Donald Trump complained on Saturday that one of the reasons he refused to release the Democratic memo – even after ignoring the FBI and Justice Department to release the GOP memo – is because it’s too long.
In a tweet, the president said it was all part of the Democrats’ plan to send a “very political and long response memo” that the White House would ultimately have to reject.
The Democrats sent a very political and long response memo which they knew, because of sources and methods (and more), would have to be heavily redacted, whereupon they would blame the White House for lack of transparency. Told them to re-do and send back in proper form!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 10, 2018
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Yes, the Democratic response memo authored by Rep. Adam Schiff is twice as long the Republican one – but it’s still only ten pages. If that’s too wordy for the president, then one can only imagine the important documents and briefing books he blows off when it comes to other matters of policy.
Of course, we do have some idea of how the president avoids reading. As Jason Easley noted on Friday, citing a new Washington Post report, “Trump refuses to read written intelligence reports and instead insists that the information is told him in an oral briefing.”
None of this should be a surprise when it comes to this president. It is widely documented that he doesn’t read. His lack of knowledge on the key issues only confirms that. As Michael Wolff claims in ‘Fire and Fury’, Trump’s own staff believes he is “no more than semi-literate.”
If the past is any indication, the Democrats should send their memo back to the president with a lot of bullet points and flashy graphics if they want him to read it and approve its release.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
