'Why do you have to lie'? Bulwark contributor misrepresents Trump's remarks on wind power, whines about 'MAGA Twitter' calling him out for it

The Washington Examiner’s Salena Zito recently spoke with Donald Trump, who sounded off on Joe Biden’s mental fitness (or lack thereof). Zito’s interview included this bit, which didn’t escape the attention of Bulwark contributor Tim Miller:

3 sentences after claiming Biden has no idea what is happening, Trump tells @SalenaZito that wind kills all the birds. https://t.co/xHlCoC1vWH pic.twitter.com/zXcGa92F7D

— Tim Miller (@Timodc) May 15, 2020

Wow, Tim. You got ‘im!

I'm sure Tim meant to mention this, but Trump also said the wind is "expensive." Um, hello, the wind is a naturally occurring meteorological phenomenon. It's literally free. What an idiot! https://t.co/tlwu6zvR6h

— China is lying (@jtLOL) May 15, 2020

Heh.

I'm sure he's referring to the wind turbines… And I think you know that too. I hate Trump, but it's obvious what he means even though he can't speak like a normal person.

— Chad Smith (@ChillyChad) May 15, 2020

Yeah this is one of those circumstance where even what he meant is really silly.

— Tim Miller (@Timodc) May 15, 2020

Or one of those circumstances where a Bulwark luminary willfully misrepresents something Trump says to score cheap points.

"She wants wind." Does he mean wind power? Do windmills ever kill any birds?

— China is lying (@jtLOL) May 15, 2020

Wind is shorthand for wind power which uses windmills which kill birds. It actually is a thing.

— John Riley (@jriley8832) May 15, 2020

Uh, Wind farms DO kill massive numbers of birds each year.

— Quin Hillyer (@QuinHillyer) May 15, 2020

MAGA twitter has decided that this tweet, where I screenshot the entire context is misleading.

I'm happy to go line by line through the Presidents absolutely "insane" interview with the Examiner (the editor's words) and we can decide together whether he's making sense. https://t.co/jfKJzzUQ5h

— Tim Miller (@Timodc) May 15, 2020

Uh-oh. MAGA is at it again. https://t.co/4WUKwPwvUT

— China is lying (@jtLOL) May 15, 2020

"Everybody who points out my errors of fact and logic is MAGA," he calmly explained

— China is lying (@jtLOL) May 15, 2020

What Tim and his like-minded colleagues at the Bulwark seem to have trouble understanding is that it’s entirely possible to dislike Donald Trump without having to manufacture offenses. Plenty of members of non-“MAGA Twitter” are able to make that distinction. Why can’t Tim?

He means the actual infrastructure used to harness wind as energy. Which historically has a habit of killing countless birds. “Wind turbines are notorious bird killers”https://t.co/O0EoEnEoai

Tim knows this. But then he couldn’t use it to distract from Biden’s ongoing scandal. https://t.co/WgVDeNlDNT

— Sunny McSunnyface (@sunnyright) May 15, 2020

He's obviously talking about windmills used in electrical generation. Why do you have to lie to make the point that Trump doesn't know what he's talking about? This makes reasonable people realize you are lying and can't be trusted as a fair arbiter of the truth.

— Matt Bennett (@mattben10) May 15, 2020

Seriously. Instead of saving his righteous condescension for situations in which Donald Trump actually says or does something ridiculous or stupid or offensive, Tim’s desperately throwing a big wet noodle at the wall hoping it’ll stick.

How are you this dumb?

— Shane Styles (@shaner5000) May 15, 2020

Oh Tim. You know he means "wind energy" and "wind turbines." This is so painfully obvious, and you are a smart guy. It's really such a shame what TDS has done to you.

— Brad Polumbo (@brad_polumbo) May 15, 2020