Trump mistakenly praises Church for ‘abolition of civil rights,’ Dems go wild (VIDEO)
Donald Trump mistakenly lauds Christians for suppressing civil rights – the opposite of what he was due to say – and his political opponents mock the president, and hint that he was sending a coded message to his base.
“Since the founding of our nation, many of our greatest strides, from gaining our independence to abolition of civil rights to extending the vote for women, have been led by people of faith,” Trump said to a primarily religious audience in a speech during the National Prayer Breakfast.
A transcript released in the aftermath by the White House showed that Trump, who was reading off a teleprompter for the majority of the speech was meant to say “from gaining our independence, to abolition [of slavery], TO civil rights,” which would have given his words the opposite, and expected, meaning.
White House says Trump didn't mean to celebrate "abolition of civil rights" in his Prayer Breakfast remarks, acknowledges what he said but corrects transcript pic.twitter.com/naE21C2o0B
— David Wessel (@davidmwessel) February 7, 2019
Predictably rather than letting a small moment in what was an otherwise generous and stately speech – as Trump's tend to be when he is reading rather than free-wheeling – go, the Democrats pounced.
For some this was mere irony.
he's actually telling the truth there.
— Adam Horowitz (@AHorowitzLaw) February 7, 2019
A Freudian slip.
Doh! He wasn’t supposed to say it ALOUD pic.twitter.com/6ia0NK0F5a
— sarah s. (@sallylassos) February 7, 2019
Another opportunity to poke fun at the president's supposed deficiencies.
For Trump, every scripted speech is a literacy test.
— Windsor Mann (@WindsorMann) February 7, 2019
he seems confused, he's speaking super slow, and his speech is slurred. rough shape
— Emily Q. Hazzard (@eqhazzard) February 7, 2019
he's not used to doing anything besides watching Fox & Friends and rage tweeting that early in the morning
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 7, 2019
Or a chance to suggest that this is all part of Trump's grand plan of hiding words of evil in the plainest of sights.
Trump, on Tuesday: "When I say something that you might think is a gaffe, it’s on purpose; it’s not a gaffe."Trump, today: Praises the "abolition of civil rights." pic.twitter.com/tOGLod0wd0
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) February 7, 2019
"accidentally" pic.twitter.com/Fv2a1TCcNt
— 👽 (@AlienPr0be) February 7, 2019