Ben Carson: Bungling Surgeon

For the record, I believe that Donald Trump believes he saw New Jersey Muslims celebrating on television on 9/11. I do.

 

I recall lots of scenes of Palestinians celebrating ... Maybe these got conflated?

 

That's what I think. And I think there may have been the 2001 equivalent of Internet memes back then purporting those images were from New Jersey. I believe I recall that. For God's sake, though, don't stick Politico on me.

 

Your ass is mine!

 

What the Washington Post said on Sept. 18, 2001 (in the 15th graf of a story about the FBI investigating several N.J. towns due to connections to the previous WTC attack):

In Jersey City, within hours of two jetliners' plowing into the World Trade Center, law enforcement authorities detained and questioned a number of people who were allegedly seen celebrating the attacks and holding tailgate-style parties on rooftops while they watched the devastation on the other side of the river.

What Donald Trump said:

Hey, I watched when the World Trade Center came tumbling down. And I watched in Jersey City, New Jersey, where thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building was coming down. Thousands of people were cheering.

Neither of these statements in any way invalidates the other. This is not the gotcha moment you were hoping for.

Also, there's the little part about Trump not even being in Jersey City at the time. He's clearly lying about something.

 

The constant mention -- including by the piece's author -- that the WaPo reference is in paragraph 15 cracks me up. I must have missed the memo that what is written in paragraph 15 should be held to a lesser standard than what comes before it. Who's still reading by that point anyway!

And, it should be noted that the reporter now says he could never confirm the report. Ok. So, why did you write it, and/or why did you never go back and write a follow up on it and/or correct/retract it.

And, I don't believe this validates what Trump says, but this is what the WaPo fact checker wrote:

But an extensive examination of news clips from that period turns up nothing. There were some reports of celebrations overseas, in Muslim countries, but nothing that we can find involving the Arab populations of New Jersey.

That's as wrong as what Trump said. He also went back and edited the "fact check" without noting that it had been edited.

The truth likely lies somewhere in between. Some Muslims-Americans probably did celebrate, but it was in small pockets. The TV images of thousands celebrating were Palestinians.

But, let's not give the media a pass here. They insisted that there were no reports of Muslim-Americans celebrating. They mocked the very idea that it had happened.

Only now are they hanging their collective hat on the, "but it wasn't thousands!" line.

 

So that somehow means Trump was right?

 

The fact that the tidbit was in the 15th graf is relevant because it shows what a minor, alleged detail it was in that context.

The whole article is about how "potentially fertile" New Jersey is as a breeding ground for terrorists (Northern New Jersey Draws Probers' Eyes). Don't you think thousands of Muslims celebrating as the Towers fell would've been a much more prominent part of the story?

I can't say why it was never followed up. Probably because the "number of people" who were "allegedly" celebrating were never charged with anything would be my guess.

Of course, it is possible that Trump is a liar and an asshole AND the media didn't handle this perfectly, but the media is right - there has been ZERO coverage of what Trump said he saw. If you want to nitpick, let's nitpick everybody.

 

Reading is hard: And, I don't believe this validates what Trump says

 

Let's don't go too far out on a limb, there ...

 

I wonder if he'll get the same pass someone got for pronouncing corps as corpse.