Members-Only Article

Trump Keeps Saying The Quiet Part Out Loud — Ostensibly To Protect Himself

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 19: President Trump walks toward the White House after landing aboard Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on January 19, 2019 in Washington, DC. Trump was returning from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware where he visited with families four Americans who were killed in an explosion Wednesday in Syria. (Photo by Pete Marovich/Getty Images) — WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 19: U.S. President Donald Trump walks toward the White House after landing aboard Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on January 19, 2019 in Washington, DC. Trump was returning fr... WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 19: U.S. President Donald Trump walks toward the White House after landing aboard Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on January 19, 2019 in Washington, DC. Trump was returning from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware where he visited with families four Americans who were killed in an explosion Wednesday in Syria. (Photo by Pete Marovich/Getty Images) MORE LESS

October 3, 2019 1:31 p.m.

And … he just … tweeted it out.

The popular Twitter meme that originated from reporter Jared Sexton after Donald Trump Jr. tweeted out his Trump Tower meeting email exchanges has come to encapsulate the Trump era — a rare moment in our political history in which saying the quiet part out loud is a routine line of defense.

In today’s case, the President didn’t tweet it out, but rather shouted it out over the roaring helicopter engine parked outside the White House while he prepared to leave for an event in Florida. All the same, on Thursday morning, President Trump not only openly admitted he wants Ukraine to open a “major investigation in the Bidens,” he also publicly urged the Chinese government to do the same.

“Likewise, China should start an investigation into the Bidens,” Trump said. “Because what happened in China is just about as bad as what happened with Ukraine.”

It’s news. But it’s not surprising.

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