1. In Nov 2015, when the candidate left open a response on a question about possibly allowing a registry of Muslims living in the US, he attacked NYT for reporting it and then claimed he saw “thousands” of Muslims cheering on 9/11 in NJ and then spent days ... https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1300913237869752321

2. ... casting around for proof that there were thousands of people cheering the fall of the WTC. His team found an old WaPo clip by @sergenyt from shortly after 9/11/01 saying officials were investigating reports of some folks cheering but it never made ...

3. ... an assertion like the one the candidate had made. So when @sergenyt, one of the best reporters around, said he didn’t recall it as Trump had claimed it, Trump famously attacked him in a really upsetting way at a rally. Some folks laughed. It wasn’t funny.

4. @sergenyt had covered the failed Trump Shuttle when it launched, and had history with Trump. Trump claimed not to know him. But the whole episode, which lasted for 4-5 days, became a prototype for periodic narrowcast obsessions by POTUS. Current one is “mini strokes.”

5. No reporter has reported that “mini strokes” happened. There has been speculation by a former WH doctor/pundits but no one has actually reported this. What @nytmike reported in his book was Pence was warned about needing to be on call when Trump went to Walter Reed last year.

6. But now we have news cycles where the president’s campaign is calling on a commentator to be fired - assuming that’s what he is indeed responding to.

7. And staff for the White House and the campaign are being ordered to respond to this thing that is getting most attention because the president tweeted about it.

8. Pence is on w @bretbaier saying he doesn't "recall being told to be on standby," but says it wasn't a particularly unusual day. Refers other q's to the WH doctor but vouches for POTUS health.

9. Pence is answering an obvious question after @nytmike book. But POTUS has devoted part of his day visiting Kenosha, where he's trying to drive a message against Biden, to hyping a story about himself that a lot of folks hadn't seen till he did it.

10. And Trump earlier today, before the whole mini-strokes thing, insinuated Biden has dementia. And he made claims about Clinton's health in 2016. Now, he's calling for Lockhart to be fired for doing a similar thing.

As Pence appears on Fox to offer up the administration's coronavirus response as a success story to "fair-minded Americans looking on," take a minute to read @alexburnsNYT and me on Pence carving out a corner of normalcy as he works with govs https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/26/us/politics/pence-prepares-for-a-rare-moment-in-the-spotlight.html