Trump Thanks Himself For Stock Market Rally, Tags Fake Russian Twitter Account

Mod: Trump's old habits die hard, I guess. But then, when you're borrowing trillions to keep the mess afloat, almost anything is possible.

Trump Thanks Himself For Stock Market Rally, Tags Fake Russian Twitter Account (Huffington Post link): President Donald Trump thanked himself Saturday in a tweet in the wake of a stock market rally — then tagged a fake Russian Twitter account. “Stock Market is on track to have the best June in over 50 years! Thank you Mr. President!” Trump tweeted, adding the tag: @WallStreetJour.

That might look like the Twitter link for The Wall Street Journal — but the real one for the newspaper is @WSJ. The one Trump tagged is a Russian account (with tweets in Russian) made to appear to be the American newspaper.

It’s also apparently defunct. It issued the last of its 66 tweets in 2013, Bloomberg reported. Twitter critics had a few things to say about Trump patting himself on the back — and the Russian goof-up:

"Remember the time the President of the United States tagged a Russian troll account for the Wall Street Journal? Oh yeah, that was just 2 minutes ago."

"Do we need to send Mr. President to a orthopedic? He may have dislocated his shoulder patting himself on the back."

"Borrowing another $ Trillion this year to prop up the economy is not sustainable."

"Soooo... after posting the worst year in A DECADE, you wanna take credit for a good MONTH? After helping to manipulate the fluctuations with your insane tweets? Whatever you say, Spanky."

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The Chicken Dance: The Donald Trump Iranian Attack Flip Flop Inquiry Continues

Mod: Trump's claim that he canceled the military assault on Iran because he feared it would result in "150 Deaths" is raising questions. This is the guy who puts children in cages and allegedly rapes women in department stores. So what does he care about anything involving human beings?

Two Fox News hosts question Trump's comments about Iran: 'This just doesn't add up' (CNN link): Fox News hosts Chris Wallace and Shep Smith challenged President Donald Trump's comments about when and why he decided to call off a strike against Iran.

Trump said Friday that the military was "cocked and loaded" to fire on Iran in retaliation for shooting down a US drone earlier this week. But he reversed course "10 minutes before the strike" when he learned 150 people could die in the attack, the president said in a series of tweets.

Smith said Fox News' reporting found that Trump would have been given a casualty estimate at a briefing hours before that. "Something's wrong there," Smith said about the president's comments.

Fox News Hosts Doubt Trump's Iran Strike Story: 'Doesn't Make Sense' (Huffington Post link): Fox News hosts Chris Wallace and Shep Smith on Friday poked holes in President Donald Trump’s explanation for calling off an airstrike on Iran on Thursday night.

Trump claimed on Twitter Friday morning that he’d aborted the mission, purportedly in retaliation for Iran’s downing of an unmanned U.S. spy drone, just 10 minutes before it was due to take place after suddenly learning that 150 people could die in the raid. “Something’s wrong there,” Smith said of Trump’s version of events.

Wallace agreed. “I talked to a former top national security official in an earlier Republican administration who says this just doesn’t add up,” he noted.

Mod: The flip flop.

Trump claims media got it wrong on Iran strike: 'I never called the strike' back (The Hill link): President Trump criticized the media on Saturday for reporting that he  halted plans for a military strike on Iran, tweeting that he had merely ordered the strike to not go forward "at this time."

In a tweet Saturday evening, the president appeared to indicate that a military strike on Iran could be possible in the coming days unless tensions between the two countries eased. "I never called the strike against Iran “BACK,” as people are incorrectly reporting, I just stopped it from going forward at this time!" Trump tweeted.

Mod: Here's the real reason. Trump had already received his orders.

Putin warned US before drone was shot down not to attack Iran (New York Post link): Vladimir Putin on Thursday warned President Trump not to use military force against Iran despite the Islamic Republic’s recent provocations — in comments apparently made before the US charged that Iran had shot down a military drone with a surface-to-air missile. During a marathon, four-hour call-in show, Putin warned the US that an attack on Iran would have enormous consequences, adding it would trigger an escalation of hostilities across the region.

“It would be a catastrophe for the region as a minimum,” said the Russian strongman, an ally of the Iranian regime.

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Fox News: Longtime advice columnist E. Jean Carroll accuses Trump of sexual assault in 1990s

Mod: Dirty Don seems to get accused of this kind of thing a lot. Even Fox News seems to know it.

