Idiocracy

The BBC reports: US President Donald Trump’s trade war with China is backfiring and impacting the US economy, according to his former chief economic adviser. The tariff battle has had a “dramatic impact” on US manufacturing and capital investment, Gary Cohn told the BBC. Mr Cohn said the tariffs had made it expensive to import vital products from China, counteracting …

ABC News reports: Housing Secretary Ben Carson, the sole African American Cabinet secretary, directly injected himself into President Donald Trump’s attacks on a black congressman, holding a press conference Wednesday in the Democrat’s district and comparing Baltimore to a cancer patient wearing a “nice suit.” He said the city has serious problems, including buildings with mold, lead and rodent infestation, …

NewJersey.com reports: Capitol Police are trying to find out who sent a letter under Rep. Josh Gottheimer’s signature falsely claiming that he was resigning because of a scandal. The letter, which Gottheimer called a “disgusting smear campaign” and “completely untrue,” was on congressional stationery and sent at taxpayer expense using the lawmaker’s mailing privileges. It was mailed to local politicians …

Trump today doubled-down on what he claimed last month: “Europe treats us worse than China. Europe is—believe me, you know, look — I come from Europe. We come — you [Maria] come from Europe, okay? You’re of one—you’re of the European nations. European nations were set up in order to take advantage of the United States,” he told Fox host …

Raw Story reports: The Rev. Al Sharpton called out President Donald Trump after he hurled racist abuse at the civil rights leader and MSNBC broadcaster. The two New Yorkers have known one another for decades, and Sharpton told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that the president once begged for his approval shortly after his election. “He was president-elect,” the reverend recalled, “and …

The Guardian reports: Donald Trump kicked off his weekend with a stinging attack on Elijah Cummings, the Democratic chair of the House oversight committee who is a prominent critic on immigration policy, the Mueller report and more. With no discernible irony, Trump called Cummings “a brutal bully” for, he said, “shouting and screaming at the great men and women of …

USA Today reports: Lashing out at probes into his 2016 campaign and Russian election interference, President Donald Trump said Friday that investigators ought to look into a book deal signed by former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama. “Let’s look into Obama the way they’ve looked at me,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “Let’s subpoena …

The BBC reports: US President Donald Trump has accused French President Emmanuel Macron of “foolishness” over a digital services tax, and hinted that he would tax French wine in retaliation. Mr Trump voiced his anger in a tweet on Friday, in response to French plans to tax multinational firms like Google. French authorities argue that the firms pay little or …

Talking Points Memo reports: A private border wall construction project lauded by Trumpers nationwide is actually partially on Mexican soil, Mexican government engineers alleged in photos their American counterparts shared with the builders this month. Tempting an international incident, the border wall group isn’t budging. Instead, they’ve moved to attack mode, with their founder calling the binational body that governs …

The Washington Post reports: Charles Leazott hadn’t thought about the seal in months. The 46-year-old graphic designer threw it together after the 2016 presidential election — it was one part joke, one part catharsis. He used to be a proud Republican. He voted for George W. Bush. Twice. But Donald J. Trump’s GOP was no longer his party. So he …

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration on Thursday unveiled details of a $16 billion aid package to help farmers hurt by President Trump’s trade war with China, as soybean growers from around the country converged on Washington to tell lawmakers that rural America is ready for a cease-fire. The Agriculture Department said that the payments to farmers, which …

The Daily Beast reports: Rudy Giuliani is providing gratis legal work for President Donald Trump to shortchange estranged wife Judith Nathan Giuliani, her lawyer said Thursday during a proceeding in their increasingly acrimonious divorce. “Not only is he working pro bono for the president, for this individual, but it’s costing him money,” said Bernard Clair, who represents Judith. “Not only …

The Washington Post reports: Following a 12-minute video illustrating Trump’s rise to the presidency, music blared as the president’s name flashed across a giant screen in a bold shade of red. Trump took the stage and soaked in the raucous cheers from hundreds of young supporters packed inside the Marriott Marquis in Washington. Charlie Kirk, Turning Point’s outspoken founder and …

The Hill reports: President Trump on Tuesday again went after a group of four Democratic congresswomen known collectively as “The Squad,” saying that they and other Democrats “suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome.” “Gee, let’s impeach the President,” he tweeted sarcastically following a list of accomplishments. He wrote that only 11 percent support “ridiculous” impeachment hearings, although it was not immediately …

“No, I’m not going to be watching. Probably maybe I’ll see a little bit of it. I’m not going to be watching Mueller because you can’t take all those bites out of the apple. We had no collusion, no obstruction. We had no nothing, we had a total no collusion finding. The Democrats were devastated by it they went crazy, …

The Hill reports: President Trump said Monday he could end the Afghanistan war “in a week,” but that doing so would cause millions of deaths. “I could win that war in a week. I just don’t want to kill 10 million people,” Trump said during a White House meeting with Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan. The president added that Afghanistan …

Politico reports: Constant infighting among top officials. Sudden departures of senior staffers without explanation. A leader who is disengaged and prone to falling asleep in meetings. The Commerce Department has reached its apex of dysfunction under Wilbur Ross, according to four people with knowledge of the inner workings of the department. The 81-year-old Commerce secretary, who has for months endured …

The Chicago Tribune reports: Top leaders of the Illinois Republican Party launched an effort at damage control Sunday after a social media post echoed President Donald Trump’s criticism of four Democratic congresswoman and went further, referring to them in a movie-type poster of being a “jihad squad” and contending they believe any criticism is racist. The post was made to …

The Independent reports: Donald Trump has once again attacked the four Democratic congresswomen he launched racist tweets at last week, demanding Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley apologise “for the horrible (hateful) things they have said.” The latest tweets arrived after an extraordinary rebuke of the president’s racist attacks against the four congresswomen of colour — colloquially …

Newsweek reports: A resolution introduced this week by Senators Ted Cruz and Bill Cassidy calling for the Antifa anti-fascist movement to be designated a domestic terrorist organization has been criticized for using “Antifa” and “left-wing activists” interchangeably, and possibly implying that all manner of dissent could be considered terrorism. The resolution, introduced Thursday, is titled, “Calling for the designation of …