Wikimedia
President Donald Trump stormed away from his press conference on Monday. After he gave a racially charged response to a “nasty” question, he got flustered and simply walked away from the podium.
Twitter wasted no time mocking his temper tantrum which had #TrumpMeltDown trending on the social media site.
Screenshot/YouTube
After his COVID-19 briefing in the Rose Garden, the President opened up the floor to questions—something he often struggles with.
Awwww……..Tiny Trump had enough, & couldn't take anymore tough questions. The #TrumpPressConference abruptly ends, and he sputters off. #TrumpMeltdown pic.twitter.com/c3V8kiCjI8
— C.T. (@Iservedrinks) May 11, 2020
The President stood before a banner exclaiming, “AMERICA LEADS THE WORLD IN TESTING.” But when a reporter asked him why he was turning testing into a “global competition,” Trump snapped back with “Ask China”.
.@weijia: Why is this a global competition to you when Americans are losing their lives every day?
TRUMP: Maybe that’s a question you should ask China.
WEIJA: Why are you saying that to me, specifically?
TRUMP: I’m saying it to anybody who would ask a nasty question like that. pic.twitter.com/hokJOXASh8
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 11, 2020
Twitter / @DonaldJGrumpy
Perhaps his blustering was an attempt to deflect attention and scrutiny away from his administration’s late response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, It looked to many that he was being racist because the reporter, Weijia Jiang of CBS, is Asian-American. What is undeniable, though, is Trump argued with two female reporters before storming off the podium.
Aesop's Lessons from today's Rose Garden Meltdown:
Beware of men who are triggered by strong women — they are weak, filled with self-hatred, and are dangerous.#TrumpMeltdown
— Dr. Jack Brown (@DrGJackBrown) May 12, 2020
Screenshot / Facebook
Last week, the President also lashed out at Sophia L Thomas, the President of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, when she hit a sore spot by mentioning the “sporadic” personal protective equipment.
“Sporadic for you, but not sporadic for a lot of other people,” he retorted. Also, this was on National Nurses Day in a celebration of healthcare workers in the Oval Office.
Nurse who told Trump about "sporadic" PPE issues in Oval Office says she's been reusing her own N-95 mask "for weeks now." https://t.co/q6zfBMhIzR
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) May 6, 2020
The President has also had a history of responding to reporters based on their ethnicity:
Trump told an Asian American reporter to "ask China" her question.
He told an African American reporter to speak to the Congressional Black Caucus.
He told a Jewish reporter to consult Netanyahu.
He called white supremacists "very fine people"
His father was in the Klan.
fin
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) May 11, 2020
And here:
@reappropriate
Another bizarre exchange on the basis of ethnicity / origin for Trump.He asked African-American journalist April Ryan in 2017 to put him in touch with the Congressional Black Caucus.
Korean heritage? Prep for DRNK negotiations… #koreanamerican https://t.co/Sx09ZVV7m1
— Polly Cy 🌊 Ridin' With Biden (@Joulutorttu) January 13, 2018
Flickr/Gage Skidmore
There’s been so many at this point.
"He needs time out" #TrumpMeltdown pic.twitter.com/eLZbKk7ZPJ
— Peace Is Active (@peaceisactive) May 11, 2020
FACT: Today, in the Rose Garden, the entire world witnessed a temper tantrum from the President of the United States.#TrumpMeltdown
— Dr. Jack Brown (@DrGJackBrown) May 12, 2020
Flickr/Obama White House
While the spotlight was on the President’s potentially racist slur and toddler tantrum, this was not the only shocking result of the briefing. He also threatened to jail Obama.
The President also made a bizarre reference to “ObamaGate” and claimed, “some terrible things happened”. When asked to specify the crime, the President responded:
“You know what the crime is. The crime is very obvious to everybody all you have to do is read the newspapers — except yours”
We were all distracted by Trump making a racist statement to a reporter then storming out in a snit.
