Eric Trump took a page from his dad’s playbook on Thursday morning. Trump spent a large portion of the day on Twitter, pointing proverbial fingers and trying to divert attention from the myriad of misdeeds and possible crimes his family has been accused of committing.
Specifically, Eric wants the public to ignore James Comey’s testimony while focusing on the fact that Comey leaked information. He also wants to bring attention to his charitable giving while ignoring that he stands accused of diverting donations to boost his own interests.
Unlike Donald Trump, Eric did fewer of his own tweets, instead, retweeting pundits and politicians who expressed support for his family’s actions. However, he started the morning with a call for everyone to forget about the Comey hearing, which he referred to as a ‘charade,’ and focus on making America great.
Correct. Now let's stop this charade and get back to Jobs, HealthCare, Taxes, Infrastructure, our Military and Making America Great Again! https://t.co/l3QdBzwWKF
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) June 8, 2017
Even in this, though, Trump leaned heavily on the words of another: Ari Fleischer, former White House Press Secretary, who tweeted that the most important thing Comey had to say was that it’s true Trump himself, as an individual, is not under investigation.
Seems to me key headline from today is Comey confirming Trump is not under investigation. Isn't that what collusion w Russia was all about?
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) June 7, 2017
Later, he retweeted RNC Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel and TV host Bill O’Reilly, both maintaining that focusing on the fact that someone leaked information was more important that what the leak contained.
Can we go back to the fact that Comey leaked memos and shared them with the media before Congress for political impact? #ComeyHearing https://t.co/mRCPcLEgJH
— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) June 8, 2017
Comey admits he asked a friend to leak his conversation w/ Trump about Flynn to a reporter. A bombshell the sluggish Senators are ignoring.
— Bill O'Reilly (@BillOReilly) June 8, 2017
Notably, that was not the position either Eric or Donald Trump took when the leaks were about Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party.
Very little pick-up by the dishonest media of incredible information provided by WikiLeaks. So dishonest! Rigged system!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 12, 2016
Sad that the press refuses to cover Hillary's #WikiLeaks corruption — Probably why only 6% of Americans trust the media! #RIPJournalism
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) October 14, 2016
Both expressed annoyance that the media wasn’t focusing more closely on the content of the leaked documents when it wasn’t about their family.
Eric wasn’t only working to divert attention from James Comey’s testimony about Donald Trump’s behavior in office, though. He also took time to respond to a question about allegations of his own possible criminal actions. ABC reported Wednesday that Eric Trump funneled money that he claimed was going to a children’s cancer charity into his family’s businesses.
Pressed about it on Twitter Thursday, Eric didn’t answer the question, instead touting the money that he has donated over the years — which is surely appreciated but doesn’t negate anything underhanded he may have done with other funds that were intended for charity.
Respectfully, I have raised $16.3 Million for dying children with an expense ratio of less than 12.3%. Let's not politicize pediatric cancer https://t.co/pqg9272EZr
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) June 8, 2017
Diversion tactics have worked well for Donald Trump, allowing him to sidestep allegations from Russian collusion to sexual harassment without any severe consequences so far.
It remains to be seen whether Eric Trump is as adept at this type of sleight-of-hand. Regardless, it’s clear that his attempts at diversion today aren’t stopping James Comey’s testimony from being heard and taken seriously.
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