Donald Trump is a liar, we all know this. He lies about literally everything, from the weather to crowd size to his wealth and everything in between. Today's lie (the one I am writing about, although I am sure there are a dozen others) is about a trip to Gaza. One that he never made, but he continues to claim that he did.
I mean, yes, he went to Israel. But that is NOT Gaza. You know the difference (I am half Israeli - I KNOW the difference). You would not confuse going to Jerusalem or Haifa or Tel Aviv with Gaza. Yet, Trump claims he definitely went there.
CNN fact checked this claim and also determined that there was zero evidence to support it. HE LIED.
Daniel Dale, one of the best (if not THE BEST) fact checkers around, dove into this deeply on Tuesday after Trump stated in an interview about Gaza: “You know, I’ve been there, and it’s rough.” During the same interview Trump said that “Gaza could be better than Monaco. It has the best location in the Middle East, the best water, the best everything.”
For those unaware, Gaza has been under control of the terrorist group Hamas since 2007. He definitely did not go there. Zero chance. Now, he did visit the West Bank in 2017, but that is very different than Gaza. Although in Trump's oatmeal brain, maybe they are the same.
CNN reached out to the Trump campaign and campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said that his claim is true, saying: “President Trump has been to Gaza previously and has always worked to ensure peace in the Middle East."
But, she could not provide details about when the trip happened, who was with him, etc. Seems sus, as the teens say. Public evidence does not support her lie. Trump had never been to Israel before he became President in 2017. Had he gone to Gaza, there were would have been photos or tweets or something.
An anonymous source told CNN that Trump had been to Israel, which we already knew, but incorrectly said that “Gaza is in Israel.”
CNN again reached out to Trump connected officials, this time three former middle east policy officials. Two did not respond, but the one who did respond told CNN that Trump "never traveled there. He did not go in 2017 when he visited Israel."
More Trump lackies kept the story going on CNN, telling Kaitlan Collins that the former president privately said he did indeed to go to Gaza, but they were also unable to provide any details on the trip.
CNN went so far as to post a public plea for evidence to corroborate this story, posting on Twitter to ask for any info to support this story. None was provided.
So this leads to a serious question: We know Trump lies. We know his staff back his lies by lying themselves. But in this case it appears that he actually THINKS he went to Gaza. This is such an odd hill to die on. He could have made his point about how awful he thinks the situation is by saying "I see it all over the news" and that would have been reasonable. His staff could have said "he meant to say he visited Israel and SAW the situation in Gaza" but no. They cannot let go of his delusion.
Time to put grandpa in the home.
