CNN Uses Chyrons to Fact-Check a Trump Speech on Nukes As He Gives It
In March, Donald Trump said quite clearly that Japan should get its own nuclear arsenal as a means of self-defense. That statement was roundly criticized for being insensitive, given that Japan is the only country in the world that has actually been hit by nuclear weapons. President Barack Obama remarked that Trump “doesn’t know much about foreign policy or nuclear policy or the Korean peninsula or the world generally.”
At the time, Andrea Mitchell fumed that he “is completely uneducated about any part of the world.” Most recently, Hillary Clinton has brought up his suggestion that the current nuclear agreements be overthrown, so today, Trump tried to claim that he never said that at all.
Trump has a habit of insisting he didn’t say things that he has very clearly and that we have very reliable proof of, but what good does that knowledge do when his speeches and denials are being broadcast live with no context? CNN has finally found a solution and political hawks on Twitter are celebrating:
If cable news is going to broadcast Trump rallies non-stop, the least they can do is what CNN is doing here:pic.twitter.com/HWYcfiamEV
— Yair Rosenberg (@Yair_Rosenberg) June 2, 2016
Some pretty great chyron action here from CNN… (via @LeonHWolf) https://t.co/mUuUn0xkc6 pic.twitter.com/po1OAbKX0L
— McKay Coppins (@mckaycoppins) June 2, 2016
This chyron literally added 2 years to my life. Thank you @CNN. pic.twitter.com/yfIGfPlbiP
— Ben Howe (@BenHowe) June 2, 2016
You get the feeling CNN has had enough of Trump’s bullshit pic.twitter.com/pXpGKubNzA
— Leon Wolf (@LeonHWolf) June 2, 2016
As you can see, CNN wrote a fact-checking “(He did)” next to the caption that included his insistence that he never said that Japan should have nukes. In fact, he said it twice. Anderson Cooper gave him the chance to clarify his statements after he said it the first time, and he doubled down.
After Trump said that the time has come for Japan to build their own arsenal, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga quickly spoke up and said that the nation’s refusal to develop or possess nuclear weapons will “remain an important basic policy of the government.” Similarly, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida asserted, “It is impossible that Japan will arm itself with nuclear weapons.”
[image via Twitter]
