President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had his fireside chats on the radio. President Ronald Reagan appeared often before a national TV audience. In 2019, President Trump makes himself heard on his @realDonaldTrump Twitter account.
We at Cheddar decided to take a look at a few of the president's most popular pronouncements on the platform this year.
'Get home ASAP A$AP!'
In the midst of a global uproar over the detention of rapper A$AP Rocky in Sweden, President Trump inserted himself into the discussion and called for his release. Swedish authorities detained Rocky over an assault charge. Once the Harlem rapper was allowed to return to the states, President Trump rolled out the red carpet with a pun, tweeting "A$AP Rocky released from prison and on his way home to the United States from Sweden. It was a Rocky Week, get home ASAP A$AP!"
As it stands, this tweet is President Trump's most liked and most retweeted in 2019.
Trump the heavyweight
Did you ever think you would be talking about a shirtless photo of the President of the United States? President Trump tweeted — with no caption — a photo of his face superimposed on a picture of Sylvester Stallone as fictional boxer Rocky Balboa. This one came at the end of November, after the first round of damaging House Intelligence impeachment hearings. Without using words, it seemed to declare 'I am a heavyweight.' Additionally, the tweet followed news reports that President Trump had a health scare after a surprise trip to a DC hospital.
The boxer tweet is President Trump's fourth most retweeted and third most liked in 2019.
Every dog has its day
One military dog made it onto the president's Twitter feed after a high-stakes raid in Syria. President Trump tweeted "We have declassified a picture of the wonderful dog (name not declassified) that did such a GREAT JOB in capturing and killing the Leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi!" The picture came after a revealing presidential address that described how the U.S. military took down the ISIS leader in Syria. The pictured K9 helped track down and chase Al-Baghdadi but was injured on the mission. After making a full recovery, the dog's name was ultimately declassified and revealed to be Conan.
President Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and Vice President Mike Pence all honored Conan at a White House Rose Garden event in November.
The tweet showing Conan earned President Trump his fifth-most retweets and his fourth-most likes.
Big Apple workers who deliver for food apps like Doordash and Grubhub will now receive a number of legal protections provided through a package of new regulations that have started going into effect. These updated rules include more control over their deliveries, pay and tip transparency, a higher minimum pay rate, and access to restaurant bathrooms during the workday. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander joined Cheddar to elaborate on the regulations and how the platform holders reacted. "I have to say it's a mixed bag," he said. "Grubhub actually welcomed the legislation and said they recognize they need to do better by their deliveristas, but DoorDash, unfortunately, has actually been pushing back against the legislation."
Thomas Hoenig, Former CEO of Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and currently Distinguished Senior Fellow with the Mercatus Center, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says the Fed's decision was no surprise, but believes the Fed is behind the curve on raising rates.
Legal cannabis businesses are having a hard time surviving in California with the high cost of doing business and a still-thriving illicit market. In response, nonprofit Supernova Women, founded by women of color, is advocating on behalf of Black and brown shareholders in the cannabis industry. Amber Senter, co-founder, executive director, and chairman of the organization, spoke with Cheddar News about calling for changes in the Golden State's taxation system for legal marijuana. "We're really leaning on the legislators now to support the industry and make sure that this industry, in particular craft cannabis, can survive," said Senter.
After being among the hardest-hit industries by the pandemic, restaurants are still having a hard time staying afloat, with owners claiming that business is worse now due to closures from staff shortages and customer decline than it was three months ago. Mike Whatley, vice president of state affairs and grassroots advocacy for the National Restaurant Association, spoke to Cheddar News about how the sector is reaching out to lawmakers for help. "Working with Senators Wicker, Sinema, and a whole host of bipartisan leaders, we're trying to get the Restaurant Revitalization Fund replenished," Whatley said.
Communities of color are disproportionately affected by climate change and continuously feel the impacts. Mark Magaña, founding president and CEO of Green Latinos joined All Hands to discuss.
The memoir, "COMPROMISED: Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald J. Trump", tells a familiar story from a bit of a different source: Peter Strzok himself, former FBI Counterintelligence Agents and Agency Veteran who spent most of his very long career investigating some of the most controversial inquiries, most notably in recent American history. Those inquiries were Hillary Clinton's email to even Trump Russia investigations. Former FBI Agent and Author of "Compromised" Peter Strzok, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
President Biden's first year did not come to the close that he had hoped after last night's Senate vote blocked the voting rights bill, a priority that Biden has promoted since his inauguration. Joining us to discuss the voting rights bill, and many others passing through congress is congresswoman Lori Trahan, representing Massachusett's 3rd district.
