President Donald Trump lashed out at his critics and political opponents as he battles the coronavirus Wednesday, keeping up an hours-long stream of online invective as he is treated with experimental medications.
The president was already being tagged by critics with a bout of ‘roid rage’ when he fired off 42 tweets Tuesday and overnight. He was back at it Wednesday morning, this time retweeting a claim that if Democrats take over the government, the nation would turn into a ‘hellhole.’
In just one fiery example Wednesday, Trump went after former first lady Michelle Obama, who ranks as among the most popular political figures in the country.
A day after she released a 24-minute video calling him a racist, Trump retweeted actor James Woods – who replaced the background for the clip with shots of urban mayhem and buildings on fire.
Trump earlier retweeted a self-described ‘free-speech radicalist’ who wrote: ”it’s not republican vs democrat anymore. it’s pro-america vs turn us into a third world hellhole.’
Trump also made the difficult to back up claim that he can win California, and said if he does, he can end the forest fires that have ripped through Napa and other areas – along with the rolling blackouts and and water measures amid years of drought.
‘Vote TRUMP California. No more blackouts, shutdowns, ridiculous forrest fires, or water “rationing” (coming soon). We can win in California NOW!’ the president posted from his iPhone at 8:43 AM.
Donald Trump went after former first lady Michelle Obama and blasted critics in a slew of tweets Wednesday
A poll released Sept. 30 by KGTV and Survey USA had Joe Biden leading Trump there by 27 points.
It isn’t known if Trump’s doctors are recommending bed rest, but at 8:18 AM, Trump was lobbing attacks at ‘never-Trump’ Republican consultant Steve Schmidt, who has accused Trump of ‘tyranny’ and hypocrisy, and whose group, The Lincoln Project, mocked the video Trump released of his dramatic return to the White House.
TV journalist Greta Van Susteren had retweeted Schmidt, writing: ‘Why are you so rude? It is one thing to to disagree w/ someone but you get so personal w/ name calling and you seem to have a particular willingness to insult women.’
Schmidt had just retweeted Trump loyalist Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who welcomed Trump’s return from the hospital and made the claim that Trump had ‘once again defeated China’ – echoing the president’s claims about what he calls ‘China virus.’
Schmidt, a former advisor to Sen. John McCain, flamed her: ‘Howard Baker was once a United States Senator from Tennessee. This woman is a five star fool. What an embarrassment.’
Trump chimed in to back up Van Susteren and call Schmidt a ‘loser’.
‘Because I’ve beaten him and his very few remaining clients so much, and so badly, that he has become a blathering idiot. He failed with John McCain and will fail again with all others. He is a total loser. @MarshaBlackburn is a Tennessee Star, a highly respected WINNER!’ Trump wrote.
Earlier and overnight, the president issued a flurry of 42 tweets and retweets on a wide range of topics in just a few hours while under quarantine in the East Wing, slamming the FBI, FDA, Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Chris Wallace.
In one tweet, Trump set his terms for approving a stimulus bill from Congress, hours after saying he would cease all negotiations with Democrats until after the November 3 election.
‘If I am sent a Stand Alone Bill for Stimulus Checks ($1,200), they will go out to our great people IMMEDIATELY. I am ready to sign right now. Are you listening Nancy?’ he tweeted on Tuesday night.
Trump has long called for individual stimulus payments and the continuation of the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses, but has rejected other elements of the Democrats’ proposed stimulus plan. He reiterated that position on Tuesday.
His barrage of tweets came shortly after the President was discharged from hospital mid-way through his treatment for Covid-19, which has him receiving a course of the steroid dexamethasone. Experts say the drug can cause mental side effects that ‘have an impact on your thinking’ and could affect Mr Trump’s brain.
One medic said they see ‘substantial’ side effects in around a third of people, including anxiety and aggression, while the class of medicines that the drug belongs to has in the past been found to impair judgement or even to cause psychosis.
Trump is seen at the White House on Monday night. He went on a Twitter rampage on Tuesday, and Wednesday, tweeting about a variety of topics
‘The House & Senate should IMMEDIATELY Approve 25 Billion Dollars for Airline Payroll Support, & 135 Billion Dollars for Paycheck Protection Program for Small Business,’ Mr Trump wrote in another tweet.
