# What happened in Sweden? (Trump campaign rally statement) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 19, 2017, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-in-sweden-trump-campaign-rally-statement/780219 "2017-02-19T14:13:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-in-sweden-trump-campaign-rally-statement/780219/1 "2017-02-19T14:13:59Z")
At his first 2020 campaign rally (held Saturday, 18 February 2017) President Trump said [ > [@Donald Trump](#): > > You look at what’s happening. We’ve got to keep our country safe. You look at what’s happening in Germany, you look at what’s happening last night in Sweden. Sweden, who would believe this? ]([https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/19/world/europe/last-night-in-sweden-trumps-remark-baffles-a-nation.html?\_r=0](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/19/world/europe/last-night-in-sweden-trumps-remark-baffles-a-nation.html?_r=0)) while he was talking about past terror attacks in Europe. The thing is, apparently nothing happened in Sweden on Friday. [ > [@](#): > > Former Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt tweeted , “Sweden? Terror attack? What has he been smoking? Questions abound.” > > Aftonbladet newspaper listed in English some events that had happened Friday in Sweden, including a man being treated for severe burns, an avalanche warning and police chasing a drunken driver. ]([http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU\_SWEDEN\_TRUMP?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-02-19-07-29-37](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_SWEDEN_TRUMP?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-02-19-07-29-37))So what the hell was he talking about? 😕 :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-in-sweden-trump-campaign-rally-statement/780219/2 "2017-02-19T14:22:32Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > At his first 2020 campaign rally (held Saturday, 18 February 2017) President Trump said [ while he was talking about past terror attacks in Europe. > > The thing is, apparently nothing happened in Sweden on Friday. > [url=[http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU\_SWEDEN\_TRUMP?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-02-19-07-29-37](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_SWEDEN_TRUMP?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-02-19-07-29-37)]]([https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/19/world/europe/last-night-in-sweden-trumps-remark-baffles-a-nation.html?\_r=0](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/19/world/europe/last-night-in-sweden-trumps-remark-baffles-a-nation.html?_r=0))So what the hell was he talking about? 😕 > > :dubious: One theory is here: [http://www.slate.com/blogs/the\_slatest/2017/02/18/did\_fox\_news\_segment\_lead\_trump\_to\_believe\_there\_was\_a\_terror\_attack\_in.html](http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/02/18/did_fox_news_segment_lead_trump_to_believe_there_was_a_terror_attack_in.html) > [@](#): > > So why did Trump say it? Well, he could have just picked a country out of thin air. Or maybe, the commander in chief was watching Fox News last night. In a segment on Tucker Carlson’s shows, journalist Ami Horowitz claimed the Swedish government is covering up rape crimes in order to protect “vulnerable” migrants. "From the onset of the refugee crisis, there was a surge in gun violence and rape—the statistics were clear,” Horowitz said. “But locals were just said ‘it was men, not refugees’ so the majority in Sweden still want to have an open door policy. It’s confounding, really.” ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-in-sweden-trump-campaign-rally-statement/780219/3 "2017-02-19T14:31:19Z")
This is obv. not fake news, it’s just gibberish from the President of the USA. Anyway@ > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > The thing is, apparently nothing happened in Sweden on Friday. I can say with some certainty there was a lot of drinking and quite a decent amount of random sexual interaction. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-in-sweden-trump-campaign-rally-statement/780219/4 "2017-02-19T15:26:45Z")
I posted this in response to the same query on another thread. It’s worth reposting. Substitute _rally attendance_ with _last night in Sweden_. [https://twitter.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/833098512531222529](https://twitter.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/833098512531222529) ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-in-sweden-trump-campaign-rally-statement/780219/5 "2017-02-19T15:43:21Z")
**What happened in Sweden?** I would guess that Trump discovered that the Swedes speak a different language, and more frighteningly, the entire population has excellent healthcare, paid for by taxes. ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_N.Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@Guy\_N.Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_N.Forest)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-in-sweden-trump-campaign-rally-statement/780219/6 "2017-02-19T15:51:58Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > (snip) and quite a decent amount of random sexual interaction. Not in Rävlanda, dammit. :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad: ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-in-sweden-trump-campaign-rally-statement/780219/7 "2017-02-19T16:15:36Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > **What happened in Sweden?** [Is he talking about that bazooka attack on people with an orange complexion?](https://youtu.be/2Qj8PhxSnhg?t=59) ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-in-sweden-trump-campaign-rally-statement/780219/8 "2017-02-19T18:12:32Z")
Exactly the same but worse than what happened in Bowling Green and Atlanta. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-in-sweden-trump-campaign-rally-statement/780219/9 "2017-02-19T19:32:40Z")
