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Bill Clinton
Thursday December 19, 2019
Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday December 19, 2019
‘Historic rebuke’: what the US papers say about Trump’s impeachment
There was not much debate on the top story in the US on Thursday morning, with the two votes to impeach Donald Trump getting near universal coverage.
August 23, 2018
“Trump impeached” is the headline in one of the president’s least favourite papers, the Washington Post. It devotes its entire front page to coverage, under a picture of speaker Nancy Pelosi. One headline reads: “An impeachment that mirrors his presidency: Disruption and division”. Alongside a picture of the president at the rally he hosted at the same time as the House vote, the Post runs the headline: “Unclear path to a virtually certain Senate acquittal”.
Andrew Johnson
On Twitter the paper also posted its front pages for Clinton’s impeachment (1998) and that of Andrew Johnson (1868).
The New York Times carries exactly the same headline (“Trump impeached”), saying after “fierce arguments, House approves a charge that he abused power”.
The paper’s editorial says Republicans are “following him (Trump) down” and that “ignoring facts and trashing the impeachment process is no way to protect democracy”. It says there is plenty of blame to go around, “but the nihilism of this moment – the trashing of constitutional safeguards, the scorn for facts, the embrace of corruption, the indifference to historical precedent and to foreign interference in American politics — is due principally to cowardice and opportunism on the part of Republican leaders who have chosen to reject their party’s past standards and positions and instead follow Donald Trump, all the way down.”
November 2, 2019
USA Today splashes with one word: “Impeached”, and says the Clinton impeachment is a “study in contrasts”. The paper’s editorial headline is: “Donald Trump’s impeachment defenders set a dangerous precedent”.
“The Republicans have engaged in a whole pattern of behavior that will undermine Congress’ ability to serve as a check on presidential overreach,” it writes, adding that the Senate jurors like Lindsay Graham, who has said he will not pretend to be fair in the impeachment trial “are colluding with the defense lawyers to help ensure a favorable outcome at trial”.
Bill Clinton
Politico magazine’s front cover also has a one-word headline: “Impeached”, over a picture of Trump. It says the house has delivered a “historic rebuke” and describes Trump’s conduct as “A bruised ego, a Twitter eruption and a winding rally”.
The paper reports that although the White House was keen to suggest this was just a normal day for the president, and that Trump was “busy working and only ‘between meetings’ catching snippets of the action on the House floor, his Twitter feed belied that claim and showed a president obsessed with the historic nature of this day.”
November 16, 2019
Politico said that through four dozen tweets and retweets, “Trump did not shy away from weighing in on his favorite medium. “SUCH ATROCIOUS LIES BY THE RADICAL LEFT, DO NOTHING DEMOCRATS. THIS IS AN ASSAULT ON AMERICA, AND AN ASSAULT ON THE REPUBLICAN PARTY!!!!, he tweeted around lunchtime Wednesday.” (The Guardian) https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/19/historic-rebuke-what-the-us-papers-say-about-trumps-impeachment
Saturday October 15, 2016
Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday October 15, 2016
Donald Trump’s problem isn’t a conspiracy. It’s him.
This has been a bad week for Donald J. Trump. But what shouldn’t be lost is that it’s been a bad week because of Donald J. Trump.
That’s not how Trump sees it, of course. In his wild, conspiratorial speech yesterday, he blamed a “concerted, coordinated, and vicious attack” by the media and the Clinton campaign. He explained that his campaign represented an “existential threat” to “those who control the levers of power in Washington” and “the global special interests,” and it was their counterattack that was behind his current troubles. If he loses, he said, it will be because the system is “rigged.”
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The only person who doesn’t know what’s gone wrong for Trump’s campaign, it seems, is Donald Trump.
None of Trump’s errors were forced. None of his problems were out of his control. He wasn’t buffeted by bad economic news, or a staffer who said something dumb on television, or a change in geopolitics that undercut his campaign.
Instead, the last week has been driven by three characteristics that are purely Trump’s: his absence of impulse control, his overwhelming desire to be and to seem dominant, and his tendency to lash out counterproductively and personally when attacked. (Continued: Vox)
Friday July 29, 2016
Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday July 29, 2016
Donald Trump Again Praises Putin’s Leadership, Saying It’s Better Than Obama’s
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Donald J. Trump called President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia “a better leader” than President Obama, offering the praise in an interview with “Fox and Friends” on Thursday, just a day after saying he hoped Russian intelligence services had successfully hacked Hillary Clinton’s email.
Live sketch of Clinton’s acceptance speech
Asked about comments he had made Wednesday at a news conference in Florida, where he said, “Putin has much better leadership qualities than Obama,” Mr. Trump reiterated his views in slightly starker terms.
“I said he’s a better leader than Obama,” Mr. Trump said. “I said he’s a better leader than Obama, because Obama’s not a leader, so he’s certainly doing a better job than Obama is, and that’s all.”
Mr. Trump also tried to walk back, in part, comments he made Wednesday about Russia hacking Mrs. Clinton’s emails — an extraordinary moment in which the Republican nominee basically urged Russia, an adversary, to conduct cyberespionage against a former secretary of state.
“Of course, I’m being sarcastic,” Mr. Trump said in the interview taped Wednesday that aired Thursday morning. “But you have 33,000 emails deleted, and the real problem is what was said in those emails from the Democratic National Committee. You take a look at what was said in those emails, it’s disgraceful. It’s disgraceful.”
Debate Night, Sept 26, 2016
Mr. Trump seemed to be conflating the roughly 30,000 emails on Mrs. Clinton’s private server during her time as secretary of state, which her lawyers deleted as personal, and the roughly 20,000 emails Democratic National Committee emails that had been hacked.
Mr. Trump’s comments Wednesday about Russian hacking set off a firestorm of criticism, and his efforts to recalibrate his remarks began just hours after he looked into a bank of television cameras and declared, “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.”
Mr. Trump posted on Twitter on Wednesday that he was simply urging Russia — if it had indeed hacked Mrs. Clinton — to hand her emails over to the proper authorities. “If Russia or any other country or person has Hillary Clinton’s 33,000 illegally deleted emails, perhaps they should share them with the F.B.I!” Mr. Trump wrote. (Source: New York Times)
Wednesday May 2, 2012
By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Wednesday May 2, 2012
‘Even Jimmy Carter would have killed Osama bin Laden’, says Mitt Romney
With the Americans remembering the anniversary of the Obama-authorised US military raid in Pakistan that ended with bin Laden’s death, campaign adviser Robert Gibbs said on Sunday that it was unclear whether Mr Romney would have made the same decision as Obama.
“Look, just a few years ago, President Obama – then a candidate – said in a speech that if we had actionable intelligence of a high-value target in Pakistan, we’d go in and get that high value target,” Mr Gibbs said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “Mitt Romney said that was foolish. He wouldn’t do such a thing. That he wouldn’t move heaven and earth to get Osama bin Laden.”
Speaking in New Hampshire on Monday, Mr Romney said he would have made the same decision.
“Of course. Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order,” Romney said.
Many Americans remember Mr Carter’s foreign policy record as weak, primarily because of his inability to win the release of the Americans who were taken hostage in Iran and held for 444 days during his 1977-81 presidency.
Mr Romney has scheduled an appearance Tuesday in New York City with firefighters and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani to mark the anniversary of the killing of bin Laden, who was responsible for the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Last week, Mr Obama’s campaign released a video featuring former President Bill Clinton that sought to reinforce Mr Gibbs’ doubts about Romney. “Which path would Mitt Romney have taken?” the video asks. (Source: The Telegraph)