2017 - Page 103 of 105

Graham ‘Apologizes’ to Cruz

January 13, 2017 Buck Banks

I want to apologize to Ted for saying he should be killed on the Senate floor.

— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), quoted by The Hill, in a joint interview with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).

Mexico Is Not Paying for the Wall

January 13, 2017 Buck Banks

It is evident that we have some differences with the new government of the United States, like the topic of the wall, that Mexico of course will not pay.

— Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, reiterating “that Mexico would not pay for a border wall between it and the U.S., despite President-elect Donald Trump’s claims to the contrary earlier in the day,” Politico reports.

Grassley: Trump’s Immune to Blackmail

January 13, 2017 Buck Banks

It seems to me that when you go back through the campaign and all the things that Trump said that ought to give him political problems and all the things that were caught on tape? — ?that he would probably just as soon not have the world know about it? –? it’s kind of improbable to me that anybody who knows anything about Trump? — ?that’s going to end up hurting Trump. And he was elected President of the United States.

— Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), telling WBZ in Boston that he’s not concerned that Russia may have information which could compromise President-elect Donald Trump.

Inauguration Planners Replacing Absent A-Listers with ‘Soft Sensuality’

January 11, 2017 Buck Banks

What we’ve done instead of trying to surround him with what people consider A-listers is we are going to surround him with the soft sensuality of the place. It’s a much more poetic cadence than having a circus-like celebration that’s a coronation.

— Trump inauguration planner Tom Barrack, quoted by Politico.

Majority Think Trump Will Be too Impulsive as President

January 11, 2017 Buck Banks

58%

Of Americans think that Donald Trump will be too impulsive, while 34% think he will be about right and just 4% think he will be too cautious in his decision-making when it comes to important decisions, according to a new Pew Research survey. Meanwhile, as confirmation hearings for Trump’s cabinet nominees begin, 41% say they approve of his cabinet choices and other high-level appointees, while 49% say that they disapprove.

More Americans Think Trump Will Be Worse Than Obama as President

January 11, 2017 Buck Banks

45%

Of American voters think Donald Trump will be a worse president than Barack Obama, while 34% say he will be a better president and 15% say he will be about the same, according to a new Quinnipiac poll. Voters disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president-elect, 51% to 37%.

Is Trump the New Nixon?

January 10, 2017 Buck Banks

Trump is not just the most emotionally fragile president since Nixon: He’s literally planning to hang a framed letter from R.N. in the Oval Office. He modeled his RNC speech last summer off Nixon’s from 48 years earlier. Repudiating Reaganism, which won the Cold War, he’s embracing Nixon’s ‘madman theory’ of foreign policy. He’s consulting with the disgraced former president’s advisers. He’s stocking his West Wing with his protégés – including one whom he has decided to stand by despite egregious plagiarism that no other White House would tolerate.

— James Hohmann

Trump Mentioned Wikileaks 164 Times in Last Month of Campaign

January 9, 2017 Buck Banks

164

Number of times candidate Donald Trump mentioned Wikileaks in the last 30 days of the campaign according to ThinkProgress, which “calculated the number by reviewing transcripts of Trump’s speeches, media appearances and debates over the last 30 days of the campaign.”

A Moment That Will Never Be Again

January 8, 2017 Trish

How about every moment?

Pat Robertson: God Has Ended Drought in West Because Voters There Rejected Trump

January 7, 2017January 20, 2017 Jon Ponder

This is just in from CBN. Rev. Pat Robertson has described the drought-ending rains on the West Coast as “a blessing from God” because people there voted overwhelming against Donald Trump.

Robertson described Trump as a hate-filled racist and a misogynistic serial philanderer whose life is focused solely on the pursuit of money.*

[…]

I want to apologize to Ted for saying he should be killed on the Senate floor.

— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), quoted by The Hill, in a joint interview with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).

It is evident that we have some differences with the new government of the United States, like the topic of the wall, that Mexico of course will not pay.

— Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, reiterating “that Mexico would not pay for a border wall between it and the U.S., despite President-elect Donald Trump’s claims to the contrary earlier in the day,” Politico reports.

— Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), telling WBZ in Boston that he’s not concerned that Russia may have information which could compromise President-elect Donald Trump.

What we’ve done instead of trying to surround him with what people consider A-listers is we are going to surround him with the soft sensuality of the place. It’s a much more poetic cadence than having a circus-like celebration that’s a coronation.

— Trump inauguration planner Tom Barrack, quoted by Politico.

58%

45%

Of American voters think Donald Trump will be a worse president than Barack Obama, while 34% say he will be a better president and 15% say he will be about the same, according to a new Quinnipiac poll. Voters disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president-elect, 51% to 37%.

— James Hohmann

164

Number of times candidate Donald Trump mentioned Wikileaks in the last 30 days of the campaign according to ThinkProgress, which “calculated the number by reviewing transcripts of Trump’s speeches, media appearances and debates over the last 30 days of the campaign.”

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“The man is afraid of the voice of the people and that the people understand and know what he’s doing. He’s trying to stifle the ability of journalists to let the people of America know what’s really going on with their government.”

— “Kamala Harris called President Donald Trump’s ban of CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House ‘absolutely abhorrent,’” The Wrap reports.

“Not one of them is trained in technical skills. Not one research PhD, as opposed to China, where half the cabinet is science and technology PhDs. We’re led by grifters and fools.”

— Columbia professor Jeffrey Sachs, on X, on President Trump’s 35-person cabinet.

“Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far… The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today.”

— Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), breaking with President Trump in a direct-to-camera video.

Numerati

1,000

10%

“The unprecedented spate of mid-decade redistricting for the U.S. House has changed the congressional districts for one-tenth of Americans and significantly altered the makeup of at least one-fifth of districts, according to a new study,” the Associated Press reports.

71%

$9.5 billion

“The Trump administration last year spent $9.5 billion on paid administrative leave for federal workers as part of its plan to shrink the government and save taxpayers money, according to a new estimate by a congressional watchdog,” CNN reports.

470

Reuters has documented at least 470 targets of retribution under Trump’s leadership – from federal employees and prosecutors to universities and media outlets. The list illuminates the sweeping effort by the president and his administration to punish dissent and reshape the government.