5 eye-popping things Trump said during his Cincinnati visit
CINCINNATI — If you keep an eye on President Trump for entertainment purposes, the prez didn't disappoint during Monday's speech in Greater Cincinnati.
Here are five script-crumpling things Trump said during his stop at Blue Ash manufacturer Sheffer Corp., as evaluated by Politics Extra:
On Democrats sitting on their hands
Trump: "They would rather see Trump do badly than our country do well. It’s very selfish. It got to a point where I really didn’t even want to look too much over to that side because honestly, it was bad energy. You've got half the room going crazy, wild, they want to do something great for our country. And you have the other side, even on positive news, they were like death and un-American. Somebody said treasonous. I mean, yeah, I guess, why not. Can we call them treason? Why not. They certainly didn’t seem to love our country very much. It's very, very sad."
Context: The president was referring to Democratic lawmakers' lack of response during last week's State of the Union.
Politics Extra's take: Let's get this straight: If you don't clap, cheer, nod your head in agreement while the president is speaking, somehow you're betraying your country? That's dictatorial. The only surprise here is he didn't call the press treasonous first.
On the NFL protests
Trump: "We're all in this together. We're one team, one people and one family. And we're saluting one great American flag. And everybody stood up yesterday. There was nobody kneeling at the beginning of the Super Bowl. We've made a lot of improvement, haven't we? That's a big improvement. And on top of that, it was a good game."
Context: The president had been talking about workers benefiting from the tax cuts, and then all of a sudden, he brings up the NFL.
PX's take: At least he didn't refer to NFL players as SOBs this time. Talk about a big improvement.
On the economy
Trump: “We’re starting to boom.”
Context: There really wasn't any context. He randomly said this 20 seconds into his speech, in the middle of expressing his love for Ohio and Cincinnati.
PX's take: Sure about that, Mr. President? The Dow plummeted more than 1,500 points during Trump's 47-minute speech. It closed down 1,175 points — down 4.6% — for the day.
On the 'great sleuth'
Trump: “Oh, but did we catch them in the act or what? Oh, did we catch them in the act. They are very embarrassed. They never thought that they would get caught. We caught 'em. We caught 'em. Hey, so much fun, like the great sleuth."
Context: A Sheffer employee had just left the stage after talking about what he's going to do with the money saved from the tax cuts. Trump thanked the guy, then said this.
PX's take: We think Trump was talking about the Nunes memo, but it's not entirely clear. Republicans say the memo shows there is bias against Trump in the Russia investigation, and the president tweeted over the weekend that he believes the four-page document vindicated him.
On being humble
Trump: "I am non-braggadocios."
Context: He was literally in mid-brag about his role in helping the economy. Further, the whole point of Trump's visit was to brag about his tax cuts. Halfway through his speech, he boasted about getting "good marks" for his State of the Union address.
PX's take: LOL.
More: White House on Dow plunge: Trump's 'focus is on our long-term economic fundamentals'
More: Trump has often taken credit for the stock market's climb. Will he own the drops too?
More: Trump blasts 'treasonous' Democrats for not applauding at his State of the Union address
Politics Extra is a column looking inside Greater Cincinnati and Ohio politics. Follow Cincinnati Enquirer political columnist Jason Williams on Twitter: @jwilliamscincy