Trump’s Reflecting Pool story now has acid in it

Donald Trump is giving his closing midterm pitch at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. On Sunday he previewed the plot, and it has a new villain: acid.

Asked why he’d hold an event there, he said: “Just to show how beautiful it is. It’s been finished. It was vandalized badly.” Also, he said it hasn’t worked since 1922, and “It’s always leaked terribly.” And then the new bit: “they vandalized the hell out of it, including the grass,” with a “certain thing that I won’t even say.” The finale: “They burned it out with acid.” He offered no evidence for any of it.

The paperwork disagrees. Per Politico, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro dropped the vandalism charge and put the botched renovation down to a “hasty” installation by the contractor. A judge then tossed the case for good, so the defendant couldn’t later face a “meritless, politically motivated prosecution,” per ABC News.

On timing: “we might hold it tomorrow or something.” AP says it’s on.