Philadelphia Inquirer: ‘Donald Trump Should Leave the Race’

'Biden had a horrible night Thursday. But the debate about the debate is misplaced. The only person who should withdraw from the race is Trump.'

Inquirer: Trump told more than 30 lies during the debate to go with the more than 30,000 mistruths told during his four years as president. He dodged the CNN moderators’ questions, took no responsibility for his actions, and blamed others, mainly Biden, for everything that is wrong in the world.

Trump’s response to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection he fueled was farcical. He said a “relatively small number of people” went to the Capitol and many were “ushered in by the police.”

After scheming to overturn the 2020 election, Trump refused to say if he would accept the results of the 2024 election. Unless, of course, he wins.

The debate served as a reminder of what another four years of Trump would look like. More lies, grievance, narcissism, and hate. Supporters say they like Trump because he says whatever he thinks. But he mainly spews raw sewage.

Trump attacks the military. He denigrates the Justice Department and judges. He belittles the FBI and the CIA. He picks fights with allies and cozies up to dictators.

Trump is an unserious carnival barker running for the most serious job in the world. During his last term, Trump served himself and not the American people.

Trump spent chunks of time watching TV, tweeting, and hanging out at his country clubs. Over his four-year term, Trump played roughly 261 rounds of golf.

Trump’s Nord Stream Pipeline Lie: ‘I Ended It. It Was Dead’

Nord Stream pipeline route
Nord Stream pipeline route

The Hill: In his rambling May 31 monologue following his felony convictions, Donald Trump somehow found time to reference the ill-fated Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline between Russia and Germany. Trump declared: “I ended the Russian pipeline. It was dead. He [Biden] comes in and approves it.” Trump went on to allege that Biden did so because money from the former mayor of Moscow’s wife was paid to the Biden family.

Similarly, in a speech at CPAC last year, Trump noted that he “got along very well with Putin even though I’m the one that ended his pipeline. … I ended it. It was dead.” Trump added that “nobody ever heard of Nord Stream 2 until I came along.”

In fact, Trump did not stop Nord Stream 2 — he enabled it. The Nord Stream 2 pipeline went from zero to 90 percent completed during Trump’s presidency. Rather than stop it “dead,” the Trump administration rejected years of bipartisan congressional calls for imposition of sanctions to stop the project. Only when Congress, in frustration, passed mandatory sanctions did the administration finally take concrete action. But by then it was too late.

Another Scam: Audience at Trump’s Rally at Black Church Was Maga White

Predominantly white MAGA audience at  a June 16, 2024, Trump event billed as a "Black roundtable"
Predominantly white MAGA audience at a June 16, 2024, Trump event billed as a “Black roundtable,” via Raw Story

On Fox News, MAGA propagandist Kellyanne Conway told Trump-aligned presenter Maria Baritoromo, “You got Donald Trump in Detroit talking to 8,000 people at a Black church.” Politico.com headlined its story about this event in Detroit on June 16: “Trump Courts Black Voters in Detroit.”

In fact, there were fewer than 300 people in the pews and an estimated 90 percent of them were white. According to Raw Story:

The evangelical church is in the heart of Detroit’s west side and has a mainly Black congregation.

But photos caught by the media, and shared widely online, showed a lot of white people in the audience.

“It’s all lies, smoke, and mirrors,” wrote Jeff Timmer a Republican and senior adviser at the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, on X.

Jeffrey Evan Gold, a frequent legal analyst on networks including CNN and ABC, wrote, “MAGA whites in the hood for Trump.”

And Ben Meiselas, the co-founder of the progressive Meidas Touch, wrote, “Everything is a scam!!!!”

Crow Reveals He Bribed Justice Thomas with Three Additional Free Trips

3

Number of additional bribes Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas accepted from GOP megadonor Harlan Crow. The AP reports that a Democratic-led Senate Committee found that “Thomas took three trips, and at least six flights, on Crow’s private jet in 2017, 2019 and 2021. The panel also found evidence of private jet travel during trips to Indonesia and California that Thomas recently disclosed in an amendment to a 2019 financial disclosure report.”

Trump: ‘Do I Stay on Top of the Boat and Get Electrocuted or Do I Jump over by the Shark and Not Get Electrocuted?’

Transcript of his infamous sharks and batteries rant

Donald Trump, convicted felon, at a MAGA rally: “Beautiful company, beautiful. Guy’s been doing it for 50 years, sells hundreds of boats. They use Mercury engines. They want to take that out, they want to make it all-electric. I asked, ‘How is it?’

“He said, ‘It’s a problem, sir, they want us to make all electric boats. The problem is, the boat is so heavy, it can’t float.’ (Remember, one of the “tells” that Trump is lying is he’ll say someone else called him “sir.”)

“I said, ‘That sounds like a problem.’

“He said, ‘Also it can’t go fast because of the weight, and they want to now have a 50-mile or 70-mile radius. You have to go out 70 miles before you can really start the boat up, and you go out at two knots. That’s essentially almost like two miles an hour.’

“I said, ‘How long does it take you to get out there?’

“He said, ‘Many hours, and then you’re allowed to go around for ten minutes, and then you have to come back, because the battery only lasts a very short period of time.’

“So I said, ‘let me ask you a question,’ and he said, ‘Nobody has ever asked this question.’ And it must because of MIT, my relationship to MIT. ‘Very smart,’ he goes. (His brother John taught at MIT.)

[…]

Swalwell Schools Congressional MAGAs: ‘You May Be in a Cult’

'Guys, I’m starting to think you’re in a cult'

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA)

“My colleagues, none of this today that you are bringing makes sense—your inconsistencies, your hypocrisy, your sycophancy. Unless you are in a cult,” Rep. Eric SwalWell (D-CA) said, addressing his MAGA colleagues at a June 4, 2024, congressional hearing. “And guys, I’m starting to think you’re in a cult. That is your right. But it’s not your responsibility. I promise you, that’s not what your constituents would want.”

Swallwell was responding to the MAGA party’s reaction to the conviction five days earlier of their leader, Donald Trumps, on 34 felony counts of fraud in New York.

He continued: “So if you believe in states’ rights, except when a jury in that state convicts your nominee for president, you might be in a cult.

[…]