I remember reading that reporters on Capitol Hill had to start printing out Donald Trump’s tweets and on-the-record quotes so that they would have a hard copy to hand to Republicans in Congress, so those Republicans couldn’t say “I haven’t seen it,” when asked about whatever nonsensical, racist, misogynistic and/or treasonous statement Trump just made. I was reminded of that again as I imagined all of the Republicans working out their denials and shrugs and I-Haven’t-Seen-Its for Trump’s interview with George Stephanopoulos at ABC News. This is a trainwreck, and it shows that oh, right, Donald Trump didn’t learn one damn thing from the Mueller investigation:
President Donald Trump may not alert the FBI if foreign governments offered damaging information against his 2020 rivals during the upcoming presidential race, he said, despite the deluge of investigations stemming from his campaign’s interactions with Russians during the 2016 campaign. Asked by ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos in the Oval Office on Wednesday whether his campaign would accept such information from foreigners — such as China or Russia — or hand it over the FBI, Trump said, “I think maybe you do both.”
“I think you might want to listen, there isn’t anything wrong with listening,” Trump continued. “If somebody called from a country, Norway, [and said] ‘we have information on your opponent’ — oh, I think I’d want to hear it.”
Trump disputed the idea that if a foreign government provided information on a political opponent, it would be considered interference in our election process.
“It’s not an interference, they have information — I think I’d take it,” Trump said. “If I thought there was something wrong, I’d go maybe to the FBI — if I thought there was something wrong. But when somebody comes up with oppo research, right, they come up with oppo research, ‘oh let’s call the FBI.’ The FBI doesn’t have enough agents to take care of it. When you go and talk, honestly, to congressman, they all do it, they always have, and that’s the way it is. It’s called oppo research.”
President Trump lamented the attention on his son, Donald Trump Jr., for his role in the now-infamous Trump Tower meeting in June 2016. Stephanopoulos asked whether Trump Jr. should have taken the Russians’ offer for “dirt” on then-candidate Hillary Clinton to the FBI.
“Somebody comes up and says, ‘hey, I have information on your opponent,’ do you call the FBI?” Trump responded. “I’ll tell you what, I’ve seen a lot of things over my life. I don’t think in my whole life I’ve ever called the FBI. In my whole life. You don’t call the FBI. You throw somebody out of your office, you do whatever you do,” Trump continued. “Oh, give me a break – life doesn’t work that way.”
Think of how much the “debate” had changed under Trump. People are really having to go on television and sit there and make the argument of “no, really, this is not the way any of this is supposed to work.” This is one of the biggest no-brainers of politics: no foreign entanglements, no foreign “help” for political candidates, political operatives or politicians. You cannot get “opposition research” from a foreign government or a foreign agent when you’re a politician or a political candidate. It’s your duty as an American citizen and political candidate (or simply a political operative) to inform the FBI about all of your foreign contacts, and to not try to HIDE your foreign entanglements. This is very basic sh-t.
EXCLUSIVE: Pres. Trump tells @GStephanopoulos he wouldn't necessarily alert the FBI if approached by foreign figures with information on his 2020 opponent: "It’s not an interference. They have information. I think I’d take it." https://t.co/yWRxMOaFqW pic.twitter.com/qwLw53s5yc
— ABC News (@ABC) June 12, 2019
Header photo courtesy of Avalon Red.
Is anyone else just convinced we are doomed? XO
I’m convinced he has not said one negative thing about Putin because he colluded with Putin to rigged the election in his favor. I’m praying for us because this conman, Don, would do or say anything to stay in power. If we stay silent he will appoint himself president for life, and I’m serious.
Btw, where is Nancy, what is she waiting for to start impeachment, it’s passed time.
I’m real!y upset that Mueller didn’t do his job. Trump has been emboldened and it will only get worst!
He did do his job. He investigated as best he could and even with the stonewalling and outright lies from the Dump administration he was able to find several cases of obstruction of justice. What else was he supposed to do?
It is on the house to do something now and Nancy Pelosi aint doing shit. Some people keep saying she is playing chess while he is playing checkers, but I don’t believe that. She is listening to the wrong people, and quite frankly, I am over it. She seems to be waiting for white people in middle america to wake up and pay attention because the polls are saying that those people aren’t for impeachment even though they KNOW he is a criminal. I say fuck those morons because obviously there thinking is flawed. If she is currently having impeachment hearings but not calling them impeachment hearings, then fine I will take away my ire for her.
Mueller was playing by a different set of rules. We are in a time where the country should be placed first. He should have recommended impeachment.
I hope Nancy understands if she does not start impeachment it is going to depressed the Dems and they will stay home next November, just saying.
Nancy needs to start impeachment hearing immediately because Trump us acting with total impunity. This is how presidents become dictators.
