Former President Donald Trump delivered a “focused” pitch to America’s top CEOs and received a loud ovation at the conclusion of his Business Roundtable remarks Thursday, an attendee at the meeting told The Daily Signal.
That’s a stark contrast to reporting from New York Times columnist and CNBC host Andrew Ross Sorkin, who told “Squawk Box” viewers Friday that Trump was “meandering, could not keep a straight thought, was all over the map.” Sorkin was not present at the Business Roundtable meeting.
Hours later, White House Senior Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates amplified Sorkin’s spin on X. CNBC and other liberal media outlets ran with the story, and an MSNBC blogger suggested Trump’s appearance raised “concerns about his cognitive state.”
But is any of it true?
“It’s a clear bunch of BS,” according to the attendee. “This is a farce all the way around.”
News outlets mostly stuck to the substance of Trump’s remarks in their initial coverage Thursday: He spoke about cutting corporate taxes from 21% to 20%, after reducing the rate from 35% during his presidency.
The media narrative began to change Friday, starting with Sorkin’s CNBC commentary.
I will say I was surprised. I spoke to a number of CEOs who I would say walked into the meeting being Trump supporter-ish, or thinking that they might be leaning that direction, who said that he was remarkably meandering, could not keep a straight thought, was all over the map, and that they – which, maybe not surprising – but was interesting to me because these were people who, I think, might have been actually predisposed to him and actually walked out of the room less predisposed to him, actually predisposed to thinking ‘This is not necessarily,’ as one person said, ‘this may not be any different or better than a Biden thought, if you’re thinking that way.’
By Friday night, the Biden campaign’s official X account was promoting the Sorkin clip.
But the attendee who spoke with The Daily Signal said Sorkin’s interpretation is wrong. (The Daily Signal granted the attendee anonymity to speak candidly about the private meeting.)
“There was never a moment of meandering,” the attendee said. “He was focused. In fact, he received a loud ovation at the end.”
The attendee added: “There was not one CEO who wasn’t impressed with what they heard from Trump. Everybody was clapping.”
Sorkin did not immediately reply to The Daily Signal’s request for comment.
