Only three months remain before a
change in topic. Until January 20th, 2021 this monthly
article will focus on President Trump. Biden will earn some mentions
along the way, until he surpasses Trump on inauguration day.
With the election of Joe Biden in November, some might consider this exercise pointless, but it's possible that December and January may be the strangest, most bizarre months of the past four years.
Anyways, The Presidential Events of October 2020 can be found here.
Immigration:
The White House planned to accept only 15,000 refugees next year, down from 110,000 during the Obama Presidency. After separating infants and children from their parents at the border, the White House can't find the parents of 545 migrant children. Trump and his officials feigned sympathy as they tore apart desperate families, but a 2018 recording revealed their animosity. Melania Trump said, “Give me a fucking break,” regarding children being separated at the border (She used similar language to describe the necessity of Christmas decorating. Who can who can blame her? It's a sexist tradition when the nation demands that the President's wife decorate the White House). At the border Trump's wall cost billions more than initial estimates. Lawyers claimed that ICE offices tortured the Cameroonian asylum seekers so they would sign deportation orders.
Right Wing Violence:
At the first presidential debate between Trump and Biden, the President gave an evasive and confusing answer when asked to condemn white supremacists and militia groups. He said, “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by,” for which the best interpretation is, “Stand down,” but at worse would be, “Get ready.” It took 48 hours for an actual condemnation. The President repeatedly deploys this trick, a non-condemnation which the majority of the nation hears, and then an actual condemnation. Whenever he is questioned about the non-condemnation he can refer to the later condemnation for political cover.
At least thirteen men were inspired by the President's criticism of state lockdowns to act. Six men were charged by the FBI with the conspiracy to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Another seven militia members were charged under the state's anti-terrorism act. After the news broke, the President attacked Whitmer for doing “a terrible job”. When Whitmer asked Trump to stop inciting violence against her, the President encouraged chants of “lock her up!” Though the United States has always tolerated right wing violence, the President has cultivated it. With his encouragement the movement has grown to an unimaginable size. The acting secretary of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf, said he was, “particularly concerned about white supremacist violent extremists who have been exceptionally lethal in their abhorrent, targeted attacks in recent years.” A centrist think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said right-wing extremists were responsible for 67% of domestic terror attacks. Unfortunately police departments are sympathetic to right wing violence and brutal toward left wing protests. Almost one thousand examples of police brutality were recorded against left wing protesters this year. The Trump campaign even replaced the flag of the United States of America with the Thin Blue Line flag at his rally in Waukesha.
Rallies:
Rallies have diminished in their power to shock, but the President always attempts to make them relevant. In Minnesota Trump demonized the Somali immigrants who live there. He held rallies days after his coronavirus diagnosis (more on that later). The Minnesota Department of Health traced 20 cases of the coronavirus to one his rallies. A study at Stanford University said that eighteen Trump rallies caused 30,000 additional cases and 700 deaths. The President spent the closing days of the campaign ranting about the unfairness and the fakeness of a disease that killed more people than any cause except for cancer and heart disease.
The Supreme Court:
The Republicans voted on and seated Amy Barret as a Supreme Court Justice days before Election day, when people had already voted. She was the first Supreme Court Justice to win their seat without a single vote from the opposing party.
The Supreme Court allowed Trump to stop the Census count prematurely.
Voter Suppression:
Republican activists Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman were charged with calling minority voters and saying their information would be collected when they voted. Wohl and Burkman claimed the information would help officials track down police warrants and outstanding debt. The Californian Republican Party came under criminal investigation because it placed illegal ballot boxes. Republican Senator Mike Lee said, “We are not a democracy,” making him sound like any pedantic college freshman. He was speaking against a popular vote for President, against creating more states to give representatives to those taxed without representation. What he really means is that the minority (that he agrees with) should rule over the majority (who he disagrees with). A study by the University of Gothenburg in Sweden reported that the Republican party resembles the autocratic governments in charge of Turkey, Hungary, India, and Poland. These countries restrict the rights of minorities and are democratic only nature, clinging to the label as shield against criticism. They are unified in their religious nationalist. One example of the collusion was that the United States signed an anti-abortion statement with 30 authoritarian governments, including Egypt, Hungary, Belarus, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain.
Corruption:
Time is running out for the Trump family to take advantage of their position for personal gain. Additional reporting by the NYT on the President's taxes revealed that Ivanka took $750,000 in consulting fees from the Trump Organization, while an employee of the same, to reduce the company's tax burden. Though the President only paid $750 to the United States in taxes, he paid almost $200,000 to China. It appears that the President had $270 million in debt forgiven since 2010, because he was unable to repay his lenders. Whether this occurred since his election is difficult to ascertain because the President keeps claiming, falsely, that he can't release his tax returns. Since his treatment for Coronavirus with the experimental drug, Regeneron, Trump touted its effectiveness (though he couldn't possibly know what drug worked). The public later learned that the Chief Executive of Regeneron is friends with the President. The drug may be excellent, but the President's promotion of it is questionable. Fourteen Trump political appointees have violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits political advocacy by government officials. In comparison, only two Obama officials were sited in eight years. And when the President made the bizarre claim that Exxon gave him campaign cash for political favors, the company swiftly denied the accusation.
Foreign Policy:
The United States signed an agreement with Israel that allows taxpayer money to be spent in the illegal Israeli settlements.
North Korea displayed new missiles during a military parade celebrating it's 75th anniversary.
The Environment:
Trump has taken an unprecedented axe to national wilderness. He is the first President since 1963 to reduce a national monument, removing 85% of the Bears Ears from protected status. He devastated land by opening drilling nationwide. He lifted logging protections on Alaska's Tongass national forest, the largest intact temperate rainforest. And he removed the Grey Wolf from the protection of the Endangered Species Act.
