Zeta is the 11th hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic season, and would be the fifth named storm to make landfall in Louisiana this year — the most since the state started keeping records in 1851.
by Ben Parker, Stephanie Steinbrecher, Kelsey Ronan, John McMurtrie, Sophia DuRose, Rachel Villa, and Amy Sumerton
To be read before the 2020 Presidential Election. Register to vote, or check to make sure you’re registered to vote here.
To download a PDF of this entire list, click here.
- - -
Early in President Trump’s term, McSweeney’s editors began to catalog the head-spinning number of misdeeds coming from his administration. We called this list a collection of Trump’s cruelties, collusions, and crimes, and it felt urgent then to track them, to ensure these horrors — happening almost daily — would not be forgotten. This election year, amid a harrowing global health, civil rights, humanitarian, and economic crisis, we know it’s never been more critical to note these horrors, to remember them, and to do all in our power to reverse them. This list will be updated between now and the November 2020 Presidential election.
- - -
Various writers have compiled this list during the course of the Trump administration. Their work has been guided by invaluable journalistic resources, includingWTFJHT, NPR, theNew York Times, theWashington Post, and other sources, to whom we are grateful.
- - -
ATROCITY KEY
– Sexual Misconduct, Harassment, & Bullying – White Supremacy, Racism, Homophobia, Transphobia, & Xenophobia – Public Statements / Tweets – Collusion with Russia & Obstruction of Justice – Trump Staff & Administration – Trump Family Business Dealings – Policy – Environment
– February 10, 2011 – In 2011, Donald Trump stoked false claims that Barack Obama had lied about his education. During a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump said, “Our current president came out of nowhere. Came out of nowhere. In fact, I’ll go a step further: The people that went to school with him, they never saw him, they don’t know who he is. It’s crazy.” This is false. Numerous accounts from Obama’s college classmates refute Trump’s claim, including Obama’s Columbia roommate, Phil Doerner.
– March 30, 2011 – Donald Trump was a vocal proponent of the “birther” myth, claiming Barack Obama was not born in the United States. In 2011, Trump told Bill O’Reilly, “If you are going to be president of the United States you have to be born in this country. And there is a doubt as to whether or not he was… He doesn’t have a birth certificate. He may have one, but there’s something on that, maybe religion, maybe it says he is a Muslim. I don’t know. Maybe he doesn’t want that. Or he may not have one. But I will tell you this. If he wasn’t born in this country, it’s one of the great scams of all time.” In response to the “birther” conspiracy theory, the State of Hawaii released Barack Obama’s short- and long-form birth certificate.
– August 6, 2012 – Over a year after the White House released Obama’s long-form birth certificate, Donald Trump again promoted the “birther” myth, tweeting, “An ‘extremely credible source’ has called my office and told me that @BarackObama’s birth certificate is a fraud.” President Trump has publicly attacked media outlets for citing anonymous sources, but has himself cited anonymous sources numerous times to support the claim that Barack Obama lied about his biography.
– December 12, 2013 – Years after first stirring controversy about Barack Obama’s birthplace, Donald Trump implied a conspiracy surrounding the death of the Hawaiian State Official who had released Obama’s long-form birth certificate in 2011. Trump tweeted, “How amazing, the State Health Director who verified copies of Obama’s “birth certificate” died in plane crash today. All others lived.”
– May 27, 2015 – Continuing to build on the debunked “birther” conspiracy, Donald Trump said Barack Obama could have claimed Kenya as his birthplace for special treatment from colleges. Trump said, “There are three things that could happen. And one of them did happen. He was perhaps born in Kenya. Very simple, OK? He was perhaps born in this country. But said he was born in Kenya because if you say you were born in Kenya, you got aid and you got into colleges. People were doing that. So perhaps he was born in this country, and that has a very big chance. Or, you know, who knows?"
– June 16, 2015 – In his speech announcing his candidacy for President of the United States, Donald Trump said, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
– June 16, 2015 – In the same speech announcing his candidacy, Donald Trump said, “I will build a great wall—and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me—and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.” Trump’s belief that Mexico should finance construction for the wall led Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to cancel a meeting with Trump in June 2017, and again in February 2018. Peña Nieto has repeatedly said that Mexico will not fund the border wall.
– July 18, 2015 – Donald Trump insulted the military service of Senator John McCain, a decorated Vietnam War veteran who endured torture and solitary confinement as a POW in Hanoi. Trump said in a speech at the Family Leadership Summit in Iowa, "He’s not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.” Trump’s comments drew boos from his audience in Iowa, as well as widespread condemnation from Republicans and Democrats alike. Donald Trump himself was exempted from military service after receiving four student deferments between 1964 and 1968, and a medical deferment for a “bone spur in his foot” after graduating from college.
– August 7, 2015 – During the first Republican primary debate in 2015, Donald Trump clashed with moderator Megyn Kelly regarding his many controversial statements against women. In one exchange, Trump claimed his disparaging remarks about women were limited to comments about Rosie O’Donnell, to which Kelly responded, “Your Twitter account has several disparaging comments about women’s looks. You once told a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice it would be a pretty picture to see her on her knees. Does that sound to you like the temperament of a man we should elect as president?” The next day, Trump told a CNN interviewer that Kelly had been “off-base” in the way she treated him. “She gets out and she starts asking me all sorts of ridiculous questions,” Trump said. “You know, you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.”
– April, 2016 – Jill Harth accused Donald Trump of sexual assault. In a 1997 lawsuit, Harth stated in court documents that Trump harassed and groped her in 1993. She later dropped the suit but stood by her story.
– May 5, 2016 – For the Mexican holiday of Cinco de Mayo, Donald Trump posted a photo of himself eating a taco bowl to Facebook and Twitter, captioned, “Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics!”
– May 31, 2016 – Donald Trump attacked Gonzalo Curiel, the federal judge who presided over the Trump University fraud case, saying that Curiel’s assignment to the case represented "an absolute conflict because the judge was “of Mexican heritage.” “I’m building a wall,” said Trump, “It’s an inherent conflict of interest.”
– June, 2016 – Cassandra Searles, Miss Washington 2013, accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct at the Miss USA pageant. Searles posted a photo of contestants with Trump on Facebook, saying, “One guy treated us like cattle,” and “proceeded to have us lined up so he could get a closer look at his property.”
– July 30, 2016 – Donald Trump belittled Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the parents of a Muslim American soldier who had been killed while serving in the Army, for their speech at the Democratic National Convention. In his speech at the DNC, Khizr Khan had addressed Trump’s stringent anti-Muslim immigration policies, saying, “Have you even read the United States Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy. In this document, look for the words liberty and equal protection of law.” In response to the speech, Trump suggested that Khan had “no right” to criticize him.
– October 7, 2016 – In the 2005 Access Hollywood tape, Donald Trump bragged to Billy Bush about grabbing women by their genitals without consent. In the video published by the Washington Post, Trump said, “I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it, you can do anything… grab them by the pussy.” Trump said his statements were “locker room banter” and apologized “if anyone was offended.” He later issued a further response to the tape’s release, saying, “I’ve never said I’m a perfect person.”
– October 7, 2016 – Donald Trump reiterated his false claim that the young men known as the “Central Park Five” were guilty of sexually assaulting a jogger in 1989, despite DNA evidence that exonerated them.
– October 11, 2016 – Tasha Dixon, a former Miss Universe contestant, accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct. Dixon asserted that Trump walked into their changing room in 2001 while contestants were changing. On the Howard Stern Show in 2005, Trump said about the pageant, “I’ll go backstage before a show and everyone’s getting dressed and ready and everything else. And you know, no men are anywhere. And I’m allowed to go in because I’m the owner of the pageant. And therefore, I’m inspecting it. You know they’re standing there with no clothes. And you see these incredible looking women. And so I sort of get away with things like that.”
