After White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote an angry social media post calling for whoever was operating the faulty escalator at the United Nations that President Donald Trump found himself stopped on to be "fired and investigated immediately," Minnesota Governor Tim Walz swooped in to troll her.
Trump had an awkward moment early on during his appearance at United Nations headquarters, where he spoke before the General Assembly (UNGA).
The escalator he took seemed to break just as he and First Lady Melania Trump stepped on it, causing them to have to walk up the stationary stairs of the escalator in view of a pool of reporters.
You can watch what happened in the video below.
A furious Leavitt shared a news report that mentioned that "UN staff members joked that they may turn off the escalators and elevators" and tell Trump that they "ran out of money" to force him to take the stairs.
She added:
"If someone at the UN intentionally stopped the escalator as the President and First Lady were stepping on, they need to be fired and investigated immediately."
You can see her post below.
Her post caught Governor Walz's attention and he quipped:
"Not only do they need to be fired, they need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. It’s a miracle the President ever made it up the stairs."
You can see Walz's response below.
Many joined in the mockery of Leavitt.
However, the blame for the now-viral moment falls on Trump's own team.
The UN said in a statement that Trump's videographer may have accidentally triggered a safety mechanism while traveling backwards to capture his and Mrs. Trump's arrival.
Stephane Dujarric, a UN spokesperson, said a readout of the escalator's central processing unit indicated the escalator "had stopped after a built-in safety mechanism on the comb step was triggered at the top of the escalator" and that Trump's videographer "inadvertently triggered it."
The safety mechanism, Dujarric added, "is designed to prevent people or objects accidentally being caught and stuck in or pulled into the gearing."
