Crooked Hillary Clinton, perhaps the most dishonest person to have ever run for the presidency, is also one of the all time great enablers! ibid. Tweet 29th April 2016
SECURE THE BORDER! BUILD A WALL! ibid. Tweet 15,833 5th August 2014
January 27 2017: Seven days after President Trump’s inauguration: ‘Donald Trump out! Immigrants in!’ The Fight, protests, 2020
‘… I’m establishing new vetting measures to keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the United States of America – we don’t want them here.’ ibid. Trump
For 100 years the ACLU has defended individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States. ibid. caption
The ACLU has brought 129 [and counting] lawsuits against the Trump Administration. These are four: Lee Gelernt, immigrants’ rights; Brigitte Amiri, reproductive rights; Dale Ho, voting rights; Josh Block & Chase Strangio, LGBT rights. ibid.
Garza v Hargan: Jane Doe’s abortion … Dept of Commerce v New York: The Census Question … Ms L v Ice: Family Separation … ibid.
‘After consultation with my Generals and military experts, pleased be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the US Military’. ibid. Trump Tweet
All of that turned out to be a technocratic illusion when Nature set loose a terrible disease; it took advantage of the very connectivity we have manufactured. In Seattle the day of reckoning was January 20th when America’s first patient tested positive for Covid-19. On that same day in Seoul the first case in South Korea would also be confirmed. Korea moved quickly to contain the disease and save its economy using a variation on an American plan. But in the United States politics got in the way of science allowing the virus to spread invisibly and fast. Totally Under Control: Trump and Covid-19, BBC 2020
In early 2020 Trump was indifferent to the looming pandemic. ibid.
‘We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China. And we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.’ ibid. Trump, interview World Economic Forum
At the first briefing they announced no concrete programs to contain the virus inside the borders of the United States. Instead, they offered a variation on a familiar Trump refrain – build a wall. ibid.
We knew in early February, but federal officials refused to recognise, only a vast infrastructure for mass testing could spot and contain a virus that was moving invisibly across the country. ibid.
Under the booming economic wave was an invisible undertow of disease. By early February economic models indicate there were thousands of cases spreading through Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco and New York. ibid.
‘Yeah, we’re very much involved, very cognizant of everything going on, we have it very much under control.’ ibid. Trump, pre-India trip
Because the US failed to control the virus, state governments moved to lockdowns to avoid runaway contagion and to stop hospitals becoming overwhelmed. ibid.
Because test kits were in short supply, access was limited to patients who were dangerously close to respiratory failure – the death rate began to rise. ibid.
‘Anyone who wants a test can get a test.’ ibid. Trump
Trump: Frankly, the testing has been going very smoothly … ibid.
cf.
Fauci: The system is not really geared to what we need right now. That is a failing … ibid.
cf.
Trump: No, I’m not taking responsibility at all. I’m doing a great job. ibid. press conference
Worried about the economy, Trump tried to limit lockdowns but the virus was out of control. By April over 3,000 New Yorkers had died, surpassing the death toll of 9/11. ibid.
Or was driving up the price [PPE] the whole point? ibid.
‘The US government was handing a huge amount of business to these five companies that were chosen fairly arbitrarily.’ ibid. critic
‘The candidates are fighting for every vote in this very tight race. Republican candidate Donald Trump has the lead across the country. Clinton or Trump?’ Agents of Chaos I, Russian television, director Alex Gibney, Sky Documentaries 2020
This Trump worship thing: what was that all about? ibid.
There were too many investigations to count ... But what exactly was the story? ibid.
The first piece of the puzzle pointed us toward a cyber trail on the internet where a motley band of Russian trolls had been busy making mischief on social media … The infamous troll factory known as the Internet Research Agency, or IRA. ibid.
They [Russia] created fake news websites which they used to drive a wedge into Ukraine and push the two halves of the country apart. ibid.
The trolls spent years tracking divisions in American society. They knew that immigration and race were two of our deepest wounds. ibid.
In a display of Russian cyber power, the GRU hacked into the controls of the Ukrainian power grids and command and distribution centres to shut them down. ibid.
Russian government hackers penetrated DNS, stole opposition research on Trump. ibid. The Washington Post online article
‘Email’ Dominates What Americans Have Heard About Clinton. ibid. Gallup online article 19 September 2016
‘We did nothing wrong. It was all bullshit.’ Agents of Chaos II, Trump
Sater went to work in the only industry less regulated than Wall Street – real estate. And that’s where he met Donald Trump: ‘You cannot operate there [Russia] without what they call a roof – which is protection from somebody.’ ibid.
‘We’re going to have a great relationship with Putin and Russia.’ ibid. Trump
Was Trump running to win or was he running just to make more money? ibid.
They brought his Miss Universe contest to Moscow in 2013. ibid.
Russia really did have dirt to dish … ‘The hackers target the DNC and Hillary Clinton.’ ibid.
NBC has learnt this week from court documents, [Paul] Manfort [Trump’s campaign chairman, later fired] has business connections to two oligarchs with ties to the Russian Mafia; ibid.
US Officially Accuses Russia of Political Hacks. ibid. CNN news banner 17 September
Two Democratic members of Congress have asked the FBI to open an ‘immediate criminal investigation’ after Donald Trump was heard pleading with an election official to ‘find’ him some more votes in Georgia.
Representatives Ted Lieu and Kathleen Rice have written to FBI Director Christopher Wray, saying they ‘believe Donald Trump engaged in solicitation of, or conspiracy to commit, a number of election crimes’.
In a recording obtained by American media, the outgoing US president can be heard claiming there was ‘no way’ he lost in the southern state. Sky News online article 5 January 2021, ‘FBI asked to investigate after Donald Trump pleads for extra votes in Georgia
Saturday Night Live provided the perfect platform for Alec Baldwin’s outrageous impression of Trump. Utterly Outrageous X-Rated Comedy V: Politics, Channel 5 2021
Independence Day is a celebration, an affirmation that the great experiment of American democracy is alive and well. There still endures here a deep love of country, a touch of the frontier, a belief in American exceptionalism. But all this obscures darker elements. There are centrifugal forces at play tearing the country apart. America: The War Within, Robert Moore reporting, ITV 2022
Tens of millions of Americans have lost faith in the voting process. And are bracing for chaos, even for conflict. ibid.
The anger has barely diminished. Donald Trump and many of his supporters across the country still believe the 2020 election was stolen. ibid.