CLEVELAND, Ohio — The only casualties of the fictitious ‘Bowling Green Massacre are Kellyanne Conway’s already wounded reputation, and the truth, which was shot multiple times.
Conway said she misspoke when she cited the fake massacre in defending Trump’s Muslim ban on MSNBC’s “Hardball”. “I meant to say “Bowling Green terrorists”, Conway tweeted, referring to two Iraqi men living in Bowling Green Kentucky who were arrested and convicted for plotting to send weapons to al-Qaeda in Iraq.
For several reasons, I don’t buy Conway’s claim that she just misspoke. She, in fact, had mentioned the two terrorists in her initial comment. And the entire answer was not just some tossed-off line. It was an involved response.
“I bet it’s brand new information to people that President Obama had a six-month ban on the Iraqi refugee program after two Iraqis came here to this country, were radicalized and were the masterminds behind the Bowling Green massacre. Most people don’t know that because it didn’t get covered.”
That’s what Conway said. She says she meant to say “Bowling Green terrorists”, which would read like this:
“…President Obama had a six-month ban on the Iraqi refugee program after two Iraqis came here to this country, were radicalized and were the masterminds behind Bowling Green terrorists.”
Conway’s a smart woman. She knew exactly what she was saying and why. Instead of misspeaking, I believe Conway was attempting to employ a classic propaganda technique to implant fear-mongering fake news to bolster Trump’s Muslim ban. This has been the m.o. of the Steve Bannon controlled Trump campaign and presidential administration. The kernel of truth is two Iraqi men in Bowling Green. Inflame it with fake news alternative facts of a massacre, there has been so many, gullible American viewers will buy it –so believes the Trump camp.
Conway’s two other lies on “Hardball”
The Bowling Green line was just the biggest of what were at least three major lies Conway spoke on “Hardball.”
Conway lied when she said Obama enacted a “six-month ban on the Iraqi refugee program.” Obama never instituted a six-month ban. After the two Iraqi men in Bowling Green were arrested, the Obama administration began reviewing and tightening vetting procedures on Iraqi refugees, which dramatically slowed the visa approval process, which was already long to begin with, but never stopped it.
Conway also lied when she said the arrest of two Iraqi nationals was never covered. The Washington Post’s search found around 90 stories in major newspapers. The Bowling Green Daily News has written close to 100 stories about the case. It was covered by every major news network. Conway herself linked to ABC NEWS coverage of the arrests, in one of her follow up tweets attempting to do damage control.
The two Iraqi men were never even convicted of plotting a massacre to take place in Bowling Green. They were convicted of plotting to send money and arms back to Iraq, where they had fought, to be used against US forces there.
It was an especially rough ending of the week for Trump’s two primary mouthpieces. Last night, on “Saturday Night Live”, Melissa McCarthy impersonated Sean Spicer in what’s rightfully being dubbed an instant classic SNL skit. What was left of Spicer’s already damaged image, McCarthy destroyed with the greatest SNL impersonation since Tina Fey’s take on Sarah Palin.
It’s only been a few weeks, and already,Trump’s two primary spokespeople, Conway and Spicer, have nearly destroyed their credibility.
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