# 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:** 16\ **Page:** 5
**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, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/81 "2018-07-18T19:38:09Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Bush and Clinton have no connection to this, in that he was debating them at the time. What has that got to do with it? There’s no rule saying you can’t be polite to people while you’re debating them. Until Trump, it was expected that you would. > [@](#): > > But Merkel is one of the European leaders I was thinking of. From [Business Insider](http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-insults-germany-then-says-he-has-good-relationship-with-merkel-2018-7) > > (quote deleted) > > I’ve seen media commentary about this tendency somewhere or other, but didn’t find it in a brief search just now. I was remembering this incident with Merkel at the G7 summit: > [@](#): > > Mr Trump reportedly agreed to sign the agreement, before another tense exchange took place between him and Ms Merkel. > > “Trump was sitting there with his arms crossed clearly not liking the fact that he felt like they were ganging up on him. He eventually agreed to sign it,” Mr Bremmer told CBS This Morning on Wednesday. > > “He stood up, he put his hand in his pocket and he took two Starburst candies out, threw them on the table and said: ‘here, Angela, don’t say I never give you anything.’” > **[Donald Trump 'threw two Starburst' towards Angela Merkel at G7 summit](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-angela-merkel-starburst-g7-summit-relationship-us-germany-tariffs-eu-a8409201.html)** > > 'He stood up, he put his hand in his pocket and he took two candies out, threw them on the table and said: "here, Angela, don’t say I never give you anything"' ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/82 "2018-07-18T19:49:00Z")
[Here’s another example](https://apnews.com/64fd257ce1a54faf83ee7b2870da0a22): > [@](#): > > Standing just a few feet away from the Chinese president, Trump declared that the two nations “must immediately address the unfair trade practices” that drive the trade deficit, along with barriers to market access, forced technology transfers and intellectual property theft. > > “But I don’t blame China,” Trump said to audible gasps from some of the business leaders and journalists from both countries in The Great Hall of the People. “After all, who can blame a country for being able to take advantage of another country for the benefit of its citizens?” he asked, to cheers from some of the Chinese contingent. “I give China great credit.” > > Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said later that Trump’s comment had been “a little bit tongue-in-cheek” but that it nonetheless carried “a lot of truth.” > > Either way, it was a far cry from Trump’s inflammatory campaign rhetoric on China. Night after night at rallies across the country, he portrayed himself as a hard-nosed negotiator who would hold other countries accountable for disadvantaging American workers. > > “We can’t continue to allow China to rape our country and that’s what they’re doing,” he said in Indiana in May 2016. “It’s the greatest theft in the history of the world.” ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/83 "2018-07-18T20:09:07Z")
As of now only one person voted “misspoke.” That person obviously didn’t see Trump’s original remarks, or doesn’t understand English, or is Donald Trump. > [@Budget Player Cadet](#): > > I’ll be honest, I’m not sure what diplomacy calls for when a foreign leader blatantly lies to you, but I’m sure there’s a bit of middle ground between “calling putin a liar” and “saying there’s no reason to take your own intelligence sources seriously”. The thing is that a real President would never have asked Putin the question in the first place. He would have demanded Putin stop, and hinted at retaliation if Putin failed to stop. The Russian cyberattacks are matters of fact and the plainness of that fact should simply be the official American position. “Diplomacy” does not mean “sucking dick.” Sometimes you have to be blunt. When Kennedy met Khruschev in Vienna, that was not on the surface any different from Trump meeting Putin. Two leaders of rival nations met to talk. The different is that Kennedy was there to represent the USA. When Khruschev refused to be reasonable about Berlin, Kennedy said “Then, Mr. Chairman, there will be war.” You have to be tough sometimes. Kennedy did not threaten war because he wanted war. He threatened it because if he did not, the Soviets would have assumed the West didn’t have the nads, and would have taken what they wanted until there WAS war. Trump’s grovelling to Putin will now embolden the Russians. The US midterm elections will be attacked ferociously. Hacking and cyberattacks will flourish. Social media will be flooded with Russian disinformation. Other Western countries will be attacked in the same way. ---
**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, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/84 "2018-07-18T22:43:20Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > There’s this whole discipline of statecraft called “diplomacy” meant to deal with exactly that kind of thing. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure what diplomacy calls for when a foreign leader blatantly lies to you, but I’m sure there’s a bit of middle ground between “calling putin a liar” and “saying there’s no reason to take your own intelligence sources seriously” God, yes. But Trump has gutted the diplomatic corps both intentionally and through attrition as skilled career professionals leave the State Department because they see the writing on the wall. Trump wants to pretend that he’s a real tough guy, but Trump’s version of being tough is to stiff a drywall contractor and then threaten to sue with his army of lawyers if the guy complains. That and calling people names on Twitter. Putin’s not impressed by that. To Putin, Trump is just another soft, aging, obsequious oligarch with a trophy wife and Putin already has tons of those guys under his thumb. Trump was outclassed by a mile from the start and it’s professional malpractice that his staff even let him go through with the meeting. ---
**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 19, 2018, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/85 "2018-07-19T00:05:07Z")
We’re up to two votes for “misspoke”. Would either of those voters like to reveal themselves? ---
**Author:** ![Jungian\_Camisole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8baadc/32.png) [@Jungian\_Camisole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jungian_Camisole)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/86 "2018-07-19T00:07:37Z")
I am watching Anderson Cooper. The chyron is “We’ll leave the gaslight on for you, part 7”. I have no problem at all believing that Russia has some seriously bad _kompromat_ on him. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_Peebles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Jim\_Peebles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_Peebles)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/87 "2018-07-19T00:31:44Z")
