‘I haven’t been to Europe’: Quotes of the week

“Somebody I’ve gotten to know very well, and he’s a handsome sucker. Where’s Madison? Madison Cawthorn … If I had a face like him, I would have been president 20 years earlier.”

– Former President Donald Trump at the North Carolina GOP Convention, his first public speaking engagement since leaving office.

“So I walked gingerly down. That was on every newscast in the world, and I never went down. I never went on my a**, I’ll tell you. I wasn’t going to fall. I think that was a booby trap. I’ll never forget that ramp. That was like a sheet of ice. It was cold, rainy, and that ramp was long and steep. I said, ‘General, I might have to grab you, but I’m not going down under.’ And unfortunately, I wasn’t wearing American shoes. I had Italian shoes, nice leather. Leather. It’s like an ice skating rink, but they made that a big story, but they didn’t make the Biden fall, the triple fall. I call it the triple fall.”

– Former President Donald Trump in the same GOP Speech talking about him walking timidly down a ramp after giving a speech at the 2020 West Point graduation ceremony. He contrasted it with Biden falling three times while ascending the stairs to Air Force One.

“They failed in Washington. They failed all over the place. Between the impeachment hoax No. 1, impeachment hoax No. 2, all of these investigations: ‘Ah s***, we failed.’ Let’s send it to the radical left prosecutors in New York, maybe they can have more luck.”

– Former President Donald Trump in his GOP Convention speech in North Carolina.

“The 2020 presidential election, that election, the 2020 presidential election was by far the most corrupt election in the history of our country. There’s never been anything like this. They used COVID, and they used the mail-in ballots to steal an election. It was the third-world country election like we’ve never seen before.”

– Former President Donald Trump in his GOP Convention speech in North Carolina.

“Joe Manchin has become the new Mitch McConnell … Joe Manchin is doing everything in his power to stop democracy.”

– Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a New York Democrat, in an interview on CNN. Manchin will vote against H.R. 1, the Democrats’ election bill in the Senate, he announced over the weekend. He also restated his commitment to keeping the filibuster.

“Do not come. Do not come.”

– Vice President Kamala Harris in Guatemala, with a message for would-be migrants mulling a trek to the U.S.-Mexico border.

“And I haven’t been to Europe. I don’t understand the point that you’re making.”

– Vice President Kamala Harris in an interview with Lester Holt. Holt asked Harris about her having yet to visit detention centers on the U.S.-Mexico border.

“Watch out for the cicadas. I just got one — it got me.”

– President Joe Biden swatting a cicada while boarding Air Force One to embark on his first foreign trip as president.

“We asked the United States government to send more of a clear message to prevent more people from leaving … The message changed too, ‘We’re going to reunite families, we’re going to reunite children.’ The very next day, the coyotes were here organizing groups of children to take them to the United States.”

– Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei on the Biden administration’s messaging on the border crisis.

“I understand from what’s been testified to the Forest Service and the [Bureau of Land Management], you want very much to work on the issue of climate change. I was informed by the past director of NASA that they have found that the moon’s orbit is changing slightly, and so is the earth’s orbit around the sun. We know there’s been significant solar flare activity. And so, is there anything that the National Forest Service or [Bureau of Land Management] can do to change the course of the moon’s orbit or the earth’s orbit around the sun? Obviously, that would have profound effects on our climate.”

– Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Texas Republican, during a hearing of the House Natural Resources Committee. The expert witness who received the question smiled and told Gohmert she would have to follow up later with an answer.

“I know Dr. Fauci, I like Dr. Fauci, I respect Dr. Fauci, but Dr. Fauci needs to cut the crap. This isn’t about Dr. Fauci, it’s not about his feelings, and I’m sorry if his feelings were hurt. You know, maybe he ought to buy an emotional support pony. But we’re not debating dance moves on TikTok here. We’re talking about millions of human lives.”

– Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, in an interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity. Hannity did not say anything about TikTok in his question to Kennedy, so that particular comment seemed to come out of nowhere.

“The biosecurity at the Wuhan Lab sucked. We know that from American intelligence. And China has a history of lab leaks: 1977, 2004, 2019. Also, since day one, Dr. Fauci and his expert friends have told us, ‘Look, the virus occurred naturally. It jumped from a bat, through an intermediate host, into human beings.’ Well, it’s been a year. Where’s the proof? Where’s the smoking bat?”

– Sen. John Kennedy in his interview with Sean Hannity.

“Dr. Fauci needs to address it, and he needs to hit these things head-on. Otherwise, it’s going to undermine public health, people’s confidence in public health, and the American people are gonna end up trusting Dr. Pepper more than Dr. Fauci.”

– Sen. John Kennedy in his interview with Sean Hannity.

“As a black man in America, I’m allowed to have my own thoughts on who I choose to support and who I choose not to support … My support of President Trump has been consistent, but, at the same time, I’ve had the ability to advocate for issues, ideas, proposals, and funding that have helped the black community in my state.”

– Rep. Byron Donalds, a Florida Republican to CNN’s Brianna Keilar on his being denied membership in the Congressional Black Caucus.

“Equating the United States and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban is as offensive as it is misguided. Ignoring the differences between democracies governed by the rule of law and contemptible organizations that engage in terrorism at best discredits one’s intended argument, and at worst reflects deep-seated prejudice.”

– Rep. Brad Schneider, an Illinois Democrat, in a statement on Rep. Ilhan Omar’s questioning of Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Omar conflated the United States and Israel with terrorist groups such as Hamas and the Taliban, critics said. Omar and her allies first cried Islamaphobia in response, but she later issued a clarification.

“I can tell you from the beginning, green peppers, ladies and gentlemen. Right here, my No. 1 choice. Now, a lot of people don’t appreciate green peppers enough. I have southern Italian roots. Roasted peppers are a very big, important part of our life. No. 1 in a big way for me, OK. I didn’t even have to question what my No. 1 vote would be: green peppers.”

– NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio in a press conference. The mayor used a ranking of his favorite pizza toppings to explain to New Yorkers how ranked-choice voting works. His ranking went: (1) green peppers, (2) olives, (3) sausage, (4) mushrooms, (5) pepperoni. He denounced putting pineapple on pizza.

“Biden just said that he was told by the Joint Chiefs of Staff that Climate Change is our greatest threat. If that is the case, and they actually said this, he ought to immediately fire the Joint Chiefs of Staff for being incompetent!”

– Former President Donald Trump in a tweet-like statement issued on his website.

“And I think that is what the people of our countries now want us to focus on. They want us to be sure that we’re beating the pandemic together and discussing how we’ll never have a repeat of what we’ve seen, but also that we’re building back better together, and building back greener, and building back fairer, and building back more equal, and in a more gender-neutral and perhaps a more feminine way. How about that, apart from anything else?”

– U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson opening the G-7 Summit.