‘Both of these will be fully paid for with unused funds from the Cares Act. Have this money. I will sign now!’ he continued.
Biden, Trump’s Democrat opponent in the presidential election, responded by tweeting a gif that could only be aimed at the president, of himself saying ‘get off Twitter.’
Trump also reacted with displeasure to new FDA rules that will make it impossible for a vaccine to gain approval for release prior to the election.
‘New FDA Rules make it more difficult for them to speed up vaccines for approval before Election Day. Just another political hit job!,’ Trump tweeted separately.
Earlier in the day, the FDA said vaccine makers should follow trial participants for at least two months to rule out any major side effects before seeking emergency approval – a timeline that will rule out any hope of a vaccine before the November 3 election, as Trump had often promised.
Other targets of the president’s ire included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Fox News anchor Chris Wallace.
‘Wear your mask in the “beauty” parlor, Nancy!’ he said of Pelosi, in reference to surveillance footage that captured her visiting a San Francisco salon without a face covering, in violation of the city’s lockdown rules.
‘Chris Wallace was a total JOKE. Protected Joe all night long. He’s no Mike!!!’ Trump tweeted of the newsman who moderated last week’s presidential debates, comparing him unfavorably to his father Mike Wallace.
Mr Trump’s tweets come as he is still taking the steroid dexamethasone as part of his treatment for coronavirus. The steroid is known to have side effects that can affect the brain and thought processes.
Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi suggested Trump may have warped thinking because of the steroids and said: ‘There are people who think that steroids have an impact on your thinking. So, I don’t know,’ Pelosi said, according to Politico.
Doctors on Tuesday warned that dexamethasone comes with risks of serious side effects, including mood swings, aggression and confusion.
Trump’s medical team on Sunday said the president was started on dexamethasone, a generic steroid long and widely used to reduce inflammation associated with other diseases. The steroid was begun after Trump experienced low oxygen levels.
Dr Ashish Jha, Dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health, told Fox News: ‘We definitely see in 30-40 percent of people pretty substantial effects…[of] the anxiety, the agitation.
Scientific research has shown that just a few days on dexamethasone can leave patients with memory and cognitive deficits. Corticosteroids – the class of drugs dexamethasone belongs to – may cause psychiatric side effects in anywhere from 1.8 to 57 percent of patients taking them.
A study published by the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota found that unpredictable ‘adverse psychiatric reactions’ were relatively common among people taking the drugs.
Experts’ first worry was that the use of dexamethasone to treat Trump suggested he was very sick, since the $6 steroid may be dangerous to people with mild COVID-19.
But because it’s been linked to everything from mania to memory problems, and aggression to psychosis, some are also concerned that the president’s judgement could be impaired as he reportedly continues to work through his illness.
Trump called debate moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News ‘a total JOKE’ in his Twitter rant
Trump singled out House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in several tweets on Tuesday
In another tweet, he cited reports of voting irregularities: ‘11,00 North Carolina residents get incorrect voter registration forms. 2000 LA County Voters received “faulty” Ballots, with NO WAY TO VOTE FOR PRESIDENT. Many others throughout USA. Here we go. This will be the most corrupt Election in American History!’
In a lengthy string of tweets, Trump spoke about federal investigations into Russian election interference and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private server for government emails.
‘I have fully authorized the total Declassification of any & all documents pertaining to the single greatest political CRIME in American History, the Russia Hoax. Likewise, the Hillary Clinton Email Scandal. No redactions!’
It came as a response to a tweet from Hoover Institution media fellow Paul Sperry, whom Trump also retweeted more than a dozen times in the span of an hour.
Trump has previously vowed to declassify documents related to the FBI’s 2016 Trump-Russia investigation, and Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s subsequent probe, which found no proof that the Trump campaign criminally conspired with the Russian government.
Indeed, in a follow-up tweet, Trump wrote: ‘All Russia Hoax Scandal information was Declassified by me long ago. Unfortunately for our Country, people have acted very slowly, especially since it is perhaps the biggest political crime in the history of our Country. Act!!!’
