That President Trump is unhappy with Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ handling (or lack thereof) of the ongoing Russia probe isn’t new. After all, the former Alabama senator and early Trump supporter recused himself from all matters pertaining to Russia’s confirmed meddling in the 2016 presidential election — thereby paving the way for Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller’s ever-expanding investigation. Hence the president’s latest tweeted attack against his own cabinet official, in which he wondered why Sessions hadn’t already investigated President Barack Obama.
“If all of the Russian meddling took place during the Obama Administration,” he asked, “why aren’t they the subject of the investigation? Why didn’t Obama do something about the meddling? Why aren’t Dem crimes under investigation? Ask Jeff Session!” Ever since the Justice Department indicted 13 Russians involved in a state-sanctioned hackers group that targeted the 2016 election, Trump has repeatedly (and erroneously) declared that this proves there was no collusion. What’s more, as the New York Times points out, he has also been trying to pin the blame for Russia’s involvement on Obama.
As is usually the case with a Trump tweet, however, these points and their fact checks were quickly lost when everyone on Twitter realized that Trump had misspelled Sessions’ last name. Dropping the final “s,” the president originally ended the tweet with the declaration, “Ask Jeff Session!”
Some, like former Office of Government Ethics Director Walter Shaub, were quick to point out that — misspelling be damned — Trump was decidedly wrong. “We can’t ask Sessions” about the matter, he tweeted, because “he’s recused.”
https://twitter.com/waltshaub/status/966312722076979202
But that didn’t stop practically everyone else from focusing on the case of the missing “s.”
Jeff Session
James Matti
Betsy DeVo
Mike Penny— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) February 21, 2018
Some poor guy named Jeff Session, who probably owns a hardware store in Oregon, is about to be flooded with calls from the nation's assignment editors.
— Matt Ford (@fordm) February 21, 2018
I'm going to need all hardcore Twitter stoners who know Photoshop on deck today, an opportunity like "Jeff Session" comes but once
— The Mountain Goats (@mountain_goats) February 21, 2018
https://twitter.com/eschor/status/966313201548832769
I always knew Jeff Sessions was just three guys named Jeff Session stacked on top of each other wearing a trenchcoat.
— Steven Rich (@dataeditor) February 21, 2018
https://twitter.com/lachlan/status/966314765684543489
(Via New York Times)