Within seconds of President Donald Trump wrapping up a rambling statement in which he baselessly claimed that counting votes was actually election theft, he faced a barrage of condemnation from, well, just about everyone.
John Roberts, Fox News’ White House correspondent, pointed out that the President had simply not presented any evidence for his claims of widespread fraud.
“Perhaps I just haven’t heard about it,” Roberts allowed.
“We have not seen it, we have not seen the evidence yet” anchor Brett Baier agreed.
John Roberts: "I haven't really seen anything that would constitute any kind of flagrant fraud or abuse of the system." pic.twitter.com/dII5WLAQty
— Matt Shuham (@mattshuham) November 6, 2020
After Trump concluded the strongman spectacle without taking questions from reporters, CNN anchor Jake Tapper took aim at the President for continuing his efforts to delegitimize the election process. He called Trump’s presser “a sad night” for the country.
“What a sad night for the United States of America, to hear their president say that, to falsely accuse people of trying to steal the election, to try to attack democracy that way, with his feast of falsehoods,” Tapper said. “Lie after lie.”
CNN's Jake Tapper reacts to Trump's shocking White House statement falsely declaring victory: "It's just pathetic" pic.twitter.com/4aLL2mRTtg
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) November 6, 2020
CNN’s Anderson Cooper echoed that sentiment, agreeing that Trump’s remarks were “sad and truly pathetic.” Cooper concluded with a reptilian retort to Trump.
“That is the most powerful person in the world, and we see him like an obese turtle on his back, flailing in the hot sun, realizing his time is over. But he just hasn’t accepted it, and he wants to take everybody down with him, including this country.”
Anderson Cooper compares Trump to "an obese turtle on his back flailing in the hot sun" pic.twitter.com/jyIMBxV4gn
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) November 6, 2020
MSNBC cut away from Trump’s statement in less than a minute, with anchor Brian Williams noting, “there are no illegal votes that we know of. There has been no Trump victory that we know of.”
Here’s the moment @msnbc cut out of the president at the podium.
— Lauren Peikoff (@laurenpeikoff) November 6, 2020
The New York Post, part of the broader Rupert Murdoch media empire that is generally sympathetic to Trump, referred to Trump as “downcast” in a headline on his statement and pointed out that the votes Trump was so upset about were actually perfectly legal.
Downcast Trump makes baseless election fraud claims in White House address https://t.co/FVM8v1bjq5 pic.twitter.com/FqRzUVSGkd
— New York Post (@nypost) November 6, 2020
“The President railed against what he called ‘illegal votes,’ not acknowledging that the US election is still in progress as legal mail-in votes are being counted and that the 2020 presidential race was simply not able to be declared on Election Night due to the coronavirus,” the Post’s Ebony Bowden wrote.
On Twitter, Democrats were up in arms. Some cheered what they predicted to be Trump’s last episode, some gave grave warnings about the future the speech portended.
But in perhaps the clearest mark of how dire Trump’s prospects for reelection are, there was a small but resounding denunciation from conservatives.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said there was “no defense” for Trump’s comments:
There is no defense for the President’s comments tonight undermining our Democratic process. America is counting the votes, and we must respect the results as we always have before. No election or person is more important than our Democracy. https://t.co/BOO2iaTsEf
— Larry Hogan (@LarryHogan) November 6, 2020
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) acknowledged the President may be frustrated but pushed back on Trump without directly naming him:
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) November 6, 2020
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), a sometimes Trump critic, called the President’s antics “insane.”
We want every vote counted, yes every legal vote (of course). But, if you have legit concerns about fraud present EVIDENCE and take it to court. STOP Spreading debunked misinformation… This is getting insane.
— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) November 6, 2020
Former Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) called on his reticent peers to denounce the speech.
No Republican should be okay with the President’s statements just now. Unacceptable. Period.
— Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) November 6, 2020
Rick Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania and now a CNN analyst, said the President hadn’t presented any evidence for his claims of election fraud, then pointed out the obvious truth: His lead was diminishing as elections officials counted ballots cast by-mail.
“Democrats voted by mail, that’s why your lead went away,” Santorum said.
"Democrats voted by mail, that's why your lead went away." pic.twitter.com/aKtOPrTXWs
— Matt Shuham (@mattshuham) November 6, 2020
And a new Republican to the flock said he was “ashamed” of the President’s behavior.
As a Republican who just won in a Blue district, I am embarrassed and ashamed by what I just heard from POTUS.
— William Cogswell (@CogswellWilliam) November 6, 2020
But perhaps the clearest indication of how this speech, in some ways so like the hundreds Trump has given over the last four years, was still a level above, came from the fact-checker who has been tracking Trump throughout his whole presidency.
I’ve read or watched all of Trump’s speeches since 2016. This is the most dishonest speech he has ever given.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) November 5, 2020
I’m predicting he’ll be dead or in exile in a non-extraditing country within a year, maybe less.
The denouement. It’s downhill fast from here.
Not bad.
If Tapper keeps this up for another fifteen or twenty years, I (or my estate) may consider forgiving him for what he did to Monica Lewinsky.
“Fish flop around before they die.” – David Jolly
Today on my walk Terry Gross was interviewing Jack Goldman who along with Bob Bauer wrote a book called “After Trump”. I was disheartened to hear him dismiss going after Barr and a few others, I was peeved that he made a case that there is no case to go after Trump in federal courts, and PO’ed that he predicted that Trump will hand out pardons like Halloween candy.
I was look forward to seeing Trump go down, but I’d accept taking down his enablers. If there are no consequences then the country will face this again.