Even by his standards, President Donald Trump’s weekend tweetstorm was epic, covering a range of topics from NASCAR to Iran to Oprah Winfrey’s most recent CBS “60 Minutes” segment.
But by far, Trump sent the most tweets denying collusion with Russia and blaming his enemies in Washington. Notably missing: what can be done in the wake of last week’s school shooting and any condemnation of Russia’s actions in the 2016 election.
Tweets on the Florida shooting
In two of Trump’s three tweets about the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 people dead, Trump zeroed in on two of his biggest enemies in Washington — Democrats and the FBI — for their inaction.
“Just like they don’t want to solve the DACA problem, why didn’t the Democrats pass gun control legislation when they had both the House & Senate during the Obama Administration. Because they didn’t want to, and now they just talk!” Trump tweeted Saturday afternoon.
In another tweet Saturday evening, Trump said it was “very sad that the FBI missed all of the many signals sent out by the Florida school shooter. This is not acceptable. They are spending too much time trying to prove Russian collusion with the Trump campaign – there is no collusion. Get back to the basics and make us all proud!”
Denying collusion with Russia
Eleven of Trump’s weekend tweets cited favorable evidence and commentary to back his frequent assertion that his presidential campaign did not collude with Russia during the 2016 election.
On Friday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced that Russian nationals were being charged in their alleged efforts to influence the 2016 election via social media. The narrowly focused charges did not include charges against Trump campaign officials, and Trump took it as a victory, citing a New York Post op-ed in a tweet saying the charges were a big win for him.
Trump even went so far as to correct his national security adviser’s comments about the matter, tossing blame to Democrats.
“General McMaster forgot to say that the results of the 2016 election were not impacted or changed by the Russians and that the only Collusion was between Russia and Crooked H, the DNC and the Dems,” he tweeted.
On Sunday, the President tweeted that Russians are “laughing their asses off in Moscow” for the way Washington has handled the Russia investigations.
Trump has repeatedly called the investigations into his presidential campaign’s potential collusion with Russia a “hoax,” but on Sunday, he tried to clarify his stance.
“I never said Russia did not meddle in the election, I said ‘it may be Russia, or China or another country or group, or it may be a 400 pound genius sitting in bed and playing with his computer,'” Trump tweeted. “The Russian ‘hoax’ was that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia – it never did!”
Russia has denied any involvement in the election. But Trump has repeatedly cast doubt on Russian meddling in the 2016 election as a “hoax” as well.
In two other posts, the President thanked the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, for spreading blame to the Obama administration for their handling of Russian influence on the election.
“Finally, Liddle’ Adam Schiff, the leakin’ monster of no control, is now blaming the Obama Administration for Russian meddling in the 2016 Election. He is finally right about something. Obama was President, knew of the threat, and did nothing,” Trump said.
The media
Trump sent out a handful of tweets over the weekend criticizing the media, including a CNN caricature from a now-suspended Twitter account. But notably, he took aim at Oprah Winfrey for her handling of a CBS “60 Minutes” segment that addressed his presidency.
“Just watched a very insecure Oprah Winfrey, who at one point I knew very well, interview a panel of people on 60 Minutes,” Trump said Sunday. “The questions were biased and slanted, the facts incorrect. Hope Oprah runs so she can be exposed and defeated just like all of the others!”
President’s Day
Following his weekend away from Washington, Trump wished his followers “a great, but very reflective, President’s Day” Monday morning.