Trump lashes out at ‘rigged election’ moments after sharing Christmas video with Melania
The president golfed despite White House claims he was working ‘tirelessly’
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Donald Trump spent Christmas Eve on the golf course after congressional Republicans struck down a Democrat-backed attempt to increase the amount of aid handed to Americans as part of the latest Covid-19 relief package, which the president said on Tuesday did not go far enough.
It comes as Mr Trump was accused of leaving Americans “adrift” after he arrived in Florida for Christmas on Wednesday, leaving the coronavirus relief package unsigned and a military spending bill threatened by a veto in his wake.
The president and First Lady Melania Trump released a message to Americans on Christmas Eve, highlighting the work of first responders, teachers and scientists working on the coronavirus vaccine to end the “terrible pandemic.” Moments after sharing the video on Twitter, the president lashed out at Republicans for their inadequate response “over the fact that the Democrats stole the rigged presidential election.”
The president pardoned more disgraced personal aides on Wednesday, including his one-time campaign chairman Paul Manafort and adviser Roger Stone, who were both sentenced for lying or not cooperating with the Robert Mueller investigation. Two others, former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former adviser George Papadopoulos, have also been pardoned.
The president pardoned more disgraced personal aides on Wednesday, include Mr Trump’s one-time campaign chairman Paul Manafort and adviser Roger Stone, who were both sentenced for lying or not cooperating with the investigation. Two others, former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former adviser George Papadopoulos, have also been pardoned.
Former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe called the pardons “remarkably disgusting," and claimed they were “undermining the system of justice that he is supposed to protect and defend.”
The New York Times spoke with Iraqi citizens about Mr Trump pardoning the Blackwater mercenaries. One man, who was shot in the leg during the massacre in Nisour Square, said the American justice system was “just theatre.”
The president’s fury at the election results continued, with Mr Trump vowing on Twitter to “NEVER FORGET” the Republicans who he claims “sit back and watch me fight against a viscous and crooked foe.” He personally named Sen. Mitch McConnell in the tweet.
He also lamented Twitter’s continued use of tags claiming his posts contain false or misleading information regarding the 2020 election. The president said that the company was “dangerous” and that fact checking was the way “communism starts.” He attributed the company’s policy to “cancel culture.”
- US sees record breaking Covid hospitalisations on Christmas Eve
- House Republicans turn down Trump-Democrat bid to increase Covid checks
- Trump trolls White House press corps with 7:30 am start on a day he has no public duties
- New round of Trump clemency benefits Manafort, other allies
- Trump ‘rotten to the core’ - angry reactions to latest presidential pardons, now at 26
- Congress expected to override Trump veto on military policy and spending bill
Trump has executed more prisoners than any president since Roosevelt
ProPublica reported today that Donald Trump has executed more federal prisoners than any president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was in office for 12 years. Mr Roosevelt oversaw the executions of 16 people, six of which were saboteurs tried in a military commission.
Mr Trump has executed 10 individuals so far, with three more scheduled for January. His recent spate of executions has raised concerns among justice watchdogs.
The federal death penalty was reinstated in 1988 after it was halted in 1972.
Iraqis react to Trump pardoning Blackwater mercenaries who massacred civilians in Baghdad
The New York Times spoke with Iraqis about Donald Trump’s recent pardon of four Blackwater - now c called Academi - mercenaries that gunned down 17 Iraqi civilians in Nisour Square, Baghdad in 2007.
Erik Prince - an ally of Mr Trump and the brother of his education secretary, Nancy DeVos - was the head of the organisation at the time of the massacre.
Haider Ahmed Rabia, an Iraqi man who witnessed the massacre and was shot in the leg during the attack, criticised the US for allowing the men to walk free.
“I went to America and saw the killers walking free, wearing suits,” he said. “I said, ‘Tomorrow I will return to my country, but will these killers face justice?’ Today they proved to me it was just theater."
Amy Jeffress, a Justice Department prosecutor who oversaw the case, told The Times the pardons will cast a dark shadow on the US in the eyes of the international community.
“These pardons send a terrible message to the Department of Justice and to our Iraqi partners who helped with this very difficult case — and of course to the victims,” she said
Trump calls Twitter “dangerous” for flagging his tweets.
Donald Trump called Twitter “dangerous” for flagging many of his tweets that contain false or misleading information regarding the outcome of the 2020 election.
He claimed that the actions were how “communism started” and attributed them to “cancel culture.”
Trump vows he will “NEVER FORGET” Republicans who did not support his efforts to overturn the election
Donald Trump tweeted out his frustration at Republicans who he claims have not supported his campaign to overturn the election results.
Mr Trump claimed he “saved” Republicans like Mitch McConnell during the election, and complained that they have decided to “sit back and watch me fight against a viscous and crooked foe."
Mr McConnell won his run for re-election against Democrat Amy McGrath by nearly 20 per cent.
Trump ally and Evangelical leader Franklin Graham asks for Christmas prayer for president and insinuates Biden presidency is “evil before us.”
Franklin Graham, an ally of Donald Trump and the son of the famed Pastor Billy Graham called for people to pray for Mr Trump, asking that “God’s hand would be on" the president.
He also asked people to pray that God would “spare our nation from the evil that is before us,” without providing further details as to what exactly that “evil” was.
Rep. Deb Dingle says Trump “doesn’t give a damn” about people suffering from coronavirus pandemic
During an impassioned press conference earlier today, Michigan Rep. Deb Dingle chastised Donald Trump for derailing the $900bn coronavirus relief bill by threatening to veto it if it did not remove foreign aid spending and add a $2,000 direct payment to Americans.
“Was this bill perfect? No. But it was a down payment on getting Covid relief to the people of this country,” she said.
She then said Mr Trump derailed the bill just as Congress had hope that a relief measure would pass.
“[The president] doesn’t give a damn about people,” she said. “He threw more fear.”
She then noted that House Democrats put forward a resolution providing the $2,000 payment Mr Trump called for, but House Republicans voted it down.
Watchdog calls on government to ensure Trump does not delete his tweets
Government watchdog Citizens for Ethics have called on the National Archives and Records Administration to begin archiving Donald Trump’s tweets to ensure a record of his words survives his presidency.
“Trump’s insistence on conducting official business on Twitter means that his social media content must now be held accountable to recordkeeping laws," the organisation said in a statement.
The group said it had little confidence that Mr Trump or his administration would work to appropriately save the posts.
“The Presidential Records Act and Federal Records Act legally require the president, his office, and government officials to maintain these records for eventual public access," the group said. "However, given the Trump administration’s historic failures in record preservation, there is little public confidence in the administration’s adherence to recordkeeping laws on social media.”
It called on NARA to “do everything in its power to protect the ability to fully preserve these records.”
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