Donald Trump is relying on Drudge Report rumors for “intel” on London Bridge incident
Something chaotic and terrible is happening in London right now, with reports of a van hitting a number of people near London Bridge followed by multiple stabbings. One would think that Donald Trump, holding the office of President of the United States, would be in the White House Situation Room just in case it’s a terrorist attack. Instead he’s at his golf resort in Virginia, reading and retweeting the innuendo about the London incident being cranked out by Drudge Report.
At 6:10pm eastern time, Drudge Report tweeted “Fears of new terror attack after van ‘mows down 20 people’ on London Bridge” (link) with no further details, and no evidence to back up its assertion that this was a terror attack. But an hour later, Donald Trump retweeted this tweet, suggesting he may be relying on Drudge Report rumors and fear mongering instead of the vast intel community resources available to him.
Even more alarmingly, Trump then added his own tweet: “We need to be smart, vigilant and tough. We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!” (link). So not only has he concluded that this is a terrorist attack based on nothing more than a Drudge tweet, he’s also now trying to use the deadly incident to promote his xenophobic anti-Muslim political agenda.
Then eight minutes later, almost as an afterthought, Trump also tweeted “Whatever the United States can do to help out in London and the U. K., we will be there – WE ARE WITH YOU. GOD BLESS!” But before getting to that part where he belatedly and half heartedly decided he should scream something in all caps that he thought sounded vaguely what a leader might say, he first wanted to push his racist political agenda despite clearly not working with any reliable information.
