Politicians & Pundits: Donald Trump

Shot/Chaser: Trump Directed Mike Flynn To Contact Russia

SHOT: February 16, 2017

White House Press Conference:  Reporter Question:  Did you direct Mike Flynn to discuss the sanctions with the Russian ambassador?

THE PRESIDENT:  No, I didn’t.  No, I didn’t.  [inaudible]

THE PRESIDENT:  Excuse me — no, I fired him because of what he said to Mike Pence, very simple.  Mike was doing his job.  He was calling countries and his counterparts.  So it certainly would have been okay with me if he did it.  I would have directed him to do it if I thought he wasn’t doing it.  I didn’t direct him but I would have directed him because that’s his job. And it came out that way — and, in all fairness, I watched Dr. Charles Krauthammer the other night say he was doing his job.  And I agreed with him.  And since then I’ve watched many other people say that. No, I didn’t direct him, but […]

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Trump: “I Want To Thank Gen. Flynn,” “Great Guy,” “I Love Gen. Flynn” & More

Ahead of the White House’s desperate but inevitable attempts to distance themselves from Donald Trump’s former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, here is a compilation of Donald Trump heaping praise on the latest person to plead guilty as part of the Trump-Russia scandal.

As more videos are added, view the whole thread 

 

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American Bridge Statement on Former Trump NSA Flynn Pleading Guilty

American Bridge Vice President Shripal Shah released the following statement on reports former Trump Administration National Security Advisor Michael Flynn is pleading guilty to lying to the FBI this morning:

“Anyone who has been paying attention to this scandal knows full well that lying to the FBI was likely the least of Michael Flynn’s problems, and legal experts are already suggesting that this means he’s cooperating with the Special Counsel’s investigation. That’s bad news for Donald Trump, and likely explains his increasingly unhinged tweets in recent days.

“The fact remains that this investigation is still in it’s early stages. Flynn, Paul Manafort, Rick Gates and George Papadopoulos are just the beginning, but ultimately everyone involved in this criminal conspiracy must be held accountable by the law. That includes the President himself, his family, and members of his inner circle who continue to lie to the public about their ties to Russian officials […]

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JCT proves Trump-Republican tax plan increases deficit by $1 trillion with tax cuts for the rich, breaking top promise

The Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) just concluded that – even according to Republicans’ preferred scoring method – the Senate Republican tax plan would increase the national deficit by $1 trillion in order to cut taxes for the high income earners and corporations.  These unaffordable tax cuts would be made possible by raising taxes on millions of middle class Americans.

At the same time, the Treasury Department study of the tax proposal’s economic effects that Sec. Steve Mnuchin has promised multiple times is still nowhere to be found.

“Congress’s independent tax experts just refuted one of the top promises that Donald Trump and Senate Republicans have made to the American people, proving that their reckless tax plan would explode the deficit by $1 trillion,” said American Bridge spokesperson Andrew Bates. “This trickle-down sham would sell-out the American middle class with tax increases to allow new breaks for big money donors, […]

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Sanders Questions: Musical Chairs Edition

The White House didn’t even wait for Friday to dump the news of yet another senior level shake up. This time, it’s Secretary of State Rex Tillerson who is reportedly leaving his post to make way for CIA Director Mike Pompeo. Coming one day after President Trump was condemned by British Prime Minister Theresa May for spreading anti-Muslim hate propaganda–an unprecedented move from one of our greatest allies—it is clear the Trump Administration’s foreign policy apparatus is in complete disarray and the only man to blame is Donald Trump himself.

American Bridge Rapid Response Director Emily Aden calls on White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders to answer the following questions:

1. Is Donald Trump bringing in Mike Pompeo to the State Department to further assure Vladimir Putin he does not condemn Russia’s attack on the 2016 election?

