President Donald Trump wasn’t being serious when he said this week he doesn’t read the text of his executive orders, according to the same reporter who led people to believe otherwise.
The New York Times’ Peter Baker tweeted Tuesday afternoon, “Trump signing his latest executive order: ‘There’s a lot of words. I don’t bother reading everything.'”
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A handful of media organizations followed up on Baker’s tweet, publishing stories hinging entirely on his 140-character note.
“Donald Trump Is Signing Executive Orders That He Doesn’t Read or Understand,” read one GQ headline.
Some media blog called Politics USA added in a headline of its own, “Jaws Drop As Trump Admits That He Is Not Reading The Executive Orders He Is Signing.”
The problem with these and similar stories is that Trump’s offhand remarks about his executive orders were made in jest, according to none other than Peter Baker.
“He was making a joke after reading the title out loud and I thought it was funny. I should have been clearer about the context,” the Times reporter clarified Tuesday evening.
Baker eventually deleted his original tweet, which had gathered more than 5,000 shares and 6,000-plus likes in a matter of hours.
As of this writing, the reporter’s clarifying tweet has been shared only 60 times.
There is also an eight-hour gap between the now-deleted tweet, which was misconstrued by thousands, and the note clarifying Trump was only kidding about the executive orders.