Another stream of tweets lashed out at the FBI’s Trump-Russia probe and Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s (above) subsequent investigation
‘So I had to constantly fight off all of this Scum, achieve more than any other President in First Term, and then they talk Chaos. They created crimes against me and this administration!’ Trump added in a retweet of Fox News commentator Greg Jarrett, in reference to the FBI’s Trump-Russia probe.
‘Can’t believe these con men are not yet being PROSECUTED. Pathetic!’ Trump said of the FBI investigators.
Biden also came in for Trump’s ire in a tweetstorm from the White House on Tuesday, and he issued a tweet that appeared to be aimed at the President with the caption ‘Get off Twitter’
Trump’s tweetstorm on Tuesday night followed an earlier tweet that sent stock markets crashing, when he said there would be no deal with Democrats on additional pandemic stimulus until after the election.
While some theorized that it might be a negotiation tactic, others pointed to one of the medications Trump is taking to treat coronavirus, Dexamethasone, a steroid that can have side affects of aggression, agitation and confusion.
On Monday, Trump’s Twitter account was locked after he shared the email address of a New York Post columnist.
Twitter forced Trump to delete the tweet before unlocking the account, citing rules against sharing private information without consent.
Top Trump aide Stephen Miller tests positive for COVID: Senior advisor becomes FIFTEENTH member of the President’s inner circle to be infected after helping debate prep with Hope Hicks, Kellyanne Conway and Chris Christie
Stephen Miller, a senior policy adviser to President Donald Trump, has tested positive for coronavirus, an administration official says.
Miller, 35, tested positive for the virus on Tuesday after working remotely for the prior five days and testing negative every day through yesterday, according to NBC News reporter Hallie Jackson.
Miller is currently in quarantine. His wife, Katie Miller, tested positive for COVID-19 in May, but returned to work as Vice President Mike Pence’s top spokeswoman after fully recovering from the infection at the time.
Hope Hicks, right, and Stephen Miller, center, are now positive for COVID-19 a week after flying on Marine One with Jared Kushner, left, on September 30
Miller was involved with Trump’s debate prep last week, before the president announced a positive test for COVID-19 on Friday
Katie Miller, who is currently pregnant, has been a key figure in Pence’s preparations for Wednesday’s vice presidential debate with Senator Kamala Harris in Salt Lake City.
She is currently in Utah with the vice president’s traveling party, an administration official told DailyMail.com.
On Tuesday, White House physician Jesse Shonau said in a memo that Pence had tested negative for the virus earlier in the day.
‘Vice President Mike Pence is encouraged to go about his normal activities and does not need to quarantine,’ the memo stated.
Miller, seen in July, is a senior policy adviser to Donald Trump
Katie Miller had previously mocked plans to install a plexiglass barrier between the two candidates at the vice presidential debate, saying: ‘If Senator Harris wants to use a fortress around herself, have at it.’
Stephen Miller was last seen publicly on September 30, boarding Marine One with Director of Oval Office Operations Nicholas Luna, Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications Dan Scavino, Senior Advisor to the President of the United States Jared Kushner and counselor to the President Hope Hicks.
Hicks tested positive for COVID-19 two days later, and Luna tested positive on October 3.
Stephen Miller is now at least the 15th Trump aide to test positive for the virus. The president and first lady announced their positive result early on Friday, October 2.
Nearly all members of the White House ‘cluster’ either attended a Rose Garden ceremony on September 26, or participated in debate prep with Trump ahead of the September 29 presidential debate.
Miller was a key participant in Trump’s debate prep in the White House Map Room.
Miller, from left, Hope Hicks and Kushner board Marine One on Sept. 30
Also participating in the prep were Hicks, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway, and Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien, all of whom have tested positive for COVID-19 since the debate.
Miller, a top aide who has remained in his post since inauguration, is among the administration’s most controversial figures.
He is seen as the mastermind behind Trump’s travel ban against several majority-Muslim countries, as well as the scuttled policy of arresting all people who entered the country illegally, resulting in the separation of children from family members.
Miller’s grandmother Ruth Glosser died at the age of 97 in July, with family members blaming coronavirus.
At the time, Miller denied that coronavirus was to blame for her death, telling Mother Jones through a spokesperson that Glosser had contracted the virus in March.
‘She was diagnosed with COVID in March and passed away in July so that timeline does not add up at all,’ the spokesperson said. ‘His grandmother died peacefully in her sleep from old age.’
