President Donald Trump tweeted a quote Sunday night calling his presidency “consensual,” an apparent misquotation of a New York Post column that called his time in office “consequential.”
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/950190674661511168
“‘His is turning out to be an enormously consensual presidency. So much so that…there has never been a day that I wished Hillary Clinton were President. Not one. Indeed, as Trump’s accomplishments accumulate, the mere thought of Clinton in the W.H., doubling down on Obama’s…..,” Trump tweeted at 9:21 p.m.
Trump did not credit his source, but it appears to be this New York Post column from January 6 by Michael Goodwin headlined “We’re still better off with Trump than Clinton.”
“Meanwhile, his is turning out to be an enormously consequential presidency,” Goodwin wrote in his column. “So much so that, despite my own frustration over his missteps, there has never been a day when I wished Hillary Clinton were president. Not one. Indeed, as Trump’s accomplishments accumulate, the mere thought of Clinton in the White House, doubling down on Barack Obama’s failed policies, washes away any doubts that America made the right choice.”
In addition to misquoting the column, Trump also removed the line, “despite my own frustration over his missteps,” in his tweet.
Trump followed his tweet with a second tweet 15 minutes later, finishing the quote.
“….failed policies, washes away any doubts that America made the right choice. This was truly a change election, and the changes Trump is bringing are far-reaching and necessary.’ Thank you Michael Goodwin! (Please read entire column) mgoodwin@nypost.com,” Trump wrote.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/950194495223730176
Trump added a thanks to the author, who is a Fox News contributor, along with being a Post columnist. Trump also included Goodwin’s email rather than a link to the column after a note telling people to read the entire column. Goodwin later thanked Trump in a tweet of his own.
Thanks Mr. President – my column can be found here: t.co/EMQNEiYLTV t.co/IxL8Q8i8Id
Goodwin, a conservative columnist and Post editorial page editor, previously wrote for the New York Times and the New York Daily News. He was also the Daily News’ executive editor.
Many Twitter users mocked him for his slip up, with many calling it a “Freudian slip,” referencing the accusations of sexual misconduct that have been made against him, while others saying they never consented to him being president.
Whatever the opposite of a Freudian slip is, “consensual” for “consequential” is it
He also coined the soon-to-be trending term “consensual presidency,” on the night of the black dress, #TIMESUP #goldenglobes no less. Yeah this show won’t make it to season two…
Yet again, Americans are confronted with evidence that Trump doesn’t know what “consensual” means.
It may very well be the first time that Trump has used the word “consensual,” and he did it in error and by accident.
So what you’re saying is… you don’t know what consensual means?
his presidency is about as consensual as “grab them by the p***y” was t.co/2noXML78ZX
NO. NOT CONSENSUAL. I DO NOT CONSENT. Or are you just misusing the word “consensual,” you aging dotard?? t.co/649kdJjr2m
In his column quoted by Trump, Goodwin wrote about Steve Bannon and Michael Wolff’s much-talked about book, “Fire and Fury.”
My column: Many reasons why US better off with Trump than Clinton t.co/VHlsTvs92K via @nypost
“But what of Trumpism? Is “Fire and Fury,” the Michael Wolff book where Bannon leaks and vents, the beginning of the end of Trump’s presidency?” Goodwin wrote. “Maybe — but probably not. After all, every previous media-hair-on-fire moment has come to a forgettable dead end. … This is who Trump is, and a year into his presidency, there is no reason to believe he will change. A penchant for creating melodrama seems essential to his being.”
He added some of the reasons he thinks Trump’s presidency has been consequential and why Clinton’s would not have been:
The economic boom is the most obvious difference voters got by electing him. The tax law he campaigned on, fought for and signed promises to add new dimensions to the boom and should fuel growth and new opportunities for millions of people. Generations of families will lead better lives as a result, while a Clinton presidency would have been an orgy of regulations aimed at strangling capitalism’s last animal spirits. How many thousands of points lower would the Dow be?
But the Trump effect is not limited to the economy. Think of the difference between Neil Gorsuch and a supreme court justice Clinton would have picked, now multiply that difference throughout the judicial food chain. Think of Trump’s policy toward Israel. Would Clinton dare to right historic wrongs and declare Jerusalem the capital of the Jewish state?
Never. Like Obama, she would have given the Palestinians a heckler’s veto — and paid them millions more for their obstinance. And what of North Korea? While Trump’s taunting of Rocket Man makes me uneasy, the big difference is that he refuses to accept a nuclear North Korea. Clinton, on the other hand, would have adopted the Obama policy of “containment,” which is a diplomatic fig leaf for appeasing a madman with nukes.
Goodwin also mentioned in his column that if Clinton had been elected, the reporting on Harvey Weinstein and #MeToo might not have happened, because, his is opinion, “I think not, for that would have embarrassed the Clintons because of their own sketchy past on the subject. In that case, the #MeToo movement would not exist and the predators, most of them media and Hollywood liberals, would still be in power.”
