President Donald Trump acknowledged on Tuesday that his social media posts are making Attorney General William Barr’s job harder, but added that social media is very important to the president because it gives him a voice.
The president comments come after Barr issued rare criticism to the president about his Twitter posts in the wake of one of Trump’s posts about the sentencing of former campaign adviser Roger Stone. The Justice Department’s (DOJ) handling of the Stone case has received extensive scrutiny after the department requested a lighter sentence for the Trump associate. Top department officials intervened in the case after deeming the original recommendation of seven to nine years as “excessive.”
While responding to a reporter’s question about Barr’s comments, the president agreed with the assessment saying that his social media posts are making Barr’s job harder.
“I do make his job harder. I do agree with that. I think that’s true,” Trump said. “He’s a very straight shooter. We have a great attorney general and he’s working very hard. He’s working against a lot of people that don’t want to see good things happen, in my opinion.”
“But I will say this: Social media for me has been very important because it gives me a voice because I don’t get that voice in the press, in the media. I don’t get that voice. So I’m allowed to have a voice,” he added.
Trump added that he thinks that Barr is still able to do his job with integrity even with the president’s social media posts while also saying that he has “total confidence” in the attorney general.
“He’s a man with great integrity. The attorney general is a man with incredible integrity,” Trump said. “Just so you understand: I chose not to be involved. I’m allowed to be totally involved. I’m actually, I guess the chief law enforcement officer of the country, but I’ve chosen not to be involved.”
Similarly, Donald Ayer, the former deputy attorney general under George H. W. Bush, wrote an op-ed published in The Atlantic accusing Barr of acting as the “president’s personal advocate than as an attorney general” and being “un-American.”
“Suggestions from outside groups that the attorney general has fallen short of the responsibilities of his office are unfounded," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) wrote.
“The attorney general has shown that he is committed without qualification to securing equal justice under law for all Americans,” the statement said.
“The nation is fortunate that President Trump chose such a strong and selfless public servant to lead the Department of Justice. We expect that, as always, efforts to intimidate the Attorney General will fall woefully short.”