The period between the midterm elections and Thanksgiving was the most disturbing of the insane Trump presidency. Trump counts on “scandal fatigue” as each disgrace is quickly submerged in the wake of his next debacle, but we need to remember each misdeed before it sinks into the depths of history. Here’s a summary of Trump’s recent follies:
Nov. 5: Without evidence, Trump raged against voter fraud on the eve of the midterm elections.
Nov. 6: On election night, Trump tweeted, “Tremendous success tonight.” In the end, Democrats dominated Republicans at nearly historic levels, winning the House, picking up multiple governorships, and keeping the Senate close despite a heavily slanted map against them. One party was “tremendous,” but it wasn’t Trump’s.
Nov. 7: Trump threatened House Democrats about investigating him. He held a press conference where he insulted reporters, accused an African-American reporter of a “racist question,” and attacked defeated Republicans for not sufficiently supporting him. He fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions and installed Matthew Whitaker, an unqualified partisan under fraud investigation who has criticized the Mueller investigation as “going too far.”
Nov. 8: Trump suspended Jim Acosta’s press credentials, and his administration released a doctored video falsely claiming that Acosta had assaulted a White House intern.
Nov. 9: Reports surfaced that Trump personally directed hush-money payments to his mistresses leading up to the 2016 election. Trump claimed, “I don’t know Matt Whitaker,” despite saying on national television in October, “I know Matt Whitaker.”
Nov. 10: Trump skipped a WWI ceremony in France due to rain. Rather than sympathizing with California wildfire victims, Trump falsely blamed state forest management and threatened to halt disaster funding.
Nov. 11: French President Macron blasted Trump’s brand of “nationalism” as a “betrayal of patriotism.” For the second year in a row, Trump didn’t go to Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day.
Nov. 12: Trump baselessly claimed that vote-counting in Florida should stop because the election was “massively infected.” Despite often taking credit for stock-market gains, Trump blamed a recent dip on Democrats.
Nov. 13: CNN sued Trump over Acosta’s credentials, and Maryland sued Trump over Whitaker’s potentially unconstitutional appointment. Trump insulted Macron and France and blamed the Secret Service for him skipping the WWI ceremony.
Nov. 14: Trump ridiculously claimed that people with “no right to vote … go to their car, put on a different hat, put on a different shirt, come in and vote again.” He nonsensically claimed that people need voter ID to buy cereal.
Nov. 15: Trump tweeted that he knew the “inner workings” of the Mueller investigation (which would be illegal), claimed that the investigation is “absolutely nuts,” and “a total witch hunt like no other in American history!” Trump then nominated a handbag designer to an ambassadorship.
Nov. 16: Trump, who won’t meet with Mueller, said he (not his lawyers) wrote responses to Mueller’s questions, greatly increasing his risk of perjury if those answers include his usual lies. The courts ordered Acosta’s credentials reinstated. Trump awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the wife of a casino owner who donated hundreds of millions of dollars to Trump and other Republicans.
Nov. 17: When asked if California’s wildfires changed his radical climate-change denial, Trump rambled, “No, no. I have a strong opinion. I want a great climate.”
Nov. 18: After touring fire-ravaged Paradise, California, Trump called the city, “Pleasure,” adding, “what a name!”
Nov. 19: CIA reports contradicted Trump and concluded that Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Trump called Congressional Democrat Adam Schiff, “Little Adam Schitt” and criticized Admiral Bill McRaven, the Navy Seal who led the bin Laden raid. Trump claimed that Finland prevents fires by “raking” the forest, which the Finnish president denied saying.
Nov. 20: Trump sided with the Saudis over American intelligence agencies in a widely condemned statement absolving bin Salman for killing Khashoggi, writing, “maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!” A report indicated that Ivanka Trump used private email for government business, something Trump called criminal when Hillary Clinton did it. Another report indicated that Trump repeatedly urged the Justice Department to prosecute Clinton and James Comey. A federal judge blocked Trump’s plan to deny asylum applications at the border.
Nov. 21: Trump attacked the judges who ruled against his border polices, earning a rare rebuke from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. Trump melodramatically responded that rulings against him would cause “bedlam, chaos, injury and death.”
Nov. 18: Trump threatened a government shutdown if Congress doesn’t fund his border wall.
Nov. 21: Despite Khashoggi’s murder, Trump enthusiastically thanked Saudi Arabia for lower oil prices. Then, disregarding his own administration’s report on the dangers of climate change, Trump ignorantly tweeted, “Whatever happened to Global Warming?” because it was cold in the northeast.
Nov. 22: Trump, who hasn’t visited our troops in combat zones, politicized his Thanksgiving call to military members by criticizing judges, demonizing migrants, and boastfully naming himself as something he was thankful for on Thanksgiving.
Perhaps no other period defines this radical, incompetent and corrupt president more completely. Trump had hundreds of previous scandals and will have far more before he leaves office. We need to remember them all and respond accordingly. The midterms were a good start. Let’s keep going and elect a real pres ident in 2020.
John Sheirer is an author and teacher who lives in Florence. His most recent book is the satire, “Donald Trump’s Top Secret Concession Speech.” Find him at johnsheirer.com.