Trump Says There Was “Something Going On” With Obama’s “Body Language” During His Response To Baton Rouge Police Shootings

Trump: “I Watched The President” And “There’s Something Going On” With His “Body Language.” Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump criticized President Obama’s response to the attack on police officers in Baton Rouge, LA, and questioned the president’s grief for the fallen officers during a July 18 Fox & Friends interview. Trump said that, while President Obama’s “words are OK,” there is “something going on” with Obama’s body language when responding to such tragedies. Trump then added, “the words are often not OK, by the way.” From a July 18 CNN.com article:

Donald Trump said Monday “there's something going on” with Barack Obama's body language, his latest comments criticizing the President's behavior and messaging in regards to projecting America's strength.

During an interview Monday morning on “Fox & Friends,” Trump was asked to respond to Obama's comments on the shooting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana that left three police officers dead.

“I think we need strength. I think we also need somebody that can be a cheerleader. He's been a great divider in this country,” Trump said of Obama.

Trump added later in the interview: “I watched the President and sometimes the words are OK, but you just look at the body language, there's something going on. Look, there's something going on, and the words are not often OK, by the way.”

[...]

When Fox host Steve Doocy asked Trump to clarify what he meant, the candidate did not elaborate.

“There's just bad feeling, and a lot of bad feeling about him. I see it, too,” Trump responded. “There's a lot of bad feeling about him. We have a country that has not been like this since I can remember it.” [CNN.com, 7/18/16]

Media Chastise Trump’s “Latest Conspiracy Theory”

The Daily Beast’s Jackie Kucinich: Trump’s Body Language Comment Shows “He’s Not Ready To Let Go” Of “Tin Foil Hat-Type Conspiracy Theories.” Washington bureau chief of The Daily Beast and CNN contributor Jackie Kucinich responded to Trump’s body language comment, noting that Trump has “collapse[d] into these conspiracy theories” before and that his remark shows Trump is “not ready to let go” of his “tin foil hat-type conspiracy theories.” From the July 18 edition of CNN’s America’s Choice 2016:

CAROL COSTELLO (HOST): So, Jackie, Mr. Trump says “There's something going on with President Obama's body language.” What do you suppose he means by that?

JACKIE KUCINICH: We've heard Donald Trump kind of collapse into these conspiracy theories for the duration of this campaign and before. And there's been some thought among Republicans that he's going to grow out of this, that he's going to start acting like a normal general election Republican candidate. And this is just an example that he's not ready to let go of some of these more, you know, like I don't even know, tinfoil hat-type conspiracy theories that are rampant on some parts of the right. [CNN, America’s Choice 2016, 7/18/16]

CNN Panel: Trump’s Comments Are “Un-American” And “Not So Different” From When “He Ran The Birther Campaign.” A CNN panel condemned Trump’s comments, noting that he’s said similar things before and that such comments aren’t “good for the Republican Party in the long-run.” CNN’s Margaret Hoover” noted that Trump’s comments are “actually not so different from the innuendo he was drawing when he ran the birther campaign,” and CNN’s Van Jones called the comments “troubling.” From the July 18 edition of CNN’s At This Hour With Berman and Bolduan:

KATE BOLDUAN (HOST): And I want to get your take on this. He says “if you look at the body language that he has, there's something going on, there's something going on.” What is Donald Trump suggesting? In your mind, what is Donald Trump suggesting here?

KRIS KOBACH: Well I think it depends on which body language he's talking about, so I'd like to see the exact clip of the president that he's talking about. But you know, I think he may be talking about a broader sense of unease, that a lot of Americans feel like we're not safe, we're not safe abroad, we're not safe domestically, and there needs to be a sense of urgency, a sense of restoring law and order. Maybe he's picking up on that. It's hard to say without looking at the exact body language he's talking about.

VAN JONES: Look, for me it was troubling to hear him say that because you're in a situation where right now, lives are on the line. Increasing tension, increasing suspicion, increasing the idea that maybe the president is in on it or something, I think that actually makes everybody less safe. I think in these moments of national tragedy, what we used to do -- we talked about what we used to do -- we used to rally around the president. After 9/11, everybody rallies around the president. In this situation, it's almost like these national tragedies become an opportunity to further divide the country, rather than bring it together.

LANHEE CHEN:I think that the reason why he's engaging in this is because he realizes he needs to unify the party, right? And this is one way to unify Republicans, is to attack Barack Obama, right? So the innuendo -- look, I don't think the innuendo is good for the country in the long-run, nor do I think it's good for the Republican Party in the long-run, but what he's doing clearly is he's trying to say, “Look, I will be the leader of this party, and the way I do that is by attacking Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.”

BOLDUAN: But Margaret isn't there a way to unify the party without innuendo like this?

MARGARET HOOVER: Yeah I mean, previously when we've had elections for president, candidates have used the opportunity to draw contrast between themselves and their opponent on substantive policy matters. I mean this is something we haven't seen in this campaign. And again, what Donald Trump is doing is actually not so different from the innuendo he was drawing when he ran the birther campaign against Barack Obama in 2012. He's simply trying to suggest that the president is somehow illegitimate in terms of his office and where he -- from the position that he comes at.

BOLDUAN: Well you know, we're going to be hearing from Hillary Clinton for the first time since Baton Rouge, Christine, since the Baton Rouge ambush, we're going to hear from Hillary Clinton very soon, actually. Donald Trump is talking about Barack Obama and how he's responded, saying there's something going on there with this innuendo. How do you want Hillary Clinton to respond?

