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Trump news - live: President launches fresh attack on Parasite and Brad Pitt after defending Tulsi Gabbard at MAGA rally

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John T. Bennett,Joe Sommerlad,Alex Woodward
Friday 21 February 2020 17:38 EST
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Donald Trump launches fresh attack on Parasite at MAGA rally

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Donald Trump has resumed his attack on Democratic 2020 candidate Michael Bloomberg on Twitter and posted a bizarre all-caps rant about bailing out America's farmers with federal funding.

The president unexpectedly lashed out at this year’s Best Picture Oscar winner, the South Korean thriller Parasite, at his latest campaign rally in Colorado Springs on Thursday night, only for the movie’s US distributor Neon to mock him for not being able to read subtitles.

Trump also laid into Hollywood star Brad Pitt (“a little wise guy”), teen climate activist Greta Thunberg and Fox News - angered by negative coverage about him on Neil Cavuto’s show - otherwise stumbling over his words again and getting his conspiracy theories mixed up.

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Alex Woodward21 February 2020 19:30

Team Trump has bought the rights to takeover YouTube on Election Day.

The Independent's Andrew Griffin reports.

Alex Woodward21 February 2020 19:40

Republicans have indeed blocked several election security measures that the party's membership have dismissed as Democrats' PR stunts.

One of those measures would require campaigns to report offers of foreign assistance to the Federal Election Commission and the FBI.

Democrats have labelled Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell "Moscow Mitch" and accused him of burying Democrat-backed bills in his "legislative graveyard". A stack of 250 bills languished on Mr McConnell's desk late last year, including nine election security bills.

Alex Woodward21 February 2020 19:55

Trump closes campaign tour with Las Vegas rally

The president is set to take the stage momentarily in Las Vegas, where he's holding another rally on a campaign tour while Democrats head west for the Nevada caucus.

His rally is the third in as many days during a four-day stretch in the West.

But Nevada Republicans won't be voting in their caucus tomorrow. The party decided to cancel its caucus presuming that Mr Trump would be their nominee.

Alex Woodward21 February 2020 20:10

The president takes the stage at the Las Vegas Convention Center announcing that "they have a big election tomorrow. We've already won."

He's already suggesting that tomorrow's Democratic caucus votes will be suspect: "I hear their computers are all messed up like they were in Iowa. ... They can't count votes. They're say they might not able to do it again."

Nobody has said that.

Alex Woodward21 February 2020 20:22

The president said there's a "distinct possibility" he'll still be president in 2028, when the Olympics are in Los Angeles, which he then says is his doing, and nobody will thank him for it. (He's in Las Vegas.)

He brought out members of the Miracle on Ice team, many of them wearing "Make America Great Again" hats.

He asked Mike Eruzione: "Am I a good athlete and am I a good golfer?"

Eruzione replied: "Whatever you say."

While he's standing with the team, he's railing against "Parasite" winning the Oscar for best picture, again.

Alex Woodward21 February 2020 20:31

Trump attacks Hillary Clinton for calling Tulsi Gabbard and Jill Stein a "Russian agent."

He said: "They said she's an agent of Russia. ... The only thing I know is they are not agents of Russia. These people are sick."

Alex Woodward21 February 2020 20:39

Trump is once again revisiting the Democratic debate, repeating slurs against Elizabeth Warren and calling Michael Bloomberg "Mini Mike": "Mini Mike! Here's a box, Mike. He was a beauty. What happened? He couldn't breathe."

"Who won the debate? Trump."

He's doing his "fake news" schtick, getting the crowd to boo at the cameras and calling MSNBC "MSDNC".

"A bunch of dishonest people."

He said while he was doing The Apprentice, Comcast and NBC would "would kiss my ass" and tell him to sign contracts for the show.

Alex Woodward21 February 2020 20:42

He's taking several minutes to explain his Apprentice ratings, options, contract negotiations, scheduling and calls with agents about the show.

Alex Woodward21 February 2020 20:45

About intelligence officials warning congress about Russian interference in 2020 elections, he says: "Give me a break."

Now he's shaking hands with a man wearing a "wall" suit and a woman wearing a Make America Great Again suit.

He brought up another man wearing a "CNN FAKE NEWS" T-shirt.

"Look at this guy!" he says.

Alex Woodward21 February 2020 20:50

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