The White House attempted some damage control late Wednesday, after the President re-tweeted videos appearing to show Muslims pushing a teenager off a building, destroying a statue of the Virgin Mary, and pummeling a blonde boy on crutches.
The videos were originally posted to social media by Jayda Fransen, the vice president of a far-right group in the U.K. called “Britain First.” Although the first two videos are authentic (though from 2012 and 2013, respectively), the third video — of dark-haired “Muslims” beating up a blonde-haired boy toddling around on crutches is, for lack of a better term, “fake news” — actually shows a fight between two Dutch boys.
Trump received criticism for the retweets even from “alt-right” figures who claimed “Britain First” is far worse than they are.
Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told media late Wednesday that, while the videos may not have been an authentic portrayal of Muslim violence, the threats they represented are very real.
At WH, @PressSec defends Pres Trump retweets today of videos purporting Muslim violence saying “these are real threats we have to talk about.” Whether the videos are real or not, Sanders says “the threats are real – no matter how you look at it.” pic.twitter.com/K8JMqHctp5
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) November 29, 2017
Sanders echoed statements made earlier in the day by deputy press secretary Raj Shah, who told media aboard Air Force One that the videos were emblematic of the president’s commitment to national security and that journalists should not focus on the videos so much as the safety and security of the American people.
“A lot of folks want to focus on videos,” Shah said. “We want to focus on the issues. It’s about safety, it’s about security.” Shah also said.
When a reporter pointed out Mr. Trump retweeted videos, Shah responded, “Yeah, but he’s raising the issues.”