– October 12, 2016 – Rachel Crooks claimed Donald Trump sexually harassed her. Crooks said that when she met Trump for the first time in 2005 while working as a receptionist for a company in Trump Tower, Trump would not let go of her hand and inappropriately kissed her.
– October 12, 2016 – Jessica Leeds alleged Donald Trump made inappropriate sexual advances towards her. Over 30 years ago Leeds sat next to Trump on a plane, where he lifted the armrest, grabbed her breasts, and put his hand up her skirt. She described him as an “octopus,” saying, “his hands were everywhere.”
– October 12, 2016 – Mindy McGillivray accused Donald Trump of groping her. McGillivray alleged that Trump touched her without her consent while she was attending a concert at Mar-a-Lago in 2003.
– October 12, 2016 – Jennifer Murphy, a former contestant on the television show “The Apprentice,” said that Donald Trump kissed her without her consent after a job interview in 2005. She claimed that he had made multiple inappropriate comments to her while she was on the show and when she met with him later about job opportunities.
– October 12, 2016 – Natasha Stoynoff, a journalist, accused Donald Trump of sexual harassment. Stoynoff said that Trump insisted on giving her a tour of his Palm Beach estate while she was interviewing him and his wife, Melania. Trump pinned her to a wall and kissed her. Trump called her a “liar” and responded to Stoynoff’s story, saying, “Look at her… I don’t think so.”
– October 13, 2016 – Lisa Boyne accused Donald Trump of sexual misbehavior. Boyne asserted that at a dinner in 1996, Trump and modeling agent John Casablancas paraded women in front of their table, looking under their skirts to determine whether each woman was wearing underwear.
– October 14, 2016 – Kristin Anderson claimed Donald Trump groped her in the early 1990s. Anderson was at a club in Manhattan with friends when, she asserted, Trump reached into her skirt and touched her without consent, leaving her and her friends “very grossed out.”
– October 14, 2016 – Samantha Holvey described Donald Trump’s sexual misconduct at the 2006 Miss USA pageant. While participating in the competition, Holvey noted that Trump inspected each contestant before the event. She noted, “He would step in front of each girl and look you over from head to toe like we were just meat, we were just sexual objects, that we were not people.”
– October 14, 2016 – Summer Zervos, a former contestant on The Apprentice, accused Donald Trump of sexual assault. Zervos claimed that Trump assaulted her on several occasions, kissing and grabbing her, and during one business meeting, “began thrusting his genitals.”
– October 15, 2016 – Cathy Heller accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct. Heller said she was having Mother’s Day brunch in 1997 at Mar-a-Lago when Trump grabbed her, tried kissing her, and became angry when she twisted away.
– October 21, 2016 – Karen Virginia accused Donald Trump of groping her. Virginia described how she’d seen Trump with a group of men at the U.S. Open in 1998, and overheard him say about her “Hey look at this one!” and “Look at those legs.” After his comments, Trump approached Virginia, grabbed her by the right arm, and touched her breast. The incident lingered with Virginia for years, and she came forward with her story alongside Gloria Allred: “I now understand that I was not to blame. Mr. Trump, perhaps you do not remember me or what you did to me so many years ago, but I can assure you that I remember you and what you did to me as though it was yesterday," she said. "Your random moment of sexual pleasure came at my expense and affected me greatly.”
– October 27, 2016 – Ninni Laaksonen, a former Miss Finland, alleged that Donald Trump had sexually harassed her. Laaksonen described an incident in which Trump groped her from behind in 2006.
– November 18, 2016 – One week after Trump’s election, 100 foreign diplomats gathered at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. to drink champagne and tour the building. One diplomat told the Washington Post, “Why wouldn’t I stay at his hotel blocks from the White House, so I can tell the new president, ‘I love your new hotel!’ Isn’t it rude to come to his city and say, ‘I am staying at your competitor?’” This indicated a conflict of interest that could have violated the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which forbids government officials from accepting “any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”
– November 27, 2016 – Without citing evidence to support his claim, Donald Trump tweeted, “In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally”. This claim has been repeatedly debunked.
January 10, 2017 Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Donald Trump approached him about leading an investigation into “Vaccine Safety.” The prospect that vaccination can lead to autism has been repeatedlydebunked by long-running, peer-reviewed studies. Trump had supported the anti-vaccination theory on stage at the 2015 presidential debates. In September 2015 he publicly stated, “We had so many instances, people that work for me, just the other day, two years old, a beautiful child, went to have the vaccine and came back and a week later got a tremendous fever, got very, very sick, now is autistic.”
– January 11, 2017 – Donald Trump’s lawyer Sheri Dillon stated that Trump would “voluntarily donate all profits from foreign government payments made to his hotel to the United States Treasury.” Two months into his presidency, no evidence existed that Trump had followed through with this promise. If Trump did accept payments from foreign states through his businesses, as his lawyer claimed, he may have been in violation of the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution. This clause forbids government officials from accepting “any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”
– January 11, 2017 – Donald Trump refused to divest from his real estate companies or place his assets in a blind trust, as encouraged by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics. The United States Government designates a “Qualified Blind Trust:” for executive branch employees as one where the trustee has no relation whatsoever to the government official. Contrary to this, President Trump opted to entrust business operations of his companies to his sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. According to the Director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, Trump’s arrangement “doesn’t meet the standards that the best of his nominees are meeting and that every President in the past four decades has met.” By continuing to maintain a direct...
I often get asked for examples of good cover letters, and a reader recently sent me a good one that I want to share.
I’m always telling people “don’t just use your cover letter to summarize your resume — add something new.” This is a really nice example of how you can talk about your work but in a more conversational way that fleshes out what you’re all about professionally.
The caveats I’ve learned to give when sharing these:
The writer has allowed me to share this here as a favor to me and to readers. Please remember she’s a real person when you’re commenting.
This writer’s voice is her voice. It will not be your voice, and that’s part of the point.
There is no single cover letter in the world that all hiring managers will love or that would be the right fit for every employer and every industry. But I receive letters every week from people telling me that moving in this sort of direction worked for them.
Do not steal this letter or even parts of it. It works because it’s so customized to the writer. It’s intended for inspiration only — to show what the advice here can look like in practice. Stealing it will doom you to terrible job search luck.
Here’s what this person’s original note to me said:
My company announced that my division was going to be sold about three weeks before we all started working remotely. I’d been tossing around the idea of looking for a new job, but once unemployment rates started skyrocketing I didn’t think it was a good time, especially since we were all guaranteed jobs after the sale. I had to redo my resume anyway for the transition, so I used your advice to rework it slightly since I hadn’t touched it in years.
Well, every time I got super stressed about the work transition, I dealt with it by reading other people’s tales of woe on your site, and by spending some time on job search activities. I only applied to three jobs (in different industries from the one I was in, but good, stretch matches for my skill set). I used your cover letter advice to write a slightly better cover letter for each job, and I thought I really knocked it out of the park with the last one. Apparently I did, because I got a call very quickly for an interview, and after using all of your interviewing (and negotiating) advice, I accepted a great offer that’s the perfect next career step. I’m a month in now and even with the weirdness of starting a new job fully remote, it’s been great. Your continued good news stories gave me the confidence to keep looking and to stretch to something completely new.
And here’s the letter, with identifying details replaced.
