Day 142: Trump Blasts Comey for Lying; Minutes Later Caught Lying Himself
During a press conference with the Romanian president, Trump is called out for lying about a private conversation.
Yesterday, Donald Trump hosted Romanian president Klaus Iohannis. They met for a private meeting and then held a joint press conference in the Rose Garden. It gave the American press corp their first chance in over three weeks to ask questions directly to Trump.
During their handful of questions, Trump was asked whether he told former FBI director James Comey that he hoped Comey could let the whole Flynn investigation go. Trump denied having said that and accused Comey of making up that conversation, despite Comey being under oath. In short, he accused Comey of perjury.
When asked if tapes existed of their conversations — as Trump implied on Twitter when he fired Comey — Trump dodged the question twice but said that everyone would be disappointed when they found out the truth about that (whatever that means).
Trump confusingly referred to Comey as both a liar and simultaneously as a vindicator since he confirmed there was no investigation directly into Trump.
The irony was thick when moments later Trump was caught in his own lie. One of Romania’s press corp members asked about the U.S. visa waiver program and how it would affect Romanians. She asked whether it came up during their private conversations, but directed the question to “Mr. President.”
Both Trump and Iohannis took this as their clue to answer. Iohannis immediately said yes as Trump immediately said no. Trump tried to explain it hadn’t come up but they would discuss it at the appropriate time. Iohannis jumped in to say that it had been discussed and the issue had been broached during their earlier meeting.
In what has become a pattern, this is yet another awkward and embarrassing diplomatic moment for Trump. The fact that he lied about a private conversation moments after accusing someone else of lying about a private conversation made this especially ripe for ridicule.
142 days in, 1320 to go
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