Longtime advice columnist E. Jean Carroll accuses Trump of sexual assault in 1990s (Fox News link): A longtime advice columnist has accused President Trump of sexually assaulting her in a New York City dressing room two decades ago, saying the episode ended only after “a colossal struggle” with the then-businessman. New York magazine on Friday published the allegations by columnist E. Jean Carroll, as part of an excerpt from her forthcoming book in which she accuses Trump, and multiple other men, of improper sexual behavior.

She alleged the Trump incident occurred at the department store Bergdorf Goodman in either the fall of 1995 or the spring of 1996. Carroll is known for her "Ask E. Jean" column, which runs in Elle magazine.

Trump on Friday released a lengthy statement vehemently denying the allegations: "I’ve never met this person in my life. She is trying to sell a new book — that should indicate her motivation. It should be sold in the fiction section."

In the excerpt, Carroll, who had a daily advice show at the time, said Trump recognized her and asked for her help choosing a gift. She said they eventually made their way into the lingerie section, and then a dressing room. “The moment the dressing-room door is closed, he lunges at me, pushes me against the wall, hitting my head quite badly and puts his mouth against my lips,” Carroll wrote. In explicit detail, Carroll wrote that Trump held her against a wall and pulled down her tights.

Link

“The next moment, still wearing correct business attire, shirt, tie, suit jacket, overcoat, he opens the overcoat, unzips his pants, and, forcing his fingers around my private area, thrusts his penis halfway — or completely, I’m not certain — inside me,” she said. “It turns into a colossal struggle.” Eventually, Carroll claimed, she was able to break away. “I finally get a knee up high enough to push him out and off and I turn, open the door, and run out of the dressing room,” she said. “The whole episode lasts no more than three minutes.”

Mod: There's more at the link.

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Did Putin veto American attacks? Trump abruptly calls off military strikes against Iran after approving them

Mod: There are quite a few theories going around today about why Donald Trump canceled his military assault on Iran at the very last possible minute yesterday. You might think differently, but my suspicion is Putin called and told his most highly placed American agent to don't do it.

New York Times: Trump abruptly calls off military strikes against Iran after approving them (CNN link): President Donald Trump abruptly called off military strikes against Iran on Thursday night after previously approving the strikes in retaliation for Iran shooting down a US military drone, The New York Times reports.

The operation was already underway in its initial stages -- ships were in position and planes were in the air -- but no missiles had been fired when the order came to stand down, a senior administration official told the Times. The strike had been scheduled for just before dawn on Friday in Iran to minimize the risk to civilians and the Iranian military, and military officials received word shortly after then that the strike was off, at least temporarily. The United States remains locked in a standoff with Iran, with US military or diplomatic responses having the potential to provoke further escalation from Tehran.

Iran's downing of a US drone earlier Thursday has left the President caught between Republicans demanding a response and congressional Democrats warning that Trump -- and the Iran policy hardliners on his national security staff, who welcome the confrontation -- could lose control of the situation and lead the US into war. Military and diplomatic officials were expecting a strike as late as 7 p.m. on Thursday after intense debate among Trump's top national security officials and congressional leaders at the White House, multiple senior administration officials involved in or briefed on the deliberations told the Times.

Trump initially approved attacks on a handful of Iranian targets, like radar and missile batteries, and the Times reports it was not clear whether Trump simply changed his mind or whether his administration pulled back because of strategy or logistics. It was also not clear whether the attacks may still occur.

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Infowars' Alex Jones sent Sandy Hook victims files with child sex abuse images, say lawyers

Mod: Alex Jones of InfoWar fame has run into some legal difficulties as of late. All of which is a far cry from not so long ago when he was considered an important source of topical information for the current president.

Infowars' Alex Jones sent Sandy Hook victims files with child sex abuse images, say lawyers (The Guardian link): Lawyers for relatives of some victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting allege that far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones sent them documents relating to the court battle they are fighting that included electronic files containing images of child sexual abuse, as the latest twist in the defamation case against the Infowars website host.

Jones denied the allegations during his web show last Friday and accused one of the lawyers involved of framing him.

Alex Jones interviewing Donald Trump.

