While most Republican lawmakers were unwilling to talk about President Donald Trump’s tweet that a hospitalized 75-year-old man “could be an ANTIFA provocateur,” the White House is doubling down. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany defended the tweet and said that Trump “was raising questions.”
The tweet, which Trump sent on Tuesday morning, reads, “Buffalo protester shoved by Police could be an ANTIFA provocateur. 75-year-old Martin Gugino was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment. @OANN I watched, he fell harder than was pushed. Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?”
Buffalo protester shoved by Police could be an ANTIFA provocateur. 75 year old Martin Gugino was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment. @OANN I watched, he fell harder than was pushed. Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 9, 2020
Gugino is still hospitalized after being shoved by a police officer in Buffalo, which was caught on video.
On Wednesday morning, McEnany appeared on “Fox & Friends” and made it clear that 1600 Penn is not backing away from the tweet.
Asked if Trump thinks that 75-year-old Gugino is “part of Antifa,” McEnany responded, “The president was raising questions based on a report that he saw. There are questions that need to be asked and in every case, we can’t jump on one side without looking at all the facts at play. This individual had some very questionable tweets, some profanity-laden tweets about police officers … The president was just raising some of those questions.”
Moments later, McEnany was asked about the timing of the tweet — as the nation is smoldering after two weeks of protests after the death of George Floyd.
The press secretary said, “Look, the president has acknowledged so many times, and rightfully so, the injustice with George Floyd.”
McEnany added, “But the president was raising some questions, some legitimate ones, about that particular interaction and it’s his prerogative to do so.”
Watch the video below:
welp, the WH is doubling down
— Lis Power (@LisPower1) June 10, 2020
Kilmeade: Trump tweeted the 75-year-old protester might have been an antifa provocateur, can you expand on that?
McEnany: He was raising questions, there are questions that need to be asked in every case …This guy had profanity laden tweets pic.twitter.com/KJUjjbqQxt
Most Republicans were unwilling to talk about the president’s tweet on Tuesday, though Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) both said that they do not agree with it.
