GOP officials plot dystopian pregnancy database

 

Today's Top Stories:

Oklahoma Republicans introduce bill to create a database for tracking women considering abortions
The GOP's war on women has entered a frightening, dystopian phase.

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VIDEO OF THE DAY: Trump adviser Peter Navarro called out for his "un-American" plan to steal the election
The MAGA minion fell to pieces explaining his clearly criminal ideas about how American elections work.

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BOMBSHELL: Democrats score HUGE win ahead of midterms
No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen: WOW.

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Trump denies report he flushed printed paper down White House toilet
Satire is dead, buried, and apparently lodged in the pipes.

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Biden warns Americans in Ukraine to leave, says sending troops to evacuate would be "world war"
The president issued the warning during a wide-ranging new interview with NBC News.

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Republican Senate candidate ignites outrage with new ad in which he wields a gun against President Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and Mark Kelly
It must be noted that Kelly's wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords, previously survived a would-be assassin's gunshot to the head.  [JIM LAMON ARIZONA REPUBLICAN]

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1/6 investigators find glaring "gaps" in Trump White House call logs
The logs don't reflect all the calls that investigators then-President Trump was making that day, raising obvious concerns about what's being concealed.

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Lauren Boebert still refuses to "tone it down"
United Rural Democrats: She's digging her own political grave, and we need to take advantage! Could you spare $7 to fund our grassroots rural organizing project today?

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Fire company suspended after alleged racist remarks, mocking of 8-year-old girl killed in police shooting
2022, y'all.  PENNSYLVANIA

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Judge rebukes RNC's "legitimate political discourse" language at 1/6 sentencing
The RNC may soon regret throwing their lot in so publicly with the Capitol insurrectionists.

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Trump remains in contact with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un
The disturbing information was revealed in journalist Maggie Haberman's much-anticipated book about the former president.

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Republican deputy attorney general resigns in Virginia after posts surface of her applauding 1/6 rioters
Monique Miles resigned from her position Thursday after Facebook posts surfaced showing she had applauded 1/6 rioters and falsely claimed that Trump won the 2020 presidential election.

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Seriously?

16-year-old charged for bomb threats to mostly Black schools

Couple used foster care system to find sex-trafficking victims

80-year-old’s missing Wordle alerts daughter to naked intruder

Three US-Canada border crossings cut off by anti-vax protests

Family misses chance to see dying mother because of trucker protest

Yes. Seriously.

Putin's superyacht abruptly leaves Germany amid sanction warnings

Russian President Vladimir Putin's yacht Graceful.Marcus Brandt/picture alliance via Getty Images

• Vladimir Putin's yacht Graceful left Hamburg before finishing repairs, German media reported.

• It is speculated Graceful made an abrupt exit to avoid Western sanctions if Russia invaded Ukraine.

• The luxury superyacht is said to be worth at least $100 million.

A yacht named Graceful and said to belong to Russian President Vladimir Putin left port in Hamburg abruptly before finishing repairs, according to reports from German media.

It is unclear what prompted the move, but the $100 million yacht's relocation from German waters to Kaliningrad, part of Russian territory, came amid fears the West would impose sanctions if Russia invaded Ukraine.

While Moscow has continuously denied any plans to invade its neighbor, it has gathered over 100,000 troops at positions all around Ukraine and has even sent six assault ships into the Black Sea, moving more combat power toward the former Soviet territory.

The US and UK have warned of sanctions on Russian elites, and President Joe Biden has threatened to sanction Putin personally should Russia decide to attack Ukraine. He has also deployed troops to Eastern Europe to support NATO members and has put thousands of US troops on "heightened alert" as tensions rise.

Some have speculated that sanctions could target certain luxury assets. Graceful was spotted on a public maritime-traffic-tracking site sailing for Kaliningrad.

Russia begins major military drills as Ukraine tensions intensify

Trump's 'historic' trade deal with China goes bust

Even on the day two years ago that the trade deal was inked, there was skepticism that China would live up to its pledge to spend $200 billion more on U.S. goods and services.

But a new study finds China didn’t even spend an additional dime on U.S. products.

