We’ll admit we’ve been hard on the president over his multiple statements in response to the protests in Charlottesville, Va., that left one person dead after a man rammed his car into a crowd of marchers.
Has there been bigotry and violence from “many sides,” as Trump claimed? Of course … but someone near him had to have known how that remark would be twisted into evidence that he supported neo-Nazis as “fine people.” Just take a look at the covers of some magazines this week for proof.
Post-Charlottesville covers of The Economist, The New Yorker and TIME. pic.twitter.com/iv7Rt4myKU
— NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (@NBCNightlyNews) August 17, 2017
And here we are, a full week later, and that’s still the prevailing opinion on the left. It seems, though, that someone has gotten hold of the iPhone Trump uses to tweet and backed off of the “both sides” angle … at least a little bit.
First, though, there was a bit of spelling to clean up.
Honestly, this will never get old. Never. Not for 100 years. pic.twitter.com/CSadS2OqcE
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) August 19, 2017
At 4:05pm ET POTUS tweeted, then deleted this statement, encouraging the nation to… #heel. pic.twitter.com/0AWsxFY0st
— errol barnett (@errolbarnett) August 19, 2017
listen to the fucking talking paperclip next time https://t.co/FKVWBKkJ0N
— lvl 45 PAYOFFS POTUS (@thetomzone) August 19, 2017
And at last …
Our great country has been divided for decades. Sometimes you need protest in order to heal, & we will heal, & be stronger than ever before!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 19, 2017
I want to applaud the many protestors in Boston who are speaking out against bigotry and hate. Our country will soon come together as one!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 19, 2017
And he finally gets around to what he should've first tweeted https://t.co/2udA2OzAqt
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) August 19, 2017
That doesn’t sound anything like the president’s previous statements on Charlottesville and the aftermath, and that’s a good thing. As Twitchy reported earlier, though, not all of the protesters in Boston have been peaceful, and yes, there were clashes with police leading to familiar chants like, “Who do you protect, who do you serve?”
Before issuing those tweets applauding the protesters, Trump praised Boston’s mayor and police force.
Looks like many anti-police agitators in Boston. Police are looking tough and smart! Thank you.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 19, 2017
Black Lives Matter and anarchists aren’t going to find a lot to like in that tweet.
Great job by all law enforcement officers and Boston Mayor @Marty_Walsh.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 19, 2017
Check out, for example, this interpretation of Trump’s pro-police tweet from an NBC News reporter:
Trump gives benefit of doubt to "very fine" at white nationalist-organized protests, brands all counter-protestors by most extreme elements https://t.co/2b3TWIEbe7
— Mike Memoli (@mikememoli) August 19, 2017
“Brands all counter-protesters by most extreme elements”? Because he observed there were “many anti-police agitators” in a crowd of thousands? Come on.
Counter protesters scuffle with police in riot gear following Boston "Free Speech Rally." https://t.co/HBBzcmcQJv pic.twitter.com/UPfp686KQR
— WBZ | CBS Boston News (@wbz) August 19, 2017
Boston police commissioner just said 99.9% of the counter-protesters were peaceful. I thought you always got the facts before you commented. https://t.co/WWxj1DY303
— Paul Feig (@paulfeig) August 19, 2017
It’s always a pleasure to hear from the director of the “all-female” Ghostbusters remake.
To be clear: These are the "anti-police agitators" you were talking about earlier, right? https://t.co/ZAAMEI1rcZ
— Stonekettle (@Stonekettle) August 19, 2017
“Many” of them, yes. They’re shown in the photo above, agitating police. Like they’ve been doing for years and years … more on that in another post.
A nation that will soon come together as one after being divided for decades sounds too good to be true, and it is … there are a lot of people with a lot to lose should that happen, and they’ll work harder than ever to keep those divisions open.
https://twitter.com/jesseberney/status/899018489842868224
Hey, it’s Jesse Berney, the guy who said the GOP’s health care bill would kill more people than ISIS and al Qaeda combined. Let’s listen to him.
Donnie knows he screwed up big time, so in typical fashion, he's doing another leap forward.. just acting like he has nothing to do with it. https://t.co/j4PFIPm3Ps
— Weddady (@weddady) August 19, 2017
https://twitter.com/ezlusztig/status/899009694747869184
You forfeited the right to say anything about this last Tuesday, along with the right to occupy your office. https://t.co/uBQm4PxDDI
— TP Thompson (@TPThompson2) August 19, 2017
Does he not understand that they are protesting the bigotry and hate he espoused a few days ago? https://t.co/6ii8Gdjrzz
— Bill Prady (@billprady) August 19, 2017
You mean the COUNTER-protesters speaking out against the hate you espoused in your presser?
Yes, they represent the best of America. https://t.co/UkfPu9G1i5— Victoria Brownworth (@VABVOX) August 19, 2017
https://twitter.com/COResistSystems/status/899018295327809536
You still misspelled "Heil." https://t.co/mLae3TI3Wi
— Frank Lesser (@sadmonsters) August 19, 2017
Translation: I applaud the white supremacists for protesting the bigoted liberals. JOBS! https://t.co/4ZvLOZR6E1
— Guy in a hat. (@SewingRum) August 19, 2017
https://twitter.com/kathy122372/status/899019896272687104
https://twitter.com/Aetius3/status/899008747288358912
Kick the other 2 Nazis from your staff, then we'll talk. @realDonaldTrumphttps://t.co/h9RolCGqsm
— Tea Pain (@TeaPainUSA) August 19, 2017
I've just woken up from a year long coma, but this guy seems nice.
Probably doing a great job I imagine. https://t.co/IN5CrK4Lui— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) August 19, 2017
We're protesting you, dumbass. ? https://t.co/up9xNU9uq6
— Z Brewer ? (@butucancallmez on Instagram) (@ButUCanCallMeZ) August 19, 2017
https://twitter.com/smith_waenman/status/899019658174513152
What’s kind of funny is a very sad way is that 1) President Trump’s tweet applauding the protesters would have been praised had it come from Barack Obama’s account, and 2) everything that came from Barack Obama’s account was praised, even though @BarackObama never was and still isn’t Barack Obama — that was his former campaign organization tweeting. So if a group of speechwriters takes over @realDonaldTrump and starts issuing tweets by committee, that’ll be presidential?
When people are rioting in the streets the night after your election and celebrities are lobbying electors to get them to flip their votes, it’s pretty clear you’re in a “can’t win” situation before you even get to Day 1.
Dozens arrested as anti-Trump 'riot' breaks out in Portland, Oregon https://t.co/GEq1nSnA8e pic.twitter.com/wWOYT2IYBR
— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 11, 2016
Besides his resignation, is there anything Trump could tweet that wouldn’t be slammed?
Update:
Remember when Merriam-Webster used to send these out all the time during the previous administration? Like the time they corrected corpse-man to corpsman?
? heal (to become healthy again)
? heel (a contemptible person)
?♂️ he'll (he will)— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) August 19, 2017
Ooohhh. Burn ? https://t.co/3yEVaLh9qI
— Neha Alawadhi (@alnehaa) August 19, 2017
* * *
Related:
Many protesters at ‘free speech rally’ forget about neo-Nazis and turn on Boston police https://t.co/uPyEkZIlhW
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) August 19, 2017
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