Trump Starts the Year with Anti-Immigrant Lies

In Divided We Stand: The 2020 Elections and American Politics, we look at Trump's dishonesty and disregard for the rule of law.  Our next book continues the story through 2024.

 Maggie Haberman at NYT:

On Wednesday morning, hours after a man drove a pickup truck into New Year’s Eve revelers in New Orleans, killing 10 people, President-elect Donald J. Trump falsely suggested on social media that his condemnations of undocumented immigrants had been validated.

“When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the Fake News Media, but it turned out to be true,” Mr. Trump said on his website, Truth Social. “The crime rate in our country is at a level that nobody has ever seen before,” he added falsely. “Our hearts are with all of the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave officers of the New Orleans Police Department.”

Mr. Trump, who will be sworn in on Jan. 20, added in his post, “The Trump Administration will fully support the City of New Orleans as they investigate and recover from this act of pure evil!”

Some early reports about the attack said the truck was driven across the border from Mexico into the United States. Officials have since identified the suspect as a U.S.-born citizen and Army veteran who lived in Texas, Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar.

He lied about the crime rate:

 

Why Americans Hate Politics: Senator J.N. Kennedy

Josh Fiallo at The Daily Beast:

Republican Sen. John Kennedy has been slammed as “tone deaf” after he made a political dig at a reporter while speaking about a terrorist attack in his home state of Louisiana.

The controversial quip came as he and other officials took questions about the Wednesday morning attack—which left at least 15 dead on New Orleans’ iconic Bourbon Street. A 42-year-old Army veteran named Shamsud-Din Jabbar has been named as the suspect, who was killed by officers who opened fire at the scene.

Early on in Tuesday’s press conference, a reporter told Kennedy that NBC News was “here on the right.” The remark was meant to help the 72-year-old identify each journalists’ affiliation as he geared up to answer a question during an afternoon press conference.

That prompted the Republican to remark, “Oh, that’s [an] unusual position.” He moved his hands to the right, seemingly suggesting NBC is a left-leaning outlet.

This appeared to confuse the reporter who had just assisted Kennedy. She called out, “I don’t get it.” Kennedy responded, “You wouldn’t.” He then took over the podium.

Democrats were quick to slam Kennedy—who has a long history of making bizarre comments to get attention—for making such a statement mere hours after dozens of his constituents were mowed down on the street as they celebrated the new year.

“Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana is a useless piece of s--t saying all the wrong things at the wrong time for all the wrong reasons,” wrote the political pundit Keith Olbermann on X. “What a tone deaf, selfish, senile motherf----r.”

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) malfunctions during a hearing on mass deportations.

KENNEDY: Who in Texas had their knives out for Black immigrants? Give me a name. Give me a name.
AARON REICHLIN-MELNICK: ...My suspicion is Ken Paxton...
KENNEDY: Give me a name. Give me a name.… pic.twitter.com/YpjSOENpT9

— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) December 10, 2024

Unhappy New Year

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In the 21st century, Americans have been dissatistfied with the ways things are going.  This dissatisfaction translates into political volatility.