WH Spokesman Accuses Dems of Being 'More Upset' About Actor Meeting Trump Than About Soleimani Killing Americans
A White House spokesman slammed Democrats on Tuesday, claiming they were more upset over a viral clip of President Donald Trump speaking with actor Vince Vaughn at Monday night’s college football national championship than over the hundreds of American deaths that Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani orchestrated during his lifetime.
Trump was met with an overwhelmingly positive reaction as he and first lady Melania Trump walked out onto the field for the pregame playing of the national anthem in New Orleans; the crowd chanted things like “U-S-A” and “Four more years!”
But a number of liberals on social media took issue later on in the game with a viral clip of a brief, seemingly friendly exchange between Trump and Vaughn.
Vaughn, a libertarian, was seen sitting in the luxury box occupied by the Trumps and at one point spoke with the president and shook his hand.
I’m very sorry to have to share this video with you. All of it, every part of it. pic.twitter.com/ELMbDHZbZq
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) January 14, 2020
Whelp… that tells me all I need to know about Vince Vaughn. ?
— Bree Darling (@BJJJunebug13) January 14, 2020
Sad. Vince Vaughn is one of my favorites. I always knew he was Republican but this, so gross.
I don’t need a Wedding Crashers sequal anymore. https://t.co/QaNcNb889s
— Aaron (@TheSarcasmShow) January 14, 2020
During an appearance Tuesday on the Fox News morning program “Fox & Friends,” White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley wondered aloud why some liberals were upset at something so minor.
“What is the big deal?” he asked. “Democrats seem to be more upset at this exchange than they do over Soleimani killing American citizens.”
After Trump ordered a drone strike earlier this month that killed Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats complained that the president failed to consult them before launching the attack.
The Department of Defense, however, noted in a statement that “Soleimani and his Quds Force were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more. He had orchestrated attacks on coalition bases in Iraq over the last several months.”
According to Gidley, Democrats “go ballistic at the smallest little thing, the smallest little sign of civility, because they want everyone on their side of the aisle — who they perceive to be one of them — to completely cancel or attempt to attack this president from sunup till sundown.
“But that didn’t happen. Last night was a great night for the country.”
In general, Gidley said the liberal outrage over the Trump-Vaughn exchange was overshadowed by the positive reaction the Trumps received from the crowd at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
“The president and the first lady were cheered on in a manner in which I have never seen before,” he said. “So, you know, the left can be upset all they want to.
“This is a great country, and it’s better off now than it was under the Barack Obama administration.”
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
