Republican Party Leaders Will Go to Lengths to Pretend They Didn't See Trump's Latest Screwup

When Trump supporters or Republican leaders are confronted with the facts of what Trump does or says, they quickly unravel. That's because they know much of his behavior is indefensible. When al else fails, many turned to straightforward denial about what occurred. Earlier this summer, for instance, Trump tweeted a conspiracy theory about Antifa. The same routine took place as often happens following an outlandish tweet: total denial. When asked by reporters, Republicans quickly closed ranks and responded similarly, namely by pretending they were completely unaware of what had been said. "I didn't see [the tweet]," Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said. "You're telling me about it. I don't read Twitter. I only write on it." "I'm not going to comment on the President's tweets," said Texas Sen. John Cornyn. Colorado GOP Sen. Cory Gardner simply said he'd rather not look at it. In June 2020, journalists became so exasperated by the same "I didn't see it" responses that some reporters actually printed out copies of one Trump tweet to show Republicans in Congress. When met with an "I didn't see that tweet," journalists were able to simply show it to Republicans as they were asking about it. Even that failed. "Faced with documentary evidence of the president’s inflammatory remark, most Republicans averted their gaze on Tuesday, declining to comment as they darted through the hallways of Capitol Hill and appearing to wish away what was on paper in front of them," wrote the New York Times.