Defensive Over DACA, Trump Plays to Base by Bashing ‘Pretty Bad Dudes’ in Antifa
Many in Trump’s base are furious at him. So he tried to change the conversation
Tim Molloy | September 14, 2017 @ 5:33 PM
Last Updated: September 14, 2017 @ 5:56 PM
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Many in Donald Trump’s base are mad at him, and he’s trying to get them to be mad at antifa instead.
Conservatives from Ann Coulter to Laura Ingraham are furious that Trump is reportedly pursuing a DACA deal with Democrats to let people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children to stay in the country.
That was the story all morning Thursday. In the afternoon, Trump was asked about his meeting Wednesday with Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only African-American Republican senator, in which they talked race relations.
“We had a great talk yesterday,” Trump said, according to NPR. “I think especially in light of the advent of antifa, if you look at what’s going on there, you know, you have some pretty bad dudes on the other side also. And essentially that’s what I said.”
Antifa is an anti-fascist movement that is willing to use violence to fight Nazis and white supremacists. Many on the right have used the group and Black Lives Matter to suggest some kind of equivalency between white supremacists and the people who oppose them.
Trump was roundly criticized for saying there was “blame on both sides” after white supremacists and counter-protestors gathered last month in Charlottesville, Virginia. One woman was killed and many people were injured by a driver who was reported to be a Nazi sympathizer.
Trump soon called out white supremacists, but has since lapsed into blaming both sides, as he again did on Thursday.
It looked like a pretty obvious strategy to Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson, who tweeted: “Guess Trump doesn’t like the way his DACA deal is playing with the base: Reprises ‘both sides’ to change the subject.”
Guess Trump doesn't like the way his DACA deal is playing with the base: Reprises "both sides!" to change the subject.
22 'Rediculous' Typos From Trump's White House, From 'Attaker' to 'Unpresidented' (Photos)
You can't have "the best words" if you can't correctly spell them. Even more serious than the Trump administration's beef with CNN is its beef with grammar, as is evidenced by a score of tweets and official White House documents that are riddled with spelling errors, misused words and downright gibberish. Here are 21 of the worst (and most laughable) offenses.
"Innaccurately"
Oh, the irony! The White House tried to call out the Congressional Budget Office for inaccuracy but inaccurately spelled the word "innaccurately."
White House/Twitter
"Honered"
Before "covfefe," there was "honered." Of course, newly-inaugurated Trump meant to tweet that he was "honored," but that's not what happened.
Twitter
"Unpresidented"
According to Huffington Post, Trump Twitter-slammed China for seizing a U.S. underwater drone in December 2016. He also made up a word in the process. By “unpresidented,” we can assume he meant “unprecedented.”
Twitter
"San Bernadino"
The White House got a few things wrong with this list of “unreported” terror attacks. First, many of the incidents actually had been reported. Second, “San Bernardino” was spelled incorrectly.
White House/Twitter
"Attaker"
In the same report, the WH managed to misspell “attacker” 23 times in a row. That has to be some sort of record.
White House/Twitter
"W.E.B. DeBois"
The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) botched the name of legendary civil rights activist, W.E.B. DuBois. It’s DU Bois, as in “DU” they realize the epic mistake they made?
Twitter
"Deepest apologizes"
Apparently, the DOE did catch the gaffe and subsequently tweeted out an apology… sort of.
Twitter/The Washington Post
"Columbia"
This is a common spelling error that also tripped up Steve Harvey in the past. For the record, when referring to the country, the correct spelling is "Colombia."
White House/Twitter
“Possibility of lasting peach”
According to a White House press release, one of Trump’s objectives during his most recent visit to Israel was to “promote the possibility of lasting peach” between Israelis and Palestinians. Who needs peace when you can have peaches?
White House/Twitter
“Couple with changes”
Another typo from the same press release. This time, someone left off the “d” in the word “coupled.” Hence, we have “A new approach, couple with changes.”
White House/Twitter
"Councel"
After Trump tweeted this misspelling on May 18, Merriam-Webster reported that "councel" was their most-searched word of that day.
Twitter/The Hill
"Tapp"
President Obama did not "tapp" Trump's phone at any time during his two terms in office, because there is no such word as "tapp" in the English language.
Twitter
Too vs. To
This was not a tweet. This was Donald Trump's official inauguration portrait... with an egregious typo printed front and center.
Library of Congress
"Teresa May"
This mistake doesn’t seem too critical… until you consider the fact that Teresa (sans “h”) May is the name of a British porn star, not the British Prime Minister. The latter spells her first name with an "h."
White House/Huffington Post
"Hear by"
He should have typed "hereby." Of course, POTUS received a lot of flack for this one, among his many other botched spellings.
Twitter/Pro Publica
"Educatuon"
Failure took the form of a White House Snapchat on April 17. There's no excuse for this one.
White House/Snap
"Thr" and "Gas"
Trump displayed poor spelling in his attempt to shade two credible news outlets via Twitter.
Twitter
"Amoung"
"Amoung," many other things, he will also not use spellcheck.
Twitter
"Predisent"
This was a statement made by Trump's lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, in an official White House document.
White House/Twitter
"Rediculous"
Once again, Trump unleashes a grammatically incorrect Twitter rage at his arch nemesis, CNN.
As Merriam-Webster so nicely put it, "heal (to become healthy again) heel (a contemptible person)."
Twitter
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Welcome to the White House: where the words are made up, and spellcheck doesn’t matter
You can't have "the best words" if you can't correctly spell them. Even more serious than the Trump administration's beef with CNN is its beef with grammar, as is evidenced by a score of tweets and official White House documents that are riddled with spelling errors, misused words and downright gibberish. Here are 21 of the worst (and most laughable) offenses.