@B n A fan: or we could be grown ups and show up in November because maybe we don’t want to hand our country over without a fight.
I’m frustrated too, but basically threatening to throw a temper tantrum isn’t going to get us a Democrat in office come 2021, and I don’t know that RBG has another four years with this idiot, so I will walk my butt to vote if I have to, and I will hold my nose, and I will vote the Democratic candidate into office after having donated money and campaigned for them, even if I think they’re the worst candidate from the primaries.
I’m not taking my toys and going home because that is a surefire way to hand this country off to the Republicans, and I for one am not prepared for the Handmaid’s Tale to exist in real life. I’m barren and outspoken; that world is not for me.
Mueller did his job and I understand why he felt he could not indict the president or even say he was guilty. BUT I do have a big problem with him waiting 6 weeks to come out and say that the Barr version of the report was untrue. For those 6 weeks the media ran with Barr’s “complete exoneration” so now that is what most people think is fact. He should have come out immediately and put the story straight…. that he could not find evidence to find trump NOT guilty.
He looks more and more like a clown every time I see his face. His skin clearly shows how unhealthy he really is, maybe thats why he plasters on the makeup now to hide the patches.
Does anyone else believe Chump is in the early stages of some type of dementia?
Yup. The rambling, incoherant mess that is every interview, the inability to learn new information, see a waiting car in front of him or operate an umbrella is similar to what I saw in my father post-diagnosis.
He’s always been an ignorant, hateful, narcissistic POS, but twenty years’ ago he at least sounded compos mentis. Trump, I mean!
I certainly hope so. The fast moving kind, hopefully.
Regarding dementia…
Just armchair conversation here. I’ve worked in memory care… so much of how trump behaves is reminiscent of those early stages, but I’m wondering if another condition is also happening. He reminds me greatly of former residents in facilities I’ve work in.
I’m thinking he’s mentally ill.
My husband’s sister has early dementia and I see so many parallels. She has become extremely paranoid and makes up stories that all feature her as a victim. She expects us to agree that the events she has described actually happened. That is exactly like Trump. He loves to play the victim. One of his favorite devices is to say something outrageous and then say “I know it and you do too”. It seems to me that he doesn’t have all that many evening activities. I wonder if his staff worries that he is sundowning, but he might just be easily tired. This latest thing about being willing to take info from foreign governments, I say of course he is! It’s how he won the White House. He certainly doesn’t have the knowledge or the character to turn opposition research down if it came from a foreign government.
I am sorry for everyone who has experienced dementia with a loved one.
Does dementia (at least in early stages) seem to magnify already evident personality traits?
Specifically, if someone has always been more self-absorbed and not very apologetic, are they more likely to have increased evidence of those traits as dementia begins?
Yes. He has that look in his eyes like he’s somewhere else far away. No life behind his eyes – vacant. My mom had Parkinson’s dementia and she had that look in her eyes at a certain point. I’m sure that he’s at the stage where he’s leaving things in the wrong place too. Like car keys in the freezer.
Yes
He looked so bizarre in that interview. His coloring of pink and orange combined with the yellow hair really adds up to a clown-like effect. A repulsive clown. He’s carrying a whole set of luggage under his eyes.
And he sounded like an imbecile as usual, so proud to repeat “oppo research” as if he knew what he was talking about.
It was so obvious he had just found out what “oppo research” was.
I thought the same thing too. It was very odd. Like they fed him a new word and he was using it as much as he could. He seems to be repeating things a lot more too. Like a parrot.
It is illegal, as in against the law, for a campaign to accept anything from a foreign government or someone who is not a US citizen. George should have immediately called him out on that. I am so sick of the media normalizing and empowering this tyrant.
I immediately thought of Hillary Clinton and how she must be feeling about all of this. If I were her I would be planning on suing him for everything he has when he leaves office.
I mean, why shouldn’t he? That’s not the right response, but its how I’m starting to feel lately. Why shouldn’t he make tons of money from foreign governments? Why shouldn’t he claim executive privilege at every turn? Why shouldn’t he take help from foreign entities?
He does what he wants and McConnell (and the rest of the Rs) just smirks and lets him.
Sorry, I’m in a mood today. I’ll be more optimistic tomorrow.
McConnell is such a creep and I firmly believe he has something very serious to hide. Also people like Santorum, with his gentle patronizing smile and endless reasoning why it’s not all so bad – this is his guy? This human sludge is the guy he likes to have as the President? WTF?
Santorum is just as ugly on the inside as Trump.
Why wouldn’t he? He did it before and it worked. Him and Bitch McConnell have gotten away with highjacking this country and turning it into a racist, sexist pig’s wet dream , so much so that he is being openly treasonous. He has been getting progressively worse since he was able to install that toady as AG. No one is going to stop him.
