The Morning Briefing: Antifa, Omarosa and Much, Much More

Good Monday morning.

Here’s what is on the president’s agenda today.

The president delivers remarks and participates in a signing ceremony for H.R. 5515, the “John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019” in Fort Drum, N.Y.
President hosts a roundtable with supporters in Utica, N.Y.
President Trump delivers remarks at a joint fundraising committee reception

Paltry turnout at Unite the Right rally, hundreds of counterprotesters

This weekend was the one-year anniversary of the Charlottesville rally where white supremacists marched with Home Depot tiki torches and spouted off about blood and soil. The anniversary was marked by a free speech protest in Washington. D.C., with the Unite the Right white nationalists, all “two dozen” of them, and “hundreds” of counter-protestors screaming about Nazis, racism, Trump, and how they hate cops.

“Everybody got the ability to speak and I think that was a major improvement over Charlottesville,” Unite the Right organizer Jason Kessler told Reuters. “It was a precedent that had to be set. It was more important than anything.” The media pays too much attention to these clowns.

The counterprotest which began earlier in the day was a smattering of diverse groups – from black-clad anti-fascists, to supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement to families who brought children in strollers. Tourists took pictures and both protesters and observers zoomed around on electric scooters.

You can get a sense of the counter-protestors’ agenda by their chants like “cops and Klan go hand in hand” and “No borders, no walls, no USA at all.” Politico reports that “Some counterprotesters shot fireworks in the direction of police officers around the time that Unite the Right participants were escorted away. Some protesters also threw eggs at police officers.”

Hundreds of police officers in riot gear were stationed around the D.C. area in preparation for the rallies. Events weren’t as peaceful at a Saturday Charlottesville rally. Here’s a video of violent Antifa protesters physically attacking an NBC reporter and beating down a police officer.

“Last year they came with torches,” read a large banner in downtown Charlottesville, according to The Washington Post. “This year they come with badges.” The Hill has some more anti-police happenings at the Saturday protest in Charlottesville.

Omarosa has a new book and taped John Kelly firing her in the Situation Room

This lady has no credibility but the media loves her sensational claims as much as she loves getting media attention, so we are going to hear about her. It’s clear Omarosa is bitter that she was fired from the White House so now she’s earning some prime time cable coverage with claims that Trump is mentally deranged. And racist. The Guardian writes:

In another damning passage, she describes his “broken outlook” and how “the bricks in his racist wall kept getting higher”, wondering if he did “want to start a race war.” She adds: “The only other explanation was that his mental state was so deteriorated that the filter between the worst impulses of his mind and his mouth were completely gone.”

Here’s a video of Omarosa saying President Trump wants to start a race war.

So, why did she go work for him? She’s known him for years. Did he just become a crazy racist or was he always a racist? Why did she work for his campaign? All these things are voluntary. Could it be that she’s an opportunist?

This weekend the big story was that Omarosa taped the conversations she had with Trump chief of staff John Kelly in the situation room when she was fired and then played it on cable news. Now I’m thinking that taping a conversation in the Situation Room might be illegal, I don’t know. It sure seems really wrong and not something a woman of integrity would do. You can listen to the conversation Omarosa taped here.

On Saturday, President Trump responded to Omarosa’s media bait by calling her a low-life.

The WH released a statement about Omarosa’s claims. “It’s sad that a disgruntled former White House employee is trying to profit off these false attacks, and even worse that the media would now give her a platform, after not taking her seriously when she had only positive things to say about the President during her time in the administration,” said WH press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Some of the reasons Omarosa was fired include abusing the WH car service and holding a photo shoot with her wedding party at the WH. I bet there are other reasons too.

Expect Omarosa to ratchet up her claims against Trump as her publicity book tour continues.

Must read of the day:

2016 Trump Tower Meeting Looks Increasingly Like a Setup by Russian and Clinton Operatives

Enough about me, let’s talk about me

More than 100 newspapers will publish editorials decrying Trump’s anti-press rhetoric

Your daily WTF:

Man accused of filling water cup with soda at fast food restaurant starts fight, gets Tased, cops say

TSA screener ‘touched’ my penis in front of my daughter: suit

Historical picture of the day: