The 7 Worst Quotes From Trump’s 77-Minute Arizona Speech

Last night, Trump held a “campaign rally” (Why? He’s already president) in Phoenix, Arizona, during which he ranted for 77 minutes on his usual topics, including crowd size, “fake news," and building a wall, as well as his response to the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville. CNN writes:

In what amounted to a 77-minute presidential therapy session in front of thousands of supporters, Trump pulled out copies of three of his own speeches and rehashed what he'd said about white supremacists' gathering around a Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Trump omitted that in his first response, he'd said "many sides" were responsible for the violence there, a comment that drew bipartisan rebuke for equating neo-Nazis with those protesting against them.

Because you probably don’t want to watch the whole 77 minutes, here are 7 of the worst quotes:

1. On Charlottesville:

“This entire arena stands united in forceful condemnation of the thugs who perpetrate hatred and violence.”

Notice Trump’s choice of the racially-coded word “thugs,” which he also used to describe those who prosted his campaign rallies.

2. On his speech after Charlottesville:

"I hit 'em with neo-Nazi, I hit 'em with everything. KKK? We have KKK. I got 'em all."

3. On the removal of Confederate monuments:

"They are trying to take away our history and our heritage. The only people giving a platform to these hate groups is the media itself and the fake news."

4. On former Maricopa County Sherriff Joe Arpaio, convicted for contempt of court for failure to comply with an order to stop racially profiling Latinos:

“So, was Sheriff Joe convicted of doing his job? You know what? I'll make a prediction. I think he's going to be just fine, okay? But I won't do it tonight, because I don't want to cause any controversy. Is that okay?”

5. On building a wall on the Mexico border:

“Believe me, if we have to close down our government, we’re building that wall,”

6. On Kim Jong Un:

"But Kim Jong Un, I respect the fact that I believe he is starting to respect us. I respect that fact very much. Respect that fact."

7. On his own accomplishments, referring to himself in the third person:

"I don't believe that any president has accomplished as much as this president in the first six or seven months."

Top photo: CNN Screenshot

This post was published on August 23, 2017

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Erika W. Smith is BUST's digital editorial director. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram @erikawynn and email her at erikawsmith@bust.com.