MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow says Trump 'was just spitballing'

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow accused President Trump of making up and “just spitballing” that the massive explosion that rocked the Lebanese capital of Beirut earlier in the day was likely an attack caused by a bomb.

“Here’s a thing that should never, ever, ever, ever, ever happen from the White House,” Maddow said.

“Not only should this never happen from the White House, it should never happen anywhere anyone is in any position of supposed authority,” she continued. “What happened today shouldn’t happen from a White House podium, but it also like shouldn’t happen from a teacher’s desk. It shouldn’t happen from the voice of a cop giving you a parking ticket. It shouldn’t happen from a PA announcement at a supermarket about which car has its lights on in the parking lot. This shouldn’t come from anybody who purports to be giving you actual information from any position of purported authority.”

Maddow then played a clip of Trump speaking on Tuesday, when he said U.S. military generals have informed him that the explosion was likely caused by a bomb.

Maddow accused Trump of “just winging it” and “making it up as he goes along” by speculating the explosion was an attack.

“It looks like a terrible attack? What? It was an attack, said the president?” a perplexed Maddow said. “To be clear, before the president said that today from the White House, there had been no public indication at all that this was an attack, that this was some sort of terrorist or military assaults on the city of Beirut.”

Maddow appeared to grow more and more peeved as she continued.

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“When the president of the United States speaking from the White House podium says, ‘This is an attack,’ that’s a huge piece of news. That’s a huge deal. That’s like announcing the start of a war, kind of news, from the mouth of the president of the United States,” Maddow said.

“Except with this president, nah, turns out, eh grain of salt, he makes stuff up. He didn’t know if it was an attack, even when he was saying it’s an attack. He didn’t know. He was just spitballing,” she said.

Maddow then said Trump simply makes things up and blurts them out, calling his comments “absolutely atrocious.”

As for spitballing, Maddow famously devoted her program to speculation about whether or not Trump's campaign colluded with Russia until the findings from former Special Counsel Robert Mueller debunked her nightly narrative in 2019.