On Wednesday night, ABC News aired an interview with Donald Trump in which the president declared for all the world to hear that he welcomes election meddling by foreign governments. Asked by George Stephanopoulos what he’d do if his campaign was approached by a foreign official with dirt about an opponent, the president of the United States responded, unequivocally: “Oh, I think I’d want to hear it,” adding that he certainly wouldn’t inform the FBI about the matter. Unsurprisingly, the blowback to these remarks was swift, with renewed calls for Trump to be impeached from several Democrats. (“This president is a national security threat,” tweeted Kamala Harris, while Joe Biden offered, “An American President should not seek their aid and abet those who seek to undermine democracy.”) The whole thing even garnered a big WTF from Trump’s buddy Laura Ingraham. All of which, of course, led to a string of bullshit this morning about what he really meant and how his words were supposedly taken out of context even though, as usual, they were right there on tape.

“I meet and talk to ‘foreign governments’ every day,” Trump tweeted angrily Thursday morning. “I just met with the Queen of England (U.K.), the Prince of Wales, the P.M. of the United Kingdom, the P.M. of Ireland, the President of France and the President of Poland. We talked about ‘Everything’ Should I immediately call the FBI about these calls and meetings? How ridiculous! I would never be trusted again. With that being said, my full answer is rarely played by the Fake News Media. They purposely leave out the part that matters.”

There’s a lot to unpack here but:

The meetings Trump refers to here, such as his state visit with Queen Elizabeth, were long-planned trips that the FBI would have been briefed on months in advance. Trump conveniently mentions meetings with foreign officials that don’t include Russia and China, i.e. the countries intelligence officials are most concerned about when it comes to election interference. The Prince of Wales (née Whales) is not sidling up to him and asking if he’d be interested in dirt on Elizabeth Warren or “this Joe Biden chap.” On the off chance that Chuck did, then yes, calling the FBI would be the appropriate course of action! What, pray tell, was left on the cutting-room floor by ABC? Because comments like “If somebody called from a country…[and said] ‘we have information on your opponent’—oh, I think I’d want to hear it”; “When you go and talk, honestly, to congressmen, they all do it, they always have, and that’s the way it is. It’s called oppo research;” and “You don’t call the FBI…give me a break” make your position pretty clear!

And speaking of the Trump family’s take on election interference:

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