Not once, not twice but three times over the last 18 hours, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to tout just how well received he was by Senate Republicans on Tuesday.
First came this tweet at 6:20 p.m. ET Tuesday night: “So nice being with Republican Senators today. Multiple standing ovations! Most are great people who want big Tax Cuts and success for U.S.”
Then, this one at 7:30 a.m. ET Wednesday: “The meeting with Republican Senators yesterday, outside of Flake and Corker, was a love fest with standing ovations and great ideas for USA!”
And, finally, this one at 8:33 a.m. ET: “Jeff Flake, with an 18% approval rating in Arizona, said ‘a lot of my colleagues have spoken out.’ Really, they just gave me a standing O!”
Notice any similarities? I’ll give you a hint:
Yes, in each of those three tweets Trump touts the “standing ovation” he received from Republican senators.
It’s typical Trump: he gauges success in large part by how much he is loved; standing ovations — along with TV ratings, crowd size and “buzz” — are a direct measure of how he believes everyone feels about him.
No one would be surprised then that Trump has often touted the many standing ovations he has received. Using the invaluable Trump Twitter Archive, I dug up a whole bunch of times Trump has been applauded wildly — to the point of standing — as recounted by none other than Donald Trump.
1. “Had a great meeting at CIA Headquarters yesterday, packed house, paid great respect to Wall, long standing ovations, amazing people. WIN!” (Jan. 22, 2017)
2. “Sleepy eyes Chuck Todd, a man with so little touch for politics, is at it again. He could not have watched my standing ovation speech in N.C.” (July 6, 2016)
3. “@akawhit1: @Maxinerunner @RonNussbeck @realDonaldTrump MCCAIN WHO? #Vets Give Donald Trump Standing Ovation http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/07/21/mccain-who-vets-slobber-over-trump.html?via=twitter_page … …” (July 23, 2015)
4. “A true piece about the standing ovations I got yesterday http://thegazette.com/subject/news/government/politics/cruz-jindal-trump-score-big-at-family-leader-gop-presidential-candidate-event-20150719 …” (July 19, 2015)
5. “Just left Family Leadership Summit in Iowa, got a standing ovation from many wonderful people. I will be back soon.” (July 18, 2015)
6. “Just received a standing ovation at #NCGOPCon when I said, “We need to bring the American Dream back better and stronger than ever before!” (June 6, 2015)
7. “Received a standing ovation in packed house @MorningsideEdu after Sam Clovis intro! Let’s Make America Great Again!” (May 16, 2015)
8. “Big crowds, standing ovations in South Carolina – MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” (May 10, 2015)
9. “Just returned from New Hampshire where the crowd was great-and got a beautiful standing ovation! Wonderful people who truly love the U.S.A.” (April 18, 2015)
10. “The NRA in Nashville today was amazing. Packed house and standing ovation for Trump. THANKS!” (April 10, 2015)
11. “Record crowd and standing ovation at Simpson College in Iowa- lots of fun, wonderful audience!” (April 9, 2015)
12. “.@IamStevenT gave one of the greatest endings to a show ever @MissUniverse. Standing ovation!” (This one is a “standing ovation by association”; November 11, 2013)
13. “The CPAC speech went really well this morning— first speaker— standing ovation. I really enjoyed it.” (March 15, 2013)
14. “Based on the ovation last night from the Letterman @Late_Show audience, I believe it will be hard for Obama to throw $5M down the drain….(Unclear if this was a “standing” ovation but I am counting it because, let’s be honest, it probably was) (October 26, 2012)
15. “Liberty University speech by DJT was biggest by far in school’s history. Standing ovations…great young people!” (September 26, 2012)
16. Thousands of great people showed up from Liberty University yesterday. I love standing ovations! http://on.fb.me/PDS55W (September 25, 2012)
While Trump does most of his standing ovation boasting on Twitter, he’s doesn’t always limit his bragging to 140 characters.
My favorite? This one — from January 26, 2017 — in which Trump discusses the applause from a speech gave at the CIA:
“That speech was a home run. See what Fox said. They said it was one of the great speeches. They showed the people applauding and screaming. … I got a standing ovation. In fact, they said it was the biggest standing ovation since Peyton Manning had won the Super Bowl, and they said it was equal. I got a standing ovation. It lasted for a long period of time.”
The biggest since Peyton Manning! That’s some ovation!