President Donald Trump’s off-the-rails press conference on Monday began with a taxpayer-funded campaign re-election ad that aired for free on the three top news networks for several minutes.
That drew tremendous outrage.
About an hour later President Trump declared total power.
To be clear, he does not have total power.
“When somebody’s the President of the United States, the authority is total. And that’s the way it’s gotta be. It’s total,” Trump told a reporter. He repeated the word “total” several times.
“The authority of the President of the United States having to do with the subject we’re talking about is total,” Trump concluded.
Minutes later, when questioned, Trump responded to another reporter by saying, “The President of the United States has the authority to do what the President has the authority to do, which is very powerful.”
“The President of the United States calls the shots.”
Moments later, Vice President Mike Pence said he agreed, saying Trump’s power is “unquestionably plenary.”