President Donald Trump reportedly pressed his aides to sharpen up the State of the Union speech in the days before the big event as he did not feel there were enough pointed barbs aimed at the Democratic resistance facing him in Congress. But while he mostly stuck to the script within the halls of Congress (though still getting in a few good shots), he was nowhere near as restrained when dining with the media earlier in the day. At a luncheon with television anchors from around the media spectrum, Trump laid into Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and the man he hopes to face in 2020, former Vice President Joe Biden.
Trump told the gathered talking heads that he was highly optimistic about his chances in the forthcoming election, telling anchors that Democrats would probably move far enough to the left that they would leave the majority of American voters looking for an alternative.
He said that of all the candidates expected to jump into the race, he was most excited about a showdown with Biden.
“I hope it’s Biden,” he said. “Biden was never very smart. He was a terrible student. His gaffes are unbelievable. When I say something that you might think is a gaffe, it’s on purpose; it’s not a gaffe. When Biden says something dumb, it’s because he’s dumb.”
Trump said he wasn’t worried, though, if his challenger turned out to be Warren.
“I hope I haven’t wounded Pocahontas too badly,” he said. “I’d like to run against her.”
Of Howard Schultz, the former Starbucks CEO who has expressed interested in an independent bid for the presidency, Trump was dismissive.
“He doesn’t have a shot,” Trump told the attendees. “Not a shot.”
Trump also took a dig at Gov. Northam, whom he felt humiliated himself after a yearbook photo came out showing a picture of a man in blackface on the page dedicated to him. “Did you see that news conference?” Trump joked. “Could you believe it? He choked like a dog.”
About his current opposition in Congress, Trump was lighter on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi than her counterpart in the Senate. He told guests that while Pelosi liked to trash him in public, she was easier to get along with behind the scenes.
Not so with Schumer, who the president said could “be a nasty son of a bitch.”
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