Before Expected Call for Unity, Trump Laced Into Democrats at Lunch for TV Anchors

By Peter Baker and Michael M. Grynbaum
Feb. 5, 2019

WASHINGTON — For public consumption, President Trump planned to use his State of the Union address on Tuesday night to appeal for bipartisan unity. But at a private lunch for television anchors earlier in the day he offered searing assessments of a host of Democrats.

Mr. Trump dismissed former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. as “dumb,” called Senator Chuck Schumer of New York a “nasty son of a bitch” and mocked Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia for “choking like a dog” at a news conference where he tried to explain a racist yearbook photo, according to multiple people in the room.

He said he hoped he would get to run against Mr. Biden. “I hope it’s Biden,” Mr. Trump 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.”

Not every target was a Democrat. He recounted again the story of what he considered Senator John McCain’s betrayal in voting against advancing a measure to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care program. Although Mr. McCain has since died, Mr. Trump remains upset.“By the way,” Mr. Trump said, “he wrote a book and the book bombed.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/05/us/politics/trump-lunch-news-anchors.html