President Trump Holds Make America Great Again Rally in Johnstown, PA
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THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much. And keep that enthusiasm going. Get out and vote. We got to vote. We got to vote these people into oblivion. (Applause.) Vote them into oblivion. Got to get rid of them. So bad for our country.
First of all, I’m feeling great. I don’t know about you. How’s everyone feeling? Good? (Applause.)
And I’m honoured to welcome — we call this a “peaceful protest” — to the White House in support of the incredible men and women of law enforcement and all of the people that work so well with us. And I have to tell you, our black community, our Hispanic community, thank you very much. Thank you. (Applause.)
But before going any further, I want to thank all of you for your prayers. I know you’ve been praying, and I was — (applause) — in that hospital. I was watching down over so many people. And I went out to say hello to those people, and I took a little heat for it, but I’d do it again, let me tell you. I’d do it again. (Applause.)
And on behalf of myself and the First Lady, it just has been really an incredible outpouring. And we’re starting very, very big with our rallies and with our everything because we cannot allow our country to become a socialist nation. (Applause.) We cannot let that happen. And that’s what would happen — or worse. By the way, or worse.
I want you to know our nation is going to defeat this terrible China virus, as we call it. (Applause.) And we’re producing powerful therapies and drugs, and we’re healing the sick, and we’re going to recover. And the vaccine is coming out very, very quickly, in record time, as you know. It’s coming out very, very soon. We have great, great companies doing it, and they’ll be distributing it, and we will — through our military — very, very rapidly.
Through the power of the American — the American spirit, I think more than anything else, science, medicine will eradicate the China virus once and for all. We’ll get rid of it. All over the world, you see big flare-ups in Europe, big flare-ups in Canada — a very big flare-up in Canada; you saw that today. A lot of flare-ups. But it’s going to disappear; it is disappearing. And vaccines are going to help, and the therapeutics are going to help a lot.
I just want to thank everyone this afternoon. What beautiful colors. Where did you get that color, Candace? (Applause.) Where did that come from? That’s — what a beautiful color. I want to get one of them. I want to put one of them on instead of a white shirt. I want to thank you, though, seriously.
Every day, more black and Latino Americans are leaving behind left-wing politicians and their failed ideology. (Applause.) That’s what they are. They failed for many years and many, many decades.
Democrats have run nearly every inner city in America — and I mean for a hundred years — and their policies have delivered nothing but calamity, poverty, and trouble. Sleepy Joe Biden has betrayed black and Latino Americans. If you think he can run this country, you’re wrong.
THE PRESIDENT: For half a century — shipping your jobs to China. That’s what they’ve been doing. We’re bringing the jobs back. We’ve been bringing them back. (Applause.) We’ve been charging China a lot of money too, with the tariffs. A lot of money. Billions and billions of dollars.
Opening your borders to mass illegal immigration. The wall is now 380 miles long; it’ll soon be finished. (Applause.) Trapping us in endless foreign wars — these ridiculous foreign wars that last for 19 years. Our people are coming back home. You know that.
And selling you out to the rich, globalist Wall Street donors. They have the Wall Street donors. They want the Wall Street donors. Someday, somebody is going to have to write a little story about that.
Black and Latino Americans are rejecting the radical socialist left, and they’re embracing our pro-jobs, pro-worker, pro-police — we want law and order; we have to have law and order — and pro-American agenda.
I want to thank the BLEXIT Foundation for organizing this event. (Applause.) Thank you very much. Thank you. And especially your two founders, two friends of mine, great people: Candace Owens and former Tucson police officer Brandon Tatum. Thank you both. (Applause.) Great job. What a great job. Two really brilliant, smart, young people. Great. And thank you very much for being here. We really appreciate it.
So you just marched to the White House because you understand, to protect the lives of black Americans and all Americans, you have to have your police support you. You have to have that. (Applause.)
If the left gains power, they’ll launch a nationwide crusade against law enforcement. And they’ve already done that. And you see them; they’re doing that at a level that nobody has ever seen before.
The other day, in the debate, Biden couldn’t even use the words “law enforcement.” I said, “Say ‘law enforcement.’ Say ‘law enforcement.’” And he was bailed out by the anchor. Then I said — then I said, very simply — I said, “Name one law enforcement group that’s supporting you.” He couldn’t do it. But he was bailed out by the anchor. Second time bailed. He got bailed out by that anchor a lot.
Taking their funds away, their firearms, their fundamental authorities — taking everything away, including your freedom. Joe Biden even said, when you call 911, a therapist should answer the call. That doesn’t work. That doesn’t work. But this is the people telling him what, because he doesn’t say. He’s told what to say.
You saw what they introduced today. They’ve gone through a period of years: “No fracking, no fracking, no fracking.” All of a sudden, he gets the nomination and he says there’s going to be fracking. For Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Texas, North Dakota, all of you, there will be — if it happens, all of those jobs are gone; your energy jobs are gone, if they get in. Just remember I said it. Okay? Just remember.
Biden —
AUDIENCE MEMBER: It’s not going to happen!
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t think so either. (Applause.)
There’s been — and I have to say, there’s been more enthusiasm — we have had more enthusiasm right now, right now, this year, than we had four years ago by a factor of three times. (Applause.) And we had a lot. And they had none. They have no enthusiasm.
AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
THE PRESIDENT: They have no enthusiasm. In fact, the gap is so incredible, and a poll just came out. I think it said 56 percent of the people prefer their position now in the midst of a pandemic than they did four years ago. Think of what that means — 56. And it’s a Gallup poll, and it’s the highest poll ever recorded — 56 percent. Now, tell me about that.
No, we had it going, and we really had it going, and then the plague came in from China, but we’re getting rid of that, and we’re rebuilding it, and it’s going to be better than it was even before. (Applause.)
But the homes and churches and businesses of black and Hispanic Americans have been looted; you know that. They’ve been vandalized and burned by left-wing fanatics. Total bad people. They know what they’re doing. Yet Biden likes to call them “peaceful protesters.” You see people —
AUDIENCE: Booo —
THE PRESIDENT: You see anchors from a couple of the very bad, very corrupt networks standing, and behind them, the cities are burning and they’re saying these are peaceful protests. And you look, and everything is on fire.
And I want to thank our law enforcement, and I want to thank everybody in the community and the community drives who are working with law enforcement. I want to thank them. (Applause.) I think we probably have the support of every law enforcement group in this country, practically. I don’t know of any that I don’t. Maybe there must be some; there must be one. They’ll find one tonight. They’ll say, “No, he misrepresented.”
But we have a level of support the likes of which nobody has I don’t think ever seen before. I don’t think so. And you’re going to see that. And you see how many crooked ballots are being found and turned back in and fraudulent? Just what I said. Then they’ll say, “He doesn’t believe in freedom.” I totally believe in freedom. That’s called “freedom.” What we’re doing is freedom. (Applause.)
Tremendous problems with the ballots. Fifty thousand in Ohio. Twenty-five thousand — you have to see it. I mean, every day, there’s a story about ballots. Some thrown out; they happen to have the name “Trump.” Military ballots were thrown out with the name “Trump” on them. Okay?
AUDIENCE: Booo —
THE PRESIDENT: But I think we’re to swamp them by so much. Hopefully it’s not going to matter. And we have law enforcement watching. We have law enforcement watching all those ballots. They’re being found for a reason.
Left-wing politicians like Kamala Harris, who really did not do very well the other night —
AUDIENCE: Booo —
THE PRESIDENT: By the way, did our Vice President do a good job, Candace? Did he? (Applause.) That was — that was easy for him.
No, he did a great job, because we’re on the side of right. We really are. We’re on the side of right. And, by the way, we are, and it’s true. And I say it, and I say it all the time now, more and more: We are draining the swamp like nobody in history has ever drained the swamp. (Applause.) Nobody in history has ever drained.
We’re here today to deliver a united message to police officers all across our great land that American — and I mean every American, every race and color, we love you. Every race, color, creed, we support you, we honor you. It’s a dangerous profession. They’ve been doing an incredible job, and I just want to thank them on behalf of everybody here today, because that’s why we’re safe. (Applause.)
In contrast, the Democrats’ socialist program and platform — and it really is more than socialist. It’s not just socialist; it’s beyond socialism.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Communist!
THE PRESIDENT: (Laughs.) He says “communist.” That’s — yeah, that’s about right.
But I recently announced my plan to deliver more opportunity, security, fairness, and prosperity to the black community, to the Hispanic community. (Applause.) And you know what it is — I don’t have to go over it — but it’s the Platinum Plan, and it’s going to bring back new jobs, like at a level that you’ve never seen before. And we’ve done a lot. We’ve done a lot.
But increase capital. It’s going to increase money coming into the black community, to the Hispanic community, where it’s been very much shut out. In advance, very much homeownership and wealth building. And it’s already taken place, and it’s taken place at a level. And had we not been hit by the pandemic, you would have seen numbers like you’ve never seen before. But those numbers are already rebuilding again. (Applause.)
We’re going to build up a peaceful and safer neighborhood program, like — like you haven’t seen, with the highest standards of policing. We’ll create a healthcare system that delivers better care at a lower cost. Obamacare is a disaster. We want to terminate it, we want to get great healthcare, and that’s what we’re doing: great healthcare. And we’ll always take care of preexisting conditions, always. (Applause.)
And I think we’re at a point where we’re getting. And right now, if you look at what we’ve done in healthcare — people don’t talk about it; we’ve done an incredible job. Less expensive healthcare at a much, much — much better healthcare at a much less expensive price. You can’t do better than that. And it’s happening, and it’s happening fast.
Another thing is school choice. (Applause.) You have to have school choice. Charter schools, school choice.
So I make this statement every once in a while, and people think it’s a little bit on the bold side, but we’ve achieved a historic reduction in violent crime. We signed a landmark criminal justice reform bill that nobody thought was possible to even think about. (Applause.) I did that. I did that. I got that done. And I worked with a lot of people, but we got it done. The Obama administration couldn’t get it done. Biden couldn’t even think about it. He doesn’t even know what it is. (Laughter.)
We have a — we have prison reform. We achieved the lowest black and Hispanic unemployment rate in the history of our country. (Applause.) The black youth unemployment rate reached the lowest ever, again, in the history of our country.
And last year, black and Hispanic American poverty reached the lowest ever in the history of our country. It’s all building back up so quickly. (Applause.)
And if you look at what we’ve done with criminal justice reform, if you look at what we’ve done with historically black colleges and universities, where we funded them; they couldn’t get funded. Nobody was funding them. For years and years and decades, nobody was funding them.
And if you look at what we’ve done with Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, Opportunity Zones and the jobs created — and I’ve said it very strongly, and perhaps — I don’t know, criminal justice reform, people say maybe that’s the best of all, but the fact is they’re all great. Every one of them is great. And I say the fact is that I’ve done more for the black community than any president since Abraham Lincoln. I say it. Nobody can dispute it. (Applause.) Nobody can dispute it. It’s true. Nobody can dispute it.
So we are now beginning the fastest economic recovery in history. We created a record 11.4 million jobs just in the last four months. That’s the fastest ever. The U.S. has seen the smallest economic contraction of any major nation anywhere in the world. So we’ve seen the smallest going down. If you look at it, that’s an incredible statement.
Our opponents will crush the comeback with unscientific lockdowns. They want to lock everything down. Here we go again. They want to lock it down. No.
AUDIENCE: Booo —
THE PRESIDENT: We’re not going to let it happen. We’re not going to let it happen. So important you get out and vote. You got to get out and vote.
So we got a great poll in Florida, got a great poll in North Carolina, got a great poll in Arizona. (Applause.) Got a great poll in Nevada. Actually got it. Just got a great poll in Nevada. I think we’re doing really well. I mean, this is in addition to states that we’re going to win. Georgia is looking fantastic. Texas is looking fantastic. (Applause.)
