Trump Slams ‘Fake News’ Axios ‘Scoop’ About Nuking Hurricanes
President calls the story about fighting weather with nuclear bombs 'ridiculous'
© press
Website "Axios" sent its credibility swirling down the toilet this weekend after it published a bizarre story late Sunday claiming that President Donald Trump wants to drop nuclear bombs on hurricanes to stop them reaching the United States.
The so-called "scoop" cites unnamed sources who allegedly "overheard" President Trump pushing the idea onto his aides with satire-like statements.
Despite the wild, unverified claims seeming almost satirical, several left-leaning, anti-Trump news outlets picked up on the story, publishing it as fact, including CNN, MSNBC, and The Guardian, among others.
The Axios story claims that Trump “has suggested multiple times to senior Homeland Security and national security officials that they explore using nuclear bombs to stop hurricanes from hitting the United States.”
© Axios
The story was written by Axios regular Jonathan Swan and first-timer Margaret Talev.
Talev has since been making TV appearances to push the claims in the story, arguing that the White House didn't respond to her requests for comment, regarding the allegations, within one day.
In its "manifesto," Axios says its publication was created as a response to the "broken media" because other news outlets "make money selling fake headlines, fake controversies and even fake news."
According to Axios, the information in the Trump story comes from unnamed sources, some of whom allegedly heard recordings of the comments.
President Trump hit back at the "nuke" story on Twitter Monday morning, saying the report is “Just more FAKE NEWS!”
The story by Axios that President Trump wanted to blow up large hurricanes with nuclear weapons prior to reaching shore is ridiculous. I never said this. Just more FAKE NEWS!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 26, 2019
"The story by Axios that President Trump wanted to blow up large hurricanes with nuclear weapons prior to reaching shore is ridiculous," Trump tweeted.
"I never said this. Just more FAKE NEWS!"
© Axios
“I got it. I got it. Why don’t we nuke them?” Axios claims Trump allegedly asked during a discussion about hurricanes in America.
“They start forming off the coast of Africa, as they’re moving across the Atlantic, we drop a bomb inside the eye of the hurricane and it disrupts it.
"Why can’t we do that?”
The article claims that in another instance, Trump allegedly wondered if the U.S. could bomb hurricanes to prevent them from hitting the U.S.
This time, he did not use the word “nuclear,” according to a source.
Following the story, some of Trump’s critics used the salacious story to hit back at him.
Dude's gotta go.https://t.co/iZp6EExhF9
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 25, 2019
2020 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris shared a link to the article on Twitter, tweeting; “Dude’s gotta go.”
Jesse Ferguson, former deputy national press secretary for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, tweeted sarcastically that Trump is a “#VeryStableGenius.”
