Trump Administration Asserts That Media Underreport Terrorist Attacks: “They Have Their Reasons”

Trump Claimed Media Don’t Cover Terrorist Attacks. President Donald Trump told members of the military at MacDill Air Force Base on February 6 that terrorist attacks are “not even being reported” because the “very, very dishonest press doesn't want to report it,” Time reported. Trump told the audience that media “have their reasons” for not covering terror attacks and that the audience would “understand that.” From the February 6 article:

President Donald Trump claimed without evidence that the media “doesn't want to report” on terrorist attacks while delivering remarks to members of the military at MacDill Air Force Base on Monday.

“It's gotten to a point where it's not even being reported,” he said, referring to terrorist attacks carried out in the last few years in the U.S. and Europe — all of which were covered by the press. “And in many cases, the very, very dishonest press doesn't want to report it. They have their reasons and you understand that.” [Time, 2/6/17]

White House Press Office Released List Of 78 “Underreported” Terrorist Attacks. Shortly after Trump said media do not report on many terror attacks, White House officials released a list of 78 supposedly undercovered terrorist attacks that actually included “some very heavily covered news events,” The Washington Post reported. Even though the list included many high-profile incidents, White House officials claimed that most of the attacks were “under-covered by Western media sources.” From the February 6 article:

The White House on Monday night released a list of 78 terrorist attacks in response to an assertion earlier in the day by President Trump that the “very dishonest press” often doesn’t report on them.

The list, which includes domestic and overseas incidents, starts in September 2014. It includes some very heavily covered news events, including last year’s attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando and the mass shooting and attempted bombing in San Bernardino, Calif., in 2015.

But the White House asserted that most of incidents on the list were under-covered by Western media sources. [The Washington Post, 2/6/17]

White House Claims Come Straight From Fringe Conspiracy Media

Infowars: “Media ‘Coverage’ Of Terror Attacks Is More Like A ‘Cover Up.’”

[Infowars, 6/29/16]

Infowars: “Mainstream Media Whitewashes Islamic Terror In Berlin.” Infowars wrote that mainstream news outlets were “contradicting their own reports” about ISIS involvement in the December terror attack in Berlin, Germany, and accused The New York Times of avoiding “all references to Islamic terrorism in their initial reporting.” From the December 20 article:

Mainstream news outlets are already contradicting their own reports that ISIS has claimed responsibility for yesterday’s terrorist attack in Berlin, where at least 12 people were killed, and over 50 were injured.

“ISIS has claimed responsibility for the deadly Christmas market truck crash in Berlin,” stated the New York Post on Monday. “The Iraqi Popular Mobilization Force tweeted that the terror group was taking credit for the incident, which left at least 12 people dead and more than 50 injured at major public market Monday.”

The Washington Times corroborated the Post, asserting, “Suspect arrested, dead man found in cabin as ISIS takes credit for the attack.”

These revelations were voided hours later, with outlets such as Fox and CNN saying no group had yet claimed responsibility.

“Investigators are treating the attack on the market outside Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church that also seriously injured more than 50 as an act of terrorism, though no group has claimed responsibility yet,” asserted Fox News.

“No one has so far claimed responsibility for Monday’s attack,” reported CNN.

The New York Times avoided all references to Islamic terrorism in their initial reporting, instead blaming the truck itself, as they did in the wake of a similar jihadist slaughter in Nice, France, that claimed the lives of 86 innocents and injured over 200 more. [Infowars, 12/20/16]

Infowars: “Media Covering Up Muslim Migrant Background Of Munich Knife Attacker?” Infowars questioned whether German news media was intentionally obscuring the identity of a suspect involved in a knife attack “to hide the fact that he is a Muslim migrant.” Infowars report also accused German media of changing articles that mentioned that the attacker shouted “Allahu Akbar” to instead “state that the attacker had mental problems and was a German citizen.” From the May 11 article:

The German media is covering up the identity of the individual involved in yesterday’s knife attack in Munich to hide the fact that he is a Muslim migrant, according to a blogger who cites polices sources.

