Almost No One Is Buying Bill Barr’s Complaint About Trump’s Tweets: ‘Absolutely Nonsense Theatrics’

Attorney General Bill Barr appeared to directly rebuke President Donald Trump on Thursday over the latter’s numerous, incendiary tweets aimed at the Justice Department, but lots of political observers detected a distinct lack of sincerity in Barr’s supposed “complaint.”

When Barr told ABC News that Trump’s online broadsides “make it impossible to do my job,” a torrent of criticism rushed back at the attorney general, much of it arguing that Barr seems to be doing the job as Trump would define it — by protecting his allies and investigating his critics — just fine.

Don’t be fooled by this one, people. Barr is telling the president that his impulsiveness is making it politically harder for him to deliver the results he wants. If Trump would just shut up, Barr could take care of him much more effectively. https://t.co/6CmHHgxy9u

— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) February 13, 2020

This is absolutely nonsense theatrics and I don’t buy if for one moment. Barr interfered in the Stone case for purely political reasons and Barr’s sole problem is the inconvenience of Trump saying it out loud. https://t.co/rAVeMo9u9s

— Susan Hennessey (@Susan_Hennessey) February 13, 2020

.@chrislhayes on Barr saying Trump’s tweets make it impossible for him to do his job: “It’s clear Barr’s job is to enact Trump’s corrupt policies. And when you got the President constantly drawing attention to that fact, well it makes it a lot harder for him to get away with it.” pic.twitter.com/Ln5jvkNhFb

— All In with Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) February 14, 2020

.@ChrisCuomo on the Roger Stone case: “What’s scarier? Trump telling Barr what to do about this sentence or Barr just having Trump’s interests so far in front of anything else that he didn’t need to be told even if it meant undoing a sentence recommendation that his guys OK’d?” pic.twitter.com/7zcGLgU9E6

— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) February 14, 2020

BS. He is not pushing back. It’s a drama created to cover up corruption. https://t.co/TLCxoey4iK

— Judd Apatow (@JuddApatow) February 14, 2020

It’s hard to destroy the very fabric of our republic when the President keeps calling attention to it! https://t.co/X9afGsYCP0

— Ken Tremendous (@KenTremendous) February 13, 2020

Barr on Trump: “I think it’s time to stop the tweeting about Department of Justice criminal cases”

If you believe Barr is being sincere, you probably also believe his “summary” of the Mueller report. https://t.co/4WmyFND6t0

— Chris Lu (@ChrisLu44) February 13, 2020

To be clear: Barr’s job is to engineer a cover-up. Trump’s tweets make that impossible because they make clear a cover-up is happening. https://t.co/OlQFCGsN0i

— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) February 13, 2020

Barr is more insidious than Trump. Trump’s a #CarnivalBarkerClown that lies because he doesn’t even know what the truth is, This liar knows the truth & exactly how to hide it. Unfortunately the clown Barr protects keeps blowing his cover at being the one covering everything up. https://t.co/byrnjoJvG5

— Nancy Lee Grahn (@NancyLeeGrahn) February 14, 2020

Barr’s comments are show and coverup.

— Mimi Rocah (@Mimirocah1) February 14, 2020

So Barr says Trump’s tweets make it ‘impossible for me to do my job?” As in his job of letting the President undermine the rule of law?

— Dan Rather (@DanRather) February 14, 2020

Barr: Trump’s tweets are blowing my cover-up operations.

I hope they eat each other.https://t.co/vry9lrTqRx

— Grant Stern (@grantstern) February 13, 2020

Why does the ⁦@washingtonpost⁩ take this seriously? Why repeat the line Barr is feeding you, as if this is somehow genuine? We expect so much more of our free press. https://t.co/L6a123Wcrm

— Joe Cirincione (@Cirincione) February 14, 2020

I call bullshit. What Bill Barr REALLY means is that Trump’s tweets saying the quiet part out loud are making it harder for him to do the crimes and cover-up. So speaketh the #CoverupGeneral. https://t.co/x8vkBJ9tGr

— Jon Cooper ?? (@joncoopertweets) February 13, 2020

I think Bill Barr is shrewd, deliberate, smart, calculating, careful, and full of it

— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) February 14, 2020

Slow your roll if you think Barr is breaking from Trump. This was a carefully staged message to cool down pissed off DOJ attys whom Barr undercut & to avoid any further internal strife. This message does not get sideways with Trump because he’s already done what Trump wanted. https://t.co/jYWYJFovpO

— Michael Steele (@MichaelSteele) February 14, 2020

Shorter Bill Barr:

I stand by intervening to help a convicted Trump adviser, but I wish Trump did not admit what we are doing on Twitter

— Ari Melber (@AriMelber) February 13, 2020

yeah – i call bull-sh*t on that one … https://t.co/wsKXjwa6VY

— Kurt Bardella (@kurtbardella) February 13, 2020

Barr dishonestly trashed the Mueller report. Barr has set up a mechanism to launder Rudy’s tinfoil claims from Ukraine. Barr has directed Trump’s obstruction of Congress and overruled career prosecutors on Stone. We’re to believe now he’s independent and standing strong
Please

— Joe Lockhart (@joelockhart) February 13, 2020

Imagine believing this gelatinous tower of bullshit let alone repeating it as if it were fact. https://t.co/F1nmkLk9u4

— Violet Blue® (@violetblue) February 14, 2020

However, there was at least one notable media personality who took Barr’s comments at face value — and to be outraged over the attorney general for daring to contradict Trump.