ANN ALTHOUSE ON HOW TRUMP TRIGGERS THE MEDIA:

I’m reading “Trump’s claim that he prevented air-traffic deaths is his most questionable yet” by Philip Bump at the Washington Post (and similar attacks on Trump elsewhere).

But what Trump tweeted was:

Since taking office I have been very strict on Commercial Aviation. Good news – it was just reported that there were Zero deaths in 2017, the best and safest year on record!

Those are 2 separate sentences. They do create the impression that they have something to do with each other, but he’s only claiming that he’s been “very strict on Commercial Aviation.” (Don’t get me started on the capitalization.) He never says because of my strictness there have been zero deaths. If you see a claim, you made an inference.

Yeah, he made you do that, but you are so tiresome, looking for ways to get excited about Trump. Well, you did help him make an otherwise boring set of facts viral. Now, we’re all seeing that he’s “very strict” and there are “zero deaths.” That’s something to feel good about… unless you just really need to feel bad about something.

I’m sure Scott Adams would have something to say about this. Related item here.