Tag

#disinformation

3 incidents

Updated September 9, 2019 Rule of Law
Major Abuse of Power

Sharpiegate: Trump Altered Official Hurricane Map with Sharpie, Pressured NOAA Scientists

Trump's September 1 tweet falsely included Alabama in Hurricane Dorian's path. The National Weather Service in Birmingham, Alabama, issued a correction saying Alabama was not at risk. Trump then displayed an Oval Office map showing the altered cone reaching into Alabama. Multiple officials at NOAA described feeling pressured not to contradict the president. The Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross reportedly threatened firings if NOAA scientists publicly contradicted Trump's Alabama claim. An unsigned statement supporting Trump's position was issued by NOAA over scientists' objections. A formal Inspector General investigation was opened.

Sources
4
NOAAhurricaneSharpiegatesciencefirst-term
Updated January 22, 2017 Rule of Law
Major Abuse of Power

Inauguration Crowd Lies: The First Day and the War on Truth

Trump demanded his Press Secretary go before the press to insist crowd comparisons showing his inauguration was smaller than Obama's were dishonest — a claim contradicted by photographic evidence, aerial comparisons, Metro ridership figures, and National Park Service estimates. Counselor Kellyanne Conway defended Spicer by coining the phrase 'alternative facts.' The incident, on the first full day of the administration, set the template for four years of routine government deception.

Sources
3
disinformationalternative-factsfirst-termrule-of-lawpress-secretary
Updated September 16, 2016 Civil Rights
Major Abuse of Power

Birther Campaign: Five-Year Campaign Questioning Obama's U.S. Birth, Racist Delegitimization

The birther conspiracy theory — the claim that Obama was born in Kenya or elsewhere outside the U.S. — had no factual basis. Hawaii state officials repeatedly confirmed the birth certificate's authenticity. Obama released both a short-form and long-form birth certificate. Federal courts dismissed challenges to Obama's eligibility. The theory persisted in certain quarters as a form of racial delegitimization of the first Black president. Trump became its most prominent mainstream advocate, using it to build his political profile before his 2016 presidential campaign. Trump's 2016 acknowledgment that Obama was born in the U.S. came without apology and included the false claim that Clinton had started the birther controversy.

Sources
4
birtherObamaracismpre-presidencycivil-rights