Trump campaign demands retraction of accurate reporting on tear-gassed protesters
Donald Trump’s campaign on Tuesday demanded changes to reports that Trump tear-gassed peaceful protesters so Trump could hold a photo-op at a church across the street from the White House — even though the reports were accurate.
“It’s said that a lie can get halfway around the world before the truth can get its pants on. This tear gas lie is proof of that,” Tim Murtaugh, the communications director for Trump’s reelection campaign, said in a statement on Tuesday. “For nearly an entire day, the whole of the press corps frantically reported the ‘news’ of a tear gas attack on ‘peaceful’ protestors in Lafayette Park, with no evidence to support such claims.”
But there is ample evidence to support the claim.
The Trump campaign’s statement even links to a statement from the U.S. Park Police, which said they deployed “pepper balls” on the protesters.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Riot control agents (sometimes referred to as ‘tear gas’) are chemical compounds that temporarily make people unable to function by causing irritation to the eyes, mouth, throat, lungs, and skin.”
And pepper spray, which the Park Police says was used against the protesters, is included in the CDC’s definition of those riot control agents.
The statement from the Trump campaign comes as Trump has faced a barrage of criticism for his move to attack peaceful protesters for a photo-op.
Democrats, civil rights groups, and members of the clergy who were pushed off the grounds of the church where Trump staged his stunt all condemned the move.
Meanwhile, just a handful of Republicans spoke out against Trump’s move, while a number of Senate Republicans avoided questions from MSNBC about whether they supported Trump’s actions.
A handful of House Republicans, on the other hand, celebrated Trump’s attack on peaceful demonstrators.