Donald Trump’s claim of ignorance about the Proud Boys are got the Brianna Keilar treatment that leaves no doubt there is either something seriously wrong with Trump’s cognitive ability or he’s lying.
Keilar called it the “Hardly Know Them” defense and she had lots and lots of examples, starting with the Proud Boys. After telling the white supremacist group to “stand back and stand by” during Tuesday night’s debate, Trump insisted he didn’t know who they are the next day, yet still refused to condemn them.
Keilar methodically ripped Trump’s fig leaf to shreds
Let's roll the tape here, starting with the impeachment inquiry and Gordon Sondland, the former ambassador to the EU who was set to testify in the Ukraine scandal that yes, there was a quid pro quo to hold up U.S. aid money for information damaging to Joe Biden.
(VIDEO CLIP BEGINS)
TRUMP: I don't know him very well. I have not spoken to him much. This is not a man I know well. Seems like a nice guy, though. But I don't know him well.
(VIDEO CLIP ENDS)
KEILAR: Now, just a month before, the president tweeted that he’d “love to send Sondland, a really good man and great American to testify.” Sondland was also a big donor to Trump's inauguration and he was nominated by the president to his ambassadorship, just a year and a half before.
Keilar highlighted Trump’s similarly convenient unfamiliarity with hush-money recipient Stormy Daniels, and even his own former presidential campaign manager, Paul Manafort. Ditto for his own controversial Acting Attorney General pick, Matt Whitaker; the former U.K. ambassador who called the Trump administration “inept;’ former Homeland Security Department official Miles Taylor; and former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci. Also “forgotten”: former Apprentice contestant, rapper and “great friend” Lil Jon; former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch; an indicted Rudy Giuliani associate; Prince Andrew; Greta Thunberg; and more.
In one hilarious clip, we saw Trump saying he never met Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), then saying he was sure he had met Casey, then saying he didn’t know Casey, all in one comment.
Then there’s Russian President Vladimir Putin. Keilar showed Trump praising Putin as someone who “could not have been nicer,” who “treated me so great” and sent “a beautiful present with a beautiful note.” Until – you guessed it – “I never met Putin, I don't know who Putin is. I have nothing to do with Putin. I’ve never spoken to him. I don't know anything about him other than he will respect me.”
And Wikileaks. We all remember when Trump said, during his 2016 campaign, “I love Wikileaks.” But after founder Julian Assange was arrested: “I know nothing about Wikileaks. It’s not my thing. I know nothing, really, about him. It’s not my deal in life.”
“Nor is telling the truth,” Keilar added, as a perfect conclusion for the segment.
