Pres. Trump: “Michael Flynn is a wonderful man. I think he’s been treated very unfairly by the media.” t.co/uZKhfzIa8q
During a press conference on Wednesday, President Donald Trump offered his first public reaction to the resignation of national security advisor Michael Flynn, defending Flynn and blaming his scandal on the media.
A day after Press Secretary Sean Spicer said that President Trump asked Michael Flynn to resign, Trump said Flynn is actually a great guy and suggested that he did absolutely nothing wrong.
“I think he’s been treated very, very unfairly by the media,” Trump said. “As I call it, the fake media in many cases. I think it’s really a sad thing that he was treated so badly.”
Trump went on to say that “people are trying to cover up for a terrible loss,” referring to the loss of Hillary Clinton during the November election. He also expressed frustration with the fact that information is being leaked from the White House.
On Monday, following reports that Michael Flynn had communicated with Russia Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about sanctions against Moscow despite having said this conversation took place, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway initially said that Trump had complete faith in Flynn. A few hours later, Flynn resigned.
Conway then said on morning shows the following day that Flynn had offered his own resignation. That afternoon, Press Secretary Sean Spicer said that Trump asked Flynn to resign. Today, Trump’s statement seems to imply that he didn’t ask Flynn to resign.