| Week #40: August 19, 2017 |
|
This week's list is not the longest, but it is certainly the most heartbreaking. Trump's comments on Charlottesville legitimized the worst of us, and spawned a watershed moment for our country. His remarks were met with widespread condemnation and reactions, and precipitated a mass exodus of corporate CEOs, wiping away any lingering doubts that Trump's goals were ever truly linked to job creation. For the first time, real questions about fitness for office were raised out loud by both sides. This week in Trump's shrinking, chaotic regime it became even clearer that Trump answers to no one but himself. He continues to attack and attempt to intimidate Republicans into submission, as part of his continuing efforts to consolidate power. |
| 1. |
In an impromptu news conference on Charlottesville late Saturday afternoon, Trump said, "We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides." Read More About This |
| 2. |
White supremacists and neo-Nazi leaders cheered Trump's "on many sides" comments, taking his words as a defense, or even as a tacit approval, of their action. Read More About This |
| 3. |
On Sunday, the WH issued a statement to "clarify" Trump's Saturday comments, saying Trump condemns all forms of "violence, bigotry and hatred" while naming white supremacists, KKK, and neo-Nazis. Read More About This |
| 4. |
32 year-old Heather Heyer was killed Saturday after a car driven by James Fields rammed into a crowd of counter-protestors in Charlottesville. Nineteen others were injured. Read More About This |
| 5. |
Daily Caller and Fox News deleted a post titled, "Here's A Reel Of Cars Plowing Through Protesters Trying To Block The Road," which included a video encouraging people to drive through protests. Read More About This |
| 6. |
Two state troopers, Lieutenant Cullen and Trooper Bates, who were keeping watch on the demonstrations in Charlottesville, were killed when their helicopter went down. Read More About This |
| 7. |
On Sunday, a candlelight vigil planned for Heather Heyer in Charlottesville was cancelled due to a "credible threat from white supremacists." Read More About This |
| 8. |
Neo-Nazis disparaged Heyer, and the KKK celebrated her death. Neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer was taken down after activists, led by my Sunday tweet, contacted domain hosts Go Daddy, Google, etc. Read More About This; Click here, also |
| 9. |
After US hosting companies refused to host The Daily Stormer, the website briefly relocated to Russia, for which they thanked Trump, before being kicked off there too. China rebuffed them too. Read More About This; Click here, also |
| 10. |
In the wake of Charlottesville, numerous tech companies including Facebook, Google, Spotify, Uber, Squarespace and many others took action to curb use of their services and platforms by alt-right groups. Read More About This |
| 11. |
A Unite the Right organizer was disavowed by his family. Several marchers who were identified on social media lost their jobs. Others were asked to denounce their activities or were expelled by colleges. Read More About This; Click here, also |
| 12. |
On Sunday, Trump's popularity hit a new low at Gallup with 34% approving and 61% disapproving (-27). Read More About This |
| 13. |
On Monday, Sessions said the car ramming into Heather Heyer and 19 others "does meet the definition of domestic terrorism" under US law. Read More About This |
| 14. |
On Monday morning, Merck's CEO resigned from Trump's American Manufacturing Council saying as a "matter of personal conscience, I feel a responsibility to take a stand against intolerance and extremism." Read More About This |
| 15. |
Later Monday, Trump tweeted @Merck is a leader in "higher & higher drug prices," and "taking jobs out of the U.S." Read More About This |
| 16. |
Later Monday and Tuesday, four more CEOs resigned from Trump's American Manufacturing Council over his handling of Charlottesville. Read More About This |
| 17. |
Trump countered, "I have many to take their place. Grandstanders should not have gone on." Trump offered no new names publicly. Read More About This |
| 18. |
On Wednesday, NYT reported the CEOs on Trump's Strategic and Policy Forum held a morning conference call to discuss whether to disband the policy forum. The Manufacturing Council planned a call that afternoon. Read More About This |
| 19. |
Before the policy forum, and possible manufacturing council could formally disband, midday Wednesday Trump tweeted "rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople," he was ending both. Read More About This |