One person was killed and several injured during the incident, which took place in Grafing at a train station located to the south-east of the German city.

Initial reports said that the attack was inspired by Islamist motives and that the knifeman shouted “Allahu Akbar” during the rampage.

However, the story was soon corrected to state that the attacker had mental problems and was a German citizen named “Paul H.” from Giessen in the state of Hesse. [Infowars, 5/11/16]

Infowars: Media Caught Covering Up Islamic Ties In Munich Attack.

[Infowars, 7/24/16]

Infowars: “The Entire Narrative That Major Western Media Outlets Have Crafted Around The Migrant Crisis Is A Complete Fraud.” Infowars published an article purporting to list “five things that “western media outlets” won’t report about the Syrian refugee crisis:

1) The majority of the migrants are not Syrian families fleeing from war and ISIS persecution.

[...]

2) Major TV news networks will only broadcast footage which shows the migrants in a positive light.

[...]

3) In the name of tolerance, we’re being told to open the floodgates to waves of people who are completely intolerant of liberal, western values and principles.

[...]

4) EU countries are exploiting the migrant crisis to import huge numbers of people who will eventually vote for more big government and more EU bureaucracy.

[...]

5) This migrant crisis wouldn’t exist in the first place if our NATO powers hadn’t armed and funded jihadists in the Middle East and North Africa to topple secular governments. [Infowars, 9/15/15]

WND: “New Mantra To Deny Islamic Terror: ‘Mental Illness.’” WorldNetDaily published an article that accused “the globalist-leftist media” of citing mental illness to downplay the influence of “Islamic jihad violence” in Western culture. From the August 5 article:

Is “mental illness” the new cover for jihadist attacks on the West?

It certainly seems that way, says a noted expert on jihad.

[...]

Basic logic should compel the media to ask questions like, ‘Why are so many mentally ill people embracing Islamic jihad violence?’ And, if this is so, what does this say about radical Islamic jihad as a whole? The answer is obvious. Apparently the globalist-leftist media has not thought this through.” [WorldNetDaily, 8/5/16]

Fringe Media Cheer After Trump Administration Publishes List

The Gateway Pundit: “Trump Was Right => CBS Admits They Did Not Cover 24% of 78 Listed Islamist Terror Attacks.” Fake news purveyor The Gateway Pundit claimed that “Trump was right” after CBS News published a report saying it covered “more than 74 percent” of the attacks on the White House’s list of what officials claim were underreported terror attacks. From the February 7 post:

The Trump White House was right.

CBS admitted they did not cover 24% of the terrorist attacks - at all.

CBS inadvertently just proved the Trump administration’s accusations of media bias.

CBS News reported:

“The White House prefaced its Monday evening release with a statement saying that, since the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) declared its caliphate in 2014, “There has been a major attack targeting the West executed or inspired by the group more than once every two weeks.”

“Most have not received the media attention they deserved,” the White House added, although many of the attacks were covered by the media."

CBS News covered, in some cases heavily but at least to some extent, more than 74 percent of the attacks on the list. [The Gateway Pundit, 2/7/17; Media Matters, 12/14/16]

WND: “Trump Proven Right: Media Spinning Terror Stories.” WorldNetDaily published an article citing itself as an example of why the White House was correct in claiming that certain terror attacks “were not give sufficient coverage by the national media.” World Net Daily contrasted its coverage of terror attacks to the BBC’s to underscore the alleged accuracy of the White House’s statement. From the February 8 article:

The White House released a list late Monday of 70 terrorist attacks “executed or inspired” by ISIS, many of which Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said were not give sufficient coverage by the national media.

[...]

But as many terrorism experts told WND, it’s not the amount of coverage given to a specific event that counts but rather the type of coverage.

A classic example of that can be found by comparing and contrasting the coverage that two news agencies – WND and the BBC – gave to a brutal machete attack at the Nazareth Mediterranean Restaurant one year ago in February 2016 that left four patrons wounded, one critically.

