As the general public first began studying the small print of the deadly attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day, Donald Trump’s first intuition was sadly predictable: The president-elect appeared keen to inform Individuals how proper he was — or no less than how proper he thought he was.
In a Wednesday morning missive printed to his social media platform, the Republican thanked native enforcement, however not earlier than he received a number of different factors off his chest:
Once I mentioned that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we’ve in our nation, that assertion was continuously refuted by Democrats and the Pretend Information Media, nevertheless it turned out to be true. The crime fee in our nation is at a degree that no one has ever seen earlier than.
The primary sentence was incorrect on a number of ranges. Proper off the bat, Trump gave the impression to be referring to a debate that occurred solely in his creativeness: There was no grand dialogue about whether or not foreign-born criminals had been extra harmful than native-born criminals. He seems to have merely made this up.
What’s extra, given the context, the president-elect apparently needed the general public to consider that the suspect within the New Orleans assault was an immigrant. He wasn’t. As NBC News reported, the person accused of killing no less than 15 individuals was a U.S. Military veteran from Texas who was employed by a number one monetary companies agency.
The second sentence was simply as incorrect: The concept the crime fee in america “is at a degree that no one has ever seen earlier than” is plainly absurd. Not solely has the homicide fee sharply improved in recent years, however crime rates in general fell after Trump exited the White Home 4 years in the past.
However stepping again, there’s a much bigger image right here that’s price retaining in thoughts, particularly because the Republican prepares to start his second time period, as a result of the president-elect concurrently flunked three necessary exams.
First, he flunked a check of accuracy, pushing misinformation inside hours of a lethal assault.
Second, he flunked a check of decency, attempting to use the assault to advance an unpleasant and misguided agenda.
And third, Trump flunked a check of credibility, reminding everybody anew that when tragedy strikes, Individuals simply can’t rely on the incoming president for dependable and reliable info.
The Republican’s supporters is perhaps inclined to argue that he’s not but president, and he may not but have entry to the most recent intelligence briefings, so when he made these claims on Wednesday morning, he most likely didn’t have all of the information. He thought he was telling the reality.
However that’s not a reputable protection: Trump might’ve waited to situation an announcement till he knew what he was speaking about. He as an alternative selected — once more — to hawk misinformation from a place of ignorance, detached to the very fact.
Hours later, apparently unembarrassed, the president-elect printed another online item, declaring, “TRUMP WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING!” This got here on the heels, in fact, of a missive through which he was incorrect about every little thing.
It’s going to be an extended 4 years.
This text was initially printed on MSNBC.com
Source link