Stephen Colbert has a good laugh over Trump's made-up Swedish terrorist attack
At a rally in Florida on Saturday, President Trump asked his audience, during a riff on terrorism, if they could believe what happened Friday night in Sweden. "Sweden, can you believe it?" Trump asked. No, Stephen Colbert answered on Monday's Late Show, no one believed it. "Well, not no one, but maybe someone who skips their intelligence briefings," he added, clarifying that nothing happened in Sweden on Friday night — a fact Sweden's former prime minister noted when he asked on Twitter what Trump has been smoking.
"Let's be real here," Colbert said. "This is the president of the United States. He has access to every and the latest intel at all times." So why did he appear to make up a terrorist attack in Sweden? According to Trump, he learned of a sharp increase in crime in Sweden from a Fox News report. "Oh, I guess Trump only accepts intelligence briefings with the logo 'As Seen on TV,'" Colbert said. Crime has actually dropped in Sweden since 2005, despite the country taking in thousands of immigrants, he added. "In fact, experts say 90 percent of Swedish crime actually occurs in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo."
"Clearly, Trump believes everything he sees on TV is real, which would explain his next tweet: 'America is a disaster! Our girls are broke! Our dead is walking! The pope's too young! It's a scandal! #shameless'," Colbert joked. "Tragically, Sweden is the third not-a-terrorist-attack that has not shocked the world in the last month. First there wasn't the Bowling Green Massacre, then no one was lost in Atlanta, and now it's not Sweden's turn. When will it begin?" But "just because this attack didn't happen, folks, doesn't mean we don't stand in solidarity with all the people who did not suffer," Colbert said, and you can watch his homage to Sweden in the video below. Peter Weber
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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