The Department of Justice:
Trump lambasted Attorney General Bill Barr when the latter refused to release information about an investigation into the Russian probe. Simultaneously the DOJ continued to shield the President. A spokesperson said that the defamatory marks made by Trump against E Jean Carroll (who accused the President of rape), were, “an official White House response to press inquiries.”
On October 6th, the President tweeted, “I fully authorize the total Declassification of … all documents pertaining to … the Russia Hoax [and] the Hillary Clinton Email Scandal. No redactions!” A week later the DOJ argued in court that the President did mean what he tweeted. On the 16th a federal judge asked Trump to confirm whether he stood by his tweet. “I think the American public has a right to rely upon what the president says...” explained Judge Walton. The essence of the Trump presidency.
When Rudy Giuliani "discovered" a copy of a hard drive with emails intended to incriminate Hunter Biden and Joe Biden of wrong doing, Trump demanded Barr investigate.
A federal prosecutor picked by Barr to discover wrong around the Russia investigation concluded his search with no evidence.
Coronavirus Relief and the Economy:
At the start of the month Trump backed out of negotiations over coronavirus relief. He said negotiations would not resume until after the election. The next day he said he wanted a big deal. A big deal is held up by Senate Republicans who don't want increased spending. While Republican Senators dawdled, Columbia University estimated that 8 million Americans fell beneath the poverty line.
The Coronavirus:
On October 2nd the President finally contracted the coronavirus. I say finally, because the President has downplayed safety precautions (at least publicly) so it seemed only a matter of time. Unlike the other 11.5 million people in the United States who have fallen ill, the President went to Walter Reed hospital immediately, “out of an abundance of caution.” There he underwent the best treatment, paid for entirely by taxpayers, with drugs that are not available to the public.
It appeared that Trump and Melania contracted the disease at the White House reception for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barret. Not only were the participants packed together without masks, but part of it was indoors, making it a super-spreader event. In addition to POTUS and FLOTUS, Senators Tillis and Lee, the Press Secretary, Chris Christie, Kellyanne Conway, pastors, and aides became ill, numbering more than twenty in total. The Press Secretary refused to say how many White House officials tested positive as a result of the event.
Trump's time at the hospital was clouded by obfuscation and lies. While Trump's doctor said Trump was “doing very well, Mark Meadows claimed, “We're still not on a clear path to a full recovery.” After evading questions about details on Saturday, the doctor later admitted that Trump had been on oxygen on Friday. During his stay, the White House released photos which appeared to show Trump working. Two photos were taken that showed Trump wearing different clothes in different rooms. They seemed to imply that Trump was health and busy with work. The deception was revealed when a reported discovered that information embedded in the pictures showed the pictures were taken minutes apart. While still sick at the Walter Reed Medical Center Trump took a SUV ride to wave at supporters.
The White House refused to answer simple questions. When was the President's last negative coronavirus test? Did the President test before the Presidential debate on September 29th? Why did the President host a fundraiser on Thursday when he knew he had been in contact with a close aide who had tested positive for the coronavirus (putting at least 206 people in potential danger)?
After his week at the hospital the President was back on the campaign trail, violating CDC guidelines. The Press Secretary, the Vice President, and Bill Barr all refused to quarantine citing a negative test, even though the CDC says people who come in close contact with an infected person should quarantine for 14 days, even if they test negative.
None of this behavior is surprising.
Trump
has mocked health guidelines, recently claimed
that the flu is more deadly than the
coronavirus, and is generally
the source of more misinformation on the topic than any other.
Because of his arrogance, he has become increasingly vocal against his health advisors. He accused his FDA commissioner of acting in “another political hit job,” privately called Fauci “a disaster,” and labeled CNN as “dumb bastards.” Trump repeatedly claimed that “everyone” will stop talking about the coronavirus if he loses. It is impossible to know if he is narcissistic enough to think the pandemic is all about him. If people ever do stop talking about the coronavirus it will when the government finally has it under control. Meanwhile, Fauci claimed that Trump hadn't attended a coronavirus task force meeting in “several months.”
The only advisors he likes are those who have limited experience in the field and tweet, “Masks work? NO.”
The administration considered withholding millions of dollars of medical funding to New York, Portland, Washington D.C, and Seattle, which they had previously labeled “anarchist jurisdictions.”
And only days before the daily cases reached a new peak at 88,000 the White House Chief of Staff admitted, “We're not going to control the pandemic.” Some credit should be given to the White House for funding the vaccines that might be available to the public by next Spring. But you don't stop treating cancer because you can't cure it. You don't allow the bleeding to continue because you can't reattach the limb. It's possible, as they say, to walk and chew gum, except for this administration.
Insanity:
Trump retweeted a conspiracy that claimed that Obama and Biden killed a Bin Laden body double, and then arraigned for the death of the Seal Team 6.
In the midst of a 60 Minutes interview the President became combative and walked out. The White House then posted their footage of the interview online, before the official 60 Minute video.
Biden:
He said, “You’ll know my position on court packing when the election is over.” Biden said he didn't want to answer because the answer would be the story. He thought it was bad politics to answer. I disagree. His decision was one of many bad political decisions he made. First, it kept the story relevant, because of his intransigence. Reporters could continue to pester him about his non-answer. Second, it fired up Trump supporters. They saw it as part of a conspiracy, even if it wasn't. Third, it demoralized progressive voters who want an expanded Supreme Court. His evasive answer probably didn't decide the election, but it was still a bad decision.
There's still two and a half months of Trump Events to go, until we see what Biden's up to.
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