President Trump called out Washington Post reporter Dave Weigel for a misleading picture he tweeted on Friday, saying he should be fired
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President Donald Trump called for the firing of Washington Post’s Dave Weigel for posting a picture of a half-empty arena and the caption “packed to the rafters” on his Twitter account on Friday night.
The tweet, which presumably was referencing Trump’s Pensacola, Florida rally, didn’t sit well with the commander-in-chief, who included pictures of the rally to prove it was indeed packed to the rafters. Oh, and he included the patented “fake news” label, of course.
“[Dave Weigel] put out a phony photo of an empty arena hours before I arrived @ the venue, w/thousands of people outside, on their way in. Real photos now shown as I spoke,” tweeted Trump. “Packed house, many people unable to get in. Demand apology & retreaction from FAKE NEWS WaPo!”
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. @DaveWeigel @WashingtonPost put out a phony photo of an empty arena hours before I arrived @ the venue, w/ thousands of people outside, on their way in. Real photos now shown as I spoke. Packed house, many people unable to get in. Demand apology & retraction from FAKE NEWS WaPo! pic.twitter.com/XAblFGh1ob
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 9,2017
Weigel responded within three minutes, saying “sure thing: I apologize.” He added he deleted the photo after Daily Mail editor David Martosko had told him he’d “gotten it wrong.”
Sure thing: I apologize. I deleted the photo after @dmartosko told me I’d gotten it wrong. Was confused by the image of you walking in the bottom right corner. https://t.co/fQY7GMNSaD
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) December 9,2017
Weigel followed up soon after, calling it a “bad tweet,” and saying it was “very fair to call me out.”
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It was a bad tweet on my personal account, not a story for Washington Post. I deleted it after like 20 minutes. Very fair to call me out.
Everything I say on Twitter is a joke, except what I say about @swin24 . https://t.co/tI7SQnpoN9
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) December 9,2017
The apology didn’t satiate President Trump, however. He tweeted an hour later, calling for the Washington Post to fire Weigel.
“[Dave Weigel] of the Washington Post just admitted that his picture was a FAKE (fraud?) showing an almost empty arena last night for my speech in Pensacola when, in fact, he knew the arena was packed (as shown also on T. V.). FAKE NEWS, he should be fired,” tweeted Trump.
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. @daveweigel of the Washington Post just admitted that his picture was a FAKE (fraud?) showing an almost empty arena last night for my speech in Pensacola when, in fact, he knew the arena was packed (as shown also on T. V.). FAKE NEWS, he should be fired.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 9,2017
Journalists and commentators jumped to Weigel’s defense, saying, among other things, that Trump’s call for his firing was a “public threat to the First Amendment.”
The president calling for a journalist to be fired seems like a public threat to the First Amendment. https://t.co/Vx4csNtIP4
– Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 9,2017
He apologized for his tweet and explained he made an error and got it wrong. Weigel is an honest journalist — anyone that knows him knows he wouldn’t intentionally tweet misinformation. https://t.co/FBzcuMnZEo
– Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) December 9,2017
I don’t even know why I’m bothering, but… There’s a difference between journalists making a mistake and correcting it, and actual fake news. Trump and others trying to conflate the two.
— Amanda Terkel (@aterkel) December 9,2017
By including Dave Weigel’s @ handle, the president’s statement is inviting followers to gang up on a reporter https://t.co/3C5jKDvFP5
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) December 9,2017
A head of state publicly calling for a journalist to be fired is a textbook threat to freedom of speech. pic.twitter.com/1NhReH7l0c
– Adam Serwer ???? (@AdamSerwer) December 9,2017
The best reporters make errors; @daveweigel is a great reporter who made a mistake and corrected it, only to end up bullied by the president of the United States, who has a lengthy record of false statements and a nonexistent record of correcting them.
— Adam Serwer ???? (@AdamSerwer) December 9,2017
13 Times ‘The Simpsons’ Predicted the Future (Photos)
“The Simpsons” has an eerie knack for predicting the future, from Donald Trump’s presidency to Nobel Prize winners. Here are 12 times the long-running comedy series got it right.
Lady Gaga
On the episode “Lisa Goes Gaga,” Lady Gaga is shown suspended by cables flying over the audience at a concert. Well surprise, surprise because at the Super Bowl LI’s halftime show, Gaga descended from the stadium’s roof with suspension cables wearing pretty much the same outfit on her episode. Fox
2016 Nobel Prize Winner
In a 2010 episode, Milhouse predicted that Bengt R. Holmstrom would win the Nobel Prize in Economics and, sure enough, in 2016 Holmstrom and Oliver Hart were announced as joint winners of the prize. Fox
Donald Trump Presidency
Seventeen years ago in an episode titled “Bart to the Future,” Lisa becomes president after Donald Trump, apparently, ruined the economy.
Fox
Siegfried and Roy Tiger Attack
In 1993, an episode titled “$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling),” magicians in a Siegfried and Roy-like show got attacked by their trustworthy tiger.
In 2003, Roy was attacked by one of their white tigers during a live performance. He sustained injuries, but lived.
Fox
Arnold Palmer
On the 28th season premiere, the satirical series made an Arnold Palmer joke… on the day that golfer Arnold Palmer died.
Homer Simpson tells his wife Marge that he plans to “Arnold Palmer” his pal Lenny.
“Arnold Palmer Lenny?” Marge responds. “You’re going to Arnold Palmer Lenny?”
He was of course referring to the lemonade and iced tea drink mixture — which was named after the golfer. Fox
Faulty Voting Machine
During the 2012 elections, a voting machine proved faulty when votes cast for Barack Obama went to Mitt Romney instead.
In a 2008 episode, Homer Simpson went to the voting booths to cast a vote for Obama, but… his vote went to McCain instead. Fox
Higgs Boson
In a 1998 episode, “The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace,” Homer writes out an equation on a chalkboard which, if solved, “you get the mass of a Higgs boson that’s only a bit larger than the nano-mass of a Higgs boson actually is,” says Simon Singh, science author. Fox
Horse Meat Scandal
In 1994, an episode titled “Sweet Seymour Skinner’s Baadasssss Song,” the lunch lady was seen reaching into a barrel labeled “assorted horse parts” and putting the meat into the school’s lunch pot.
