Optimistic Trump on key voter issues PREZ MAKES RE-ELEX POINTS
President Trump appeared on his favorite morning show Wednesday for an indepth chat about why he deserves re-election — and why he’s right on the coronavirus pandemic and unruly protesters.
The 54-minute interview on “Fox & Friends” featured new advice from Trump on how states can safely reopen schools — and the president taunted Democratic rival Joe Biden in advance of the 2020 presidential debates.
Trump channeled optimism about his prospects in the election while bashing Democrats for allegedly giving him a raw deal on everything from mail-in ballots to the timing of the debates.
PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES
Trump said he wants the debates moved to earlier dates so that they can happen before ballots are mailed to voters.
“The first debate should be at least before the first ballots go out and they have it a month later, almost a month later — it’s ridiculous,” he said.
Trump allies see debates as a major opportunity for the president against Biden — who Trump claims is in mental decline.
Trump added that he has heard Biden wants to avoid the forums altogether.
“I’m ready to debate. I don’t care. I hear he wants to get out — but he has, in all fairness to him, he has not said that,” Trump said. “My people are telling me that [Biden advisers] are playing very cute. They’re trying to get out, there’s no question about that.”
The first debate is scheduled for Sept. 29 in Cleveland, Ohio.
The dates were set by the Commission on Presidential Debates. Trump said he believes the nonprofit formed in 1987 is biased against him. “This is a Clinton-Obama-type commission and, you know, they call it a beautiful name, but I’m not happy with it,” he said.
SCHOOLS REOPENING
Trump said elderly teachers who are vulnerable to the coronavirus should not return to schools that reopen in the fall.
“If a teacher’s in a certain age group, I think they shouldn’t be going in and probably they’ll have to wait until the thing goes by,” the president said.
Trump is pushing state and local governments to reopen schools, arguing that needy students will be deprived of an education and social services,, and has claimed kids are less likely to catch the virus.
Trump added that he remains optimistic about reining in COVID-19 before too long.
“This thing’s going away. It will go away like things go away,” the president said.
The virus has infected nearly 5 million Americans, killed 156,000 and left tens of millions of Americans, at least temporarily, unemployed.
GOP CONVENTION
Trump said he plans to give his Republican National Convention speech this month from the White House.
“I’ll probably do mine live from the White House,” Trump said. The White House is “the easiest, least expensive and I think very beautiful” option, he said. “If for some reason somebody had difficulty with it, I could go someplace else.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) quickly objected, saying, “Whether it’s legally wrong or ethically out of the question, it shouldn’t even have been something that was expressed.”
A traditional convention acceptance speech takes place on the Thursday of a week packed with political-party events building up to it. It’s an opportunity to harness intense coverage to reach voters who may not closely follow politics.
Democrats all but canceled their scheduled convention in Milwaukee, Wis., and Biden on Wednesday bailed out on visiting the swing state to give his speech live.
In July, Trump canceled plans to host most Republican National Convention events in Jacksonville, Fla., and moved remaining events back to the original RNC site in Charlotte, NC.
BLACK LIVES MATTER
Trump said that Black Lives Matter is “a Marxist group that is not looking for good things for our country.”
“Black Lives Matter, when did it start? Marching down streets screaming, ‘Pigs in a blanket, fry them like bacon.’ They were talking about policemen,” the president said.
“So all of a sudden, this has taken on this air of great respectability. Well, how does it start there? It’s a Marxist group.”
Black Lives Matter is both a diverse social movement and the name of a national organization — whose leaders include cofounder Patrisse Cullors, who described herself and fellow cofounder Alicia Garza as “trained Marxists.”
ANTIFA
Trump also said he disapproves of the role of Antifa, or so-called “anti-fascist,” activists who have clashed with authorities in Portland, Ore., and other cities across the nation since George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis cops on May 25.
Trump slammed Manhattan-Brooklyn Rep. Jerry Nadler’s claim that Antifa violence was “a myth.”
“This isn’t being naive. This is being untruthful. These are lying people, these are untruthful people,” Trump said.
He added that he believes “you have Democrats funding them. They say [George] Soros and they say other people — who knows.”
Soros, the left-wing billionaire investor, said last month that he would distribute $150 million to “black-led justice organizations.”