Scarborough asked Trump if he would have stayed out of Libya. Trump answered, “I would have stayed out of Libya. I would have stayed out of Iraq too.”
At the time, Trump’s lie generated no pushback from Joe Scarborough.
The Clinton campaign contacted the show to challenge Trump's claim regarding Libya, and a correction was issued on air after the interview:
Kudos, to @Morning_Joe for doing later correction of Trump on Libya. Took a response from Clinton campaign. pic.twitter.com/DbunSHbmjv
— andrew kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) May 20, 2016
However, no correction was issued regarding Trump's claim that he "would have stayed out of Iraq," which is a lie:
... in a 2002 interview with Howard Stern, Donald Trump said he supported an Iraq invasion.Trump's earliest denunciation of the war came a year after it started. And Trump endorsed George W. Bush in 2004.
In the interview, which took place on Sept. 11, 2002, Stern asked Trump directly if he was for invading Iraq.
“Yeah, I guess so,” Trump responded. “I wish the first time it was done correctly.”
****
But that wasn't the only nonsense that went unchallenged in the interview. In this segment, Mika Brzezinski let Trump get away with pretending to be clear-eyed and knowledgeable about terrorism:
Donald Trump isn't waiting around for investigators to tell him who or what was responsible for the EgyptAir crash.
He said Friday morning that he could "practically guarantee" who "blew up" the plane....
"Another plane was blown up and I can practically guarantee who blew it up," the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said during an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." ...
"And another plane went down and let me tell you, the mindset of a weak Hillary Clinton, which is four more years of Obama, is not going to do it for our country," he added of his likely general-election opponent.
In the segment, as you can see in the clip above, Brzezinski again lets Trump get away with claiming to be a dove on Iraq ("I'm the one that didn't want to go into Iraq, Mika"). But beyond that, when he says of the EgyptAir plane that he can "practically guarantee who blew it up," Brzezinski passes up the opportunity to ask a simple one-word question:
"Who?"
What would Trump have replied? He just would have said, triumphantly, "Islamic extremists" -- as if he's the only guy with the guts to raise that possibility.
At which point a real journalist would have asked, "Yes, but who? The Islamic State? Al Qaeda? The Muslim Brotherhood? And based where? Egypt? France? Belgium?"
Your answer, wannabe Leader of the Free World?
Brzezinski also lets Trump get away with suggesting that Clinton won't even consider the possibility that this was a terrorist attack because, like all Muslim-coddling liberals, she's in denial about the nature of the threat. That's where Trump is going when he segues from "I can practically guarantee who blew it up" to "the mindset of a weak Hillary Clinton." That's where he was going with this statement, which he issued yesterday (emphasis mine):
In fact, Clinton speculated yesterday that the plane went down because of terrorism:
Democratic presidential front-runner and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton shared her thoughts on the crash of EgyptAir Flight MS804 over the Mediterranean Sea early Thursday.But Trump's base "knows" that she and all other Democrats are in denial about the very existence of this kind of extremism. Trump is stroking the pleasure center in the wingnut brain that experiences orgasms of self-righteousness at the thought that liberals don't believe there are any Islamist terrorists. (A Free Republic commenter, in response to the Trump statement: "You cannot solve a problem by pretending it does not exist. Muslims are responsible for most acts of terrorism, probably over 80 or 90% of them.")
“It does appear that it was an act of terrorism -- exactly how, of course, the investigation will have to determine,” Clinton told CNN’s Chris Cuomo in an interview Thursday afternoon.
In the clip, Brzezinski is so obsessed with trying to accuse Trump of racism (on a rare occasion when he's not really guilty) that she misses what he's actually saying, and never calls him on it.
Daddy, what was journalism?
Interesting tidbit heard on the radio: a military expert asked about the hard turn, then spiral, the plane apparently made stated that when a major technical system goes kerblooey in flight, one rescue maneuver that can be applied is a hard turn to try to in essence reset the faulty system; the 360 turn observed is then likely spiraling down into the crash.
ReplyDeleteDunno if the guy knew what he was talking about (retired general, I recall), but if that proves to be what happened, I doubt anyone in the media will challenge Trump on his leap to judgment.
Actually, Steve, Mika - for a change - did ask tFUMP if he hasn't just been running on hate and fear.
ReplyDeleteCheck out the whole interview, or check Crooks & Liars, for a partial transcript.
Outside of that, SSDD...
Actually, Steve, Mika - for a change - did ask tFUMP if he hasn't just been running on hate and fear.
ReplyDeleteBut that's a very vague accusation. She did focus on racism, but her example was the tweet in which he said he believed the EgyptAir disaster was a terrorist incident, which was not racist in the way a lot of his rhetoric and supporters' rhetoric has been. And so she missed his lies and misleading assertions.
Trump "I know who destroyed that plane" Meek and Scab "Who Donald?". NO. Keep dreaming. Ask that and no more phone ins? The obvious escapes even fools.
ReplyDeleteYeah, but here's the problem.
ReplyDeleteBuchanan would have done better. Ron but not necessarily Rand Paul would have done better.
Hey, Perot would have done better.
Clinton STILL defends her Iraq vote, Libya, Syria, Obama's helping Saudi decimate Yemen, surging in Afghanistan.
Grab bag oddsmaking'll tell you Trump has more chance of creating peace in the region.
If Clinton would step aside for Sanders, peacemaking stability would slightly favor him. Particularly with his Palestinian/Arab American hard core pushing him further Israel-critical, and hence making us fewer enemies across the Muslim world. But she won't.
Oh, for goodness sake, there's no need for Mika to ask who Trump is talking about. All their listeners know the answer is "radical islamist terrorists," the same way they know, just know, Obama does not want to say it. From the erratic behavior of the plane before it went off the radar it almost certainly was NOT a bomb, but they'll never believe that because they want so much to feel that little tingle of fear.
ReplyDeleteWithout waiting for an investigation, Trump is guaranteeing he knows the cause. This kind of rash and reckless jump to conclusion is proof of his unsuitability to be president.
ReplyDeleteWasn't there a brief period where the news shows were slightly shamed into not allowing Trump to call into their shows while in his jammies because they don't let anyone else do that? How long did that last? 24 hours?
ReplyDeleteHow do these shows stay on the air? They're so embarrassingly incompetent.