the president

It’s Incredible That Trump’s Excuse for His Russia Comments Took a Full Day

Photo: Getty Images/EyeEm

Recall the last time you had to think of an excuse to get out of something you didn’t give a shit about. Maybe for an acquaintance’s barbecue you didn’t want to attend at the last minute (“ahh I’m sorry, I had this on my schedule for next weekend and I can’t come today!”), or something like a friend-of-a-friend’s book party (“arrgh ugh I’m vomiting, sorry!”). It’s fairly easy to come up with a lie in these scenarios because you don’t care, and it doesn’t matter. Yes?

At Monday’s press conference with Putin, Trump said, of Russia’s interference in the U.S. 2016 presidential election: “President Putin just said it’s not Russia. I don’t see any reason why it would be.”

You would think from the words he said, the tone of his statement, the way the second sentenced followed reasonably after the first, and all of his statements in the past, that he meant what he said: that he does not see any reason “why it would be.” However this is where you (foolish) are wrong.

Today, reading from a prepared statement, Trump unveiled the excuse no doubt many have been working on for the past 24 hours: “I would like to clarify, in a key sentence in my remarks, I said the word ‘would’ instead of ‘wouldn’t.’ The sentence should have been: ‘I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be Russia.”

Ah, yes.

Obviously this guy does not give a shit about the lie because he knows it’s not gonna matter, but damn. Why did it take him a full day?

It’s Incredible That Trump’s Excuse Took a Full Day