Trump Immediately Politicizes EgyptAir Crash, Blames Terrorism – Fox News Calls It ‘Good’ for Him
Why Wait for Facts? And Why Not Politicize a Tragedy? Trump and Fox News Think Fact-Less Politicization of Tragedy Is A-OK
News broke overnight that EgyptAir Flight 804 had lost contact and was missing. NLittle information about what happened became available until later Thursday morning, but at 6:27 AM EDT Donald Trump took to Twitter and rather than express concern for the 66 or so people and crew on board, rather than wait for facts, he ignored the families of those onboard, inflamed the situation, and politicized it by blaming the event on terrorism:
Looks like yet another terrorist attack. Airplane departed from Paris. When will we get tough, smart and vigilant? Great hate and sickness!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 19, 2016
Here are some of the people affected that Trump couldn’t have cared less about:
Relatives of passengers on missing #EgyptAir flight #MS804 console each other in Cairo https://t.co/RMNrxqGoGn pic.twitter.com/nxfX7sZJiO
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) May 19, 2016
The cause of the plane’s disappearance still has not been confirmed, although there are unconfirmed reports of debris being found.Â
In “Donald Trump doesn’t wait for investigators to call missing EgyptAir flight act of terror,” CNN notes that it “isn’t the first time Trump has referred to something as terrorism before officials determine the cause.”Â
Before the San Bernardino shootings were classified as an act of terror, Trump said that he thought it was terrorism, according to ABC News.
“Take a look. I mean, you look at the names, you look at what happened. You tell me,” Trump said.Â
The real-estate mogul turned politician has come out with hardline proposals to combat terrorism, including arguing in favor of certain torture techniques.
Â
Fox News Thursday morning discussed the tragedy in terms of a loss of tourism dollars for Egypt. As Salon’s Scott Eric Kaufman noted, Fox’s Stuart Varney weighed in, saying the crash was “good” for Trump, applauding him for having blamed the disaster on terrorism. (Video above, at the 1:50 mark.)
Some responses via Twitter:
You sicken me @realDonaldTrump for expressing no condolences to the #EgyptAir victims, but politicizing their deaths https://t.co/yokjxiQiuG
— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) May 19, 2016
Trump offers no condolences to those killed on Egyptair flight. After all most were likely Muslims https://t.co/p6GmyIabyu
— Dean Obeidallah (@Deanofcomedy) May 19, 2016
Donald Trump promises to make exploiting terror victims for votes great again. #EgyptAir
— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) May 19, 2016
Speculating prior to confirmation? Whether it is true or not, @realDonaldTrump – you are fear mongering deranged opportunist.
— Paul Wesley (@paulwesley) May 19, 2016
Trump jumps the gun and comes up with “Yet another terrorist attack” WITHOUT any evidence. So Presidential, NOT. pic.twitter.com/n3XoDb5LnN
— Virginia Ramirez (@vlramirez12) May 19, 2016
.@realDonaldTrump Pretty #sick ,sir, to make such a horrific tragedy another campaign statement blaming same people u r now trying to meet
— Steve Soboroff (@SteveSoboroff) May 19, 2016
Â
Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license
Enjoy this piece?
… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.
NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.
Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.