During a rally in Florida on Saturday night, President Donald Trump referenced a Terrorist Attack in Sweden, despite the fact that no incident took place. After 24 hours of criticism, Trump is attempting to clarify his statement.
Trump on Twitter
After just a month in office, Donald Trump appears to be gearing up for re-election. On Saturday night, almost 10,000 supporters attended a rally in Melbourne, Florida where the president touted his alleged accomplishments since entering office. During the rally, the former host of "The Apprentice" brought up a terrorist attack that he claimed happened the night before in Sweden.
"When you look at what's happening in Germany, when you look at what's happening last night in Sweden," Trump said, before adding, "Sweden!" "Who would believe this? Sweden!," he added, noting, "They (Sweden) took in large numbers, they are having problems like they never thought possible." Since then, news outlets and fact-checkers have confirmed that no attack took place, which Trump addressed in a February 19 post on Twitter.
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
"My statement as to what's happening in Sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on Fox News concerning immigrants & Sweden," Donald Trump wrote on Twitter on Sunday afternoon.
Trump's tweet lines up with what many thought was the case, where Fox News host Tucker Carlson reported on increased crime rates in Sweden, though no terror activity took place like the president said.
.@realDonaldTrump savagely mocked after remark about imaginary #swedenincident https://t.co/G7Qf9NQSlU pic.twitter.com/3TQSay1m5K
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) February 19, 2017
While social media users ridiculed Donald Trump, others took the allegations more serious.
The Swedish Embassy in the United States was not pleased, and demanded clarification in regards to Trump's comments, which apparently led to the Twitter message in question.
JUST IN: Trump clarifies remarks on nonexistent Sweden incident: I saw it on Fox News https://t.co/AuVxQ3AOuf pic.twitter.com/PGEcIIzuiI
— The Hill (@thehill) February 19, 2017
Deja Vu
This isn't the first time that the Donald Trump administration has had an issue pushing falsehoods about terror attacks.
Earlier this month, Presidential Counsel Kellyanne Conway cited the fake "Bowling Green Massacre" in an attempt to justify the president's "Muslim ban" executive order, while White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer noted a terror attack in Atlanta. Spicer eventually walked back his comments, saying he meant to say an attack in Orlando, which was the site of the Pulse nightclub shooting last year.
