The Trump administration is so chaotic that their attempts to pretend what you actually saw did not happen, sometimes works to divert the national conversation.
Gaslighting is the norm for Trump and his sycophants.
On Tuesday's Fox and Friends, reporter Griff Jenkins did not refute Steve Doocy or any of the reports saying teargas, flash bangs and rubber bullets were used against peaceful protesters. Instead, he justified the use of force against civilians by the fact that Trump is the leader of the free world and they should've moved out of the way.
"So, there's criticism on the force that should have perhaps been used but when you're talking about the leader of the free world in the president of the United States -- you don't want to be in the way and disobey their efforts to clear this area. I understand this criticism coming but this is (as he pointed behind him) a very secure area right now it is locked down."
Fast forward to today and now he's singing a different song.
Forget about what all our eyes saw, because if Trump says it didn't happen, well then.
Fox and Friends co-host Ainsley Earhardt asked Jenkins if teargas was actually used since now the White House is claiming they did not use it against peaceful protesters.
"Is that accurate?" she asked
Here comes Griff to the rescue, all in on the newest lie from the White house.
Jenkins replied, "There is clarity on that point. And, no, tear gas was not used. The park police issuing a statement saying they did not use tear gas. They used the pepper spray that they use, far less lethal. And we also know, Ainsley, that Attorney General Bill Barr now saying that he ordered that park be cleared after projectiles were thrown, not only yesterday but in previous days.
After defending the use of force against the protesters, he said, "And so we are learning more about it. But the park police very much wanting to say that the accusations of tear gas not accurate."
Of course, that is a lie.
Here's the moment where police fired teargas into a crowd of peaceful protesters in Lafayette Park, just minutes before Trump's address in the Rose Garden. pic.twitter.com/KPjxMKdDyx
— Cameron Peters (@jcameronpeters) June 1, 2020
And the CDC is calling what law enforcement used on the peaceful protestors, teargas.
Among others, they include chloroacetophenone (CN), more commonly referred to as “mace,” or pepper sprays — in other words, the compound that was deployed in Lafayette Square — and chlorobenzylidenemalononitrile (CS), “one of the most commonly used tear gases in the world,” according to an article in the British Medical Journal.