| 20. |
On Thursday, the WH announced the Presidential Advisory Council on Infrastructure, which was still being formed, would not move forward. Read More About This |
| 21. |
On Monday, Trump said he is "seriously considering" a pardon for ex-Sheriff Joe Arpaio, saying, "He's a great American patriot." Read More About This |
| 22. |
In the aftermath of Charlottesville, the Phoenix mayor called on Trump to delay his planned rally next week, saying Trump's plan to pardon Arpaio could "enflame emotions and further divide our nation." Read More About This |
| 23. |
Minutes after the Phoenix mayor's statement, Trump tweeted a link for tickets to his Phoenix event. Read More About This |
| 24. |
Advocates said there has been a spike in reports of anti-LGBTQ violence since Trump took office. As of August, there are already more hate-related homicides than in all of 2016, excluding Pulse. Read More About This |
| 25. |
A Virginia high school sent a letter to parents saying selection for AP and Honors classes would at least partly based on race. Read More About This |
| 26. |
On Monday, the Holocaust memorial in Boston was vandalized for the second time this summer. Read More About This |
| 27. |
On Monday, reading from a teleprompter, Trump gave his third version of comments on Charlottesville, calling the KKK, neo-Nazis and white supremacists "repugnant" and saying, "racism is evil." Read More About This |
| 28. |
On Tuesday morning, Trump tweeted then deleted an image of a train running over a CNN reporter. Read More About This |
| 29. |
On Tuesday at Trump Tower, with Mnuchin, Chao and Cohn by this side, Trump turned what was supposed to be remarks about his infrastructure plan into an "off-the-rails" news conference on Charlottesville. Read More About This |
| 30. |
Reversing himself for the fourth time in four days, Trump said "I think there's blame on both sides" -- insinuating that the "alt-left" was just as much to blame as white supremacists and neo-Nazis. Read More About This |
| 31. |
Trump claimed not all the white supremacists and neo-Nazis were bad people, "you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides." Read More About This |
| 32. |
When asked about Bannon, Trump said "He's a good man. He's not a racist," and that the press treats him, "frankly, very unfairly." Read More About This |
| 33. |
Trump claimed alt-right protestors had a permit, but counter-protesters "came charging in without a permit" and "were very, very violent." WAPOgave the claim that counter-protestors had no permit 4 Pinocchios. Read More About This |
| 34. |
Trump equated taking down the statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville to taking down statues of Washington ("George Washington was a slave owner") and Jefferson ("Because he was a major slave owner"). Read More About This |
| 35. |
Trump's staff, expecting brief remarks on infrastructure, were stunned by his action. One senior WH official told NBC, Trump "went rogue." Read More About This |
| 36. |
POLITICO reported Trump was "in good spirits" Tuesday night, and felt the "new conference went much better" than his Monday speech. Read More About This |
| 37. |
Alt-right leaders praised Trump's Tuesday comments. Richard Spencer said he was "really proud of him," and David Duke tweeted, "Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth." Read More About This |
| 38. |
Axios reported within the Trump WH, Bannon unapologetically supported Trump's instinct to blame "both sides," and that he and Trump "instinctively searched for "their" people in that group of protesters." Read More About This |
| 39. |
Mnuchin's Yale classmates wrote an open letter calling on him to resign immediately, saying Trump "declared himself a sympathizer with groups" whose values are antithetical to Yale and decent human beings. Read More About This |
| 40. |
In a Republican primary in Alabama Tuesday, Trump's chosen candidate Luther Strange, who he very publicly supported, came in second. Read More About This |
| 41. |
On Wednesday, Pence cut his international trip to Central and South America short to come home. The stated reason was to join a national security meeting on Friday, although rumors flew with other theories. Read More About This |
| 42. |
On Wednesday, Fox News' Shep Smith said his show "reached out to Republicans of all stripes across the country today" and couldn't find a single one willing to come on and discuss Trump's Tuesday comments. Read More About This |