• • • • •
Dear Hiring Manager,
I am excited to apply for your posted Data Analyst position. While my recent experience is in a different heavily regulated industry, my background includes extensive data analysis and reporting to all levels of management, as well as a variety of internal and external stakeholders. I love to dive in and really understand not just the data – but the story that the data tells and how it fits into the broader picture.
One of my favorite elements of my previous jobs has been pulling together just the right data elements to create a snapshot that’s easy for the intended audience to understand. I’ve developed everything from high level monthly dashboards of department performance to an in-depth look at a particular focus area. While many times data and reporting needs are clear, I have also met with stakeholders to help define the process and clarify the data needed to answer the questions that will support goal achievement.
I also love the opportunity to flex my analytic muscles and create the opportunity to play “what if?” with the data. In my current role, that manifests as development of a $35M/year budget for a three year plan for stewpot production activities. I review previous expenditures and contract details to build a flexible model that ties spending (and stewpot production) to various levels of forecasted performance. As planned activities are rolled out, I track performance and dig into variances – not just the “what,” but also the “why”.
In my previous role, I dug deep into a health plan’s claims data set to look for patterns of claim activity for targeted provider and facility audits. To facilitate that review, I worked closely with the clinical external audit staff to discuss what they were seeing in the field, and eventually became a certified professional coder.
While the current pandemic has required many difficult adjustments, it has also dramatically accelerated changes to how healthcare operates. Data needs to drive these changes to connect them to current business models. This will require new data, and changes to how existing data is thought about and used. I’m excited to be a part of that.
I look forward to speaking with you to learn more about your organization, and the career opportunities it offers me, as well as how my skills can help Stewpot Enterprises succeed. Thank you for your consideration.
Everyone thinks Blathers is a wimp, but it takes a lot of confidence to lay out and curate your expensive museum exhibit before you actually have the things you're going to put in it or know what they are.
Hey you groovy teens! Let’s get cooking! You will find all your favorite recipes. I selected a few favorites so I know you will want to jot down some ideas for your next party. My favorite: the cottage cheese stuffed hotdog. Really. I am sure all the teens will want to try your menus that include fish pudding or turkey macaroni. The kids will love it!
Yes, this lovely cookbook is still in circulation. I doubt many teens have been checking this book out, given the recipes, so the book is in reasonable shape. These cookbooks are usually a hoot to look at and have a place in a retro cookbook collection. I doubt it would work for a modern teen collection. It does have potential as some type of food fear factor resource.
Oculus’ move to require Facebook accounts is creating serious problems for some of its biggest fans. Windows Centralreports that Facebook is banning Oculus users who simultaneously use more than one VR headset linked to the same social network account. This violates Facebook’s terms of service, support representatives claim. In other words, you’re risking a ban if you buy a couple of Oculus Quest 2s for the family and don’t want to set up different accounts to let people play at the same time.
The company is planning on support for multiple Facebook accounts on one headset, but that doesn’t address problems for people who can’t or don’t want to create accounts, such as kids under 13. The current situation could force people to either create placeholder accounts or use only one headset at a time, potentially hurting some of Oculus’ most loyal users.
We’ve asked Facebook for comment.
The tech giant has claimed that the account requirement will help people find friends for social experiences like games, cut back on trolls, and allow integration features like the Horizon VR space. However, critics have argued that this ties users to the Facebook ecosystem and makes it easier for the firm to track users’ habits. These new reports won’t help Facebook’s case — it’s now harder to use Oculus headsets in a way that suits your household.
Important VR PSA #2: 👉 Oculus headsets being used simultaneously on the same Facebook account will get it banned.
“not be able to use two headsets” “lead to one or both Facebook accounts being disabled or permanently banned”
Update 10/25 6:15PM ET: Oculus has responded to the customer complaint in a series of tweets that using the same Facebook account on two headsets will not get the user banned. It also added that it plans to “introduce the ability for multiple users to log into the same device using their own Facebook account.”
Update 10/26 2:53 AM ET: The headline originally stated that Facebook would ban users with multiple Oculus devices, but Oculus stated that information is not correct. The headline has been updated with the correct information.
Using the same Facebook account on two or more Oculus headsets simultaneously will NOT get your account “banned.” Having the same account registered to two or more headsets is not against the Facebook Terms of Service.
For years, Wendell Potter ran a campaign to terrify Americans... about health care in Canada. Now he explains how he did it, and why. | Subscribe to our weekly newsletter here.
Voters wait in line to cast their ballots at the Sunland Park Mall in El Paso on the first day of early voting.
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune
The unusually large voter turnout in Texas has persisted through the first 10 days of the early voting period, leading experts to predict that the state could reach overall turnout levels unseen so far this century.
According to the latest data from the Texas secretary of state, 6.4 million Texans — 37.6% of registered voters — had already cast their ballots through Thursday. Nearly 90% of those have been cast in person. With a full week left, that’s surpassing the total percentage turnout for early voting in 2012, though still a couple of percentage points short of 2016’s early voting turnout. Early voting in 2012 and 2016 had about one less week.
As of Friday morning, more than half of Texas’ counties have already seen a third or more of their registered voters participate. Out of Texas’ largest counties, suburban counties like Collin, Denton, and Williamson are reporting some of the highest turnout rates, surpassing 45%.
At Gov. Greg Abbott’s order, Texas voters have an extra six days of early voting in hopes that the polls will be less crowded during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The added time, coupled with a push from leaders in both parties for Texans to cast their ballots early, could be a reason for a boost in turnout so far, experts say.
“It’s a very different election this year because of COVID, concerns with vote-by-mail and other potential shenanigans,” said Michael Li, senior counsel at New York University's Brennan Center for Justice. “I think a lot of people are being encouraged to vote early, so it remains to be seen whether we’re just moving some votes from Election Day to the early voting period or whether it’s a huge overall turnout increase.”
Texans’ voting habits have been evolving over time. Since the 2008 election, more Texans have voted early than on Election Day.
In 2016, 59.2% of registered Texans cast a ballot. Since 1992, when 72.9% of Texans voted, the state hasn’t seen turnout above 60%. In 1992, there were only 8.4 million registered voters, and today there are 16.9 million.
Decision Desk HQ, a company that processes election and early voting results and the provider of The Texas Tribune’s election results data, estimated turnout this year will be anywhere from 10 million to 12 million — the latter of which would be “record breaking” for Texas, according to a spokesperson for the group.
Li, meanwhile, predicted between 11.4 and 11.5 million Texans would cast their ballots by the end of Election Day — about 67% of registered voters. And Derek Ryan, a Republican voter data expert, predicted this week that the number will surpass 12 million.
The turnout appears to be strong among supporters of both political parties. In his popular daily recap of early vote totals Thursday, Ryan reported that voters who in the past have voted in Republican primaries but not Democratic primaries make up 31.3% of the early vote, compared with 26.1% for Democratic primary voters. But because 39% of early voters have no primary voting history, it’s impossible to tell which party is leading in early vote turnout. Texans don’t have the option to align with a particular party when they register to vote.
Still, Democrats have been hailing the numbers as an optimistic sign for their party.
“Texans are casting their ballots and having their voice heard,” said Manny Garcia, the executive director for the Texas Democratic Party. “If every eligible Texan votes, we will win this election.”
But in counties that supported President Donald Trump by more than 20 percentage points in 2016, at least 37% of people already cast their ballots. In counties that went for Democrat Hillary Clinton by similar margins, meanwhile, at least 36% of people already voted as of Friday afternoon.
“This is pretty unprecedented,” Li said. “The real winner, of course, is Texas democracy. Texas has always been a nonvoting state. So regardless of who the winners of these races are, the real winner is Texas itself.”
Early voting runs through Oct. 30. Election Day is Nov. 3.