Capitol Report (June 2020): Trump asked China’s Xi to buy U.S. farm products to help him win re-election, Bolton book says

Also see (June 2020): Bolton book adds urgency to Trump bid to depict himself as a China hawk and to paint Biden as a Beijing apologist

Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute for International Economics examined the so-called Phase 1 agreement inked during the administration of former President Donald Trump.

China agreed to buy at least $227.9 billion of U.S. exports in 2020 and $274.5 billion in 2021, for a total of $502.4 billion over the pact’s two years, he noted. In reality: U.S. exports of covered goods and services to China over the two years totaled $288.8 billion.

There were many reasons for this failure. The trade war that preceded the trade pact, finalized in January 2020, meant that U.S. goods exporters started in a hole, Bown said.

Another reason for the failure was the fatal crash of two Boeing BA, -0.04% jets, which led the U.S. airplane maker to halt 737 Max production and led China to cancel orders.

Also see (January 2022): Boeing stock gains after $1.4 billion order from China Airlines

The pandemic was another big factor, as it slammed services exports, as well as travel and education. Financial-services exports and charges for intellectual property were down slightly in 2020, though Bown said they may improve over the longer term.

U.S. agricultural exports, which were politically significant, did recover from the trade war but also fell shy of commitments under the deal, Bown said.

Bown conceded that the deal wasn’t a total washout. “The deal did halt his spiraling trade war. And several of its elements should be kept, notably China’s commitments to remove technical barriers to U.S. farm exports, respect intellectual property, and open up its financial services sector,” he said. But the main lesson of the phase one agreement, according to Bown, was that different terms for the trade relationship are still needed.

Opinion: Trump negotiated a bad trade deal that Biden perplexingly continues

White father and son charged for chasing, shooting at Black FedEx driver in Mississippi

Star Russian Olympic skater tests positive for banned substance

Hope...

GoodGoodGood: Youth training to defend Amazon rainforest

New COVID-19 test gives results in just 5 minutes

7 steps for having the most productive workday

Resort built in protected area to be demolished, Spanish court rules

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POLITICO NIGHTLY: Biden’s Ukraine tightrope

 

