Donald Trump’s first 2020 campaign rally on Saturday not only introduced the world to his most obsessive superfan, but he also condemned refugees while referencing a nonexistent terror attack in Sweden. This swiftly turned into a new Bowling Green massacre, and a fresh round of Internet head shaking went down. Now, Trump — who argued that this mythical attack on Sweden was a reason to close U.S. borders — has admitted that he was only repeating something that he watched on Fox News.
My statement as to what's happening in Sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on @FoxNews concerning immigrants & Sweden.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 19, 2017
This admission confirms a hunch from a Mediaite opinion column, which hypothesized that Trump may have been referencing a Tucker Carlson segment that aired on Friday night. The episode was a pre-taped one and discussed a documentary about Sweden’s open door policy on refugees. The filmmaker, Ami Horowitz, correlated the influx with an increase in crime and argued that the Swedish government was engaging in a coverup.
Naturally, Trump’s tweet confirms what many people already knew — the president absorbs much of his information (through which he makes policy decisions) from cable news. Trump watches a ton of channels but adores Fox News because they mostly (but not always) cater to his perspective.
Meanwhile, Sweden would like an explanation for this mess. Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt tweeted his confusion: “Sweden? Terror attack? What has he been smoking? Questions abound.” In addition, the Hill reveals that the State Department received a request for clarification from the Swedish Embassy in Washington about this mystery terror event.
The Associated Press also relays remarks from Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Catarina Axelsson and Swedish police spokesman Karl Melin. The former stressed that no one in Sweden had reported or heard of any “terror-linked major incidents,” and the latter concurred. However, Bildt’s response takes the cake for having the guts to ask what another world leader was “smoking.” Trump was high on Trump. And Fox News.
(Via Mediaite, Associated Press & The Hill)