Posted on 11/24/2015 1:25:42 PM PST by SeekAndFind
There's a difference between a lie and an honest mistake. However slight, it's a crucial distinction in politics, and especially in the campaign of Donald Trump.
On Saturday, the real-estate magnate insisted that after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, he watched news footage of "thousands of thousands of people" celebrating in northern New Jersey -- "where you have large Arab populations," in his words.
Journalists have searched news archives for any evidence of such footage and turned up empty handed. Public officials and law enforcement in New Jersey say Trump's account is utterly false.
But Trump's assertion might not be a bald-faced lie. Psychologists suggest that people unconsciously fabricate memories all the time, and that Trump might have done the same.
"I can't say that he's not lying," said Deryn Strange, a psychologist at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. "But my research, and the research of my colleagues, certainly supports a more charitable interpretation: that this is a false memory."
There is a well-circulated video clip of Palestinians celebrating the attacks in the West Bank, as The Washington Post's Glenn Kessler has reported. Newspapers, including The Post, stated that police had detained some people in northern New Jersey who were allegedly partying on rooftops and watching the mayhem in New York. The Newark Star-Ledger later reported that “rumors of rooftop celebrations of the attack by Muslims here proved unfounded."
Trump might have conflated the two in his mind. "I can easily conceive how he could have developed this memory," Strange said. "All you need is a suggestion."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Which news network showed the video of the thousands and thousands of New Jersey Muslims cheering the attack? The one that Trump watched?
WaPo....about as factual as Dan Rather.
Thanks for clearing that up.
EIther time-traveling Trump called in all those false reports, or people in NJ were seeing dirty muslims celebrating the attacks.
got it.
He claimed to see thousands and thousands celebrating. And to support it he's dredged up a story that police investigated some reports of celebration. There's quite a disconnect between his story and the newspaper.
If there weren’t “thousands and thousands,” (heck maybe only 50% of that; you could easily have 1000 people on a city block or two in NY or NJ), it was only because of strategy.
I do remember seeing people in the Middle East cheering and celebrating.
Again, I don't doubt there probably were nut jobs celebrating somewhere. I just don't believe Mr. Trump saw 1,000's in Jersey doing it. Like Mr. Carson, who now remembers it a Middle East footage, I think that's what Mr. Trump saw. He probably saw the footage from the Middle East and remembered it as being in Jersey.
I saved some of the N.Y. Posts, but no, I'm NOT going to go dig out that box and read through all of the papers in it, just to prove that my memory is waning. :-)
If Trump says that rain is wet, tomorrow, the Dems, GOPes, and the supporters of a different GOP candidate will all start screaming that it isn't.
It might have been erased from the MSM, but I doubt JimRob would have scrubbed FR. I don't remember any reports of thousands of Muslims celebrating in New Jersey, and if there had been it would have been posted. Trump is clearly embellishing his memory, and it makes his story about watching people fall from his apartment 4 miles away more suspect. It sounds like the story that came out in 2008 with Chelsea claiming she was walking by the towers when the planes hit. Defend Trump all you want, but don't be incredulous.
Well, that's certainly true (except for Hillary - she would say that it depends on what you mean by "rain," "is" and "wet")
FR’s archives have been scrubbed somewhat. They n o longer go back to the beginning, unless all of that has been restored lately.
:-)
Lots of people with unimpeded views of the WTC, grabbed binoculars or looked through a telescope that day; to see what was going on and still stay safe.
There is a good chance Trump is nuts
And Bush blew up the World Trade Center
The exaggeration is saying “thousands” when it looks as if it was more like dozens. It may not be conscious, but in any case it’s an exaggerated memory of an event.
My brother in law was a JC cop back then and it was he who told my wife and myself of these demonstrations. They took place in Liberty Park and also in Patterson NJ. He was called to the scene in Liberty Park as were police from other jurisdictions as back up increase the situation got out of hand. There were not anywhere near “thousands” but even 1 is too many and enough to make the point. There were no arrests made because celebrating is not against the law although there where open cans of beer which is a local ordinance violation.
I know my brother in law for 25 yrs and there is no way he makes up something like this. Plus there were multiple accounts of this sort of thing happening in Texas, VA and as I said Patterson NJ (this also according to my b.i.l.
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