Disclosure: The Texas secretary of state has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
A NASA spacecraft sent out to collect rocks from an asteroid seems to have nabbed a lot of material, but there's now an unexpected problem — a flap isn't closing because some rocks are stuck.
(Image credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona)
by Ben Parker, Ben Parker, Ben Parker, Ben Parker, Ben Parker, Ben Parker, Stephanie Steinbrecher, Stephanie Steinbrecher, Stephanie Steinbrecher, Stephanie Steinbrecher, Stephanie Steinbrecher, Stephanie Steinbrecher, Kelsey Ronan, Kelsey Ronan, John McMurtrie, John McMurtrie, John McMurtrie, John McMurtrie, John McMurtrie, John McMurtrie, Sophia DuRose, Rachel Villa, Rachel Villa, Amy Sumerton, and Amy Sumerton
To be read before the 2020 Presidential Election. Register to vote, or check to make sure you’re registered to vote here.
To download a PDF of this entire list, click here.
- - -
Early in President Trump’s term, McSweeney’s editors began to catalog the head-spinning number of misdeeds coming from his administration. We called this list a collection of Trump’s cruelties, collusions, and crimes, and it felt urgent then to track them, to ensure these horrors — happening almost daily — would not be forgotten. This election year, amid a harrowing global health, civil rights, humanitarian, and economic crisis, we know it’s never been more critical to note these horrors, to remember them, and to do all in our power to reverse them. This list will be updated between now and the November 2020 Presidential election.
- - -
Various writers have compiled this list during the course of the Trump administration. Their work has been guided by invaluable journalistic resources, includingWTFJHT, NPR, theNew York Times, theWashington Post, and other sources, to whom we are grateful.
- - -
ATROCITY KEY
– Sexual Misconduct, Harassment, & Bullying – White Supremacy, Racism, Homophobia, Transphobia, & Xenophobia – Public Statements / Tweets – Collusion with Russia & Obstruction of Justice – Trump Staff & Administration – Trump Family Business Dealings – Policy – Environment
– February 10, 2011 – In 2011, Donald Trump stoked false claims that Barack Obama had lied about his education. During a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump said, “Our current president came out of nowhere. Came out of nowhere. In fact, I’ll go a step further: The people that went to school with him, they never saw him, they don’t know who he is. It’s crazy.” This is false. Numerous accounts from Obama’s college classmates refute Trump’s claim, including Obama’s Columbia roommate, Phil Doerner.
– March 30, 2011 – Donald Trump was a vocal proponent of the “birther” myth, claiming Barack Obama was not born in the United States. In 2011, Trump told Bill O’Reilly, “If you are going to be president of the United States you have to be born in this country. And there is a doubt as to whether or not he was… He doesn’t have a birth certificate. He may have one, but there’s something on that, maybe religion, maybe it says he is a Muslim. I don’t know. Maybe he doesn’t want that. Or he may not have one. But I will tell you this. If he wasn’t born in this country, it’s one of the great scams of all time.” In response to the “birther” conspiracy theory, the State of Hawaii released Barack Obama’s short- and long-form birth certificate.
– August 6, 2012 – Over a year after the White House released Obama’s long-form birth certificate, Donald Trump again promoted the “birther” myth, tweeting, “An ‘extremely credible source’ has called my office and told me that @BarackObama’s birth certificate is a fraud.” President Trump has publicly attacked media outlets for citing anonymous sources, but has himself cited anonymous sources numerous times to support the claim that Barack Obama lied about his biography.
– December 12, 2013 – Years after first stirring controversy about Barack Obama’s birthplace, Donald Trump implied a conspiracy surrounding the death of the Hawaiian State Official who had released Obama’s long-form birth certificate in 2011. Trump tweeted, “How amazing, the State Health Director who verified copies of Obama’s “birth certificate” died in plane crash today. All others lived.”
– May 27, 2015 – Continuing to build on the debunked “birther” conspiracy, Donald Trump said Barack Obama could have claimed Kenya as his birthplace for special treatment from colleges. Trump said, “There are three things that could happen. And one of them did happen. He was perhaps born in Kenya. Very simple, OK? He was perhaps born in this country. But said he was born in Kenya because if you say you were born in Kenya, you got aid and you got into colleges. People were doing that. So perhaps he was born in this country, and that has a very big chance. Or, you know, who knows?"
– June 16, 2015 – In his speech announcing his candidacy for President of the United States, Donald Trump said, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
– June 16, 2015 – In the same speech announcing his candidacy, Donald Trump said, “I will build a great wall—and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me—and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.” Trump’s belief that Mexico should finance construction for the wall led Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to cancel a meeting with Trump in June 2017, and again in February 2018. Peña Nieto has repeatedly said that Mexico will not fund the border wall.
– July 18, 2015 – Donald Trump insulted the military service of Senator John McCain, a decorated Vietnam War veteran who endured torture and solitary confinement as a POW in Hanoi. Trump said in a speech at the Family Leadership Summit in Iowa, "He’s not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.” Trump’s comments drew boos from his audience in Iowa, as well as widespread condemnation from Republicans and Democrats alike. Donald Trump himself was exempted from military service after receiving four student deferments between 1964 and 1968, and a medical deferment for a “bone spur in his foot” after graduating from college.
– August 7, 2015 – During the first Republican primary debate in 2015, Donald Trump clashed with moderator Megyn Kelly regarding his many controversial statements against women. In one exchange, Trump claimed his disparaging remarks about women were limited to comments about Rosie O’Donnell, to which Kelly responded, “Your Twitter account has several disparaging comments about women’s looks. You once told a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice it would be a pretty picture to see her on her knees. Does that sound to you like the temperament of a man we should elect as president?” The next day, Trump told a CNN interviewer that Kelly had been “off-base” in the way she treated him. “She gets out and she starts asking me all sorts of ridiculous questions,” Trump said. “You know, you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.”
– April, 2016 – Jill Harth accused Donald Trump of sexual assault. In a 1997 lawsuit, Harth stated in court documents that Trump harassed and groped her in 1993. She later dropped the suit but stood by her story.
– May 5, 2016 – For the Mexican holiday of Cinco de Mayo, Donald Trump posted a photo of himself eating a taco bowl to Facebook and Twitter, captioned, “Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics!”
– May 31, 2016 – Donald Trump attacked Gonzalo Curiel, the federal judge who presided over the Trump University fraud case, saying that Curiel’s assignment to the case represented "an absolute conflict because the judge was “of Mexican heritage.” “I’m building a wall,” said Trump, “It’s an inherent conflict of interest.”
– June, 2016 – Cassandra Searles, Miss Washington 2013, accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct at the Miss USA pageant. Searles posted a photo of contestants with Trump on Facebook, saying, “One guy treated us like cattle,” and “proceeded to have us lined up so he could get a closer look at his property.”
– July 30, 2016 – Donald Trump belittled Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the parents of a Muslim American soldier who had been killed while serving in the Army, for their speech at the Democratic National Convention. In his speech at the DNC, Khizr Khan had addressed Trump’s stringent anti-Muslim immigration policies, saying, “Have you even read the United States Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy. In this document, look for the words liberty and equal protection of law.” In response to the speech, Trump suggested that Khan had “no right” to criticize him.
– October 7, 2016 – In the 2005 Access Hollywood tape, Donald Trump bragged to Billy Bush about grabbing women by their genitals without consent. In the video published by the Washington Post, Trump said, “I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it, you can do anything… grab them by the pussy.” Trump said his statements were “locker room banter” and apologized “if anyone was offended.” He later issued a further response to the tape’s release, saying, “I’ve never said I’m a perfect person.”
