Ossoff calls President Trump’s 2020 campaign speech ‘the most famous competitive loser in the world’
Sen. Jon Ossoff criticized President Trump’s speech about the 2020 election, calling him “the world’s most famous loser.”
With just 110 days until the crucial midterm elections, President Donald Trump naturally focused on the election in his prime-time address to the nation.
It was an election six years ago.
In ramblings and an ominous tone, President Trump described the U.S. election system from his 2020 defeat to the present as “very broken and very weak,” accusing Chinese interference, mail-in voting, “deep state” actors who covered up evidence of the problem, and even the television networks that refused to broadcast his Thursday night speech live. He called ABC and NBC “part of a conspiracy” and said they should have their licenses revoked.
“This is worse than any country in the Third World,” Trump declared, mockingly rejecting the mainstream conclusion that the U.S. election was in trouble but showed no signs of significant fraud. “No third world country has elections like we do.”
Despite announcing the declassification of large amounts of documents, he presented no evidence that his interests in the U.S. elections were compromised, including the 2020 campaign he lost but which he has long claimed was rigged without evidence.
Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff (D) called President Trump “the most famous loser in the world” who gave a “prime-time presidential address.”
Meanwhile, Ossoff told reporters, “The wars in the Middle East are spiraling out of control and the cost of living continues to rise for Americans across the country.”
Surrounded by flags, Trump stood in front of a golden curtain in the East Room, preparing for a race less than four months to Election Day that is expected to be difficult for Republicans. Democrats hope to regain a majority in the House of Representatives, be in a position to subpoena witnesses and launch investigations into the administration, and may also gain a majority in the Senate.
Anxiety about what he said or didn’t say
The anxiety in the nation’s capital over the president’s speech was bipartisan, albeit for different reasons.
Democratic leaders accused Trump of using the speech to undermine confidence in the electoral process that unfolds in November, when Republicans are expected to lose. Ty Cobb, who served as White House Counsel during Trump’s first term, went further, saying on PBS’s “News Hour” that he believed the speech was “intended to create a presumption that we need to declare a state of emergency during or around the election.”
Some Republicans, especially those likely to vote this fall, were worried not so much about what Mr. Trump said but what he didn’t say — that Mr. Trump remained fixated on past defeats rather than on voters’ current concerns, such as the cost of gas, food, housing and health care.
In his brief opening remarks, the president dismissed any economic concerns, saying the stock market was buoyant and noting that inflation had eased last month. “We’re doing well,” he said.
President Trump had even less time to discuss the war with Iran, which has drawn the United States into a war with no easy way out.
“We won in Venezuela,” he said. “We have achieved a major victory in Iran as well, and we will soon see the fruits of our efforts.”
This reflected the president’s assurances in his last prime-time address to the nation on April 1, in which he praised the “overwhelming victory on the battlefield” and suggested that the conflict would subside after another two to three weeks of military offensives.
The speech took place on April 1, the 33rd day after the end of the war. By my count, the July 16th speech was the 138th day.
The president’s prime-time speeches as we know them
When President Trump’s prime-time address was announced earlier in the week, many commentators and lawmakers expected him to talk about the Iran war, which has flared up again with the collapse of the fragile ceasefire.
It would fit the general template of a White House prime-time address. It is usually the venue reserved by presidents for the most important kinds of announcements, such as announcing the start of a war or expressing condolences after a national tragedy.
This time, President Trump has criticized the U.S. election system and called for the passage of the Save America Act, which would impose limits on who can vote by mail and require proof of citizenship to register to vote. “The only reason not to do that is if you want to cheat,” he said.
However, this bill has little chance of passing. It is currently stalled in the Republican-controlled Congress.
Susan Page, USA TODAY’s Washington bureau chief, has interviewed 10 presidents and covered 12 presidential elections. Her latest book is The Queen and Her Presidents, published in April by Harper.
