Just hours after a truck plowed through the historic Las Ramblas district in Barcelona, Spain Thursday, President Donald Trump condemned the incident and called it a “terror attack.” He said the U.S. would do “whatever is necessary to help.”
The United States condemns the terror attack in Barcelona, Spain, and will do whatever is necessary to help. Be tough & strong, we love you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 17, 2017
Not long after the attack took place, authorities labeled the incident an act of terror. But the President’s immediate condemnation of the assault as “terror” stood in contradiction to how he handled a recent car attack at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Trump claimed it took him 48 hours to condemn the white supremacists and neo-Nazis who incited the violence because he wanted to make to make sure he got all the facts about the incident before he put out an explicit statement.
However, Trump is known for jumping to conclusions — and is quick to call incidents terrorism — before he has the facts.
He claimed police were investigating the shooting at an Orlando night club in 2016 as an act of terrorism before it had been confirmed. He described a blast in Manhattan as “a bomb” before police had confirmed the nature of the explosion.
In June he condemned a “terrorist attack in Manila” that was later ruled the work of a lone gunman.
He tweeted again Thursday afternoon and referenced a questionable anecdote that he cited a few times during his campaign, saying people should “study what General Pershing” did to terrorists when he caught them.
“There was no more Radical Islamic Terror for 35 years!” he said.
Study what General Pershing of the United States did to terrorists when caught. There was no more Radical Islamic Terror for 35 years!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 17, 2017
The tweet references a story about United States Army Gen. John Joseph “Black Jack” Pershing that Trump told during his campaign. He claimed that during the aftermath of the Philippine-American War of 1899 to 1902, Pershing “took 50 bullets, and he dipped them in pigs’ blood” and killed 49 Muslim rebels.
“The 50th person, he said, ‘You go back to your people and tell them what happened.’ And for 25 years, there wasn’t a problem,” Trump said in February 2016.
Historians have since debunked Trump’s account of the anecdote.
So that whole “I wait for all the facts” spiel he said earlier this week, that was just bullshit?
I’m… I’m shocked.
In other news water wet.
It’s terror… unless his pals white supremacists do it, and then both sides are responsible. Yeah, we get it.
As am I! But the facts must be faced. The President is not a very good President.
And I apologize for the offensive language. I use it very sparingly in general, but dear God, it is SO deserved this time.