Nobody can figure out where Trump got this supposed Kevin McCarthy quote from
Did President Trump just totally make up a quote from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)?
The president on Wednesday morning tweeted out a quote he attributed to McCarthy expressing support for his Mexico tariffs, with McCarthy apparently saying that "any measure the president takes on the border" is "totally veto proof."
But hours have passed since this tweet was posted, and nobody can figure out where Trump actually got the quote from. Politico did some digging and couldn't find it anywhere, writing that it "seems to exist in just one place: Trump's Twitter feed." McCarthy's office pointed Politico to an interview he gave to Fox News' Laura Ingraham, but the quote is nowhere to be found in this segment, although he did say "we support the president."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
So what happened here? It's not totally clear, and the White House didn't respond to Politico's request for comment. Media Matters' Matthew Gertz proposes a theory, though: "Trump watched the relevant segments and then he or his aide attempted to do multiple tweets responding, and by the third one the actual McCarthy quote was forgotten so they just made it up."
Regardless, McCarthy later on Wednesday wouldn't actually say whether he would prevent a veto override on Trump's Mexico tariffs, as NBC News' Leigh Ann Caldwell reports, meaning the "veto proof" tweet may not exactly age well.
-
Political cartoons for January 17Cartoons Saturday’s political cartoons include hard hats, compliance, and more
-
Ultimate pasta alla NormaThe Week Recommends White miso and eggplant enrich the flavour of this classic pasta dish
-
Death in Minneapolis: a shooting dividing the USIn the Spotlight Federal response to Renee Good’s shooting suggest priority is ‘vilifying Trump’s perceived enemies rather than informing the public’
-
‘One Battle After Another’ wins Critics Choice honorsSpeed Read Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, won best picture at the 31st Critics Choice Awards
-
Son arrested over killing of Rob and Michele ReinerSpeed Read Nick, the 32-year-old son of Hollywood director Rob Reiner, has been booked for the murder of his parents
-
Rob Reiner, wife dead in ‘apparent homicide’speed read The Reiners, found in their Los Angeles home, ‘had injuries consistent with being stabbed’
-
Hungary’s Krasznahorkai wins Nobel for literatureSpeed Read László Krasznahorkai is the author of acclaimed novels like ‘The Melancholy of Resistance’ and ‘Satantango’
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
