A now-deleted tweet from the Associated Press claimed Wednesday that President Donald Trump was “contradicting his own ambassador” when he said he “wanted ‘nothing’ from Ukraine.”
Now-deleted AP tweet on Trump response to Amb. Gordon Sondland testimony. Screen Shot/Twitter/@AP
But as people quickly pointed out, the president was not contradicting Sondland. In fact, he was quoting him directly. (RELATED: ‘It’s Over’: Ken Starr Says No Doubt Schiff Will Move On Articles Of Impeachment After Sondland Testimony)
WATCH:
This is what Trump wrote down for speaking with the press just now.
He quotes what Sondland recalled Trump saying word-for-word: “I want nothing! I want no quid pro quo. Tell Zelinksy to do the right thing.”
And now here’s the AP tweet blatantly lying: pic.twitter.com/xoMMps2oIS
— Caleb Hull ???????????? (@CalebJHull) November 20, 2019
This tweet from @AP is egregiously wrong. In fact it’s about the opposite of true.
Sondland testified that POTUS told him: “I want nothing. I want no quid pro quo.”
That’s … that’s not what AP’s tweet says. pic.twitter.com/TTzP7WAz6w
— Tim Murtaugh (@TimMurtaugh) November 20, 2019
This is not a contradiction. It is a direct quote from Amb. Sondland’s testimony. https://t.co/UfSgLNOH8s
— Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) November 20, 2019
The president’s rapid response team sent out a “Fake News Alert” via email shortly after the tweet was posted, saying, “In a now-deleted tweet, the Associated Press wrote that President Trump “contradicted” the testimony of Ambassador Sondland when he said he wanted “nothing” from Ukraine, which is quite simply false and blatantly ignores what Sondland actually testified Trump said.”
The AP made corrected the initial tweet and added an updated version. “President Donald Trump is highlighting testimony from his EU ambassador that Trump told him he wanted ‘nothing’ from Ukraine. But Gordon Sondland said at other points that there was a quid pro quo involving Kyiv,” the new tweet read.
An earlier tweet that didn’t make clear that President Trump was quoting from Gordon Sondland’s testimony in which he was quoting Trump has been deleted.
— The Associated Press (@AP) November 20, 2019
President Donald Trump is highlighting testimony from his EU ambassador that Trump told him he wanted “nothing” from Ukraine. But Gordon Sondland said at other points that there was a quid pro quo involving Kyiv. https://t.co/9SZ3IOPOhd
— The Associated Press (@AP) November 20, 2019