NBC News' controversial town hall with President Donald Trump aired on Thursday night, where moderator Savannah Guthrie asked him to elaborate on a set of tweets that were bizarre even for the President's own erratic account.
Continuing a years-long pattern of spreading disinformation to his 87 million Twitter followers, the President retweeted a bogus conspiracy theory that former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden ordered SEAL Team Six to kill an Osama bin Laden body double, instead of the actual bin Laden.
Trump's retweet of the wildly false claim generated backlash across the internet, and on Thursday night, Savannah Guthrie asked Trump why he had retweeted it.
Watch below.
Pres. Trump: “That was a retweet, I'll put it out there. People can decide for themselves." @SavannahGuthrie: “I don't get that. You're the president. You're not, like, someone's crazy uncle who can just retweet whatever." #TrumpTownHall pic.twitter.com/Im0QFy7VOU
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) October 16, 2020
Trump insisted to Guthrie that he retweeted the claim in order to "put it out there."
Guthrie responded:
"I don't get that. You're the president. You're not, like, someone's crazy uncle who can just retweet whatever."
That's when Mary Trump—the President's niece who published a book earlier this year on why he's unfit for the presidency—had an objection.
Actually . . . https://t.co/tdmNIjBP4j
— Mary L Trump (@MaryLTrump) October 16, 2020
Since coming forward with the secrets of the Trump family, Mary Trump has faced legal battles to keep the book—Too Much and Never Enough—off the shelves. She's also been on the receiving end of some of her uncle's Twitter tirades.
People applauded Mary Trump's retort.
I'm going to frame this tweet somewhere on my Hall of Fame of sick burns ever witnessed. https://t.co/dCXEmCnql9 pic.twitter.com/Doq5qyHeVI
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) October 16, 2020
Perfect response @MaryLTrump😂😂😂 https://t.co/RhJYwfsrDq
— Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) October 16, 2020
You win everything tonight, @MaryLTrump ! https://t.co/wx1cTWYkhI
— Paul Begala (@PaulBegala) October 16, 2020
Ha!! Best tweet ever in history. Hands down. Will never be bested. https://t.co/bZ5YytKolb
— Sinead O'Connor (AKA Shuhada Sadaqat) (@MagdaDavitt77) October 16, 2020
Meanwhile, Trump's performance at the town hall reviews fell flat.
Trump's rage at Savannah Guthrie all comes down to a simple truth: He believes he's entitled to wage this campaign in a universe of his own creation, one that's entirely fictional. But on one front after another, reality is crashing in. New piece:https://t.co/mirURfxeWq
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) October 16, 2020
the reason this town hall is a disaster for Trump is he treats every questioner as if they are attacking him, and spends his time shouting at them
— b-boy boooo-eebaisse (@jbouie) October 16, 2020
The biggest vulnerability in Trump's performance tonight has to just be reality.
Hundred of thousands of Americans' loved ones have died alone. Rampant unemployment. Millions more in poverty. And his answers have basically been everything is fine.
— Tara Golshan (@taragolshan) October 16, 2020
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