US President Donald Trump was
speaking to supporters on Saturday
when he apparently referred to the
Scandinavian country as the site of a
terror incident the latest example of his
administration naming a non-existent
attack.
The Republican was addressing a
campaign-style rally in Florida when he
launched into a list of places that have
been targeted by terrorists.
“You look at what’s happening in
Germany, you look at what’s happening
last night in Sweden. Sweden, who
would believe this? Sweden. They took
in large numbers. They’re having
problems like they never thought
possible,” he said in an energetic
stream-of-consciousness speech,
defending his order last month that
blocked refugees and travelers from
seven majority-Muslim countries from
entering the United States.
The order has been suspended by a
federal appeals court, and Trump vowed
to introduce a new order this week as a
means of protecting Americans at home.
He went on to name Brussels, Nice and
Paris — European cities that have been
struck by deadly terror attacks.
A Trump spokeswoman did not
immediately respond to an AFP request
early Sunday for clarification on the
president’s comment.
Users on Twitter, Trump’s favorite
communication platform, cracked jokes
about the apparent miscue using the
hashtags #lastnightinSweden and
#SwedenIncident.
Former Swedish prime minister Carl
Bildt asked: “Sweden? Terror attack?
What has he been smoking? Questions
abound.”
Gunnar Hokmark, a Swedish member of
the European Parliament, retweeted a
post that said “#lastnightinSweden my
son dropped his hotdog in the campfire.
So sad!”
Hokmark added his own comment:
“How could he know?”
Numerous internet wags responded with
Ikea-themed tweets. Some posted photos
of the impossible-to-understand
instructions for assembling Ikea
furniture, calling it “Secret Plans for the
#SwedenIncident.”
– ‘Nothing has happened’ –
Posts flooded into @sweden, the
country’s official Twitter account which
is run by a different Swede each week.
This week’s curator, Emma, who
describes herself as a school librarian
and mother, said the account had
received 800 mentions in four hours.
“No. Nothing has happened here in
Sweden. There has not (been) any
terrorist attacks here. At all. The main
news right now is about Melfest,” she
said, referring to the competition to
pick the performer who will represent
Sweden at the Eurovision singing
contest.
Top Trump aides in his month-old
administration have faced criticism and
ridicule after speaking publicly about
massacres that never took place.
White House counselor Kellyanne
Conway — who famously coined the
term “alternative facts” — referred to a
“Bowling Green massacre” during an
interview.
She later tweeted that she meant to say
“Bowling Green terrorists” — referring
to two Iraqi men who were indicted in
2011 for trying to send money and
weapons to Al-Qaeda, and using
improvised explosive devices against US
soldiers in Iraq.
And White House spokesman Sean
Spicer made three separate references
in one week to an attack in Atlanta.
He later said he meant to say Orlando,
the Florida city where an American of
Afghan origin gunned down 49 people
at a gay nightclub last year.