| 43. |
In a letter, fmr CIA director Brennan told CNN's Blitzer Trump's comments on Charlottesville were "despicable," and that Trump "is putting our national security and our collective futures at grave risk." Read More About This |
| 44. |
On Wednesday, the Generals of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and National Guard tweeted to condemn the racist violence in Charlottesville, declaring the nation's armed forces unequivocally against hatred. Read More About This |
| 45. |
Sen. Corker, one of Trump's first senate supporters who was also under consideration for VP, said Trump "has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence" to be a successful leader. Read More About This |
| 46. |
European leaders, including Merkel and May, denounced Trump's comments on Charlottesville. Martin Schulz of German said Trump "is betraying our Western value." Read More About This |
| 47. |
Rep. Steve Cohen of TN, a ranking member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, introduced articles of impeachment in response to Trump's comments on Charlottesville. Read More About This |
| 48. |
On Wednesday, Sessions told NBC News that the Charlottesville car attack may be considered a "hate crime." Read More About This |
| 49. |
USA Today Editorial Board called on Congress to censure Trump for his "shocking equivocations about the white-supremacist," challenging Republicans to "stand up for American values" or be Trump enablers. Read More About This |
| 50. |
On Thursday, the Cleveland Clinic pulled their 2018 Florida gala from Mar-A-Lago. Cleveland Clinic had held their event there for eight years. Read More About This |
| 51. |
By Friday evening, 16 charities had pulled their events from Mar-A-Lago, costing the Trump Organization hundreds of thousands, or possibly millions in lost revenues. Read More About This |
| 52. |
Citing violence at Charlottesville, Texas A&M and the University of Florida cancelled scheduled speaking appearances by white supremacist Richard Spencer, both citing safety concerns. Read More About This |
| 53. |
On Thursday, Michigan State University denied a request by Spencer to rent space on the campus for a September event. Read More About This |
| 54. |
Students and graduates of Lehigh University students petitioned trustees to revoke Trump's honorary degree, citing Trump's "both sides" remarks. Read More About This |
| 55. |
Thousands gathered at UVA on Wednesday night for an unannounced candlelight vigil. They chanted "love wins," and sang "We Shall Overcome" and "Amazing Grace." Read More About This |
| 56. |
At a funeral service for Heather Heyer her mother, Susan Bro said, "They tried to kill my child to shut her up. Well, guess what? You just magnified her." Bro told NBC Thursday she has received death threats from hate groups. Read More About This |
| 57. |
Bro said she will not meet with Trump after he blamed "both sides" for violence in Charlottesville. She also has not picked up his phone calls. Read More About This |
| 58. |
Trump continued to tweet about Confederate statues after his news conference, "can't change history, but you can learn from it. Robert E Lee, Stonewall Jackson -- who's next, Washington, Jefferson? So foolish!" Read More About This |
| 59. |
The great-great grandchildren of Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and Stonewall Jackson called for Confederate statues to be removed. They also condemned the white supremacist and violence in Charlottesville. Read More About This |
| 60. |
They also suggested statues be moved to museums. Bertram Hayes-Davis, great-great-grandson of Jefferson Davis suggested, "In a public place, if it is offensive and people are taking issue with it, let's move it." Read More About This |
| 61. |
In the days following the Charlottesville alt-right rally, 13 US cities and Duke University said they would remove Confederate monuments. Several other cities are considering same. Read More About This |
| 62. |
After a terrorist attack in Spain, Trump tweeted about what General Pershing did when terrorist were caught: "There was no more Radical Islamic Terror for 35 years!" Politifact rated Trump's claim, Pants on Fire. Read More About This; Click here, also |
| 63. |
Trump continued to do battle with Republicans, targeting Flake who he called "toxic" and "WEAK on borders, crime and a non-factor in Senate," and Graham who he said "can't forget his election trouncing." Read More About This; Click here, also |