– October 7, 2016 – Donald Trump reiterated his false claim that the young men known as the “Central Park Five” were guilty of sexually assaulting a jogger in 1989, despite DNA evidence that exonerated them.
– October 11, 2016 – Tasha Dixon, a former Miss Universe contestant, accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct. Dixon asserted that Trump walked into their changing room in 2001 while contestants were changing. On the Howard Stern Show in 2005, Trump said about the pageant, “I’ll go backstage before a show and everyone’s getting dressed and ready and everything else. And you know, no men are anywhere. And I’m allowed to go in because I’m the owner of the pageant. And therefore, I’m inspecting it. You know they’re standing there with no clothes. And you see these incredible looking women. And so I sort of get away with things like that.”
– October 12, 2016 – Rachel Crooks claimed Donald Trump sexually harassed her. Crooks said that when she met Trump for the first time in 2005 while working as a receptionist for a company in Trump Tower, Trump would not let go of her hand and inappropriately kissed her.
– October 12, 2016 – Jessica Leeds alleged Donald Trump made inappropriate sexual advances towards her. Over 30 years ago Leeds sat next to Trump on a plane, where he lifted the armrest, grabbed her breasts, and put his hand up her skirt. She described him as an “octopus,” saying, “his hands were everywhere.”
– October 12, 2016 – Mindy McGillivray accused Donald Trump of groping her. McGillivray alleged that Trump touched her without her consent while she was attending a concert at Mar-a-Lago in 2003.
– October 12, 2016 – Jennifer Murphy, a former contestant on the television show “The Apprentice,” said that Donald Trump kissed her without her consent after a job interview in 2005. She claimed that he had made multiple inappropriate comments to her while she was on the show and when she met with him later about job opportunities.
– October 12, 2016 – Natasha Stoynoff, a journalist, accused Donald Trump of sexual harassment. Stoynoff said that Trump insisted on giving her a tour of his Palm Beach estate while she was interviewing him and his wife, Melania. Trump pinned her to a wall and kissed her. Trump called her a “liar” and responded to Stoynoff’s story, saying, “Look at her… I don’t think so.”
– October 13, 2016 – Lisa Boyne accused Donald Trump of sexual misbehavior. Boyne asserted that at a dinner in 1996, Trump and modeling agent John Casablancas paraded women in front of their table, looking under their skirts to determine whether each woman was wearing underwear.
– October 14, 2016 – Kristin Anderson claimed Donald Trump groped her in the early 1990s. Anderson was at a club in Manhattan with friends when, she asserted, Trump reached into her skirt and touched her without consent, leaving her and her friends “very grossed out.”
– October 14, 2016 – Samantha Holvey described Donald Trump’s sexual misconduct at the 2006 Miss USA pageant. While participating in the competition, Holvey noted that Trump inspected each contestant before the event. She noted, “He would step in front of each girl and look you over from head to toe like we were just meat, we were just sexual objects, that we were not people.”
– October 14, 2016 – Summer Zervos, a former contestant on The Apprentice, accused Donald Trump of sexual assault. Zervos claimed that Trump assaulted her on several occasions, kissing and grabbing her, and during one business meeting, “began thrusting his genitals.”
– October 15, 2016 – Cathy Heller accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct. Heller said she was having Mother’s Day brunch in 1997 at Mar-a-Lago when Trump grabbed her, tried kissing her, and became angry when she twisted away.
– October 21, 2016 – Karen Virginia accused Donald Trump of groping her. Virginia described how she’d seen Trump with a group of men at the U.S. Open in 1998, and overheard him say about her “Hey look at this one!” and “Look at those legs.” After his comments, Trump approached Virginia, grabbed her by the right arm, and touched her breast. The incident lingered with Virginia for years, and she came forward with her story alongside Gloria Allred: “I now understand that I was not to blame. Mr. Trump, perhaps you do not remember me or what you did to me so many years ago, but I can assure you that I remember you and what you did to me as though it was yesterday," she said. "Your random moment of sexual pleasure came at my expense and affected me greatly.”
– October 27, 2016 – Ninni Laaksonen, a former Miss Finland, alleged that Donald Trump had sexually harassed her. Laaksonen described an incident in which Trump groped her from behind in 2006.
– November 18, 2016 – One week after Trump’s election, 100 foreign diplomats gathered at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. to drink champagne and tour the building. One diplomat told the Washington Post, “Why wouldn’t I stay at his hotel blocks from the White House, so I can tell the new president, ‘I love your new hotel!’ Isn’t it rude to come to his city and say, ‘I am staying at your competitor?’” This indicated a conflict of interest that could have violated the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which forbids government officials from accepting “any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”
– November 27, 2016 – Without citing evidence to support his claim, Donald Trump tweeted, “In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally”. This claim has been repeatedly debunked.
January 10, 2017 Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Donald Trump approached him about leading an investigation into “Vaccine Safety.” The prospect that vaccination can lead to autism has been repeatedlydebunked by long-running, peer-reviewed studies. Trump had supported the anti-vaccination theory on stage at the 2015 presidential debates. In September 2015 he publicly stated, “We had so many instances, people that work for me, just the other day, two years old, a beautiful child, went to have the vaccine and came back and a week later got a tremendous fever, got very, very sick, now is autistic.”
– January 11, 2017 – Donald Trump’s lawyer Sheri Dillon stated that Trump would “voluntarily donate all profits from foreign government payments made to his hotel to the United States Treasury.” Two months into his presidency, no evidence existed that Trump had followed through with this promise. If Trump did accept payments from foreign states through his businesses, as his lawyer claimed, he may have been in violation of the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution. This clause forbids government officials from accepting “any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”
– January 11, 2017 – Donald Trump refused to divest from his real estate companies or place his assets in a blind trust, as encouraged by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics. The United States Government designates a “Qualified Blind Trust:” for executive branch employees as one where the trustee has no relation whatsoever to the government official. Contrary to this, President Trump opted to entrust business operations of his companies to his sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. According to the Director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, Trump’s arrangement “doesn’t meet the standards that the best of his nominees are meeting and that every President in the past four decades has met.” By continuing to maintain a direct...
The Final Presidential Debate Belmont University Nashville, Tennessee October 23, 2020
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9:04 PM: NBC White House Correspondent Kristen Welker opens the debate by welcoming the audience and reminding them that, in order to allow pundits to prewrite their ledes for the next day’s coverage of this debate, they will be forcing Trump to “strike a new tone” by muting microphones when it is not his turn to speak. She then introduces the candidates. Former Vice President Joe Biden walks out to his podium, appearing somewhat unaware of his surroundings. President Donald Trump tilts forward like a hefty sailboat at the onset of a hurricane.
9:05 PM: The first topic is the coronavirus crisis. Welker notes that 40,000 Americans are currently in the hospital with Covid. She, seemingly forgetting that Trump has been leading the country to this disastrous point, asks him how he would lead the country during this next stage. Trump responds by saying that “2.2 million people were supposed to die, you know, but I talked to some of the scientists, they love me and, ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘maybe don’t kill all those people,’ and you know they had a point because some of them live in red states, so I said, ‘OK, OK, I am very powerful and I could kill as many as I wanted, but sure, you seem like you need a win, so I’ll go ahead and kill a few fewer people,’ because I’m like that, you know. I’m just a softie, maybe too soft — no, no folks, I’m very tough. Invincible? Some are saying invincible. I don’t know, I could be invincible. I might run through this wall right now. Oh, my haters would love to see that. When you look at what we were able to do with goggles and masks, just thinking about them, I mean, not actually wearing or supplying any of them. They asked me about PPE, and I said, ‘Americans are the greatest people in the world. They don’t want us to HAND them protective gear. Nurses are creative, they want to innovate garbage bags on their feet and Halloween masks as surgical gear,’ and I let them do that, you know it’s very unfair no one gives me credit for letting them do that.” Welker motions to a production assistant to reconfirm that two minutes is, in fact, typically a short period of time.