2. By 2027, people making $40,000 to $50,000 would pay a combined $5.3 billion more in taxes, […]

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American Bridge Statement On Tillerson And Pompeo Shake Up

American Bridge Rapid Response Director Emily Aden released the following statement in response to reports that President Trump plans to fire Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and nominate CIA Director Mike Pompeo to replace him:

“Replacing one Putin lackey with another at the State Department should send a chill down every American’s spine regardless of their political party. Pompeo may not have been given a fancy award by Putin himself, but he still has spread fake news about the US intelligence assessment that Russia attacked the 2016 election, undermined new US sanctions on Russia passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, and even met with a conspiracy theorist peddling the insane lie that the DNC actually hacked itself. This administration puts Russian interests ahead of everything else, and that sadly won’t change regardless of who is in charge at the State Department.”

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FACT CHECK: Trump’s Tax Plan Actually Encourages Outsourcing

In St. Charles, Missouri, Donald Trump just blatantly lied when he said the Senate tax bill is “anti-offshoring and 100 percent worker.”  This is far from the truth – these plans charge lower tax rates on foreign profits than domestic profits, which encourages outsourcing.

Numerous economic experts, including a former White House economic adviser to President George H.W. Bush, two former National Economic Council directors, and multiple think tanks have sounded the alarm that these tax policy changes would cause more outsourcing of American jobs. The AFL-CIO ​and the United Steelworkers have also identified this threat of more offshoring as their main reason for opposing the Republican tax plans.

“Donald Trump’s entire case for his tax plan is built on lies, and the American people aren’t going to be fooled,” said American Bridge spokesperson Andrew Bates. “The Senate Republican bill sells-out the American middle class and working families with job-killing incentives for companies to move operations overseas, breaking Trump’s number […]

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Republicans follow their unpopular healthcare plan with the most unpopular tax plan in 36 years

A new analysis by FiveThirtyEight finds that the Trump-Republican tax bill “is one of the least popular tax plans since Ronald Reagan’s day,” using polling averages dating back to 1981.

FiveThirtyEight concludes that the tax proposal is “historically” unpopular with the American public “because they think it disproportionately benefits the rich.”

Based on study after study, they’re right – this plan would raise taxes on 87 million middle class households to help finance outsize new breaks for the wealthiest Americans as well as a permanent corporate rate cut that Fortune 500 CEOs are saying would not go toward new jobs, but increasing shareholder pay.

“The American people are decisively rejecting the Trump-Republican tax bill because they know it cuts taxes for the rich and big companies at the expense of everyone else,” said American Bridge spokesperson Andrew Bates. “No matter how recklessly Trump and Republican Senators try to shove this bill […]

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American Bridge Statement On Alex Azar Hearing

American Bridge Rapid Response Director Emily Aden released the following statement on Alex Azar’s confirmation hearing today before the Senate HELP Committee:

“This morning, Alex Azar failed miserably to convince the American people that he is anything other than a former drug company president looking out for his bottom line. Unsurprisingly, he doubled down on his hostility to the Affordable Care Act, women’s right to birth control coverage, and paid cheap lip service to the high costs of prescription drugs that made him his millions. In round after round of questioning he proved he simply has no good answer about his record raising the prices of life saving medication. If he is confirmed he will carry out the bidding of the industry that made him rich and his ultimate boss- Donald Trump.”

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Five Things To Know About Alex Azar

This morning the Senate HELP Committee will hold its first hearing on HHS Secretary nominee, and former Big Pharma CEO, Alex Azar. Azar is a candidate hand-picked for the drug and insurance companies and will do anything to keep industry profits high even when it means raising insurance premiums and costs for lifesaving medication for the American people. It’s no surprise Azar, like Donald Trump, wants to destroy the Affordable Care Act and turn Medicaid into a block grant program, both of which are on industry bucket lists, raise costs for consumers, and disproportionately hurt women and working families.

American Bridge Rapid Response Director Emily Aden stated, “Donald Trump picked Alex Azar to lead HHS because he knows he can trust Azar to carry out his dangerous and destructive health care agenda. From dismantling the Affordable Care Act, to raising prices for prescription drugs, to rolling back access to women’s health […]

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