Trump Slams ABC for Reporting His Mistaken Statement that Dorian Could Affect Alabama

[Zippyjuan]

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/09/trump-slams-abc-dorian-affect-alabama.html

President Donald Trump lashed out at ABC on Monday evening for daring to report on his inaccurate statement on Hurricane Dorian. Most amazing of all is that the president appears to suggest his mistaken statement wasn’t really mistaken even though he was very publicly corrected by the National Weather Service.

Trump tweeted Sunday that “in addition to Florida – South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, will most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated.” That immediately led to questions because no one had mentioned any risk for Alabama. But this wasn’t an isolated mistake. Trump also told reporters at the White House that “Alabama is going to get a piece of it, looks like.”

The statement led to such confusion that the National Weather Service immediately contradicted the statement, without mentioning Trump of course. “Alabama will NOT see any impacts from #Dorian,” the National Weather Service office in Birmingham, Alabama tweeted.

Trump apparently wasn’t happy, though, that ABC News mentioned the issue, and he blasted the network for “a phony hurricane report by lightweight reporter” Jonathan Karl. Trump then went on to say that his statement that “even Alabama could possibly come into play … WAS true.” The president added that “under certain original scenarios, it was in fact correct that Alabama could have received some ‘hurt’.” In the end, the good thing to remember is that it is “always good to be prepared!”

Trump also said earlier he had never heard of a Category 5 hurricane. This is the fourth one since his presidency- and he also said he had never heard of a Category 5 hurricane each of those times.

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-says-he-never-heard-of-category-5-hurricane-dorian-2019-9

"I never even knew a Category 5 existed," he said on September 14, 2017, just days after Hurricane Irma — a Category 5 storm that battered parts of the Caribbean islands before weakening to a Category 4 hurricane when it made landfall in the Florida Keys.

Later in September, Hurricane Maria devastated parts of Dominica, the US Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. The Category 5 storm weakened to a Category 4 when it hit Puerto Rico. Officials there eventually linked the storm to nearly 3,000 deaths, and the US territory is still recovering from the impacts of the natural disaster.

"So we've never seen it," Trump said on September 26, 2017, about Maria's impact. "It actually touched down as a Category 5. People have never seen anything like that."

In October 2017, Trump reiterated claims that Category 5 storms were inconceivable, saying "nobody has ever heard of a 5 hitting land."

And in May of this year, months after Category 5 Hurricane Michael ravaged the Florida Panhandle, Trump told the crowd at a campaign rally in Panama City Beach, Florida, that he had "never heard about Category 5s before."

"A Category 5 is big stuff," he said.

 

[Schifference]

It is pretty amazing that there can be fighting over a weather prediction. NY city was practically shut down a couple years ago for a forecasted blizzard that never materialized. Each day an everyday rainstorm is transformed into a once in a century catastrophic thunderstorm event. Weather forecasters can be totally wrong today and be relied upon tomorrow. Trump could be as right about the weather as the meteorologists.

 

[specsaregood]

Trump was not mistaken, a number of the earlier forecasts did include alabama.

 

[Superfluous Man]

Trump was not mistaken, a number of the earlier forecasts did include alabama.

Trump's assertion on September 2nd wasn't that Alabama had been included in earlier forecasts that had since been superseded by more up-to-date forecasts that did not include Alabama. He asserted that as of then (September 2nd) Alabama was likely to get hit even harder than had previously been anticipated. He said the exact opposite of what would have been an accurate characterization of the way the forecasts had changed with respect to Alabama.

 

[JohnCifelli1]

Trump was not mistaken, a number of the earlier forecasts did include alabama.

Model guidance isn't a forecast. The National Hurricane Center never put Alabama in the forecast cone. Trump screwed this up pretty badly.

 

[JohnCifelli1]

It is pretty amazing that there can be fighting over a weather prediction. NY city was practically shut down a couple years ago for a forecasted blizzard that never materialized. Each day an everyday rainstorm is transformed into a once in a century catastrophic thunderstorm event. Weather forecasters can be totally wrong today and be relied upon tomorrow. Trump could be as right about the weather as the meteorologists.

Good money to be made if you can do better.

 

[TheCount]

Trump was not mistaken, a number of the earlier forecasts did include alabama.

Those forecasts also include and would affect Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.

If your Trumpsplaination is correct, why didn't he mention those states?



Does anyone actually believe that Trump could identify states on a map?

 

[oyarde]

I am positive obama could not identify states on a map , I dunno about trump, flip a coin . Trump would have seen some of these models showing alabama earlier. You ingrates should be glad your president is watching the weather for you and letting you know on twitter . That is a public servant .

 

[oyarde]

Good money to be made if you can do better.

My Indian weather rock is hard to beat .

 

[TheCount]

I am positive obama could not identify states on a map , I dunno about trump, flip a coin . Trump would have seen some of these models showing alabama earlier. You ingrates should be glad your president is watching the weather for you and letting you know on twitter . That is a public servant .

