Amid low popularity ratings, Trump invents a Swedish terror attack a la 'Bowling Green Massacre'
One month into his tumultuous Presidential term, Donald J.
Trump’s approval ratings remain abysmally low. According to the latest Gallup
polls, only 42% percent of Americans approve the way Mr. Trump is doing his job
as the nation’s Chief Executive.
Although Mr. Trump enjoys strong support from Republicans
(87% of GOP voters who participated in last Friday’s poll say he is doing well
at his job), 92% of Democrats and 65% of independents think otherwise. ‘
Of course, Mr. Trump and his supporters dismiss polls that
do not reflect positively on the President’s policies or his personal behavior.
Don’t believe me? This is Mr. Trump, in his own words:
“Any negative polls are fake news, just like the CNN, ABC,
NBC polls in the election. Sorry, people want border security and extreme
vetting.”
What goes unsaid, of course, is that any positive polls are
real news. As opposed to Kellyanne Conway’s “alternative facts.”
Speaking of “alternative facts,” Mr. Trump (and not Conway,
or White House press secretary Sean Spicer) concocted another fictitious
terrorist attack along the lines of the infamous “Bowling Green Massacre.”
On February 18, at a Melbourne (Florida) rally which has
been touted as Mr. Trump’s opening shot in the 2020 Presidential election, the
President said, "We've got to keep our country safe. You look at what's
happening. We've got to keep our country safe. You look at what's happening in
Germany. You look at what’s happening last night in Sweden. Sweden? Who would
believe this? Sweden. They took in large numbers. They’re having problems like
they never thought possible.
"You look at what's happening in Brussel. You look at
what's happening all over the world. Take a look at Nice. Take a look at
Paris."
Now, to be fair, Mr. Trump mentioned several prominent (and
documented) terrorist events that really occurred.
However, the Swedish terror attack Mr. Trump mentioned in
his Saturday speech never happened.
The Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet had this to say about Mr. Trump’s allegation:
- Mr President, here is what happened in Sweden Friday night:
- · 3:24 PM (local time): A man set himself on fire at Sergels torg, a plaza in central Stockholm. He was taken to the hospital with severe burns. There is so far no information on his motives but the intelligence service is not part of the investigation.
- · 6:42 PM: The famous singer Owe Thörnqvist had some technical problems during rehearsal for the singing competition ”Melodifestivalen”. (However, the 87 year old singer still managed to secure the victory the very next day.)
- · 8:23 PM: A man died in hospital, after an accident in the workplace earlier that day in the city of Borås.
- · 8:46 PM: Due to harsh weather in the northern parts of Sweden the road E10 was closed between Katterjåkk and Riksgränsen. Due to strong winds and snow in the region the Met office also issued an avalanche warning.
- · 12:17 AM: Police officers initiated a chase for a fleeing Peugeot through central parts of the Swedish capital of Stockholm. The pursuit ended in police officers ramming the suspect at Engelbrektsgatan. The driver is now accused of driving under the influence, traffic violation and car theft.
Mr. Trump then attempted to backtrack, saying on a Tweet:
My statement as to what's happening in Sweden was in reference to a
story that was broadcast on @FoxNews concerning immigrants & Sweden
The Swedes also took a look at that Fox story. After
reviewing Tucker Carlson's discussion with documentary maker Ami Horowitz, which included interviews with two policemen
and one journalist, the Aftonbladet
found that Fox’s story was riddled with errors, including Horowitz’s claim that
the incidence of rapes and weapons crimes has risen since Sweden started
admitting refugees from the Middle East.
Per Aftonbladet:
According to the authorities (statistics from Brå – Brottsförebyggande
rådets nationella trygghetsundersökning) 13 percent of the Swedish population
was subject to a criminal act in 2015.
In comparison with 2014 that’s an increase, but approximately the same
as 2005. According to a report from Brå 2015, leathal violence has decreased in
Sweden the past years.
In 2015, 85 100 cases of assault were reported to the police. That is a
two percent increase compared to the year before.
Also (in) 2015, there were 5 290 reported rapes, a 12 percent decrease
compared to 2014.
The police have a special code for incidents where migrants are involved. Thomas Wallberg, commander in chief at the national police headquarters, has been quoted in the Swedish Daily Dagens Nyheter stating refugees are involved only in a few of the police matters in Sweden.
The article goes on to refute five other claims made by
Horowitz in the Fox report, including the allegation that there are “no-go”
sections in Swedish cities where cops won’t go out of fear of being attacked.
Even if we take Mr. Trump at his tweeted word that he was
just going by what Fox News said, the reports by the right-wing media about
Sweden’s problems with Muslim refugees are wrong.
In an article published yesterday in PolitiFact, reporter
Allison Graves writes:
Decrying countries who
accept immigrants and refugees, Trump told supporters to "look at what’s
happening last night in Sweden."
We couldn’t find any
reports that support Trump’s narrative. It’s possible Trump was referring to another
event, but there hasn’t been a fatal terrorist attack in Sweden since 2010.
Even though Sweden has taken in a large number of immigrants, nothing was amiss
Feb. 17.
Sources:
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