We are now several days into the Sharpiegate/Hurricane Dorian/Alabama controversy and neither CNN nor Trump are backing down over the issue of whether or not Alabama was ever under threat from Hurricane Dorian.
The media outlet has steadily maintained that Alabama was never at risk to be impacted by Dorian (“He falsely claimed that Hurricane Dorian was likely to hit Alabama.”). Trump said initially it was, although at the time he said it the threat was on the lower end of the scale.
The latest rhetorical salvo came from Trump on Friday, when he tweeted out a humorous video showing that in spite of CNN’s claim that Dorian was never expected to hit the state, CNN weather forecasters themselves initially predicted Dorian could impact Alabama:
President Trump tweeted a doctored CNN clip showing a meteorologist saying Alabama was at risk of getting hit by Hurricane Dorian as he continued to lambast media coverage of his assertion the state was in the path of the storm.
Trump tweeted a video showing a CNN meteorologist explaining that the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana and Alabama were at risk, editing the video so the reporter says “Alabama” 10 times back-to-back.
The video then shows a CNN logo going down a road in lieu of a car only to drive off the street and explode.
Watch:
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 6, 2019
Here’s another video clip which, towards the end, includes the same CNN segment showing the meteorologist saying Alabama was in the storm’s path:
The meteorologist even suggested Louisiana and Mississippi could feel the impacts from Dorian, even though the NOAA projections never showed them in Dorian’s path.
The White House has spent several days trying to counter the narratives from national news outlets like CNN, including having DHS issue this clarifying statement:
— Alex Leary (@learyreports) September 5, 2019
There was also this tweet from the Alabama National Guard from Friday the 30th, which clearly shows the state believed they were at one time under threat:
#HurricaneDorian is projected to reach southern Alabama by the early part of the week. We are watching closely and #ready to act. Are you? pic.twitter.com/iMH0DnE4QO
— AL National Guard (@AlabamaNG) August 30, 2019
In response to the video Trump tweeted Friday, his critics asserted that the CNN segment where Don Lemon and the weather forecaster were discussing Dorian’s potential impacts was from 3 or 4 days before Trump made his original claim about Alabama, but his critics are as usual completely missing the point.
According to NOAA, at the time Trump initially referred to Alabama as under threat from Dorian (Sept. 1), it still was:
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration backed up President Trump’s ongoing assertions that Alabama appeared initially to be in the path of Hurricane Dorian.
“From Wednesday, August 28, through Monday, September 2, the information provided by NOAA and the National Hurricane Center to President Trump and the wider public demonstrated that tropical-storm-force winds from Hurricane Dorian could impact Alabama,” a NOAA spokesman said in a statement Friday evening. “This is clearly demonstrated in Hurricane Advisories #15 through #41, which can be viewed at the following link.”
NOAA’s statement also directly refuted a tweet from the Birmingham National Weather Service that had contradicted Mr. Trump. “The Birmingham National Weather Service’s Sunday morning tweet spoke in absolute terms that were inconsistent with probabilities from the best forecast products available at the time,” the statement read.
Images from the NOAA link, which were shared by the Alabama National Guard on 9/3, show how Alabama faced potential impacts from Dorian:
September is National Preparedness Month, and a timely opportunity to reflect on the unpredictability of disasters. These projections from @NOAA came only days apart, yet show an almost 90-degree change. Visit https://t.co/bmtAOzznRI for tips on how to #BeReady NOW. pic.twitter.com/Kdd7gKt7Ax
— AL National Guard (@AlabamaNG) September 3, 2019
There’s a reason Trump isn’t giving up on this as easily as CNN would like him to. Because the evidence backs him up on his initial claims – including evidence that came directly from CNN.
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— Based in North Carolina, Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter. –
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