White House Defends Silence on Minnesota Mosque Bombing, Says It Might Have Been Faked by Liberals

By Addy Baird, ThinkProgress

09 August 17

"Hold your horses and count to ten and the president will do what he deems fit."

he White House will not officially comment on the bombing of a Minnesota mosque because it may be a hate crime faked by a liberal, according to Trump national security adviser Sebastian Gorka.

An as-of-yet unidentified individual threw a makeshift bomb through the window of a mosque in Minnesota Saturday, and Gorka was asked on MSNBC Monday if the White House will comment. Gorka said that the White House will “absolutely” comment once there is a finalized investigation into the incident.

“There’s a great rule: All initial reports are false,” Gorka said. “You have to check them and find out who the perpetrators are. We’ve had a series of crimes committed, alleged hate crimes by right wing individuals in the last six months that turned out to be prop propagated by the left. Let’s allow the local authorities to provide their assessment and then the White House will make its comments.”

But Trump has, in the past, commented on attacks without full information, including a recent June attack in the Philippines, which may have been a robbery gone wrong. He has not been so fast to cry terrorism after the Minnesota bombing, despite the fact that Minnesota’s governor called the attack terrorism.

Gorka is correct that there have been incidents of hate crimes in recent months that were made to look like they were perpetrated by someone other than the actual perpetrator.

On Tuesday, the FBI accused an Israeli teen of making bomb threats to U.S. schools and Jewish community centers more than 100 times since January. The teen also allegedly sold his bomb threat services online and offered to frame people for the threats.

But as the MSNBC host pointed out, authorities can and should still condemn attacks, even if the perpetrator is in question.

“You don’t have to make a statement about who did it but you can make a statement denouncing how terrible it is to attack a building of worship,” the host said.

“That’s fine and I’m sure the president will do that,” Gorka responded.

But three days have passed and the president still hasn’t done that.

And Trump certainly has had time to. Since he left on his “working vacation,” Trump has often been on Twitter, tweeting, as the MSNBC host noted, but mostly about “fake news,” his approval ratings and Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s (D-CT) military record.

“I’m not going to give social media advice to a man who won the election in large part thanks to his understanding of social media and to destroy the fake news industrial complex about who will win the last election,” Gorka said. “Hold your horses and count to ten and the president will do what he deems fit.”