President Donald Trump’s accusations that the ongoing protests across the country are being funded by the wealthy has “a kernel of truth,” but his comments remain an exaggeration, CNN reported on Wednesday.
“If you want, you can find a kernel of truth, and that is that there are certainly wealthy people, including famous celebrities, who’ve donated to racial justice organizations affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement,” said CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale, referring to Trump’s recent comment that “rich people” are funding the protests, on “CNN Newsroom” Wednesday morning, according to Mediaite.
“But that’s not what the president was suggesting here,” Dale continued. “In the context, in that interview, he was suggesting that rich people are funding, you know, looters, thugs, people causing damage, and there’s simply no evidence for that.”
Dale went on to say that Trump’s comments mirror the tactics employed by authoritarian dictators.
“I think it’s also important to note that this matches baseless conspiracy theories floated by not only people on the far right in the United States, including people affiliated with the QAnon movement, but anti-democratic leaders around the world who often like to suggest that, for example, liberal billionaire George Soros, who is Jewish, is the one behind this stuff,” Dale concluded. “So I’m not calling the president an anti-Semite or a dictator, but I think it’s important to note that this rhetoric matches some ugly stuff from anti-Semites and authoritarians around the world.”
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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