President Donald Trump remained surprisingly silent on Twitter throughout former FBI director James Comey’s much-anticipated Senate hearing on Thursday.
His namesake, however, did not.
Donald Trump Jr. tweeted or re-tweeted a total of 50 times during Comey’s testimony, proving once again that the apple does not fall far from the tree. There were poorly threaded rants, out-of-context reactions, and dozens of RTs of right-wing accounts, one which had the name “CNN is ISIS & Hitler.”
The 39-year-old, who is supposed be running the Trump business with his brother Eric Trump, and not involving himself in his father’s presidency, just couldn’t help himself.
He wanted everyone to know that the accusation that President Trump asked Comey to stop the investigation into then-Attorney General Michael Flynn’s connections with Russia was “BS in context.”
1/3 Flynn stuff is BS in context 2 guys talking about a guy they both know well. I hear "I hope nothing happens but you have to do your job"
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 8, 2017
2/3 very far from any kind of coercion or influence and certainly not obstruction!
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 8, 2017
3/3 Knowing my father for 39 years when he "orders or tells" you to do something there is no ambiguity, you will know exactly what he means
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 8, 2017
He certainly thought Senator James Risch (R-Idaho) had a good point when he stressed that Trump told Comey he “hoped” that Comey would drop the Flynn investigation.
“Hoping and telling are two very different things,” Trump Jr. pointed out.
Hoping and telling are two very different things, you would think that a guy like Comey would know that. #givemeabreak
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 8, 2017
And when Comey told Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) that he could be wrong about the fact that he was fired because of the Russia investigation, Trump Jr. got very excited.
Comey "I could be wrong"
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 8, 2017
Of course, Trump Jr. left out the fact that Comey said he could only be wrong if the president was lying.
“I take the president, at his word, that I was fired because of the Russia investigation,” Comey said. “ … I watched his interview. I read the press accounts of his conversations. I take him at his word there. Look, I could be wrong. Maybe he’s saying something that’s not true.”
Trump Jr. also got very excited by those who were defending his father — apparently, it’s a boon to get someone on his side who is “not exactly the alt right.”
Interesting! When @AlanDersh (not exactly the alt right) is continually backing up @realDonaldTrump you know its over. #NothingBurger https://t.co/MUYbmk2VdR
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 8, 2017
Trump Jr. seemed to have the most fun RTing others who felt his father had been vindicated. While many of his RTs were from the Fox News or GOP accounts, he also went rogue at times.
He shared one tweet from John Nolte, a former Brietbart News editor and current editor-at-large of the Daily Wire. Nolte has, well, a pretty provocative social media presence.
While some guessed that Trump Jr. might have been tweeting directly for his father, there is no indication that there was any communication between the two during Comey’s testimony.
Richard Painter, the chief White House ethics lawyer for President George W. Busch from 2005–2007, didn’t think that Trump Jr. made a very good spokesman.
So is Donald Trump Jr. the new White House spokesperson? He is worse than Spice.
— Richard W. Painter (@RWPUSA) June 8, 2017
But at the end of the day, the Executive Vice President of Development & Acquisitions of the Trump Organization felt like taking a victory lap.
“So I guess the Dems are back to hating Comey???” he tweeted.