Trump Walks Out Of News Conference

[RiverDog]

And for once, I agree both with his decision to walk out and the way he handled it, by politely thanking reporters and leaving the podium.

Here's the exchange:

"You said many times that the U.S. is doing far better than any other country when it comes to testing," Jiang said before asking: "Why does that matter? Why is this a global competition to you if everyday Americans are still losing their lives and we're still seeing more cases every day?"

Trump responded: "Well, they're losing their lives everywhere in the world. Maybe that's a question you should ask China. Don't ask me, ask China that question, okay?"

(Pulling her face covering off)"Sir, why are you saying that to me, specifically, to ask China?" asked Jiang, who was born in Xiamen, China, and immigrated to the U.S. when she was 2 years old.

"I'm not saying it specifically to anybody," Trump said, claiming that Jiang asked a "nasty question."

Trump had called on CNN's Kaitlan Collins, who let Jiang follow up and ask the president why he specifically suggested she ask China about testing. Instead, when his exchange with Jiang ended and he went to go take the next question from another reporter, he apparently decided to skip Collins and looked for another journalist to call on.

"No, that's okay," Trump said to Collins, who began asking her question. "Next, please."

When Collins continued asking her question despite Trump trying to skip over her, the president said his thanks, turned and left.
"Ladies and gentleman, thank you very much. Appreciate it. Thank you very much," Trump said before walking away as reporters confusingly responded.

First off, it is unclear whether or not Trump recognized the reporter as being Asian as she was wearing a face covering, hiding most of her facial features, and even if he did, he quickly reassured the reporter that he was not directing his at her or anyone else. Trump quite frequently blames China for the virus, so what he said was not at all out of character. Secondly, the reporter pulled down her mask to expose her facial features, almost like a matador waving a red cape in front of a bull, and asked what I thought was completely inappropriate, personal question, to which Trump immediately responded that he wasn't directing the question at her or anyone else. And thirdly, after trying to move the discussion away from what was obviously deteriorating into a very personal, unprofessional exchange, Trump very politely thanked reporters and ended the news conference. That's a lot better than some of the temper tantrum rages he's been known to display.

None of this changes my opinion of DJT, but it is an example of a race baiting press playing a "gotcha" game. Trump makes plenty of unsolicited racially insensitive and outright bigoted remarks on his own. There is no need to try to provoke him into making more.

[c_hawkbob]

Oh it is not. He knew who she was before she took her mask off. Those two have gone at it before. She may well be guilty of playing to the cameras by removing her mask but DJT knew exactly who he was talking to before that point. This isn't the first time this little scenario has played out (and yes, I blame both parties as well).

[RiverDog]

Oh it is not. He knew who she was before she took her mask off. Those two have gone at it before. She may well be guilty of playing to the cameras by removing her mask but DJT knew exactly who he was talking to before that point. This isn't the first time this little scenario has played out (and yes, I blame both parties as well).

There's no way either of us can make the assumption that he recognized who she was. It is very difficult to recognize people when you're looking at them at a distance of 30-50 or so feet away with a face covering. I have failed to recognize friends I've know for years when I've seen them in a store when they're wearing a face covering from a lot closer distance than Trump was from that reporter. Besides, if it didn't register on Trump that a notable political adversary in the form of AOC was born in the USA it doesn't require a stretch of the imagination to believe his single digit IQ would not be able to deduce that this particular reporter had emigrated from China.

And while I agree that both parties are to blame, it was the reporter that threw the first punch by asking a loaded question. What Trump should have said was "I'm not going to answer that question" and move on, but as we all should know by now, his assholeism prevents him from responding in a polite and respectful manner.

[Aseahawkfan]

I'm more surprised you didn't post anything on this Flynn move. That shows a real change in the balance of power in the Department of Justice and F.B.I. When Trump first started both the DOJ and FBI were filled with people supporting Obama, Hilary, and the Democrats. Trump seems to have finally installed sufficient power in the DOJ and FBI to start to undermine the Democrats attacks on him. How far will this go? Will he get Roger Stone off next? Will be able to start going after the Dems legally investigating them? How will that play out? That will be interesting to watch.

