March 10, 2018

Trump Just Delivered a Rambling 80-Minute Speech And It Was a Doozy

Kill drug dealers! Fake news! And Oprah’s “weakness.”

Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press

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President Donald Trump flew to southwest Pennsylvania tonight for a rally intended to bolster Rick Saccone, the Republican candidate with a razor-thin lead in the special election to fill an open seat in the state’s 18th congressional district. (Trump won the district by 20 points in 2016.) The president began his remarks with a quick endorsement of Saccone—and then proceeded to spend the next 75 minutes riffing, ranting, griping, and gloating about pretty much everything. Everything but Saccone.

Here is an exhaustive, if somewhat incomplete, list of all the things Trump talked about that had nothing to do with his ostensible reason for coming to Pennsylvania.

Meet The Press host Chuck Todd:

The Olympics:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un:

CNN:

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.):

Oprah:

His 2020 reelection slogan:

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.):

Capital punishment for drug dealers:

The Electoral College:

The physical appearance of Saccone’s opponent, Democrat Conor Lamb:

Fire marshals:

The rough life of First Lady Melania Trump:

Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan:

https://twitter.com/aidnmclaughlin/status/972641544024051712

And finally, at the finish of his one hour and 20 minute ramble, Trump remembered—oh right!—Rick Saccone:

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IT'S NOT THAT WE'RE SCREWED WITHOUT TRUMP:

"It's that we're screwed with or without him if we can't show the public that what we do matters for the long term," writes Mother Jones CEO Monika Bauerlein as she kicks off our drive to raise $350,000 in donations from readers by July 17.

This is a big one for us. So, as we ask you to consider supporting our team's journalism, we thought we'd slow down and check in about where Mother Jones is and where we're going after the chaotic last several years. This comparatively slow moment is also an urgent one for Mother Jones: You can read more in "Slow News Is Good News," and if you're able to, please support our team's hard-hitting journalism and help us reach our big $350,000 goal with a donation today.

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