Twitter Explodes After Trump Aide Claims GOP Never Questioned Obama’s Legitimacy
“You didn’t have Republicans questioning whether or not Obama legitimately beat John McCain in 2008,” Reince Priebus Says
Priebus to @ThisWeekABC: John Lewis questioned Trump’s legitimacy, “and you’re worried about a tweet?…Too bad.” https://t.co/A6jYf4TFHM pic.twitter.com/Pbi6EQEVD1
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) January 15, 2017
In a stunning display of hypocrisy, President-elect Donald Trump’s chief of staff, Reince Priebus, claimed on Sunday that Republicans never questioned the legitimacy of President Barack Obama.Â
Appearing on ABC News’ “This Week,” Priebus was responding to Congressman John Lewis’ recent remarks, in which he said Trump will not be a legitimate president because Russia hacked the election to help him win. Trump responded by attacking Lewis, a civil rights icon, on Twitter, sparking massive outrage.Â
Trump, of course, was the main architect of the racist lie known as the birther movement, which claimed Obama was born in Kenya and therefore not a legitimate president. Nevertheless, Priebus called Lewis’ remarks “insanity” and “irresponsible,” even demanding that Obama “step up” and put a stop to claims that Trump isn’t legitimate.Â
“I think the administration can do a lot of good by telling folks that are on the Republican side of the aisle, ‘Look, we may have lost the election on the Democratic side, but it’s time to come together,'” Priebus said. “You didn’t have Republicans questioning whether or not Obama legitimately beat John McCain in 2008.”Â
On NBC’s “Meet The Press,” Chuck Todd reminded Priebus that Trump “spent five years questioning Obama’s legitimacy.”Â
“Do you understand why there are going to be some who look at your criticism of John Lewis and say, that’s hypocritical coming from somebody who works for Donald Trump?” Todd said.Â
Priebus eventually responded by calling the birther movement “an old argument about where the President was born,” adding that it “has nothing to do with whether or not, in a democracy in the United States, whether Donald Trump won the election and whether it was legitimate.”Â
Here’s how Twitter responded.Â
When #Trump et al questioned Obama’s legitimacy, Rience Priebus said “they can talk about it all they want.” https://t.co/axUemUHdsL #AMJoy
— Donald Kerabatsos (@Papakila) January 15, 2017
@GStephanopoulos omg did Priebus just say Obama should get his people in line? Does he mean keep blacks in their place?
— Kathy (@momfarts) January 15, 2017
@lindybrandon @realDonaldTrump Ahhh I still have such fond memories of Priebus “stepping up” when a certain fire stormer claimed that Obama was not even born in USA…Wait
— Martin (马ä¸) Hynie (@vds4) January 15, 2017
@evanmcmurry @ABCPolitics @Reince You just questioned whether he was actually an American for the next 8 years.
— Julie Selesnick (@Juliess31) January 15, 2017
“You didn’t have Reps questioning whether or not Obama legitimately beat John McCain in 2008.” –@Reince @peterwsinger @niubi @evanmcmurry pic.twitter.com/vCIUbvuUnH
— Mr Grey Ghost (@Mr_Ghostly) January 15, 2017
@crazylary51 @ThisWeekABC priebus making it clear that it was ok for trump to say Pres. Obama was illegitimate based on his color.
— Douglas Davis (@Douglas69908471) January 15, 2017
Omfg does he have amnesia? https://t.co/OH3SN7Mdio
— Zerlina Maxwell (@ZerlinaMaxwell) January 15, 2017
Easy explanation. @reince must have still been in Russia at the time and missed the whole “Kenya” thing #Goebbels https://t.co/6KC7COKMVW
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) January 15, 2017
We found 52% of Republicans said ACORN stole the 2008 election for Obama https://t.co/Pq73gk11ML
— PublicPolicyPolling (@ppppolls) January 15, 2017
Strange that the GOP just let ACORN steal the election even though Obama was born in Kenya and never mentioned either fact again. https://t.co/9g6rKklJog
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) January 15, 2017
What was birtherism about dot Tumblr dot com https://t.co/YKv0QtfJjg
— Nick Baumann (@NickBaumann) January 15, 2017
HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHAHA https://t.co/uNBHK9b1X2
— Will McAvoy (@WillMcAvoyACN) January 15, 2017
Priebus takes the prize for standing, jumping, and leaping gaul! This remarkable turd! After the way his creep boss treated Obama! GMAB!
— daen scheiber (@papadaen) January 15, 2017
@mirandayaver @Reince This is probably going through Priebus’ head every time he says “nobody ever questioned Obama’s legitimacy” pic.twitter.com/PaQ7NTwrUe
— Salil Benegal (@SalilBenegal) January 15, 2017
Hey, @reince is actually right! @POTUS indeed SHOULD step up about Dems questioning Trump’s legitimacy. He should be LEADING us. https://t.co/fVtV1Z7OF4
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) January 15, 2017
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