Donald Trump initially began his press conference today looking sedated to a significant degree.

He left the press without announcement when the Secret Service detected a shooting that had occurred outside the White House complex. When Trump returned, he answered a few questions on the security situation, and seemed barely awake. He sounded near-sedated.

Only when Trump moved into questions did he seem to gain any sort of energy, and even that was minimal. Jonathon Lemire of the AP asked Trump how Trump could say that Joe Biden was “anti-God” given the way that Biden has lived his life.

Trump said that the left’s social program was basically “anti-God.” He said that someone who adopted Bernie Sanders’ platform couldn’t possibly be “pro-God,” as if there was something deeply antithetical between progressive social programs and “God.”

Asked what he meant when he said that Biden, a practicing Catholic, is “against God,” Trump, who rarely goes to church and exhibits unfamiliarity with the Bible, cites Biden’s policy positions: "I don’t think a man of deep religion would be agreeing to the Bernie Sanders plan."

— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) August 10, 2020

Right, a man with deep religious conviction is more the type that runs casinos, marries three progressively younger women, pays off porn stars, and values money and other worldly possessions more than his own family (seemingly). Trump presumes to lecture a man like Biden about God and one’s faith in God. It is stunning to hear.

This is truly bizarre. Listen to Trump’s words. He never really answers the question. He just sprouts gibberish like a demented old man:

Trump defends saying Joe Biden is “against God,” says he does not think he’s a man of “deep religion” pic.twitter.com/sJbrr4thdb

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 10, 2020

Trump went on to say that he needed to order coverage for pre-existing conditions in private health insurance because the ACA isn’t applicable anymore. Which is entirely untrue.

Trump wrongly claims that ending the individual mandate essentially ended Obamacare. Medicaid expansion, pre-existing-condition protections, exchanges and subsidies, etc. remain.

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 10, 2020

Trump is truly tripping up his own administration’s SCOTUS case in making these arguments.

He went on to accuse “Democrats of meddling in elections,” while saying he doesn’t worry about Russian meddling.

Asked if he’s raised with Putin the intel assessment that Russia is interfering in the election, Trump talks about the intel assessments about China and Iran, then says “the Democrats” are the ones meddling in the election, which is, again, nonsense.

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 10, 2020

It is critical to differentiate that, while China and Iran may prefer to see Joe Biden win the national election, it is Russia that has a specific intelligence program geared at implementing covert action. These are false equivalencies.

“I’ll tell you who’s meddling in our elections,” Trump says when asked about US counterintelligence officials saying Russia, China and Iran are trying to interfere. “The Democrats.”

— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) August 10, 2020

Trump also confused his world pandemics again, referring to the Spanish Flu as happening in “1917” and saying that it likely led to the end of World War II.

1918, and it was the First World War, you meathead.

— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) August 10, 2020

Trump says the pandemic of 1918 which he says occurred in 1917 ended the Second World War, which ended in 1945.

— Philip Bump (@pbump) August 10, 2020

This was amazing. Trump was asked whether if 160,000 people died under Obama’s presidency, would Trump have asked for his resignation. We all know the answer to this but Trump lied anyway:

REPORTER: If 160,000 people had died on Obama’s watch, would you have called for his resignation?

TRUMP: No

[Trump called for Obama to resign over ebola, which didn’t kill anyone in the US!] pic.twitter.com/mkJ3T4r1vr

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 10, 2020

Trump looked sedated and near indifferent through much of the press conference. He also didn’t engage reporters in the way that normally does. He was less combative, and only really increased his energy and interest when talking about Joe Biden and the race – the only topic that interests him, seemingly.

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Peace, y’all
Jason
[email protected] and on Twitter @MiciakZoom