But the real news is his threat to jail President Obama. What crime? “ObamaGate.” What’s that? “You all know.”
In a democracy?!
— Bryan Behar (@bryanbehar) May 12, 2020
Flickr/Marvin Moose
For a press conference on COVID-19, he did not mention the name of the disease once.
He did, however, say “1” 194 times. Here’s where he focused his attention:
Testing: (72)
Tested (45)
Best (15)
Tremendous (7)
Virus: (16)
Deaths (7)
Sorry (ZERO)
Sympathy (ZERO)
Victim (ZERO)
Unsplash / Visuals
Before abruptly storming out, the President focused the attention of the briefing on the testing for the novel coronavirus.
He bragged “America continues to conduct more tests than any country on earth”. Trump celebrated “the very good relationship with the governors”, making no reference to the bitter bidding wars over medical supplies.
@realDonaldTrump is divisive.
He has now divided the federal government from the state governments, creating a bidding war for medical equipment during a National Emergency. Go Capitalism!
How much more can he divide our United States before there’s no chance of repair?
— Steel Buttercup 🧘🏻♀️✌🏻 (@Tuddles65) April 15, 2020
Flickr/ Charles Edward Miller
The President praised his administration’s response: “thanks to the courage of our citizens and our aggressive strategy hundreds of thousands of lives have been saved”.
He made no reference to the over 80,000 American lives that have been lost, but he did claim “The United States are leading the world in lives saved per 100,000”.
America leads the world in testing … and in COVID-19 cases … and deaths.
The US has tested 0.029 % of their citizen, the UEA 0.12%, Russia 0.038%, Germany 0.033. However, the US has 81,795 deaths, the UEA 201, Russia 2,009 and Germany 7,661.
— Summer (@SummerMaerchen) May 12, 2020
Wikimedia
Trump’s claim that the United States, alongside Germany, are “leading the world in lives saved per 100,000” is incorrect. According to the New York Times, the mortality rate for the USA is has a rate of 24.31 deaths per 100,000. This is certainly better than those of Britain, France, Spain and Italy. It lags behind those of Canada, Japan, Iran and several other countries.
What is undeniable is that the United States has the highest death toll of the world, and the tragedy is many of these lives could have been saved if the Trump administration had acted sooner.
Perhaps the banner behind the President needs an update.
And today’s banner: “America leads the world in deaths”… 🙄 So much #winning🤦🏼♀️ #TrumpPressConference pic.twitter.com/oY11IbxogP
— Champagne Dane 🥂 (@ChampagneDane) May 12, 2020
Flickr / Matt Zimmerman
Exit stage left.
Trump turned and ran from these 2 women so fast you’d never know he had bone spurs.#TrumpMeltdown #TrumpDeathToll81K #TrumpPressConference pic.twitter.com/jeNkMrKj11
— W Smith Ω 🧢 Prez Dumbass Is Dangerously Insane (@WesSmith123) May 12, 2020
Send only female reporters to the next Trump Meltdown.
— Hoodlum 🇺🇸 (@NotHoodlum) May 12, 2020
Canva
It is a question some ask themselves every single day.
How is this man still president 🙈🙈🙈
— Sara Dunn #stayhomesavelives (@saradunn86) May 12, 2020
Pixabay
Someone got a little creative with the chyron.
My favorite part of his daily BS storm is when he had a #TrumpMeltdown and ran away. pic.twitter.com/GTFVaXq9u6
— infamous_smirker (@saltysmirk) May 12, 2020
Canva
This story probably checks out…
Trump can’t admit failure or take responsibility #TrumpMeltdown pic.twitter.com/Vh0zCRcakj
— Dexter (@DexterBoiGenius) May 12, 2020
Flickr / Gage Skidmore
All day. Every day.
Good morning! After checking twitter, I see #TrumpMeltdown is a 24 hour thing now. 😅🤪
— Jack 🇺🇸 (@jackresists) May 12, 2020