Well, think about Texas: They have no oil. They don’t want oil, they don’t want guns, they don’t want religion. I don’t think you’re going to win Texas very well. (Applause.)
No, we got a great poll in Texas. We’re getting great polls all over the place, and they understand it. It’s driving them crazy. And you know why though? And, Candace, it is — it’s because of the spirit. There’s a spirit the likes of which this country hasn’t seen in a very, very long time.
So I just want to thank you all for being on the White House lawn, this beautiful great lawn. (Applause.) And I’m very proud of this country. I’m very, very proud.
I want to thank all of the doctors and labs and scientists and all of the people that are working so hard, because we’re way ahead of everybody. But I just want to thank most particularly you, because you people come out and you come out, and you cheer and you love your country, and you get it. You’re way, way ahead of many, many people in this country.
But the country is getting it. The country is seeing something now.
AUDIENCE: We love you! We love you! We love you!
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. I love you too. Thank you.
AUDIENCE: We love you! We love you! We love you!
THE PRESIDENT: The people of our country — and the whole world is watching — are seeing things now that they haven’t seen in this country for decades. They’re seeing a spirit and a resilience like they haven’t seen.
I just want to thank you. And get out and vote. We got to make this bigger than even four years ago. It’s more important. This is the most important election we’ve ever had. This is more important than even four years ago. I used to say “the most important,” and it was true at the time. This is the single-most important election in the history of our country.
Get out and vote. And I love you. Thank you. Thank you very much. (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you, Candace.
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President Vladimir Putin met with Chief of the General Staff of Russia’s Armed Forces – First Deputy Defence Minister Valery Gerasimov.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, Mr Gerasimov. Go ahead, please.
Chief of the General Staff of Russia’s Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov: Good afternoon, Comrade Supreme Commander-in-Chief,
Here is what I have to report. At 7:15 am yesterday, the frigate Admiral Gorshkov deployed in the White Sea, for the first time fired a Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missile at a sea target in the Barents Sea.
The goal has been achieved. The test firing has been declared successful. The missile destroyed the target in a direct hit.
The missile covered a distance of 450 kilometres. The maximum altitude of its trajectory was 28 kilometres. The flight lasted 4.5 minutes. The missile reached the hypersonic speed of over Mach 8.
Following the state tests, the Tsirkon system will be deployed on submarines and surface ships.
This concludes my report.
Vladimir Putin: Mr Gerasimov,
The Tsirkon project and the stage you have reported today – the successful test flight of the missile – are a major event not only for the Armed Forces but also for the nation as a whole. Supplying our Armed Forces – the Army and the Navy – with the most advanced armaments that have no analogues in the world will reliably ensure national defences for a long time to come.
The success of this project, as we are well aware, is the result of the hard work of our scientists, engineers, talented workers and military professionals. It is an important stage in the provision of advanced armaments to our Armed Forces.
I would like to congratulate all those who have been involved in the Tsirkon project. I would like to thank the Defence Minister and you, Mr Gerasimov. I know that you not only act as the customer but are also directly involved in the creation of such systems.
I would like to thank you for a job well done and to express the hope that all specialists involved in the rearmament projects will continue to work effectively and persistently, as they always do.
President Putin: Once again, I would like to congratulate you on this event and to wish you success in your future endeavours.
Thank you.
Valery Gerasimov: Comrade Supreme Commander-in-Chief, thank you for this high assessment. We will continue to do our utmost to enhance the combat capability of the Armed Forces and to strengthen national defences.
Vladimir Putin: Thank you, and all the best.
Source President of Russia Kremlin Moscow
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| Senator HANSON-YOUNG (South Australia) |
7 Oct 20 BILLS – Higher Education Support Amendment (Job-Ready Graduates and Supporting Regional and Remote Students) Bill 2020 – Second Reading: I rise to speak in opposition to this terrible piece of legislation, the Higher Education Support Amendment (Job-Ready Graduates and Supporting Regional and Remote Students) Bill 2020. Firstly, I’d like to associate myself with the comments made by my colleague Senator Faruqi, who leads this area for the Australian Greens.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, hello, Iowa! Vice President Pence at Faith in Leadership: The Need for Revival | Des Moines, IA
THE VICE PRESIDENT: To Bob Vander Plaats, his wife Darla, all of my fellow Americans: It’s great to be back in the Hawkeye State with all of the amazing men and women of the Family Leader. Give yourselves a round of applause. What a great organization. (Applause.)
It’s great to be here today, just A MONTH from what I believe will be a great victory for faith and family all across Iowa and all across America. (Applause.)
And I — I want to thank Dr. Ben Carson for those inspiring words and for his friendship. Abraham Lincoln said his only ambition in life was to be esteemed by people he esteemed. And I have to tell you, America is blessed by the steady, principled, faith-filled leadership of Dr. Ben Carson. Would you join me in thanking Ben Carson for all that he means to the life of this nation? (Applause.) We cherish you and Candy so much. Thank you, Ben.
Ben and I have gotten to know each other over the last several years, serving shoulder to shoulder. And a better man I’ve never known. But Ben does know that the introduction I prefer is a little bit shorter — (laughter) — I’m a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican, in that order. And it is wonderful to be here with the Family Leader. (Applause.)
I want to say thanks also, to Bob Vander Plaats and his amazing wife Darla for all they’ve done for the cause of conservative and pro-family values here in Iowa and in more than a dozen states across the country. Bob and Darla, for all you’ve done strengthening families, for all you’ve done to promote faith and leadership and revival — can we hear it for Bob and Darla and the Family Leader team for all they’ve done? (Applause.) Thank you all for being a part of this vital ministry in the life of the nation. We’re so grateful. (Applause.)
You know, Bob and Family Leader are really emblematic of a very rich tradition in the United States of America. I mean, even a casual study of the history of this nation shows the people of faith have made the difference throughout our country’s history from the very founding of the nation: the Robed Regiments of the American Revolution, the preachers of revival in our great awakenings, the way that the pulpits of America thundered for abolition of slavery and led the Civil Rights Movement. It has been people of faith, I believe with all of my heart, who have led us toward a more perfect union. And I want to congratulate and thank each and every one of you for being a part of continuing that great American tradition. (Applause.)
But it’s so good to be here with so many friends, including a man who — I thought he was from Minnesota. But he is a man of faith who’s been a champion of everything that we hold dear. And he actually was kind enough to bring my sister and my niece down from Minnesota. Would you join me in thanking Mike Lindell and the whole team just down from My Pillow? (Applause.) Thanks for all you do for people of faith in the conservative cause, Mike.
So thanks to all the friends who are here. And speaking of friends, allow me to bring greetings from another friend of mine — a man who I can tell you firsthand has fought to keep the promises that he’s made to people of faith, people dedicated to family, people who believe in freedom every single day the last three and a half years. I bring greetings from the 45th President of the United States of America, President Donald Trump. (Applause.)
I don’t know if y’all had a chance to see that debate night before last? I’ll tell you what, if you ever doubted that we had a fighter in the White House, you don’t doubt it anymore. President Donald Trump took our case to the American people and he took the fight to Joe Biden.
And in case you didn’t know it, I’m headed to Salt Lake City next week to debate with his running mate. And I promise you, President Trump and I are going to keep on fighting for faith and family and freedom, and we’re going to fight 33 days to earn four more years in the White House. (Applause.)
And we’re going to tell our story. And I challenge each and every one of you to do the same because we’ve got an incredible story to tell about what we’ve accomplished for this country.
I mean, the truth is President Trump has literally kept the promises that he’s made to the people of Iowa and all the states so well represented here at the Family Leader.
But think about it, four years ago, we inherited a military that had been hollowed out by devastating budget cuts, an economy struggling to break out of the slowest economic recovery since the Great Depression, terrorism was on the rise around the world, and — and worst of all, we had witnessed eight years of a steady assault on our most cherished values and liberties.
And I’m here to tell you, three and a half years on from when the people of Iowa said yes to President Donald Trump, I couldn’t be more proud to report — not just as your Vice President, but as the father of a Marine and the proud father-in-law of a United States Navy pilot — we rebuilt our military. We restored the arsenal of democracy. (Applause.)
President Donald Trump has signed the largest increases in our national defense since the days of Ronald Reagan. And we’re finally giving our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and Space Force the resources and the support that they need to defend this land of freedom. (Applause.)
And with that renewed American strength, under the President’s leadership, our armed forces have taken the fight to radical Islamic terrorists on our terms, on their soil.
Where Joe Biden sent pallets of cash to the mullahs in Iran, President Donald Trump got us out of the Iranian nuclear deal. And I was there when President Donald Trump, without hesitation, gave the order to take out the world’s most dangerous terrorist, and Qasem Soleimani is gone.
But President Donald Trump has put the security of America first. And in our first three years, our President also took decisive action to revive the American economy. Where Joe Biden has plans to raise taxes across the board, President Donald Trump has cut taxes for small businesses and large, cut taxes for working families.
We rolled back, in those first three years, more federal red tape already than any President in American history. We unleashed American energy. We fought for free and fair trade. And in just three short years, businesses large and small created more than 7 million good-paying jobs, including nearly 12,000 jobs right here in Iowa. (Applause.)
So it’s been about security. It’s been about prosperity in these first three years. And every step of the way, your President and our administration have stood for the rule of law and the principles we cherish.
As I stand before you today, we’ve seen confirmed more than 230 conservative judges to our federal courts at every level. And I can tell you, they are all men and women who will uphold the God-given liberties enshrined in our Constitution, like the freedom of speech, the freedom of religion, and the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. (Applause.)
Last week, we paused as a nation to honor the life of service of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but after the memorials were over, President Donald Trump did his duty. The Constitution provides that the President shall nominate judges to the Supreme Court in the event of a vacancy. And President Donald Trump did just that when he nominated a remarkable, principled, conservative woman of amazing intellect and a beautiful family who will uphold the Constitution of the United States to our Supreme Court; he nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett. (Applause.)
Two days ago, I had the privilege of escorting Judge Barrett to the United States Senate. She’s on Capitol Hill all this week, meeting with members of the Senate. We challenge Democrats in the Senate to provide Judge Barrett with a respectful and dignified hearing, and to give America the kind of confirmation process the American people deserve.
But we have reason to be concerned. You all remember her last confirmation hearing just a few short years ago, when she was nominated to the Court of Appeals. During Judge Barrett’s confirmation hearing, the Democratic Chairman of the Judiciary Committee criticized her Catholic faith, saying that, quote, “The dogma lives loudly within you.” And Hollywood elites have already begun to criticize her and her family for their commitment to their faith.
Well, I got news for the Democrats and the Hollywood elites: That dogwa [sic] — dogma lives loudly in me. That dogma lives loudly in hundreds of millions of Americans. (Applause.) And every American who cherishes faith has the right to live and work and worship according to the dictates of our faith and conscience enshrined in the Constitution of the United States. (Applause.)
cherish the freedom of religion of every American and every faith. And these attacks on Judge Barrett’s faith must stop. (Applause.) The Senate has a job to do: discharge their duty to advise and consent. And we’ll work with any willing member of the Senate to do just that.
But I’ll tell you, we’re going to fill that seat and Judge Amy Coney Barrett is going to be Justice Amy Coney Barrett on the Supreme Court of the United States. (Applause.)
So President Trump has stood for the rule of law. He kept his word to the people of Iowa and all the great states represented here and all of our country when he appointed those principled conservatives to our courts at every level, all the way through Judge Barrett’s nomination.
And every single day of this administration, President Donald Trump and I have stood without apology for the men and women who serve on the Thin Blue Line of law enforcement. (Applause.)
I think people in the Family Leader know: Men and women who serve in law enforcement are some of the best people in this country. You know, President Trump and I, like all of you, will always support and defend the constitutional right of every American to engage in peaceful protest. But rioting and looting is not peaceful protest, burning businesses is not free speech, violence against innocent civilians or property or law enforcement will not be tolerated, and those who do these things will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. (Applause.)
