When you’re Donald Trump (or any Republican for that matter) and the Washington Post comes to your defense, you know it means there are too many untruths surrounding the story to pull off this particular lie…
Donald Trump is complaining that the media has spun a fable that he kicked a baby out of his rally in Ashburn, Va.
The New York Post, for instance, headlined its article: “Trump loves crying baby, then kicks the tot out of his rally.”
The New York Daily News, in its article on the incident, began: “What a baby. Donald Trump booted a fussy baby from a rally Tuesday because the tot was wailing over the businessman’s speech.”
The Guardian newspaper even used the incident to declare that this is a core problem with Trump — that he has “a total lack of empathy.”
In reality, this is a situation when the video can lie — and Trump’s odd sense of humor can backfire. Let’s roll the tape.
The Facts
There are two parts to the video. During his speech a baby starts to cry, and Trump says: “Don’t worry about that baby, I love babies. … I hear that baby crying. I like it. What a baby. What a beautiful baby. Don’t worry, don’t worry. The mom’s running around like — don’t worry about it, you know. It’s young and beautiful and healthy, and that’s what we want.”
But then about a minute later he says: “Actually, I was only kidding. You can get the baby out of here. … I think she really believed me that I love having a baby crying while I’m speaking.”
So, just from watching the video, Trump sounds rather cruel. But what’s missing is what the mother was doing. As it happens, Daniel Dale, a reporter from the Toronto Star, was sitting right behind her and wrote that the entire incident was mischaracterized.
The baby was one row in front of me, three or four rows from the stage, at Trump’s event at a high school in Ashburn, Va. When it began to cry, Trump said, “Don’t worry about that baby, I love babies. I love babies. I hear that baby crying, I like it. I like it. What a baby, what a beautiful baby. Don’t worry, don’t worry. The mom’s running around — don’t worry about it.”
People applauded. One minute later, though, the baby began to cry again. This time, the mother quickly decided to take the baby out of the room. Trump, looking in our direction, appeared to notice that she was on her way to the exit.
And then he said, “Actually, I was only kidding. You can get the baby out of here. That’s all right. Don’t worry. I think she really believed me that I love having a baby crying while I’m speaking?” He cupped his hand over his eyes to watch her leave. “That’s okay, people don’t understand. That’s okay.”
A joke? Possibly. An insensitive, heartless, ordinary-person-embarrassing remark? Possibly. Trump’s tone is eternally hard to read. But, to my eyes, it certainly was not an ejection — it was an unusually barbed endorsement of the mother’s own decision to depart.
One other salient fact is missing from all the pieces on babygate. Mom and baby, very much not kicked out, came back to their seat a bit later.
The baby was sucking a pacifier, silent.
Dale had this perspective because he was not sitting in the news media corral. “I almost never request press credentials from the Trump campaign anymore — partly because I like being in the crowd rather than the pen,” he told The Fact Checker. “I was lucky, this time, that the usher people seated me very close to the stage, and one row behind the baby. There was one empty seat up there.”
Virtually no one in the media noticed Dale’s version of events. He said he did not seek to interview the mother himself, as he did not realize until later how much attention had been paid to this incident. – Washington Post
Within days, the Clinton campaign highlighted the baby affair in a video trashing Trump’s week:
Trump just said he “doesn’t throw babies out” of his rallies…
Let’s review the record.https://t.co/u3a8RDNNrr
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) August 5, 2016
Trump responded (as only Trump can) to this ridiculous allegation while speaking at a rally in WI last night:
“The press came out with headlines: ‘Trump throws baby out of arena.’ So dishonest. I mean these are dishonest people. I could give you 20 stories like that. Everyone’s having fun, we’re smiling, I’m waving. Everyone’s having fun, but they say Trump throws baby [out]. You know how terrible that is? It’s such a lie. And they know it’s a lie.”
The mother of the baby who Trump allegedly “ejected” from his rally, Devan Cierra Ebert is speaking out and setting the record straight about what REALLY happened.
Statement from Devan Cierra Ebert who “was removed” with her crying baby at a Trump Rally:
“I was the mother in his rally on Tuesday, August 2nd, in Ashburn, VA, with the baby who started to cry. I would just like him to know personally that I, by no means felt I was ever “kicked out” of his rally.
I excused myself and my child when he awoke from his nap and began to cry. It was only because I had to grab my child’s belongings and then make my way out of the aisle I was seated in that I wasn’t out of there sooner.
I realize Mr. Trump doesn’t know me personally, but for those that do, know that I am the first one to excuse myself and my child when he begins to cry because I personally believe it’s rude to disturb anyone else’s ability to hear what they came to see. I’ve left movies, violin recitals, and other events if I felt my child was disturbing others. It is the considerate thing to do.
I stood right outside the doors of the auditorium continuing to watch and listen to what Mr. Trump had to say. In fact, the police that were right outside in the same hallway with me, treated me with so much respect it was incredible. They were so kind and made me feel welcomed to stand with them.
One officer commended me on my bravery to bring my child to Mr. Trump’s rally.
I fully support Mr. Trump. I thought he responded very graciously to my child crying and he made a lighthearted moment out of what I usually consider to be stressful. I actually was out of the auditorium before he even made his follow up comment about my child and even then, when I was informed of his comment,
I laughed. I understand he says things jokingly, and I understand no one wants to speak over or struggle to listen over a crying baby.
I am in no way offended and I again reiterate, Mr. Trump NEVER kicked me or my child out of the Briar Woods High School, Trump rally.
And for the record, while my child and I stood outside of the auditorium, my eleven year old stepdaughter and my Grandmother sat inside the auditorium and continued to support and listen to everything Mr. Trump had to say.
We all were so excited to be able to see Mr. Trump so close to home. I didn’t have a babysitter to watch my kids and honestly, to me it was a historical moment that I am happy that my kids were there for.
I apologize for the trouble this has caused Mr.Trump. The media has severely blown this out of proportion and made it out to be something that it wasn’t and is clearly using this as political gain for the Democratic party.
I hope this message sheds light to what really happened.
Thank you for your time. Best of luck! You have our vote. Trump 2016″
Via: Facebook