TRUMP’S INNER CIRCLE WHO HAVE TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVID
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 1
Ronna McDaniel, 47. Chair of the Republican National Convention
McDaniel is thought to have been the first positive case. It was not made public until after Trump’s diagnosis.
She was last in contact with Trump on September 25. McDaniel began isolating on September 26 when a member of her family tested positive. She got her results several days later.
THURSDAY OCTOBER 2
Hope Hicks, 31, Counselor to the President
Hicks was the first case reported and was tied to the President’s positive test.
She flew with him through the week before he was diagnosed and started feeling unwell on her way back from a rally in Minnesota on Wednesday night.
She quarantined on Air Force One to stay away from him.
President Donald Trump, 74
Confirmed positive diagnosis on Friday October 2 at 1am. Was taken to Walter Reed on Friday night, where he remained on Monday afternoon.
Reported symptoms included trouble breathing, lethargy and a fever.
He was given an antibody cocktail on Friday and other treatments.
First Lady Melania Trump, 50
Confirmed positive diagnosis on Friday October 2 at 1am. She has been quarantining in the White House.
She suffered mild symptoms including a cough and a headache but has said repeatedly that she feels ‘good’.
FRIDAY OCTOBER 2
Fr. John Jenkins, 66, President of the University of Notre Dame
Jenkins attended the announcement of Amy Coney Barrett as Trump’s Supreme Court Nomination without a mask on Saturday September 25.
The event in the White House Rose Garden is now widely believed to be the source of many of the infections.
He is not thought to have severe symptoms.
Mike Lee, 49, Republican Utah Senator
Lee also attended the event in the Rose Garden and he was seen hugging other attendees without a mask on.
He is not thought to have severe symptoms either.
Bill Stepien, 42, Trump’s Campaign Manager
Stepien tested positive after Trump.
He had mild, flu-like symptoms and planned to continue working from home.
He attended Tuesday night’s rally in Cleveland, having flown with Trump and Hicks on Air Force One to and from the event.
Michael Shear, 52, New York Times White House correspondent, and two other unnamed journalists
The journalists’ positive diagnoses were revealed on Friday.
Two attended the SCOTUS event, where they said they were forced into pen like enclosures at the back, with little space between them.
Hardly any of the guests at the event wore masks, they said.
SATURDAY OCTOBER 3
Thom Tillis, 60, Republican North Carolina Senator
Tillis announced that he’d tested positive after routinely testing negative.
He said he was asymptomatic.
‘Over the last few months, I’ve been routinely tested for COVID-19, including testing negative last Saturday, but tonight my rapid antigen test came back positive,’ he said in a statement.
Chris Christie, 58, Former New Jersey Governor
Christie has been at the White House frequently in recent weeks and was at the SCOTUS event.
He tested positive on Saturday and checked himself into hospital, he said, out of an abundance of caution because of his health conditions including asthma.
Nicholas Luna, 29, Chief of Oval Office Operations and ‘body man’
Luna’s job requirements involve following Trump around at all times.
He tested positive on Saturday night, more than 24 hours after President Trump did
Ron Johnson, 65, Republican Wisconsin Senator
Johnson still attended an Oktoberfest event on Friday night while awaiting the results of a COVID-19 test, despite knowing he had come into contact with others who had tested positive.
He defended it, saying he was asymptomatic
SUNDAY OCTOBER 4
Kellyanne Conway, 53, Former White House Counselor to the President
Conway and her daughter have both tested positive.
The daughter, Claudia, revealed on Tik Tok that her mom had been coughing all over their home
MONDAY OCTOBER 5
Kayleigh McEnany, 32, White House Press Secretary
McEnany had tested negative last week after Trump’s diagnosis and she continued giving press conferences without a mask on until Sunday
Chad Gilmartin. Assistant Press Secretary
Karoline Leavitt, Assistant Press Secretary
Two unnamed staff members who work in the White House residence.
They were told to use ‘discretion’ when discussing it, according to The New York Times
TUESDAY OCTOBER 6
Stephen Miller, 35, White House policy advisor
Miller had been working remotely for five days, and tested negative for coronavirus each day prior to testing positive, the administration said.