CNN “Reliable Sources” host Brian Stelter claimed Sunday that President Donald Trump “made up” the story about ISIS head Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi “whimpering and screaming” as United States Special Forces closed in on the notorious terrorist.
The American raid led to the death of the ISIS leader, and in his news conference describing the mission, Trump described the terrorist as being terrified before he blew up himself and his children.
#NEW: CNN’s Brian Stelter calls Pres. Trump a liar for claiming ISIS founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was “whimpering” and “screaming” as U.S. forces closed in on him. pic.twitter.com/eCY6a4gpun
— Alex Salvi (@alexsalvinews) November 3, 2019
“He seems to have made it up. This is par for the course for this president but we shouldn’t get used to this … We teach our children to tell the truth and we teach our children that the president is supposed to tell the truth — even when the United States is celebrating a major military victory. I think we should still hold the bar as far as possible for the President of the United States.” (RELATED: ISIS Leader Likely Killed In US Military Operation, Sources Say)
Although Stelter claimed it was “possible” to celebrate the victory over ISIS, he said “It is also possible to expect the president to tell the truth” adding that “The Republican Party is okay with the president spinning these stories.”
Later, CNN fact checker Daniel Dale also piled on Trump over the president’s description of al-Baghdadi’s last seconds on this earth.
“This brings us to last weekend, because the president claimed repeatedly that this dead terrorist was whimpering and crying right before he blew himself up. The ‘New York Times’ looked into sources who have no idea what the president is talking about, and we’ve heard attorneys on the record saying they can’t confirm any whimpering, any crying. It does seem the president made up these details … about a terrorist whimpering and crying,” Dale claimed. (RELATED: Trump Considers Releasing Part Of Al-Baghdadi Raid Video)
(Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)
“How do you handle this when you can’t definitively prove that he’s making it up, but he’s lost the benefit of the doubt on these issues?”
Many in the national media attempted to minimize Trump’s role in the raid. Former Vice President and current Democratic presidential nomination front-runner Joe Biden said the operation succeeded despite Trump’s “ineptitude.” Joy Behar of “The View” used the victory to suggest the world would be better off without Trump.