As Twitchy told you yesterday, Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri has been canvassing Missouri connecting with regular people on an “RV tour.” One catch was, as McCaskill later admitted, her frequent use of a private plane to get from one place to another.
'Talk about an OWN GOAL'! Claire McCaskill busts HERSELF for using private plane on 'RV tour' https://t.co/0VQc0ZyTC7
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) June 12, 2018
President Trump rubbed it in this afternoon:
Senator Claire McCaskill of the GREAT State of Missouri flew around in a luxurious private jet during her RV tour of the state. RV’s are not for her. People are really upset, so phony! Josh Hawley should win big, and has my full endorsement.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 13, 2018
Time Magazine political reporter Philip Elliott thought that was hypocritical of Trump:
This is the story the President is using — https://t.co/tCOxJZ8jOL — seemingly unconcerned that he used his own private jet throughout the campaign to hold rallies at or near airfields. Also, he did not visit Missouri during the general election. https://t.co/BEPWdSIQo0
— Phil Elliott (@Philip_Elliott) June 13, 2018
Those two situations are totally comparable! Wait, no they’re not:
Of course, Trump didn't claim to be taking an RV tour when he wasn't. https://t.co/sW86E9nOu9
— Friendly Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) June 13, 2018
https://twitter.com/TPCarney/status/1006995878987563008
Well there’s that. However, that wasn’t stopping Elliott from sounding like somebody who works in McCaskill’s office:
Well, she ^was^ on the RV tour. Until she hopped off and did some other stuff by plane.
— Phil Elliott (@Philip_Elliott) June 13, 2018
https://twitter.com/TPCarney/status/1006996538042744833
If it means elected officials can spend more time hearing from constituents, I'm all for any means of transportation that puts them in front of more people.
— Phil Elliott (@Philip_Elliott) June 13, 2018
I think these things are ludicrous but she did pretend she was riding in a van
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) June 13, 2018
And pictures indicate she was in the RV before she hopped in a plane and then, for all we know, another mode. I'm with you: these mode-based tours are ridiculous timesucks.
— Phil Elliott (@Philip_Elliott) June 13, 2018
After all that you might almost forget that all this started because he tried to assign McCaskill’s hypocrisy to Trump.
This is some impressive spin. The point was she was supposed to be on a folksy RV tour, don't recall Trump doing that. Also why would he visit a state he had in the bag? And finally, that was @BrentScher of @FreeBeacon that broke the story, not Politico. https://t.co/ycgm6nINR9
— David Rutz (@DavidRutz) June 13, 2018
Trump also wasn’t flying around in a private jet and telling people everywhere he landed that fossil fuels were condemning humanity to eventual extinction. But Elliott did correct the source that broke the story first:
And Politico got the story from the @FreeBeacon https://t.co/S15HHi9Xz7
— Andrew Kugle (@AndrewJKugle) June 13, 2018
Correction: @FreeBeacon first reported the plane details. Credit where credit is due. https://t.co/QOWGyXtn4I
— Phil Elliott (@Philip_Elliott) June 13, 2018