by Jared Rouse
On Feb. 2, Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, referred to a nonexistent event on MSNBC in an attempt to defend President Trump’s temporary travel ban on seven Muslim majority countries.
She called the event “The Bowling Green Massacre.”
There has never been any such massacre, and Conway has since received a lot of criticism for her statements on live television. This is not the first time she has referred to this make-believe massacre, as she did so in interviews for Cosmopolitan and TMZ.
Conway is also the originator of the term “alternative facts.”
Well, here’s an actual fact: Conway is not very good at her job, period.
You would think that someone representing the president of the United States would at least know what she’s talking about before going on live televison, especially in an age where anybody sitting at home can instantly use Google to fact check.
I have heard some people argue that it was just a slip of the tongue and that she meant to say “plot” and not “massacre.”
However, someone in her position and under such scrutiny can not afford those kind of slips.
If it was just a slip, why did she refer to it on three separate occasions?
I am by no means arguing against President Trump’s executive order on a temporary travel ban on Muslim majority countries.
The idea of the ban was to give the Defense Department time, 90 days to be exact, a chance to overhaul the vetting system. The idea is good, but a little flawed, as it perhaps should have included more than just seven nations.
Maybe Trump, as president, is privy to intelligence that the rest of us are not.
That being said, Trump should fire this incompetent person.
Fake news has been a hot-button issue for months, and the president cannot afford to have someone in his cabinet spreading lies or “alternative facts.”
What actually happened in Bowling Green, Ky.?
According to the FBI report, two Iraqi nationalists were arrested by the FBI for plotting a terrorist attack in Bowling Green and attempting to provide Al-Qaeda in Iraq with U.S. currency while living here in the states.
They were mistakenly allowed to move here as refugees.
This incident caused President Obama to tighten travel restrictions from Iraq, and overhaul the vetting system back in 2011, much the same way that Trump is doing today.
Both men admitted to using improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, on U.S. soldiers in Iraq.
The argument Conway was trying to make was a valid one, but she not only exaggerated the event, she made up a terrorist attack that never took place. The FBI prevented the attack long before the two men could carry it out.
Conway has since apologized for her “slip” during an interview with Jake Tapper on CNN Feb. 7. She also said that she didn’t believe that CNN was fake news and that she was trying to “reach out an olive branch to the media.”
Well, it might be a little too late for that. Our new president needs to reevaluate the people he has chosen to represent him and should start by firing Conway.