9:08 PM: Welker asks the same question of Biden. He begins to answer and then pauses as if waiting to be interrupted. Hearing nothing, he continues, “Two hundred and twenty thousand Americans are dead.” Biden ducks, but nothing is thrown. He goes on, “Anyone responsible for that many deaths should not remain President of the United States of America.” He pauses again. Welker nods at him to keep it moving, “OK, alright, I get the talking time. OK, well, look, the president still has no plans. I’ll make sure people wear masks all the time, I’ll do rapid national testing, I’ll…” He takes out a top hat and a cane and tries some old-timey soft-shoe. “Still have time, do I? No one’s ever given me this much time before! Listen, folks, you get the whole thing, right?” He hooks himself with his own cane and pulls himself offstage.
9:10 PM: The pandemic discussion forges ahead. Welker states that Trump has claimed that a vaccine could come within weeks and asks if that timeline is realistic. Trump responds, “Look, have you seen our military? They can roll into any city and take care of it. Throw the virus in an unmarked van, tear gas it, whatever it takes.” Biden responds, “This is the same fellow who told you this would end by Easter. We’re heading into a dark winter.” Trump counters that he’s never seen that one, but he enjoys Captain America in all the movies. “I didn’t say this virus would be over soon," Trump says. "I said that it’s like when you’ve signed a ridiculous prenup that makes you stuck in a marriage with a woman over 30 — we’re learning to live with it.” Biden’s eyes sparkle with the light shining from this opening Trump has given him, and says, “He says we’re learning to live with it — people are learning to die with it.” Biden’s marketing team immediately begins printing stickers with that line on them, so they could be affixed to all their unsold flyswatters. Trump fires back, “I take full responsibility. It’s not my fault.” Biden’s marketing team pauses and considers if the stickers should say Trump’s line instead.
9:18 PM: As Biden insists on greater safety protocols for the country, Trump points to blue states as failures. “Look at New York,” he says. "It’s a ghost town. I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and only shoot half as many people as before!”
9:26 PM: In a moment of standard barb-trading, Trump pulls out his phone and plays a video of supercuts of Breitbart, The Daily Stormer and Alex Jones’ clips claiming that Joe Biden received millions to eat Russian dressing with Bernie Sanders and the CEO of Antifa, and that Hunter Biden is a cyborg meth addict with a really dumb name. Meanwhile, Biden points out that Donald Trump has still not released his tax returns. Trump responds that he will release them just as soon as China sends his receipt back to him. He adds that after talking to his accountants for the first time in the six years he’s been promising to show his tax returns, he was just informed that, in fact, he prepaid his taxes through a top-level process where they pick up several hundred thousand dollars worth of gift cards at the grocery store for the IRS.
9:42 PM: Turning to foreign policy, Welker mentions how Trump has met with the leader of North Korea and has referred to sharing “beautiful letters” with him. But now that North Korea has unveiled massive new ballistic missiles, she asks Trump if he sees that as a betrayal of their relationship. The president nods with a new, more presidential tone, and says, “No, he’s a different guy, I’m a different guy, that’s what makes the world beautiful, appreciating the differences in fascist leaders intent on crushing their populace in all sorts of unique and wonderful ways. Anyway, Obama wanted to be friends with Kim Jong Un and couldn’t, so now I have him. Even though, Obama, you know we’re best friends too, I hang out with everyone, everyone wants more of me, ‘Sir’ — they all say, ‘sir’ — ‘Sir, won’t you love us forever?’ And I say, ‘Of course,’ I mean, I can’t have time for everyone, but I will take care of all of our people, like our seniors — I will make sure they have the nice embrace of the grave, and they thank me for it, they all do.” Biden looks into the camera, “I am sorry to be so direct, but look here, this is some gosh darn gibberty nonsense.”
10:02 PM: Moving to one of the most upsetting recent news stories, Welker asks Trump about the 545 children separated from their parents at the border by the United States whose parents can’t be located. Trump, pivoting again to his calmer, more restrained tone, replies that the terrified kidnapped babies were totally fine, and their accommodations have been upgraded from sub-diseased-rat conditions to sub-human conditions.
10:16 PM: Welker asks Trump about the ways he has stoked racial division in the country. Trump, in a clear play to his base, which consists entirely of racists, responds by claiming to be “the least racist person in the room, but…” Biden replies, “Abraham Lincoln here is one of the most racist presidents we’ve had. This guy has a dog whistle as big as Foghorn Leghorn, a well-known racist.” Trump gestures as though he’s trying to jump up and down but has long since lost the ability to do so and exclaims, “Abraham Lincoln! Why did you call me that?” Biden answers, “Because you called yourself that.” Trump responds, “Ha-ha, so you say what I say now? Copy cat! Jinx! You’re out! If you wanted to be president, you should have done that already, but I’m the president now, and also a little witty baby with a nice gentle tone who can’t do anything at all.” Melania walks onstage and begrudgingly hands him a bottle, then leaves. Welker holds up a whiteboard to a production assistant that reads, SHOCK COLLAR?. The assistant shakes his head and holds up a sign that says, THEY ONLY LET US HAVE THE MUTE BUTTON.
10:24 PM: Biden refers to climate change as an existential threat. Trump retorts, “Biden is trying to force everyone to have tiny windows. We all know AOC plus three all want this, everyone in socialism wears these suits that are all one color with little windows on their faces, and they run around among us in some sort of space-themed setting! They’ll destroy your 401Ks! And fracking!” Welker asks Biden if he is against fracking, and Biden takes out all his fracking tools and begins to frack the stage. “My mother used to get us up in the morning for a good healthy early frack, we’d frack on our way to school, but it was a poor town, and they couldn’t frack at the levels that the frackers get to frack today. I will never take this gentle baby frack from anyone, and that is my promise.” Trump asks in his most obnoxious new tone, “Ohhhhh? Ohhhhh, really, reallllllllllllllly??? Well, what about oil?” Biden stares back at the president. “Fuck oil,” he says, adding, “I mean, over time of course.”
10:34 PM: For the closing question, Welker walks onto the stage, calmly pulls back her fist, and pops Trump directly in the face with a death blow. Before he hits the ground, he explodes into a cloud of noxious dust. Welker pours lighter fluid on the space where Trump previously stood. Flicking a match, she says, “OK, then. Now that he’s gone, the real work can start.”
And that’s when I woke up. But I really, really hope that’s what happened.
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AUTHOR’S NOTE
Please don’t ever make me write one of these again. See if you can vote early here.
The FSO Nabarima on October 16, 2020. | Courtesy of Fishermen and Friends of the Sea
The FSO Nabarima’s precarious situation has worried activists and governments for months.
A stranded oil tanker many feared was on the verge of spilling 1.3 million barrels of crude oil into the Caribbean no longer poses a major environmental risk, Trinidad and Tobago’s government said Wednesday.
But despite the positive assessment, environmental activists and local experts still want the dual-island nation’s government to take proactive measures in case the worst actually happens.
The precarious situation of the Venezuela-flagged oil tanker, the FSO Nabarima, has concerned environmental activists and governments around the world for months. The ship has been stranded in the Gulf of Paria between Venezuela and the island of Trinidadsince January 2019, when President Donald Trump sanctioned Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).
That essentially left the tanker to rot, fueling fears the oil on board might eventually spill into the waters below. And if it did, the entire marine environment of the Caribbean and the Trinidad and Tobago fishing industry could be in danger.
