The White House wants you to believe that President Donald Trump didn't mean to offend Muslim audiences when he referred to Islamist extremism as "Islamic extremism."

He was just an "exhausted guy."

[salon_video id="14769992"]

That's what an unnamed senior White House official told CNN on Monday, claiming that Trump intended to say "Islamist extremism" but said "Islamic extremism" because he was "just an exhausted guy" by the time he delivered the speech. The prepared remarks do indeed show Trump saying "Islamist extremism," which is the correct term when referring to the political movements that attempt to create governments based around Islamic theological precepts.

Advertisement:

The White House claims that Trump was busy editing his speech during a 14-hour flight from Washington to the Middle East. When he wasn't doing that, they claim that he was reading newspapers, leaving him quite tired by the time he arrived.

The irony here, of course, is that Trump frequently belittled his political opponents by claiming they lacked the energy that he presumably possessed to serve as President of the United States. He ridiculed one of his chief Republican rivals, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, as being "low energy" and famously insulted Hillary Clinton in similar terms during the first presidential debate.

"She doesn't have the look. She doesn't have the stamina, I said she doesn't have the stamina, and I don't believe she does have the stamina," Trump told audiences at the time.

Advertisement:

This didn't stop Secretary of State Rex Tillerson from defending Trump's stamina, telling reporters on Monday that "he's doing better than I am. And he's got a few years on me."