Now, for months, all Joe Biden talked about was peaceful protests. Remember that? An entire summer, as Americans living in our major cities literally watched businesses in their communities burn.
Mike, I was just in Minneapolis, just a few short days ago, and I traveled into the heart of the city that had been beset by the rioting and the looting and the violence that followed the killing of George Floyd. I spent some time with Flora Westbrooks, an extraordinary African American woman. She started a florist salon 35 years ago, and yet she watched in horror just days after that terrible event as looters moved closer and closer and closer and burned her and her son’s business to the ground.
But I told Flora, “We are with you. The American people are with you, and we’re going to rebuild Flora’s salon in Minneapolis.” (Applause.) And so we are.
You know, the truth is Joe Biden would actually double down on the policies that have led to violence in America’s cities. You know, when you withdraw support for those who serve and protect, I believe that you embolden those who threaten our families and our peace in the streets.
Joe Biden actually says that America is, in his words, “systemically racist” and that law enforcement has, and I quote, an “implicit bias” against minorities. When Joe Biden was asked if he’d support cutting funding for law enforcement, he replied, “Yes, absolutely.” And his running mate said again, earlier this week, that it was time to, quote, “reimagine law enforcement.”
Well, let me make you a promise: Under President Donald Trump, we’re not going to reimagine anything; we’re going to back the blue. And we’re not going to defund the police — not now, not ever. (Applause.)
President Trump and I know you don’t have to make a choice between supporting law enforcement and supporting our African American neighbors or other minorities in our communities. We have done both and will continue to do both with four more years in the White House.
Under this President, we’ve provided resources to hire 4,000 more police officers. This summer, in the wake of violence in our cities, we launched Operation LeGend. And we’ve already seen to the arrest of more than 2,500 violent offenders in our major cities.
The program itself was named after a four-year-old boy who was shot and killed in gang violence while he slept in the pillow fort that he and his dad constructed. So we’ve supported law enforcement, but I couldn’t be more proud to be Vice President to a President, whose policies saw, in our first three years, the lowest unemployment ever recorded for African Americans; the highest investment in historically black colleges and universities; 8,000 Opportunity Zones in every major city, attracting investment and jobs; and a President who has fought to let parents in our inner cities choose where their children go to school, regardless of their income or area code. (Applause.)
So we’re going to continue to support law enforcement. We’re going to continue to support our African American families with better opportunities, better education, and more public safety. And under President Donald Trump, we’re going to have law and order in every city, in every state in this nation for every American of every race and creed and color, so help us God. (Applause.)
So we’ve made incredible progress. But as supporters and friends of the Family Leader know, in President Donald Trump you’ve — you’ve had a leader who’s kept his promises to people of faith like no other in my lifetime.
You know, it’s remarkable to think that four previous Presidents in both political parties had promised the American people and our most cherished ally to take action. But it was President Donald Trump who kept that promise when he moved the American embassy to Jerusalem — the capital of the State of Israel. (Applause.)
And I was alongside the President when the phone started to ring and he was preparing to keep that promise, Bob. And to say that virtually every leader in the world and every foreign policy elite in Washington, D.C., was against it would be an understatement. I mean, one call after another — didn’t they, Ben? — that said, “Don’t do it. Don’t do it.” They said that it would make peace less possible, but President Donald Trump believed that it would make peace more possible.
The man who wrote “The Art of the Deal” had the view that if you want to negotiate peace, the first thing you do is you take off the table what’s non-negotiable — and Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish state of Israel. (Applause.)
And confirming the President since — I don’t know if you all saw it just a couple short weeks ago — for the first time in 26 years, two Arab nations formally recognized the Jewish state of Israel, and we believe there are more on the way. (Applause.)
And beyond the strong stand and the keeping of promises, I will tell you, I couldn’t be more proud to serve as Vice President to a President who stands without apology for the sanctity of human life. (Applause.) President Donald Trump is the most pro-life President in American history. (Applause.) That’s true. It’s true. (Applause.)
On just our fourth day in office, the President reinstated what’s known as the “Mexico City policy,” ending taxpayer funding of foreign programs that provide or promote abortion around the world. And it was this President — this President, who, earlier this year, became the first President since Roe v. Wade to go to the National Mall and address the March for Life in person. We stand with those who stand for life. (Applause.)
But you deserve to know that Joe Biden and the radical left support taxpayer funding of abortion all the way up to the moment of birth. They’re calling for historic increases in funding for Planned Parenthood of America. And after spending an entire career, since Roe vs. Wade, supporting what came to be known as the Hyde Amendment — a great piece of legislation by the late Henry Hyde that prevented taxpayer dollars from being used to pay for abortions in America — last year, Joe Biden reversed his historic position in support of the Hyde Amendment, and now supports taxpayer funding of abortion.
You know, I must tell you — and Ben mentioned how many tie-breaking votes I’ve cast as Vice President — but I got to tell you, the one I’m proudest of was the day I was able to cast the tie-breaking vote in the United States Senate to allow states to defund Planned Parenthood. And President Donald Trump signed it into law. (Applause.)
So we’ve stood for life. And from day one, this President has also stood strong for what’s come to be known as our “first freedom,” and that is religious freedom enshrined in our Constitution.
Early on in our administration, the President took steps to free up the pulpits of America. We believe that the freedom of speech should not end at the front doors of our churches, synagogues, and houses of worship. And President Donald Trump stopped enforcement of the Johnson Amendment and restored the freedom of speech to leaders of faith. (Applause.)
We’ve also taken steps to respect the conscience rights of doctors and nurses and teachers and religious charities all across America. And it was this President and this administration that ended the assault on the Little Sisters of the Poor, and the Supreme Court made it permanent just weeks ago. (Applause.)
It’s remarkable to think that a group of nuns that have taken a lifetime vow of poverty to support and help the underserved community were hauled into court, when Joe Biden was Vice President, for the sole purpose of requiring them to compromise their faith to live under the strictures of Obamacare. The Supreme Court actually voted by 7 to 2 to make permanent the efforts to conform the Little Sisters of the Poor to Obamacare.
But Joe Biden has already announced that, if elected President, he’ll re-impose the Obamacare mandates on the Little Sisters of the Poor and on Civil rights lawyers: COVID-19 reusable shopping bag bans violate religious liberty and his own running mate actually attacked one of our judicial nominees for being a member of the Catholic Knights of Columbus.
So let me just say: These attacks on the freedom of religion must stop in America. And with four more years, we will stand for the religious freedom of every American of every faith. (Applause.)
So we accomplished so much in our first three years. We rebuilt our military, revived our economy, stood for life and our liberties and law and order and the faith and freedom of every American.
In three short years, as I like to say, we made America great again. We did. (Applause.)
But then, as Ben shared — and he’s a valued member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force — then the coronavirus struck from China. But I want you all to know that before the very first documented case of community transmission within the United States, our President did what no American President had ever done before. Before the month of January was out, he suspended all travel from China, the second largest economy in the world.
Now, Joe Biden called it “hysterical.” He called it “xenophobic.” But I can tell you, as the head of the task force, that action alone saved untold American lives, and it bought us invaluable time to stand up the largest national mobilization since World War Two. (Applause.)
We reinvented testing. More than 100 million tests performed to date and 150 million new point-of-care tests that are being distributed to states all across the country as we speak.
We worked with manufacturing, here in Iowa and all across the country, to see to the production and the distribution of literally billions of medical supplies for our doctors and nurses and healthcare workers.
Our FDA worked to make new medicines available, like remdesivir and convalescent plasma. And I’m proud to report to you that with American innovation — our dedicated researchers — we believe are just literally weeks away from the first coronavirus vaccine for the American people. And we’ll have tens of millions of doses available the moment that it’s approved. (Applause.)
We’ve demonstrated as a nation that we can slow the spread. We’re going to continue to protect the vulnerable, continue to save lives. And we’re opening up America again. (Applause.)
Thanks to the strong foundation poured by our President, supported by all of you — that foundation of less taxes, less regulation, more American energy — after losing 22 million jobs at the height of this pandemic, we’ve already seen 10.6 million Americans go back to work, including 97,000 people right here in Iowa. (Applause.)
And we’re not just opening up America, we’re opening up America’s schools. (Applause.)
And I’m proud to report to you that my wife of 35 years is already back in the classroom at the Christian school, outside Washington, D.C., where she teaches every day. (Applause.)
We’ve been there for our doctors, our nurses, our healthcare workers, and we’re going to make sure our teachers and administrators have everything they need to safely reopen as we strive for that day, with a vaccine, that we put the coronavirus in the past.
It’s remarkable to think what we’ve been through over the course of this year. We’ve gone through a time of testing. But I came here today, as all of you know, at the Family Leader, because we’re coming to a time for choosing. And the choice in this election has never been clearer and the stakes have never been higher.
I believe that when you look at their agenda, it’s clear that Joe Biden would be nothing more than a Trojan horse for the radical left.
I mean, Joe Biden has said that democracy is on the ballot. And certainly our economic recovery is on the ballot; law and order are on the ballot. But I also believe that there are things much more foundational and fundamental that are on the ballot as well.
I think between now and November 3rd, it’s not going to be so much whether we — we end up more Republican or more Democrat, more liberal and more conservative, more red or more blue. I think the choice we face in this nation, in this year, is whether America remains America. It’s whether we’re going to chart a course for our children and grandchildren, and a future that’s based on the timeless ideals enshrined in our constitution — our belief in free enterprise and free market and the American Dream — or whether — whether we’re going to take that hard left turn — the well-worn path to government control and a managed economy: the path to socialism.
That’s why I believe, for the sake of our freedom, for the sake of all the ideals that have made this nation truly great in the past, we need to decide right here and right now that Joe Biden will never be President of the United States of America, that we’re going to reelect President Donald Trump for four more years. (Applause.)
So I thank you for hearing me out. I thank you for your faith, for your enthusiasm, and for all that Family Leader has done to stand with those who stand with our most cherished values each and every day. It truly is an honor to be with you here.
I’d encourage you, in the days ahead, to keep — keep telling your neighbors and friends at work and at worship about all that we’ve accomplished as a nation and all that’s at stake in the days ahead. And be confident as you go.
You know, in all my travels across the country over the last four years to big cities and small towns, I’m convinced of two things: that America is a freedom-loving nation and America is a nation of faith.
Everywhere I go, people speak to me about their faith with a word of encouragement. The sweetest words I ever hear is when people will say, as they did over a Carter Lake earlier today — reach out maybe across the rope line and just say, “I’m praying for you.” And I want you all to know: We feel those prayers every day.
I think the American people know that the foundation of America is freedom, but the foundation of freedom is faith. The truth is faith is at the very heart of who we are as Americans, and I believe the foundation of this country is strengthened each and every day by the stand that each and every one of you take.
President Lincoln reminded us, quote, “It is the duty of nations, as well as of men, to recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all histories that those nations are only blessed whose God is the Lord.”
And so as I leave here today, in these challenging times, and urge you to hold fast to freedom, let’s also hold fast to faith. And let’s remember to pray.
The Bible tells us that the prayer of the upright pleases Him; the prayer reaches Heaven, His holy dwelling place; and that in times of great challenge in our life or in the life of the nation, we’re not to be anxious about anything, but in everything, in every form of prayer and petition with thanksgiving, we’re to present our request to God and know that the peace of God that passes all understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
As Ben Carson said, we’re passing through difficult days as a nation. Too much division in our country today — an election of such consequence it may well be one of the most important elections in the life of this nation.
