WATCH: President Trump refers to non-existent terror attack in Sweden, sparking uproar: https://t.co/xrA4fuLt2k pic.twitter.com/ZVdxbLJuQz
— Good Morning America (@GMA) February 20, 2017
At his rally on Saturday (which I will note here was about 9,000-strong, as opposed to a similar campaign event that purportedly saw 27,000 attendees, because it will irk him), Donald Trump confused approximately everyone by referencing an incident that supposedly occurred the previous night in Sweden, which he brought up to illustrate the problems he believes are caused by refugees. Most confused, though, was probably Sweden, since they’d had no such incident to speak of.
Of course, Trump arrived at the conclusion that such a thing had occurred the same way he arrived in the White House: parroting whatever he’d seen most recently on Fox News. That’s hardly an excuse for someone who’s made a habit of calling out the media as “fake news” and portraying himself as the font of all truth, and the reaction was swift and merciless—not the least of which was a Swedish newspaper’s helpful rundown of recent events, including a moose becoming … enamored with a wooden moose.
Fmr. Prime Minister of Sweden —-> https://t.co/rpGFWZo3Vc
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 20, 2017
We look forward to informing the US administration about Swedish immigration and integration policies. https://t.co/x5G3euOWRh
— Embassy of Sweden US (@SwedeninUSA) February 19, 2017
And this joke, in all its infinite permutations, told here by Chelsea Clinton:
What happened in Sweden Friday night? Did they catch the Bowling Green Massacre perpetrators?
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) February 19, 2017
(For those unable to keep up with the shitstorm of the hour lately, the Bowling Green Massacre was a separate imaginary incident from the Trump team.)
@realDonaldTrump if you’re basing what America should do according to what’s going on in Sweden, then what about free healthcare for all?
— (@VeeVee) February 20, 2017
After the terrible events #lastnightinSweden, IKEA have sold out of this: pic.twitter.com/fZSooUAmcj
— Zachary Jaydon (@ZacharyJaydon) February 20, 2017
live to Interpol ,where we have breaking footage of the terrorist responsible for #LastNightInSweden
Just chilling. pic.twitter.com/1YrNpR5h9q— Derek J Collins 高德偉 (@dcollinshk) February 19, 2017
Of course, there are already plenty of people rushing to Trump’s defense and claiming that he was talking about a general surge in crime, particularly rape, in Sweden, as opposed to a specific incident. Leaving aside, momentarily, the fact that Trump did attempt reference a specific event that didn’t exist, the perceived height of the rate of sex crimes in Sweden seems to be because Sweden is tougher about policing them—not because they have some sort of epidemic.
Sweden has no idea what Trump is talking about, and it’s pretty disturbing to see just how far some of his supporters are willing to go into their parallel universe.
(image via Kevin Dooley)
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