Telepathy? Trump Claims He Could Declassify Documents 'By Thinking About It'
Donald Trump just made one of the broadest claims of presidential power yet, telling Fox News host Sean Hannity he had the ability to declassify government documents with his mind.
Or, as one U.S. senator summed it up, Trump appears to think it can be done “telepathically.”
The claim comes after the FBI discovered highly sensitive government documents at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago private club in Florida while executing a search warrant last month.
Trump and those close to him have claimed ― although not in court ― that he had declassified those documents while he was still president, but they haven’t offered evidence.
On Wednesday, the ex-president took it to a new level, insisting that he not only didn’t have to tell anyone but that he could do it without a word.
All he needed was his mind.
“There doesn’t have to be a process, as I understand it,” he told Hannity. “You’re the president of the United States. You can declassify just by saying, ‘It’s declassified.’ Even by thinking about it.”
"There doesn't have to be a process ... I declassified everything" -- Trump on how he declassified documents (this is false -- there is a process Trump didn't follow) pic.twitter.com/ehX8QqTnmB
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 22, 2022
Trump also claimed he might not have been the real target of the search anyway, telling Hannity the FBI may have been looking for documents on his 2016 presidential rival, Hillary Clinton.
But it was his claims of being able to use the power of thought to declassify documents that lit up Twitter:
I’m very very excited for tomorrow, when we will find out which members of Congress embrace the idea that Trump can telepathically declassify documents.
— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) September 22, 2022
Hi 👋. House Intelligence Committee Chair here.
Trump just claimed he could declassify things by saying “‘it’s declassified,’ even by thinking about it.”
I know he says he’s a big “thinker” and all, but that’s not how any of this works. Not by any stretch of the imagination.— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) September 22, 2022
No, you can’t declassify documents by just thinking about it. Where does he come up with this stuff?
— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) September 22, 2022
I’ll never understand why Trump supporters aren’t more offended by how stupid Trump obviously thinks they are. https://t.co/zlOPCOnmHR
— Sarah Longwell (@SarahLongwell25) September 22, 2022
So embarrassing that he was ever President of this great nation. Idiotic. How did Hannity keep from bursting out laughing at this buffoonery? https://t.co/8ChpuAIWh4
— Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) September 22, 2022
Wait—don't you at least have to twitch your nose like Elizabeth Montgomery's character in "Bewitched"? https://t.co/hMco5lK71p
— George Conway🌻 (@gtconway3d) September 22, 2022
Just trying to imagine what Sean Hannity would say if Barack Obama stole hundreds of classified documents and went on his show and told him that it’s all good because he had already declassified everything in his mind.
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) September 22, 2022
“Even by thinking about it” is an all time dumb shit hall of fame quote.
— Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman) September 22, 2022
Could you apply this to other presidential powers, like pardons? "I in my own brain pardoned myself" and so on?
— Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) September 22, 2022
“Your honor, the defendant pleads Jedi” https://t.co/fhOmgHClJc
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) September 22, 2022
Too bad thinking doesn't come naturally to him https://t.co/TPuPaITwHl
— The Republican Accountability Project (@AccountableGOP) September 22, 2022
— Mark Gongloff (@markgongloff) September 22, 2022
THIS IS REAL LIFE.THIS REALLY JUST HAPPENED ON PLANET EARTH. https://t.co/GguBNZOSzM
— Spiro Agnew’s Ghost (@SpiroAgnewGhost) September 22, 2022
This is why they’ve never produced evidence of declassification. There is none. https://t.co/Gk3sliIR6H
— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) September 22, 2022
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.