By most counts, Tuesday was not a good day for President Donald Trump.
First, Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was found guilty on eight counts of fraud. And then his former lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty himself, admitting to violating campaign finance laws.
But by the time Trump weighed in on the two events on Wednesday morning, it was clear that his opinion of his two former employees differs wildly.
Trump took to Twitter, first writing that “If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don’t retain the services of Michael Cohen!”
If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don’t retain the services of Michael Cohen!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 22, 2018
Meanwhile, Trump expressed sympathy for Manafort, noting that he feels “very badly” for his former campaign chairman and his “wonderful family.”
“‘Justice’ took a 12 year old tax case, among other things,” Trump wrote on Twitter, “applied tremendous pressure on him and, unlike Michael Cohen, he refused to ‘break’ — make up stories to get a ‘deal.’ Such respect for a brave man!”
I feel very badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family. “Justice” took a 12 year old tax case, among other things, applied tremendous pressure on him and, unlike Michael Cohen, he refused to “break” – make up stories in order to get a “deal.” Such respect for a brave man!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 22, 2018
And ensuring that he stays ever on brand, Trump added in a second tweet that the Manafort case is a “witch hunt,” noting that “a large number of counts, ten, could not even be decided.”
Trump still hasn’t hinted at whether he will pardon either Cohen or Manafort—which he could do—but the contrasting sentiment of Wednesday morning’s tweets give a pretty good indication that Cohen may not be on that list.
It looks like Cohen might not want to be on that list anyway: his lawyer Lanny Davis told NPR’s Morning Edition that his client would “never accept a pardon from a man that he considers to be both corrupt and a dangerous person in the oval office.”