Lawyers say the imagery was among documents they had requested from Jones as part of the discovery process of the lawsuit. The families of eight victims of the 2012 shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, and an FBI agent who responded to the massacre, are suing Jones, Infowars and others for promoting a theory that the shooting was a hoax. Jones, of Austin, Texas, has since said he believes the shooting occurred. A court hearing on the documents is scheduled for Tuesday.

Jones, who lives in Travis County, Texas, has used his media platform to call the mass shooting at an elementary school that killed 26 people a hoax and suggested a political cover up took place by leftwing forces seeking to take advantage of the shooting to support their causes, such as gun control.

In 2013, he called the massacre “staged” and continued to stoke his conspiracy theory for years.

Infowars host Alex Jones accused of threatening Sandy Hook lawyers after child porn is found in his electronic files, court document says (CNBC link): Electronic material that Infowars host Alex Jones turned over to the families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims who are suing him contained images of child pornography, according to a court filing Monday.

The filing also accuses Jones of threatening Christopher Mattei, a lawyer for the families, and his law firm, during an online broadcast of “The Alex Jones Show” on Friday in which he angrily claimed that unnamed people were “trying to set me up with child porn.”

“I’ll get your ass,” Jones said, before offering a $1 million bounty for information that led to the apprehension and conviction of whoever sent him emails containing child porn.

Alex Jones Faces Court Action After Threatening Sandy Hook Lawyer (Daily Beast link): A Connecticut judge could impose penalties on InfoWars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on Tuesday, after Jones aired a show where he punched a picture of an attorney representing Sandy Hook families and called the lawyer a “pimp.” 

In a motion filed Monday in Connecticut, attorneys for the Sandy Hook families asked the court to review Friday’s episode of InfoWars. In that show, Jones raged at attorney Chris Mattei, who’s representing Sandy Hook families suing Jones for saying the 2012 elementary school massacre never happened. 

While sitting next to his own attorney, Norm Pattis, Jones accused Mattei without evidence of planting child porn on InfoWars’s servers. 

“Total war!” Jones said. “You want it, you got it! I’m not into kids like your Democratic Party! So get ready!” 

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White supremacists and conspiracy theorists are out in full force at Trump's campaign rally

Mod: C'mon. It would hardly be a Trump rally without them. 

White supremacists and conspiracy theorists are out in full force at Trump's campaign rally (TheWeek.com link): President Trump's 2020 reelection bid is attracting a questionable crowd.

Trump is holding a Tuesday night rally in Orlando that officially launches his 2020 campaign, and hours before it began, thousands of supporters were already out waiting in the rain. Those supporters notably included swaths of white supremacists and believers in the often-destructive QAnon conspiracy, who marched in groups to wait for Trump's arrival.

In the hours before the rally, Trump backers in "Q" merchandise were everywhere. QAnon believers think Trump is discretely overthrowing entrenched government forces, Democrats, and Hollywood elites, and that there's an anonymous high-level government agent who goes by "Q" constantly updating followers on his progress.

Groups of white supremacists calling themselves "Proud Boys" also donned matching polos and marched toward anti-Trump protesters outside the rally, flashing "okay" hand gestures that reportedly represent a "W" and a "P" to make "white power." Orlando police stopped them from getting too close to the protesters.

And as The New York Times' Maggie Haberman spotted, one person waiting outside the Trump rally combined both those ideologies into one sign.

Meanwhile, the Orlando Sentinel's editorial board issued a very timely opinion ahead of the campaign launch, saying they haven't decided on a certain 2020 candidate to endorse, but that it certainly won't be Trump.

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50% Favor Impeachment/Removal: Donald Trump Slams Fox News Poll, Disputes ’30 Hours’ Title Of ABC Special

Mod: Even Fox News can't get away with reporting poll results that impugn the popularity of the royal boil.

Donald Trump Slams Fox News Poll, Disputes ’30 Hours’ Title Of ABC Special (Deadline link): President Donald Trump took on the “fake news” again today. While that in itself hardly qualifies for a headline, this part of his tweet du jour (or du hour) does: It targets Fox News. “Something weird going on at Fox,” the leader of the free world appeared to notice today.

He was talking about a new poll from Fox News that found 50% of Americans favor his impeachment or removal from office. More context on that and the second part of Trump’s double-duty tweet below, but read it first:

The poll that elicited Trump’s friendly fire was released Sunday and reported today on Fox & Friends (one of said “friends” being the president, of course). It showed that 50% of respondents believe that POTUS should be impeached or removed from office. The president obviously was not amused.

