For the Record: Donald Trump is not good at fractions
Over the weekend, President-elect Donald Trump zeroed in on issues critical to Americans: “Saturday Night Live” isn’t fair to him, and the cast of the hit musical “Hamilton” isn’t fair to his future vice president, Mike Pence.
Trump took aim at both shows Sunday on Twitter, calling SNL “not funny at all” after it parodied him and suggesting “Hamilton,” winner of 11 Tony Awards, “is highly overrated.” (His daughter might disagree.)
Coverage of Trump’s complaints washed away headlines from Friday, when news came that Trump would pay $25 million to plaintiffs after Trump University fraud cases ended in a settlement. Trump said he would “easily win this case” earlier this year, insisting that he was “not a settler.”
On Friday, he downplayed the lawsuit’s outcome.
“I settled the Trump University lawsuit for a small fraction of the potential award because as President I have to focus on our country,” he tweeted.
Yet Trump was sued for $40 million, the comedian W. Kamau Bell noted, meaning he settled for more than half of that amount -- nowhere near “a small fraction.” Math is hard.
It’s For the Record, the politics newsletter from USA TODAY.
The next president’s biggest threat, apparently: entertainers
In case you missed it, Mike Pence attended a Friday performance of “Hamilton” and afterward received a special address. In a now-viral message, actor Brandon Victor Dixon told Pence the cast was “anxious” that Trump’s administration “will not protect us.”
On Sunday, Trump tweeted that Pence was “harassed” and that the cast was “very rude.” As has happened in the past, Pence disagreed with him.
“I wasn’t offended by what was said,” Pence said on Fox News, “I’ll leave to others whether that was the appropriate venue to say it.”
Pence’s “Hamilton” visit made “Saturday Night Live” over the weekend, and Alec Baldwin returned to play stressed-out Donald Trump struggling to live up to his campaign promises.
“Siri, how do I kill ISIS?” Baldwin’s Trump said. The real Trump wasn’t laughing.
“It is a totally one-sided, biased show - nothing funny at all,” Trump tweeted. “Equal time for us?”
It’s unclear what Trump, who hosted SNL last year, meant by “equal time.” Even Baldwin was confused.
“Equal time? Election is over. There is no more equal time,” he tweeted. “Now u try 2 b Pres + ppl respond. That's pretty much it.”
As could-be conflicts arise, Obama cautions Trump
Questions continue to mount about how Trump’s business affairs will be handled while he’s in office, as USA TODAY’s Gregory Korte reports.
The future of his real estate holdings remains up in the air. His children seem poised for visible roles in his administration, the same ones he said would oversee a “blind trust” containing his business interests.
But that wouldn’t even be a blind trust, ethics lawyers say, since Trump would still know about the assets and be able to benefit from policy decisions.
Enter Barack Obama, who offered some advice: Follow my lead. The current president said Sunday that Trump should put together a White House counsel strong enough to keep conflicts of interest at bay.
At a news conference in Peru, Obama urged Trump to develop ethical standards for himself and his top officials that “not just meet the letter of the law but go well beyond the letter to the spirit.”
“If it sounds like fun, then you can’t do it,” Obama said. Sad!
Around the transition
- In case you were wondering, Bruce Springsteen’s guitarist thinks Pence was bullied (Asbury Park Press)
- Recessions happen more often under Republican presidents. Is Trump next? (USA TODAY)
- Was Twitter’s crackdown on the ‘alt-right’ based on political bias? (USA TODAY)
- Women disappointed in 2016 results get 'Ready to Run' (USA TODAY)
A bonus from this ‘Hamilton’ fiasco: More Biden memes
Mike Pence attended “Hamilton,” and the Internet was not throwing away its shot: New Joe Biden memes cast the current vice president as the orchestrator behind it all.