CHRISTINE QUINN: Well first of all, I just want to say, when the attorney general said, “Well, we have to see which clip and what body language?” There is no body language from the president of the United States that indicates “something's going on.” And in fact, his statement right after that, Donald Trump's, was about how people feel. This is really, I believe, an un-American way for a presidential candidate to act at a time of really national crisis, if you think about it, to be throwing out these kind of unfounded attacks that are clearly an attempt to imply that the president is somehow involved in all of this. I just think it is completely outrageous. And in addition to that, he says it because he has nothing to say. We will hear real ideas and vision from Secretary Clinton. Donald Trump, as we saw over and over on the 60 Minutes interview last night has nothing to say about how to lead this country because he doesn't have the experience or the temperament to be president. [CNN, At This Hour With Berman and Bolduan, 7/18/16]

Huffington Post: Trump Unveils Another “Reckless Conspiracy Theory About” Obama. The Huffington Post slammed Trump’s latest criticism of the president, excoriating the candidate for questioning “the legitimacy of Obama’s grief and concern.” The article compared Trump’s latest “conspiracy theory” to his involvement in the birther movement. From the July 18 article:

Donald Trump has moved on from the birther movement to float another equally reckless conspiracy theory about President Barack Obama.

After three police officers were killed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the president said that “there is no justification for violence against law enforcement. None.” He made similar comments after five officers were killed in Dallas on July 7, calling the attack “vicious, calculated and despicable.” He also flew to Dallas on Tuesday to speak at a memorial for the fallen officers.

Still, Trump questioned the legitimacy of Obama's grief and concern.

“I watched the president, and sometimes the words are okay. But you just look at the body language and there's something going on. Look, there's something going on,” Trump told “Fox & Friends” on Monday.

“There's just bad feeling,” he said.

Trump was responding to the head of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association's claim that Obama “has blood on his hands” because he also condemned the police shootings of two African-American men.

“The president of the United States validated a false narrative and the nonsense that Black Lives Matter and the media are pressing out there to the public,” Steve Loomis said. “He validated with his very divisive statements and now we see an escalation.” [Huffington Post, 7/18/16]

New York Magazine: Trump’s Comment Is “Trump-Speak For ‘Insert The Paranoid Right-Wing Conspiracy Theory Of Your Choice Here.’” New York Magazine’s Eric Levitz explained how Trump squared “the far right’s view of Obama as a closeted Black Panther with the president’s utterly mainstream rhetoric,” adding that Trump’s comments are “Trump-speak for ‘insert the paranoid right-wing conspiracy theory of your choice here.’” From the July 18 article:

Which puts the right in a tough spot. What’s the point of having a (liberal) black president if you can’t blame him for acts of violence committed by black extremists?

But on Monday, the Republican nominee found a way to do just that, ingeniously squaring the far right’s view of Obama as a closeted Black Panther with the president’s utterly mainstream rhetoric about race and policing.

After Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy read Donald Trump a statement from a Cleveland police union president — which accused Obama of having “blood on his hands” — Trump replied, “Well, it’s true. I watch the president and sometimes the words are okay, but you just look at the body language and there’s something going on.”

The president may say the right things about cops, but something about the way he looks when he says those words leads Trump to suspect, “There’s something going on.” (That last phrase is Trump-speak for “insert the paranoid right-wing conspiracy theory of your choice here, dear wing nut.”) [New York, 7/18/16]

New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza: Trump’s Body Language Comment Was “Edging” Into “Conspiratorial Thinking.” The New Yorker magazine’s Ryan Lizza said that Trump’s comments were “edging into … conspiratorial thinking” during the July 18 edition of CNN’s America’s Choice 2016:

CAROL COSTELLO (HOST): I want to get Ryan's take. What do you think that Donald Trump meant by the president's body language is saying something different than the words coming out of his mouth?

RYAN LIZZA: Look, I've been covering him long enough to know that when he starts to go into that sort of gray area and he starts to raise questions, but doesn't quite specifically say what he means, he means something. Scottie, I think, is helping us here decipher it a little bit and it sounds like what you're saying, as someone who is an expert on Trump too, is that he has less sympathies for dead police officers than the dead victims of the police officers. I think that -- I'm not a body language expert, but I don't think that watching President Obama's body language, that that's my take away from his various press conferences on the various deaths.

SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES: That's the best part, Carol. That's what Mr. Trump is good for. He’s letting you make the decision. He’s not telling you how to think. He’s not telling you how to-- he’s giving you information --

LIZZA: I mean to me, it's like, kind of edging into like conspiratorial thinking. [CNN, America’s Choice 2016, 7/18/16]

The Daily Beast’s Justin Miller: “‘Body Language’ Is Code For ‘Black’”

“Body language” is code for “black.” https://t.co/OTzqYdBNHi

— Justin Miller (@justinjm1) July 18, 2016

[Twitter, 7/18/16]

The Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler: “Apparently We Now Have To Start Fact Checking Body Language.”

Apparently we now have to start fact checking body language. https://t.co/7GkfVNgtmk

— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) July 18, 2016

[Twitter, 7/18/16]

Trump Was Also Roundly Criticized For Saying “There’s Something Going On” Regarding Obama’s Response To Orlando Massacre

Media Condemned And Ridiculed Trump For Using “There’s Something Going On” Line To Criticize Obama’s Response To The Attack At The Gay Nightclub In Orlando. Trump was roundly criticized for saying, in his first interview after the June 12 massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, FL, that left 49 dead, that Obama “doesn't get it or he gets it better than anybody understands” and that “we’re led by a man that either is, is not tough, not smart, or he’s got something else in mind … there’s something going on.” Media figures castigated Trump for “casually [and] darkly” suggesting that Obama sympathizes with Islamic terrorists and was complicit in the Orlando terror attack, calling his comments “indefensible,” “distasteful,” and part of his “latest escalation in his years-long campaign to smear” Obama. [Media Matters, 6/13/16]