The tweet in question also took aim at another news outlet, ABC News, for the title of its widely seen and cited George Stephanopoulos sit-down with Trump. That special, which is titled 30 Hours – Donald Trump and aired on ABC’s 20/20 — showed, among many other things, the former Clinton press secretary asking about Trump’s leaked internal polling that shows him trailing Dem challengers in 15 of 17 swing states. The president immediately denied that, saying on camera, “Those polls don’t exist.” But word also spread today that Trump has cut ties with some of his pollsters — apparently over the leaks and not the results. Make your own inferences.

Meanwhile, It’s worth noting that perhaps even Fox News didn’t know what to make of its poll that so riled Trump. Mediaite noted today that that FNC misrepresented its own findings — twice. First, Fox & Friends showed a graphic that noted 50% of pollees replied “No” to whether Trump should be “impeached or removed from office.” One problem: The actual question was, “Do you think President Trump should be impeached and removed from office, or not?” The answer to that query was 43% saying “yes,” 7% saying “impeachment only” and 6% saying “don’t know”

You read that correctly. Reminder that being “impeached” and “removed from office” are entirely different, so taking into account the 6% “don’t know” crowd, that would leave just 42% saying the president not be impeach not removed.

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Kill the Messenger: Trump fires his pollsters after campaign leaks show him losing in 11 battleground states

Mod: Big baby Orange Caligula can't take bad news, so it's off with the heads of those who deliver it. Chop!

Trump fires his pollsters after campaign leaks show him losing in 11 battleground states (Raw Story link): President Donald Trump is reportedly cutting ties with some of his pollsters after leaks from his campaign showed him losing in some battleground states. NBC reported on Sunday that the firings came after someone leaked polls that indicated Trump is losing to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in 11 battleground states.

“A separate person close to the Trump re-election team told NBC News Saturday that the campaign will be cutting ties with some of its pollsters in response to the information leaks, although the person did not elaborate as to which pollsters would be let go,” the report said.

Trump campaign fires multiple pollsters after unflattering numbers leak (CNN link): President Donald Trump's campaign fired several pollsters after internal polling numbers that showed the President lagging behind Democratic presidential candidates in key states were made public, according to multiple sources.

CNN and other outlets first reported the numbers -- which showed Trump trailing Joe Biden in states like Michigan and Wisconsin -- weeks ago, but a purge of the polling team was proposed after Trump grew angry about coverage of the numbers in recent days. Campaign officials were frustrated after the detailed numbers of four of the 17 states polled leaked to outlets like ABC last week.

Michael Baselice, the president and CEO of Baselice & Associates Inc., is one of the pollsters the Trump campaign has let go, a Republican familiar with the matter told CNN. Baselice, who is based in Austin, Texas, joined the Trump campaign near the end of the 2016 election cycle and had been close to Trump's 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale, the person said. Adam Geller, who was also a pollster for the Trump campaign in 2016, was another who was let go, according to another Republican familiar with the situation. The campaign also cut ties with Brett Lloyd, president and CEO of The Polling Company, the former firm of White House senior counselor Kellyanne Conway, a source familiar with the matter said.

Baselice and Geller are expected to begin working instead with America First, the pro-Trump super PAC, the source said. Lloyd is not expected to continue working with any Trump-affiliated entities.

A person familiar with the purge said the firings were less about the accuracy of the polling and more about mollifying the President.

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Jim Bakker: Vote Trump, or face Armageddon - If Trump Loses in 2020, God May End the World

Mod: Then again, this could be a process that has already begun. Something that would explain the continued existence of Jim Bakker.

Jim Bakker: If Trump Loses 2020, God May End the World (Business Standard News link): Former televangelist Jim Bakker is warning that if President Donald Trump loses the 2020 election it may lead to the end of the world.

“Trump is a godly president who is trying to move America in the right direction with the anti-abortion legislation,” said Bakker on his YouTube show. “But if we elect a godless liberal, who favors killing babies and promoting gay marriage, God might just give up on America and start the Apocalypse.”

