So-called back up to Trump lie has already been discredited by fact checkers
Fox News posted a story this afternoon incredibly arguing Trump didn’t lie about his original Iraq War positing, citing a 2003 video of a 2003 Trump interview with Neil Cavuto.
Two problems with this argument. One, Trump was asked in 2002 whether he supported the Iraq War and replied, “Yeah, I guess so.” Two, the so-called evidence in the Cavuto 2003 interview doesn’t exist. This interview has been cited by fact checkers for months.
Fact checkers have frequently weighed in on Neil Cavuto’s January 2003 interview
Washington Post Fact Checker: “Trump did not weigh in on whether the United States should attack or not” during Cavuto interview.
Yet Trump continues to use this line, even though numerous news outlets have debunked it. This time, Trump cherry-picked his own quote to back up his claim: ‘Three months before the invasion, I said in an interview with Neil Cavuto … that perhaps we shouldn’t be doing it yet. And that the economy is a much bigger problem.’ He was referring to a January 2003 interview on Fox Business, about two months before the invasion. During it, Trump gave a lukewarm reaction to the Iraq invasion and urged then-President George W. Bush to make a decision. Below is the context for that claim. As readers can see, Trump did not weigh in on whether the United States should attack or not (‘either you attack or you don’t attack’).
FactCheck.org: “He offers no opinion on what Bush should do.”
Jan. 28, 2003: Trump appears on Fox Business’ “Your World with Neil Cavuto,” on the night of President Bush’s State of the Union address. Trump says he expects to hear “a lot of talk about Iraq and the problems,” and the economy. He urges Bush to make a decision on Iraq. “Either you attack or you don’t attack,” he says. But he offers no opinion on what Bush should do.
PolitiFact: “He didn’t speak against going to war.”
Trump dialed that back a bit in another interview in January 2003, a few months before the invasion. Fox News’ Neil Cavuto asked Trump whether President George W. Bush should be more focused on Iraq or the economy. ‘Well, he has either got to do something or not do something, perhaps, because perhaps shouldn’t be doing it yet and perhaps we should be waiting for the United Nations, you know,’ Trump said. ‘He’s under a lot of pressure. I think he’s doing a very good job. But, of course, if you look at the polls, a lot of people are getting a little tired. I think the Iraqi situation is a problem. And I think the economy is a much bigger problem as far as the president is concerned.’ So Trump put the economy ahead of confronting Iraq, but he didn’t speak against going to war. At most he suggested waiting for the United Nations to do something.
U.S. News: “He did not say he opposed a possible invasion.”
His next comment came in January 2003, during a Fox News Channel interview with Neil Cavuto. Trump suggested the economy and threats from North Korea posed greater problems for then-President George W. Bush than Iraq, but he did not say he opposed a possible invasion. Trump also suggested that the American people were looking for an answer one way or another from Bush. ‘Either you attack or you don’t attack,’ Trump said.