That photo above was taken yesterday, in the Oval Office, during what has come to be known as a #TrumpMeltdown for the ages.
Donald Trump and Finnish president Sauli Niinistö had a two-part meeting in front of the cameras yesterday.
First, there was the Oval Office meeting, where Donald’s attempt to touch Sauli went down like a lead balloon. I imagine it was a carbon copy of when he tries to touch Melania.
Then there was the press conference which followed, broadcast live by many TV networks, where the wheels well and truly came off.
Let’s start here:
Trump yells at Reuters reporter, orders him to ask Finnish president a question pic.twitter.com/kfQu8WUCsj
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) October 2, 2019
That laughing you hear around the 38-second mark is the Finnish president, just chuckling away whilst Donnie soils his diaper.
Followed closely by this, which I think is my favourite. This reporter asks Niinistö a question, but then it’s hijacked – second video below:
Trump seems to be losing it. Here he is highjacking a question intended for the Finnish president and ranting about how there weren’t “wins” before he took office. pic.twitter.com/1sU0rQpSlq
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 2, 2019
To finish, the mic drop and storm off – again, the second video below:
Trump attacks CNN and then abruptly ends the news conference. What an embarrassment. pic.twitter.com/RWCORiiU4f
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 2, 2019
Oh, we really should give the last word to Niinistö:
Here’s that moment where the Finnish president says, “Mr. President, you have here a great democracy. Keep it going on.” President Trump doesn’t appear to know what to make of it either. pic.twitter.com/a9P8q4RoSV
— Gillian Brockell (@gbrockell) October 2, 2019
Nice democracy you have here. Would be a shame if something was to happen to it…
A few pictures via Esquire while we’re at it, with the first summing up Niinistö’s general vibe throughout the shitshow:
If you’re so inclined, you can watch the full press conference here, but let’s get some reaction via Newsweek:
Tens of thousands of Americans also took to Twitter to mock the president’s performance in the Oval Office. As of Wednesday afternoon, “Finland” and the hashtag #TrumpMeltdown rose to the first and second most-trending topic on the social media platform in the United States…
“This press conference is dangerous and an embarrassment to our nation #TrumpMeltdown,” NYC council candidate Marti Gould Cummings tweeted…
“As I said a few days ago, we’re dealing with a disturbed sociopath. We are going to see many more, and worse re: #TrumpMeltdown,” SiriusXM host Michelangelo Signorile tweeted.
We really are, though.
This is just the tip of the crazy iceberg.
To Donald’s Twitter we go, and one zinger from yesterday:
So spicy – love a good CAPS LOCK RANT.
Oh, and just in case you thought you couldn’t hate Nickelback any more…
LOOK AT THIS PHOTOGRAPH! pic.twitter.com/QQYTqG4KTt
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2019
Yeah, he went full Nickelback. If Trump’s tweet gets removed for copyright infringement, you can see the video he tweeted here.
Also, and you probably know this already, the video is factually incorrect on a number of levels. Here’s Business Insider:
The “Ukraine gas exec” is named Devon Archer; he was previously business partners with Hunter Biden and Chris Heinz at Rosemont Seneca Partners, an investment firm, and he became a Burisma board member before Hunter was invited to join the board…
The photo has been widely circulated among conservative news outlets in recent days as evidence that Biden used the power of his office to halt a corruption case threatening his son’s business fortunes…
Joined by other Western leaders, Biden pressed Ukraine for the firing of a prosecutor who failed to curb corruption in the country or risk losing $ 1 billion in loan guarantees. By helping to oust him, Biden actually made it more likely that Burisma would face harsher scrutiny.
Ukraine’s general prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko recently told the BBC he didn’t “know any reason to investigate Joe Biden or Hunter Biden according to Ukrainian law.”
Lustsenko added that any possible wrongdoing by Burisma predated Hunter Biden’s involvement with the company by several years.
But sure, a video with the world’s least favourite band as the soundtrack is going to turn around POTUS’ fortunes.
This meltdown is only going to get worse as the impeachment inquiry pressure mounts, so strap in for a wild, wild ride.
[sources:newsweek&esquire&businsider]
