There's always a tweet has become a recurrent theme of the presidency of Donald Trump. As summarized by the subReddit that tracks the phenomenon:
"35,000+ Tweets—No Self Awareness."
It usually takes months or even years for Trump's Twitter feed to contradict or call the President out for his own words or deeds. But Friday, President Trump completely reversed a dubious claim he made less than 24 hours earlier.
On Thursday morning, President Trump tweeted:
"The Impeachment Hoax is hurting our Stock Market. The Do Nothing Democrats don’t care!"
But on Friday morning—23 hours and 8 minutes later, Trump tweeted:
"Stock Market up BIG! Record highs for S&P 500 and NASDAQ. Enjoy!"
Trump's contradiction of himself caught the attention of many.
It was as if Thursday—the day the House of Representatives voted on the impeachment resolution the GOP demanded—morning's warning was completely false.
Or perhaps...
People shared his own contradictory tweets with Trump.
Trump's set up on Thursday could mean one of two things to explain Friday's post:
- Thursday's tweet was a lie designed to influence the impeachment resolution vote
- Wall Street really wants Trump impeached
However others saw market manipulation as the goal.
On Thursday—despite neither House rules nor a constitutional requirement—the House held an impeachment inquiry resolution vote to appease Republicans and the White House who falsely claimed one was necessary.
Once passed, the GOP members still loyal to Trump found something new to use to mischaracterize, disrupt, distract from and discredit the impeachment inquiry.
Scott Pelley's book Truth Worth Telling: A Reporter's Search for Meaning in the Stories of Our Times is available here.