Pool Reports of August 21, 2020

In-town pool report No. 1

Good morning from the White House on this muggy and overcast Friday. Pool is currently waiting for Covid-19 tests prior to departing for Arlington, Va.

The president will deliver remarks at the 2020 Council for National Policy meeting at 11 a.m. then return to the White House.

The first family is also expected to hold a funeral service for the president's younger brother Robert Trump at the White House this afternoon. As of now, it is likely to be for family and friends only.

Stay tuned.

In-town pool report no. 2 — Leaving WH

Motorcade left the White House at 11:28 a.m. and is rolling to the Ritz Carlton in Pentagon City.

We did not see Potus prior to departure. The president's remarks, which were scheduled to begin at 11 a.m, can be watched live at the link below. Your pooler will send along additional color.

https://youtu.be/iXjc4hRo7AM

In-town pool report no. 3

Motorcade arrived at the Ritz Carlton at 11:38 a.m. Pool did not see Potus enter the building and was immediately ushered upstairs and into the ballroom where attendees are awaiting Potus' remarks.

Signs outside the ballroom encouraged participants to maintain 6 feet of distance from each other, though most folks in the room have chosen not to heed that advice.

The White House passed along the following info about Potus' appearance:

Today, President Donald J. Trump will give remarks at the 2020 Council for National Policy Meeting in Virginia.

The following individuals are expected to attend:

The White House
President Donald J. Trump

Trump Administration
Acting Secretary Chad Wolf, Department of Homeland Security

State and Local Officials
Dan Patrick, Lieutenant Governor of Texas
Jason Rapert, Arkansas State Senator
Matt Krause, Member of Texas House of Representatives

External Participants
Bill Walton, President, Council for National Policy Acting Secretary
Bob McEwen, Executive Director, Council for National Policy
Kelly Shackelford, Vice President, Council for National Policy
Jenny Beth Martin, Secretary, Council for National Policy

In-town pool report no. 4 — Potus remarks

Potus took the stage at 11:49 p.m. to a standing ovation, chants of "USA" and the tune of his usual walk-up: Lee Greenwood's God Bless the U.S.A.

"Thank you to the Council of National Policy. My brother Robert would have wanted me to be here today," Potus said. The younger Trump died Friday night at age 71.

Potus speaking now on the coronavirus pandemic, Joe Biden, the economy and vaccine development.

On Biden's speech at the Democratic National Convention last night, Potus said the biggest takeaway was its lack of attention on law enforcement and China.

"China was never mentioned in any way, shape or form. China will own our country if he gets elected."

In-town pool report no. 5 — Election comments

Potus is still speaking at 12:48 p.m. He made some newsy comments below on "universal mail-in voting." He also said it's important to distinguish between absentee voting, "which we're okay with," and mail-in ballots.

"You'll never have an election count on Nov. 3."

"In my opinion, you wouldn't be able to know the results of this election maybe weeks, months. Maybe never. I don't think you'll know two weeks later. I don't think you'll know four weeks later."

"You know, there's a theory that if you don't know by the end of the year Crazy Nancy Pelosi becomes president." The crowd booed at this.

"I say this for the media: This will be one of the greatest catastrophe in the history of our country. They all say I want to steal the election — just the opposite. I want the fairest results."

Please check quotes against official transcript.

NOTE: I misidentified the date of Robert Trump's passing in my last pool report. He died Saturday, not Friday. Your pooler regrets the error.

In-town pool report no. 6 – Back to WH

Potus wrapped his remarks at 12:58 p.m. Motorcade is rolling back to the White House at 1:02 p.m.

He spoke for about an hour and talked at length about Israel and how much "evangelical Christians" appreciated his decision to relocate the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. He also said if he was a politician in Israel, he would probably have a "98 percent approval rating."

He riffed on Biden for quite awhile, mocking him for saying his age and limited campaign travel outside of Delaware. "He left [Washington] seven decades ago and he still calls it his home. His real home is a place he never leaves anymore."

He also accused Democrats of embracing a "sick ideology" and plotting to destroy the Second Amendment and the U.S. economy. "I'm very good at predicting these things," Potus said after he claimed Biden would cause an economic depression.