| 64. |
Countering Trump, McConnell offered his "full support" for Flake. Read More About This |
| 65. |
James Murdoch donated $1mm to the Anti-Defamation League in the wake of Charlottesville. As many of social media noted, Fox News played a major role in stoking the hate of far-right extremists. Read More About This |
| 66. |
According to government documents published by one of Murdoch's newspapers Tuesday, Australian authorities denied a bid by Trump to build a casino in 1988 due to his ties to the mafia and organized crime. Read More About This |
| 67. |
HuffPost reported on Trump aide Katharine Gorka's role in helping to pull DHS funding for Life After Hate, a group dedicated to countering neo-Nazis and white supremacists, as noted in Week 33. Of note: also in Week 33, the State Dept's anti-Semitism monitoring office was shuttered. Read More About This |
| 68. |
In an interview Thursday, former VP Gore said if he could give Trump one piece of advice, it would be to resign. Read More About This |
| 69. |
On Friday, the 17 remaining members of Trump's presidential arts and humanities panel resigned Friday in protest over his Charlottesville comments. Read More About This |
| 70. |
Trump's WH responded late Friday, saying Trump was going to disband the arts and humanities panel anyway. Read More About This |
| 71. |
Trump and Melania said they will not attend this year's Kennedy Center Honors in December. According to Huckabee Sanders, the decision is meant to allow "honorees to celebrate without any political distraction." Read More About This |
| 72. |
The decision was made after numerous honorees announced their intentions to skip or protest if Trump attended. After Trump's cancelation, event organizers said, "We are grateful for this gesture." Read More About This |
| 73. |
NBC called this week Trump's "worst week yet," and said he was more isolated than ever. Read More About This |
| 74. |
Hope Hicks took over as the interim WH communications director, as Trump continued his search to replace Scaramucci. Hicks is the fourth person in that role. Read More About This |
| 75. |
Trump's personal lawyer John Dowd forwarded an email with secessionist Civil War propaganda. The email also stated the group Black Lives Matter "has been totally infiltrated by terrorist groups." Read More About This |
| 76. |
Trump's DOJ issued a warrant to DreamHost demanding the company turn over all IP addresses related to DisruptJ20.org, a website used in planning actions to interrupt Trump's inauguration. Read More About This |
| 77. |
A week after the inauguration, the DOJ had asked for information such as people's physical and email addresses and DreamHost had complied. DreamHost's lawyers called the latest request a "complete overreach." Read More About This |
| 78. |
NYT reported Mueller, for the first time, is seeking to interview past and current members of Trump's WH beyond Manafort, including members of the communications team. Read More About This |
| 79. |
Mueller is interested in interviewing Priebus about what occurred during the campaign and in the WH, especially as it relates to the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting and the Comey firing. Read More About This |
| 80. |
During a press conference on his visit to Columbia, Pence told reporters he "never witnessed" any evidence of Russian collusion with the Trump campaign, and that he was "not aware" of it ever having occurred. Read More About This |
| 81. |
WAPO reported Trump aid George Papadopoulos, starting in March 2016 with an email headed, "Meeting with Russian Leadership -- Including Putin," repeatedly tried to get Trump aides to meet with Russians. Read More About This |
| 82. |
Experts on Russian intelligence speculated his email chain offers further evidence that Russians were looking for entry points into the Trump campaign. Papalopoulos said he was acting as a Russian intermediary. Read More About This |
| 83. |
NYT reported on an investigation by Ukrainian investigators and the FBI of a Ukrainian malware expert named "Profexer," for his part in a network of hackers allegedly engaged by Russia to hack the US election. Read More About This |
| 84. |
Also under investigation is a Russian government hacking group, Advanced Persistent Threat 28 or Fancy Bear, believed to be involved in the DNC hacking. Much of the work was outsourced to private vendors. Read More About This |
| 85. |
In the first know hitch, Mueller's special counsel lost a top FBI investigator, Peter Strzok. It is unclear why Strzok stepped away. Read More About This |
