MELTDOWN MODE: A visibly agitated Donald Trump has snit, verbally abuses two female reporters, promotes false #obamagate conspiracy theory which foreign trolls and bots are also pushing on Twitter, then ends press conference in a state of obvious distress.
Today’s White House briefing with president Donald Trump was predictably more insane than the last. Trump is now pushing the #Obamagate conspiracy theory, at the same time, oddly, as bots on Twitter. Wonder who’s behind this?
Today, in the Rose Garden, Washington Post reporter Philip Rucker:
You appeared to accuse Obama of a crime yesterday. What did he do?
TRUMP: “Obamagate.”
RUCKER: What is the crime?
TRUMP: “You know what the crime is. The crime is very obvious to everybody.”
Next, Trump was verbally abusive to CBS White House Correspondent Wejia Wang.
Weijia: Why is this a global competition to you when Americans are losing their lives every day?
TRUMP: Maybe that’s a question you should ask China.
WEIJA: Why are you saying that to me, specifically?
TRUMP: I’m saying it to anybody who would ask a nasty question like that.
Then the president was verbally hostile toward a female CNN journalist, and after that, he abruptly ended the one-hour-long press conference. It was really weird and frightening.
Jared Kushner was present, wearing a mask. Trump wasn’t wearing one.
I know it's a stressful time for everyone, but it really does seem like something's going wrong here. https://t.co/HnTeDXuCZD
— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) May 11, 2020
📷 @b_smialowski @AFPphoto pic.twitter.com/aN7nilFmcT
— Jérôme Cartillier (@jcartillier) May 11, 2020
.@PhilipRucker: You appeared to accuse Obama of a crime yesterday. What did he do?
TRUMP: "Obamagate."
RUCKER: What is the crime?
TRUMP: "You know what the crime is. The crime is very obvious to everybody." pic.twitter.com/EUueidNwGp
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 11, 2020
The final minute of Trump's news conference this evening pic.twitter.com/m6oGh1q9VF
— Axios (@axios) May 11, 2020
Trump throws a fit when @kaitlancollins of CNN tries to ask him a question and abruptly ends the press conference pic.twitter.com/58AVZ9CABl
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 11, 2020
After @weijia asks President Trump why he sees the pandemic response as a "global competition," he tells her: "Maybe that's a question you should ask China. Don't ask me, ask China that question, okay?" https://t.co/9T8aUPjUrs pic.twitter.com/aDQ5cwWvn0
— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 11, 2020
Trump tells Chinese American reporter @weijia to “ask China” after she asks why he views testing as a global competition while Americans are dying. “Why are you saying that to me, specifically?” she responds. Trump calls her question “nasty.” pic.twitter.com/nf27TDv3k7
— David Nakamura (@DavidNakamura) May 11, 2020
President Trump, asked about the more than 80,000 Americans who've died of coronavirus:
"Dont ask me, ask China"
— Todd Zwillich (@toddzwillich) May 11, 2020
" Very, very ugly ending to that one hour appearance by the President in the Rose Garden" pic.twitter.com/yiBtbIWkpF
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) May 11, 2020
Trump has had snits when asked hard questions before, but his fleeing after telling @weijia to "ask China" felt a little different–it was like you could see him realizing in real time that this was going south and abruptly bailed before it could get any worse.
— James Poniewozik (@poniewozik) May 11, 2020
Donald Trump adopted a protective social-distancing measure after all! https://t.co/3jmWJiX00R
— James Poniewozik (@poniewozik) May 11, 2020
[GIF AT TOP OF THIS BLOG POST: THE SIMPSONS]