Ex-CIA Chief: I'm Laughing At Trump

[appalachiablue]

Source: The Hill

Former CIA Director Michael Hayden on Tuesday said he was among those "laughing at" President Trump following blowback to his comments about Russia's election interference during a press conference this week.

Trump has been roundly criticized in Washington over his refusal to denounce Russian meddling in the 2016 election while appearing alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin during a joint press conference in Helsinki on Monday.

On Tuesday, Trump sought to walk back his widely-criticized comments, saying he agreed with the U.S. intelligence community's assessment that Russia interfered in the election. But he also said that "other people" could have also been involved, a statement echoing past remarks casting doubt on Russia's role.

"The sentence should have been 'I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be Russia,'" Trump said while reading from a prepared statement at the White House. "Sort of a double negative. So you can put that in, and I think that probably clarifies things pretty good by itself."...Read ALL..


Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ex-cia-chief-im-laughing-at-trump/ar-AAAdvMp?li=BBnbcA1

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I’m not laughing. 😥😥😥😥😥. Oh, hell. YES I AM. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂



- Michael Hayden

[techne7319]

1. He didn't

walk back anything. He changed one word of one sentence. Everything else he said apparently is still accurate. The “would” to “wouldn’t” doesn’t really change anything. Furthermore, the only reason he “walked back” in today’s presser is because Pence and Pompeo pushed him to after everyone was associating his actions with the word “treason.” It’s just one more lie to try and fool the masses and distract the press, all while not betraying his base. He has no class, no sense of Truth, and no love for anything but himself.

[appalachiablue]

2. More from this,

The comments came a day after many Republican and Democratic lawmakers condemned his press conference with Putin as "shameful" and a "disgrace."
In addition to Hayden, former CIA Director John Brennan forcefully criticized Trump's actions in Finland.
Brennan tweeted on Monday that Trump's rhetoric was "nothing short of treasonous" and urged members of his administration to resign. Trump responded by calling Brennan a "very bad person."

[appalachiablue]

3. "Trump Printout of Putin Comments Includes Handwritten "There

Was No Collusion," The Hill, July 17, 18. President Trump's prepared remarks on Tuesday aimed at walking back his comments that he doubted whether Russia interfered in the 2016 election included a handwritten note emphasizing that "there was no collusion."
Trump spoke to reporters at the White House on Tuesday where he read from a series of printed pages. He emphasized that he accepts the intelligence community's assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, but added in an apparent ad-lib that "other people" also could have been involved.
Multiple pages included handwritten notes scrawled in black marker. One page included a note about a "permanent middle class tax cut," while multiple reporters on Twitter quickly noticed that one page apparently featured the message "There was no colusion [sic]."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-printout-of-putin-comments-includes-handwritten-there-was-no-collusion/ar-AAAdRlE?

[murielm99]

5. So he has to keep reminding himself

that there was no collusion? Is that it?

[appalachiablue]

7. That's it, so it wont't be overlooked. Lol. Glasses might help.

During the joint press conference in Finland, Trump said his intelligence officials had told him Russia interfered in the 2016 election but he noted that Putin offered a "very strong" denial. Trump went on to deny that he colluded with Russia during the election, recounted his victory over 2016 rival Hillary Clinton and called special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling "ridiculous."

[TreasonousBastard]

6. Yes. I was watching him read with his arms folded and constantly...

checking back at the notes.

This is the guy who can rant without notes for an hour or two on the campaign trail, and the folded arms is a definite tell that he's being pushed and has no where to go.

[murielm99]

8. My husband comments on

45's body language every time he sees 45 with his arms folded across his chest. He would agree with you about that tell.

[mopinko]

17. it is a gesture that screams.

i always look at it and take it as- i know i am lying right now.
not sure he always even knows he is lying. but he does when he has the lies written out for him.

and as far as off the cuff remarks- they are always the same story. the electoral college, etc.
the only time he makes half an ounce of sense is when he is reading something someone else wrote for him.

just like st ronnie.

[olddad56]

9. trump is the classic bully, a total coward who only pushs people around when he knows he can..

get away with it. he is scared to death of Putin, and he should be.

[C Moon]

10. I have no doubt the GOPutin is working on getting false information to make it look like the Dems

were also involved in this.
That's what is sounds like to me.
The U.S. has a short memory. This week will be forgotten very quickly.

[appalachiablue]

11. Possibly, and people here forget easily, get distracted, busy and indifferent.

[C Moon]

13. I agree. Too many candied Tweets posted on DU, claiming something big is about to be exposed.

Those Tweets NEVER amount to ANYTHING.
I would guess 95% of them never come to fruition. So what's the purpose?

For instance...whatever happened to the ICE people who were going talk and open the immigration detained children, wide open.

Sorry to rant...but the Twitter postings on DU, are annoying. They are NEVER backed up by fact, and die away.

...another shoe dropped!
...brother.

And I'm not picking on DU. I love this place. I just wish we could rid ourselves of these damn Tweets that consume everyone.

[appalachiablue]

14. By my comment 'here' I meant Americans more broadly, although

there's much news on DU and sometimes it's easy to get distracted, forget or lose track, esp. in peak news times. Retaining much of it can be challenging I find. ~ So far I haven't got into tweeting, not my thing but many people in all walks use it and come up with some gems, other stuff not really much. But it's here to stay, growing monthly and for capturing live events and immediate brief remarks it can be useful I see.

[Hamlette]

12. we should all just start laughing at him...hear me out.

After WWII there was a resurgence of the KKK, just as there had been after WWI. A columnist started making fun of them in his column. He found out all the silly names they had for leadership and put the titles in his column and made fun of it. Grand Dragon etc. Soon the whole country was laughing at the Klansmen and it sort of went away.

If it doesn't work, maybe if we laugh we won't be so freaked out.

[BumRushDaShow]

16. People ALREADY have done that with him

You see the continual lampooning of his "tiny hands" and his "hair" and his "pursed lips" (all in political cartoons). It also includes his euphemisms - the "covfefe" thing, the "believe me", and all the other repetitive nonsense that he utters as part of his disjointed discourse, etc.

It's easy to tar and feather a group like the KKK but when it comes to a pariah who is worshiped by a subset of the populace, then another strategy is needed. I.e., it's useless as long as societal acceptance (via "silence" ) of the abject hate that feeds him and his followers, continues.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

15. Projection or Freudian slip...

... "But he also said that "other people" could have also been involved...". What he knows of the GOP and electronic voting systems, or a Freudian slip while under stress?