[RiverDog]

I'm more surprised you didn't post anything on this Flynn move. That shows a real change in the balance of power in the Department of Justice and F.B.I. When Trump first started both the DOJ and FBI were filled with people supporting Obama, Hilary, and the Democrats. Trump seems to have finally installed sufficient power in the DOJ and FBI to start to undermine the Democrats attacks on him. How far will this go? Will he get Roger Stone off next? Will be able to start going after the Dems legally investigating them? How will that play out? That will be interesting to watch.

Nothing's stopping you from posting something on Flynn. If you want to discuss Flynn, be my guest. Start a thread and I'd be happy to share my opinion.

The reason I started this thread is because I saw something where I could defend Trump, show others that I'm not some sort of "hater" as you like to paint me as being.

[Aseahawkfan]

Nothing's stopping you from posting something on Flynn. If you want to discuss Flynn, be my guest. Start a thread and I'd be happy to share my opinion.

The reason I started this thread is because I saw something where I could defend Trump, show others that I'm not some sort of "hater" as you like to paint me as being.

I don't see you as a hater. If there is a spectrum of Trump dislike and bias it would go something like this:

Me: very mildly against Trump. No interest in voting for him. Don't like him as president. He's an annoying president. But I don't think he's doing a particularly bad job other than be very annoying and combative unnecessarily.

You: Actively against Trump. Don't like him as a person much less a president. Willing to vote against your values to get rid of Trump. Yet not totally deranged willing to buy any leftist trash article tossed out about Trump, but definitely willing to listen to a good a argument against the man.

C-hawkbob, I-5: Left leaning progressive, Democratic Socialists that despise Trump. Think he is a terrible person and terrible president. Willing to buy into any half-assed article attacking Trump. Could care less about any arguments that show he has done a good job at nearly anything. Buy into nearly all the leftist rhetoric about Trump. They were saying things like "This guy shouldn't have his hand on the button" and similar sentiments like Trump is some kind of irrational crazy that might do anything, which he showed absolutely no reason to believe this.

Hawktawk: This is the highest level that isn't in jail. Hates Trump with the passion of the white hot sun. Trump's name drives him into a rage. Would believe even the barest Twitter rumor of something negative about Trump. Might vote for Kim Jong Un over Trump. Trump is the devil and most traitorous, rotten, PoS president to ever inhabit the White House. If you go past this level of hate, you'll probably end up in jail.


IDhawkman would fall in the in the opposite side of around the c-hawkbob and I-5 level of Trump love.

[RiverDog]

You (RiverDog): Actively against Trump. Don't like him as a person much less a president. Willing to vote against your values to get rid of Trump. Yet not totally deranged willing to buy any leftist trash article tossed out about Trump, but definitely willing to listen to a good a argument against the man.

I am not willing to vote against my values. If there isn't an alternative that comes close to at least some of my principles, I will either vote for an independent as a protest vote or not vote at all. For example, I did not vote for Hillary in 2016 as she did not come close to representing my values. I also turned on Nixon even after having voted for him in '72, called for his resignation/impeachment relatively early. I place a higher value on character for POTUS than I do other offices, which is one of the major reasons I am so opposed to Trump. I don't need a Pope for POTUS, but I damn sure don't want a professional wrestler, either.

The rest of your statement about me is relatively accurate.

IDhawkman would fall in the in the opposite side of around the c-hawkbob and I-5 level of Trump love.

I disagree with that appraisal. Idahawkman literally worships Donald Trump. Although they are obviously on the opposite side of the political spectrum from Idahawkman, I don't see either one of our two friends as being capable of being that enamored with any politician, liberal or otherwise.

[Aseahawkfan]

I am not willing to vote against my values. If there isn't an alternative that comes close to at least some of my principles, I will either vote for an independent as a protest vote or not vote at all. For example, I did not vote for Hillary in 2016 as she did not come close to representing my values. I also turned on Nixon even after having voted for him in '72, called for his resignation/impeachment relatively early. I place a higher value on character for POTUS than I do other offices, which is one of the major reasons I am so opposed to Trump. I don't need a Pope for POTUS, but I damn sure don't want a professional wrestler, either.

The rest of your statement about me is relatively accurate.

I figure Biden was against most of what you believe in, but maybe not.

I disagree with that appraisal. Idahawkman literally worships Donald Trump. Although they are obviously on the opposite side of the political spectrum from Idahawkman, I don't see either one of our two friends as being capable of being that enamored with any politician, liberal or otherwise.

