President Donald Trump took a few questions on the way to Marine One Wednesday afternoon and this version of his answer to a question on Niger from CNBC’s John Harwood caught our eye:
Trump says he did not authorize the mission in Niger that resulted in loss of 4 soldiers. generals did
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) October 25, 2017
The way many people will read this is that the president threw the U.S. military under the bus. For example:
will the last person who saw the buck please inform america of its whereabouts, thank you https://t.co/OrXtevCNLL
— Philip Bump (@pbump) October 25, 2017
In February, Trump also blamed the generals when a US Navy SEAL was killed in Yemen. He said: "this was something that was, you know, just — they wanted to do…and they lost Ryan." https://t.co/9toupMJXcP
— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) October 25, 2017
Ladies and gentlemen, the commander-in-chief of the US armed forces: https://t.co/neXtdkoclv
— Felix Salmon (@felixsalmon) October 25, 2017
So he’s commander-in-chief on odd days, or how does that work?
— Ward Carroll (@wardcarroll) October 25, 2017
The buck stops with them! https://t.co/BaKnQjcTPU
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) October 25, 2017
Now for the entire quote where he literally says that although he didn’t authorize this specific mission, he gave the generals the “authority to do what’s right.”
Trump, asked if he authorized the Niger mission, responds: "Not specifically, but I have generals that are great generals." pic.twitter.com/eB6nu3LWkG
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 25, 2017
There’s no buck-passing here. At all.
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Related:
Rep. Frederica Wilson gets a MAJOR reality check after claiming 'Niger is Trump's Benghazi' https://t.co/Hgmxz0KAeC
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) October 23, 2017
ICYMI: Here's the latest information on what happened in Niger https://t.co/A94x3I1cEC
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) October 21, 2017
'War is WAR': Mad Dog Mattis BRUTALLY shuts DOWN the press with Niger response (video) https://t.co/lcfWFv8fGb
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) October 20, 2017
Just GOOGLE it! Ted Lieu makes ass of himself over Niger and #SaveOurGirls (just like Joy Reid) https://t.co/lsR03GTrYq
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) October 20, 2017
THWAP! Touré steps on NUMEROUS reality rakes in 'haste to conflate' Niger & Benghazi attacks https://t.co/jC4jpPYADJ
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) October 19, 2017
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