But I believe more than ever that people of faith should pray. And coming here today, I want to encourage you: Practice that prayer in a renewed way. As we think of the challenges and the times in which we live, the more than 200,000 of our countrymen that have been lost; we think of the grief of those families who have always been on our hearts, those that are struggling with disease today; as we think of the economic hardship that people still face in the midst of the recovery that’s underway; we think of the violence besetting families in our major cities, let’s — let’s claim that ancient promise that if His people who are called by His name will humble themselves and pray and turn, that He’ll do like he’s always done in the long and storied history of this country. He’ll hear from Heaven, and he’ll heal this land. (Applause.)
So thank you for the warm welcome. I was humbled by what Bob Vander Plaats said, that I’m coming to you today, but you said I come from you. And I hope you can hear my heart today.
And while I’m at it, standing here in Iowa, let me say it is the greatest honor of my life to serve as your Vice President. And on behalf of my family, I want to thank you for the great privilege of serving in this role for yours. (Applause.)
My pastor told me one time that everybody is under-encouraged. And I can tell you that I leave here today encouraged. Know that you’ve encouraged your Vice President, and I know you’ve encouraged Ben and Candy and all those in our delegation today, and we thank you. And I leave here today believing more than ever that God is at work.
And as I close, let me just share a story. It was a few months ago, I was reminded that, even when it doesn’t seem that way, God is still working. You see, I got a letter from a pastor who leads a small church just outside Jacksonville, Florida. He wrote to me of a time many years ago that he and his wife were attending Asbury Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. It was back in the 1970s. It was a place where they held, in the spring of every year, a Christian music festival where they would have music, and then they would have preachers who would present the gospel and invite young people from all across the region.
But he wrote to me that, in 1977, he had decided at the seminary — they had collectively decided to end the Christian music festival; it was known as Ichthus.
But he and his new bride felt a burden to take on the task, even though he wrote — and I quote — that “several friends told us that it would be very hard on our new marriage and we shouldn’t do it.” But he said, “We answered the call.” And they gathered a few other seminarians, as he told me, and they worked a whole year long to arrange the event in the spring in 1978.
And then he told me that the night came — the culminating evening on Saturday night, when everything was to come together and the main preaching was done. And he and his new bride were walking through the camp area, and it was raining, and they were disappointed. They thought it had all been for naught.
And then he wrote these words in a letter. And I quote: “And that’s because, on that night, I didn’t know that a future Vice President of the United States of America would be giving his life to Jesus Christ.”
He continued, “I cannot write this without tears,” and I still can’t read it without tears, because I remember that night: Sitting on a hillside, it was raining, and it was like I heard the words for the first time that God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten son, that whoever might believe in Him might not perish but have eternal life.
And that 19-year-old young man stood up, walked down that night — not out of a sense of intellectual agreement, but because my heart was broken with gratitude for what had been done for me on the cross.
I wrote a letter to that pastor, which I couldn’t write without tears. And not long after that, we actually met him and his wife, and laughed together and prayed together. But I told him, “Now I know who else to thank for that night so many years ago.” It changed my life.
You know, the lesson in that letter, to me, though was: Even when things don’t seem like they’re going the way we expect, they’re going the way He expected.
And the truth is, in the most challenging times in our nation, we can still claim a promise that we’ve had over the mantle of our home for now nearly 20 years. I traveled to the little house that we lived in while we served in the Congress. It traveled to the governor’s residence in Indiana, and now it’s over the mantle in the home of the Vice Presidency. It reads, “For I know the plans I have for you — plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”
And I believe with all my heart that if we will hold fast to Him, if we will hold fast to His promises, if we will hold up the example and the strength that comes through faith in Jesus Christ, that it will once again be people of faith that see our way through these challenging times; that a hope and a future awaits beyond anything we could ask or imagine. And the best days for Iowa and America, by God’s grace, are yet to come.
Thank you very much. (Applause.) Thank you for the honor of being with you today; for all the work of the Family Leader. And God bless America.
Attribution: This article royalty-free license WhiteHouse.gov under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Vladimir Putin sent a message of encouragement to the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, wishing him and the First Lady a speedy recovery and expressing sincere support at this difficult moment. “I am sure that your inherent vitality, vigour and optimism will help you overcome the dangerous virus,” the President of Russia wrote. Source Kremlin
The day before President Trump Corona Virus Scare, Vladimir Putin made a statement of the presidents of Russia, the United States and
The President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, the President of the United States of America Donald Trump and the President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron, representing the Co-Chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group, condemn in the strongest terms the recent escalation of violence along the Line of Contact in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.
We deplore the loss of human lives and extend our condolences to the families of those killed and injured.
We call for an immediate cessation of hostilities between the relevant military forces.
We also call on the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to commit without delay to resuming substantive negotiations, in good faith and without preconditions, under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.
Photo: File Photo
President Trump Before Marine One Departure: I thought the debate last night was great. We got tremendous reviews on it. We’re hitting what people want — law and order — which Biden was unable to even talk about because he’d lose the radical left — his radical-left followers. I don’t think there’s too many of them left.
But I thought it was a great evening. It was an exciting evening. I see the ratings were very high. And it was good to be there. It felt very comfortable. And I appreciate all the good words.
So we are going now, and we’re going to have a big rally. A lot of people showing up.
Q Mr. President, can you explain what you meant last night when you said that the Proud Boys should “stand back and stand by”?
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t know who the Proud Boys are. I mean, you’ll have to give me a definition, because I really don’t know who they are. I can only say they have to stand down, let law enforcement do their work. Law enforcement will do the work more and more. As people see how bad this radical, liberal, Democrat movement is and how weak — the law enforcement is going to come back stronger and stronger.
But again, I don’t know who Proud Boys are. But whoever they are, they have to stand down. Let law enforcement do their work.
Q So, Mr. President, did you misspeak when you said “stand by”? That’s my — my first question. When you said —
THE PRESIDENT: Just “stand by.” Look, law enforcement will do their work. They’re going to stand down. They have to stand down. Everybody — they have to stand — whatever group you’re talking about, let law enforcement do the work.
Now, Antifa is a real problem, because the problem is on the left and Biden refuses to talk about it. He refuses to issue the words “law and order.” And you saw that last night when he choked up. He can’t say the words because he’ll lose the rest of the left. So he’s got to condemn Antifa. Antifa is a very bad group.
Q So, Mr. President, let me follow up: White supremacists, they clearly love you and support you. Do you welcome that?
THE PRESIDENT: I want law and order to be a very important part — it’s a very important part of my campaign. And when I say that, what I’m talking about is law enforcement has to — the police have to take care. And they should stop defunding the police like they’ve done in New York —
Q But I’m talking about white supremacists, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: — like they’ve done in New York. I just told you.
Q But do you denounce them? Do you denounce white supr- —
THE PRESIDENT: I’ve always denounced any form —
Q Of white supremacy?
THE PRESIDENT: Any form — any form of any of that, you have to denounce.
But I also — and Joe Biden has to say something about Antifa. It’s not a philosophy. These are people that hit people over the head with baseball bats. He’s got to come out and he’s got to be strong, and he’s got to condemn Antifa. And it’s very important that he does that.
Q So looking at (inaudible) Joe Biden, can I follow up, sir, on that?
Q Mr. President, on the election, you are — you claim that you — that you have an — your response to coronavirus —
THE PRESIDENT: I can’t hear a word you’re saying. I can’t hear.
Q But — no, but —
Q Will you — will you debate again? Will you go ahead with the other two debates that are coming up? Will you debate again?
THE PRESIDENT: I hear he doesn’t want to go forward. But that’s up to him. I mean —
Q But what about you? Are you going forward?
THE PRESIDENT: I would — yeah, I would like to. We — by every measure, we won the debate easily last night. I think he was very weak.
Q Would you like to see any changes?
THE PRESIDENT: He looked weak. He was whining. Uh, yeah, we won the debate by almost every poll that I saw. If you look at the — the various polls. And I looked at about six of them, and we won every one of them. So, no, I don’t mind debating him. I hear he wants to get out of the debates. I don’t know. That’s up to him.
Q Sir, there’s a lot of worry — there’s a lot of worry about the right-wing militias that are armed and going into the streets with weapons. Does that concern you that they go out there with their weapons and walk around in the streets?
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, it does concern me. And crime generally concerns me — any form of crime. And let law enforcement take care of it.
Q Mr. President, why are you afraid of the election? Why are you afraid of —
THE PRESIDENT: So we had a problem in New York. They have 100,000 ballots that are a mess. They’re all confused, all mixed up. Now they say they’re going to redo them, but what are they going to do with 100,000 ballots that have already been sent? This is exactly what I’m talking about. It’s a big, big, big-scale problem.
A hundred thousand ballots went out to New York with the wrong names on the, wrong envelops, wrong addresses, wrong everything. And now they want to redo the ballots, but that doesn’t help because what about the ones that are already sent? This is exactly what I’m talking about.
Q Can I follow up to that, Mr. President? If there was an apparent Joe Biden victory come the 20th of January and you —
THE PRESIDENT: There — there won’t be. There won’t be.
Q Sir, what if there is? Would you challenge it?
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The Palaszczuk Government has today announced a $31.5 million commitment to the multimillion-dollar Gold Coast Turf Club redevelopment.
Racing Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said the project would include an all-weather synthetic track, a full refurbishment of the racing surfaces, lights and the development of a tunnel.
“Most importantly, the redevelopment is odds on to support about 330 jobs during the construction phase alone,” he said.
“Because we responded so quickly when the pandemic became a health issue, we are now well placed to roll out our economic recovery plan.
“The creation of hundreds of jobs in the construction phase alone will feed strategically into that plan.
“There are already almost 1100 jobs on the Gold Coast alone that depend on the racing industry, from trainers and jockeys through to hospitality workers, farriers and equine nurses.
“The Gold Coast is one of Queensland’s most magnificent tourism drawcards and the turf club is already home to the internationally renowned Magic Millions Carnival, including the January yearling sale and its race day,” he said.
“Now it needs a turf club to match, which is exactly what a re-elected Palaszczuk Government will be able to deliver.”
Gold Coast Turf Club chair Brett Cook said the announcement was fantastic news for the Club.
“It’s something we have been trying to see accomplished for more than ten years,” he said.
“This will be a massive boost not just for the Club, but for tourism, jobs and the local economy.
“We couldn’t be happier as a Club to see the project progressing.”
Already, $1.5 million has been provided for feasibility and design work and the Gold Coast Turf Club is contributing $5 million, while the remaining $31.5 million will come from the industry-funded Racing Infrastructure Fund, financed from the exclusive wagering license fee paid to the State and allocated to approved projects.
Source: Minister for Local Government, Minister for Racing and Minister for Multicultural AffairsThe Honourable Stirling Hinchliffe
Photo: Attribution Google Maps 2020 CNES/ Airbus
Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany. James S. Brady Press Briefing Room: Good afternoon, everyone. The radicals are in control of the Democrat Party. Make no mistake, Democrat radicals want to shatter norms and disregard precedent for the sake of the very norms and precedent they claim must be safeguarded.
Far-left radicals resort to tactics like this to push their extreme agenda because they cannot win on the merits; they cannot succeed based on the will of the American people. This administration will continue to call out these tactics, while Democrats should end their petty politics and get to work.
And with that, I’ll take questions. Jon.
Q Yeah, Kayleigh, I’m wondering if you can just clean up or clarify something the President said yesterday. If he loses this election, can you assure us that there will be a peaceful transfer of power?
MS. MCENANY: You are referring to the question asked by the Playboy reporter, right?
Q I’m referring to — with the President being asked if there would be a peaceful transfer of power, and he did not say yes.
MS. MCENANY: Yeah, I believe —
Q So I’m asking you: Will there be a peaceful transfer of power if he loses this election?
MS. MCENANY: I believe that question asked by the Playboy (inaudible) — in fact, I think I have it right here. He was asked —
Q I’m asking this question.
