17 Times Donald Trump Said One Thing and Then Denied It
I just clipped in one example. 16 more at the link.
March 15, 2016: Paying the legal fees of fans who punch protesters
Facing backlash for encouraging violence against protestors at his rallies, Trump denied that he once promised to pay the legal fees of supporters who roughed up protesters.
“I don’t condone violence,” Trump said on ABC. “I never said I was going to pay for fees.”
But this is what he told supporters in Iowa a month earlier: “If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously. Just knock the hell — I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees. I promise. I promise.”
March 16, 2016: Punching protestors in general
The next day, Trump denied that he had encouraged violence at all.
Fox News host Bill O’Reilly scolded Trump for it on his show: “You have said some very questionable things like, ‘maybe we punch them in face’ or something like that.”
“I didn’t say that, Bill,” Trump responded, before sort of admitting it. “All I did was make the statement, ‘I wouldn’t mind doing it.’”
While O’Reilly’s quote wasn’t exact, Trump’s statements on the matter weren’t exactly dispassionate.
“We’re not allowed to punch back any more. I love the old days. You know what they used to do to a guy like that in a place like this? They’d be carried out on a stretcher, folks,” Trump said at his February Las Vegas rally. “The guards are being very gentle with him. … I’d like to punch him in the face, I’ll tell you.”
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