# Trump: Do you believe he misspoke, or is he backpedaling? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 17, 2018, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110 "2018-07-17T23:55:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Skypist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skypist/32/169_2.png) [@Skypist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skypist)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/21 "2018-07-18T02:04:28Z")
Backpedaling, of course, but in a “Psst, Vlad, I still love ya! I’m just saying this to shut my opponents up!” kind of way. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/22 "2018-07-18T02:11:54Z")
There is no sane way anyone can think anything but “backpedalling” when given the context. I mean, come on. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/23 "2018-07-18T02:13:58Z")
As I write, 67 votes have been cast. One has been for “Trump misspoke”. I’d like to hear from that person. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/24 "2018-07-18T02:23:47Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > He immediately undercut his own reversal when he said “or it could have been other people”. This made the backpedal into a 360 turn… ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/25 "2018-07-18T02:25:46Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > He immediately undercut his own reversal when he said “or it could have been other people”. He’s incapable of criticizing Russia, even for a second, without walking it back. What this brought to memory was the “good people on both sides” nonsense from last year, where again at some point he seemed to be coming around but then could not help himself. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/26 "2018-07-18T03:02:46Z")
is he really stupid enough that he thinks we believe him? ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/27 "2018-07-18T03:12:53Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > The rest of what he said is completely compatible with “would” and not at all compatible with “wouldn’t.” +1 Given the _bonhominie_ of the post summit press conference, call it a bromance if you like and the spin is that Trump really meant to say was “Vladimir, Russia interfered in the 2016 US election process which questions the legitimacy of my Presidency”? If Trump had said that, or anything approximating that, the expectation was that Putin would have just shrugged it off? “Comrade, don’t those Americanos say the darnedest things, nyet”? That Trump, if his intension was to accuse Russia of meddling in elections, would have just gone off script and bounced the accusation at Putin at the post summit press conference? My incredulity chip is on the blink. If he had raised the matter in those terms during the summit (which I suspect he didn’t) is there any doubt Putin would have strongly denied the accusation and been insistent that the subject not be raised? That consequently stonewalling the inevitable question been the only appropriate answer? Trump would consider reviving the Cold War at a joint press conference? No. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/28 "2018-07-18T03:36:59Z")
He is so starstruck he didn’t know what the \*\*\*\* he was saying. He’s backpedaling frantically because the G.O.P., to the last, informed him as he flew back to the States on AF1, that he has just cost almost all of them their seats in November. Clearly not his goal, so he’s backpedaling and frantically blaming others. ---
**Author:** ![Twoflower](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twoflower/32/22_2.png) [@Twoflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twoflower)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/29 "2018-07-18T03:58:24Z")
I voted “backpedaling”, but really “flailing” is a better word for it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/30 "2018-07-18T03:59:29Z")
He didn’t misspeak and he hasn’t changed his mind. This is a pathetic attempt at damage control. I’m as convinced he’s not a Russian asset as I am he’s not a Nazi sympathizer. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/31 "2018-07-18T04:22:27Z")
I have never seen such unanimity on the Dope. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/32 "2018-07-18T05:13:38Z")
> [@Defensive\_Indifference](#): > > As I write, 67 votes have been cast. One has been for “Trump misspoke”. I’d like to hear from that person. Perhaps they misclicked? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/33 "2018-07-18T06:07:37Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > I have never seen such unanimity on the Dope. You usually only see it from intelligence agencies agreeing that Russia attacked our elections to help steer the outcome. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/34 "2018-07-18T06:18:14Z")
The only way to believe that he misspoke is to take that one sentence and isolate it from literally everything else he’s ever said on the topic, going back to 2016. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/35 "2018-07-18T06:45:48Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > This. I don’t think he has any idea what he is saying. Yeah. First, he read off a script the Russians handed him. Then, he read off a script his advisors hastily put together to run damage control. He didn’t care, or even understand, what the scripts said. Only that they’d get him headpats. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/36 "2018-07-18T07:08:59Z")
Since he became a serious prospect in the primary campaign it seemed clear to me that he doesn’t really know what he wants to say until he’s opened his mouth and heard what comes out. BTW the second set of novichok casualties does look like an accident: completely random people picked up a discarded bottle that had the stuff in. Doesn’t say much for local street cleaning that it must have been there for weeks, but cuts in public expenditure have hit local government hard. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/37 "2018-07-18T07:15:48Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > The choices should’ve been > > 1: He’s backpedaling > > 2: I’m a troll Or just unfathomably stupid and uninterested in politics. Whoever the one person is who voted “he misspoke” should read the fucking transcript. “Wouldn’t” makes _no fucking sense_ in context. It’s like if I write a hate-filled, angry screed to my girlfriend making it clear that I dump her, and then say, "No, I misspoke, I didn’t mean “I want to kill you”, I mean “I want to kiss you”. (Also, I’m saying this after having gone on live TV and repeated the same remarks, and only doing so after widespread blowback, including from within my own party and my own personal propaganda network.) ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/38 "2018-07-18T07:35:59Z")
“Misspeak” is a special word because it was famously used as a euphemism for lying. “I misspoke” usually means “I lied and I’m trying to cover it up”. There are simpler and more ordinary ways to say “used the wrong word”. Like “used the wrong word”. I’m not the one who clicked misspoke, but I can see why they did it. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/39 "2018-07-18T07:40:48Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > … I’m as convinced he’s not a Russian asset as I am he’s not a Nazi sympathizer. The president can’t be a “sympathizer”. Politics is his job. If he sympathizes with them, he is one. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/40 "2018-07-18T10:11:05Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Whoever the one person is who voted “he misspoke” should read the fucking transcript. “Wouldn’t” makes _no fucking sense_ in context. Since when has that ever bothered Trump? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110.md?page=3)