Fake News Time by Ian Bremmer: Trump responds

Ian Bremmer, a Time Magazine foreign affairs columnist and editor-at-large, on Sunday posted a fake quote that he claimed was made by President Trump about "Sleepy Joe Biden" and Kim Jong Un.

The tweet said:

"President Trump in Tokyo: 'Kim Jong Un is smarter and would make a better President than Sleepy Joe Biden.'"

The quote, which Bremmer attributed to President Trump was widely promoted by media figures and Trump critics who always jump at the chance to attack him before confirming facts and later having to retract after hordes of people had already seen it and rarely read the retraction.

Bremmer later acknowledged online that he fabricated [aka lied] the "objectively ludicrous quote." Trump has since correctly responded by pointing to the incident as yet another example of "what’s going on in the age of Fake News."

According to the Washington Examiner and The Daily Caller, the quote was left up for several hours, giving Trump-haters plenty of time to see it. In the interim, several Trump critics promoted it, among them Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Confusion), Media Matters' Andrew Lawrence, and Compromised News Network (CNN) contributor Ana "My Feelings Don't Care About Your Facts" Navarro.

Navarro urged people not to "shrug" the quote off and declared Trump's falsified comment "praising a cruel dictator who violates human rights, threatens nuclear attacks, oppresses his people, and kills political opponents" as "NOT FREAKING NORMAL."

Navarro should have waited and checked the FREAKING FACTS before freaking out.

The Examiner's Jerry Dunleavy said that after the tweet went viral, Bremmer initially posted a defense of his fake quote, describing it as "plausible" and saying it was a comment on "the state of the media and the twitterverse today." But amid mounting pressure, Bremmer ultimately chose to delete the "objectively ludicrous quote."

It's also plausible that Ian Bremmer is a Russian agent hell-bent on destroying the office of the U.S. presidency and is having an affair with Vladimir Putin. But I wouldn't tweet it, nor defend it.

"If this alleged quote from Trump is accurate, it’s a huge propaganda win for the disgusting murderous tyrant that is King Jong Un," Dunleavy initially posted. "But if this quote is fabricated, it’s a truly deceitful piece of Fake News. And I’d like more than just Ian Bremmer’s say-so before I decide which." Dunleavy added in an update that Bremmer "has now admitted that he fabricated this viral Trump quote. And yet it is being shared by journalists and congressmen as if it is real."

Trump tweeted on Monday:

"[Ian Bremmer] now admits that he MADE UP 'a completely ludicrous quote,' attributing it to me. This is what’s going on in the age of Fake News. People think they can say anything and get away with it. Really, the libel laws should be changed to hold Fake News Media accountable!"

He may have a good idea going there--shouldn't those who make up false and damaging statements about someone, not only the President, be held accountable?

In spite of the fact that Trump never said the words Bremmer claimed, he actually did tweet over the weekend that he "smiled" when Kim described Biden as "a low IQ individual." While that's understandable, it isn't very good strategy on Trump's part.

People are getting tired of ad hominem attacks by politicians--especially attacks against Trump. So when Trump does it, it almost justifies the opposition and it makes him look thin-skinned.


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