World
Twitter has a field day after President Donald Trump claims that there were terror attacks in the Scandinavian nation
Updated : Feb 20, 2017, 04:06 PM IST
A day after falsely suggesting there was an immigration-related security incident in Sweden, US President Donald Trump said on Sunday his comment was based on a television report he had seen.
Of course, Twitter had a field day over the comment, given that President Trump had recently targeted mainstream media over fake news on Thursday. One user Grapey @Grapeykins said, “Literally the biggest incident of Sweden last night was a horse called Biscuit being rescued from a well,” according to a report by Mashable.
Literally the biggest incident of Sweden last night was a horse called Biscuit being rescued from a well. https://t.co/CAYsHhpt6z
— Grapey (@Grapeykins) February 19, 2017
Harry Potter author, JK Rowling, who saw this tweet, then retweeeted the same and created the #MakeBiscuitDryAgain trend, parodying President Trump’s #MakeAmericaGreatAgain campaign.
#MakeBiscuitDryAgain https://t.co/C7rPpZrcNf
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) February 19, 2017
Here are some of the tweets that followed Rowling's.
Thanks to your prayers @jk_rowling Biscuit soon dry again #MakeBiscuitDryAgain @ChelseaClinton pic.twitter.com/shs4SnlM7P
— Leif Pagrotsky (@leifpagrotsky) February 19, 2017
Poor Biscuit, after #BowlingGreen, why didn't Sweden see this coming and do something to prevent such an atrocity? #MakeBiscuitDryAgain
— Bren (@bnboring) February 19, 2017
The Bowling Green Msssacre trend became popular after President Trump's counselor Kellyanne Conway told MSNBC that two Iraqis who came to the US and had been radicalised “were the masterminds behind the Bowling Green massacre”. Fact-checkers quickly pointed out that no such massacre took place. Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former president Bill and defeated candidate Hillary, described it as “completely fake”, tweeting: “Please don’t make up attacks.”
Earlier, President Trump, who in his first weeks in office has tried to tighten US borders sharply for national security reasons, told a rally on Saturday that Sweden was having serious problems with immigrants.
"You look at what's happening last night in Sweden," Trump said. "Sweden. Who would believe this? Sweden. They took in large numbers. They're having problems like they never thought possible."
No incident occurred in Sweden and the country's baffled government asked the US State Department to explain. President Trump, however, clarified his statements on Twitter.
My statement as to what's happening in Sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on @FoxNews concerning immigrants & Sweden.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 19, 2017
The event also baffled the Sweden residents and others on Twitter as nothing unusual had happened in the country. So much so that even former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt took to social media to express his amusement.
Sweden? Terror attack? What has he been smoking? Questions abound. https://t.co/XWgw8Fz7tj
— Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) February 19, 2017
Of course, Twitter was relentless and hasgtags like LastNightInSweden and PrayForSweden emerged on Twitter that made jokes about what Trump might had been referring to.
After the terrible events #lastnightinSweden , IKEA have sold out of this: pic.twitter.com/Bs1XI7ffKG
— Jeanna Skinner (@JeannaLStars) February 19, 2017
BREAKING: Swedish police issue first photofit of heavily-armed terrorist. #lastnightinsweden #swedenattack pic.twitter.com/xauLq9kjGN
— John (@AnGobanSaor) February 19, 2017
New images coming out of Sweden confirm Friday night massacre. I stand with Sweden. #swedenattack pic.twitter.com/w9yHlD6DFj
— SJPaul (@JeakPaul) February 20, 2017
However, The White House has said Donald Trump was speaking about general “rising crime” when he seemed to describe a non-existent terror attack in Sweden on Saturday night, as the president defended his ideas about banning refugees and travel from seven Muslim-majority countries.
Sarah Sanders, the principal deputy press secretary for the White House, told reporters a few minutes before his tweet that Trump had been “referring to a report he had seen the previous night”.
“He was talking about rising crime and recent incidents in general, and not referring to a specific incident,” Sanders said.