How the stranded vessel became a matter of international concern
Concern for the status of the Nabarima began accelerating in mid-August.
During a conversation with a PDVSA union representative, local environmental nonprofit group Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) was alerted that the FSO Nabarima was dangerously tiltingand needed to be inspected, FFOS program directorLisa Premchand told me. At the time, PDVSA workers were protesting poor working conditions.
FFOS immediately brought the issue to the attention of Trinidad and Tobago’s government, including the prime minister. After receiving no response, the group started a social media campaign and gave interviews to local news outlets.
Word of the distressed tanker spread.
In September, the New York Times reported that the Nabarima was at risk of sinking due to poor maintenance. Ten days later, Trinidad and Tobago’s government announced it was awaiting permission from Venezuela to have a delegation board the ship and assess the danger of an oil spill.
Then, on October 16, FFOS corporate secretary Gary Aboud went to see the Nabarima for himself. After noticing the ship was titledat a 25-degree angle, Aboud called for swift action in a YouTube video that quickly gained global attention, including that of prominent environmental activist Greta Thunberg.
It’s unclear what direct impact the notoriety had on the governments of Trinidad and Tobago or Venezuela. But four days after Aboud posted his video, Trinidadian Foreign Minister Amery Browne and Energy Minister Franklin Khan confirmed their government could finally board the Nabarima.
Somewhat surprisingly, what the three-person team found wasn’t that dire. The Nabarima “is upright and stable with no visible tilt and there is no imminent risk of tilting or sinking,” Khan told the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian on Wednesday, adding that the vessel “poses minimum risk of an oil spill at this time.”
So, problem solved, right? Not exactly.
Local activists and experts emphasize a proactive approach
On Tuesday, Argus Media reported that PDVSA had started pumping oil from the Nabarima into another one of its ships, the Icaro.
But Khan, Trinidad’s energy minister, also told the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian the Icaro could transfer only 25 percent of Nabarima’s 1.3 million barrels at a time. That means it’ll require several trips to rid the ship of all the oil on board, keeping the chances of an oil spill higher than zero until much of the load is gone.
That’s a problem, as Frank Teelucksingh, a physical oceanographer and director of Coastal Dynamics, a company that oversees environmental projects across Trinidad and Tobago, determined while conducting an oil-spill analysis in September.
“If the vessel does turn over or crack or spill its contents, we do not know exactly how much will be spilled,” Teelucksingh told me. “Some might lie on the surface and be transferred away by surface currents and winds, whereas some might get into the water column, if the vessel sinks. That would constitute a different distribution, and the oil moves differently as well.”
Teelucksingh suggested the government of Trinidad and Tobago get an accurate model up and running to gain a better sense of what an oil spill would actually look like. Having that would make the nation’s response more effective; for example, it would have a better idea of where to position cleanup crews. Further, booms — floating curtains made of plastic or other materials that serve as barriers to contain oil — could be used to encircle the vessel before it sinks, he said.
But because the Nabarima is a Venezuelan ship, Teelucksingh pointed out that placing a boom would be Venezuela’s responsibility, not Trinidad and Tobago’s.
Being prepared for a potential massive oil spill, no matter how little the risk, is vital. The toxicity from an oil spill can kill many species due to a lack of oxygen. That would devastate Trinidad and Tobago’s economy, which relies heavily on fishing, particularly in the exact waters the Nabarima is currently floating in.
That’s why local activists, including FFOS, are calling upon CARICOM, a coalition of Caribbean countries, to hold an emergency meeting to determine a joint response to the looming crisis. Since the entire Caribbean Sea could be severely harmed, impacting coastal communities and tourism, they say the problem is one the entire region needs to solve together — now.
“Rather than taking a reactive approach, take a proactive approach,” said FFOS’s Premchand.
The fate of the FSO Nabarima and its remaining oil have yet to be determined. It’s also unclear whether CARICOM will act, or if the situation will be left to Trinidad to handle. But one thing is for sure: The potential for danger remains while the ship holds oil in the Gulf of Paria.
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If Trump thinks struggling to answer Lesley Stahl’s basic questions speaks well for him, he should probably think again.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump went ahead and preemptively published the footage of his interview with Lesley Stahl that will air on 60 Minutes this weekend. It’s hard to imagine how he thought doing so would reflect positively upon him.
Trump posted the Stahl interview footage on Facebook below a caption that read, “Look at the bias, hatred and rudeness on behalf of 60 Minutes and CBS.” Oddly, he compared Stahl’s performance favorably with the moderator of the upcoming final presidential debate, Kristen Welker, writing, “Tonight’s anchor, Kristen Welker, is far worse! #MAGA” (Trump has spent the better part of a week preemptively attacking Welker).
But if the idea is supposed to be that Stahl was trying to do a hit job on Trump, the footage doesn’t bear that out. The video Trump posted begins with Stahl asking him, “You’re okay with some tough questions?” You’d probably expect the president of the United States to say that’s no problem, but instead, Trump said, “No, I’m not.”
“You’re not okay with tough questions?” Stahl replied, incredulously.
LESLEY STAHL: "You're okay with some tough questions?"
Nearly 40 minutes later, the interview ended on a similar note, with Trump whining to Stahl that “your first question was, ‘this is going to be tough questions’ ... but when you set up the interview, you didn’t say that. You said, ‘oh, let’s have a lovely interview.’ And here’s what I do say: You don’t ask Joe Biden [tough questions].”
Stahl replied by pointing out she hasn’t recently interviewed Joe Biden, but Trump admonished her that her opening statement “is no way to talk.” Seconds later he walked away from the interview in a huff.
Trump's 60 Minutes interview with Lesley Stahl ended with him whining about her asking him tough questions and storming out in a huff pic.twitter.com/zuiwYpKnFb
Given all this, you’d probably think Stahl grilled Trump with a series of hard-hitting questions. But the content of the interview consisted of Trump getting offended when Stahl made a number of obvious (albeit unflattering for him) observations.
Trump is ill-equipped to deal with the most basic of questions
Perhaps the most substantial exchange of the interview came when Stahl asked Trump about his administration’s effort to get the Supreme Court to repeal the Affordable Care Act during a pandemic that has made having access to health care more important than ever.
Stahl pointed out the obvious — that Trump has for years been promising a replacement plan for the ACA that still hasn’t materialized — but Trump replied by insisting that his plan is “going to be announced very soon.”
"It's going to be announced very soon" — Trump is still out here touting his fake health care plan that he said would be announced in 2 weeks 3 months ago. Completely beyond parody. pic.twitter.com/UJuVbVTjcm
Later, in an unfortunate soundbite, Trump admitted to Stahl that he hopes the Supreme Court overturns the ACA — a ruling that could cost more than 20 million people their health insurance.
“I hope that they end it. It’ll be so good if they end it,” Trump said, in an exchange that seemed tailor-made for Joe Biden ads.
"I hope that they end it. It'll be so good if they end it." — here's Trump saying he hopes SCOTUS strikes down the ACA during a pandemic pic.twitter.com/1bTonnA2YJ
Perhaps in awareness that this part of the interview didn’t go well for him, on Wednesday the president tweeted photos of White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany presenting Stahl with reams of paper meant to demonstrate “the many things” the administration has done on health care — as if the mere bulk of a stack of papers proves something rather than what’s actually written on it.
Kayleigh McEnany presenting Lesley Stahl (@60Minutes) with some of the many things we’ve done for Healthcare. Lesley had no idea! pic.twitter.com/8bfIxkFiXt
If Trump making stuff up to defend his (lack of) a health care plan was bad, his defense of holding pandemic rallies that make a mockery of basic public health guidelines was even worse. When Stahl pointed out to him that many people at his rallies don’t wear masks and aren’t social distancing and asked him about “the message he is sending,” Trump responded by insulting her and lying.
