This morning’s Twitter burst of a record number of retweets apparently wasn’t enough for President Trump.
He still needed to get a few things off his ample bosom, including the bizarre admission that he won the 2016 election because he didn’t release his tax returns.
I won the 2016 Election partially based on no Tax Returns while I am under audit (which I still am), and the voters didn’t care. Now the Radical Left Democrats want to again relitigate this matter. Make it a part of the 2020 Election!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 11, 2019
While the essence of that statement is actually true, his victory with substantial assistance from a massive Russian influence campaign came in spite of his failure to release his returns rather than because of a lack of voter interest in them.
Not having made any declaration of “No Collusion” in hours, Trump also felt the need to restate his usual parcel of lies about the findings of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report, hoping that the endless repetition of his self-interested and delusional interpretation of the report will convince a few more people that what they read in the report doesn’t mean what the words on the page say they do.
So now the Radical Left Dems don’t talk about Collusion anymore, because the Mueller Report said there was No Collusion, they only want to talk about Obstruction, even though there was No Obstruction or No Crime – except for the crimes committed by the other side!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 11, 2019
However, it was Trump’s lies about the 25% tariff that his administration imposed on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods yesterday that had the president exceeding the Twitter character limit for a single tweet and forcing him to split his prevarications and threats over two separate posts.
….The only problem is that they know I am going to win (best economy & employment numbers in U.S. history, & much more), and the deal will become far worse for them if it has to be negotiated in my second term. Would be wise for them to act now, but love collecting BIG TARIFFS!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 11, 2019
Trump attempts to both praise himself and threaten China at the same time with a confident prediction of winning a second term — an event that a majority of Americans would welcome as much as an outbreak of Ebola in this country according to recent polls — coupled with a typical conman’s enticement to “buy now before prices go up!” while muttering the equivalent of “or else we’ll shoot your dog” under his breath.
The economics-challenged president — who was surely livid over the fact that the nickname that comedian Bill Maher gave him last night on his HBO program (#Brokeahontas, a reference to both his insulting nickname for Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and his status as the biggest money loser in IRS history) was the top trending hashtag on his favorite social media platform — also proved that he has no idea how tariffs actually work.
Yes, the revenue from tariffs is deposited in the U.S. Treasury. However, tariffs are not paid by the Chinese government or the manufacturers of the goods subject to them. They are paid by the American importers of the goods who generally pass the costs along as a sort of regressive tax that harms those most affected by higher prices, i.e., the poorest Americans.
The only harm to China comes if the tariffs lead U.S. companies to seek lower prices by buying elsewhere, only an option if the goods in question are manufactured somewhere else besides China.
Plus, the fact that China can and will retaliate by ceasing to purchase goods from American suppliers — as soybean farmers are learning painfully — inflicts additional harm on the U.S. economy in a manner that seems to be beyond the capacity of the president’s mind to grasp.
With each tweet, President Trump digs himself into a deeper hole. Amazingly, his supporters think he’s standing on a mountain while he goes further into the pit of lies and deception.
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