If he delegated the tweeting and the golf playing to other federal employees we would save a lot of money.

 

[TheTexan]

Trump was probably basing his statement on top secret forecasts that generally aren't available to the public.

 

[Zippyjuan]

Trump's assertion on September 2nd wasn't that Alabama had been included in earlier forecasts that had since been superseded by more up-to-date forecasts that did not include Alabama. He asserted that as of then (September 2nd) Alabama was likely to get hit even harder than had previously been anticipated. He said the exact opposite of what would have been an accurate characterization of the way the forecasts had changed with respect to Alabama.

Even after the Weather Service corrected him, he continued to make the claim.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...rongly-says-hurricane-dorian-will-hit-alabama

Despite their clarification, Trump repeated the claim at his press conference later.

“And, I will say, the states – and it may get a little piece of a great place: It’s called Alabama,” said Trump. “And Alabama could even be in for at least some very strong winds and something more than that, it could be. This just came up, unfortunately. It’s the size of – the storm that we’re talking about. So, for Alabama, just please be careful also.”

At that same press conference, held at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) headquarters in Washington DC, Trump expressed huge surprise at the “monstrous” size of Dorian, saying he was not sure he had ever heard of a category 5 hurricane before.

“I have – not sure – I’m not sure that I’ve ever even heard of a category 5,” said Trump. “I knew it existed. And I’ve seen some category 4s; you don’t even see them that much. But a category 5 is something that I don’t know that I’ve even heard the term other than I know it’s there. That’s the ultimate. And that’s what we have, unfortunately.”

But, as observant viewers were quick to point out, this is a line he has trotted out before. There are at least four other occasions – including as recently as May – that he said he was astonished to discover category 5 hurricanes existed.

 

[TheTexan]

Even after the Weather Service corrected him, he continued to make the claim.

A difference of opinion, so what? Time will tell who is right.

 

[Zippyjuan]

A difference of opinion, so what? Time will tell who is right.

Trump is always right. Even when Trump disagrees with Trump and changes his mind.

 

[Dr.3D]

WGAF?

 

[oyarde]

Trump was probably basing his statement on top secret forecasts that generally aren't available to the public.

Normally I oppose govt interference in the economy but at this point Trump should shut the birmigham alabama weather office down and teach them a lesson.

 

[oyarde]

Raining outside of Tuscaloosa now .

 

[nikcers]

Trump just owned the globalist media, every time he tweets something he takes up all the air in the room.

 

[eleganz]

Trump just owned the globalist media, every time he tweets something he takes up all the air in the room.

Heavily triggers zippy while at it.

 

[Zippyjuan]

Trump can never admit a mistake. Today he produced a map with added lines drawn with a marker trying to show that Dorian was headed for Alabama. The lines were not on the map released last week.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/04/politics/donald-trump-hurricane-alabama-map/index.html

Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump showed a map of Hurricane Dorian's trajectory in the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon that appeared to include an addition showing the storm potentially affecting a large section of Alabama.

Trump claimed the map was the original forecast. But a similar image released by the White House last week did not include any impact on Alabama in its forecast.

"That was the original chart, and you see it was going to hit not only Florida but Georgia," Trump claimed Wednesday during a briefing, while showing a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration map with a black line encircling a portion of Alabama.

"It took a right turn. And, ultimately, hopefully we're going to be lucky. It depends on what happens with South Carolina and North Carolina," he added.

An early archived version of a NOAA map from Thursday, August 29, showed the hurricane veering left toward Florida, but it did not appear to have a black line to show Alabama would be affected.

CNN Weather meteorologists say one forecast on Friday afternoon showed one-tenth of one county in extreme southwest Alabama was included in one model. But that map bears little resemblance to the one Trump showed on Wednesday. And the official track from the National Hurricane Center never showed Dorian's track entering the Gulf of Mexico, as Trump also claimed.

"I know that Alabama was in the original forecast," Trump said later Wednesday when asked about the image he showed, adding that there were other maps showing Alabama being "hit very hard."

Asked whether the black line over Alabama was made with a permanent marker, Trump said, "I don't know. I don't know."

A source familiar with the matter says the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency, did not provide the altered map Trump showed in the Oval Office.

"The map was not brought by DHS for this briefing," the source said.

Original map:

Trump's new version of the map:

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/9/4/20849909/trump-hurricane-dorian-alabama-map

The Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang wondered whether Trump had been using the map to rationalize his mistake and also pointed out issuing false or altered official weather forecasts is a violation of US law:

Altering official government weather forecasts isn’t just a cause for concern — it’s actually illegal. Per 18 U.S. Code 2074, which addresses false weather reports, “Whoever knowingly issues or publishes any counterfeit weather forecast or warning of weather conditions falsely representing such forecast or warning to have been issued or published by the Weather Bureau, United States Signal Service, or other branch of the Government service, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ninety days, or both.”