insane part about the Mulvaney walk-back is that there were multiple reporters in the briefing room who you could tell were curious if Mulvaney ACTUALLY MEANT what he just said and several people gave him explicit chances, repeating what he'd said back to him, to walk it back…
...or claim he was taken out of context. He didn’t take any of those chances!
I was standing in the briefing room waiting for him to do it, actively thinking “they can’t be saying this, he has to say he misspoke, or something, a la him saying Mar a Lago when he meant Doral"
I was standing in the briefing room waiting for him to do it, actively thinking “they can’t be saying this, he has to say he misspoke, or something, a la him saying Mar a Lago when he meant Doral"
I know WH is going full “they twisted my words!” tonight, but the reporters obviously weren’t trying to take him out of context. They were abundantly clear in their follow-ups, clearly trying to see if he said what he had just said.
The most he said, when I was expecting him to walk it back in front of us, was something to the effect of “well, quid pro quo is YOUR term, not ours,” instead leaning on terms akin to “conditions” or w/e
.@jonkarl even reviewed the batshit part of this with him in real time, and his response was “We do [stuff like] that all the time with foreign policy”
He was incredibly clear about it! It’s right there! He did it on television!
He was incredibly clear about it! It’s right there! He did it on television!
“QUID PRO UH OH”
