Guess what, President Donald Trump is doing a campaign rally. It is in Tupelo, Mississippi. Tweets in this thread.
Trump says that when he was growing up, people said he looked like Elvis aside from his blonde hair.
Trump says that he "couldn't campaign too much" in the House because there are so many seats, but the "fake news" doesn't like to talk about the Senate and various other Republican victories.
Trump complains that his "guys" didn't set up the room optimally, should have pushed the media back. He adds, "Sometimes my people let me down. That happens a little bit."
Trump on the day of the GM cuts: "For years you watched as powerful forces in Washington shipped away your jobs. You saw that. You saw that. That's changing. You see what's coming in. So many companies coming in to Mississippi. And everyplace else, by the way."
Trump: "Are we doing OK on the border, folks?"
Crowd: "YAAAAA!"
Crowd: "Build that wall!"
Trump boasts of the "nasty-looking wire" the troops have erected.
Crowd: "YAAAAA!"
Crowd: "Build that wall!"
Trump boasts of the "nasty-looking wire" the troops have erected.
For the 33rd time as president, Trump lies that foreign governments put problem citizens into the U.S. green card lottery to get rid of them. This time, in Tupelo, he adds that the governments aren't putting Elvises into that lottery.
The media doesn't show the crowd, "they don't want people to know how many people are here," they refuse to spin the cameras, copy-paste
Trump keeps falsely claiming the unemployment rate is at the lowest level in "more than 50 years." It's the lowest in 49 years. He said this correctly a few times, then, as usual, couldn't resist making it bigger and wronger.
Trump, campaigning for Cindy Hyde-Smith, calls the Republican Party "the home of Abraham Lincoln."
Trump is reprising his pre-midterms rally lies, saying Democrats are running on a platform of "open borders."
I always note Trump's needless exaggerations. I think they're revealing in their own way. Also, all facts matter.
Trump says he has brought a "star" to the rally: Sen. Lindsey Graham. He says Graham's "brilliant and beautiful" speech during the Kavanaugh hearings really helped their cause.
Lindsey Graham: "If you like Kavanaugh, there's more coming."
Hyde-Smith says she's standing up for pro-life and pro-gun positions, "the conservative values of Mississippi."
Right. I think the little stretches can be just as interesting as big traditional lies. And I don't think we should let misstatements slide because noting them makes us seem pedantic. If he's gonna be wrong in little ways, we gotta do little corrections.
Trump on Democratic candidate Mike Espy: "He's far left. Oh, he's out there. How does he fit in with Mississippi?...How does he fit in?" As usual in red states, he says this local Democrat will vote with the national party leadership.
Trump: "I do really want to run against a true socialist."
Trump repeats his usual nonsense about how Republicans will always stand up for people with pre-existing conditions, which they and he have not done.
Trump is lying about how the media covered his lie about Democrats wanting to give illegal immigrants Rolls-Royces, claiming the media fact-checked a joke. He joked about this at a rally one day, then turned it into a statement of fact the next day.
Trump, citing the mayor of Tijuana, claims the caravan migrants are "tough" people, then adds: "We don't want those people in Mississippi. I'm sorry. Of course, I know you'd win the fight, but who needs it? Who needs it? Who needs it?"
This speech is a bit weird because he's saying the same things he said over and over before the congressional midterms, which are over except for this race.
"We've actually started big sections of the wall," Trump lies for the 76th time in office.
Trump with a wild lie about the World Trade Organization and China, saying it was "actually meant for THEM, to take advantage of us." That is not even remotely close to reality.
Trump falsely claims China was "flatlining" before it entered the WTO. As Nicholas Lardy of the Peterson Institute wrote in 2008: "China has been the fastest growing economy in the world over almost three decades, expanding at 10 per cent per year in real terms."
Trump repeats his usual statement that he does not blame other countries for taking advantage of the U.S. He blames past U.S. leaders for "allowing these other countries to get away with it."
Trump: "Am I a politician? I don't know." Some people in the crowd say no, he isn't.
Trump says countries like Mexico used to be "stealing" car companies, but under his new deal, "All of that's not going to happen anymore. They're not going to be leaving our country."
Trump on his new trade agreement: "The USMCA. Like YMCA. The song. YMCA." He sings: "Y-M-C-A."
Trump lies again: "Guess what? You have no more estate tax to pay. You have no more death tax to pay." Trump has not eliminated the estate tax.
For the 28th time, Trump lies that Obama said "manufacturing's never coming back, it's gone." That's a gross mischaracterization of Obama's 2016 comments; he said certain jobs were gone, but also boasted about how many were coming into the country under him.
For the 50th time, Trump tells his usual big lie about how he was the one who got the Veterans Choice health program passed after "44 years" of trying. It was passed under Obama in 2014. Trump signed the VA MISSION Act, which modifies the Choice program.
Trump does his usual exaggeration on pay raises for the troops, saying for the 16th time that it's the biggest in "more than a decade." It's the biggest in nine years. As with other claims, he started off reading this correctly from his texts, then added a couple years, because.
Trump says that presidents used to apologize for America but now there is Donald Trump who loves America. There are cheers for the concept of standing for the national anthem. He calls his movement the greatest "in political history."
Trump was winding up to his inspirational scripted conclusion but then said, "We have a lot of bad people. We have a lot of phony stuff. Like the Russian witch hunt garbage."
A bit earlier, Trump hailed today's Mars landing and claimed he has reinvigorated NASA, though he also believes in rich guys funding their private space stuff.
Trump has concluded Mississippi rally #1. He'll do another one at 9 PM.
Trump sometimes tries to cram some celeb he's with, or whose town he's in, into his policy claims. Among others: "Henry Kissinger does not want to pay 116% increase in his premiums"; Phil Mickelson doesn't find it acceptable to wait days for a doctor.
