The White House is reportedly in total meltdown over Trump’s address to the nation, where he failed to address anything of great importance.
His speech on Thursday night focused primarily on what he called “shocking vulnerabilities” in U.S. election security. The 80-year-old said China rigged the 2020 election, which he officially lost to Joe Biden, but has never accepted defeat.
Trump promised “really big news” in the widely televised but it ended leaving many people feeling confused, disappointed, and eroding what faith those outside Trump’s MAGA camp had left in the administration.
Top White House officials reportedly scrambled to manage the fallout from the speech, which immediately drew criticism from high-profile news outlets.
The Rapid Response 47 account, which is managed by Special Assistant to the president, Jake Schneider, began doing damage control almost immediately after, as the world responded to the national address.
Pierre Thomas, senior justice correspondent at ABC News, which outright refused to air Trump’s speech, said that “there is no evidence that they [China] were able to change the outcome of votes.”
The Rapid Response 47 account quoted Thomas, adding, “From the same people who brought you the Russia Collusion Hoax. Laughable.”
The post referenced a counter-narrative pushed by top MAGA figures that attacks the legitimacy of investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election, which Trump won.
The Rapid Response account also targeted ABC News’ Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl, saying, “Fake News @jonkarl immediately went on TV to accuse President Trump of lying — even though he admitted he still has “a lot more to look through.”
“Notice how he doesn’t seem to care about critical intelligence being willfully kept from the president during the 2020 campaign.”
The account targeted several other political figures and prominent media outlets that criticized Trump’s highly-discussed speech. Though he briefly addressed other current issues, such as immigration and the economy, election fraud was at the center of the speech.
In terms of the declassified documents that the White House had framed as bombshell evidence, a CNN report noted that although they had been recently declassified, “they largely discuss vulnerabilities that have been known for years and election officials around the country have tried to address.”
Experts have noted that Trump’s laser focus on election fraud indicates a desire to undermine the results of the upcoming midterm elections in November. The critical vote looms as the president’s approval ratings hit an all-time low.
