On Wednesday, PBS correspondent Yamiche Alcindor took an out-of-context quote from President Donald Trump, paired it with misleading framing, and created a false story all her own.
In the process, she proved Trump right.
Alcindor tweeted the following:
A moment to behold.
Q: What do you mean by an "invasion" in the suburbs if VP Joe Biden is elected?
President Trump: "They're going to destroy suburbia. And 30 percent of the people in suburbia are minorities. They say 35 percent, but I like to cut it lower."
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) August 12, 2020
Alcindor hoped to imply that Trump wanted fewer minorities in suburbs, and to confirm that he hates minorities. But Alcindor’s tweet intentionally omitted part of Trump’s quote and did a bad job paraphrasing in the process.
The quote is seen in this video showed something entirely different.
You’re a shameless liar. Actual answer
pic.twitter.com/rhrFhLAYpw— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) August 13, 2020
Instead, Trump was saying the suburbs are already diverse – but chose to cite a lower estimate, rounding down, because he said the “fake news” media would take the higher statistic to claim he was lying.
“I like to cut it a little bit lower,” Trump said. “You know why? That way I can never get myself in too much trouble with the fake news.”
Trump was right about the media this time, though Alcindor chose a different fake news tack.
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