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Earlier today, Trump tweeted about Germany, claiming that crime is way up in the European country, blaming their leadership and influx of immigrants from other countries. He spoke about how the new arrivals have “violently changed their culture,” a stunningly obvious racist dog whistle.
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In reality, 2017 saw the lowest crime levels in Germany in 25 years.
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The people of Germany are turning against their leadership as migration is rocking the already tenuous Berlin coalition. Crime in Germany is way up. Big mistake made all over Europe in allowing millions of people in who have so strongly and violently changed their culture!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2018
He sent out a second tweet, drawing a tenuous connection between the imagined German crime spike and his own regressive, domestic anti-immigration policies.
We don’t want what is happening with immigration in Europe to happen with us!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2018
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The tweets come the same time that Trump is facing national backlash over his administration’s policy of kidnapping the children of undocumented immigrants, separating them from their families perhaps permanently, and locking them in concentration camps.
He’s trying to distract from his growing list of human rights violations.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked about the German tweet during the day’s press briefing. The reporter pointed out that crime has fallen, not risen, contrary to the president’s claim. Huckabee Sanders gave a characteristically tepid response by saying she “wasn’t aware” of the report the journalist referenced to back up his question but claimed she would “look into it.”
In other words, she sidestepped because there was no way to defend Trump’s blatant lie. This is exactly the kind of adversarial journalism that reporters need to take to the White House: contest every lie, challenge every fabrication with facts, and make Trump’s lackies look like fools.
Press Sec. Sanders says she is unaware of report from German government contradicting Pres. Trump's claim that "crime in Germany is way up" due to migrant policies. https://t.co/lq2mxUH2Mh pic.twitter.com/nHX8XrAkfW
— ABC News (@ABC) June 18, 2018
