Idiocracy

Mediaite reports: President Donald Trump capped off Christmas Day with by hoping everyone was having a great Christmas, even the “fake news media.” It followed Christmas Day remarks, when Trump said this from the White House: “It’s a disgrace what’s happening in our country. But other than that, I wish everybody a very Merry Christmas. Thank you very much.” Trump’s …

The Hill reports: Russian state-backed news outlet RT on Monday released a satirical video depicting President Trump opening Christmas gifts.   Trump begins by opening a gift from Kim Jong Un, who gave him small gold busts of the two leaders. Trump tosses the bust of Kim aside before opening his next gift: A “Make America Great Again” hat boasting a …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump on Christmas Eve took calls from children anxious to find out where Santa was on his gift-giving journey. In one conversation, Trump asked a 7-year-old named Coleman, “Are you still a believer in Santa?” He listened for a moment before adding, “Because at 7, it’s marginal, right?” Trump …

The Wrap reports: President Trump, instead of channeling his inner Kevin McAllister and enjoying being “all alone” in the White House on Christmas Eve, is blasting Democrats for refusing to give him the one gift he really wants: a $5-billion border wall. The president also skewered the Federal Reserve, saying it “doesn’t understand” his policies — leading to the recent …

Mediaite reports: White House spokeswomen Mercedes Schlapp appeared for an interview on Fox & Friends Monday, where she was challenged by host Brian Kilmeade to name a single adviser that told President Donald Trump to withdraw troops from Syria. “Can you name an adviser the president has that recommended he pull out 2,000 troops?” Kilmeade asked. Schlapp dodged: “I’m not …

The Hill reports: President Trump on Monday criticized outgoing Defense Secretary James Mattis, claiming he hasn’t done enough to address countries that “take total advantage of the U.S.” and U.S. taxpayers. Mattis wrote in his resignation letter that the strength of the U.S. is “inextricably linked to the strength of our unique and comprehensive system of alliances.” He added that …

The New York Times reports: President Trump, angry over days of news coverage characterizing the resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis as a rebuke of the president, has told administration officials that he is considering removing Mr. Mattis from his job by Jan. 1, two months before he had planned to depart. The president, a notoriously mercurial leader, has been …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump claimed Saturday he gave outgoing Defense Secretary James Mattis “a second chance” after the retired Marine general was ousted from military leadership under the Obama administration. Former President Barack Obama fired Mattis as head of U.S. Central Command in 2013 in large part because of Mattis’ increasingly hawkish posture toward Iran. Mattis resigned from the …

Mediaite reports: President Donald Trump tweeted this morning to decry “mostly FAKE” news about the shutdown and his decision to withdraw from Syria. He also defended his Syria decision, though he said this time that ISIS is “largely defeated.” Trump’s tweets were posted around the time news broke that the top U.S. envoy to the global coalition fighting ISIS submitted …

The Daily Beast reports: The Mattis departure is being cheered in Russia. Konstantin Kosachev, head of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Russian Parliament, has said that “the departure of James Mattis is a positive signal for Russia, since Mattis was far more hawkish on Russia and China than Donald Trump.” State TV host Olga Skabeeva surmised that Americans are …

Mediaite reports: “It’s really up to the Democrats. Totally up to the Democrats as to whether or not we have the shutdown,” Trump said in comments to reporters today. “It’s possible that we’ll have a shutdown. I would say the chances are probably very good because I don’t think Democrats care so much about maybe this issue, but this is …

Talking Points Memo reports: Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) slammed the “tyranny” of talk radio show hosts for the impending government shutdown. “Do we succumb to tyranny of talk radio hosts?” Corker wondered aloud to reporters, according to CNN’s Manu Raju and other reporters who heard the remark. “We have two talk radio hosts who influenced the President,” he added. “That’s …

Mediaite reports: Ten days after Donald Trump promised to accept responsibility for a government shutdown, he’s now saying Democrats will be the ones to blame for it. This is quite a departure from last week when Trump had his explosive meeting with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). It was during that meeting …

The Washington Post reports: The numbers are astonishing. In the first eight months of his presidency, President Trump made 1,137 false or misleading claims, an average of five a day. In October, as he barnstormed the country holding rallies in advance of the midterm elections, the president made 1,205 claims — an average of 39 a day. Combined with the …

The Independent reports: Donald Trump has defended construction of a wall along the US-Mexico border in a bizarre series of tweets in which he compared it to “the wheel” and boasted of understanding technology “better than anyone”. Mr Trump wrote: “The fact is there is nothing else’s that will work, and that has been true for thousands of years. It’s …

CBS News reports: With barely one day to go until a midnight Friday deadline, President Trump is signing a bill — but it’s not the one to fund the government. Mr. Trump is signing a farm bill at the White House Thursday, but he says he won’t sign the current short-term spending bill, House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters after …

Lindsey Graham, like many others, has called out Trump’s lie that ISIS has been defeated. Therefore he too must be destroyed. “I give the president all the credit in the world for changing their policies regarding the fight against ISIS, but I will not buy into the narrative that they have been defeated,” Graham said, adding that he had just …

ABC News reports: House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters Wednesday afternoon after meeting with President Trump that the President will not sign a spending bill that has already passed the Senate because it does not offer funding for his border wall. Trump had indicated yesterday that he would sign the bill in order to prevent a government shutdown. The government …

Politico reports: When Trump’s young social media manager saw the tweet, he was perplexed. He typically typed and sent Trump’s tweets for the boss, but in this case he hadn’t. He did recall that Trump had been spending a lot of time in his office lately playing around with a new Android smartphone. “The moment I found out Trump could …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to shut down the government over funding for his border wall. But as the question of money for his campaign proposal once again roils Congress, one man thinks he may have found a solution: Crowd-funding. Brian Kolfage, a 37-year-old Florida resident who was severely wounded in the Iraq war, has started a …