President Donald Trump went full Alex Jones Infowars conspiracy theory wingnut today, saying the American news media are conspiring to cover up a vast series of Islamic terrorist attacks in which innocent God-fearin' Americans have been killed.
Statements like this from authoritarian leaders are the sort of thing you hear when a regime is preparing to institute martial law. Perhaps that is where America is now headed. Hope not.
Today's wackadoodle Trump camp statement was yet another nutty lie, just like Trump's long-running racist birther campaign against President Barack Obama, whom we miss terribly, please for the love of God make this descent into national insanity stop.
Sorry. Deep breath. Okay.
Today's freshly shocking Trump lie is probably intended to cover up something bad they're doing that would be impeachable if our other elected officials could be bothered to get off their asses and fight this unapologetic, botchy installation of fascism in America.
In his speech today, Trump accused the 'very very dishonest' American free press of deliberately underplaying how scary the so-called Islamic State is, and told the assembly of "American military personnel that journalists were reluctant to report on the militant group's attacks in Europe and 'have their reasons' for failing to cover them."
This new and seemingly improvised Trump fabrication follows other bold and bizarre falsehoods put forth by the President and others in his regime, including former comedian and current walking tragedy Kellyanne Conway, who referenced at least three times a 'Bowling Green Massacre' that never happened.
The White House followed up Trump's conspiracy theory hallucination by papering it over with a rushed statement, all lawyerish but gibberish and full of typos. The administration published a list of purportedly under-reported terror attacks, which included incidents in San Bernardino, Brussels, and Paris, which generated nonstop wall to wall coverage for weeks, but reality doesn't matter anymore and there is no God.
As journalist Sarah Jeong suggests, some of the language in the afternoon White House statement feels like a coded "tell" of sorts. It suggests that the document is based on prior work material of some United States government agency. Perhaps the NSA?
From the New York Times:
The president's speech was the second time in recent weeks that he has used an appearance before national security personnel — usually apolitical settings in which the focus is on strategy and sacrifice — to discredit journalists and exult in his election victory.
"Radical Islamic terrorists are determined to strike our homeland, as they did on 9/11, as they did from Boston to Orlando to San Bernardino and all across Europe," Mr. Trump said at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., home to the military's Central Command and Special Operations Command. "All over Europe it's happening. It's gotten to a point where it's not even being reported, and in many cases, the very, very dishonest press doesn't want to report it."
"They have their reasons," Mr. Trump added, "and you understand that."
The theory that the news media is trying to whitewash terrorist attacks to protect Islam or Muslim migrants has been pushed by several right-wing news organizations, including the conspiracy-filled site Infowars, whose founder, Alex Jones, is an ally of Mr. Trump's.
Here's the list the White House sent of attacks they feel "did not receive adequate attention from Western media sources." pic.twitter.com/lj8eOZQfnY
— Kevin Liptak (@Kevinliptakcnn) February 7, 2017
"It's a head-scratcher" – @Acosta pic.twitter.com/roL0Wp2LDg
— Colin Jones (@colinjones) February 7, 2017
I mean, yes, it looks like the White House got this list from a secretive group that spies on Americans and hates the constitution: the NSA
— sarah jeong (@sarahjeong) February 7, 2017
But either way, if "US Persons" is an artifact, then this list is adapted from somewhere else in the US federal government
— sarah jeong (@sarahjeong) February 7, 2017
Pants on Fire for Trump claim on terrorist attacks. https://t.co/uwqmY8Ygrb
— Bill Adair (@BillAdairDuke) February 7, 2017
2 questions for @PressSec tomorrow:
1) Which of these weren't covered?
2) Which of these was the result of foreigners entering US borders? https://t.co/WFPu1YW6Pi— Nick Merrill (@NickMerrill) February 7, 2017
Included in the White House's list of under-reported terror attacks are the widely-covered incidents in San Bernardino, Brussels, and Paris. https://t.co/GjyiHVWegv
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 7, 2017
This is literally just a list of attacks and includes some of the most heavily covered events of recent years. https://t.co/c1seRutGMq
— Ben White (@morningmoneyben) February 7, 2017
"Western media sources" is SUCH InfoWars/RT language. https://t.co/YFu9dG0Gqc
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) February 7, 2017
WH issues list of 78 terror attacks to back Pres Trump charge that "in many cases the very, very dishonest press doesn't want to report it."
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) February 7, 2017
Inadequate attention was also paid to the Super Bowl by Western media sources.
— Jack Shafer (@jackshafer) February 7, 2017
hate to be a "distraction" guy but this list/rollout feels like one of those vague things where media can only lose debating semantics
— Gideon Resnick (@GideonResnick) February 7, 2017
here are four stories that the White House says "did not receive adequate attention from Western media sources" pic.twitter.com/8EFSDcCIme
— Matt Pearce (@mattdpearce) February 7, 2017
Paris is on here. Paris. Give me a break. https://t.co/0yJfnSoe3h
— Colin Jones (@colinjones) February 7, 2017
There are 12 pages of @latimes articles about the San Bernardino terror attack here: https://t.co/CFAAkBNbxd https://t.co/u9DS1cA0FI
— Deirdre Edgar-LAT (@LATreadersrep) February 7, 2017
Former Prime Minister of Sweden—> https://t.co/dyJ8ETIoHX
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) February 6, 2017
The Orlando shooting is on this list. I (and hundreds of others) worked a nonstop 12+ hours on that Sunday. https://t.co/GMdUAl25gF
— Joshua Chavers (@JoshuaChavers) February 7, 2017
The way terrorism is so central to this White House's mindset makes the Bush administration look almost dovish
— Sam Stein (@samsteinhp) February 7, 2017
These attacks got so much coverage, John Kerry asked media to not cover them so much: https://t.co/CLCK6AS8rG https://t.co/8HurFg2QzM
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) February 7, 2017