BY TYLER WEYANT GETTING LOUDER ON THE EASTERN FRONT — The White House continues to walk a tightrope when it comes to Russia, balancing shows of military strength with attempts to keep diplomacy alive. President Joe Biden made a move to bolster that strength today by announcing that about 2,000 U.S.-based troops are heading to Poland and Germany, while shifting 1,000 from Germany to Romania. Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a press briefing today that “these are not permanent moves,” but reassurance for allies as Russia continues its buildup of troops along Ukraine’s borders. And reassurance has also taken a linguistic turn, as White House press secretary Jen Psaki said today the White House would no longer use the word “imminent” to describe a potential Russian invasion, as it sent an “unintended” message. What do these shifts in the placement of troops and the selection of words mean for the prospect of war? To find the answers to this and more, we chatted over Slack with Defense reporter Paul McLeary. This conversation has been edited. What can 3,000 troops do? Is the main purpose for these forces a symbolic show of unity? Or will they have specific missions in helping deter Russian aggression in the region? The troops won’t be in Ukraine, and won’t be directly on the border, either. But as NATO debates whether to activate its 40,000-strong NATO Response Force, the deployments show that the United States is willing to move unilaterally, and with some force. The 1,700 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne heading to Poland are some of the best in the Army, and the highly mobile troops from the 2nd Cavalry Regiment moving from Germany to Romania can cover a lot of ground very quickly, and are something the Romanian government has previously asked to deploy to their country. Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby, seen in reflection, speaks during a briefing at the Pentagon in Washington. | AP Photo/Andrew Harnik Do we think this will be the only deployment of troops in the near term to Eastern Europe? And do we know if officials have come up with events that would trigger further moves? The Pentagon said today that there are still around 8,500 troops on alert in the U.S., and others in Europe that could move quickly if called upon. Hungary, which borders Ukraine, has already said it’s not interested in any more allied troops, but Slovakia and the three Baltic countries have all said loud and clear they would welcome more American troops at any time. The likeliest way would be for more troops to move from Germany into the Baltics, where the American footprint is very small. There are about 100 U.S. forces in Lithuania, and 60 in Latvia and Estonia on temporary assignments, as opposed to the 4,000 in Poland and 900 already in Romania. Just this past week, the 81st Stryker Brigade Combat Team — a National Guard unit from Washington state — arrived in Poland, and they could move into any of the three Baltic countries quickly. Along with troops, can we expect more equipment and weapons — what the Pentagon calls “lethal aid” — to enter the region? Without a doubt. The Biden administration is more than happy to publicize the weaponry it is sending to Ukraine, which included about 300 Javelin anti-tank missiles last month, and several tons of small arms ammo. It’s relatively easy for the U.S. to push new arms shipments into Ukraine, and over the last several weeks, Poland and the U.K. have very publicly delivered lethal weapons. But there’s a limit. The things the Ukrainians really want — Patriot air defense systems, multiple rocket launchers, advanced drones, armored vehicles, and artillery — are more expensive and take months to train crews to use them. In the short term, the U.S. assistance will likely remain at the level of ammunition, counter-mortar radars, medical supplies and anti-tank missiles. Do regional partners seem satisfied with the moves and support being provided by the U.S. up to now? It’s an incredibly fluid situation, but for the most part NATO seems to be speaking with one voice. That doesn’t mean there aren’t internal power dynamics at work. The French want the situation in Ukraine to be handled by continental powers ... with France in the lead. The British appear to be looking at the situation as an opportunity to flex some muscle and show leadership in the wake of Brexit and declining defense budgets, while Germany is pursuing a purely diplomatic track. The smaller NATO allies in the Baltic region and countries along the alliance’s eastern border (save Hungary, where PM Viktor Orban held a press conference with Vladimir Putin in Moscow Tuesday where he sympathized with the Russian stance) want more U.S. involvement, and they want it now. Today’s troop deployment announcement temporarily fills that need, but don’t be surprised to see more U.S. troops, and more weapons, heading to Europe in the coming weeks. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Washington’s professional football team has a new name: The Commanders. Hopefully they can command slightly more success than one playoff win since 2000. