Apparently taking the podium after having what must’ve been a very ugly cry, a red-eyed Donald Trump Jr. propagated a number of lies to support his father’s re-election campaign.
Junior talked about the “greatest prolonged economic expansion in American history” that began approximately 18 months after President Barack Obama took office and ended this past March during his father’s term.
Saying that the “Chinese Communist Party” sent the coronavirus to the United States, stopping that economic expansion, Junior claimed that his daddy acted quickly to stop the spread of the virus [Fact check: Trump has yet to enact a single federal domestic policy to stop the spread of the virus that was already on American shores when he instituted a travel ban, and more than 40,000 people came to the US from China after the travel ban was announced].
Saying that his father “ensure that ventilators got to hospitals that needed them most,” Junior again refused to recognize that there was not a single federal policy about the allocation of needed medical equipment, with states oftentimes battling the federal government for ventilators.
Junior also said his daddy delivered “PP&E” to our brave front line workers. [Fact check: “PP&E” is a real estate term for “Property, Plant & Equipment.” By the way, remember that this was pre-taped, so this was the best version they had.]
Junior whined that Joe Biden wants to “shut the country down again” during a new spread of the coronavirus that has seen more than 1,000 people die daily, on average, for two weeks.
Saying that Democrats have been trying to “sneak a tax break for millionaires into the COVID relief bill,” Junior sounded aggrieved: “Then they attack my father for suspending the payroll tax for middle class workers.”
[Fact check: Democrats passed a bill in the House in May, part of which would restore the so-called SALT federal tax deduction for state and local property taxes, which would go to hundreds of thousands of middle class families. Also, the “[suspension of] the payroll tax” would mean workers and employers would have to repay that tax come January 1st, 2021, and many employers won’t comply as it’s proposed.]
Junior said, “After eight years of Obama and Biden slow growth, Trump’s policies have been like rocket fuel to the economy and especially to the middle class. [Fact check: Okay, folks, apparently this speech was written sometime around February 2020, because it ignores 55 million first time unemployment claims (the most in history); 30 million unemployed (the most since the Great Depression); an unemployment rate around 11% (see previous note); and a GDP shrinking at 30% annualized.]
Apparently not understanding that the Loch Ness Monster doesn’t (1) live in a swamp or (2) exist, Junior blurted, “Joe Biden is the Loch Ness Monster of the swamp.”
Junior also commented that his father believes in the “rule of law”–while blocking prosecutors and the courts from examining financial documents or adhering to subpoenas. There’s also the whole “undertaking a corrupt enterprise to avoid paying taxes” his dad and his siblings did.
Junior also claimed that “people of faith are under attack.” While that’s true, as with the attacks on mosques and Black churches around the country, Junior fails to note that churches are closed for public health reasons caused by the coronavirus.
“[We] must put an end to racism,” Junior proclaimed, apparently not having paid attention to Nikki Haley, who said “America is not a racist country.”
“What happened to George Floyd is a disgrace,” Junior said, using “disgrace” instead of “murder”. “And if you know a police officer, you know they agree with that, too.”
[Fact check: We don’t know that. Three other police officers watched George Floyd die. An entire Rapid Response unit quit after two officers were held accountable for shoving a 70-year-old man to the ground. Police unions are decrying calls to reduce police violence and hold officers accountable. And officers are retiring or quitting in the hundreds so they are not held accountable.]
Trump claimed that he was “fortunate to grow up in a family that could afford the best schools and the finest universities. But,” he said unironically given reports that he and his father got into their Ivy League schools not on merit, but due to payments to the school’s endowment, “it must be accessible to all.”