Trump says he loves Orrin Hatch because Hatch told him he's a better president than Lincoln pic.twitter.com/ESlH5pgtX8
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) February 1, 2018
Donald Trump delivered a breezy, freewheeling speech at the 2018 House and Senate Republican Member Conference in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia on Thursday afternoon — all things considered between new developments in the Russia investigation and a certain adult film star, neither of which will seem to go away for him.
Trump kicked off his speech by patting himself on the back for a remarkably on-script and restrained first State of the Union address earlier this week, but the accolades weren’t finished there. At one point, he gave a shout out to retiring Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), recalling some conversations that may or may not have taken place between the two, given the president’s penchant for telling tall tales:
“Orrin, I love listening to him speak. He said once that I am the single greatest president in his lifetime. Now he’s a young man so it’s not that much. And he actually once said that I’m the greatest president in the history of our country and I said ‘Does that include Lincoln and Washington?’ he said ‘yes,’ I said, ‘I love this guy.’ I love him. But he is, he’s a special guy.”
See, Trump wasn’t calling himself the greatest president ever, just repeating what someone else said, so it’s totally subtle, right? Naturally, Twitter had thoughts:
Not sure what is more embarrassing a) Hatch said this b) Trump believed it c) Trump lack the self-awareness to avoid repeating it publicly https://t.co/iNi3ZIfpc8
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) February 1, 2018
I don't know what's more absurd–that a United States Senator told Trump he was greater than Washington and Lincoln, or that Trump was foolish enough to repeat his comments. https://t.co/Bc2hH8sRGI
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) February 1, 2018
Trump just said Orrin Hatch told him he's a greater president than Lincoln.
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) February 1, 2018
https://twitter.com/imillhiser/status/959125080822382599
Regurgitating at the Republican retreat, malignant narcissist Trump just thanked @OrrinHatch for telling him he's the 'greatest president in history', 'greater than both George Washington and Abraham Lincoln' — confirming Orrin Hatch has lost not only his soul, but also his mind. https://t.co/oZ4216qpE2
— Bill Madden (@maddenifico) February 1, 2018
https://twitter.com/BigAlDell/status/959124647840169985
A condensed version of @realDonaldTrump speaking at #GOPRetreat in WV:
1. People don't praise me enough
2. Here is a list of people and good things they said about me.
3. Better than Lincoln and Reagan combined— guyandsuch (@guyandsuch) February 1, 2018
Pres. Trump says Sen. Orrin Hatch told him he was a better president than Washington and Lincoln pic.twitter.com/vaFxUCVawf
— T.M. Claudia (@CT_Alchemist) February 1, 2018
And if you think that’s bad, just wait until you hear what he said about Dreamers.