ABC News reports that President Donald Trump’s press secretary, Sean Spicer, referenced a terror attack in Atlanta three times on Jan. 29 and Jan. 30 while defending Trump’s travel ban for seven Muslim majority countries. That wouldn’t be a big deal—except that no terror attack has occurred in Atlanta since 1996, and that attack was committed by a white guy.
Spicer alluded to the made-up Atlanta attack in interviews with ABC and MSNBC, and also brought it up during a press briefing. He mentioned the attack along with the San Bernardino attack and the Boston Marathon bombing, both of which really happened. For example, in response to a reporter’s question about Trump’s travel ban, he said, “We're reviewing the entire process over this period of time to make sure that we do this right. But I don't think you have to look any further than the families of the Boston Marathon, in Atlanta, in San Bernardino to ask if we can go further."
But apparently this was just a slip of the tongue for Spicer—he told ABC in an email that he “clearly meant Orlando,” referring to the Pulse nightclub shooting that left 49 people dead in June of last year.
This Atlanta/Orlando mix-up is pretty similar to a recent incident with Trump’s adviser Kellyanne Conway, who referenced an imaginary “Bowling Green Massacre” several times while trying to defend the travel ban.
It’s a little alarming that Trump’s staff keeps accidentally ‘misspeaking’ and making up terrorist attacks—it almost makes you wonder if they actually know anything about terrorism and keeping our country safe.