On his way out of the seat of power, Donald Trump claimed credit for things he didn’t do, twisted his record on jobs, taxes, the pandemic and much more. Falsehoods littered his farewell remarks to the country.
Twitter, his former playground – from which he is now banned for inciting rebellion in the aftermath of the Washington riot – was awash with reaction to the 20 minute address that was posted to YouTube and pointedly not carried live by many major networks.
Here’s what people made of it:
Biden who?
Trump could not bring himself to say Biden’s name once during the speech and nor will he attend the incoming president’s inauguration. He has refused to publicly concede to Biden and spent the weeks after the election blaming his loss on widespread voter fraud that didn’t exist.
Trump also pettily refused to send a government plane to fly Biden to Washington, leaving him to charter his own aircraft. His predecessor Barack Obama sent Trump an Air Force One-type jet for his family’s arrival to Washington.
What ‘movement’?
Trump made clear he has no plans of going quietly into the night, telling his supporters that, as he prepares “to hand power over to a new administration at noon on Wednesday, I want you to know that the movement we started is only just beginning.
“There’s never been anything like it,” he claimed.
Many felt unsettled by the outgoing president’s decision not to elaborate on just what “movement” he was referring to.
Trump noted Americans had been “horrified” by the storming of the Capitol this month, but brushed past the encouragement he had given to the mob in advance and his praise of the attackers as “very special people” while they were still ransacking the seat of power.
Priorities
Trump painted a glowing picture of the American economy in his final address, claiming “millions had been lifted from poverty in just a few short years” in what he described as a “miracle”. He even made special mention of the advance of 401(k)s retirement and pension plans – before acknowledging the colossal 401,000 deaths of those who perished in the coronavirus pandemic.
The USA has the highest death toll in the world due to the virus.
‘Luck’
While Biden did not so much get a mention, Trump made a point of wishing the new administration “luck”.
“We extend our best wishes. And we also want them to have luck — a very important word.”
Many felt uncomfortable about the sentiment, with some even reading it as a veiled threat.
‘Stood up to big pharma’
Trump has claimed to have brought prescription prices down after making it a core pledge of his 2016 campaign. He issued several executive orders in late 2020 meant to cut prices, but their impacts have been limited by legal challenges and other problems.
In his leaving speech he told Americans: “We created choice and transparency in healthcare, stood up to big pharma in so many ways, but especially in our effort to get favoured-nations clauses added, which will give us the lowest prescription drug prices anywhere in the world.”
Fact check: In December, a federal judge blocked a last-minute Trump administration rule aimed at lowering drug prices that was set to be implemented at the beginning of the year. It was challenged by drug industry groups including PhRMA, the nation’s leading pharmaceutical trade group.
And many drug makers kicked off 2021 by raising US list prices on more than 500 drugs and include price increases from companies like Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline.
This was not lost on people.
‘We did what we came here to do’
Trump made vague remarks about his administration doing “what we came here to do”.
Fact check: He is leaving the White House with a less than exemplary record and he is the first president since Herbert Hoover in the Depression to leave office with fewer people in work than when he started.
Impacted by Covid, of course, the US has about 2.8 million fewer jobs now than when Trump was inaugurated, and lost 140,000 just in December. And the job losses have fallen disproportionately on Black Americans, Hispanics and women.
His comments also left the door open for people to speculate on what his comment might have meant...
‘China virus’
Trump has repeatedly described Covid-19 as “the Chinese virus” despite growing evidence it puts Asians at risk of virus-related racial discrimination.
Asked why, when scientists say the disease does not respect borders and is not caused by ethnicity, Trump told reporters at the White House that he does not consider it a racist remark.
“It’s not racist at all,” Trump said, adding that he calls it the “Chinese virus” because he wants to be accurate.
He indicated his terminology was a warranted pushback to Chinese officials who have been suggesting the US military might have introduced the virus to Wuhan, the Chinese city where it was first reported in late 2019.
“China had tried to say at one point — maybe they stopped now — that it was caused by American soldiers,” Trump said. “That can’t happen. It’s not going to happen, not as long as I’m president. It comes from China.”
Beijing has complained, but Trump administration officials continue to link the virus to China.