Trump is live now. Trying to spin this as a win.
Trump: “I didn’t need to do this. but I’d rather do it much faster”.
That doesn’t sound like an emergency.
Trump just said “I didn’t need to do this.” Some emergency!
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) February 15, 2019
The optional, just-to-speed-things-up kind of emergency https://t.co/OFgU8FNrbI
— Julie Davis (@juliehdavis) February 15, 2019
This quote should be the first sentence of the first paragraph of every complaint filed this afternoon. https://t.co/ClHQhpTaEe
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) February 15, 2019
If federal judges watch press conferences there’s no way Trump’s emergency order will stand. He’s contradicted himself a dozen times on whether there is an emergency. Everyone in the White House must be cringing.
— Taegan Goddard (@politicalwire) February 15, 2019
White House lawyers: “D’oh!!!” https://t.co/FqZfh7dBHN
— Bad Fox Graphics (@BadFoxGraphics) February 15, 2019
President Trump claimed that declaring a national emergency to build a wall along the southern border would save “a tremendous amount” for the military https://t.co/ILzJIXEiKC pic.twitter.com/P6UpnBoeZX
— POLITICO (@politico) February 15, 2019
Trump seems optimistic: “And we will have a national emergency and we will then be sued and we will be sued in the Ninth Circuit and then we’ll get a bad ruling, and then we’ll get sued again. And then it will end up in the Supreme Court.”
— Gabby Orr (@GabbyOrr_) February 15, 2019
This is embarrassing.
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) February 15, 2019
This is like watching the final scene in network before Peter Finch passes out
— julie b (@reSISTERhood9) February 15, 2019
trump’s intonation here — going UP on like every fifth WORD as he discussed the COURTS — was honestly hypnotic pic.twitter.com/Ll9YQaHEFy
— David Mack (@davidmackau) February 15, 2019
Trump declared a state of emergency to address border security.
— POLITICO (@politico) February 15, 2019
He’s seeking to redirect funds previously set for a Pentagon drug prevention program and military construction to pay for construction and repair of barrier along 234 miles of border https://t.co/gdNJaflFqN pic.twitter.com/A6pt05lYW7
This wasn’t a dumpster fire. It was a dumpster fire on top of Burning Tire Mountain during an eruption of Mount Shitshow.
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) February 15, 2019
Asked about “outside conservative voices” and their influence, Trump immediately talks about Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh, and praises them. He says he doesn’t know Ann Coulter, and hasn’t spoke to her in a year, and says she is “off the reservation.” Praises Laura Ingraham and Tucker Carlson. But he says Hannity, Limbaugh, and Coulter had no impact on his national emergency declaration: “They don’t decide policy” Then talks about 52 approval poll at Rassmusson.
Trump asked about the influence of right-wing media: “They have somebody, Ann Coulter. I don’t know her. I hardly know her. I haven’t spoken to her in way over a year.” He adds that if he spoke to her, she’d probably be very nice. “I like her.”
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) February 15, 2019
Acosta and another reporter are challenging Trump’s numbers. And Trump keeps giving anecdotal evidence.
“I could do the wall over a longer period of time. I didn’t need to do this, but I’d rather do it much faster,” President Trump to @PeterAlexander on national emergency declaration to secure funding for border wall. https://t.co/bmuewGdv83 pic.twitter.com/8VwyqyZy7H
— NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (@NBCNightlyNews) February 15, 2019
Trump finally says he gets “many stats” and cites Homeland Security, but doesn’t give specific stats, except that the country is losing “millions and millions” every month because of illegal immigration.
Trump working to change the story right now to one of sparring with the media, starting with calling on @Acosta, and snapping at a reporter to “SIT DOWN.”
— Eliana Johnson (@elianayjohnson) February 15, 2019
Trump refuses to engages with a great question about how his “facts” are totally contradicted by official government statistics.
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) February 15, 2019
There actually WAS some information there. It looks like Trump, rather than declaring a NEW emergency declaration, is going to tack his issue onto an already existing declaration that Obama declared, probably this one.
Here’s the Congressional Research Service from 2007 on what constitutes an “emergency.” https://t.co/7VfR8TVZMs pic.twitter.com/WXvkNojzak
— Julian Sanchez (@normative) February 15, 2019
UPDATE: Here it is officially. Doesn’t look like he is invoking the Obama thing.
And here comes the ACLU:
