Trump news – live: President accuses ‘crazy’ media over bad poll numbers as he loses support in six states and 1.5m Americans apply for unemployment
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Donald Trump has continued his attack on the media, specifically recent poll numbers showing the president down in six key battleground states. A poll released on Thursday found former Vice President Joe Biden leading the president in states like Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.
Blaming the media on his slip in the polls comes as an additional 1.5m Americans file for unemployment benefits amid the coronavirus pandemic, bringing the official count to about 47.2m. Mr Trump has attempted to curb worries about the surge in coronavirus cases by saying it's due to increased testing, but that doesn't explain an increase in hospitalisations in states like Texas.
On Twitter, the president also slammed peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters, labelling them “roving gangs of wise guys, anarchists & looters” as statue-toppling continues across the nation and the country reckons with its dark history in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis a month ago today.
The president ended his day giving a speech in Minnesota, where he called the Democrats a little crazy and said when the military is concerned, there is no budget.
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'There's no budget when it comes to our military' -- Trump
Trump said $2.5 trillion isn't nearly enough when it comes to military spending.
Speaking at Fincantieri Marinette Marine, Trump said his administration had "totally rebuilt the military".
"Two and a half trillion dollars, and some people would say well that's out of the budget. I said let me tell you something, there is no budget when it comes to our military," he said.
"Because we don't want the wrong people running up the front lawn of the White House right? If they were, I don't want to say well maybe I did a lousy job with the military but I did a great job with the budget no thank you. No thank you."
Progressive Trump goes gender-neutral
Following in the trailblazing footsteps of Justin Trudeau, Trump today went gender-neutral in talking about the history of "humankind".
Praising the USMCA, Trump said Canada no longer takes advantage of the US like they used to after scrapping NAFTA.
"We got rid of the worst trade deal ever made in the history of mankind. Humankind, you know they like me to say nowadays Humankind right?" Trump said.
"See the ladies, I think they like it the other way just as much. Humankind."
'A little crazy' Democrats harder to deal with than Russia, China or North Korea, Trump
Trump today said the toughest nation to deal with wasn't Russia, China, or North Korea, it was the unreasonable Democrats in the USA.
"The Democrats in the USA are much tougher to deal with than any of these people that we deal with. They're far more unreasonable, an actually they're a little crazy," he said.
ICYMI: Biden urges Trump to drop lawsuit to dismantle Affordable Care Act
From The Independent's Alex Woodward:
Previewing his campaign's healthcare platform as he prepares to face Donald Trump in November, Democratic challenger Joe Biden has demanded the president drop a lawsuit aimed at repealing a health care law that could strip coverage from 23 million Americans.
"I can't comprehend the cruelty that's driving him to inflict this pain on the very people he's supposed to serve," the former vice president said in prepared remarks in Pennsylvania. "I think it's cruel, it's heartless, it's callous, and it's all because in my view he can't abide the thought of letting stand" a signature policy from his predecessor Barack Obama.
The president has repeatedly sought to strip crucial protections in the law, including a recent antidiscrimination policy that prevents health providers and doctors from refusing to cover LGBT+ people.
Mr Biden said Americans are "caught in a vice" from the president's "twin legacies": a failure to protect people from coronavirus and a "heartless crusade" to dismantle the ACA.
Speaking directly to the president, the candidate renewed his call for Mr Trump to "drop the lawsuit".
Read the full story.
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