MS. MCENANY: He was asked — “win, lose, or draw” — whether he would accept the transfer of power. I’m not entirely sure, if he won, why he would accept a transfer of power. That is maybe the deranged wish of that reporter, but that’s not how governing works.
Q But I’m asking a very direct and very simple question. If the President loses this election, will this White House, will this President assure us that there will be a peaceful transfer of power? It’s a very simple question. We’ve been doing it since 1800.
MS. MCENANY: The President will accept the results of a free and fair election.
But I think that your question is more fitting to be asked of Democrats who have already been on the record saying they won’t accept the results of an election.
In fact, I have several of them here for you. South Carolina Democrat Jim Clyburn has said that Trump “is not going to win fairly.” Senator Barbara Boxer has said that the only way Trump will win is to “steal it.” That’s according to Democrat Senator Barbara Boxer.
The Washington Post has noted — they have a headline: “Democrats may not trust the results of the election if Trump wins.”
And then you have that beautiful quote from Hillary Clinton that “Joe Biden should not concede under any circumstance.”
So I think your fitting is more ques- — more a fitting — a fitting question for Democrats.
Yes.
Q Kayleigh, just to understand this clearly: Are the results legitimate only if the President wins?
MS. MCENANY: The President will accept the results of a free and fair election. He will accept the will of the American people.
Q So, for clarity, if he loses and it’s free and fair, he will accept that?
MS. MCENANY: I’ve answered your question. He will accept the results of a free and fair election.
Q Let me ask about Breonna Taylor, if I can, right now. First of all, I have just a little housekeeping: Has the President spoken to the family of Breonna Taylor?
MS. MCENANY: I’m not aware of any conversation that they’ve had, but our hearts do go out to her family.
Q Has the President spoken to the officers who were shot last night in Louisville?
MS. MCENANY: I’m not aware of any conversations.
Q So the President spoke to the officers who were shot in Los Angeles. But to this point, there’s no indication the President, at any point over the last several months, has spoken to the family of Breonna Taylor. I guess, why not?
MS. MCENANY: The President routinely speaks to victims of horrendous tragedies. I’ve been here when he’s met with the parents who lost their children to instances of police brutality. It was a really beautiful meeting, and the President consoled them.
He’s talked to the widows who have lost their husbands to police officers. He’s spoken to widows of fallen soldiers. He routinely reaches out to victims of all kinds of atrocities, and he’ll continue to do that.
Yes.
Q What is the President’s message to the family of Breonna? I heard what — you say: “We grieve for them.” But what is the President’s message to the family of Breonna Taylor that does not believe they received justice?
MS. MCENANY: That our hearts go out to her. It was a horrible tragedy that happened, and that our hearts also are with the two police officers who were shot last night in the Louisville riots.
Q When you say “our,” you mean — you mean the White House, including the President?
MS. MCENANY: Yes. I speak on behalf of the President. Yes.
Q Okay. Because that would be his thoughts go out to the —
MS. MCENANY: I am the President’s spokesperson. I speak on his behalf, Peter.
Q Well, he — in fact, one of the aides just said that the President was his own spokesperson, which is why I asked. But go ahead.
MS. MCENANY: Ben.
Q So, Kayleigh, yesterday, when the President said “Get rid of the ballots…there won’t be a transfer, frankly; there’ll be a continuation,” which particular ballots is he talking about wanting to get rid of? And why does he think that would help him get elected?
MS. MCENANY: The President wants to get rid of mass mail-out voting. And that’s not because — he said clearly that that could go either way: It could damage either candidate’s chances because it’s a system that’s subject to fraud.
In fact, in the last 24 hours, police in Greenville, Wisconsin, found mail in a ditch, and it included absentee ballots.
And also, I can confirm for you that Trump ballots — ballots for the President were found in Pennsylvania. And I believe you should be getting more information on that shortly. Here, in the last 24 hours, they were found cast aside.
Q So why, in the past hour, did the President tweet out, “Vote-by-mail ballots in my home state of FLORIDA begin going out TODAY! Make sure to request yours, fill it out & send it in”?
MS. MCENANY: The President has always made the distinction that absentee ballots — where you go through a process, where you request a ballot and you mail that in — that is a system that works.
But a system where you mass mail-out to voter rolls, which are not kept and maintained — where, in Los Angeles County, for instance, you have 120 percent of the county enrolled — that system is untenable. It doesn’t work. It leads to what we saw in Nevada, where there were ballots languishing in trash cans and pinned to apartment boards.
Q Okay. And just finally: Today, FBI Director Wray testified on the Hill that he has not seen, historically, any kind of coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election, whether it’s by mail or otherwise. So if the President’s own FBI director says this isn’t a problem, why does the President keep saying it is?
MS. MCENANY: Well, as Attorney General Barr has said, we’ve never had an election where we’ve done mass mail-out voting like this before.
I would point you to a bipartisan study done by none other than Jimmy Carter, who said that these mail-in votes remain the largest source of potential fraud. And he even cited an example of a 1997 Miami mayor election that resulted in 36 arrests for absentee ballot fraud. That election had to be rerun, and the results were reversed.
That is an example from 1997, but there are many others, like Paterson, New Jersey, where four men were charged with voting fraud recently. Four more men were charged in California. And there’s a ton of examples. I could get you an encyclopedia of fraudulent examples we’ve had.
Q So these ballots — these ballots are going out. If the President does win, will he still think it was rigged and fraudulent?
MS. MCENANY: I’ve already answered this question.
Yes.
Q Kayleigh, the President’s niece filed a lawsuit in New York State court today, alleging that the President and two of his siblings cheated her out of millions and squeezed her out of the family business, and we were hoping to get a reaction from the White House.
MS. MCENANY: Yeah, the only fraud committed there was Mary Trump recording one of her relatives, and she has really discredited herself.
Yes.
Q Kayleigh, on TikTok, we know that the CFIUS negotiations are continuing. Can you say: Has the President been briefed in the last couple days about how the CFIUS negotiations are going? Do you know when those negotiations will end?
MS. MCENANY: Yeah, not that — I’m not aware of the brief — his briefing schedule with regard to TikTok. But what I can say is what the President has said, which is that any deal has to be 100 percent, as far as national security is concerned. And I’d refer you to his comments, as well as those from the Department of Treasury. For any further specifics, I’d refer you there.
Yes. Jeff.
Q Thank you, Kayleigh. The President suggested yesterday that he might overrule stricter standards at the FDA on a coronavirus vaccine. Why would the President not want strict standards for a vaccine on the coronavirus?
MS. MCENANY: Well, the FDA does have strict standards. They are the gold standard with regard to vaccines.
The President was referring to the normal interagency process that happens with guidance, and that includes running through the Office of Management and Budget. So that’s standard operating procedure.
And I would also point out — I spoke to Dr. Hahn this morning, and Dr. Hahn said that the guidance issued was a follow-up to June 30th guidance that they put out, and it was guidance — it was guidance that they gave to pharmaceutical companies to provide them with more regulatory clarity.
Yes.
Q Thanks, Kayleigh. The White House is describing this healthcare event today as a chance for the President to outline his vision. Is that something less than his plan?
And just a second part of that: Does the White House think that it can address the country’s challenges with healthcare solely through executive action?
MS. MCENANY: So, the President will be laying out his healthcare vision today. I don’t want to get ahead of exactly what that will look like. There will be some tangible actions taken, as well as the President really laying out, which I — something that I think has been overlooked: the real contrast between what Obamacare gave us between 2013 and 2017, and what the President has delivered.
And I think we have a graphic to that effect. I’m not — I’m not sure if they were able to put it together in time.
But with Obamacare, it is a fact that from 2013 to 2017, premiums in this country went up. In fact, they went up by 105 percent on the individual market. And you contrast that with President Trump — what he’s managed to do by rolling back a lot of Obamacare, and we’ve seen premiums on the individual market go down. Same for Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage — the polar opposite of what happened with Obamacare, where those premiums went up.
So premiums have come down under this President. Drug prices have come down. Under President Obama, drug prices were up 15 percent. Under President Trump, they came down for the first time in 50 years.
And then, finally, under Obamacare, you had choice that went down. One third of counties had only one insurer in the individual market. And with President Trump, there are new, affordable options, like AHPs, STLDIs, and HRAs — healthcare reimbursement arrangements; as well as employer-sponsored insurance that has gone up. We’ve seen an increase of 1.5 million in 2019.
So these principles have undergirded the Trump presidency, and he will use many of the same principles going forward. And you’ll get his comprehensive healthcare vision that will include some action items here in short order.
Q Is this the extent of the plan or is there more after this?
MS. MCENANY: This is going to be his full vision that he has been talking about over the last few weeks, and it will be in Charlotte, North Carolina, today.
Yes.
Q Thank you so much, Kayleigh. I wanted to ask about the Supreme Court consideration. Has the President met with all the top candidates that are under consideration? Are there any others? Who else is he — are there any others that he’s still plans to meet with? Judge Lagoa, for example — does he still plan to meet with Judge Lagoa?
MS. MCENANY: So I’m not going to get into the President’s private meetings with these candidates. He’s noted that there are five he’s considering. They all fall in the same mold as textualist, originalist, Constitution-abiding judges.
Q And on another note: Today, at the Supreme Court, when the President approached — you know, was paying his respects to Justice Ginsburg — there were some people in the crowd that started the chant to “respect her wishes,” to “uphold her wishes.” Do you have some thoughts on those chants, which also, you know, included “Vote him out”?
MS. MCENANY: Yeah, I think the chants were appalling, but certainly to be expected when you’re in the heart of the swamp. I travel with the President all across the country — Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida, and Nevada — and everywhere we go, the streets are lined with support like I don’t think any other President has had previously.
But with regard to precedent, as I’ve noted before, 29 times has an appointment been made in an election year — 29 times. And that was all 29 times when there was a vacancy at hand. So the precedent is very much on our side here.
And I would also note the hypocrisy of Democrats. Joe Biden saying, “I would go forward with a confirmation process as chairman, even a few months before an election.” Barack Obama saying, “Fill the Supreme Court vacancy,” when it was his tenure. And you had Kamala Harris saying, as well, that “Senate GOP is holding SCOTUS hostage for political gain. Join me & call on them to consider [President Obama’s] nominee.”
So they’ve really flipped here, because the precedent is on our side and their hypocrisy is on full display.
Yes.
Q The former number two of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Paul Selva, who served under President Trump — he and 500 other national security and military leaders, they endorsed Joe Biden today. Do you guys have a comment on that, given that it doesn’t seem like Jim Mattis and Joe Dunford, who also served under the President, are rushing to support him in this election?
MS. MCENANY: Yeah, I think the President’s record speaks for itself. Our military men and women, our veterans love this President for a very distinct reason. Under Obama-Biden, sequestration really gutted our military. You had the Navy at its smallest point ever, and the other military branches were absolutely gutted. Then you had President Trump who came in and secured a record amount of funding for our military and our Department of Defense and built up our military.
When it comes to veterans, the appalling way that our veterans were treated at the VA under Obama-Biden — there was an IG report that as many as 300,000 veterans — think about that — 300,000 veterans could have died waiting for care.
This President came in, put in the VA MISSION Act, secured real choice and options for our veterans, and that’s the reason that the military and our veterans love this President.
Q But why is Selva endorsing Joe Biden?
MS. MCENANY: I can’t speak to one person’s reasoning. But this President, when you look at what he’s done — bringing our troops home and all he’s done in aggregate — the rank and file in this military love this President.
Yes.
Q Thanks, Kayleigh. Two quick follow-ups on what’s been discussed earlier. Does the President still have confidence in the FDA Commissioner based on his comments yesterday?
MS. MCENANY: There are no changes. Dr. Hahn is FDA Commissioner. So, yes.
Q And then to follow up, you said that you thought the chants outside the Supreme Court this morning were appalling. Is there any issue with people peaceably demonstrating and chanting at the President?
