Trump unleashes a flurry of false statements in run-up to midterm elections: Analysis
If last week was about keeping up with the dizzying pace President Trump's campaign and media appearances, this week is about keeping up with all the false statements and empty promises.
With just two weeks to the midterm elections, the president seems to be throwing something new at the wall everyday, watching to see what sticks. Fact Checkers are having trouble keeping up, but here's a quick snapshot:
Sending troops to the border
As a caravan of thousands of migrants makes its way north into Mexico President Trump has threatened to send the United States military to shut down the southern border.
But he can't do that on his own.
The Posse Comitatus Act, (enacted after the Civil War to prevent the U.S. military from policing the south) prohibits the use of military force domestically without the approval of Congress – and that is unlikely. He could try to get around this by declaring the caravan an invading force, but that's not likely to hold up.
He could try sending more National Guards, but that probably won't happen either. He's already asked border governors for 4,000 National Guard troops and never got it.
Right now there are only 2,100 on the border and they're limited in what they can do. They can't perform law enforcement duties or interact with migrants.
"Middle Easterners"
The president also claimed multiple times Monday that "Middle Easterners are mixed in" to the caravan. He has provided no evidence to back that claim, nor has anyone in his administration. Not to mention he's falsely suggesting "Middle Easterners" are inherently dangerous people.
On Monday Sarah Sanders claimed she "absolutely" knows there are "Middle Easterners" in the caravan because "we have 10 individuals suspected or known terrorists that try to enter our country illegally every day."
The problem is she was taking the facts completely out of context. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has recently used this figure as well. But it refers to all attempts by suspected or known terrorists to enter the country... not through a caravan at the southern border.
Cutting off aid
Again the president declared that he will cut off aid to Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador ... and again he's talking about something that's not so simple for him to do. Even if he does find a way to cut off foreign aid that Congress has already approved (which already Democrats are vowing to fight), he would likely face objections within his own party.
A breakdown of the roughly $150 million in aid to each country shows that aid is used to fight the problems many of these people are fleeing: like drugs, poverty, and corruption.And it's not clear anyone in his administration is on board yet. The State Department hasn't offered any specific plans.
New tax cuts
It was as if he'd read the polls that say American voters aren't happy with the $1.5 trillion corporate tax cut passed earlier this year and he decided on a whim over the weekend that he wants a new 10 percent tax cut for just the middle class. He said at the rally in Houston last night that "it's going to be put in next week," giving the false impression that something significant could happen before the election.
But obviously, with Congress out and only two weeks until the election, there is no chance any meaningful action will take place before November 6th.
The list goes on
Trump claimed over the weekend that Democrats didn't help with his opioid bill (it passed 98-1 in Senate with one Republican "no" vote.
The number of jobs the president claims will be created from Saudi weapons contracts has evolved from 40,000 to 1 million in recent days.
He falsely claimed illegal immigrants are given luxury cars.
Providing no evidence, he suggested the Democrats organized and financially backed the caravan.
He falsely claimed there has been rioting in California over sanctuary city laws.