| 86. |
A US District court judge ruled that as part of a libel suit brought by Webzilla CEO Aleksej Gubarev against Buzzfeed, Steele could be questioned about the funding and sourcing of the dossier. Read More About This |
| 87. |
Rep. Rohrabacher, an advocate for the Kremlin, said he plans to brief Trump on his meeting with Assange. Assange told Rohrabacher that he was not behind the DNC hack, and that the Russians were not involved. Read More About This |
| 88. |
Assange is trying to strike a deal so he can stop living in asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. In Week 23, Sessions said the DOJ was preparing charges against Assange whose "arrest is a priority." Read More About This |
| 89. |
The National Parks Service reversed a ban on plastic water bottles at national parks. The move came after confirmation of Trump's Deputy Interior Secretary, who previously represented Deer Park Water. Read More About This |
| 90. |
In a tweet, the Trump Organization featured a photo with the caption, "From our Presidential ballroom to intimate historic room," to advertise meeting and event space. Read More About This |
| 91. |
Raising ethical concerns, Justice Gorsuch is scheduled to address conservative groups at Trump Hotel DC in September, less than two weeks before the court will hear arguments on Trump's Muslim Ban. Read More About This |
| 92. |
Mattis' Department of Defense parted ways with senior media adviser, Steve Warren. Pentagon reporters have complained about lack of access to Mattis, and some recently being kicked off Mattis's Middle East trip last minute. Read More About This |
| 93. |
On Friday, Trump friend and ally Carl Icahn resigned as a special adviser to Trump, although Icahn had done nothing in that role. The WH said Icahn had been fired on Monday. Read More About This |
| 94. |
Icahn resigned hours before The New Yorker published a piece on his conflicts of interest (see Week 20). The head of a watchdog group said, "This kind of self-enrichment and influence" was "unprecedented." Read More About This |
| 95. |
Trump tweeted photos from Camp David of him signing the Global War on Terrorism War Memorial Act. Of the 14 people at the signing, there was only one woman and not a single person of color. Read More About This |
| 96. |
In an interview with The American Prospect on Wednesday, a venting Bannon referred to white supremacists as "clowns" and "losers." Read More About This |
| 97. |
Contradicting Trump, Bannon said on N. Korea, "there's no military solution here, they got us," and added, "it's just a sideshow." Read More About This |
| 98. |
In new interviews, Bannon said he viewed the post-Charlotte racial strife and turmoil as a political winner for Trump. Read More About This |
| 99. |
On Friday, Trump fired Bannon. According to Bannon allies, he submitted his intention to leave the WH on August 7. Read More About This; Click here, also |
| 100. |
Axios reported Bannon met with the billionaire Mercer family for five hours Friday in New York and "together they will be a well-funded force on the outside." Read More About This |
| 101. |
Bannon told Bloomberg that he would be returning to run Breitbart, and that he would be "going to war for Trump against his opponents -- on Capitol Hill, in the media, and in corporate America." Read More About This |
| 102. |
Bannon told the Weekly Standard, "The Trump presidency that we fought for, and won, is over," saying Trump will not achieve his campaign promises. Bannon vowed to continue the fight from the outside. Read More About This |
| 103. |
In an op-ed titled, "I Voted for Trump, And I Sorely Regret It," past avid supporter Julius Krein wrote of his disillusionment with Trump, and the realization that Trump would not achieve his stated goals. Read More About This |
| 104. |
Right-wing radio host Limbaugh backed white nationalists and told his 26 million listeners that America is on the "cusp of a second civil war," blaming international financiers who are trying to bring down America. Read More About This |
| 105. |
On Saturday, Boston hosted a Free Speech Rally organized by conservatives and libertarians at Boston Commons. Friday, Mayor Walsh said 500 police officers would be there, and urged people to stay away. Read More About This |
| 106. |
Thousands of counter-protestors marched through downtown Boston to condemn white supremacists and neo-Nazis. Police estimated 15k peacefully marched. Read More About This |
Read About
RSS Feed
