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Trump Explodes Over News Report He ‘Has Not Built a Single Mile of New Border Fence’ – But Admits It’s True

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On Saturday a DC-based conservative news outlet published a little-noticed report that states quite clearly, “Trump has not built a single mile of new border fence after 30 months in office.”

But apparently it did get noticed by the White House.

Monday night President Trump appears to have read it, and delivered an explosive and defiant tweet. But in doing so he delivered a massive self-inflicted blow, admitting the report is true, to his 62 million followers on Twitter.

The report is fact-based and devastating to the president’s mirage of miles and miles of new border wall having been built.

“The Trump administration has not installed a single mile of new wall in a previously fenceless part of the U.S.-Mexico border in the 30 months since President Trump assumed office, despite his campaign promise to construct a ‘big beautiful wall,'” The Washington Examiner reports.

“In a statement last week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the federal agency overseeing border barrier construction, confirmed that all the fencing completed since Trump took office is ‘in place of dilapidated designs’ because the existing fence was in need of replacement.”

Replacement is maintenance and not new border wall fencing.

Trump, a real estate mogul intimately familiar with walls and fences, could not seem to grasp the difference between maintenance and replacement, and new construction.

“When we rip down and totally replace a badly broken and dilapidated Barrier on the Southern Border, something which cannot do the job, the Fake News Media gives us zero credit for building a new Wall. We have replaced many miles of old Barrier with powerful new Walls!” Trump tweeted, admitting his repeated claims of having built new walls is false.

Trump’s 2020 campaign debuted the slogan “Finish the Wall” at his first rally of 2019 in El Paso, Texas. At one point during his speech, the crowd began cheering “build that wall.” Trump responded, “Now, you really mean ‘finish that wall,’ because we’ve built a lot of it,” though he did not share numbers with the thousands of people in attendance.

He has, in fact, not “built a lot of it,” despite Congress having “approved $1.375 billion for 80 miles of new and replacement wall” in 2018.

Mexico, Trump originally promised for years, was supposed to pay for the wall.

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PANTS ON FIRE

‘Let’s Go’: Trump Grows Furious as Chris Wallace Punches Holes in His Lies About Biden

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In the preview of an interview with Chris Wallace, President Donald Trump grows visibly furious as the Fox News host punches holes in his lies about presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

“They want to defund the police and Biden wants to defund the police,” Trump tells Wallace.

“Sir, he does not,” the Fox News Sunday host interrupts.

“Look,” Trump, growing visibly agitated, tells Wallace. “He signed a charter, with Bernie Sanders –”

“And it says nothing about defunding the police,” Wallace, smirking, tells the president.

“Oh really? It says ‘abolish,’ it says – Let’s go!” Trump, frustrated, says, throwing his hands up. “Get me the charter, please,” Trump tells someone off-camera.

The interview cuts out and Wallace, laughing, tells Fox News’ Bill Hemmer highlights from the 100-page compact was brought over.

“He went through it, and he found a lot of things that he objected to, that Biden has agreed to,” Wallace explained, “but he couldn’t find any indication – because there isn’t any – that Joe Biden has sought to defund and abolish the police.”

Watch:

 

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PANTS ON FIRE

White House Desperately Claims Tear Gas Was Not Used to Clear Protestors for Trump’s Bible Photo Op – Proof It Was

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The Trump White House – and the Trump campaign – are desperately claiming rubber bullets and tear gas were not used to clear what by all accounts were peaceful protestors from Lafayette Park and St. John’s Church on Monday. The attack on the protestors took place just before President Donald Trump walked over for his now-infamous Bible-holding photo-op.

“No tear gas was used and no rubber bullets were used,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters Wednesday afternoon in the latest round of falsehoods from the administration.

When pressed by CNN’s Jim Acosta, McEnany, as she often does, repeated the exact same line: “No tear gas was used and no rubber bullets were used.”

Acosta detailed several personal accounts of people who were victims of the tear gas and rubber bullets, including an Episcopal priest.