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com. Or contact tonight’s author at tweyant@politico.com, or on Twitter at @tweyant. WHAT'D I MISS? — Trump considered blanket pardons for Jan. 6 rioters before he left office: In the final days of his presidency, Donald Trump seriously considered issuing a blanket pardon for all participants in the Jan. 6 riot , according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. Between Jan. 6 and Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20, Trump made three calls to one adviser to discuss the idea. “Do you think I should pardon them? Do you think it’s a good idea? Do you think I have the power to do it?” Trump told the person, who summarized their conversations. Another adviser to the former president said Trump asked questions about how participants in the riot might be charged criminally, and how a uniform pardon could provide them protection going forward. — CNN President Jeff Zucker resigns after relationship with colleague: CNN President Jeff Zucker resigned abruptly today, saying he had been engaged in a consensual relationship with a colleague that he didn’t disclose. “I was asked about a consensual relationship with my closest colleague, someone I have worked with for more than 20 years,” Zucker wrote in a memo sent to company staff, obtained by POLITICO. “I acknowledged the relationship evolved in recent years. I was required to disclose it when it began but I didn’t. I was wrong.” — Jan. 6 select committee subpoenas phone records of Arizona GOP chair: The Jan. 6 select committee has subpoenaed the phone records of Arizona GOP Chair Kelli Ward and her husband, Michael Ward, who both signed documents falsely claiming to be among their state’s presidential electors in 2020. The Wards filed suit Tuesday against the House panel in federal court in Arizona seeking to block the couple’s phone provider, T-Mobile, from sharing their records with the committee. The lawsuit has been assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Susan Brnovich, the wife of Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, an ally of Trump who is running for Senate. — Directed-energy could explain unsolved ‘Havana Syndrome’ cases, U.S. intelligence panel finds: A panel convened by the U.S. intelligence community has assessed that the core symptoms of some unsolved “Havana Syndrome” cases cannot be explained by mass hysteria or psychosomatic effects alone, and could be caused by pulsed electromagnetic or ultrasonic energy. The panel, which consists of medical experts and scientists both inside and outside the government, did not attempt to attribute the incidents to a specific device or operator. It instead examined “causal mechanisms” and found that the effects of the mysterious illness are “genuine and compelling,” according to an executive summary declassified this week and released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. AROUND THE WORLD Wolfgang Kindl of Austria speeds past the Olympic rings during a men's luge training run at the 2022 Winter Olympics in the Yanqing district of Beijing. | AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein PRE-OLYMPICS, MERKLEY SLAMS U.N. ON CHINA — Sen. Jeff Merkley slammed United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres’ decision to attend the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing despite diplomatic boycotts by multiple nations, including the U.S., over accusations of human rights violations by the Chinese government, Joseph Gedeon writes. “The U.N. has basically failed human rights,” Merkley (D-Ore.) said in an interview with POLITICO, citing China’s record on abuse, surveillance and freedom of speech. “It’s shameful for António Guterres to appear at the games.” A spokesperson for Guterres did not immediately return a request for comment on Merkley’s criticism. But the secretary-general was asked last month about attending the Olympics, which he said must be considered an “instrument for peace.” “The Olympic Games is an extremely important event, and it’s an event that symbolizes the role of sports in bringing people together and in promoting peace,” Guterres said at a January press conference. “And it is in this strict context and without any political dimension that I intend to be present in the opening.” Late last year, the United States signed into law the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which alleged that China is carrying out an ongoing genocide against the Uyghurs, a Muslim group in China’s western Xinjiang region. NIGHTLY NUMBER At least 53 The number of Republican House candidates who raised more than $500,000 last quarter, compared to 38 Democratic candidates, according to a POLITICO analysis of Federal Election Commission data. Back in the fourth quarter of 2019 — the same point in the last election cycle — some 60 Democrats raised more than $500,000, but only 27 Republicans did. PARTING WORDS RESTRAINT CAUCUS RESTRAINED — Biden’s face-off with Russian leader Vladimir Putin over Ukraine has deeply unsettled progressive lawmakers and other advocates of a restrained U.S. foreign policy, leaving them struggling to mount a coherent response, Nahal Toosi writes. These so-called restrainers had hoped that the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan marked the start of a new, more judicious phase of American power projection abroad. Less than six months later, many fear that — despite Biden’s pledge not to put American troops in the line of fire — the United States is bluffing its way into a war with Russia. In Congress, some progressive Democrats are trying to devise a unified message on how the United States should approach the Ukraine crisis, according to a senior Democratic staffer. The effort comes amid broad bipartisan support for a new sanctions package on Russia pushed by more hawkish lawmakers, including Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “Progressives are trying to carve out a space to support Ukraine’s democracy and independence while not getting drawn into the dumb hawkish bidding wars that end up foreclosing diplomatic options and getting more people killed,” the senior Democratic staffer said. Last week, two progressive Democrats issued a statement chiding the Biden administration for preparing troop deployments to Europe and military aid to Ukraine that the lawmakers said could escalate the crisis.   Follow us on Twitter Chris Suellentrop @suellentrop Tyler Weyant @tweyant Renuka Rayasam @renurayasam Myah Ward @myahward   FOLLOW US

