Over the weekend, President Donald Trump held a campaign-style rally in Florida and cited a nonexistent terrorist attack in Sweden when talking about border security. Trump was quickly debunked by fact-checkers, but that didn't stop the president from defending his remarks.
Trump on Sweden
On Friday night, Fox News host Tucker Carlson ran a segment where the focus was the increase of immigration in Sweden, and how it correlates with the rise in crime rates. Donald Trump watched the broadcast and incorrectly interpreted the information to mean that a terrorist attack was occurring in the country at the time.
In the 24 hours that followed, the former host of "The Apprentice" received heavy backlash, as well as mockery on social media for his blunder. Trump attempted to clarify his remarks on Sunday afternoon, but took to his Twitter account on February 20 to elaborate further.
Give the public a break - The FAKE NEWS media is trying to say that large scale immigration in Sweden is working out just beautifully. NOT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2017
Using his social media following to once again bypass the mainstream media to reach the American people, Donald Trump was not happy with how the press has handled the aftermath of his aforementioned Sweden comments. "Give the public a break," Trump wrote on Twitter, before adding, "The Fake News media is trying to say that large scale immigration in Sweden is working out just beautifully.
NOT!"
Trump explains that his confusing "Sweden" remark was not in reference to a terror attack https://t.co/xiS8SPj2p8 pic.twitter.com/G3hTc7CXLD
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) February 20, 2017
The relationship between the Donald Trump administration and the press has reached a fever pitch which was evident during a press conference that took place at the White House last week.
After announcing his new nominee for Labor Secretary, the billionaire real estate mogul spent the better part of the next hour lashing out at the press, and attacking various media outlets.
Continuing issue
While Donald Trump cited a false terrorist attack, he isn't the first person in his administration to do so. In recent weeks, Presidential Counsel Kellyanne Conway came under fire for using the fake "Bowling Green Massacre" to justify Trump's "Muslim ban" executive order.
Just a week later, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer spoke to the press and gave two separate interviews where he referenced a terror attack in Atlanta which never occurred, though he later walked back his comments and clarified them.
