In a world of “fake news” there is also fake terror.
Donald Trump’s statements of the media being an enemy of the people and calling out fake news are outlandish to say the least.
Trump is known very well now for his war against the media. He has been calling out “fake news” at any news organization that might have something bad to say about him. As the president he should have the sense to send an advisor or aide to talk to these news organizations instead of simply calling it fake news. Because as we have seen, it is not fake news.
As someone who calls out fake news it is surprising that Trump and the people around him would also make up fake news. Kellyanne Conway during an interview on MSNBC made the comment about two Iraqi refugees who were the masterminds behind the Bowling Green Massacre when in fact, no event of the sort took place. She made this comment only a few days after Trump signed the executive order on the travel ban. The travel ban received a lot criticism and this comment seemed to be a way to try to convince people that we really need the travel ban. Using fear to try and justify your actions and decisions are tactics of an authoritarian government. In a country that has lost many lives to terror attacks these are not comments that should be made lightly. It is crazy to think you can try to scare people into believing in you and unfortunately it works on many.
About a week later, Trump held a rally in Florida and he also made claims of terror attacks that never happened. During his rally Trump said “We’ve got to keep our country safe. You look at what’s happening in Germany, you look at what happened last night in Sweden.” when nothing substantial had happened in Sweden. Former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt tweeted about Trump’s comment: “Sweden? Terror attack? What has he been smoking? Questions abound.” There is only hypocrisy when you make up terror attacks while also bashing the media for fake news. Trump later went to twitter to explain why he had said that and his tweet honestly shocked me. He said that his statement was in reference to a story he heard on Fox News.
As president of the United States it should be paramount that the issues he discusses are at least factually correct. It is immoral to use false pretenses to justify one’s claims or further an agenda. These are not bouts of misinformation because the president undoubtedly has access to fact-checkers. Trump uses calculated lies to incite fear or unease in the general public, however his blatant lying that is corrected within seconds of a Google-search is unwise for use in the public spotlight, and deplorable for use as the President of the United States.
