Trump embarks on Twitter spree amid impeachment inquiry, Syria outrage

President Trump spent much of Saturday on Twitter, unleashing a barrage of tweets and retweets aimed at House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry.

As of 7:30 p.m., Trump had issued only six tweets of his own but had retweeted at least 40 others, many of them from supporters in the media and Congress offering him a boost. He also issued scorching attacks aimed at Democrats, including House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).

{mosads}”There has never been a greater fraud on Congress,” wrote Trump, referring to the impeachment inquiry and responding to Rep. Andy Biggs’s (R-Ariz.) motion to censure Schiff for allegedly lying about his office’s contact with a whistleblower who filed a complaint about Trump’s conversation with Zelensky.

“Shifty Schiff is Corrupt. Go Andy!” he added.

There has never been a greater fraud on Congress. Shifty Schiff is Corrupt. Go Andy! https://t.co/yw57NhKpG2

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 19, 2019

The Twitter outbursts are nothing new from the president and are increasingly typical on the weekends. But they were still notable after one of the most tumultuous weeks of his presidency.

Trump is under increasing pressure with regard to the impeachment inquiry after acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney undermined the administration’s talking points and linked aid withheld from Ukraine to Trump’s calls for Ukraine’s government to launch investigations into the 2016 election. Mulvaney later sought to walk back the comments, which were made on camera.

Trump defended Mulvaney in one of his Saturday tweets, repeating a line from the chief of staff’s statement explaining that the money was withheld because “of concern about LACK OF SUPPORT FROM OTHER NATIONS and CONCERNS OVER CORRUPTION,” adding capital letters for emphasis.

“The President never told me to withhold any money until the Ukrainians did anything related to the server. The only reason we were holding the money was because of concern about LACK OF SUPPORT FROM OTHER NATIONS and CONCERNS OVER CORRUPTION.” Yesterday’s Mick Mulvaney statement

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 19, 2019

Just as dramatically, Trump came under fierce criticism from Republicans for his decision to withdraw troops from northern Syria. The decision led to a Turkish invasion and criticism that Trump had abandoned Kurdish forces that had helped the U.S.  

Most of Trump’s own tweets on Saturday targeted Democrats, including one in the morning that repeated his criticism that the opposing party is ignoring legislation that could help the country and is instead focused on impeachment.

“Such a disgrace that the Do Nothing Democrats are doing just as their name suggests, Doing Nothing! USMCA anyone?” he added in a second tweet Saturday morning, referring to a trade agreement with Mexico and Canada currently being considered by Congress.

Such a disgrace that the Do Nothing Democrats are doing just as their name suggests, Doing Nothing! USMCA anyone?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 19, 2019

Around noon, the president tweeted again, quoting former Whitewater prosecutor Ken Starr: “I don’t see anything that constitutes an Impeachable offense – Nothing here rises to the level of Impeachment. The Democrats are making a mistake with this secrecy.”

“I don’t see anything that constitutes an Impeachable offense – Nothing here rises to the level of Impeachment. The Democrats are making a mistake with this secrecy.” Kenn Starr, former Special Prosecutor

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 19, 2019

In a tweet in the afternoon, Trump once again criticized Fox News over a poll that found majority support for his impeachment and removal by the Senate.

“Just another FAKE SUPPRESSION POLL, this time from @FoxNews, of course!” he said, retweeting a post from White House counsel Kellyanne Conway questioning the poll’s methodology.

If the sample is skewed, the #poll is flawed.

“Braun Research, which conducted the survey, noted 48% of respondents were Democrats. But the actual breakdown of party-affiliation is 31% Democrat, 29% Republican and 38% independent, according to Gallup.”
https://t.co/FQj06Z9rCO

— Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) October 13, 2019

Fox has repeatedly noted that its polling is considered to be some of the best in the business.

Other posts retweeted without comment from the president included criticism of the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry, often from Republican congressmen critical of the investigation.

“I’ve sat through EVERY interview so far of this so called ‘impeachment inquiry’ & the President hasn’t done anything to possibly impeach him for. NOTHING,” wrote Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) in a post Friday that was retweeted by Trump on Saturday afternoon.

I’ve sat through EVERY interview so far of this so called “impeachment inquiry” & the President hasn’t done anything to possibly impeach him for.

NOTHING.

— Lee Zeldin (@RepLeeZeldin) October 19, 2019

Trump also retweeted a week-old post from Vice President Pence later Saturday afternoon that accused Democrats of attempting to overturn the 2016 election results and urging Congress to pass the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

“While Dems in Congress have been trying to overturn the will of the American people by reversing Election Day 2016, our Admin will continue to fight for policies that create jobs & benefit American workers. Let’s put Americans first & pass the #USMCA!” Pence wrote.

While Dems in Congress have been trying to overturn the will of the American people by reversing Election Day 2016, our Admin will continue to fight for policies that create jobs & benefit American workers. Let’s put Americans first & pass the #USMCA!https://t.co/NZ9gmupw0A

— Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) October 7, 2019