IDhawkman may be the polar opposite of hawktawk, but I see him more as ideologically right at about the same level as c-bob and I-5 are ideologically left. He buys most of what the right is selling. And would support almost any Republican president and dislike almost any Democratic president.

He has said some really strange things like not knowing Donald Trump cheated on his wife multiple times and claiming he is better than Reagan.

[RiverDog]

I figure Biden was against most of what you believe in, but maybe not.

Biden is a lot closer than Sanders and Warren to what I believe in. It's not a prerequisite of mine that a candidate hit all the right keys with me to earn my vote. He's not for Medicare for All, not for forgiving of college debt/free college, not as anti Wall Street. He's had a history of reaching across the aisle on many subjects.

IDhawkman may be the polar opposite of hawktawk, but I see him more as ideologically right at about the same level as c-bob and I-5 are ideologically left. He buys most of what the right is selling. And would support almost any Republican president and dislike almost any Democratic president.

When I asked Idahawkman if he had any objections to anything Trump said or did, he replied that he didn't like his compromise on the Dreamers, the children of undocumented aliens. Rather than allowing them to go to college under some very stringent requirements as was proposed, he'd give them a few classes to acclimate them to their country of origin then deport them. That's some pretty heavy right wing stuff, and I simply don't see the same weight being placed on the other side of the balance beam by our two liberal friends.

He has said some really strange things like not knowing Donald Trump cheated on his wife multiple times and claiming he is better than Reagan.

The last thing Idahawkman said when he made a brief appearance a few months ago was that he predicted that Trump would win this November by a margin similar to Reagan in 1984. To put that claim in context, in '84 Reagan won 49 states and 525 out of 538 electoral votes, .2% short of a 50 state sweep, and won nearly 59% of the popular vote. When I reminded him just how overwhelming Reagan's '84 win was, he backed way off, said that Trump would win by a larger electoral margin than he did in 2016, coming down over 200 electoral votes from his original boast. Idahawkman is a great guy and I consider him a friend, but he has a major blind spot when it comes to Donald Trump.

[Hawktawk]

This president proves by the minute he is totally unfit for the job. I saw it when he was halfway down the escalator. The degree he has politicised his reelection with this virus is despicable. No leader walks out of a press conference. But hes not a leader.

Then there's this

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/team- ... li=BBnbcA1

Just say it didn't happen and get 46% to believe you in Nov and hope for a 3rd party and America is doomed. We cant take four more years of this.

We might already be screwed and just not know it but its time for the military to go knock on the door and say come with me because our system of governance is broken down.

[RiverDog]

This president proves by the minute he is totally unfit for the job. I saw it when he was halfway down the escalator. The degree he has politicised his reelection with this virus is despicable. No leader walks out of a press conference. But hes not a leader.

Then there's this

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/team- ... li=BBnbcA1

Just say it didn't happen and get 46% to believe you in Nov and hope for a 3rd party and America is doomed. We cant take four more years of this.

We might already be screwed and just not know it but its time for the military to go knock on the door and say come with me because our system of governance is broken down.

I think everyone that posts in here knows by now that you saw Trump was unfit when he was "halfway down the escalator". You're not the only one in here that prior to the election felt DJT wasn't fit to hold the office. Your continued bragging about seeing what a number of us also saw is amounting to the same narcissistic trait that you so despise in the POTUS.

As far as Trump's trying to get the CDC to fudge on the death count, assuming that the story is true ('The Daily Beast' isn't exactly an unbiased and credible source), it should be no surprise to anyone. Trump is constantly trying to paint a smiley face on this crisis and is well known for his attempts to revise facts to fit his purposes. I doubt that he'll be successful. The CDC is simply reporting on numbers that are reported to them by state and local departments of health. From the article:

Anderson’s division at the CDC (Mortality Statistics Branch) currently keeps tabs on novel coronavirus deaths through two parallel tracking systems. It relies on the data it receives from local departments of health and through information it gathers from states through a death certificate digital coding system.

Any deviance from that procedure would be blatantly obvious and called out immediately by the press. This is nothing more than Trump grumbling over something he can't control.

[Aseahawkfan]

I'm still not even sure how Trump became president. I look at all the Republican candidates they could have picked and can't see why Trump was number one other than a lot of people are really tired of what the Dems are selling and really tired of business as usual. Seems he was the only candidate offering something different. And America was right, Trump does things very differently. Whether that is good or bad depends on your personal viewpoint I imagine.