In-town pool report no. 7 – Lunch lid & Conway gaggle

Shortly after 2 p.m., White House counselor Kellyanne Conway briefed reporters on the driveway for about 20 minutes. Highlights from the gaggle are below. As always, please check notes against transcript.

The White House also called a lunch lid until 3:30 p.m. while your pooler was outside for Conway's gaggle.

What will the overarching message be at next week's convention?

"I've been helping in my personal capacity and you're going to see and hear from many Americans whose lives have been monumentally impacted by this administration's policies."

"We definitely want to improve on the dour and sour mood of the DNC. The two most popular words at the Democratic convention were not J'oe Biden,' they were 'Donald Trump.'"

Conway said the convention would focus on "47 months of Trump's presidency versus Biden's 47 years in Washington."

Thoughts on Dem's convention?

"The Democratic convention was a Hollywood-produced, Old Guard-laden convention if you ask me. I agree with people like James Carville making the point that we didn't hear anything about the economy argument. There's very little of note that Biden did in the eight years while he was vice president here to help the middle class. I don't think anyone's ever used the phrase 'Biden economy.'"

"I also didn't hear about a woman's right to choose. That's all we ever heard. 30 years. Where was it? It's in the platform – abortion anytime, anywhere. Eight, nine months. When the kid goes to kindergarten if they want. Abortion anytime, anywhere, any stage. Planned Parenthood didn't get much for their endorsement this week."

"It was a pretty play-it-safe convention. Brayden Harrington was the breakout moment. That was a wonderful moment we can all celebrate. But you need to break out in a way that gets Biden over the 50% mark and staus there. It seemed like a retread of a lot of their same sound bites."

What are your thoughts on recent swing state polls?

"I think they're exactly where we expected them to be pre-convention and pre-Labor Day. They're both under 50% in most places and within 1% of each other in swing states."

Will the opioid epidemic be mentioned at GOP convention?

"You will hear an awful lot about the great strides we are making about the poly-drug crisis we see and opioids. You will hear that from people who have been immeasurably effected by it."

Is Biden an old-school establishment Democrat or new wave radical?

"There is no old school. It doesn't exist. Who are the pro-lifers in the Democratic party at the federal level? Who are the people saying, 'Guess what, these trade deals are helping the people of my state?'"

"They talked a lot about unity, but they didn't even unify their own convention."

Are you concerned about the Fox News poll this week showing Biden with 28% support among evangelicals?

"I will say the president will have his opportunity to continue to explain that he's the first president in U.S. history to preside over a UN General Assembly on religious persecution. He's someone who has here in the Rose Garden welcomed people of all different faiths and he's trying to broker peace among religious coutnries that have been at war for years. The most recent example being the UAE and Israel. He's also the most pro-life president ever."

"I don't question [Biden's] faith. He's a practicing Catholic like me. But does he agree or disagree with his party's platform of abortion-on-demand? I think at a time when Americans are looking for more prayer and not less people need to know the Biden record."

Will the president's travel to swing states change in coming weeks?

"He is the president for all Americans and he will continue to visit – if somebody's refurbishing a plant and it's in TX or OR, he's going to continue to go there."

"I was amazed this week the VP said the last Democratic nominee to visit Wisconsin was in 2012 and that's just an affront to voters. They can continue to ignore people in large swaths of the country and the president will continue to show up. That's the best counter-programming."

Vaccine update?

"Operation Warp Speed is exactly that. We have six companies and about three who are in the final phases. In less time than it takes to have a baby we've been able to develop a vaccine for a novel coronavirus. That's pretty remarkable and America needs to hear that."

Next round of China talks?

"The representatives are still holding talks. We believe phase one is still happening, but this president makes clear he looks at China very differently now."

In-town pool report no. 8 — Funeral procession

At 5:20 p.m., pool was called to gather outside the White House entrance hall to witness the transfer of Robert Trump's casket to a hearse waiting outside.

Potus, First Lady Melania Trump and several family members followed the pallbearers down the steps as bagpipes played the hymn "Abide With Me." Most everyone except Potus, who wore a navy suit, was dressed in black.

Pool was ushered away from the scene at 5:25 p.m. Photo and video attached.

In-town pool report no. 9 – Lid

The White House called a travel/photo lid at 5:40 p.m. Have a safe weekend ya'll.