Instead of reporting what Trump said, the media give us the gist of it (in the sense of an unrecognizable distortion). It was awful, Hitlerian, beneath our dignity as a nation. They lie about what he said and then attack their own lies as if theyre attacking Trump.
The Washington Posts headline, which got their reporters banned from Trumps press briefings, was: Donald Trump Seems to Connect President Obama to the Orlando Shooting.
I guess OK, Youre Right, didnt sound professional, so the Post pretended not to understand Trumps speech, at all. We cant makes heads or tails of it, but he seems to be saying
One thing Trump is not, is unclear.
Contrary to the Posts headline suggesting that Trump had posited some crazy theory about Obama secretly meeting with Omar Mateen to plot the attack No, this gun is much better for a mass shooting, Omar Trump criticized the Obama administration policies that are not keeping us safe. (Its completely unprecedented to respond to a mass murder by criticizing the policies that allowed it to happen!)
After San Bernardino and Orlando also, the Boston Marathon, Fort Hood, Little Rock, Chattanooga and Times Square quite obviously, Trump is right.
Washington Post: Were confused. What do you mean?
How about: Washington Post seems to Connect President Bush to Abu Ghraib
Washington Post, May 26, 2006: Bush has
addressed Abu Ghraib the same way he did last night: Expressing regret without responsibility.
Or: Democrats Seem to Connect President Bush to Anti-Americanism in Muslim World
Washington Post, May 20, 2005: It is certainly true that the Bush administration, at Guantanamo and at Abu Ghraib, is responsible for a good deal of anti-Americanism in the Muslim world.
Or: Washington Post Seems to Connect President Bush to Missing WMDs and Katrina Deaths
Washington Post, April 5, 2006: How much was President Bush personally responsible for taking the country to war under false pretenses, or for the botched response to Hurricane Katrina? To hear the White House tell it, it wasnt really his fault.
In his speech, Trump said:
The killer was an Afghan, of Afghan parents, who immigrated to the United States. His father published support for the Afghan Taliban, a regime which murders those who dont share its radical views. The father even said he was running for president of that country.
The bottom line is that the only reason the killer was in America in the first place was because we allowed his family to come here.
That is a fact, and its a fact we need to talk about.
We have a dysfunctional immigration system which does not permit us to know who we let into our country, and it does not permit us to protect our citizens.
Immediately after Trumps speech, MSNBCs Katie Tur fact-checked Trump, announcing that he had incorrectly said Omar was born in Afghan.
What did Tur think this meant? Afghan isnt a country. Didnt she pause for a moment and realize that what she thought he said makes no sense? Journalists with their outsized sense of importance say, No, no, thats not what I heard. It says in my notes right here, you said, blue carrots for Eisenhower. I stand by my notes.
Obviously, what Trump said was that Omar was born an Afghan. Which he was.
The media began indignantly informing us that Trump was wrong because as The Washington Post put it: The shooter was born in Queens to parents who emigrated from Afghanistan.
With the media, youre an American when you commit the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, an Afghan when youre applying to college. Youre an American when you shoot up the San Bernardino community center, a Pakistani when youre offended by Trumps remarks. Youre an American when you slaughter troops at Fort Hood, a Muslim when the Army realizes it cant fire you.
This can lead to confusion. After the Post snippily corrected Trump on Omar not being an Afghan on Monday, on Tuesday, the Post admitted he was. Headline: Orlando gunman said he carried out attack to get Americans to stop bombing his country, witness says.
The Atlantics Ron Fournier, Dispenser of Conventional Liberal Opinion, wrote an article on Trumps speech titled A Victory Lap in Blood that would make any social justice warrior proud.
Like the rest of the medias reviews of a speech they apparently didnt read, there were no quotes from Trumps speech. Instead, Fournier ran through a string of accusations, SJW-style: You didnt call it, You are helping ISIS recruit terrorists, You are dividing Americans
Trump never claimed he called it, but, if he ever does, Fournier has a fantastic takedown:
You didnt warn that an American man named Omar Mateen, a well-educated security guard investigated by the FBI for suspected ties to terrorism, would legally purchase a weapon made for warfare and use it to slaughter 49 people at a popular gay nightclub.
Hillary Clinton is presidential because she wants to dramatically increase the number of unvetted Syrian refugees we bring in. But Trump is an embarrassment because he doesnt have superhuman powers to know that a man named Omar Mateen would attack an Orlando nightclub.
Fournier repeated the fake fact currently sweeping the nation about Trump thinking he deserves congratulations, writing, Donald Trump wants a pat on the back.
But then Fournier made the fatal mistake of quoting Trumps tweet allegedly saying this: Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism, I dont want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance. We must be smart!
Fourniers Trump wants a pat on the back was 12 words away from Trump saying, I dont want congrats. Even the most bored reader is probably going to make it that far.
Now you see why reporters arent quoting Trump and have to hope you wont read the speech for yourself.