Me, I don't like a president that is all about himself. The dude worrying about his inauguration crowd size was stupid. His combative pettiness with other politicians is unnecessary and un-presidential. He has such a weak ego that anyone making fun of him turns him into a combative, name-calling child. He's a particularly bad president to have during a pandemic not because I believe he isn't doing enough as I believe other people in this cabinet are taking care of things, but he's so bad at communicating what they're doing. He doesn't seem to grasp people are panicking and worried about dying and what is going to make them feel better is knowing what is being done and that you acknowledge short-comings and are working on fixing them. But he can't even do that even when they're not his fault. He has to pretend everything is fine and act like we don't need any more work at it. Such a dumb way of communicating during a global pandemic. He should let Pence deliver the briefings if he can't communicate the plan being carried out by The Fed. It makes the entire Federal government look like they're doing nothing and dumb when the president argues with this governors and starts talking like he doesn't know what contact tracing and testing is for. What kind of an idiot doesn't understand the simple concept of testing to ensure people aren't spreading COVID19 asymptomatically and contact tracing to see who a positive carrier has contact with? How do you not understand that concept? I don't even get it.

[RiverDog]

I'm still not even sure how Trump became president. I look at all the Republican candidates they could have picked and can't see why Trump was number one other than a lot of people are really tired of what the Dems are selling and really tired of business as usual. Seems he was the only candidate offering something different. And America was right, Trump does things very differently. Whether that is good or bad depends on your personal viewpoint I imagine.

Trump's election astounded me. We all have this tendency to assume that the majority of people think just like we do, that anyone that doesn't is abnormal. But the more I look at it, the more I begin to see a rhyme and a reason.

If you look at Trump's supporters, his biggest constituency is white, over 50, and w/o a college degree. I've worked with a ton of those people. A good many of them were very talented, on par with those that had college degrees but passed over for promotion, sometimes due to the lack of education but many times the absence of a diploma was simply a convenient excuse managers used so as not to admit that an indefensible, personal reason was the cause for their being passed over. In other cases, managers will have a legitimate reason but rather than suck it up and give it to them straight, they lie and use the lack of a diploma as it's tangible and inarguable. Then they see what are at least in their eyes lesser qualified candidates getting the job, sometimes becoming their boss. It gives them a complex, very similar to the complex given to blacks that had it driven into them at birth that they weren't as good as whites.

Plus throw in the backdrop of the media and Hollywood making into the bad guy out of whites, the most blatant example being the terminology used by the media to describe the 1994 mid term election that flipped the House and Senate to the R's: Angry white males. The media would never use a term like that to describe any other demographic group. Now any criticism made about Trump is internalized and felt to be an attack on them. That's what Hillary never recognized: Every time she bashed Trump, it was a spur to the rump of another borderline Trump supporter to turn out.

He should let Pence deliver the briefings if he can't communicate the plan being carried out by The Fed.

Trump can't stand not being at the center of attention. He was very jealous of Fauci getting all the adoring looks from the press and the public. That's why he ended up screwing up his ratings on the handling of the crisis, when he'd jump in and start talking about subjects that was way over his head. Also, he was ruining his credibility by either making misstatements that were being immediately corrected or qualified within minutes of him speaking. It's that urge that led him to say his now infamous remark about ingesting disinfectant.

Although Trump is without a doubt the stupidest POTUS we've had in my lifetime, his lack of intelligence isn't the problem. We've had lots of Presidents that weren't that smart. For example, FDR was a C+ student. It's Trump's ego, his spoiled rich kid personality, his reluctance to trust others and not being able to manage effectively that makes him such a poor leader.

[I-5]

I'm still not even sure how Trump became president. I look at all the Republican candidates they could have picked and can't see why Trump was number one other than a lot of people are really tired of what the Dems are selling and really tired of business as usual.

I was disappointed but not at all surprised that Trump won the republican nomination. I do have friends who voted for him, and the two things that stand out from what I heard them say is that he 'speaks his mind' and he's going to 'shake things up'. I think they are right on both marks. Whether what's on his mind is true or whether the results of shaking things up is good or not depends on your perspective but i think he's delivering on that for his supporters.