Children being ripped from their families at the border? No problem.
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A wave of right-wing terrorist attacks killing people across the nation? What, me worry?
Income inequality destroying America’s middle class? Business as usual.
A fire burning down France’s Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris? Now, that really puts a damper on things!
President Trump’s twisted priorities were on full display today at a speech at Nuss Truck and Equipment, a Minnesota business where the president participated in a roundtable discussion on the economy and taxes. While the tragedy unfolding in Paris was surely a major cultural loss for both France and the entire world, the tragedy of the Trump administration’s performance was borne out in his comments at the event.
Vox‘s Aaron Rupar live-tweeted the speech with accompanying video clips, a few of which we’ll include here along with suitable translations from the president’s idiosyncratic vernacular.
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Trump on Notre Dame Cathedral fire: "They think it was caused by renovation. I hope that's the reason. Renovation, what's that all about?" pic.twitter.com/NKdKEVjZbd
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 15, 2019
While it seems fairly astonishing that a former real estate developer would need to ask why a centuries-old church might be in need of renovation, it helps to remember that the Trump Organization was never known for being the most attentive of landlords.
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Of course, it would not be a proper Trump speech without a racist dog whistle, and the president did not disappoint. Forgetting that the state of Minnesota was primarily populated by immigrants from Germany and Scandinavia before being joined by Irish, Italian, Eastern European, Hmong, and Vietnamese populations, the president offered pity to local residents who he claimed had been “treated extremely unfairly in the world of immigration” once a wave of Somali refugees from Africa began settling in the state in the 1990s.
https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1117863355199283205
Given the location of his speech, Trump felt compelled to pander to his audience with a reminder of his personal love of trucks, a fact well-documented pictorially.
Trump smears the New York Times as "fake," but then proceeds to read a New York Times article. pic.twitter.com/lOrEFbzNBs
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 15, 2019
Spoiler alert: the Fox News-spoon-fed President soon admits that he never makes it past reading the headlines to delve into the actual content of the articles he peruses — which would go a long way towards explaining his phenomenal ignorance.
TRUMP: "You have been treated badly by past administrations in terms of the internet and in getting access to the internet. We are making it a priority. We call it rural America. But rural America is a big place. And it's very red on the map." (Minnesota is a blue state.) pic.twitter.com/Shn1vqBmWy
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 15, 2019
Trump was soon back to extolling his racist immigration policies with implied promises to keep Minnesota white by restricting further refugees from entering the country.
TRUMP: "We will always be protecting pre-existing conditions, remember that. [Applause] Very important. Very important." pic.twitter.com/OMepeDhlpT
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 15, 2019
It’s a terrible shame that the president is so intent on “protecting pre-existing conditions” through his administration’s efforts in court to repeal the Affordable Care Act, rather than protecting the coverage of pre-existing conditions by health insurance companies that the vast majority of the country desires.
Of course, Trump offered other officials the opportunity to prostrate themselves at his feet to offer praise before taking an obligatory shot at Democrats.
Trump claims Democrats "don't like energy."
He then says "the Iron Range is very important, it is very big and it is in its final stages." #wut pic.twitter.com/IyupNm8582
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 15, 2019
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It was back to his immigration rant after that and a revealing comment as to why the topic occupies such a large part of his diminished intellect.
Trump says that he thinks Republicans "can retake the House over this issue" — that issue being his fear-mongering about immigrants pic.twitter.com/njlrSwrso4
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 15, 2019
Trump closed his speech without having spent much time discussing the economy or taxes, but on a day when so many Americans are discovering exactly how much of the Republican tax cut went to benefit Trump’s billionaire donors rather than the middle class, being spared too many of the president’s lies about his magnificent tax reform achievement was a blessing in disguise.
After a lengthy rant, Trump closes the event with this: "Hopefully they did better than they were doing when I left the plane, but it was not a good situation with respect to Notre Dame Cathedral. Thank you all very much. It is a great honor to be with you." pic.twitter.com/NEtsqlEgQz
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 15, 2019
Thanks to Aaron Rupar for his conscientious reporting on President Trump’s Minnesota speech. Despite the President’s reference to the Notre Dame fire dominating the news today, it is the content of Trump’s own words that really puts a damper on our lives at the moment. If only he had the awareness to realize that fact.
