Donald Trump cravenly uses Hurricane Harvey as excuse to brag about election results and worse

| 3:28 pm EDT August 27, 2017
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Even in the midst of a deadly crisis, Donald Trump can’t help but remind us of his true nature. Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath have already claimed the lives of Americans, meaning that the occasion calls for solemn leadership without an ounce of partisanship. So how is Trump treating the hurricane? As an excuse to brag about election results, and worse.

Trump started off this morning by tweeting a rare appropriate message: “I will be going to Texas as soon as that trip can be made without causing disruption. The focus must be life and safety.” But then, because he couldn’t help himself, he kept going: “I will also be going to a wonderful state, Missouri, that I won by a lot in ’16. Dem C.M. is opposed to big tax cuts. Republican will win S!” That’s right, he’s using his upcoming Texas-Missouri trip not only to brag about having won Missouri, but also to launch a misleading attack on the state’s Democratic Senator, Claire McCaskill.

This may represent a new low, even for Trump. But then he decided to keep going further. He began misrepresenting the crime rate in Mexico as an excuse to continue promoting his unpopular idea for a border wall, bizarrely insisting that Mexico will still somehow end up paying for it, even as he demands that Congress pay for it. And from there he began criticizing the NAFTA trade deal. At a time when he’s supposed to be focused on overseeing the federal rescue and cleanup effort in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, what is this clown even talking about?

And so, even at a time when all he had to do to look presidential was to not be himself for a few days while the hurricane played out, Donald Trump instead managed to find a way to look even less presidential than ever. He’s simply not fit for office. If you find Palmer Report valuable, make a donation.