s vetting for the Supreme Court, looks for “current problems” and so, likely wouldn’t have covered allegations that both were not yet public and are three decades old. If the White House were to ask for an expanded background check, the FBI would have the ability to investigate the various claims and add to its existing report.”

·       Trump: “Also it’s not for the FBI, if you look at what Joe Biden said, he said, ‘They don’t do this,’ and he said it very clearly.”

Response: The conservatives have drawn attention to comments made by then-Senator Joe Biden (D-Del.) back in 1991, during the Clarence Thomas confirmation, that FBI investigations into sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominees were inconclusive. “A report from such an investigation would rehash people’s versions of events without reaching a meaningful conclusion about what had actually happened.  The next person who refers to an FBI report as being worth anything obviously doesn’t understand anything,” Biden said. “FBI explicitly does not, in this case or any other case, reach a conclusion, period. Period.” is what Biden said, not that, “they don’t do this”. 

·       Trump: “You know I got 52% with women. Everyone said this couldn’t happen — 52%.”

The truth: This is one of the president’s new favorite statements, but as usual, it’s not the whole truth: 52% of “white women” voted for him in the 2016 election, not all women.  This is according to the exit polls. Trump lost women overall, gaining only 41% of the women’s vote, and Trump lost all non-white women.

Since taking office, Trump’s approval ratings among women have continued to decline. According to a Washington Post-Schar School Poll from early July, Trump’s approval rating among women was 32%. That is slightly more than 10 points lower than his overall approval rating at that time.

I’m afraid that I will continually be writing articles to explain what the “real truth” is, every time the president goes on TV and opens his mouth.

Copyright G. Ater  2018