“Literally Insane”: Media Figures Live-Blog Trump's Lies During Terrorism Policy Speech 

Written by Jared Holt

Published

Media figures used Twitter to debunk lies and misinformation that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump included in his anti-terrorism policy speech in Ohio, calling out some claims to be “just not true” and “weird nonsense.”

Donald Trump Gives Foreign Policy Speech 

AP: Trump Calls For "'Extreme Vetting' Of Immigrants." Donald Trump called for “extreme vetting” and a “temporary halt” in the acceptance of immigrants into the United States during an anti-terrorism speech in Ohio, suggesting an “ideological test” that would vet applicants based on “their stance on issues like religious freedom, gender equality and gay rights.” Trump also criticized Democratic nominee and President Barack Obama’s handling of terror threats:

Donald Trump called Monday for “extreme vetting” of immigrants seeking admission to the United States, vowing to block those who sympathize with extremist groups or don't embrace American values. He said the policy would first require a temporary halt in immigration from dangerous regions of the world.

[...]

While Trump has been harshly critical of Obama's handling of the threat posed by the Islamic State, his own policies for defeating the group remain vague. His most specific prescriptions centered on changing U.S. immigration policy to keep potential attackers from entering the country.

Trump's campaign aides said the new ideological test for admission to the United States would vet applicants for their stance on issues like religious freedom, gender equality and gay rights. The government would use questionnaires, social media, interviews with friends and family or other means to determine if applicants support American values like tolerance and pluralism. The U.S. would stop issuing visas in any case where it cannot perform adequate screenings.

Trump did not clarify how U.S. officials would assess the veracity of responses to the questionnaires or how much manpower it would require to complete such arduous vetting. Nor did the campaign say whether additional screenings would apply to the millions of tourists who spend billions of dollars visiting the United States each year. [Associated Press, 8/15/16]

Media Figures Fact-Check Speech In Real Time

BuzzFeed’s Andrew Kaczynski: “This Is A Remarkable Trump Speech. Bashing Iraq War He Didn't Oppose. Bashing Libya War He Supported. Bashing Egypt Overthrow He Supported."

[Twitter.com, 8/15/16]

LA Times’ Cathleen Decker: “Trump Talking About Poor Christians Being Driven From Their Homes In Syria. Under His Refugee Plan, However, They Would Be Denied Entry Here.”

[Twitter.com, 8/15/16]

NY Times’ Farhad Manjoo: “This IS NOT TRUE That San Bernardino Neighbors Saw Bombs On The Floor And Didn’t Warn Authorities. It’s Just Not True.”

[Twitter.com, 8/15/16]

Time’s Haley Edwards: “Trump On Iraq War: ‘I Was Against It, Believe Me.’ But That's Not True.”

[Twitter.com, 8/15/16]

Wash. Post’s Josh Rogin: “Trump Just Misquoted Obama. He Didn’t Say Libya Intervention Was A Mistake, He Said Not Following Up Was.”

[Twitter.com, 8/15/16]

Wash. Post's Daniel Drezner: “Trump Is Seriously Saying That August 2004 Was 'Just After' The Invasion??!! That's Literally Insane.”

[Twitter.com, 8/15/16]

Vox’s Zach Beauchamp: “It's Almost Like Trump Finds The Normal Policy Boring And Much Prefers To Talk About His Own Weird Nonsense Ideas."

[Twitter.com, 8/15/16]