Usually the approach of the holidays makes for an abrupt slowdown of the news cycle. People on vacation, government buildings shuttered for a solid two weeks, everyone in general just wanting to put their differences aside and focus on what matters: our shared love for puppies with bows on them, hot booze and re-gifting.
Alas, those little elves in Trumpland continue to work overtime.
In the past week alone, the now-official prez-elect has feuded with a former U.S. president and called his own supporters “vicious” and “nasty,” all while starting a Twitter war with China that could lead to war war with China.
Shall we begin?
What he said on the campaign trail that was red meat for his supporters:
“Because you’d be in jail.” (To Hillary Clinton at an October presidential candidate debate.)
“I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.” (In his June, 2015 candidacy speech in NYC’s Trump tower.)
“So if you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of ‘em, would you? Seriously. Okay? Just knock the hell — I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees. I promise. I promise.” (In February at the Iowa caucuses.)
What he said to his supporters during a “Thank You Tour” stop in Orlando on Friday, Dec. 16:
“You people were vicious, violent, screaming, Where’s the wall? We want the wall! Screaming Prison, prison, lock her up! I mean, you were going crazy. And you were nasty and vicious and mean and you wanted to win, right? ...But now, now, now it’s much different. Now, you’re laid back, you’re cool, you’re mellow, right? You’re basking in the glory of victory, but now you’re mellow and you’re cool, but you’re not nearly as vicious or violent, right? Because we won, right?”
What Trump said about the federal budget, including military spending… in 2013.
“I think you’re going to have to do a lot more cutting. If you’re going to balance budgets, you’re going to be doing a lot more cutting — and there’s no question about it.” (In an interview with Fox News in Feb., 2013, as debate raged over the sequester.)
What Trump said about military spending… in 2016.
“I’m going to make our military so big, so powerful, so strong, that nobody — absolutely nobody — is going to mess with us.” (A 23-second Jan. 2016 campaign video outlining his position on the military.)
What Trump said recently about U.S. Rep. from South Carolina Mick Mulvaney, a budget hawk he recently tapped to head the Office of Management and Budget:
“We are going to do great things for the American people with Mick Mulvaney leading the Office of Management and Budget. Right now we are nearly $20 trillion in debt, but Mick is a very high-energy leader with deep convictions for how to responsibly manage our nation’s finances and save our country from drowning in red ink.” (Trump in a written statement his transition team issued last week.)
Bonus: What Mulvaney said in September about the federal government funding research on the Zika virus:
“No one has written me yet, though, to ask what might be the best question: do we really need government-funded research at all.” (Facebook post that has since been deleted.)
What Trump said about Bill Clinton in 2008:
That he didn’t deserve to be impeached for “something that was totally unimportant.” (In an interview with CNN.)
What Trump said about Bill Clinton in December, 2016:
“He ‘doesn’t know much’ …especially how to get people, even with an unlimited budget, out to vote in the vital swing states (and more). They focused on wrong states.” (On Twitter, after Clinton said Trump “doesn’t know much. One thing he does know is how to get angry, white men to vote for him.”)
What Trump said at first about China seizing a U.S. drone from the South China Sea:
“China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters — rips it out of water and takes it to China in unpresidented act. [sic]” Trump in a Dec. 17 tweet that was deleted and replaced with a post featuring the correct spelling of “unprecedented.”
What Trump said about the incident the later that day:
“We should tell China that we don’t want the drone they stole back — let them keep it!” (Also on Twitter, later that night.)
What Trump said about the Electoral College in 2012:
“The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy.” (Trump, on Twitter, in the wake of President Obama’s reelection.)
What Trump said about winning the Electoral College despite losing the popular vote by nearly 3 million in 2016:
“I never appreciated it until now — how genius it was, what they had in mind.” (During a “Thank You Tour” speech in Mobile, Alabama, Dec. 17)
