Trump claimed he witnessed Harveys devastation first hand.
President Trump clearly and unmistakably exaggerated the “horror and devastation” he witnessed in Texas. The White House's response? To pretend words don't mean what they mean.
Trump tweeted Wednesday morning that he had seen this horror and devastation “first hand.”
A reporter asked White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders about this later Wednesday, and her answer was … something:
He met with a number of state and local officials who are eating, sleeping, breathing the Harvey disaster. He talked extensively with the governor, who certainly is right in the midst of every bit of this, as well as the mayors from several of the local towns that were hit hardest. And detailed briefing information throughout the day yesterday talking to a lot of the people on the ground. That certainly is a firsthand account.
No, it's not. That's a *second*hand account — the very definition of one, in fact.
Merriam-Webster defines firsthand as “obtained by, coming from, or being direct personal observation or experience.” Secondhand is defined as “received from or through an intermediary.” Those intermediaries in this case were the state and local officials, the governor, the mayors and the people on the ground. Those people may have been witnessing the devastation firsthand, but passing along that information doesn't make Trump's account firsthand.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/08/31/trump-claimed-he-witnessed-harveys-devastation-first-hand-the-white-house-basically-admits-he-didnt/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_trump-1040am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.c91530bac88d
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