President TrumpDonald John TrumpBiden slams Trump in new ad: ‘The death toll is still rising.’ ‘The president is playing golf’ Brazil surpasses Russia with second-highest coronavirus case count in the world Trump slams Sessions: ‘You had no courage & ruined many lives’ MORE spent part of his Memorial Day weekend using his Twitter account to promote personal attacks on Democrats, retweeting posts that took aim at former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams’s appearance and another that called former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonTrump escalates fight against mail-in voting Sunday shows preview: States begin to reopen even as some areas in US see case counts increase The Electoral College is not democratic — nor should it be MORE a “skank,” among others.
Several of the attacks Trump retweeted on Sunday came from former GOP congressional candidate John K. Stahl, who unsuccessfully ran in 2012 to represent California’s 52nd Congressional District.
In one tweet taking a swipe at Abrams’s appearance, later retweeted by Trump, Stahl wrote: “We just got a look at the official portrait for the self proclaimed Governor of Georgia. She fought a tough race, kissed a lot of babies and visited every buffet restaurant in the state. Joe will be a racist if he doesn’t pick her.”
The president also retweeted a post by Stahl that attacked House Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiTrump slams Sessions: ‘You had no courage & ruined many lives’ Lies, damned lies and the truth about Joe Biden The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Facebook – Mnuchin: More COVID-19 congressional action ahead MORE (D-Calf.). “Anyone know what’s going on with PolyGrip? I’ve noticed lately that her face seems glossy and she is sporting a poorly marked 2nd set of eyebrows,” Stahl tweeted.
In a second tweet attacking Pelosi’s appearance that appeared on Trump’s Twitter feed over the weekend, Stahl took a shot at the Speaker’s teeth, claiming she wore dentures, and wrote that she drank alcohol “on the job.”
Another post from Stahl that Trump retweeted referred to Clinton, who ran against Trump in the 2016 presidential election, as “HRC the Skank.”
Stahl also targeted presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe BidenJoe BidenBiden slams Trump in new ad: ‘The death toll is still rising.’ ‘The president is playing golf’ Warren to host high-dollar fundraiser for Biden COVID-19 makes Trump’s work with black Americans that much harder MORE in a few posts that were shared by Trump, in which he referred to Biden as “Malarkey the Racist” and as one of the “three stooges on steroids.” The other two people Stahl refers to as stooges in the same post are Pelosi and Abrams.
According to The New York Times, this is not the first time Stahl has used sexist language in criticism targeting women on social media.
Stahl also reportedly once referred to MSNBC host Joy Reid as a “skank” on social media and called Sen. Kamala HarrisKamala Devi HarrisIt’s as if a Trump operative infiltrated the Democratic primary process OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Coal company sues EPA over power plant pollution regulation | Automakers fight effort to freeze fuel efficiency standards | EPA watchdog may probe agency’s response to California water issues EPA watchdog may probe agency’s response to California water issues MORE (D-Calif.), another prominent woman of color, a “ho.”
The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.
This past weekend, Trump also used his account to promote an unfounded conspiracy theory around the 2001 death of Lori Klausutis, a woman who used to intern for MSNBC “Morning Joe” anchor and former Rep. Joe ScarboroughCharles (Joe) Joseph ScarboroughBrzezinski says she arranged call with Twitter CEO to discuss banning Trump Scarborough says Trump not taking antimalaria drug, warns against use: ‘Listen to Neil Cavuto’ MSNBC guest on how a Twitter fight with Joe Scarborough helped him land on the network MORE.
In one of the tweets, Trump called on his followers to read an article published by conservative website True Pundit that alleged evidence showed foul play in her death.
Trump was later criticized by Rep. Adam KinzingerAdam Daniel KinzingerHouse GOP to launch China probes beyond COVID-19 McCarthy unveils new GOP-led China task force Lawmakers urge EU to sanction Putin associate for election interference MORE (R-Ill.) on Sunday for pushing the unfounded theory.
“Just stop. Stop spreading it, stop creating paranoia. It will destroy us,” Kinzinger wrote in a post retweeting Trump.
Trump also fielded criticism from Biden later on Sunday for the series of controversial retweets and posts. “The presidency is about a lot more than tweeting from your golf cart,” Biden tweeted. “It requires taking on the ultimate responsibility for the biggest decisions in the world.”
“Donald Trump simply wasn’t prepared for that. I promise you I will be,” he continued.
The attacks by Trump comes as the latest data shows the country has racked up more than 97,600 deaths from the novel coronavirus as of Sunday. Though Trump did not specifically note the death toll in any of his tweets over the weekend, he expressed optimism about the country’s current handling of the pandemic in one tweet on Sunday.
“Cases, numbers and deaths are going down all over the Country!” he wrote.
Cases, numbers and deaths are going down all over the Country!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 24, 2020
