Actual Information Easily Obtained in News Reports
President Donald Trump Tuesday morning attacked President Barack Obama via Twitter apparently after watching a “Fox & Friends” segment that had aired less than one hour earlier.Â
The Fox segment discussed the release of prisoners from Gitmo, the U.S. Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba that also houses a military prison for unlawful enemy combatants. As this Fox tweet shows, the story noted that 122 released prisoners “have re-engaged in terrorism.”
The Fox story, according to NBC News’ Bradd Jaffy, who noted the Trump connection, aired at 6:12 AM EST. The Fox tweet was posted at 6:33 AM.Â
About 30 minutes after that, President Trump at 7:04 AM used that information as an attack on President Obama, falsely claiming via Twitter that his predecessor was responsible for their release.
Had the President, who easily could have called one of his Generals, his Director of National Intelligence, or any one of a number of people who report to him to learn the facts, he would have known that of the 122 prisoners, 113 were released by President George W. Bush. Just nine were released by President Obama.
That information is also readily available in news reports, including this one from The Hill, as the Executive Director of Human Rights Watch tweeted:
On Saturday Trump falsely and offering zero evidence accused President Obama of wiretapping him.
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