MS. MCENANY: No, of course. Everyone has a First Amendment in this country, but I thought it was an appalling and disrespectful thing to do as the President honored Justice Ginsburg.
Yes.
Q What was the emergency call the President left yesterday’s briefing to take?
MS. MCENANY: I’m not going to get into a readout of the President’s calls, but he regularly takes very important phone calls.
Yes, Debra.
Q What is the likelihood that Sudan will be the next country to recognize Israel? And are there any new developments you’re expecting after the Emirates and Bahrain recognized Israel?
MS. MCENANY: So the President has noted that there are several other countries that want to make agreements of this sort. I won’t confirm exactly which country will be next.
But rest assured the world has looked at what this President did: historic agreements between the UAE and Israel and Bahrain. And do — you see deals that like you haven’t seen in a quarter of a century. It was 26 years between the second and the third deal, and just 29 days between the third and the fourth. This President is the only President to have overseen the normalization of relations between Israel and two Middle East countries. To have two on his watch is a really big deal. And no wonder, two Nobel Peace Prize nominations, as well.
Yes, Lalit.
Q Yeah. Thank you. What’s the status of coronavirus vaccination this year? Do you expect this to be available before Christmas?
MS. MCENANY: We do expect to have a vaccine by the end of the year. That has always been the goal, and we are still on track for that. It’s very important that — what the President has done with regard to commercial-level manufacturing. As Dr. Slaoui told me, the fact that you have scaled up to manufacture these vaccines in advance is a — something that this President has done because he’s a businessman and thinks through exactly how to get a safe and effective vaccine delivered at record speed, and part of that has entailed manufacturing in advance.
And to do this, it normally takes years to scale up to commercial-level production, but this President has done it in just a few short months. And if we have this vaccine by the end of the year, it will be the fastest pace for a vaccine for novel pathogen in history.
Yes.
Q Thank you, Kayleigh. I wanted to go back to mail-in voting for just a bit. Right now, five states conduct elections entirely by mail-in, prior to the pandemic, with no cases or no major cases of fraud. Does that success not give the President confidence in mail-in voting?
MS. MCENANY: So those states have had time and a history of doing — having a workable system and one that has been done for many years, for many election cycles.
To move the entire country to mass mail-in voting, all at once, and have an entirely new system, and do that in just a few short months is an untenable and an unworkable proposition, and one that has shown to not work well at all, especially when you look at the disenfranchisement, which I think is really troubling when it comes to mass mail-in voting.
In 2016, you had 1 percent of ballots thrown out — absentee ballots — that amounted to 319,000 votes thrown out. And if you have the entirety of the country voting by mail, you can imagine that number would be many folds higher than that.
And you look just in the primary, where you’ve seen states try to move to this mass mail-in system. There were 100,000 ballots rejected in California. In New York City, one in five mail-in ballots were rejected. And as a former DOJ voting rights official said, “It’s nuts. That is just way too high,” when one in five voters, because of mass mail-in voting, have their ballots thrown out.
Yes.
Q You said it’s the whole country. Obviously, it’s only the states though. Right, Kayleigh?
MS. MCENANY: Chanel.
Q Thank you, Kayleigh. Yesterday, the Senate released an 87-page report on Hunter Biden and Joe Biden’s dealings across the board of Ukraine and with Russia. Specifically, it showed Hunter Biden supporting Russian prostitution, human trafficking, receiving $3.5 million from Moscow.
The question to you is: Does the White House have any intention of helping the DOJ should an investigation be opened up on the Bidens?
And number two: Do you have a response to Rudy Giuliani yesterday telling us that this should immediately disqualify Joe Biden from his candidacy?
MS. MCENANY: Yeah, those were — that was a very troubling report. You know, I’ll leave it to the DOJ as to how they move forward. But, I mean, I think this New York Post cover says it all. You know I heard so much about Russia collusion, but it appears the only collusion going on was between Hunter Biden, as he accepted $3.5 million from the wife of the Moscow mayor. Very troubling, indeed. And in addition to that, Ukraine money, as well. And it’s good that the Senate looked into that.
But finally, I would like to note the situation in Louisville, Kentucky, last night. There were reports of vandalism. There were nearly 100 arrests. And the Trump administration urges calm and reminds those who wish to have their voices heard to do so peacefully. You have a right to peaceful protest, as outlined in the First Amendment. And the Attorney General, Daniel Cameron, said, “If we simply act on emotion or outrage, there is no justice. Mob justice is not justice. Justice sought by violence is not justice. It just becomes revenge.”
And you contrast his message with that of CNN’s Brianna Keilar, who said, “I question the judgment of the Kentucky Attorney General saying that ‘mob justice is not justice.’” We know that this is a very loaded language. That’s an appalling statement from Brianna Keilar at CNN. And what is outrageous about this take is that mob justice is not justice.
Hours later after this comment was made on CNN, two police officers were shot. This is not justice. This has nothing to do with politics; it has everything to do with the value of human life and the safety and security of our American cities.
And across the country, we’ve seen our police officers come under fire in the line of duty. In Los Angeles, there was an ambush attempt on two police officers. In Phoenix, a U.S. Marshal was ambushed and shot outside a federal courthouse. In Lynwood, California, a suspect approached a patrol car and fired a handgun into the passenger-side window. And in Suffolk, Virginia, a suspect opened fired on a marked police car, hitting the vehicle three times.
Our police officers deserve our respect, and the violence that is being committed towards them — and this was just in the last week and a half — is outrageous. And the words of CNN and of Brianna Keilar are outrageous, irresponsible, and we should never hear statements like that followed by, hours later, two police officers being shot.
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PRESIDENT DONALD J TRUMP: Does anybody know these two gentlemen in the room? If you don’t, let us know. You shouldn’t be here if you don’t. It’s great to have you guys.
We have noticed some comments made in the media about my incredibly qualified nominee, Amy. The New York Times said her religion is not consistent with American values. She’s Catholic. That covers a lot of people. That’s a very disgraceful thing to say.
Some of the comedians — I don’t think they’re comedians because comedians are supposed to be funny; they’re not funny, like, at all. They’re nasty. They’re mean. And they think they’re funny. And someday — hopefully, it’s in five years — but someday, when I’m not here, they’re going to be off television because their ratings, which aren’t very good anyway, but their ratings are going to go down like you’ve never seen before. That includes a lot of others also.
In fact, I’m sort of waiting for the New York Times and the Washington Post, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSDNC — I’m waiting for them to endorse me, because if they don’t, they’re going to drop with a thud like — you know, it was supposed to have happened long ago, and then we won a race, and it was a great — it was a great victory.
And our — I think we’ve never had a more energized base. I don’t think so. Nobody has ever seen anything like it. The rallies that we’re having are incredible; we call them “protests.” They’re friendly protests. We don’t want to call them “rallies,” but the friendly protest rallies are — have been incredible. People — I don’t think anybody has ever seen anything like it. And this is still long before an election. This isn’t like the evening before. These are long before an election.
The — the incredible crowd we had in Pennsylvania and Virginia — in every state, no matter where — in North Carolina, Florida — no matter where we go, we’re having crowds like nobody — I don’t think anybody has ever gotten before ever. Not even close.
There’s a level of enthusiasm — in Iowa today, with the tractors — thousands of tractors. In different states, the boats. You know, thousands and thousands of boats. Boaters for Trump, Tractors for Trump, Farmers for Trump — it’s really been very nice to see the level of enthusiasm.
I thought, though — on the religious situation with Amy, I thought we settled this 60 years ago with the election of John F. Kennedy. But seriously, they’re going after her Catholicism. I will stand with her, fight with her, and we will make sure that these attacks stop because they really — it’s unprecedented. They’re basically fighting a major religion in our country. This is incredible. Fighting any religion and fighting Catholicism is just incredible that they can be doing it. Are you Catholic, Rudy?
Twenty-nine Supreme Court vacancies have occurred during an election year or before an inauguration. In every single instance, going back to George Washington, the President has performed his constitutional duty and nominated a justice. And in almost every one of these cases over the past 230 years where the President and the Senate were the same party, the justice — as you know, that justice was confirmed.
This is about two centuries — more than two centuries of precedent. And I think it’ll continue. I think we’re going to have — I think it’s going to go quickly, actually. And I think —
And again, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen the Republican Party more unified. I think it was probably even more unified with the impeachment hoax, actually. When they did the impeachment hoax, I think that was — which really turned out to be a hoax, because now you look at what’s happening with the FBI and Justice Department; if you look at all of those text messages, emails that were sent, it — we have been totally proven right. They spied on our campaign, and everybody knew it. Biden knew it; Obama knew it. Everybody knew it. And the lamestream media just, you know, doesn’t want to pick it up, although some have. I will say, Catherine Herridge at CBS has done a fantastic job on it. We appreciate that.
But this is a major scandal. This is a scandal, the likes of which nobody has ever seen. This is actually the biggest political scandal in the history of our country. And with the exception of a few, I mean, they just don’t want to write about it. You should read about that, Kelly, you know. You should write about it. You should write about it. You should do something on CNN about it, because it’s the biggest single scandal of our time; certainly the biggest political scandal, perhaps, in history.
They — they spied on our campaign, and then they tried for a coup. That didn’t work out too well. And it turned out that, if you read the — you read the texts that came out over the last three days, it turned out that they were really — it was reversed; it was the DNC and the Democrats that were using Russia. And related or unrelated, Hunter Biden got three and a half million dollars from the wife of the mayor of Moscow. Why did he get three and a half million dollars? And then he got millions more than we thought from Ukraine, and he got millions more than we heard about from China. Hunter Biden — “Where’s Hunter?”
So these are all questions that are very, very big on the Internet. The biggest thing going on the Internet is exactly this. And we’re going to have to see how that all turns out, but it turned out that we were right. So we went through two and a half years of ruining people’s lives, like General Flynn and many others — ruining their lives. And it turned out to be just the opposite. It was the Democrats that were dealing with Russia and other things.
So hopefully, our Attorney General and others working on this very, very hard, very diligently, will — it’ll lead to something that will be very important for our nation. I think it’s very important for our nation. It’s one of the most important things.
A central issue of the 2018 midterm elections was the Kavanaugh confirmation. And American voters punished the Democrats in the Senate. You so what happened; we picked up two seats. Again, something that hasn’t been reported on very much. But we picked up two seats for their treatment of Justice Kavanaugh and expanded our Senate majority to confirm Supreme Court justices, which was great.
And now Democrats are really brazenly attacking Judge Barrett for, again, her faith, mostly, is what I’m hearing — for her Catholic faith. And whether it’s C or anybody else, I think they ought to treat religion with much more respect. I think it’s a disgrace that they can do it.
Biden and the Democrats are desperate to distract from the real issues, which is that their party has been taken over by socialists, extremists, and probably communists. I think it’s beyond socialism; I think it’s a step beyond, and could be many steps beyond, if you take a look.
And if they win, they will nominate justices who will destroy the American way of life, the American Dream. They will destroy the American Dream. They’ll destroy America. They’ll destroy the United States of America. Your private right to own a firearm will be totally eliminated, your guns will be confiscated, your ability to live by your religious faith will be devastated. They’ll abolish America’s borders and give government healthcare to illegal aliens, which will destroy our healthcare system because so many people will pour into our country. That’s a tremendous incentive.
On voter fraud, as you know, hopefully there won’t be a very big movement because hopefully we’re going to be able to win. I think we have the massive movement. I think we’re going to have a tremendous, tremendous victory. There won’t be a transition because I can’t imagine we call a transition if we win. You know, they talk about, “Will there be a friendly transition?” Of course, there will, but we have a big problem, and you see it every day; you see it happening every day with ballots.
We are gravely concerned about the Democrat assault on election integrity. In Brooklyn, 25 percent of mail-in ballots were ruled invalid in June’s Democrat primary. You saw that. In a special election in New Jersey, 20 percent of the ballots were thrown out, and four people are now being prosecuted for fraud. This is all in the mail-ballots.
