The Leader Of The Free World unleashed a tweetstorm on Friday, mainly focused on the FBI investigation into the Trump campaign's potential ties with the Russian government, with some hallmark media bashing thrown in.
In half-dozen tweets, Trump repeated his previous attacks on Democrats and the media, suggested he would halt press briefings, and threatened former FBI Director James Comey, whom Trump fired Tuesday evening. That's a lot to pack into roughly 840 characters or less.
Alright, let's break this tweet storm down.
The early-morning tirade began with two favorite topics — why Democrats lost the election and how the media is lying:
Again, the story that there was collusion between the Russians & Trump campaign was fabricated by Dems as an excuse for losing the election.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2017
The Fake Media is working overtime today!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2017
These seem like generic expressions of Trump anger, which we've come to expect from a presidential tweetstorm (we can't believe we just used that phrase either). After all, both during the campaign and throughout his presidency, Donald Trump has questioned Democratic campaign strategies and has called the media fake news. But this time, while tweeting about those two topics, Trump touches on the investigation of the Trump campaign's potential ties to the Kremlin.
Why Trump fired Comey
Now things start to get really interesting:
As a very active President with lots of things happening, it is not possible for my surrogates to stand at podium with perfect accuracy!....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2017
This addresses the inconsistencies with the official explanation the White House put out to justify firing the FBI director.
The Trump administration originally said the president decided to fire Comey because of the way the FBI director had handled an investigation into the use of a private email server by Trump's presidential campaign rival, Hillary Clinton. This rationale was largely greeted with skepticism, if not outright disbelief.
Instead, many outlets speculated that the firing was a response to the intensifying FBI-led investigation into Trump-Kremlin ties. But the White House kept pushing the original line, until Trump contradicted it during an interview with NBC.
"And in fact when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said, 'you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story, it's an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won,'" Trump told NBC's Lester Holt on Thursday.
Which brings us to...
New and improved threats to the media
...Maybe the best thing to do would be to cancel all future "press briefings" and hand out written responses for the sake of accuracy???
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2017
The White House has threatened daily press briefings before, but perhaps Donald Trump's threats to cancel are more serious? New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, who frequently covers Trump, thinks so.
@johnrobertsFox I am not saying he's ending the briefing room as a practice. I am saying they are looking to make adjustments.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) May 12, 2017
And some folks are already suggesting alternatives to White House press briefings ...
Onto the Comey threats
James Comey better hope that there are no "tapes" of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2017
In addition to the subject matter, this tweet is additionally shocking because the tone sounds like some kind of all-grown-up schoolyard threat. And, given what Comey may know about the investigation into Trump-Kremlin ties, some are speculating that the threat could be a crime.
this tweet another possible trump crime: 18 USC 1512, witness intimidation. comey witness 2trump's possible obstruction by demanding loyalty https://t.co/qCUT7AseoA
— Norm Eisen (@NormEisen) May 12, 2017
It all comes back to Russia
And, finally, the last (for now) in a Russia-investigation-related Twitter spree:
When James Clapper himself, and virtually everyone else with knowledge of the witch hunt, says there is no collusion, when does it end?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2017
Clapper is the former director of national intelligence who, yes, says he has seen no evidence of collusion between Trump/Trump associates and the Kremlin. Clapper, though, doesn't know what the FBI investigation may or may not have uncovered. Which is why the investigation is continuing.
Don't ever let anyone tell you the president isn't productive in the morning.
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