At what was supposed to be his comeback rally after a months long hiatus, President Donald Trump's night at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma made news for all the wrong reasons.
After weeks of him and his staff boasting a record number of reservations for the rally, only 6,200 people showed up to the 19,200 seat arena. An overflow area—where Trump was to give a second address to those who couldn't get a seat in the stadium—was taken down early after proving unnecessary.
One of the most disturbing moments of Trump's erratic address came when he repeated his usual skepticism of testing for the virus He followed it with a shocking admission.
Watch below.
"Here's the bad part: When you do testing to that extent, you're gonna find more people, you're gonna find more cases. So I said to my people, 'slow the testing down please!'" -- Trump pic.twitter.com/m5MOV9je70
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 21, 2020
The President said:
"You know testing is a double-edged sword...When you do testing to that extent you're going to find more cases. So I said to my people slow the testing down."
The President, who has called testing "overrated" in the past, appeared to be confirming earlier reporting that his administration pushed against widespread testing in order to keep the number of documented cases low. The administration's months-long testing crisis was one of the chief culprits of the virus's spread.
When asked about Trump's disturbing remarks on Monday, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said that Trump said the remarks "in jest."
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Pres. Trump's comments at his Tulsa rally about slowing down the rate of COVID-19 testing were made "in jest," telling @bgittleson, "Any suggestion that testing has been curtailed is not rooted in fact." https://t.co/wPmdVO8OrO pic.twitter.com/dzdrimpZLF
— ABC News (@ABC) June 22, 2020
McEnany said:
"It was a comment that he made in jest. It was a comment that he made in passing."
McEnany blamed the media for what she believes is a refusal to report the false claim that the United States leads the world in testing.
It took less than 24 hours for the President to directly contradict his press secretary.
Watch below.
NEW: Asked whether he was kidding when he claimed at his Tulsa rally he had instructed officials to slow down COVID-19 testing, Pres. Trump says, "I don't kid."
Yesterday, press sec. Kayleigh McEnany told @bgittleson the comments had been "in jest." https://t.co/yXYp4j9zXj pic.twitter.com/jjd5XVLRye
— ABC News (@ABC) June 23, 2020
When asked if he was "kidding" about slowing down testing, Trump said:
"I don't kid...We have got the greatest testing program anywhere in the world. We test better than anybody in the world, our tests are the best in the world, and we have the most of them...Therefore, we test, we're gonna have more cases. By having more cases, it sounds bad but actually what it is is we're finding people."
To many, Trump had yet again revealed his character.
We all knew that. We don't believe his lying enablers.
— Lovehersports50 (@lovehersports50) June 23, 2020
of course he wasn't kidding, for that you need a sense of humor which he totally lacks
— marité irimia (@mti_whatever7) June 23, 2020
He doesn't kid, yet every White House conference includes someone saying that he was just kidding. K.
We know he doesn't kid. His ignorance is always on full display.
— The Tales of Turrington (@DougTurrington) June 23, 2020
The focus soon turned to McEnany and her contradictory claims.
So who is lying @realDonaldTrump or @PressSec ? Inquiring minds want to know.
— pegitha (@pegitha) June 23, 2020
She's gonna have to learn the hard way. He will lead her to the wolves after destroying her integrity.
Sorry but I laugh a little over this because she deserves it.
— JO (@frozenfldrinks) June 23, 2020
Someone should clarify what she means when she says she will never lie to you?
1a : to be or to stay at rest in a horizontal position :
b : to assume a horizontal position —often used with down
c stay for the night :
d : to have sexual intercourse
e : to remain inactive 🤔
— Zullo (@ZulloWarrior) June 23, 2020
Have you ever seen an Administration that contradicts each other as much as this one?
— John Stewart (@jhSTEW) June 23, 2020
People are deeply upset at the President's comments.
Trump should be arrested and removed from office today. Nobody has gotten more Americans killed from pure negligence than trump.
— Ed G (@edyson22) June 23, 2020
In his mind...this all makes perfect sense...and he doesn't understand why it makes people so mad at him.
— 860ford (@860Ford) June 23, 2020
So dying makes us look better.
Got it
— Tsukiko Matsumoto (@LadyBelgara) June 23, 2020
The cycle of Trump making a disturbing statement, his staff assuring he's joking, followed by Trump saying explicitly that he wasn't is sadly familiar.
Some other moments in the eternal Just Joking cycle:
- Trump invites China to probe Biden, Republicans say he was joking, Trump makes clear he was not joking
- Trump applauds Gianforte for assaulting journalist, Republicans say he was joking, Trump makes clear he was not joking pic.twitter.com/qeieqaaDdz
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) June 22, 2020
Trump: *says something fascist*
White House: He's just joking!
Trump: No I'm not joking
Same cycle over and over again. Saying the quiet part out loud. https://t.co/Qw948RhH7U
— Kal Tellefsen (@KalTellefsenWX) June 23, 2020
Trump: I don't kid.
White House: He was joking about not kidding.
Trump: I don't joke about not kidding.
White House: He was joking about not joking about not kidding.
Trump: I don't kid about joking about not kidding about not joking.... https://t.co/UeYAaBXq9W
— Ryan (@LiveRyan) June 23, 2020
McEnany will likely face questions about the discrepancy at her next briefing.
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