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Morning Joe panel laughs its way through dismantling Trump's 'weird' helicopter tale

ON MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Friday morning, the panel reacted with laughter as fill-in host Katty Kay took apart Donald Trump's "weird" tale of almost dying in a helicopter crash that reportedly never happened.

During the ex-president's rambling press conference on Thursday at his Mar-a-Lago resort he used a recollection of visiting California to view wildfire damage from a helicopter as a reason to attack Vice President Kamala Harris.

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'Trump seems to be stuck' and debate gambit 'shows how desperate he is': reporter

Puck News senior political correspondent Tara Palmeri on Friday said that former President Donald Trump's sudden flip-flop on debating Vice President Kamala Harris on ABC showed that he's "desperate" for an event to turn around his presidential campaign.

Appearing on CNN Friday, Palmeri argued that Trump would not have changed his mind on debating Harris on ABC if he felt confident at the moment that he was heading toward victory.

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'Is he out of gas?': Analyst questions Trump's disappearing act since GOP convention

On Friday morning, MSNBC "Morning Joe" regular John Heilemann raised the specter that Donald Trump is not physically up to a hard-charging campaign against Vice President Kamala Harris, as evidenced by his staying out of the public eye since the Republican National Convention.

Speaking with the MSNBC panel, the longtime political analyst pointed out that after highly scrutinized conventions where the presidential candidate is anointed, that person usually hits the road to maintain the enthusiasm.

In the case of Trump, who is known for his obsession with being in the spotlight, he has only, by Heilemann's count, held three rallies in three weeks, choosing instead to bunker down in Mar-a-Lago where he has conducted a few interviews by phone when he is not ranting on his Truth Social platform.

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Noting Trump's lack of public appearances, host Joe Scarborough asked, "Are they afraid? Is he afraid that the crowds are going to continue to decrease and Kamala's crowds are going to continue to increase? Why is he afraid to go out there?"

"Since the Republican convention. he did an event in Grand Rapids, I believe. He did an event in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and he did this event last week in Atlanta," the analyst replied. "There may be — I'm not going to say that that's the definitive full count — but that's three in three weeks. Now, normally, as you know, after a political candidate's, presidential candidate's convention, it's the customary thing is to barnstorm the country."

"Why has Donald Trump been so infrequently on the campaign trail over the course of these past three weeks while so much has been changing?" he later added. "All this stuff has been happening, and Trump would normally — knowing what we know about Trump over the course of watching him for the last eight years — this is not the play. Trump would be like, 'I have to get out there, see my people, flex.'"

"He hasn't done any of that, and I don't have an answer, but it's really weird," he continued. "I'm not using it in the Democratic partisan sense. I mean, it is an odd thing, totally unexpected. I think people should ask the question: Is he out of gas? I don't know. "

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'Vibe at Mar-a-Lago is panic' after hastily called press conference: Morning Joe panel

During a discussion on Donald Trump's rambling Mar-a-Lago press conference on Thursday, Jonathan Lemire, host of MSNBC's "Way Too Early," revealed the former president decided to put himself in front of the press at the last minute after he learned his top aides were going to be speaking to reporters.

During the "Morning Joe" panel, Lemire told host Joe Scarborough, "I'm told by Trump insiders that there was a campaign briefing scheduled the day before for some reporters to come down there, and that Trump aides would talk about the state of the race. Trump said, 'Well, if they're here, I'll have a news conference.'"

"They're trying to draw a contrast because Vice President [Kamala] Harris hasn't taken that many questions since being the nominee. She should, but that's not an issue that's going to move voters," he continued. "Really what this was about was Trump trying to say, I am angry at my staff, they're failing me, I'm going to go out there and try to fix things. Yet, if the goal here is to win over some new voters, it's hard to see that happened."

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"More than anything, the vibe from Mar-a-Lago yesterday was panic, " Lemire suggested. "It's now been three weeks since Harris became the Democratic, you know, presumptive nominee, and they haven't been able to land a finger on her, they haven't figured this out at all."

He then continued, "And we know the one thing that gets under Trump's skin more than anything is crowd size, and she is outdrawing him. He can't handle that. They're trying to change the dynamics of the race."

