Donald Trump is a pathetic fool and we’ll get to all of that in a moment. But first, let’s talk about how Melania Trump came out of her Louis Vuitton bubble to make an appearance alongside the man she hates the most. That man apparently told her to smile for the cameras and she couldn’t do it:

Trump asks Melania to smile during today’s photo op. pic.twitter.com/B59YeDHKRM

— The Recount (@therecount) June 2, 2020

Real talk: did he tell her to smile? I was trying to lip read and I don’t think he said “smile.” But sure, whatever. I won’t analyze it that much. Melania hates him.

Meanwhile, as I’m sure everyone remembers, Donald Trump ordered entirely peaceful protesters to be tear-gassed, flash-banged and assaulted on Monday. The images and videos were horrendous, and he did it all for a campaign photo-op at a church. He didn’t go inside the church, he just stood outside, holding a Bible upside down like a moron. In the 24 hours after that stunt, a steady stream of clergy, religious scholars, preachers and regular people came out against Trump and his actions. Turns out, seeing kids gassed live on television as part of Trump’s Nazi agit-prop will spur a lot of people to come out and make this their fight. There were even bigger demonstrations and protests in Washington, New York, LA and hundreds of other cities on Tuesday. There are now Black Lives Matter protests in all 50 states. And it’s happening globally too. That’s what Trump’s stunt did.

A few more things. This piece includes a first-hand account of the violent government assault on peaceful protesters on Monday. That first-hand account is from a reverend, a member of the DC Episcopal clergy, who was in Lafayette Park passing out snacks, hand sanitizer and water to the protesters. The reverend says she and the other clergy and church volunteers there were tear-gassed and pushed off church property by the armed thugs with badges.

Meanwhile, there were several different versions about who ordered what and when on Monday. Bill Barr says he ordered the assault and gassing, Trump’s people said he ordered it because he hated the way the media reported on his cowardice and how he hid in the White House bunker. Some government officials tried to gaslight the public and say of course they didn’t tear-gas or assault anyone, despite the mountain of evidence and first-hard experiences. Now the Trump campaign is lying specifically about the tear-gas. They say it wasn’t tear-gas. It was.

INBOX: Trump campaign orders the media to “correct or retract” reporting that accurately described yesterday’s protests, live footage of which plainly showed viewers what happened. pic.twitter.com/ly07TODYlC

— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) June 2, 2020

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red.