This archive report was first published on 10 June 2020.
June 10, 2020, marked the 161st day of President Trump's fourth year in office. It was a day that would showcase the extraordinary dynamic among elected Republicans, one that has been building since the president took office.
Reporters resorted to a rare tactic, printing out copies of Mr. Trump's tweet, which contained an unsubstantiated suggestion that an older protester shoved and injured by the police in Buffalo was an Antifa provocateur who staged his own assault.
Even faced with documentary evidence of the president's inflammatory remark, most Republicans averted their gaze, declining to comment as they darted through the hallways of Capitol Hill.
Senator Marco Rubio, a frequent user of Twitter, told a CNN reporter, 'I didn't see it — you're telling me about it.' He added, 'I don't read Twitter, I only write on it.'
Senator Kevin Cramer, Republican of North Dakota, scanned the page before saying, 'I don't even know the episode he's talking about.'
Senator Ted Cruz, a trained lawyer, made a process argument, stating that he has a longstanding policy of not commenting on the president's tweets.
Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, pointedly redirected the conversation toward discussions about efforts at overhauling law enforcement and about how the Senate was responding to protests across the country.
As the episode unfolded, it became clear that Republicans had long ago determined that the least politically fraught avenue was to ignore the president's Twitter provocations altogether, in the hope that the outrage of the day quickly fades.
Senator John Thune, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, acknowledged that he saw both the tweet and the video of the assault, and deemed the post 'a serious accusation.'
Even Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, has maintained the tactic, telling reporters that he had 'learned a long time ago not to comment on tweets.'
