President Donald Trump is not too pleased with the mainstream media’s coverage of the exit of White House counsel Don McGahn.
McGahn’s departure was announced on Wednesday of this week.
And the president teased that he already had a replacement in mind on Thursday.
“I am very excited about the person who will be taking the place of Don McGahn as White House Counsel!” Trump tweeted on Thursday.
I am very excited about the person who will be taking the place of Don McGahn as White House Counsel! I liked Don, but he was NOT responsible for me not firing Bob Mueller or Jeff Sessions. So much Fake Reporting and Fake News!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 30, 2018
McGahn had been a leading figure in the administration’s relationship to the special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Trump had nothing but positive words for McGahn when he departed his job.
“I liked Don, but he was NOT responsible for me not firing Bob Mueller or Jeff Sessions. So much Fake Reporting and Fake News!” he also tweeted.
Trump said McGahn was a “really good guy” who had done an “excellent job.”
After McGahn’s exit, Trump’s critics immediately began turning the wheels on the conspiracy theory bus.
A report from The New York Times claimed McGahn was fired due to pressure from Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and a key figure in the current administration.
The report claimed that the first daughter had convinced her father to drop McGahn after she heard the White House counsel had spent hours spilling his guts to Robert Mueller, the head of the special counsel investigation into Russian collusion in the 2016 presidential election.
The report from The New York Times made its way across leftist circles.
And it was shared endlessly on social media.
Don McGahn, who had been a frequent target of Ivanka and Jared, believed the NYT report about his Mueller interviews was planted by his critics to force Trump's hand, NYT reports.
Ivanka reportedly "complained bitterly" to her father about the report.https://t.co/thIUI2LGgg
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 29, 2018
Ivanka Trump was said to have “complained bitterly” to President Trump about reports that the White House wasn’t aware of the extent that Don McGahn cooperated with the Mueller investigation.
Did that hasten McGahn’s departure?https://t.co/RZqEqL6WQv
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) August 30, 2018
So, basically, what we know from this is that Ivanka and Jared played a role in the announced departure of McGahn.
Trump says daughter, son-in-law played no role in departure of White House counsel McGahn https://t.co/JaAAcOui3H
— Kurt Busiek Resists (@KurtBusiek) August 31, 2018
Hmmmm seems that it was @IvankaTrump who was the most upset about Don Mcgahn talking to Mueller’s team. Whatcha got to hide, dear?
— Jamie Schler (@lifesafeast) August 30, 2018
Not surprisingly, President Trump was not too pleased with the attacks on both his daughter and son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
And he took to Twitter, as he so often does, to correct the report.
“The Rigged Russia Witch Hunt did not come into play, even a little bit, with respect to my decision on Don McGahn!” he wrote.
Trump also directly defended his daughter and son-in-law in another tweet, saying, “Ivanka Trump & Jared Kushner had NOTHING to do with the so called “pushing out” of Don McGahn. The Fake News Media has it, purposely, so wrong! They love to portray chaos in the White House when they know that chaos doesn’t exist — just a ‘smooth running machine’ with changing parts!”
Ivanka Trump & Jared Kushner had NOTHING to do with the so called “pushing out” of Don McGahn.The Fake News Media has it, purposely,so wrong! They love to portray chaos in the White House when they know that chaos doesn’t exist-just a “smooth running machine” with changing parts!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 30, 2018
Others have also taken to social media to call out the report from The New York Times — and its reliance on anonymous sources.
"Mr. McGahn, who had been a frequent target of Mr. Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, believed the story was planted by his critics"
Did McGahn say this? What is the source? This is not a fact you can report without a source.
— David Greenwald (@davidegreenwald) August 29, 2018
.@benshapiro says the impact of the New York Times story about Don McGahn may be overblown, saying "this just looks like another member of the Trump administration has spoken with investigators." #Mediabuzz
— #MediaBuzz (@MediaBuzzFNC) August 19, 2018
the bottom of the memo Don McGahn says clearly these are opinions and not facts…the whole memo is a giant nothingburger
— bigbook tom (@bigbooktom) February 2, 2018
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