President Trump told Fox News host Laura Ingraham in a White House interview Monday that his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, is being "controlled like a puppet," but he can't specify who is calling the shots. "Who do you think is pulling Biden's strings, is it former Obama officials?" Ingraham asked. "People that you've never heard of, people that are in the dark shadows," Trump said. Ingraham suggested that "dark shadows" sounds "like conspiracy theory" fodder, but Trump disagreed. "No," he said, "only people that you haven't heard of. They're, they're people that are on the streets, they're people that are controlling the streets."
Trump continued that he had "somebody get on a plane from a certain city this weekend" carrying about seven "thugs wearing these dark uniforms" en route to the Republican National Convention, which ended last Thursday. He promised more details later, but couldn't divulge them now because it is "under investigation."
If Trump talking about Democratic rivals being "puppets" rings a bell, he and Hillary Clinton swapped that accusation in a 2016 debate — with Trump taking great umbrage at Clinton's charge that Russian President Vladimir Putin was trying to help him win the election.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
There is no evidence or logical reason to believe that Biden is not in control of his own campaign, or that he is being ordered around by shadow people.
-
AI workslop is muddying the American workplaceThe explainer Using AI may create more work for others
-
Japan poised to get first woman prime ministerSpeed Read The ruling Liberal Democratic Party elected former Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi
-
The 5 best mob movies of all timeThe Week Recommends If you don’t like a good gangster flick, just fuhgeddaboudit
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in OregonSpeed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denialSpeed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartelsspeed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feudSpeed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protestersSpeed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
US government shuts down amid health care standoffSpeed Read Democrats said they won’t vote for a deal that doesn’t renew Affordable Care Act health care subsidies
-
YouTube to pay Trump $22M over Jan. 6 expulsionSpeed Read The president accused the company of censorship following the suspension of accounts post-Capitol riot
