I was being sarcastic again! Trump uses same defense for his disinfectant debacle to insist his bungled 'Noble' prize tweets were actually attacks on journalists' morals after 'phony' NY Times hamburger story

• President Trump called himself the 'hardest working president in history' as he sent out a flurry of tweets protesting a New York Times story 
• The Times piece said Trump is spending hours watching the TV coverage of his handling of the coronavirus crisis 
• It said he seldom attends the coronavirus taskforce meetings and instead just joins the group for the press briefing 
• It also details the president's 'sour' mood and the comfort food made available in the White House including French fries and Diet Coke 
• Trump accused the Times of lying about 'his schedule and eating habits' and said he was working around the clock 
• He also said the Times journalists should give their 'Noble' prize back, confusing it with the Pulitzer, which they won, and spelling Nobel wrong 
• In a follow-up tweet four hours later, the president claimed his use of the word 'noble' instead of 'Nobel' was him being sarcastic to get his point across 

President Trump has once against blamed others for not understanding the concept of sarcasm after a flurry of tweets were sent by the president on Sunday afternoon.

A follow-up tweet was sent four hours later after the president tweeted how 'people that know me' believe that he's the 'hardest working president in history'.

In a tweet sent on Sunday evening, the president asked: 'Does anybody get the meaning of what a so-called Noble (not Nobel) Prize is, especially as it pertains to Reporters and Journalists? Noble is defined as, 'having or showing fine personal qualities or high moral principles and ideals.' Does sarcasm ever work?'  he questioned.

The president's tweet referred to tweets from earlier in the day when for several hours on Sunday he railed against reporters who had written about the Russia investigation and referred to journalists who had received Pulitzer prizes for their efforts. 

President Trump has once against blamed others for not understanding the concept of sarcasm after a flurry of tweets were sent by the president on Sunday afternoon

As Trump made the claims during Thursday's coronavirus taskforce meeting, Birx was sitting at the side of the briefing room, appearing to hold back giving any reaction 

During his earlier tweets, the president incorrectly referred to the reporters as having received 'Noble' prizes, presumably intending to mean 'Nobel' prizes.  

But instead of correcting his tweets, the president plowed on further and insisted that he was simply being sarcastic, inferring that certain journalists could never receive such a prize for being 'noble' in their reporting.

Earlier in the week, the president again said that he was being sarcastic when during a coronavirus taskforce press conference the president asked Dr. Deborah Birx if it might be possible for people suffering with symptoms of the virus to inject disinfectant. 

On Friday the president attempted to walk back comments that alarmed medical professionals worldwide after he raised the possibility of using disinfectant inside people's bodies to fight the coronavirus.

Trump said at a Thursday news briefing that scientists should explore whether inserting light or disinfectant into the bodies of coronavirus patients might help treat COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the virus.

'I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen,' he told journalists at an event in the Oval Office.

His remarks on Thursday, directed at Dr. Deborah Birx, who is coordinating the president's coronavirus task force, and William Bryan, acting head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate, did not come across as sarcastic.

On Sunday, Trump's angry flurry of tweets appeared to be aimed at The New York Times for reporting him as 'angrily' eating hamburgers and drinking Diet Cokes while in bed. 

Trump said he's often working late at night in the Oval Office instead. 

'The people that know me and know the history of our Country say that I am the hardest working President in history,' Trump tweeted Sunday afternoon. 'I don't know about that, but I am a hard worker and have probably gotten more done in the first 3 1/2 years than any President in history. The Fake News hates it!' 

President Trump became enraged after reading a New York Times story that detailed his mood and work ethic during the coronavirus crisis 

President Trump reacted negatively to a story by The New York Times that said he was in a 'sour' mood and spending hours watching television 

The tweets rounded off an afternoon full of furious online activity. 

'I work from early in the morning until late at night, haven't left the White House in many months (except to launch Hospital Ship Comfort) in order to take care of Trade Deals, Military Rebuilding etc., and then I read a phony story in the failing @nytimes about my work schedule and eating habits, written by a third rate reporter who knows nothing about me,' Trump wrote early in the afternoon. 

'I will often be in the Oval Office late into the night & read & see that I am angrily eating a hamburger & Diet Coke in my bedroom,' Trump continued. 'People with me are always stunned. Anything to demean!' 

Trump then mistakenly suggested that the Times' reporters had received a 'Noble' prize for their work reporting on Russia's role in influencing the 2016 presidential election and the country's ties to Trump's team. 

The New York Times and The Washington Post were awarded a Pulitzer for their efforts. The president likely was referring to a Nobel Peace Prize. 

'When will all of the 'reporters' who have received Noble Prizes for their work on Russia, Russia, Russia, only to have been proven totally wrong (and, in fact, it was the other side who committed the crimes), be turning back their cherished 'Nobles' so that they can be given to the REAL REPORTERS & JOURNALISTS who got it right,' Trump wrote. 

'I can give the Committee a very comprehensive list,' he added. 'When will the Noble Committee DEMAND the Prizes back, especially since they were gotten under fraud? The reporters and Lamestream Media knew the truth all along.' 

'Lawsuits should be brought against all, including the Fake News Organizations, to rectify this terrible injustice. For all of the great lawyers out there, do we have any takers? When will the Noble Committee Act? Better be fast!' Trump wrote. 

The likely story in question, penned by two Times journalists - Annie Karni and Katie Rogers - said that the president hasn't been showing up in the Oval Office until as late as noon. His mood is 'sour' and he spends all morning watching TV coverage of his handling of the coronavirus crisis. 

It says Trump 'rarely' attends the coronavirus taskforce meetings before briefing the press. And he doesn't prepare for the press briefing. 

The story doesn't mention hamburgers - nor the president eating them in bed.    

'Comfort food — including French fries and Diet Coke — is readily available,' the story does say.