Trump Issues Order to His Own Chief of Staff — In a Tweet That References Mysterious ‘Capital Hill’
Drew Angerer, Getty Images
President Donald Trump ordered White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to deliver a message that would help “Senators returning to Capital Hill on Monday” — by tagging Meadows in a tweet.
On Saturday morning, Trump responded to a recent report that Capitol attending physician Dr. Brian Monahan told GOP officials that “there is not sufficient capacity to quickly test senators for coronavirus — a contrast with the White House, where any people meeting with President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are tested for the disease.”
“There is tremendous CoronaVirus testing capacity in Washington for the Senators returning to Capital Hill on Monday. Likewise the House, which should return but isn’t because of Crazy Nancy P. The 5 minute Abbott Test will be used. Please inform Dr. Brian P. Monahan,” Trump wrote, then added the tag “@MarkMeadows” at the end, which is how Twitter users ensure that a message is seen by another user.
There is tremendous CoronaVirus testing capacity in Washington for the Senators returning to Capital Hill on Monday. Likewise the House, which should return but isn’t because of Crazy Nancy P. The 5 minute Abbott Test will be used. Please inform Dr. Brian P. Monahan. @MarkMeadows
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 2, 2020
Trump’s tweet raised a few eyebrows, and a bit of mockery.
Is the president instructing his chief of staff what to do via Twitter? https://t.co/38HKWUEqlb
— Kathryn Watson (@kathrynw5) May 2, 2020
There is tremendous mask availability in Washington for individuals who are engaging with staff and visitors, or who might want to set a good example for the nation. Please inform @realDonaldTrump. @MarkMeadows https://t.co/9nHeAAPFV7
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) May 2, 2020
Azar announced this last night, saying they were sending three additional Abbott machines after the Capitol physician told Senate aides there wasn’t capacity to test all 100 senators https://t.co/mMkaasVUmn
— Kristen Holmes (@KristenhCNN) May 2, 2020
[sic] https://t.co/YN4FkLikFi
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) May 2, 2020
1. It’s odd that Trump is now publicly ordering his chief of staff around on Twitter
2. Trump doesn’t like the fact that his testing talking points are undercut by there not being enough coronavirus tests for US senators
3. It’s “Capitol Hill” pic.twitter.com/2maIHzY2Tp
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 2, 2020
The House of Representatives and the United States Senate are located on Capitol Hill.
