[irishjuggler]

And I'll repeat what I said at the time:
'Trump is playing it very smart here. He overtly takes the “victim” at his word and expresses sympathy. Indeed, if the story were true, it’d be worthy of sympathy. When the hoax unravels, Trump has the moral high ground. He expressed sympathetic when he “thought” it to be true, but, it’s not, and how dare this guy fake a hate crime and blame MAGA supporters? For Trump, it’s win-win.'

[Steely Tom]

And I'll repeat what I said at the time:
'Trump is playing it very smart here. He overtly takes the “victim” at his word and expresses sympathy. Indeed, if the story were true, it’d be worthy of sympathy. When the hoax unravels, Trump has the moral high ground. He expressed sympathetic when he “thought” it to be true, but, it’s not, and how dare this guy fake a hate crime and blame MAGA supporters? For Trump, it’s win-win.'

Agreed. Played it very nicely.