"One truism is the candidate who wants to have more and more debates is the candidate who is losing, and that's what we got from Donald Trump yesterday," he added.

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Strategist says Trump is 'insecure' about crowd sizes: 'Women know what I'm talking about'

A "deeply uncomfortable" CNN panel busted out laughing early Friday morning as one Democratic strategist said Donald Trump's obsession with crowd sizes is an indication that he is "insecure" about something.

The panel was discussing Trump's recent press conference during which the former president compared Martin Luther King Jr.'s crowd for his "I have a dream" speech to the crowd Trump had on Jan. 6, 2021.

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Trump signaled he 'thinks he's losing' during his 'weird press conference': conservative

According to a former Republican National Committee spokesperson, conservatives should be alarmed by a concession by Donald Trump during his Mar-a-Lago press conference that he is agreeing to more debates with Vice President Kamala Harris.

Speaking with MSNBC's Jonathan Lemire on "Way Too Early," Tim Miller told the host that any candidate who is far ahead in the polls would never agree to give their opponent more campaign oxygen, which means the former president is all too aware he is losing.

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Trump campaign: Where's Kamala? UAW: In Michigan with union autoworkers

Part of former U.S. President Donald Trump's GOP presidential campaign strategy has involved repeatedly asking, "Where's Kamala?"

On Thursday, one of the nation's largest labor unions resoundingly responded: "At UAW Local 900 in Wayne, Michigan with 150 autoworkers."

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'2016 all over again': MSNBC host unloads on media for failing to fact-check Trump

MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell laid into news outlets on his show Thursday night, comparing their collective failure to call out Donald Trump's falsehoods to 2016.

"It was 2016 all over again, today," he told his viewers. "Donald Trump spoke at his home in Florida for over an hour and all the major cable news networks, including this one, carried it live. Just like they all did repeatedly in 2016. It would be hard to find a sentence that Donald Trump said today that did not include at least one lie."

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GOP's smearing of Tim Walz's military record reminiscent of 'Swiftboat' attacks: Democrat

A New Jersey Democrat and Navy veteran came to the defense of vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, saying the accusations questioning his military record are "incredibly offensive" and reminiscent of the "Swiftboat bulls---" that Sen. John Kerry faced in his presidential election.

Rep. Mikie Sherrill spoke with CNN host Kaitlan Collins on Thursday night on "The Source" and called the attack against Walz — who served in the National Guard for 24 years — a "slanderous" attack against his "honorable service."

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'Absolute dumpster fire': Ex-Trump aide scorches 'ranting and raving' news conference

Former President Donald Trump's bizarre press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday was a desperate attempt to force the media's focus off Vice President Kamala Harris and back onto himself, argued former Trump administration communications official Alyssa Farah Griffin on CNN.

The problem is, she added, it wasn't the kind of attention that benefits him.

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'Look with your eyes': Joy Reid laughs as she debunks Trump's crowd size boasts

MSNBC's Joy Reid openly laughed at former President Donald Trump's news conference boasts about his crowd sizes on Thursday — and provided photographic evidence to prove he was talking nonsense.

"It kind of helps if you take the time to actually go out and meet the voters," said Reid. "While [Kamala] Harris and [Tim] Walz have been putting in the miles, hitting multiple states this week with more to go, all Trump has done is hit the putting greens as he remained holed up at Mar-a-Lago."

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GOP Senate candidate 'personally insulted' by 'alienating' attacks on Kamala Harris' race

A former Republican Maryland governor appeared on Fox Business to complain about Donald Trump's drag on his U.S. Senate campaign.

Larry Hogan is running against one of Vice President Kamala Harris' dear friends, Angela Alsobrooks. But the polls haven't been great for Hogan, whom Trump has endorsed.

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'That's not true': Dem adviser hammers ex-Trump strategist for smearing Tim Walz's service

Former Hillary Clinton campaign official Karen Finney clashed with former Donald Trump campaign official Bryan Lanza on CNN Thursday, over GOP attacks on the military service record of Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Finney debunked the Trump camp's claims that there were "discrepancies" in his account of what he did while in the Army National Guard.

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