Bakker is best known for a sex and financial scandal involving his ministry in the 1980s. Bakker went to jail and has now reinvented him as an End Times preacher, who sells survivalist gear. He recently hosted a guest who claimed global warming was caused by “sin.”

But his views about Trump are in line with fellow fundies. According to preacher Franklin Graham, Trump’s 2016 election was an act of God.

“I think God was behind the last election,” said Graham in an interview with the Western Journal. However, America’s intelligence agencies and the Mueller report both state that Trump won because of massive interference from Russia.

Pence Visits Conversion Therapist For Routine Gay-Preventative Checkup (The Onion link): Sitting in the waiting area while ignoring the screams he heard emanating from the exam room, Vice President Mike Pence reportedly visited his conversion therapist Thursday for a routine gay-preventative checkup. “I feel completely heterosexual right now, but I still like to visit the doctor every six months or so to just to be safe,” said Pence, noting that he didn’t enjoy receiving electric shocks on his genitals while staring at photos of naked men, but it was worth it to ensure he didn’t come down with a case of full-blown gayness later on.

“Maybe I’m a hypochondriac when it comes to contracting homosexuality, but I’m a busy guy and I’d rather have a spiritual intervention early on than risk missing work to recover from being attracted to men.

Plus, now that it’s June it seems like everyone is gay so I need to be extra careful. I’m so lucky my insurance covers yearly gay-prevention appointments.” At press time, Pence was preparing to be lobotomized in an effort to fully immunize himself from dangerous homosexual thoughts.

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Fact Check on Mexico Farm Deal: There He Goes Again

Mod: Trump's Mexico tariff deal is now being exposed in numerous news articles as being pretty much a fraud. Like much of Trump's loudly expressed fakery, his version of events is far afield of reality. Here is the Associated Press's take, courtesy of the Courthouse News Service.

Fact Check on Mexico Farm Deal: There He Goes Again (Courthouse News Service link): President Trump is bragging about a new deal with Mexico that provides for “large” sales of U.S. farm goods, but it doesn’t appear to exist. Mexican officials denied that anything on agriculture was included in the border deal reached Friday to avert Trump’s threatened tariffs.

In weekend tweets, he announced in all capital letters that he had won the agreement to benefit America’s “great patriot farmers,” and that U.S. sales would begin “immediately.” There isn’t any sign of that happening, however.

Trump also unfairly placed responsibility on Mexico for the entire U.S. drug problem, though thousands of the drug deaths have nothing to do with Mexico, but are a result of opioid sales by U.S. drug companies.

The statements came in a week where the apportioning of credit and blame often went awry in Trump’s remarks. He hailed pristine air quality that isn’t, insisted falsely that the United States was paying “close to 100%” of NATO and told Puerto Ricans they should love him because he got them hurricane aid that he’s actually been complaining about for months.

Here is a look at recent claims and reality:

MEXICO DEAL

TRUMP: “MEXICO HAS AGREED TO IMMEDIATELY BEGIN BUYING LARGE QUANTITIES OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT FROM OUR GREAT PATRIOT FARMERS!” — tweet Saturday, retweeted Sunday

THE FACTS: There’s no evidence that Mexico agreed to “large” purchases of agricultural products from the United States as part of the deal to avoid tariffs. Nor did the White House provide any details to show such a deal exists.

The joint declaration between the United States and Mexico released by the State Department late Friday makes no mention of agriculture. Officials from Mexico deny an agreement was reached on farm goods as part of the talks.

“Everything that was negotiated was in the joint statement,” said a Mexican official familiar with the discussions who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. When Mexico’s ambassador to the United States, Martha Barcena, was asked repeatedly Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation” whether there was a new agricultural deal, she demurred, saying such trade between both countries should increase over time.

She referred instead to the potential impact of the separate United States-Mexico-Canada trade deal, which has yet to be approved by Congress. “Is trade on agricultural products going to grow? Yes, it is going to grow, and it is going to grow without tariffs and with USMCA ratification,” Barcena said.

According to the office of the United States Trade Representative, Mexico bought $20 billion in U.S. agricultural goods last year, making it the United States’ second-largest ag export market.

Mod: Here is another lie from President Man-Baby that is trashed in the AP article.

