The Morning Briefing: Trump's a White Nationalist Redux and Much, Much More

Good Monday morning.

Here is what’s on President Trump’s agenda today:

The president receives a briefing on the Economic Report of the President
President Trump has lunch with the vice president
The president receives his intelligence briefing
President Trump attends the Greek Independence Day Celebration

New Zealand shooting update: Trump’s a white nationalist redux

The horrific mosque massacre in New Zealand by a deranged lunatic has given occasion to play the “Trump’s a white nationalist” song once again. So predictable. This time, the shooter, whom I will not name, cited Trump in his manifesto, giving the left more ammunition for their favorite issue. The gunman wanted the media to go after the individuals he singled out in his rantings and the media has delivered, right on cue! They always take the bait.

“I don’t give … any credibility whatsoever to the ramblings of somebody who is rotten to the core and, clearly, is an extremist of the worst kind, who could walk into two mosques and, without any care whatsoever, kill people,” [New Zealand Ambassador Scott] Brown told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I don’t give any credibility to it.”

“I’m not going to give him the time of day. I hope, as quickly as possible, they can find a way to get this guy convicted and lock him up and throw away the key,” Brown said. “That’s how I feel. And I think a lot of New Zealanders feel the same way.”

Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney also came to the defense of the president on one of the Sunday schlock shows. “The President is not a white supremacist,” Mulvaney said on “Fox News Sunday.” “I’m not sure how many times we have to say that.”

“To simply ask the question every time something like this happens overseas, or even domestically, to say, ‘Oh my goodness, it must somehow be the president’s fault,’ speaks to a politicization of everything that I think is undermining sort of the institutions that we have in the country today,” he said.

Failed veep candidate and senator in a state with blackface/#metoo problems Tim Kaine said Trump is “emboldening” white supremacists.

“When you see church shootings in Charleston, a synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh, you see this hate-filled manifesto of the shooter in New Zealand who is murdering Muslims, we have to confront the fact that there is a rise in white supremacy, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim attitudes,” Kaine said.

“The president uses language often that’s very similar to the language used by these bigots and racists, and if he’s not going to call it out then other leaders have to do more to call it out,” he added.

How about you keep the side of your street clean, Tim? Have you called for Governor Coonman to step down lately?

Chris Wallace presses Mulvaney: Why doesn’t Trump give a speech denouncing ‘anti-Muslim bigotry’?

New Zealand mosque shooting suspect ‘changed completely’ after traveling to Europe, other countries, family says

Facebook removed 1.5 million videos of New Zealand attack within 24 hours

Mosque massacre gunman’s family: ‘We’re all gobsmacked’

Political violence is O.K. as long as its against the “right” people. Australian Senator Hit With Egg After Blaming Immigration for Mosque Attacks

Objections to antisemitism are Islamophobic

We all knew this was coming, especially after the media/leftist fetishization of the two Muslim women just elected to Congress. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) appeared on a Sunday political snuff show with Jake Tapper to get in her swipe at the president and make the claim that the folks criticizing her Jew-hating, Israel-obsessed colleague Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), only “attacked” because of Omar’s Muslim religion.

“You said in a statement after the attack that you were angry at ‘those who follow the white supremacy agenda in my own country that sends a signal across the world that massacres like this are a call to action,’” CNN Host Jake Tapper said. “Who are you specifically talking about?”

“The ones that stay silent,” Tlaib responded. “And the ones that support the Muslim ban. Not only once, but twice, three times, did we in this nation say to the world, and to everyone in this country, that Muslims don’t belong here. From the fact that every time we talk about a wall, it’s not about a structure, but about xenophobia, it’s about racism.”

There’s no Muslim ban and no one said Muslims don’t belong here. There are travel restrictions to the U.S. for people living in sh!thole terror-laden countries. Countries with majority Muslim populations who do not fit this description are not prevented from traveling here. And what is this “white supremacy” agenda she is talking about? Border security? These lefties are a broken record. The Democrats supported border security before Trump started advocating for it. Are they part of the “white supremacy agenda”?

Apparently so. “I have seen the letters and have seen the various posts from not only Democrats — from Republicans, but also Democrats, that, when we target or disagree, we need to be very careful, in that it’s not feeding into the Islamophobia that is growing in our country,” Tlaib said.

No, we don’t. We don’t have these kinds of restrictions on every other subject of discourse. After Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) was nearly assassinated along with a bunch of his Republican colleagues, we didn’t hear anything about toning down anti-GOP rhetoric. We didn’t see any blame placed on Senator Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) or Rachel Maddow, both of whom were objects of admiration of the gunman responsible for the massacre. The double standard is ridiculous.

Sad. These Muslim and Jewish community leaders are united in frustration at Ilhan Omar’s comments

The president pounces on John McCain

The idea that we cannot talk about John McCain’s role in disseminating the salacious and unverified dossier that was used to spy on the Trump campaign is outrageous. But Trump is taking some hits for tweeting out some smack about the deceased senator.

So it was indeed (just proven in court papers) “last in his class” (Annapolis) John McCain that sent the Fake Dossier to the FBI and Media hoping to have it printed BEFORE the Election. He & the Dems, working together, failed (as usual). Even the Fake News refused this garbage!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2019

The usual suspects came forward to defend McCain, but why can’t we talk about the role that McCain and his McCain Institute employee David Kramer had in spreading the dossier gossip around the media after Trump had won the election?

Newly unsealed court filings show how the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and an associate shared with the FBI and a host of media outlets the unverified dossier that alleged the Russians had compromising information on now-President Trump.

McCain had denied being the source for BuzzFeed after it published the dossier, which was funded by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, but had acknowledged giving it to the FBI.

John McCain, doing the work of the Democrats. There is more to come on this front so sit tight.

Your daily WTF:

I’m screaming inside. New York woman ‘sucked into parents’ grave’ suing cemetery

Historical picture of the day:

Laurence Powell, one of four Los Angeles police officers charged with assaulting motorist Rodney King, has the attention of TV crews as he enters court in Simi Valley, California, Wednesday, March 18, 1992. The defense opened for the four officers charged in the assault. (AP Photo/Chris Martinez)

Other morsels:

Awful. Nebraska floods have broken records in 17 places across the state

Barr levels state-secrets claim in Twitter suit

DNA match leads to arrest in 1999 Alabama slaying, rape case

Is he wrong about Shep? Trump Says Shep Smith, Fox News Weekend Hosts Should Be Working At CNN

RESIST. Job Openings Rise, Outnumber Unemployed by 1 Million

DeWine calls for raising Ohio’s legal age to buy cigarettes to 21

Why don’t people trust the media?? Reuters Journalist Withheld Damaging Info About Beto O’Rourke Until After Senate Race

Beto Takes One Question On Guns — Gives An Answer Both Sides Will Hate

Let’s roll, witch hunter. Mueller’s busy week offers new signs his report is coming soon

Because voters are turning against tech companies? Why liberals and big tech companies broke up

US planning to keep 1,000 troops in Syria despite Trump’s withdrawal call