Today’s Coronavirus Rally was one for the books.
Bear witness:
"I guess I am doing okay because to the best of my knowledge I am the President of the United States" — Trump is so mad over this New York Times report detailing his slow and disorganized coronavirus response https://t.co/rCUDi2SmBN pic.twitter.com/LTRmJzCSjx
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 13, 2020
He loves to say “I’m president and you’re not.”
Straight up North Korea-style propaganda going on right now in the White House briefing room. Get a load of the dramatic music. pic.twitter.com/p3KO6Ap2Sp
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 13, 2020
JON KARL: That video looked a bit like a campaign ad. Who put that together for you?
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 13, 2020
TRUMP: "A group in the office"
KARL: That was produced here in the White House?
TRUMP: "Yeah" pic.twitter.com/rYRFn4KTco
TRUMP on ventilators: "[Governors] should have had their own stockpiles … Many governors were asking for far too many." pic.twitter.com/jgq8sozRKK
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 13, 2020
TRUMP: "I saved tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of lives." (This is only true relative to a scenario where he literally did nothing) pic.twitter.com/jNMMjMdDHY
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 13, 2020
Trump is now trying to blame Obama for the fact he didn't replenish the national stockpile of ventilators or masks during his first three years in office pic.twitter.com/RYKNJjTr1I
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 13, 2020
Get a load of Trump swaying around here pic.twitter.com/F7ihKj51US
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 13, 2020
TRUMP on possibility states won't want to relax social distancing as quick he would like: "The president of the United States calls the shots … it's a decision for the president … they can't do anything without the approval of the president." pic.twitter.com/a9f73Z8G3N
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 13, 2020
.@kaitlancollins: You said when someone is the president, their authority is total. That is not true.
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 13, 2020
TRUMP: "Okay — you know what we're going to do? We're going to write up papers on this. It's not gonna be necessary. Because the governors need us one way or the other." pic.twitter.com/NUe1b2BvcT
Trump takes a leading question from an OAN sycophant who basically asks him if he plans to crack down on Michigan and its Democratic governor pic.twitter.com/wyZtsw9OSc
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 13, 2020
"I support the president's leadership under the national emergency declaration he signed" — Mike Pence suggests he has no objection to Trump (falsely) characterizing his power as "total" pic.twitter.com/N7QoSw9nOW
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 13, 2020
Asked about Biden, Trump still tries some H1N1 whataboutism — even though more people have died in a much more compressed period of time from coronavirus pic.twitter.com/jbJew9eoqO
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 13, 2020
All the people who have been pooh-poohing his authoritarian instincts should probably think again. Can there be any doubt that it’s Bill Barr who assured him that he has “absolute power?”