# Trump about "fake news" at the WHCA dinner **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [July 30, 2026, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-about-fake-news-at-the-whca-dinner/1032018 "2026-07-30T11:43:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-about-fake-news-at-the-whca-dinner/1032018/1 "2026-07-30T11:43:24Z")
Was it my imagination, of did trump complain about the press for taking down his every word verbatim, rather than whatever the gist of what he was saying? He didn’t dwell on it, probably because even he knew it was idiotic. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-about-fake-news-at-the-whca-dinner/1032018/2 "2026-07-30T11:53:31Z")
This, maybe: > You know, the one thing about the press that I learned, don’t be sarcastic. When, because I’m a very sarcastic person and I get sarcastic, and most people know that. But you have some bad people that will write it exactly like I say it. If you can remember any specific words, you can try searching the transcript. [https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2026/07/24/watch\_president\_donald\_trumps\_white\_house\_correspondents\_dinner\_speech.html](https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2026/07/24/watch_president_donald_trumps_white_house_correspondents_dinner_speech.html) Based on what I saw as I did a few CTRL-F searches, wow, that whole thing is just unhinged. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-about-fake-news-at-the-whca-dinner/1032018/3 "2026-07-30T11:58:49Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > But you have some bad people that will write it exactly like I say it. Yeah, that was it. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-about-fake-news-at-the-whca-dinner/1032018/4 "2026-07-30T12:02:44Z")
He’s sarcastic in retrospect. He says something unhinged, his base eats it up, then he meant it. He says something unhinged, gets some pushback, oh, he was being sarcastic. We have, or used to have, posters here who would try to weasel out of their posts that way. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-about-fake-news-at-the-whca-dinner/1032018/5 "2026-07-30T12:11:33Z")
I’ve posted this before: Trump has taken _every conceivable position_ on _every possible issue_. He has both affirmed _and_ disavowed every position he’s ever held. He was simultaneously both deadly serious _and_ totally kidding. The strategy? No matter the outcome, he can point to ‘evidence’ that he called it right from the beginning. Spineless, soulless, immoral, amoral, incompetent, gutless flip-flopper. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-about-fake-news-at-the-whca-dinner/1032018/6 "2026-07-30T12:12:25Z")
Oh, so it’s fake news to report verbatim on what he says? OK, I got it. So in true ‘1984’ style: ACCURATE REPORTING IS FAKE NEWS > [@RitterSport](#): > > He’s sarcastic in retrospect. He says something unhinged, his base eats it up, then he meant it. He says something unhinged, gets some pushback, oh, he was being sarcastic. Yep, after he made the ‘drinking bleach’ comments during trump 1.0, at first his supporters tried to fight the ridicule backlash by spinning it as some really outside the box, 4D chess-style spitballing. Then a news cycle or two later trump came out and said he was just being sarcastic (Ron Howard narrator voice: he wasn’t), throwing his defenders under the bus. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-about-fake-news-at-the-whca-dinner/1032018/7 "2026-07-30T12:15:34Z")
The funny thing is, back in his first term, one of his press secretaries (Kayleigh McEnany maybe) would try to get in front of some of his stupider comments by telling reporters he was joking/exaggerating/sarcastic. But Trump, not understanding this, would push back and say that he never makes jokes. He never understood that part of a press secretary doing damage control, really anyone doing this kind of damage control for a public figure, involves some amount of under cutting what you said and you have to roll with it if you want it to work. > [@DavidNRockies](#): > > The strategy? No matter the outcome, he can point to ‘evidence’ that he called it right from the beginning. On a similar note, he’ll float some stupid idea on Fox News, then wait to be asked about it later so he can say “lots of people are saying that”, when, in the reality, the “lots of people” was just him, a few hours earlier. ie Lots of people are saying I should be Speaker Of The House, no that was you, you said that, no one else. But with the media and half the government licking his boots, they run with it. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-about-fake-news-at-the-whca-dinner/1032018/8 "2026-07-30T12:17:50Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Yep, after he made the ‘drinking bleach’ comments during trump 1.0, at first his supporters tried to fight the ridicule backlash by spinning it as some really outside the box, 4D chess-style spitballing. Around that time, there was a Fox News talking point that “He’s doing the best he can with the information he has” that I’d hear pop up from time to time. Once or twice I did try to explain that, no, he’s not. When Dr Fauci says we should wear masks and Trump says we don’t need to wear them, that’s not working with the available information, that’s actively doing the opposite of what the information is suggesting. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-about-fake-news-at-the-whca-dinner/1032018/9 "2026-07-30T12:20:51Z")
Ayup. Reminds me of Dick Cheney (and/or his staff) giving a quote to the NY Times, and then – a few hours or so later – _citing the NY Times as a source for_ the bullshit quote. HIS bullshit quote. It was about the Iraq War “Intel.” Others in the administration also cited the Times as their “source.” Evil phuques. ETA: CBS News’s Bob Simon summarized the play thusly: > You leak a story to the New York Times, and the New York Times prints it, and then you go on the Sunday shows quoting the New York Times and corroborating your own information. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-about-fake-news-at-the-whca-dinner/1032018/10 "2026-07-30T13:17:36Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > I’ve posted this before: > > Trump has taken _every conceivable position_ on _every possible issue_. Not quite. He’s consistently, always, racist. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2026, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-about-fake-news-at-the-whca-dinner/1032018/11 "2026-07-31T04:19:15Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > He’s consistently, always, racist. Oh, I have no doubt he _is_ consistently a racist, but he does regularly make statements in which he claims that he is _not_ racist – for example, “I am the least racist person you have ever met.” ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2026, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-about-fake-news-at-the-whca-dinner/1032018/12 "2026-07-31T08:07:50Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Then a news cycle or two later trump came out and said he was just being sarcastic (Ron Howard narrator voice: he wasn’t), throwing his defenders under the bus. No, see, his defenders are fine because their defense was sarcastic. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2026, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-about-fake-news-at-the-whca-dinner/1032018/13 "2026-07-31T12:43:41Z")
It’s sarcasm all the way down, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2026, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-about-fake-news-at-the-whca-dinner/1032018/14 "2026-07-31T14:07:31Z")
[![](https://i.redd.it/rwwjtmv1rwwd1.gif) ](https://i.redd.it/rwwjtmv1rwwd1.gif)