“Chemical agents were used,” Acosta pressed.

“No one was tear gassed, let me make that clear,” McEnany replied. “It’s been confirmed by DoD and by Park Services.”

Earlier Wednesday Secretary of Defense Mark Esper specified that the National Guard did not use tear gas.

Clearly some federal law enforcement agency did.

Here’s video of the tear gassing from Yahoo News’ White House Correspondent Hunter Walker:

MSNBC’s Garret Haake was on the scene Monday when protestors were attacked with tear gas and rubber bullets. He denies that any violence was taking place against any law enforcement officers.

“I want to be super clear about what did and didn’t happen. Nothing happened on the side that the protestors were in,” Haake said, Monday, noting that he had been there since 2 PM. “It was by far the most peaceful day of protests that we’ve had in D.C. since this started.”

He went on to say that “mounted federal police” came by before the curfew went into effect “clearing people out of the street. In front of them they were using flash bangs, tear gas, I lost my regular mask and had to replace it with my gas mask.”

“That’s what the tape shows, that’s what history’s going to show,” Haake, somewhat agitated, added. “I’m a little shook by the whole thing, to be completely honest.”

Here’s an NBC News report from Tuesday on the use of tear gas, “so that President Trump could visit that historic site.”

And yet, the U.S. Park Police are telling a very different – and very false – tale. But they admit to using “pepper balls” and “smoke canisters.”

“To curtail the violence that was underway, the USPP, following established policy, issued three warnings over a loudspeaker to alert demonstrators on H Street to evacuate the area. Horse mounted patrol, Civil Disturbance Units and additional personnel were used to clear the area. As many of the protestors became more combative, continued to throw projectiles, and attempted to grab officers’ weapons, officers then employed the use of smoke canisters and pepper balls. No tear gas was used by USPP officers or other assisting law enforcement partners to close the area at Lafayette Park. Subsequently, the fence was installed.”

As The Washington Post reports, pepper spray is “one of the most commonly used tear gases in the world.”

And the CDC agrees.

“According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: ‘Riot control agents (sometimes referred to as ‘tear gas’) are chemical compounds that temporarily make people unable to function by causing irritation to the eyes, mouth, throat, lungs, and skin.'”

The Post also notes the Trump re-election campaign is contacting media outlets demanding they correct the record, to say tear gas was not used. Media Matters published their response.

Tear gas was used.

So were rubber bullets.

 

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PANTS ON FIRE

Trump Now Insists He’s ‘Always Known This Is a Pandemic’ – After Calling Coronavirus a ‘Hoax’

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In one of his his most recent lies President Donald Trump now says he’s always known and felt the coronavirus crisis is a pandemic.

In Tuesday’s coronavirus press conference Trump was asked about his new tone this week. The President appears, at least during these press events, to acknowledge the pandemic is a crisis. But he has spent months denying its severity, and dismissing it as a “hoax.”

“I have seen that, where people actually liked it,” he said Tuesday of his lies about coronavirus. “But I didn’t feel different. I’ve always known this is a real – this is a pandemic.”

“I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic,” he lied.

Countless news reports make clear that’s a lie.

The New York Times has documented in one article what Trump has been saying about the coronavirus.

His first recorded remarks were on January 22.

“Are there worries about a pandemic at this point?” a reporter asked Turmp.

“No. Not at all,” the president replied. “And we have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.”

There’s more. Like this:

On Jan. 24, he tweeted, “It will all work out well.” On Jan. 28, he retweeted a headline from One America News, an outlet with a history of spreading false conspiracy theories: “Johnson & Johnson to create coronavirus vaccine.” On Jan. 30, during a speech in Michigan, he said: “We have it very well under control. We have very little problem in this country at this moment — five. And those people are all recuperating successfully.”

Back in February at a campaign rally Trump called the coronavirus the Democrats “new hoax.”

From the beginning he has spent months minimizing the crisis – including not pushing and trying to minimize the number of tests in an effort to improve his re-election chances.

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