White House Press Secretary Kaleigh McEnany has once again come under fire after her recent defense of President Donald Trump and his ability to read. The issue started on Wednesday at a press briefing, reporters asked about the recent reports that Russia had paid the Taliban to kill American soldiers stationed in the middle east.
Following the question, which also involved intelligence reports dating back to February alerting the president to the situation, McEnany pronounced that “the president does read,” referring to the intelligence briefs that are given to him daily, via RawStory. That same day, CNN’s John Berman mocked McEnany for boasting about something as middling as that. “You don’t want to be in a place where saying ‘the president reads’ is your best defense,” Berman said. Fellow CNN reporter Abby Phillip agreed, saying “there’s absolutely no universe in which saying that ‘the president reads’ is an accolade.”
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Trump has regularly been criticized throughout his presidency, however, those criticisms have intensified given his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, with some suggesting he’s lost interest. Now, those suggestions have floated to the surface again, given the president’s non-response to these allegations. Of course, Berman and Phillip weren’t alone in their opinions, as plenty other people took to Twitter to voice concerns of their own.
BREAKING NEWS: The President does read. pic.twitter.com/it2ei19TCA
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) June 30, 2020
Kayleigh claims that Donald Trump reads.
— Annie Gabston-Howell- (@AnnieGabstonH) June 30, 2020
That’s all.
Think about how low a bar the White House has set when they feel compelled to tell us Trump reads. Tomorrow we’re going to learn that he makes boom boom in the potty.
— 🇺🇸 Resistance is not futile, it’s necessary 🇺🇸 (@TruthJustis4USA) July 1, 2020
I understand that she claimed Trump reads.
— [Redacted] (@jacktomalis) July 1, 2020
I think we should have Trump take a timed standardized tests like one given to an 8th grader to see how his comprehension skills test out.
Why does everyone doubt Trump READS? Clearly he can, otherwise how would he know which burger to order?
— Liddle’ Savage (@littledeekay) July 1, 2020
The White House press secretary felt the need to inform America today that Donald Trump actually reads. But that’s not the saddest part of the story. The saddest part is that she was clearly lying.
— John Aravosis 🇺🇸🇬🇷🏳️🌈 (@aravosis) June 30, 2020
I do not believe trump reads his briefings. I barely believe that trump can read his briefings.
— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) June 30, 2020
Republicans: “Donald Trump couldn’t have known about Russia offering the Taliban money to kill U.S. soldiers because he never reads intelligence briefs.”
— Middle Age Riot (@middleageriot) June 30, 2020
Also, Republicans: “Trump 2020!”
Trump never reads his intelligence briefings because he never wanted to be president in the first place. He’s there for the grift, not to do his job.
— Stars and Swipes (@StarsnSwipes) July 2, 2020
Trump has tried to ban more books than he has tried to read.
— Windsor Mann (@WindsorMann) July 2, 2020
Seemingly lost in the squabbling over the definition of “briefed” and whether Trump reads his PDB:
— Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman) July 2, 2020
No one disputes that Russia did in fact offer bounties to kill Americans.
And still, Trump has not said or done anything about it.
I’ll read my daily briefings.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 1, 2020
