During a visit to U.S. Central Command on Monday, President Donald Trump accused the press of purposely downplaying terrorist attacks.
“In many cases, the very, very dishonest press doesn’t want to report it," Trump said at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. "They have their reasons, and you understand that."
Press Secretary Sean Spicer later promised a list of attacks that the administration felt went under-reported, thus minimizing concerns about radical Islamic terrorism.
“There’s a lot of instances that have occurred where I don’t think they’ve gotten the coverage it deserved,” Spicer said.
That list of 78 attacks was released Monday evening. It includes attacks on every continent besides South America and Antarctica. The attacks on the list start in September 2014 and go through December 2016.
Trump "felt members of the media don’t always cover some of those events to the extent that other events might get covered,” Spicer told reporters. “Protests will get blown out of the water, and yet an attack or a foiled attack doesn’t necessarily get the same coverage.”
>> PHOTOS: President Trump's Super Bowl party in Florida
Included in the list is the Orlando nightclub shooting and the November 2015 Paris attack, which many people on Twitter found confusing.
Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway came under scrutiny last week when she cited a nonexistent terror attack as justification for Trump’s executive order restricting travel into the U.S. from seven majority-Muslim countries.
>> PHOTOS: Trump protesters march to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach
She referenced the "masterminds of the Bowling Green massacre" in an interview on MSNBC's "Hardball" with Chris Matthews. She later clarified that she misspoke and instead meant to say "terrorists" instead of "massacre." She also cited an ABC article about the correct story.
About the Author