TRUMP: “Look, I’m dealing with Mexico right now. They send in $500 billion worth of drugs, they kill 100,000 people, they ruin a million families every year if you look at that. That’s really an invasion without the guns. … 100,000 people are killed, dead every year, from what comes through our southern border. They shouldn’t be allowing people to come through their country from Central, from Honduras and Guatemala, El Salvador.” — Fox News interview Thursday

THE FACTS: Trump is inflating the death toll from drug overdoses — more than 70,200 in 2017 — and wrongly blaming all the deaths on Mexico. Tens of thousands of those deaths have nothing to do with Mexico or Central America. They are from legally made prescription opioids, fentanyl laboratories in China or other sources of international drug smuggling and illicit manufacturing in the United States. More than 17,000 of the deaths in 2017, for example, were from prescription opioids alone.

Mexico is indeed a significant conduit in the drug trade — it’s a leading source of heroin, for example — but it is hardly the only one.

Mod: There is much more to read at the link.

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Did Sarah Sanders just take the fall for Trump's 'Would you accept intelligence from a foreign source' disaster?

Mod: Fox News' Neil Cavuto (of all people) came up with the following theory. It makes sense. When Donald Trump screws up, somebody else has to pay. Baby Don is never wrong.

Neil Cavuto offers theory behind Sanders stepping down (Washington Examiner link): Fox News host Neil Cavuto floated a theory during his show Thursday that outgoing White House press secretary might have stepped down over the fallout from President Trump's recent interview with George Stephanopoulos.

"The timing of this is odd," Cavuto noted. "Only, you know, just after the George Stephanopoulos interview with the president, in which this hypothetical came up about 'Would you accept intelligence from a foreign source?' And the president, of course, reacted the way he did, said 'Yeah, I'd be open to it.' Maybe he's pointing the finger: 'Why did you get me into this, Sarah Sanders?'

President Trump stoked furor Wednesday evening when ABC aired footage of an exclusive presidential interview with George Stephanopoulos, in which Trump expressed willingness to "listen" to opposition research from foreign sources without necessarily telling the FBI. The comment drew nearly universal condemnation from Democrats, with some Republicans expressing dismay, as well.

"Well, first of all, I agree with my other panelists, this is one of the toughest jobs in Washington, D.C.," District Media's Beverly Hallberg later continued. "Especially in this role with one of the presidents it would be toughest to be press secretary for. He's had one of the most contentious relationships with the media. So for her to go out there and do an amazing job and how she's handled this. I do think there have been a few controversies. I wouldn't be surprised if the rigor of this job, combined with her being a mother, is one of the reasons she's saying right now, 'I definitely want to take a step back and do something different.'

But I also wouldn't be surprised to find out that president wasn't happy that he had this interview with George Stephanopoulos because of all of the controversies surrounding that. Who knows if that is her call? We probably won't find out. But I agree that's probably an interview he shouldn't have taken."

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Kamala Harris calls Trump 'a national security threat' after he says he'd take information from foreign power

Mod: It's now as if Trump is standing in the middle of Times Square screaming, "I'm a traitor!" Isn't it about time everyone takes his word on it?

Harris calls Trump 'a national security threat' after he says he'd take information from foreign power (The Hill link): Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) called President Trump “a national security threat” Wednesday night after Trump said he might not inform the FBI if a foreign country offered him information on a political opponent.

“China is listening. Russia is listening. North Korea is listening,” Harris tweeted. “Let’s speak the truth: this president is a national security threat.”

In the Wednesday interview, Trump would not commit to calling the FBI if offered damaging information.

"I think maybe you do both," Trump said when asked whether he would contact the authorities or accept such an offer.

"I think you might want to listen. There’s nothing wrong with listening," he told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. "It’s not an interference. They have information. I think I’d take it. If I thought there was something wrong, I’d go maybe to the FBI."

Several of Harris’s fellow 2020 Democratic presidential candidates reacted similarly to ABC’s release of the clip. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) reiterated her call for impeachment hearings, while Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) also called for Trump to be impeached.

Trump erupts after polls say he would lose to every major Democrat in 2020: ‘They don’t even exist’ (The Independent link): Donald Trump has claimed a wave of new polling from the 2020 presidential campaign season is fake after recent surveys showed every major Democrat vying for the White House besting the president in the upcoming election.

“The Fake News has never been more dishonest than it is today,” the president began in a series of Wednesday morning tweets. “There new weapon of choice is Fake Polling, sometimes referred to as Suppression Polls (they suppress the numbers).”