I haven’t watched the news in over a month and I feel so much better for it. I think I am going to quit twitter next and pick up reading again. The people I follow on that app keep reminding me how mediocre, greedy and petty white people got us into this and will keep us in this because they refuse to let white supremacy go. Not just the liberal trash who stayed home but the racists who helped with the voter suppression.. this includes the conservatives on the supreme court with Citizens United and their gutting of the VRA. and Sandberg and Zuckerberg at FB,
He is a crook who is used to breaking the law and never facing consequences – and somehow is still able to do this as effing President! I don’t know what will happen in 2020 but win or lose, Trump is going to find a way to destroy America.
“Trump is going to find a way to destroy America”
I think he already did, tbh. He can leave in 2020. We can get the wokest president of our history. But the damage is already done. Trump’s fanatics won’t suddenly see the light when he leaves. Hell, you saw how hard they went on Hillary after she lost. Imagine how hard they’ll go on the next president.
Trump already validated this way of doing politics. A friend of mine calls it “Kardashian konsumerism” – the idea that a product doesn’t have to be good in any way, it just needs people willing to buy it. There’s no standard, minimal quality. That’s how Trump operates. It doesn’t matter if he talks nonsense. It doesn’t matter if he violates the constitution. People support him. Those “minimums” for us are not “minimums” for them.
THAT’S what’s scary for me. Trump won’t be president forever. But his legacy – his validation of racism, misogyny, and utter disrespect for the law – that’ll stay around for a while. He’s given the GOP a pass to show their worst face, he’s encouraged them to embrace it with pride.
I’m convinced that this term is just the “dress rehearsal” to see what they can get away with. If he gets reelected in 2020 (and I’m afraid that he will with all of the voter suppression, gerrymandering, hacking and hostile foreign government help) that’s when the REAL fun will begin. I keep telling people that wall that they want to build can work BOTH ways.
Of course he would.
His entire campaign was in regular contact with a hostile enemy nation that the NSA said was interfering in our election.
He vetoed bi-partisan sanctions against Russia. He has a nice little quid pro quo going with one of our biggest enemies.
And the GOP is totally cool with it because they might win again. Petty. Cowards.
This is happening. Our “leader” says these things all the time. And our elected officials are doing absolutely nothing. What does any of this mean…exactly?
George and Lester achieved two of the most telling interview (confession) clips of the past two years.
He covers it all pretty clearly (for him). He’d probably take the information, “might” let authorities know… BUT hey, it’s all “oppo research” and the agents are so busy it probably wouldn’t matter if he/they reported it anyway.
Kids everywhere should use the “but it was just taste testing” excuse when stealing a cookie or candy. That is sarcasm to illustrate what a terrible example we have right now.
The part about the agents being too busy was rich, wasn’t it? Every day, I cannot believe this is real life.
It truly is unbelievable. FEC might as well toss out their lengthy campaign contribution rules, because supposedly agents are too busy to follow up on any violations anyway.
I have tried to avoid watching Orange, but George’s interview was truly a “let them have more rope” moment.
He would and did.
Since he claims all his buds do it, the press should ask him for specific names and the press should contact every single senator and representative to ask if it’s them..the press talks tough on air, but become spineless in one-on-one’s. And this ‘Norway’ fixation..remember when he said we need immigrants from Norway and not those “shit hole countries” (translation=people of color)? He’s openly flaunting his crimes because he can..ms. Pelosi, stop worrying about offending the magats and start taking this seriously!
Though it is nearly impossible to follow the logic, my guess was that he used Norway as a non-adversary example. Later, he can refer to mentioning that country to excuse everything else he said. “But I wasn’t talking about Russher or any countries like that! I said Norway!”
Well he IS a traitor so what should we expect?
I mean … we already know that, Donald.
As a French, I do not understand that a part of Americans, politicians and the FBI do not do anything against such a level of corruptions, Sweet Jesus, since 2016 this administration and Trump family violates all the rules of ethics and morals and I have the impression that everyone does not care. Its frust and annoys me so much, that there are days where I do not even look any more international news, I pray that idiot disappeare in 2020 (mainly in prison if it is possible).
It’s so easy for China or Russia or anyone really to create chaos in US atm. All they have to do is sit and watch how US is fighting within and self-imploding thanks to this administration.
There should not be just one President after this. There could be a group of three or four people elected. There also should be more than just two parties.
This is such a mess, an insane family of assholes stomping over us all. I hate them so much.
they played such pretty music whole Rome burned and the Titanic sank, what’s different here?
It is so depressing that this isn’t getting the bold headlines it deserves. He kept saying “no collusion”, but he’s admitting he’s willing to collude.
He’s so incredibly corrupt.
And the people who support him and this statement were probably the same people who posthumously convicted Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown of “not respecting the law” and therefore their murders were justified.
Rules for thee, but never for me.