The guided missile destroyer USS John. S. McCain was involved in a collision with another ship near Singapore tonight (EDT) with reports of sailors missing and injured:
Guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) has collided with a merchant vessel east of Straits of Malacca and #Singapore.
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) August 20, 2017
Update on #USSJohnSMcCain collision via @US7thFleet: 10 Sailors missing, 5 injured. https://t.co/pZrfjRor3O
— U.S. Pacific Fleet (@USPacificFleet) August 21, 2017
Photos of the ship show a large hole on its port side:
#Malaysia navy photo shows large hole at waterline and USS John S. McCain riding low. pic.twitter.com/gsKCh2ZeQD
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) August 21, 2017
The pool report stated that President Trump’s response to a shouted question on the collision was, “that’s too bad”:
https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/899455335357984770
But it’s not clear if the president had been fully briefed at the time of the question.
VOA’s Steve Herman tweeted that the reporters were not aware of the “missing and injured sailors” when the question was asked:
Unclear whether @POTUS had been informed of missing and injured sailors when he responded. Media wasn't aware of that info at the time. https://t.co/np1MALNAH5
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) August 21, 2017
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Brian Stelter adds:
"That's too bad" is getting a lot of pickup tonight. So I looked at the timeline. As Maggie said, it's possible Trump hadn't been briefed.… https://t.co/FdmmfhZjif
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) August 21, 2017
And we don’t have audio or video of the quote:
Reading the phrase "That's too bad," is a lot different than hearing it, and/or watching it. All kinds of different emphases possible.
— Matt Welch (@MattWelch) August 21, 2017
But the fact that we don’t really know what President Trump knew at the time of his answer isn’t stopping the blue-checkmark brigade from doing its thing:
Trump's response to 5 sailors injured, 10 missing after USS John S. McCain collides w/ a merchant ship:
"That's too bad."
NOT FIT TO LEAD!
— Amy Siskind ?️? (@Amy_Siskind) August 21, 2017
Imagine the reaction if Obama, Bush, Clinton said "that's too bad" in response to missing soldiers on a military vessel.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) August 21, 2017
Five U.S. sailors injured, 10 missing.
Trump: "That's too bad."
If that were Obama's reaction, Fox News would scandalize it for a month.
— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) August 21, 2017
This is a joke. "That's too bad" is more for your golf game not missing sailors @POTUS! https://t.co/etKpcKuu7R
— VoteVets (@votevets) August 21, 2017
"Best regards" to citizens injured and murdered by neo-nazis; "That's too bad" about missing sailors serving our country. He's a disgrace. https://t.co/wHyAJVHfxI
— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) August 21, 2017
The president and Sarah Sanders just tweeted this out without referencing the “that’s too bad” outrage:
Thoughts & prayers are w/ our @USNavy sailors aboard the #USSJohnSMcCain where search & rescue efforts are underway. https://t.co/DQU0zTRXNU
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 21, 2017
Our hearts and prayers go out to all the brave men and women aboard the #USSJohnSMcCain
— Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) August 21, 2017
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