Thirty-five thousand mail-in ballots were rejected in Florida’s primary, and one hundred thousand were rejected in California, and that’s just the beginning.
A week after Pennsylvania’s primary, half of the counties were still counting ballots, and you’ll be counting them here because this is a much bigger version of all of that. Just last week, a number of discarded military ballots were discovered in Pennsylvania. All of the recovered ballots — these were ballots that were thrown out — had been cast for a person named Donald J. Trump.
In Wisconsin, three trays of mail containing absentee ballots were found in a ditch; they were thrown in a ditch. Three trays. That’s a lot.
In North Carolina, voters are reporting receiving two ballots in the mail. Many — many voters. I hear it’s thousands, but they’re getting two ballots. I wonder if those are Democrat areas, because the word is they are.
In Iowa caucus’s last winter, you know what happened there. You all reported on it, I think, very well. Right? Do you remember that one? It was not good, right? But in Iowa, they still don’t really know who the winner was. I think they called somebody eventually, but it was many, many weeks later. But they really have no idea, and that’s being — continues to be — and that’s little; that’s just a small — it continues to be litigated in Iowa. They can’t run a simple caucus, yet now they’re trying to radically write election laws nationwide, just weeks before the presidential election.
I heard in New York today that Governor Cuomo wants to try and simplify the ballots because he thinks they’re too complicated. And all of that, I agree with him. I think that’s good. But you don’t do that now. The ballots are starting to come in. And, you know, you can’t do it now. It’s too late.
Joe Biden and the Democrat extremists oppose all of these efforts to ensure election integrity. They oppose voter ID. Think of it: Voter ID. They want a picture. They have a picture for almost everything nowadays, but they don’t want a picture. You had a picture to get into the Democrat National Convention. You had a card with your picture on it. Did you know that, fellas? You have a — to get into the Democratic National Convention, you have a card and your picture is on it, but they don’t want it for voting, which is our very sacred right.
They want — we want proof of citizenship, a Social Security number requirement. They don’t want any of this to happen. And they want no signature verification. They don’t want to have a verified signature.
So they want none of the safety valves that you would have. Think of it: They opposed voter ID. They approve proof of — they oppose proof of citizenship. They oppose a Social Security number and requirements for Social Security numbers as a safety valve. And they oppose even simple signature verifications. They don’t want to have signature verification.
They want to require all states to do mail-in balloting, right? I call it “unsolicited.” Some people call it “universal.” I think “universal” doesn’t make sense because nobody understands why universal. So it’s “unsolicited.” They want unsolicited mail-in ballots. In other words, you send these ballots to whoever you can think of.
We had a case, I guess in New Jersey, you were reading to me, where somebody was sent two ballots, and they had slightly — one was — had a hyphen in it, the name, and the other one had a “K.” And they got two names. So I wonder if that person was a Democrat. Probably was.
And mailing of millions of ballots to people who never asked for them. So millions of people are going to be getting ballots who never asked for the ballots. They don’t want the ballots, or maybe they want them; maybe they don’t. Nobody knows, really. This is really a recipe for chaos. And when you look at what happened in Iowa — and again, that was run by very smart people. It was a very limited election. It was very small numbers we’re talking about. We’re talking about doing that for the entire nation.
And you can forget about November 3rd, because you’re going to be counting these things forever. And it’s very dangerous for our country.
So, certainly, a transition — we all believe in transition. We believe not only in transition, but a very friendly. But when the ballots and when the system is rigged, which it is; obviously it is. And the only one that knows that better than me are the Democrats. And they go into closed rooms and they must laugh like hell at what’s going on, because these ballots are being found. And this is the beginning. I talk about it now at the rallies. All these people are watching. Eyes and ears. Thousands and thousands. Tens of thousands.
But there’s no justification for these extreme changes to the election law. And if you can go to the grocery store, you can have an ID with your picture on it to vote. It’s so important. I mean, it’s just so important.
So a lot of things are going on. Very importantly, though — I think very, very importantly is when you — when you do your reporting, I think you ought to report on the FBI scandal because it’s one of the great scandals in the history of our country. And I think people want to hear about it. If you look at the Internet, you’ll see how people want to hear about it. And they will know about it, and it just makes the media look so bad. And there’s so much reporting — I could go into it right now, but I’m not going to do that.
But it would be a tremendous thing for the mainstream medium — media to really start reporting. I think your ratings we go through the roof; I really do — because people really are tired of this fake stuff where you don’t even talk about it. And the biggest scandal — certainly the biggest political scandal in the history of our country, by far; bigger than Watergate. Much bigger than Watergate. And they try and avoid it as much as possible. It’s getting very hard to avoid.
So we’ll take a couple of questions, and you may have a question for these two very wonderful people, brilliant people, from the standpoint of politics, I would say, and law. And if you have anything for Kayleigh, we’d love to do that.
Go ahead, please. Phil?
Q Thank you, sir. Last Wednesday, when you were speaking to the attorney generals, you said that you hoped federal judges were watching what was going on with mail-in ballots.
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.
Q Do you hope that Amy Coney Barrett is watching as well?
THE PRESIDENT: I do. I’m sure she is. I think everybody is. I think everyone in the country. I think we’ve made it a very big issue, and it’s an issue that the Democrats are trying to get away with. I don’t think they’re getting away. I mean, so many reports now of phony ballots — you know, that I don’t know if it would have been reported before.
But all of these rallies — you know, we had thousands of people last night, as you know. And we were in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The night before, we were in Virginia. I mean, those crowds are — whether it was 35,000 or 30,000, those crowds are massive. And that’s on very short notice. All of those people are watching. You know, we have eyes and ears now that we wouldn’t have had if we didn’t bring it up.
So, no, I’m sure she’s watching, and I’m sure that everybody is looking at it. I think — I think it’s just common sense.
Go ahead.
Q A quick follow-up. Did you discuss the election with her?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t. I didn’t.
Q And then just one —
THE PRESIDENT: I just didn’t think it would be appropriate. And I’ve watched over the years as Presidents would interview and talk and make a decision on a Supreme Court justice, and I was actually surprised they wouldn’t talk about various things, like Roe; they wouldn’t talk about, you know, things that are very important. They think it’s inappropriate to talk about them. I don’t know that it’s inappropriate, but I’ve gone by that custom.
Go ahead, Phil.
Q Thank you, sir. Democrats are arguing that ACB puts in danger not only Roe v. Wade but a number of other decisions. Do you think that they are correct?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I don’t know. I mean, you know, we (inaudible). I think she’s going to rule on the law. I think she’s going to — I think she’s going to be a great justice for many years to come.
But I can say they also bring up healthcare. I mean, Obamacare is terrible. It doesn’t work. We’ve made the best of it. We got rid of the individual mandate, which is great. We protect people with — we are going to protect people with preexisting conditions, 100 percent. But if we can end Obamacare and come up with a much better healthcare system that’s much cheaper — much cheaper and much better, which is what we’ll do. On the other hand, if the Court rules against, we will manage the system better.
But don’t forget, we’ve already essentially gotten rid of Obamacare because we got rid of the individual mandate, and it was all based on that. So we’ve done a tremendous amount because the individual mandate was the most unpopular aspect of Obamacare. You had to pay a lot of money for the privilege of — for the privilege of not paying for bad healthcare. So that was a terrible thing for people.
And what we will do is, if we are fortunate enough to get rid of the little remaining in Obamacare — and again, individual mandate, the way I view it, that’s no longer Obamacare, because that was the central point, and we won that; we’ve already won that, as you know. But by getting rid of that, it’s different. It’s a much different thing.
The other thing we’ve done is managed — here’s the story: It’s no good. It’s too expensive. It’s bad coverage. You don’t get your doctor. You don’t get your plan. All the things that President Obama said, you don’t get. And Biden, too, by the way, if Biden even — I don’t think he has any understanding of it.
But you don’t get your doctor. You don’t get your plan. Twenty-eight times, President Obama said, “You get your doctor. You get your plan.” It turned out to be a lie.
So here’s what we’re doing: If we can terminate, we are going to have a much better plan, and you will have your doctor, you will have your plan. You’ll have a lot of things that you don’t get with Obamacare.
Q And then, really quickly, sir: Do you — you’ve said this numerous times, but do you really believe that Joe Biden will be on any type of performance-enhancing drug ahead of the debates? Or are you just joking?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I’m not joking. I mean, I’m willing to take a drug test. I think he should too, because he’s had a very uneven — I watched him with some of the — when he was with — you know, debating Pocahontas and Harris, who treated him so badly. But I watched him, and he was out of it. Right?
And then, I watched him against Bernie Sanders, and he was okay. I mean, he wasn’t great, but he wasn’t terrible. He was okay. A far cry from the way he — you know what I’m saying. I mean, if you look at some of those debates, I said, “There’s no way he can continue. He can’t continue.”
Then, all of the sudden, he debated Crazy Bernie Sanders. And you know what? The truth is he was — he was okay. And I said, “How did he go from there, with those horrible performances, to where he was okay?” And I always joke, but, you know, it is true: He was no Winston Churchill in debating, but he was fine.
And people say he was on performance-enhancing drugs. A lot of people have said that. A lot of people have written that.
Q Who has said that aside from you, sir?
Q Who has said that, sir?
THE PRESIDENT: So — so, take a look at it. Take a look. Why don’t you just check it? You can check out the Internet. You’ll see. Plenty of people say it.
And whether he is or not, it doesn’t matter, but I would love to take a test and he can take a test, too.
Go ahead, please.
Q Yeah, so we’ll start with debate. Obviously, it is coming up. How are you preparing? Is somebody playing Joe Biden in the debate with you? Are you doing debate prep at all?
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, we are. We’re doing it. These two gentlemen have been helping. And Kayleigh is there. We have —
Q But who plays Biden? Who plays Biden for you? I mean, who —
THE PRESIDENT: I would say maybe a combination of these two. And either one of them is about five times smarter than Sleepy Joe.
But we had a little debate prep before we came here. I think this whole thing, though, is debate prep. You know, what I do is debate prep every day. I’m taking questions from you people all the time. I mean, I’ve taken a lot of questions from you over the last number of years, and he doesn’t.
I watched the way he was treated on MSDNC — on Friday, I guess, he did it live — and it was disgraceful. It was an embarrassment. I know her, and she’s a pretty tough reporter. The way she was helping him along with those — it was so obvious what was going on. She was helping him. She was giving him a question and then helping him to answer the question.
I know her very well. She doesn’t do that. It was embarrassing, and people don’t talk about it. I mean, play some of those clips. Play some of those answers, those — the answers that — where he wasn’t able to give an answer, and she’s pushing him; she’s pushing him.
They never do that with me, I can tell you. But I don’t have the kind of problems he has. So —
Q How many hours — how many hours would you say you’ve spent on debate prep? I mean, is it —
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I don’t know. I mean, a little time. I mean, not a lot.
Q Is it more or less than 16 hours?
THE PRESIDENT: I’m — I’m running a country. I’m — I don’t know — you know, I don’t have the luxury. I watched other people over the years. I watched one, sort of, fairly recently — not too long ago — go into a cabin, lock himself into a cabin, and he came out and he wasn’t very effective. You know, he had so much — so many things going on. Sometimes, you can go too much in that stuff, you know. Sometimes you can go too much.
I mean, look, I’ve had — I’d never debated before, but then I debated a lot four years ago. And if you look at the polls — those polls that come out — hundreds of thousands of people in Time Magazine and all of the different polls; I think there’s about seven or eight of them — according to those polls, I won every debate — every single debate, in the primaries and then when I debated Crooked Hillary. I won every debate.