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RSN: FOCUS: Robert Reich | Trump and His Enablers Unwittingly Offer Democrats Their Best Hope in the Midterms

 

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02 February 22

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FOCUS: Robert Reich | Trump and His Enablers Unwittingly Offer Democrats Their Best Hope in the Midterms
Robert Reich, Guardian UK
Reich writes: "The former president and his allies may doom the Republicans by reminding the public of their attempted coup."

The former president and his allies may doom the Republicans by reminding the public of their attempted coup

The midterm elections are just over nine months away. What will Democrats run on? What will Republicans run on?

One hint came at a Houston-area Trump rally Saturday night. “If I run and if I win,” the former guy said, referring to 2024, “we will treat those people from January 6th fairly.” He then added, “and if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons, because they are being treated so unfairly.”

Trump went on to demand “the biggest protest we have ever had” if federal prosecutors in Washington or in New York and Atlanta, where cases against him are moving forward, “do anything wrong or illegal”. He then called the federal prosecutors “vicious, horrible people” who are “not after me, they’re after you”.

Trump’s hint of pardons for those who attacked the Capitol could affect the criminal prosecution of hundreds now facing conspiracy, obstruction and assault charges, which carry sentences that could put them away for years. If they think Trump will pardon them, they might be less willing to negotiate with prosecutors and accept plea deals.

His comments could also be interpreted as a call for violence if various legal cases against him lead to indictments.

But if Trump keeps at it – and of course he will – he’ll help the Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections by reminding the public of the attempted coup he and his Republican co-conspirators tried to pull off between the 2020 election and January 6. That would make the midterm election less of a referendum on Biden than on the Republican party. (Don’t get me wrong. I think Biden is doing a good job, given the hand he was dealt. But Republicans are doing an even better job battering him – as his sinking poll numbers show.)

Last week, Newt Gingrich, who served as House speaker from 1995 to 1999, suggested that members of the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol should face jail time if the Republican party returns to power. “The wolves are gonna find out that they’re now sheep, and they’re the ones who – in fact, I think – face a real risk of jail for the kind of laws they’re breaking,” Gingrich said on Fox News.

Gingrich’s remark prompted Representative Liz Cheney, Wyoming Republican and vice-chair of the select committee, to respond: “A former speaker of the House is threatening jail time for members of Congress who are investigating the violent January 6 attack on our Capitol and our constitution. This is what it looks like when the rule of law unravels.”

Trump and Gingrich are complicating the midterm elections prospects for all Republicans running or seeking reelection nine months from now.

Many Republican leaders believe they don’t need to offer the public any agenda for the midterms because of widespread frustration with Biden and the Democrats. Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, recently asked what the Republican party’s agenda would be if it recaptured Congress, quipped “I’ll let you know when we take it back.”

But if Republicans fail to offer an agenda, the Republican party’s midterm message is even more likely to be defined by Trump and Trumpers like Gingrich: the big lie that the 2020 election was stolen along with promises to pardon the January 6 defendants, jail members of the select committee investigating the attack on the Capitol, and other bonkers claims and promises.

This would spell trouble for the GOP, because most Americans don’t believe the big lie and remain appalled by the attack on the Capitol.

House minority leader Kevin McCarthy (who phoned Trump during the attack on the Capitol but refuses to cooperate with the House’s January 6 committee investigation) will have a central role in defining the Republican message for the midterms. And whom has McCarthy been consulting with? None other than Newt Gingrich. The two have been friends for years and McCarthy’s chief of staff in his leadership office, Dan Meyer, served in the same role for Gingrich when he was the speaker.

McCarthy knows Gingrich is a master huckster. After all, in 1994 Gingrich delivered a House majority for the Republicans for the first time in 40 years by promising a “contract with America” that amounted to little more than trickle-down economics and state’s rights.

But like most hucksters, Gingrich suffered a spectacular fall. In 1997 House members overwhelmingly voted to reprimand him for flouting federal tax laws and misleading congressional investigators about it – making him the first speaker panned for unethical behavior. The disgraced leader, who admitted to the ethical lapse as part of a deal to quash inquiries into other suspect activities, also had to pay a historic $300,000 penalty. Then, following a surprise loss of Republican House seats in the 1998 midterm election, Gingrich stepped down as speaker. He resigned from Congress in January 1999 and hasn’t held elected office since.

I’ve talked with Gingrich several times since then. I always come away with the impression of a military general in an age where bombast and explosive ideas are more potent than bombs. Since he lost the House, Gingrich has spent most of his time and energy trying to persuade other Republicans that he alone possesses the strategy and the ideas entitling him to be the new general of the Republican right.

Gingrich has no scruples, which is why he has allied himself with Trump and Trump’s big lie – appearing regularly on Fox News to say the 2020 election was rigged and mouth off other Trumpish absurdities (such as last week’s claim that members of the House select committee should be jailed).

Gingrich likes to think of himself as a revolutionary force, but he behaves more like a naughty boy. When he was Speaker, his House office was adorned with figurines of dinosaurs, as you might find in the bedrooms of little boys who dream of becoming huge and powerful. Gingrich can be mean, but his meanness is that of a nasty kid rather than a tyrant. And like all nasty kids, inside is an insecure little fellow who desperately wants attention.