“You know, you’re so negative ... these are the biggest rallies we have ever had,” Trump said (falsely), prompting Stahl to note, “I can’t believe after what happened in the Rose Garden here at the announcement, with all of the people getting sick, that you are not being more strongly encouraging about wearing masks.”
“What’s your next question?” Trump eventually replied, trying to change the topic.
Grilled by Stahl about the irresponsibility of holding huge rallies that make a mockery of public health precautions during a pandemic, Trump has no defense other than insulting her and lying pic.twitter.com/UowM4rRrjE
Perhaps Trump’s most brazen lie came when he insisted to Stahl that he hasn’t encouraged “lock her up!” chants at his recent rallies. In fact, encouraging chants of that sort aimed at Hillary Clinton, Gretchen Whitmer, Ilhan Omar, and others has become a staple of Trump’s stump speeches.
Trump to Lesley Stahl: "I don't encourage them" to say lock her up (re Hillary Clinton).
Plus: "When they say 'lock her up,' it's not me. They say it. ... I don't encourage it."
Trump’s recent interviews with real journalists have uniformly been disasters
The first indication the 60 Minutes interview didn’t go well for Trump came on Tuesday, shortly after filming of it ended at the White House, when Trump posted a bizarre 5-second gotcha video to his Twitter account above a caption that read, “Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes not wearing a mask in the White House after her interview with me. Much more to come.”
Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes not wearing a mask in the White House after her interview with me. Much more to come. pic.twitter.com/0plZG6a4fH
Shortly thereafter, news broke that Trump “cut the interview short and then declined to participate in a ‘walk and talk’ segment with Ms. Stahl and Vice President Mike Pence,” as the New York Times put it.
Then, on Wednesday, Trump tweeted, “I am pleased to inform you that, for the sake of accuracy in reporting, I am considering posting my interview with Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes, PRIOR TO AIRTIME! This will be done so that everybody can get a glimpse of what a FAKE and BIASED interview is all about ... Everyone should compare this terrible Electoral Intrusion with the recent interviews of Sleepy Joe Biden!” He also brought up the Stahl episode during a rally speech that night in Erie, Pennsylvania.
"You have to watch what we do to 60 Minutes. You'll get such a kick of it. You're gonna get a kick out of it. Lesley Stahl is not gonna be happy." -- Trump pic.twitter.com/EPUcAL7uiA
That preemptive framing echoes the president’s recent pattern of attacking debate moderators and other journalists for critical questions or coverage — some even before he’s interacted with them. It also comes while Trump is making a concerted effort to discredit members of the media ranging from Stahl to Welker to Chris Wallace of Fox News. He thinks any reporter he interacts with should fawn over him the way Sean Hannity or Brian Kilmeade does.
Whether we’re talking about his interactions with Jonathan Swan of Axios, Savannah Guthrie of NBC, or Chris Wallace of Fox News, Trump’s recent interviews with real journalists have uniformly been disasters. He’s so immersed in the insular world of Fox News that he regards obvious truths (“why didn’t you develop a health plan?”) as attacks on him.
For whatever reason, the session with Stahl seems to have sent Trump into an unusually drastic tailspin. Some people will watch the footage he published and see a president who can’t deal with basic lines of questioning and is a world-historical whiner, but Trump apparently views it as evidence that he’s beleaguered on all sides by people with an agenda who are out to get him.
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A poll worker hands a voter a machine to use in the drive-through line at NRG Stadium in Houston during the first day of early voting.
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune
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Voters in the state's most populous county can continue casting their ballots for the fall election at 10 drive-thru polling places after the Texas Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a last-minute challenge by the Texas and Harris County Republican parties, one of many lawsuits in an election season ripe with litigation over voting access.
The court rejected the challenge without an order or opinion, though Justice John Devine dissented from the decision. The justices had already ruled against another challenge to expanded voting access this month because they said the lawsuit was filed too late, noting that altering voting procedures during an election could cause voter confusion.
In an effort to expand access to voting during the pandemic, Harris County announced in June that it would set up 10 drive-thru polling locations available to all voters, the county clerk's office explained in its filing to the Supreme Court. The county first tested the program with 200 voters in the July primary runoff election. At the locations, lines of cars are guided into either covered tents or a parking garage where poll workers check voters' photo identification and registration status. Voters are handed a portable voting machine in their car to cast their ballots, the clerk’s filing said.
By Wednesday, more than 73,000 people in Harris County had voted at drive-thru polling places, according to the clerk’s early voting totals.
Although the program was publicized for months before the ongoing election, it was not until hours before early voting started last week that the Texas Republican Party and a voter challenged the move in a state appeals court, arguing that drive-thru votes would be illegal. They claimed drive-thru voting is an expansion of curbside voting and therefore should only be available for voters with disabilities.
Curbside voting, a long-available option under Texas election law, requires workers at every polling place to deliver onsite curbside ballots to voters who are “physically unable to enter the polling place without personal assistance or likelihood of injuring the voter's health.” Posted signs at polling sites notify voters to ring a bell, call a number or honk to request curbside assistance.
The lawsuit also asked the court to further restrict curbside voting by requiring that voters first fill out applications citing a disability. Such applications are required for mail-in ballots, but voting rights advocates and Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins said they have never been a part of curbside voting.
Hollins argued the county's drive-thru locations are separate polling places, distinct from attached curbside spots, and therefore available to all voters. The clerk’s filing to the Supreme Court also said the Texas secretary of state’s office had approved of drive-thru voting. Keith Ingram, the state’s chief election official, said in a court hearing last month in another lawsuit that drive-thru voting is “a creative approach that is probably okay legally,” according to court transcripts.
After the drive-thru voting lawsuit was filed the night of Oct. 12, an appeals court in Houston dismissed the case within a day, noting the lawsuit was filed too late on the eve of early voting. The state Republican Party quickly moved to the Texas Supreme Court, and a litigious Houston conservative and the Harris County Republican Party filed a sister suit.
Soon after, Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sent a letter to local election officials advising them that most voters can’t legally vote at drive-thru locations — echoing arguments from the party lawsuits. And as Harris County officials waited for a ruling, they grew concerned over the fate of the tens of thousands of votes cast at the drive-thru locations. They sought assurances from Gov. Greg Abbott and his appointed secretary of state that no ballots would be thrown out and were answered with silence.
Hollins said the court's ruling Thursday clarified that Texas election law allows for drive-thru voting, and that attempts to halt the voting alternative in the pandemic were political.
"It is unprecedented to have such clear partisan politics attempt to undercut the voting operations of a single county — a county that has provided its electorate with more voting access than ever before," he said in a statement.
In his dissent, Devine said that the county had side-stepped the Legislature's narrow allowance of curbside voting, and he said the court's rejection of the lawsuit means "thousands of ballots continue to be cast through what is likely an unauthorized voting procedure." Republican Party of Texas Chairman Allen West said the county's drive-thru voting was an illegal move to expand curbside voting.
Disclosure: The Texas secretary of state has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
Brian Murray has announced the release of Ubuntu 20.10, codenamed "Groovy Gorilla". The new release ships with version 5.8 of the Linux kernel and defaults to running the GNOME 3.38 desktop environment. "Codenamed "Groovy Gorilla", 20.10 continues Ubuntu's proud tradition of integrating the latest and greatest open source....
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The FSO Nabarima on October 16, 2020. | Courtesy of Fishermen and Friends of the Sea
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