After talking serious business in his last speech, President Donald Trump gathered his Arizona supporters for an off-script, unfiltered rally on Tuesday night — and his words were unsettling for even the staunchest Republicans.
The 77-minute speech, according to TIME, was mostly attacks against his recent (and long-term) opponents: John McCain, Jeff Flake and the media.
There are many adjectives to sum up Trump’s speech. Petty. Incoherent. Defensive. Deceptive. But maybe the most important: Unhinged.
— Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) August 23, 2017
Although Trump has already buried himself with multiple statements on the incidents in Charlottesville, he brought it back up AGAIN to challenge his various critics.
“I mean truly dishonest people in the media and the fake media, they make up stories. They have no sources in many cases,” Trump said. “They say ‘a source says’ — there is no such thing. But they don’t report the facts. Just like they don’t want to report that I spoke out forcefully against hatred, bigotry and violence and strongly condemned the neo-Nazis, the White Supremacists and the KKK.”
Then, he actually read his previous statements on Charlottesville — notably leaving out his controversial “many sides” line —to somehow prove that what he said was not reported. Then he took aim at the members of the press who said his comments were too-little, too-late.
“He didn’t say it fast enough. He didn’t do it on time,” Trump said. “Why did it take a day? He must be a racist. It took a day.”
CNN’s Don Lemon gave a scathing rebuke of Trump’s Phoenix speech https://t.co/U5f6iYuo9E
— Vox (@voxdotcom) August 23, 2017
Trump also took the time to revisit some of his greatest hits, from the status of that wall on the infamous southern border (which he said is “desperately needed”) to his ongoing feud with CNN (he got the crowd to chant “CNN sucks”).
However, another thing that for sure needs fact checking: Trump’s claim that CNN turned off cameras during his speech.
My favorite part of the Trump rally was watching Trump tell me that CNN turned off the cameras as I watched the rally continue live on CNN.
— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) August 23, 2017
Turning his attention back to McCain, Trump was clearly subtweeting the Arizona senator (who is currently battling brain cancer) about the Republican health care bill failing due, in part, to his vote when he said: “One vote away! I will not mention any names. Very presidential, isn’t it?”
Regardless of how presidential Trump believed he was being by leaving out names, The Hill reported that his attacks on McCain and Flake might just worsen some already tense feelings between POTUS and Republicans. There have been reports that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is also doubting Trump’s abilities.
Whether you support Trump or not, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to call appearances like this one “presidential.”