Still, as of now, the best hope for Democrats in the midterms lies with Trump, Gingrich and others who loudly and repeatedly remind the public how utterly contemptible the Republican party has become.

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RSN: FOCUS: Trump Dangles Pardons for Jan 6 Rioters in Texas Rally Speech

 

 

30 January 22

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URGENT AND IMMEDIATE APPEAL FOR DONATIONS — We are way behind where we need to be for January and time is growing short. Only a small fraction of you have responded to our fundraising appeals. On high-alert now.
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FOCUS: Trump Dangles Pardons for Jan 6 Rioters in Texas Rally Speech
Patrick Reis, Rolling Stone
Reis writes: "Donald Trump on Saturday night positioned himself as a law-and-order hardliner who knew that the key to keeping the country safe was to direct the full might of the state at undocumented immigrants, potential criminals, and anyone else who did not storm the Capitol on Jan. 6."

“If I run, and if I win, we will treat those people from Jan. 6 fairly,” the former president on Saturday in Texas, teasing a 2024 run. “And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons”

Donald Trump on Saturday night positioned himself as a law-and-order hardliner who knew that the key to keeping the country safe was to direct the full might of the state at undocumented immigrants, potential criminals, and anyone else who did not storm the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Near the end of a meandering, 80-plus-minute address to a “Save America” rally crowd in Conroe, Texas, Trump dangled the possibility of pardons for the insurrectionists who participated in a deadly breach of the Capitol aimed at disrupting the peaceful transfer of power from one president to the next.

“If I run, and if I win, we will treat those people from Jan. 6 fairly. And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons, because they are being treated so unfairly,” Trump told a massive crowd, claiming that many people had asked about it.

Trump’s pledge of leniency came at the end of a speech in which he returned to his favorite theme: the dangers posed by undocumented immigrants and the need for harsh treatment of them.

As he has in all of his political campaigns, Trump fixated on illegal immigration, claiming Biden and Democrats had thrown open the United States to an “invasion” and that “countless lives” were being lost thanks to undocumented immigration. (He would, a few minutes later, declare the nation was “moving on” from Covid, which The New York Times reports killed around 3,769 Americans on Friday alone.)

As part of his effort to whip up anti-immigrant fervor, Trump compared undocumented immigrants to snakes, using them as a stand-in for the serpent in his oft-repeated poem about a “tenderhearted woman” who rescues a half-frozen snake only to get fatally bitten. The poem concludes: “‘Shut up, silly woman,’ the reptile said with a grin. ‘You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in.’”

“And that’s what’s happening to the United States with immigration,” Trump said as thousands of people cheered.

Railing against undocumented immigrants has been Trump’s go-to message since June 2015, when he simultaneously announced a presidential run and claimed that Mexican immigrants were “bringing drugs, bringing crime” and were “rapists.” (At the time, he was best known as a has-been reality television host who’d kept himself in the public eye by becoming the promoter-in-chief of the lie that the first Black president had actually been born in Africa.)

Some top Republican officials have exhorted Trump to focus on retaking control of Congress in the next election, rather than dwelling on the one he already lost. And in the first hour of his speech on Saturday, Trump largely delivered, blasting Biden while pushing supporters to vote for the state and local officials he has endorsed. But totally eschewing mention of 2020 would require a modicum of discipline, or grace, or civic responsibility. Trump, as per always, possessed none of those in sufficient quantity to counter his overwhelming need to talk about himself. And so as the speech went on, his grievances drifted into the personal.

“The 2020 election was rigged, and everyone knows it,” Trump said. “You know who knows it more than anyone else? The Democrats.”

Trump lost the Electoral College count by 64 votes and the popular tally by more than 7 million.

Focus has never been a hallmark of Trump’s speeches, and his rhetorical meandering touched on all the pleasure centers of the modern MAGA online mind. He bemoaned and smirked at transgender college athletes. He stoked fear about critical race theory. He accused federal prosecutors who are looking into his business dealings of being “sick” and “racist.” He lied about climate change and mocked those who take it seriously. And, broadly, he served up the type of incoherent word salad that would be shocking were it not so utterly familiar.

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