General Discussion

Tommy_Carcetti

(43,173 posts) Thu May 30, 2019, 10:18 AM May 2019

In a bizarre twist, a long dormant but verified Twitter account tries to cover for Trump re: McCain.

The account belonged to the Navy Chief of Information.

Prior to late last night, the account had last posted in the blissful Obama years of 2014 and was reportedly managed by Admiral John Kirby, who signed off the account after taking a job as Press Secretary for the Pentagon.

However, surprises of surprises, the account sprung to life yesterday evening, and right off the bat issued a proclamation directly contradicting the reporting that the name of the USS John McCain had been obscured for Trump's visit at the orders of the White House.

Link to tweet

Navy Chief of Information?Verified account @chinfo · 12h12 hours ago

The name of USS John S. McCain was not obscured during the POTUS visit to Yokosuka on Memorial Day. The Navy is proud of that ship, its crew, its namesake and its heritage.

7:09 PM - 29 May 2019

This was followed by this rather odd "too cool for school" posting explaining the sudden new renaissance of the account, the timing of which had absolutely nothing to do with the embarrassing story about the USS McCain:

Link to tweet

Navy Chief of Information?Verified account @chinfo · 6h6 hours ago

Really thought I’d get to use, “New CHINFO, who dis?” But probably not the right time for that. Short story: this acct used to be run by @johnfkirby63. He’s retired from both here and @PentagonPresSec. Reactivating the account to try to help share info about @USNavy

12:50 AM - 30 May 2019

The account now claims to be run by Admiral....ahem....checks and rechecks this name...Charlie Brown. Which sounded almost too fake to be believed (What about General Linus Van Pelt? Corporal Schroeder? Ensign Woodstock?). Of course, after checking it out, there does appear actually to be a Rear Admiral Charles Brown, although as of earlier this morning the official website of the office had neglected to update him as the Chief of Information--it still listed the acting Chief, Captain Gregory Hicks. (Brown's own Naval Bio did contain the title, however).

Clearly there's been some scurrying to attempt to diffuse the story and absolve the President of all guilt or responsibility in the situation. Or more accurately, peddle alternate facts, as there is already documented email evidence of what the White House ordered:

It also doesn't help when the Madman himself, when asked at his helicopter press conference to comment, further insulted the late Senator McCain by claiming he "ruined healthcare."

We are observing a blatant--albeit completely inept--disinformation campaign on behalf of the administration. Amazing.