Donald Trump became distracted by the word "nuclear" during a press conference.- "We don't use the word 'nuclear.' I never used it, okay? I never used it ... That's called disinformation," he said.
- Trump last year denied reports that he had asked national security officials to use nuclear bombs to tackle hurricanes.
Former US President Donald Trump became distracted by the word "nuclear" during a press conference announcing his lawsuit against big tech firms.
The president was speaking in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Wednesday where he described why he had brought a lawsuit against tech giants Facebook, Twitter, and Google, who he claims are "censoring" him and other conservatives.
"My team is demanding an end to the shadow banning, a stop to the silencing, a stop to the blacklisting, vanishing, and canceling. We will not rest until we've achieved a MAJOR VICTORY for the American People," he said in an email soliciting funds for the lawsuit.
At one point during the press conference, he began to speak about the fact that social media platforms such as Facebook last year censored posts that suggested the coronavirus had originated from a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan, only to stop censoring them as the theory became more mainstream.
He said: "Until recently Facebook had a policy to eliminate all posts sharing evidence that the horrible virus emerged from China - they said it didn't emerge from the Chinese lab.
"Wuhan, I said Wuhan, remember, it was like a bomb went up. Wuhan - it came from the Wuhan lab. Of course, there were body bags all outside the bag, no one ever mentions that. I wonder why.
"Then it was finally revealed that this was most likely the truth. That it came from the lab. And it was a small little story. But when I said it, it was like a weapon went off - a major weapon."
"I won't use the word 'weapon' because I never use the word 'nuclear' but we have to be careful with our leadership because if we don't have the proper leadership, we're in a very perilous state."
"So we don't use the word 'nuclear.' I never used it, okay? I never used it. I never said it. That's called disinformation."
The former president frequently veered off-script at the rallies he held before and during his presidency, peppering his political speeches with rants about bugbears including weak showers, lightbulbs, and hairspray.
It is unclear what Trump was referencing or why he was insisting that he did not use the word "nuclear."
However, last year the former president was forced to deny reports that he had asked national security officials to consider using nuclear bombs to tackle hurricanes.