Barr admits Trump hid in bunker over fear of protests — not for an 'inspection'

Trump had said he went to the bunker during protests ‘much more for an inspection.’

By Emily Singer - June 09, 2020

Attorney General William Barr on Monday admitted that Donald Trump went into a secure bunker in the bowels of the White House on May 29 over fears of the demonstrations happening nearby.

“Things were so bad that the Secret Service recommended the president go down to the bunker,” Barr told Fox News Monday night. “We can’t have that in our country.”

Barr’s admission contradicts Trump’s claim that he went into the bunker during the day to inspect it and that it was a “false report” to say he went into the bunker over fears of protesters.

“I wasn’t down — I went down during the day, and I was there for a tiny little short period of time, and it was much more for an inspection,” Trump told Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade on June 3. “There was no problem during the day.”

Trump has been the target of criticism for retreating to the bunker in fear of the protests, which have largely been peaceful, with demonstrators calling for changes to policing and an end to systemic racism in the United States.

Multiple reports have said this criticism is what led Trump to tear-gas peaceful protesters before walking from the White House to a church across the street, where he held a photo-op with a bible.

The bunker Trump was taken to is rarely used, and if it is, it’s typically during serious threats. For example, according to the New York Times, former Vice President Dick Cheney went into the bunker on Sept. 11, 2001, when there were fears that al-Qaida terrorists who hijacked a plane were planning on crashing into the White House.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.

Emily Singer