“The Fake (Corrupt) News Media said they had a leak into polling done by my campaign which, by the way and despite the phony and never ending Witch Hunt, are the best numbers WE have ever had,” he continued, addressing reports from Tuesday that said he had instructed his aides to deny internal polling data that showed former Vice President Joe Biden beating him in 2020. Despite his claims of “fake polling,” a vast range of surveys conducted by a variety of news organisations, polling groups and universities show the president losing against his top opponents time and time again.

In fact, Mr Trump even falls behind Mr Biden in the deeply red state of Texas, where another Quinnipiac University poll conducted last week showed the former vice president four points ahead of him.

Poll: McConnell's approval in Kentucky at 18 percent (The Hill link): Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has an 18 percent job approval rating in Kentucky, according to a new survey.

A Public Policy Polling survey found just 18 percent of respondents approve of the job McConnell is doing, compared with 74 percent who disapprove. If McConnell were up for reelection today, 37 percent of respondents said they would vote for the Kentucky Republican. Another 44 percent would instead choose a Democratic opponent, according to the survey.

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Low Rated Donald: Biden leads Trump by 'landslide proportions' in new national poll

Mod: Trump can name-call, lie and slander all he wants, but it does not seem to be fooling the American people very much.

Biden leads Trump by 'landslide proportions' in new national poll (The Hill link): Former Vice President Joe Biden leads President Trump by 13 points nationally, according to the latest Quinnipiac University survey.

In a national head-to-head matchup, the poll found Biden taking 53 percent against 40 percent for Trump, with the poll's assistant director describing it as a "landslide" margin.

Five other Democratic contenders also lead the president: Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) hold healthy leads over Trump, with Sanders up by 9 points, Harris ahead by 8 and Warren leading by 7. South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) lead Trump by 5 points, with each posting a 47 to 42 split.

“It’s a long 17 months to Election Day, but Joe Biden is ahead by landslide proportions,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

Biden’s double-digit lead over Trump is largely driven by the gender gap. The former vice president edges Trump 47 percent to 46 among men. But among women, Biden leads by 26 points, 60 to 34. Similarly, white voters are split evenly between the two, with Trump at 47 percent and Biden at 46. But Biden leads 85 to 12 among black voters and 58 to 33 among Hispanics.

Both candidates surpass 90 percent support from within their own parties, but independents break for Biden by a 58 to 28 margin.

National polls are not necessarily the best indicator for a general election, which will be fought in a handful of swing states. In 2020, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin will be the primary battlegrounds. Trump became the first GOP nominee since 1988 to win those three states. If the rest of the 2016 map stays the same but Democrats are able to win those back, they’ll win the Electoral College.

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NYT: Trump tells aides to lie about results of 17-state internal poll showing him losing to Biden

Mod: No matter what the topic or crisis, the solution for many problems at the Trump White House is simply to lie.

Trump Needs a Target to Stay Interested in His Campaign. For Now, It’s Biden (The New York Times link): Late at night, using his old personal cellphone number, President Trump has been calling former advisers who have not heard from him in years, eager to discuss his standing in the polls against the top Democrats in the field — specifically Joseph R. Biden Jr., whom he describes in those conversations as “too old” and “not as popular as people think.”

After being briefed on a devastating 17-state poll conducted by his campaign pollster, Tony Fabrizio, Mr. Trump told aides to deny that his internal polling showed him trailing Mr. Biden in many of the states he needs to win, even though he is also trailing in public polls from key states like Texas, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

When top-line details of the polling leaked, including numbers showing the president lagging in a cluster of critical Rust Belt states, Mr. Trump instructed aides to say publicly that other data showed him doing well.

Mr. Biden seems to have gotten into the president’s head — at least for now. And on Tuesday, the president will engage with him, if indirectly, for the first time during the 2020 campaign when they both make appearances in Iowa.

In a recent overarching state-of-the-race briefing in Florida with Brad Parscale, his campaign manager, Mr. Trump was consistently distracted and wanted to discuss other things, according to people familiar with the meeting.

When it came to the campaign, his main focus was on his own approval numbers. Unlike nearly every recent modern president who sought re-election, Mr. Trump rarely if ever speaks to aides about what he hopes to accomplish with what would be a hard-won second term; his interest is entirely in the present, and mostly on the crisis of the moment.

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