WATCH: FBI Director Under Oath Just Fact-Checked Trump’s New Tweet About FBI Director’s Statement
‘In Front of Me Right Here I’ve Got a Tweet From the President’
Politicians are used to getting fact-chercked, usually days after they’ve made questionable remarks, and usually by journalists, but this may be the first time a politician has been fact-checked by the FBI in (almost) real time.Â
About an hour ago President Donald Trump tweeted a lie, and he made the assertion on the official White House @POTUS account, which is stunningly disrespectful to the Office of the President.
Trump falsely claimed that FBI Director James Comey and National Security Director Mike Rogers told Congress “that Russia did not influence electoral process.”
That’s not what they said. They were asked if Russia was able to “change vote tallies,” which they said it was not.
Trump lied.
Brilliantly, Rep. Jim Himes, Democrat of Connecticut, about an hour after President Trump lied on Twitter, read Trump’s tweet to both Comey and Rogers and asked them if it were accurate. Startled and stunned, they made certain to indicate it is not.
“It certainly wasn’t our intention to say that today, because we don’t have any information on that subject,” Director Comey said.Â
Watch, and watch the reactions on their faces:
Here are two versions, the first shows Rep. Himes, the second is a better focus on their reactions:
“Thanks to modern technology that’s in front of me right here I’ve got a tweet from the president.”
*blank stares from Comey and Rogers* pic.twitter.com/yVX2q3lKx2
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) March 20, 2017
WATCH: During hearing, Comey and Rogers react to @POTUS tweet https://t.co/Fc0UV88KIe
— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 20, 2017
Some responses via Twitter:
Fact checking the president in the middle of a congressional hearing is the most 2017 thing ever. https://t.co/wctOlSmk8V
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 20, 2017
The FBI Director was just asked under oath if this tweet was accurate. He said this tweet is not what he said. https://t.co/RWijNNe90p
— Liam Stack (@liamstack) March 20, 2017
So new lesson:
The danger of live-tweeting a hearing for a POTUS is having your tweet rebutted by the FBI live.— Ari Melber (@AriMelber) March 20, 2017
Probably first time a hearing started with FBI Director rebutting an old POTUS tweet, and wound down with him rebutting a new POTUS tweet.
— Ari Melber (@AriMelber) March 20, 2017
This is meta. Comey just fact-checked @POTUS‘s tweet from 2 hours ago about what Comey said at the hearing. The @POTUS tweet was incorrect. pic.twitter.com/qOjlSSnhp5
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) March 20, 2017
Comey just explicitly rebuffed Trump’s @POTUS tweet alleging he said the Russian campaign didn’t influence electoral process.
— Ken Dilanian (@KenDilanianNBC) March 20, 2017
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