He is backpedaling. This misspoke stuff is nonsense. Still he is doing an extraordinary job as President. If an establishment approved President of any party said the same words, NPR and CNN, etc would have seen his words for what they were: ho hum formalities. Instead, they need to pounce on him for something, anything: god forbid the sheeple stop being useful idiots an start thinking about the issues with some semblence of logic and reason. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/88 "2018-07-19T01:03:20Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > If there was a reverse Tour de France, he would have won it. I wised I’d posted this, _so hard!_ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/89 "2018-07-19T02:50:45Z")
I’m not really sure I can call it backpedalling, either, because that implies he changed what he said. Instead, he just rephrased the statement in other terms. He is definitely lying about having misspoke, though. ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/90 "2018-07-19T14:31:35Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > [Here’s another example](https://apnews.com/64fd257ce1a54faf83ee7b2870da0a22): Trump often toggles back and forth, on the trade question, between 'but it’s not X [foreign country]‘s fault, it’s the fault of weak and stupid previous American leaders’ but then shortly after saying things which do seem to blame the foreign countries/leaders. He’s used both rhetorical tacks when speaking to adoring crowds, tweeting, and in press conferences at home or abroad. Although it doesn’t seem he’s used the second tack much in proximity to Xi, only sometimes in proximity to allied leaders. It doesn’t really apply either way with Putin since there’s such a limited trading relationship. Which is another possible way to understand Trump’s attitude toward Putin and Russia besides -‘kompromat’ (I don’t buy it based on evidence so far) -willing Agent Orange (same) -Trump’s vanity about the 2016 election, can’t separate in his mind (for long) the fact of Russian meddling v the claim he only won _because_ of Russian meddling. (definitely a big part of it) -general affinity for ‘strong men’ (another part of it) The other difference is trade. IMO Trump has no real policy views besides ‘what will bring adulation to Trump’ on most issues. But trade is one of the exceptions. I think he really believes trade agreements heretofore have worked against US interests, and has been saying that for decades, where his views on most other things have been all over the place (eg. in favor of nationalized health care at one point, or at least allowed his ghost writers to say he was, etc). Trump makes and has always made simplistic arguments in favor of his position on trade, and I don’t personally much buy the trade-skeptic view as a practical policy at this point\* even from people who make better arguments. The point is that Trump’s view of ‘foes’ based on trade is long standing. He mutes personal criticism of Xi more than say Merkel or Trudeau because of his affinity for ‘strong’, and views those refined Western leaders as ‘weak’. But with Putin and Russia there is no real basis for conflict based on trade, because there’s so little trade (especially with US sanctions Trump might not like but hasn’t been able to change). Anyway obviously Trump back pedaled on the ‘would’/‘wouldn’t’ thing. Maybe I didn’t read the thread carefully enough to see, but I wonder the explanation of the couple of votes saying Trump actually meant at the time to say ‘I don’t a reason why it wouldn’t be Russia’. Those people must have misspoken in their answer to the question. 🙂 \*I think it has a little more validity on a hindsight basis, but lots of ‘toothpaste already out of the tube’ aspects to it. Maybe so swiftly embracing China as part of the world trading community was a mistake, but it’s done. I don’t see much prospect now of reversing the damage to various US industries, communities etc with protectionism as opposed to not having opened as much to China in the first place. And it’s strategically foolish to make trade a multi-front ‘war’ against allies at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/91 "2018-07-19T15:01:19Z")
> [@Defensive\_Indifference](#): > > As I write, 67 votes have been cast. One has been for “Trump misspoke”. I’d like to hear from that person. The number for Trump backpedaling has multiplied by 3.5… but the number for Trump misspeaking has gone up by 100%!!! Obviously, 100 is much bigger than 3.5, so clearly the Red Wave against Fake News is rising!!! #MAGA ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/92 "2018-07-19T15:46:56Z")
Other. The art of the deal is to tell people whatever will get your deal done. “Lying,” not “backpedaling.” ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/93 "2018-07-19T18:30:21Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Add that he seemed to be adding a personal comment about it when he spoke, people usually don’t mess up such personal comments in this way. Also sayign why wouldn’t it be Russia really does not make that much sense in that context. Apparently, the Republicans who are satisfied with his “clarification” haven’t really thought through what that means. (Big surprise there.) If he indeed meant to say "I don’t see _any reason_ why it wouldn’t be [Russia who interfered], then he believes that they must have had pretty good reasons for doing so that no one else would. It’s a fact that Putin hates Hillary and Putin said during the meeting that he wanted Trump to win. So Trump is admitting that Russia and only Russia had reasons to interfere and that they did so to help him get elected. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/94 "2018-07-19T21:54:24Z")
I honestly believe that he said what he initially said thinking that he wouldn’t get any significant backlash from it. He learned early on how easy it was to undermine his opponents and he’s been laying the groundwork for his statements for a long time, so he never expected the reaction he got. He’s been undermining the FBI and intelligence agencies from day one, this was the logical endpoint for him. Imagine his surprise when the reactions he got were not anything close to what he expected them to be. The formula had always worked before. Now he’s trapped into walking it back, and he doesn’t know how to do that because he never has before, so he keeps trying to work the angle by throwing in some caveats so he can later declare that the formula still works. The same among us see it for what it is from the start. He only needs to fool the insane. ---
**Author:** ![Cumberdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Cumberdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumberdale)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/95 "2018-07-20T02:57:12Z")
He didn’t misspeak because he has said basically the same thing many times since his election. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2018, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110/96 "2018-07-21T12:49:00Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > After almost two years, hasn’t it become painfully obvious who and what this man is? For some people, no. > [@Mr\_Quatro](#): > > I still like him … better than Hillary that’s for sure :smack: QED [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-do-you-believe-he-misspoke-or-is-he-backpedaling/818110.md?page=4)