Caught Out In Twitter Exchange, Donald Trump Snaps — “I Knew That!”

BY Steph Bazzle July 1, 2020

Donald Trump responded vehemently on Tuesday when caught in a mistake. The president was called out on the social media platform where he is the most prolific, and jumped back in to argue his own point, covering up the apparent mistake. Though he initially tweeted to ask where former chairman and CEO of FOx News, Roger Ailes, was, when reminded that the man passed away in 2017, his response was to quickly assure the public that he knows this — “better than anyone.”

trump twitter war explosion — WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 26: U.S. President Donald Trump and White House advisor Ivanka Trump arrive at a meeting of the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board in the East Room of the White House on June 26, 2020 in Washington, DC. Earlier in the day President Trump canceled his scheduled weekend trip to his private golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey which the state now has a mandatory 14-day quarantine for travelers coming from states with coronavirus spikes. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump jumped into a thread about Donna Brazile — the former political strategist who moved on to serve as a CNN contributor, and finally joined Fox News last year. On Tuesday, Bridget Gabriel, ACT For America Founder (you can read why the Southern Poverty Law Center designates the organization as a hate group here) tweeted that Brazile should be removed from the network.

Cheater Donna Brazile should not be on Fox News.

GET HER OFF THE AIR!

— Brigitte Gabriel (@ACTBrigitte) June 30, 2020

Quoting her tweet, Donald Trump jumped in to remind the public that Brazile shared some debate questions with Hillary Clinton during the 2016 elections (an act which Politico reports Brazile later admitted, and was fired from CNN for) and that Fox CEO Roger Ailes should step in.

She gets fired by @CNN for giving Crooked Hillary the debate questions, and gets hired by @FoxNews. Where are you Roger Ailes? https://t.co/XVwzt3Me5d

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 1, 2020

However, the president was quickly called out, for both the hypocrisy inherent in also receiving advance notice to prepare answers — and for the more egregious failure to remember that Ailes is no longer at Fox News.

Sean Hannity gave you the questions for his interviews. You shouldn’t be talking.

— Mrs. Krassenstein (@HKrassenstein) July 1, 2020

Roger Ailes died three years ago. https://t.co/oiVjV9IW2I

— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) July 1, 2020

Donald Trump must have either seen some of the responses, or been informed of them by his team, because less than an hour later he tweeted, not to admit the error, but to defend himself and insist he hadn’t made one.

I know better than anyone that my friend Roger Ailes died 3 years ago, just look at what happened to @FoxNews. We all miss Roger!!!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 1, 2020

Trump’s health, both mental and physical, has been the subject of much public speculation, with the conservative anti-Trump PAC The Lincoln Project even designing an attack ad around it.

Lincoln Project founding member Reed Galen recently explained that the ads are deliberately calculated to upset Trump and “throw him off his game.” While Trump hasn’t publicly responded, specifically, to the ad suggesting that his health is in decline, but he was certainly quick to respond to the Twitter call-out over his slip-up.