In the BBC story, there is no mention of the words Islam, jihad, Muslim, refugee or immigrant. Every one of those words applied to the attacker, Mohamed Barry, who was a Muslim immigrant from the West African country of Guinea, as pointed out in the WND story. [WorldNetDaily, 2/8/17]

Infowars: “Trump Is Right: Migrant Crimes Underreported In Mainstream Media.” Infowars used a less-covered story of a Muslim migrant receiving “only two months in jail” after being convicted of rape charges to claim that “Trump is right” about stories going underreported in mainstream news outlets. From the February 7 article:

A Swedish court sentenced a Muslim migrant to only two months in jail after being convicted of anally raping a 13-year-old girl.

The court also ordered Mohammed to pay the equivalent of $2800 to the victim and also gave him probation, claiming his sentences for child rape and sexual exploitation should be lenient because the Syrian migrant claimed he was 17 when the rape occurred in Dec. 2016 at a school in Jämtland County, which is in the middle of Sweden.

“The then-17-year-old man, who since turned 18, pulled a 13-year-old girl on one of the school’s toilets, locked the door and then raped her,” reported the Swedish newspaper Expressen. “During the trial, the convicted rapist’s age has been a major issue.”

[...]

Interestingly, it seems none of the Swedish media outlets reporting the crime have published English-language versions of their articles, meaning the rapes will go underreported globally – and President Trump recently said that migrant crimes, especially terrorist attacks, were being underreported by the mainstream media.

Of course, the establishment-controlled Associated Press published a “fact check” article blasting Trump’s statement, claiming it was an “unsupported assertion.”

But two Swedish police officers have publicly revealed that authorities are covering up a migrant crime wave in Sweden, which is now one of the top – if not the top – rape centers of the world. [Infowars, 2/7/17]

Freedom Daily: Now Americans “Have Proof Of The Spread Of Terrorism, And The Media Bias.” Fake news purveyor Freedom Daily claimed that Trump’s list of terror attacks “that got little to no attention in the media” proved Trump was right “and, as usual, the liberal media was wrong.” Freedom Daily went on to accuse mainstream media of covering up terrorism to “give Obama cover, so that his fight against terrorism wouldn’t seem so much like the miserable failure that it was.” From the post:

Terrorism has increased in recent years, likely thanks to Barack Obama’s weak foreign policy that allowed it to flourish. Yet the media, save for a few huge attacks they couldn’t ignore, has largely kept silent. And Trump just called them all out.

[...]

Altogether, the Trump administration ended up releasing a list of over 70 terrorist attacks that got little to no attention in the media, proving that Trump was right… and, as usual, the liberal media was wrong.

Why would the media cover up terrorism? Well, maybe it was to give Obama cover, so that his fight against terrorism wouldn’t seem so much like the miserable failure that it was. Yet the attacks kept happening, and Obama continued to do nothing. Now, thanks to the Trump administration, we have proof of the spread of terrorism, and the media bias. [Freedom Daily, 2/7/17; Media Matters, 12/14/16]

Before It’s News: Trump Calling Out Media Coverup Is “So Refreshing And Historic.” Fake news purveyor Before It’s News lauded Trump for accusing media of undercovering terror attacks. The site claimed that beforehand, “clear-thinking rational freedom loving people had only a handful of places they could go to to get their daily news on the global jihad,” which is why “President Trump and his administration’s honesty and clarity in dealing with the issue so refreshing and historic.” From the February 7 post:

For well over a decade, clear-thinking rational freedom loving people had only a handful of places they could go to to get their daily news on the global jihad – this site, Jihad watch, Religion of Peace, Creeping Sharia and few others. Even big right wing sites like Hot Air stopped covering it fearing the tar and feathering such reportage garners. Which is why President Trump and his administration’s honesty and clarity in dealing with this issue is so refreshing and historic. And it is also why the latest polls show American overwhelming support his travel restrictions to keep jihadis out of this country. [Before It’s News, 2/7/17; Media Matters, 12/14/16]