A former CIA director posted an emoji-filled tweet critical of President Donald Trump – and social media went wild.
General Michael Hayden, a retired four-star general in the Air Force who went on to head both the National Security Agency and the CIA, posted a mocking tweet in response to Trump’s about-face on alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 elections.
The president gave prepared remarks at the White House on Tuesday during which he tried to clarify his comments alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki.
Trump said he was surprised by the firestorm that awaited him when he arrived on Monday in Washington and realized he needed to ‘clear up’ his comments after reviewing the transcript of his presser with Putin.
General Michael Hayden, a retired four-star general in the Air Force who went on to head both the National Security Agency and the CIA, posted a mocking tweet in response to Trump’s about-face on alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 elections
The tweet generated more than 4,000 retweets and 15,000 likes as of Wednesday night
During the news conference with Putin in Finland, Trump was asked about American intelligence agencies’ assessment that Russia hacked the 2016 election.
‘I don’t see any reason why it would be [Russia],’ Trump said.
But the president, who was fiercely criticized for his remarks during the news conference, tried to walk it back on Tuesday.
‘The sentence should have been, I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be Russia,’ Trump said.
‘So you can put that in. I think that probably clarifies things pretty good by itself.’
Trump has been roundly criticized for trying to walk back comments he made during the Helsinki summit alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin
The ‘double negative’ defense was roundly mocked by political observers, including Washington Post columnist Max Boot.
‘Trump is deathly afraid of being laughed at,’ Boot tweeted on Tuesday.
‘News flash, Mr. President: The world is laughing at you. This is the silliest spin ever!’
To which Hayden responded: ‘I’m not laughing.’
This sentence was then followed by five crying emojis.
Hayden then shifted course in his tweet, writing: ‘Oh, hell. YES I AM.’
He then posted dozens of laughing emojis.
On Wednesday, Hayden tweeted ‘OMG’ in response to Trump’s comments from the White House in which he appeared to contradict Dan Coats, the Director of National Intelligence, who said that Putin was responsible for election meddling
The tweet generated more than 4,000 retweets and 15,000 likes as of Wednesday night.
On Wednesday, Hayden tweeted ‘OMG’ in response to Trump’s comments from the White House in which he appeared to contradict Dan Coats, the Director of National Intelligence, who said that Putin was responsible for election meddling.
Hayden, like other high profile former intelligence and national security officials, has frequently blasted Trump.
Five days before the election, Hayden wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post in which he refers to Trump using a Russian term: polezni durak, a useful fool, ‘manipulated by Moscow, secretly held in contempt, but whose blind support is happily accepted and exploited.’