President Donald Trump on Wednesday evening said that he does not remember asking Andrew McCabe, then the acting FBI director, who he voted for in the 2016 election and argued that it would not be a “big deal” if he had.
“I don’t think so,” Trump told reporters in the White House when asked whether he asked McCabe who he voted for.
The President reportedly asked McCabe who he voted for during a May 2017 meeting shortly after James Comey was fired as FBI director. In that same meeting, Trump reportedly mentioned that McCabe’s wife received a campaign donation from former Democratic Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe.
Pressed on whether it’s possible he asked McCabe who he voted for, Trump told reporters, “I don’t know what’s the big deal with that. Because I would ask you, ‘Who did you vote for?'”
“I don’t think that’s a big deal. But I don’t remember that. I saw that this morning. I don’t remember asking him that question,” Trump added.
McCabe has long been the focus of Trump’s ire. The President has suggested that McCabe is biased because his wife, who ran a Democratic campaign for a Virginia state senate seat, accepted a campaign contribution from McAuliffe.
Reporters asked Trump on Wednesday if he believes McCabe should leave the FBI, but Trump wouldn’t say.
“Well, McCabe got more than $500,000 from essentially Hillary Clinton. And is he investigating Hillary Clinton?” he replied.
Asked if he regrets McCabe’s time as acting FBI director, Trump again failed to give a straight answer.
“You know what, I keep out of it. You’d find that hard to believe. I keep out of it. That’s the way it fell. He’s been there. It’s one of those things,” Trump said. “But he was the star of many of my speeches. Because he got from $500,000 to $700,000, whatever the number was. Got that money for the wife.”
“I have the world’s greatest memory. It’s one thing everyone agrees on,”
“I don’t remember much about that meeting (with Papa-D) ,” Trump responded. “It was a very unimportant meeting, took place a long time [ago], don’t remember much about it.”
In his 2015 deposition over a lawsuit involving Trump University, lawyer Jason Forge (who was questioning Trump on behalf of one of the plaintiffs) asked if he recalled saying that he had “one of the best memories in the world.” Trump initially responded by asking, “I don’t know. Did I use that expression?” After being told there was video of him saying it, he replied, “I don’t remember saying that. As good as my memory is, I don’t remember that, but I have a good memory.”
He did, however, stand by another past statement he had made, namely that he had “one of the all-time great memories.”
There he goes again with his Vinnie “The Chin” act.
Trump has the greatest memory ever. Except when he doesn’t.
I guess that’s a ‘Yes’ ?
He’s practicing getting his “I don’t remember” just right since it will be his answer to all of Mueller’s questions.