I mean, this isn’t me saying — I felt I did — but this isn’t me saying it; this is the polls. You had a Time Magazine poll. You had this, that. And I guess they take them off the Internet or they get phone calls or something. But according to that, I won every debate, and I felt I did. But I understand the subject.
Now, Chris is tough. I hope that Chris is going to be equally tough on Joe Biden. But I watched the young lady, who I won’t — I won’t say her name, but it was embarrassing the way she was getting him along.
So I just asked the question about drugs. I think it’s something that would be appropriate because you can’t have a President that needs that kind of help.
If you do — if you do have a President that needs that kind of help, when you’ve got to deal with Putin, and you’ve got to deal with President Xi of China, and you have to deal with Kim Jong Un — and, by the way, do you notice there’s no war with North Korea? Which everyone thought we’d be in in about one week after I came to be President. They thought it was going to happen immediately. No war. And that’s saving, perhaps, millions of lives, not just — you know, they were saying, “Oh, 50,000 people.” No, millions and millions of people could have died.
Q Chris will definitely ask tough questions. And one of the ones that’s going to — likely everybody is going to be talking about is there’s a New York Times story that came out about an hour ago that says that, when you came to the White House, you were paying about $750 a year in federal income tax.
They are not releasing what — they’re not publishing the tax returns. They’re not showing that out there. They’re saying — to protect their sources. In your tax returns, sir, does that sound right, that you were paying a couple hundred dollars a year in federal income taxes?
THE PRESIDENT: No. No. It’s fake news. It’s totally fake news. Made up. Fake. We went through the same stories. You could have asked me the same questions four years ago. I had to litigate this and talk about it. Totally fake news. No.
Actually, I paid tax, but — and you’ll see that as soon as my tax returns — it’s under audit. They’ve been under audit for a long time. The IRS does not treat me well. They treat me like the Tea Party — like they treated the Tea Party. And they don’t treat me well. They treat me very badly.
You have people in the IRS — they’re very — they treat me very, very badly. But they’re under audit. And when they’re not, I would be proud to show you. But that’s just fake news. The New York Times tried it — the same thing. They want to create a little bit of a story, a little bit of — they’re doing anything they can.
Not only — that’s the least of it. I mean, the stories that I read are so fake. They’re so phony.
Q Did they tell you this was going to come out today?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t know anything about it. I don’t know anything about it. I think somebody said they were going to do a negative — they always do — they only do negative stories.
I don’t think, in the last — I used to get good stories in the New York Times. When I ran for office — and I happened to be conservative Republican — I don’t think we’ve had a good story. They predicted my loss four years ago. They then apologized for their bad reporting. Then they predicted the FBI and all of these things. That’s now proven to be a hoax — a complete hoax.
They got Pulitzer Prizes, along with the Washington Post. They should give all those Pulitzer Prizes back because everything was wrong. I mean, it was so bad. Their reporting was so bad. They were wrong. It was exactly the opposite.
Now, there are people that should get Pulitzer Prizes: Solomon, Carter. I mean, they’re not in the business of Pulitzer prizes, but Sean Hannity got it right. Lou Dobbs got it right. Laura got it right. Many people got — Tucker got it right. There were many people that got it right. I don’t know what they get, other than a great salary and great ratings. I mean, I don’t know what they get.
Please, go ahead.
Q (Inaudible) tax in 2016 —
Q Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. On —
THE PRESIDENT: Jordan, go ahead.
Q Yes, thank you. On the New York Times story, though, you have to understand that when Americans read that you may have paid only a few hundred dollars in federal income tax per year, that seems very low for someone who’s a billionaire.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, you have to under- —
Q So how much — I mean, can you —
THE PRESIDENT: Well, basically, they’re saying I paid nothing.
Q Right. But can you give people an idea of how much you actually are paying?
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, basically — well, first of all, I’ve paid a lot, and I paid a lot of state income taxes, too. The New York State charges a lot, and I paid a lot of money in state.
It’ll all be revealed. It’s going to come out. But —
Q When?
THE PRESIDENT: After the audit is — after the — I’m being — they’re doing their assessment. We’ve been negotiating for a long time. Things get settled, like in the IRS. But right now, when you’re under audit, you don’t do it. You don’t do that.
So we’re under audit. But the story is a total fake. And all of their stories — this one — you know, we had the same exact questions, usually asked by the same people, and that took place four years ago, you remember. This was so well litigated. It’s incredible.
If you look at the filings I have — I think I have 108 pages of filings for all these different companies that do very well, obviously, because the filings — and nobody talks about that. You’ll learn much more if you look at those filings. And we have to file every single year.
But you’ll learn much more if you look at those filings. Those filings are very complete. They’re very big. They’re very powerful. They’re very accurate. And those are the filings that you’ll learn much more and when it’s done.
But when you’re under audit, you just don’t release them. And, again, they treat me —
Q Well, sir, you can tell us what your federal tax was.
THE PRESIDENT: They treat me — they treat me very —
Q Mr. President, you can tell us what you paid in federal taxes, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: I didn’t call on you. I’m talking to him. You should be more respectful of this gentleman. You’re very rude to him.
But I will tell you that I look forward to releasing that. I look forward to releasing many things. I’m going to release many things, and people will be really shocked. But the New York Times has been doing — it’s fake story after fake story. I’ve never seen anything like it.
And people understand it, and people — that’s why the — the media has such a low approval rating now because of what they’ve done. It’s really a shame.
Yeah, go in the back.
Q Thank you, Mr. President. Two questions. First —
THE PRESIDENT: If you have any questions for these two gentlemen —
Q Well, that’s what I was going to ask.
THE PRESIDENT: Good.
Q Both you and Governor Christie and Mayor Giuliani — your two guests are practicing Catholics. You’ve talked about possible bias against Judge Barrett’s religion. Only two Catholic bishops have come out to say the same thing you have. Is any effort being made by any of you to, say, get the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops —
THE PRESIDENT: I think that —
Q — involved —
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.
Q — or at least other leaders within the Church?
THE PRESIDENT: We’re in the process of doing that. I think it’s horrible what they’re doing. I mean, they’re playing the religious card. And it’s frankly — you’re talking about Catholics. That’s a very major religion in our country.
I don’t know — Chris, do you have anything to say about it?
MR. CHRISTIE: I think it’s obvious what they’re doing. So, you know, she’ll be strong, she’ll be tough, and she’ll stand up for what she believes in.
THE PRESIDENT: And she went through — just like I did, four years ago, in terms of litigation of different things — she went through it before and did very well.
Rudy, what do you think?
MR. GIULIANI: I think the article in the New York Times today reveals a very strong anti-Catholic bias. I mean, it says in the article that Catholicism and the American ethos can’t be — contradict each other.
Q Well, let me ask a follow-up.
MR. GIULIANI: What is — what — I mean, what is the American ethos? It’s their version of it. That’s a horrible thing to say. And then it said that Catholics have difficulty separating public and private morality. I don’t have difficulty separating public and private morality.
So what I see is the beginning of a really strong anti-Catholic attack. And having lived through the John Kennedy election, that article today reminded me of the things that used to be written before John Kennedy. “Could a Catholic be loyal to the United States?” Come on.
Q Well, having said that —
MR. GIULIANI: That’s exactly what Feinstein raised when she made that awful remark to — to the judge.
Q Well, let me repeat my question again. Why are only two bishops within the Church speaking out? And will you make an effort to get the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops —
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, I think they’re going to — they’ll come out very strongly. This is day one. I mean, we’ve just started this. This is absolutely day one. And, you know, I mean, they’re going to be coming out very strong.
The Catholic Church is very well united on this. They are so thrilled that Amy was chosen. They are so thrilled. Oh, they’ll be — you know, again, it’s been 24 hours, okay? So it’s been a very short period of time, but they’re going to come out very strong.
Yeah, please go ahead. OAN.
Q Christina Bobb from OAN. Thank you for the briefing. You spoke earlier about some of the subjects that Joe Biden has been refusing to answer questions on, specifically Hunter Biden and his involvement with Russia, the Ukraine, even China.
THE PRESIDENT: Incredible.
Q And then the Obamagate —
THE PRESIDENT: And the press doesn’t ask those questions. It’s incredible.
Q I’m wondering — the debate is coming up this week. Do you anticipate Joe Biden being held to task? And will he be able to answer those questions at the debate?
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t know. I mean, we’re going to find out, because a lot things are going to come up in the debate. That may be one. I mean, the son didn’t have a job. He had some big difficulties. And then, all of the sudden, he’s making millions of dollars as soon as his father becomes Vice President.
No, I think that’ll come up. I don’t think — I don’t think Joe can answer it, frankly. I think there’s only one reason he made all that money.
And then you have to say, “What about Joe’s involvement? And why did Joe not give the billion dollars over to Ukraine, as an example, until such time as they let go of a prosecutor that was investigating the company that his son was involved with?”
I mean, there are some bad questions. I don’t think they have answers. And if we had a media that was fair — even just reasonable — this would be the biggest story for years and years and years. Then you’d really be entitled to real Pulitzer Prizes, not the fake committee that gives you these fake awards.
So, I mean, it’s a really fair question. But it’s hard to believe, when you see the kind of money that he has made from China, from Russia, where the wife of the mayor of Moscow gives him three and half million dollars and nobody even has any question about it.
Why did he get three and half million dollars? I’ll tell you why: Because Joe Biden was in on it. Joe was in on it. There’s no way that he wasn’t. And uses Joe Biden’s plane — Air Force Two. Uses Joe — and they go to China, and then he comes back, and he never mentioned it to his father that he just got a billion and a half dollars?
And now it’s turning out that it’s much more money than that, Rudy. It’s turned out to be much more money from China. They have — a member of the Chinese Communist Party gave him a lot of money. And the press has no interest in these stories. It’s — it’s just — it’s very disheartening for the people of our country.
Please.
Q Mr. President, if he tries to dodge the questions or doesn’t address them head on, are you prepared with the facts and information to answer that for the American people?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I have all the information. It just came out. I mean, I didn’t know about Moscow — three and a half million dollars from the mayor’s wife. I didn’t know about that.
And he’s a very influential, powerful man in Russia, as you know. And it wasn’t me; I didn’t have anything to do with Russia. That came out loud and clear.
What also came out is they should have never gone into this fake Mueller investigation. And it also came out that the 31 phones that were wiped clean shouldn’t have been wiped clean. And that’s a criminal act.
And Bloomberg likewise shouldn’t be paying for prisoners to go — in Florida — go and vote, because he’s basically paying — which is totally illegal — going and paying prisoners. I hope he hasn’t done it yet. But he’s down in writing as doing it. This is what he wants to do so that he can ingratiate himself to the Democrats after they made him look like a total fool in the debate.
I mean, what they did to him is incredible. And that he goes out and spends money, it shows you the problems that he’s got. Mini Mike.
But for him to go out and buy votes, because that’s — I don’t know, you’re very good lawyer. Are you allowed to go tell people that, “Go vote. I’m going to pay off your tab”?
MR. CHRISTIE: You surely can’t buy votes, that’s for sure.
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, because that’s what it is. I mean, it’s a very serious — a very serious charge.
Yeah, please go ahead.
Q Mr. President, if he —
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t — I was talking to you. Yeah.
Q Thank you, Mr. President. You know that there —
THE PRESIDENT: I can’t — could you — we have a little hard time —
Q Yeah.
THE PRESIDENT: Good. Thank you.
Q There has been (inaudible) military action in the Karabakh — Azerbaijan. And —
THE PRESIDENT: In where?
Q The Azerbaijan — the Karabakh. And the civilians are killed. And according to the officials from Azerbaijan, they say the first shoot came from the Armenians. What’s your comment on this?
THE PRESIDENT: So we’re looking at it very strongly. It just happened. And I know about it. I learned about it today and yesterday. And we’re looking at it very strongly. We have a lot of good relationships in that area. We’ll see if we can stop it.
Okay? Thank you very much.
