A phone conversation between President Donald Trump and Sen. James Inhofe discussing cancel culture, renaming military bases and political appointments was recorded after the GOP lawmaker placed the call on speakerphone in a restaurant.
The New York Times reports that several people dining in the Capitol Hill Italian restaurant Trattoria Alberto on Wednesday night overheard the call after the Oklahoma senator put the conversation on speakerphone. Someone recorded the call, which covered several topics.
“We’re going to keep the name of Robert E. Lee?” Trump asked the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The senator replied, “Just trust me, I’ll make it happen.”
Trump told Inhofe that he “had about 95,000 positive retweets on that. That’s a lot.” It is likely Trump was referring to a Twitter post he made last Friday where he wrote that Inhofe had assured him that he won’t change the names of “Military Bases and Forts” and that the senator “is not a believer in ‘Cancel Culture.’”
The topic of cancel culture was also discussed during the Wednesday night call. Trump was overheard criticizing the movement and told Inhofe that people “want to be able to go back to life.” Trump then dismissed the cultural shift sweeping the nation with an expletive.
Earlier portions of the conversation focused on Anthony Tata, a retired Army brigadier general, who Trump nominated for a top Pentagon policy position.
The two politicians discussed the possibility of someone “resigning.” The person was likely Tata. His nomination for the policy job became complicated after lawmakers pointed out inflammatory Twitter posts he has made about Muslims along with other controversial comments.
On Thursday morning, Inhofe announced that a hearing scheduled for later in the day to advance Tata’s nomination would be delayed.
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