Apparently, Fox showed an interview with someone who had made a documentary about Sweden and its immigration policies. This focussed on problems of crime attributed to lax screening of immigrants - using data from 2013, not more recently (since there has been tighter screening). It might have been that, or it might have been a month old story about an attack by neo-Nazis on a refugee centre in Sweden. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-in-sweden-trump-campaign-rally-statement/780219/10 "2017-02-19T19:42:06Z")
I don’t know what it was, but I’m sure it had something to do with the meatballs. It’s always the meatballs with those Swedes! ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-in-sweden-trump-campaign-rally-statement/780219/11 "2017-02-19T20:09:26Z")
Bork bork bork. ---
**Author:** ![Grim\_Render](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@Grim\_Render](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grim_Render)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-in-sweden-trump-campaign-rally-statement/780219/12 "2017-02-19T23:25:21Z")
CNN reports that he has clarified: He was referring to a Fox program he saw the night before. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-in-sweden-trump-campaign-rally-statement/780219/13 "2017-02-20T00:04:34Z")
[Story from the AP: > [@](#): > > On Sunday, Trump took to Twitter to explain: “My statement as to what’s happening in Sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on @FoxNews concerning immigrants & Sweden.” A White House spokeswoman, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, says that Trump was talking about rising crime and recent incidents in general, not referring to a specific issue. > > The president may be referring to a segment aired Friday night on the Fox News Channel show “Tucker Carlson Tonight” that reported Sweden had accepted more than 160,000 asylum-seekers last year but that only 500 of the migrants had found jobs in Sweden. The report, which was illustrated with video of broken windows and fires, went on to say that a surge in gun violence and rape had followed the influx of immigrants. ]([http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU\_SWEDEN\_TRUMP?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-02-19-18-23-54](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_SWEDEN_TRUMP?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-02-19-18-23-54)) Our President is a dipshit. A moronic dipshit. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-in-sweden-trump-campaign-rally-statement/780219/14 "2017-02-20T00:29:41Z")
And even with that correction Trump (and FOX “news”) still appears moronic: [http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-sweden-idUSKBN15Y0QH](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-sweden-idUSKBN15Y0QH) > [@](#): > > A White House spokeswoman told reporters on Sunday that Trump had been referring generally to rising crime and not a specific incident in the Scandinavian country. > > Sweden’s crime rate has fallen since 2005, official statistics show, even as the country has taken in hundreds of thousands of immigrants from war-torn countries like Syria and Iraq. As I have pointed before, we are in big trouble when shady sources of information have the ear of the president. Wars have started with disinformation like that and incidents like this show that Trump is not listening to what our intelligence community is telling him. ---
**Author:** ![Grim\_Render](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@Grim\_Render](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grim_Render)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-in-sweden-trump-campaign-rally-statement/780219/15 "2017-02-20T00:31:25Z")
Is it possible he has Alzheimers? To be fair, it seems to me like he has relied all his life on a charisma based on just saying the first thing that pops into his head and keep talking. And its landed him in a job where every word he says is scrutinized. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-in-sweden-trump-campaign-rally-statement/780219/16 "2017-02-20T00:33:38Z")
He’s a bullshitter, plain and simple. He’s been a bullshitter all his life. No other explanation is necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-in-sweden-trump-campaign-rally-statement/780219/17 "2017-02-20T00:59:42Z")
Can’t it be _both_ “life-time bull-shitter” and “onset of Alzheimer’s”…? ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-in-sweden-trump-campaign-rally-statement/780219/18 "2017-02-20T01:53:57Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > He’s a bullshitter, plain and simple. He’s been a bullshitter all his life. No other explanation is necessary. While I get your point I do think there is a further explanation necessary. In post #12 it is mentioned CNN clarified POTUS was referring to a program that had aired on Fox and managed to completely misunderstand what the program was about. When combined with his reported inability to handle reading standard daily briefings and needing them read aloud to him it would seem there is some type of cognitive deficit involved. Whether it is ADHD, sheer stupidity or onset of some type of dementia is currently unknown. But I’m not willing to chalk this up to his tendency to be a bullshitter. I would rather suggest that his bullshitting bluster is a mechanism to cover up whatever the real problem is here. YMMV of course. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-in-sweden-trump-campaign-rally-statement/780219/19 "2017-02-20T02:05:30Z")
Suit yourself. I find internet diagnoses of medical conditions by medical professionals to be of little value. When done by non-medical professionals, no value at all. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-in-sweden-trump-campaign-rally-statement/780219/20 "2017-02-20T02:26:23Z")
Well, we can be sure it was nothing that he read. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-in-sweden-trump-campaign-rally-statement/780219.md?page=2)