Did Buzzfeed lay a successful trap for Donald Trump on Thursday night? At yet another televised Republican town hall, Trump bragged that “I’m the one from 2002, 2003 who said we shouldn’t be” invading Iraq. Problem is, Buzzfeed had uncovered a 2002 interview in which Trump had a different story:
In the interview, which took place on Sept. 11, 2002, Stern asked Trump directly if he was for invading Iraq.
“Yeah I guess so,” Trump responded. “I wish the first time it was done correctly.”
Trump wasn’t exactly beating the drums of war, but neither was he a Cassandra warning us all how badly it would go. Yeah, sure, war, why not? I guess so. So, Thursday night, CNN’s Anderson Cooper was able to circle back with a follow-up:
When told about the report, Trump replied by saying, “I could have said that. Nobody asked me. I wasn’t a politician. It was probably the first time anybody asked me that question.”
By the time the war began, he added, he opposed the war.
In fact, the statement of opposition he’s most often cited comes from July 2004, by which time it wasn’t real hard to see the way things were going. Trump is still ahead of the curve on this issue as far as the Republican presidential candidates go, but that’s a very low bar to clear. And meanwhile, his bluster and flexible relationship to the truth was once again highlighted on national television. Not that his supporters care.