Oops? Trump retweets critic who said, ‘He’s a fascist’
President Donald Trump appears to have mistakenly retweeted a message from one of his critics, who said, « He’s a fascist. »
Trump deleted his retweet Tuesday after about five minutes, but not before the message, sent to his 35 million followers, racked up a big response.
Trump seems to have been trying to draw attention to a « Fox & Friends » article on a possible presidential pardon for former Phoenix-area Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted for ignoring a U. S. court order to stop traffic patrols that targeted immigrants.
A Twitter handle identified as @MikeHolden42 tweeted to Trump, « He’s a fascist, so not unusual. » The user suggested in subsequent tweets that he was calling Trump a facist, not Arpaio.
Trump retweeted the message to his massive following, triggering an avalanche of replies. @MikeHolden42 responded, « I’m announcing my retirement from Twitter. I’ll never top this RT. » He later updated his description on Twitter as « Officially Endorsed by the President of the United States. »
On Tuesday, Trump also retweeted and deleted a cartoon showing a train labeled « Trump » running over a man with « CNN » covering his face.
The retweets come after a national uproar over race-fueled clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia. It took two days of public equivocation and internal White House debate before the president condemned white supremacist groups by name on Monday, declaring, « Racism is evil. »
Late Monday, Trump retweeted Jack Posobiec, a conservative Trump supporter who used social media to draw attention to « Pizzagate, » an unfounded conspiracy theory that claims Democrats harbor child sex slaves at a D. C. pizza restaurant.
Posobiec’s tweet read, « Meanwhile: 39 shootings in Chicago this weekend, 9 deaths. No national media outrage. Why is that? »
