At a rally in Johnston PA today (Friday), Trump denied using the Arlington ceremony Monday to create publicity for himself. Trump defends conduct at Arlington cemetery: ‘I wasn’t doing it for publicity’ (The Hill):
“I wasn’t doing it for publicity. I get a lot of publicity,” the former president said. “I would like to get a lot less publicity. I’m the only guy that would hire a public relations agency to get less publicity.”
Trump is rewriting the definition of chutzpah. The man is the paradigm of narcissistic personality disorder — the last thing he would ever want (other than going to prison) is “less publicity.”
Earlier in Michigan, he denied making the TikTok video: Kamala Harris, Donald Trump Ramp Up 2024 Campaigns: Latest Updates (HuffPost):
At his Michigan rally, Trump denied using photos and videos from a wreath-laying ceremony on Monday to campaign, even though he used them in a TikTok clip attacking President Joe Biden’s administration. He said that the families of fallen soldiers had asked to take photos with him and that he simply obliged. He then repeatedly said he didn’t need “publicity” from the event.
(There is some confusion here, because HuffPost has the “less publicity” quote in its story, implying he said it in Michigan yesterday, while The Hill says he said it today in Pennsylvania. Maybe he said it both times.)
From The New Republic (Greg Sargent) Trump’s Angry New Rant Over Arlington Scandal Should Wake Up Dems:
“These are bad people we’re dealing with,” Trump seethed. “They say I was campaigning,” he continued. “I don’t need the publicity.” Trump flatly dismissed the idea that he was at Arlington to “politick” in any way, and insisted he’d only been asked by relatives of the fallen to pose for pictures at a gravesite. . . . [emphasis in original]
This account is baloney. The suggestion that Trump was only invited to pose for pictures by relatives leaves out the fact that Trump’s aides themselves took video of the event, which was subsequently posted to his Tik Tok account. That video is slickly produced. It sharply contrasts the Trump and Biden administrations on their handling of Afghanistan, criticizing the latter over the final withdrawal and falsely suggesting no deaths occurred during “18 months” (Trump doesn’t say which) of his presidency. It’s a campaign video, full stop.
Yes, it is. (A campaign video and baloney.) Trump is clearly hoping this will all go away — though, as usual, he is making things worse for himself as he tries to do that.