Trump’s White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney asked NOAA scientists to lie about the weather for Donald Trump.
The New York Times reported:
President Trump, seeking to justify his claim of a hurricane threat to Alabama, pressed aides to intervene with a federal scientific agency, leading to a highly unusual public rebuke of the forecasters who contradicted him, according to people familiar with the events.
In response to the president’s request, Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, told Wilbur Ross, the commerce secretary, to have the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration publicly correct the forecasters, who had insisted that Alabama was not actually at risk from Hurricane Dorian.
The White House directed the Commerce Secretary to tell NOAA to lie about the weather so that Trump’s inaccurate Hurricane Dorian forecast could have back up.
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Earlier on Wednesday, Trump called reports that he pressured weather officials “a hoax.”
Instead of dealing with the real crisis and threats facing the country, the Trump administration is pressuring weather officials to change a forecast so that Trump doesn’t look like a total moron.
This story is about more than fake weather forecasts. It’s about a president and an administration of enablers who are doing systemic damage to the reputation of vital government services and institutions all to cater to the ego of Donald Trump.
The order to pressure the weather officials came from the Oval Office, as there is nothing too small to escape Trump’s abuse of power.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
