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Donald Trump admits his 'Sweden attack' comments were based on debunked Fox News report

Mr Trump made the remarks at an event for his supporters in Florida

Andrew Buncombe New York @AndrewBuncombe 45 mins ago631 comments
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-sweden-happened-last-night-based-on-debunked-fox-news-report-a7589031.html

VIDEO

Donald Trump sparked no small number of raised eyebrows - along with a flurry of sarcastic comments - when he suggested something ominous had happened "last night in Sweden”.

After Mr Trump made the remarks at a rally in Florida, everyone from Sweden’s former prime minister, weighed in to point out that nothing had averse had happened. “What has he been smoking?” pondered Carl Bildt.

“We’ve got to keep our country safe,” Mr Trump had told his supporters.

Donald J. Trump ? @realDonaldTrump

My statement as to what's happening in Sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on @FoxNews concerning immigrants & Sweden.
4:57 PM - 19 Feb 2017

“You look at what’s happening in Germany. You look at what’s happening last night in Sweden. Sweden, who would believe this? Sweden. They took in large numbers. They’re having problems like they never thought possible.”

Some smart observers suggested Mr Trump may, not for the first time, been referring to something he had watched on Fox News. Business Times pointed to a segment on anchor Tucker Carlson’s show on Friday night, which included a clip from a new film by Ami Horowitz claiming to document alleged violence committed by refugees in Sweden.

On Sunday evening, perhaps aware of the confusion and mockery sparked by his comments, Mr Trump indeed confirmed that Fox News had been the inspiration for his comments.

“My statement as to what’s happening in Sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on @FoxNews concerning immigrants & Sweden,” he said.

News of Mr Horowitz’s documentary made headlines last year when he told conservative outlets such as Breitbart News, that there were Muslim “no-go zones” in Europe.

“Over the last two years, they’ve taken in over 350,000 Syrian refugees,” he said. “The reason why I went there was to investigate why Sweden has become the rape capital of Europe. Rape was not unknown, but relatively minor. There were few incidents of rape, let’s say about ten years ago. And rape has absolutely skyrocketed in Europe.”

The New York Times said that Swedish officials had said that their statistics did not justify the kind of assertions made by Mr Horowitz, and that the country had a high number of sexual assault reports, relative to other European countries, because more victims come forward, not because there was more violence.
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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-sweden-happened-last-night-based-on-debunked-fox-news-report-a7589031.html

The Jewish Right-Wing Filmmaker Behind Trump’s Much-Mocked Sweden ‘Terror’ Lie

February 20, 2017 By Dave Goldiner
http://forward.com/fast-forward/363662/the-jewish-right-wing-filmmaker-behind-trumps-much-mocked-sweden-terror-lie/

President Trump shocked millions (of those still capable of being shocked by him) when he expressed outrage at a weekend rally about a supposed terror attack in Sweden.

Some thought he was confusing the Scandinavian country with the Pakistani city of Sehwan in Pakistan where a terror attack killed scores. Turns out he was just channel-surfing and heard Jewish right-wing filmmaker Ami Horowitz being interviewed on FoxNews.

Among other crackpot and Islamophobic causes, Horowitz has taken to slamming Sweden for supposedly coddling Islamic terrorists.

Horowitz spoke in the Fox interview about an attack “not long ago” and derided Sweden for allowing a wave of immigrant-fueled crimes, including a jump in the rape rate.

The attack actually took place in 2010, not anytime recently, and long before the war in Syria sent refugees flooding into Europe. His claim about rising crime is actually contradicted by Swedish statistics — its rape rate rose only after a reclassification of crime descriptions.

Horowitz told the Guardian he was “gratified” that Trump cited him for shining a light on “the increasing problems that Sweden is having with its open door immigration policy to the Muslim world.”

The rest of the world mostly agreed with former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt.

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Carl Bildt ? @carlbildt

Sweden? Terror attack? What has he been smoking? Questions abound.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-sweden-terror-lie_us_58a8f397e4b045cd34c263d3 …
2:40 AM - 19 Feb 2017

http://forward.com/fast-forward/363662/the-jewish-right-wing-filmmaker-behind-trumps-much-mocked-sweden-terror-lie/