There are moments when it is difficult to tell if the White House is kidding with us or being serious.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer’s attempts Monday to defend his boss’ claim that the former President Barack Obama had Trump Tower’s “wires tapped” is one of those moments.
On March 4, President Trump tweeted this: “Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!”
Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my “wires tapped” in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017
Trump’s rather serious charge caused an predictable storm in the press, and the White House has yet to substantiate this claim with hard evidence.
As it turns out, according to Spicer, when Trump tweeted that Obama had his “wires tapped,” the Queens businessman’s use of quotation marks suggest he was speaking more broadly about surveillance in general.
Spicer’s defense of the tweet occurred Monday as he fielded a question from NBC’s Peter Alexander.
“Why should Americans trust the President? Should they trust the President? Is it phony or real when he says that President Obama was wiretapping him?” the reporter asked.
Spicer responded by saying, “Well again, let’s get back. I think there’s two things that are important about what he said. I think recognizing that it’s — he doesn’t really think that President Obama went up and tapped his phone personally, I think. But I think there is no question that the Obama administration, that there were actions about surveillance and other activities that occurred in the 2016 election. That is a widely reported activity that occurred back then.”
“The President used the word wiretap in quotes to mean broadly surveillance and other activities during that. And that is, again, something — it is interesting how many news outlets reported that this activity was taking place during the 2016 election cycle and now are wondering where the proof is. It is many of the same outlets in this room that talked about the activities that were going on back then,” he added.
This is almost as ridiculous as claiming microwaves are spying on us (almost as bad).
Spicer’s defense is so far-fetched, that it raises the question: Who, exactly, are they trying to convince with this razzle dazzle?
When former White Press Secretary Jay Carney tried to dodge a question in 2012 about Hilary Rosen, a Democratic strategist affiliated with the Obama campaign who criticized Ann Romney, by saying he personally knew at least three women named Hilary Rosen, his attempted obfuscation was met with widespread laughter.
“One of Jay’s jobs is to keep track of all the Hilary Rosens,” joked late night comedian Jimmy Kimmel.
Spicer’s risible defense this week of Trump’s “wire tapped” claim similarly undercuts this administration’s credibility.
