Aaron RuparVerified account

.@realDonaldTrump is about to give his first speech at a rally in 2019. Follow along for a video thread.pic.twitter.com/pnqyTUzv6f

Trump starts his first rally of 2019 by bragging, "I don't know if you heard -- today we started a big beautiful wall." (Congress has in fact appropriated 0 dollars for Trump's wall.) He then goads the crowd into booing the assembled media.pic.twitter.com/MKf33Myyn3

Trump tries to portray himself as a unifier: "Our agenda is not a partisan agenda, although some say this. Every once in a while it becomes that way. It's a mainstream common sense agenda of the American people." Crowd barely cheers. He then pivots to bashing media. Huge boos.pic.twitter.com/unZGtgWmsx

Trump brags about his relationship with Kim Jong Un: "We have -- remains are coming back... remains!"pic.twitter.com/1W7XWbug02

Trump disses @BetoORourke as "young man who's got very little going for himself except he's got a great first name." "He challenged us, so we have let's say 35,000 thousand people tonight. And he has 200 ppl, 300 ppl. Not too good" The arena Trump is speaking in only holds 10k!pic.twitter.com/fQCE6BNGqs

Trump has no clue how tariffs work: "Look in China...They want to make it deal, very badly. Those tariffs are costing them a lot of money, and they're going into our treasury -- remember that. We're filling up w/billions of dollars." (Tariffs are in fact taxes on US importers)pic.twitter.com/XEZL2l0HXV

TRUMP: "We canceled a record number of job killing regulations. That's why your oil and gas is coming back." #wutpic.twitter.com/0okB5v0Qgh

Bragging about Right to Try, Trump portrays himself as a miracle worker: "Nobody understands the life-saving effects. It's incredible what's going on. They are getting better. Ppl are getting better. They were going to die. I love it. I always wondered why we didn't do it before"pic.twitter.com/Ks5xqXAHTz

TRUMP disses protesters who keep disrupting his rally (there's been at least 4 disruptions): "They go back home to mommy. They get punished when they get home." The crowd responds with "build the wall!" chants.pic.twitter.com/RPbfhcoHwc

TRUMP: "They all said Mr President, we love the tone of your SOTU speech. [Cheering] Some people said it was a great speech... I said, 'but if I ever did that in El Paso, it wouldn't work here too well.' Do you agree? Nice & calm, that's not what you're looking for."pic.twitter.com/UyRLbJ7s0Q

TRUMP: "There's so much to celebrate in our country. The economy, military, so many things we've done scientifically. The world is trying to copy what we've done and they're not going to be able to do it. Not anymore. They were catching up, now they're going in wrong direction."pic.twitter.com/6YLK2PBNcW

"Lock her up!" chants rain down after Trump accuses Hillary Clinton of colluding with Russia. "There's also collusion between the Democrats and the fake news, right here," Trump adds, to huge boos. "CNN sucks!" chants begin.pic.twitter.com/vSFqKi18Vj

After falsely accusing Democrats of wanting to impose a 90 percent tax rate, Trump falsely says the Green New Deal would "shut down a little thing called air travel."pic.twitter.com/6cSLppzGWo

Holy shit -- Trump falsely accuses Ralph Northam of saying he supports "a newborn baby [coming] out into the world, and wrap the baby, make the baby comfortable, & then talk to the mother & talk to the father and then execute the baby. Execute the baby!" Huge, angry boos.pic.twitter.com/VZaZXVoi7Y

Trump smears undocumented immigrants: "Murders, murders, murders. Killings, murders!" Crowd erupts in "Build the wall" chants.pic.twitter.com/kHPQteZdQR

Trump suggests he will cave & support funding bill that doesn't give him money for the wall, but will lie about it: "Just so you know. We are building the wall anyway... I've got to take care of my people from Texas. I don't even want to hear about it."pic.twitter.com/g1o5M6cfEw

TRUMP: "Illegal immigration hurts all of America, including millions of legal immigrants by driving down wages, draining public resources & claiming countless innocent lives. You see what's going on. They give you all these phony stats, they say it's the same. It's not the same."pic.twitter.com/EGkmconBYy

TRUMP slips up, says "we need the people to take care of these companies that are moving."pic.twitter.com/vY7QgRcdxe

Trump offers disturbing, evidence-free descriptions of kidnapping & sex trafficking. "You have 3 women tied up in the backseat of a car you're not going through, folks, a port of entry, where they do look in the backseat at least, right?"pic.twitter.com/Wybb4ArSka

Trump brags about how the wall is already stopping illegal immigration while trying to make a case that more money is needed to build his wall. #incoherent President Law and Order then smears immigrants who show up for court hearings as "the dumbest people."pic.twitter.com/85v1ZjR6JX

Trump on El Paso: "I spoke to people who have been here a long time. They said when the wall went up -- it's a whole different ballgame. Is that a correct statement?" El Paso's crime rate did not in fact go down following construction of a border wall. it was already low.pic.twitter.com/rutjJ0xOsq

Gaslighting as blatant as it gets -- Trump demands his followers disregard government data, and have blind faith a border wall will reduce crime.pic.twitter.com/MnWcBTbxPL

TRUMP: "I hate to say this b/c we have a very good relationship, but Mexico had highest number of killings they had ever had...It's not too far away & we need to take care of our people & we are going to do that & it's happening & it's happening much faster than anybody thought."pic.twitter.com/SzvJ6XlPGf

TRUMP on ports of entry: "We have equipment now that can spot drugs. It's incredible stuff. It's expensive. It's incredible. By the way -- there is nothing better than a good old-fashioned German Shepherd."pic.twitter.com/mxgR0ZN25n

Trump muses about having a dog at the White House, but concludes "it feels a little phony to me." "That's not the relationship I have with my people... Obama had a dog."pic.twitter.com/xZTuMozOYk

Trump bizarrely cites 1888 as the model year for the American economy. He attributes that to tariffs. "1888, have the press check it out," he says, before taking a shot at the media.pic.twitter.com/y51GmecgIc

Trump is surprised at his own proposal to eliminate AIDS. "We're embarking on bold initiatives to defeat AIDS. Who knew that?"pic.twitter.com/wG5H71JSCy

LOL Trump totally makes stuff up "When I took over this country it was a mess...You know I have so many people, it happens every time. 'Sir thank you. Thank you very much.' This guy's a monster. It's true. He's like a monster...& he's crying! 'Thank you very much, Mr President'"pic.twitter.com/zNFddmC06B

Huge cheers as Trump proclaims that "America will never be a socialist country." "We believe in the right to keep & bear arms... We believe that children should be taught to love our country, honor our incredible history, & always respect our great American flags," he adds.pic.twitter.com/f44vG1kxNd

Trump's first rally of 2019 is in the books. His shtick hasn't changed. We're in for another campaign cycle of divisiveness, fear-mongering, & gaslighting.pic.twitter.com/4iCyVBM97f