The Jewish Right-Wing Filmmaker Behind Trump’s Much-Mocked Sweden ‘Terror’ Lie
President Trump shocked millions (of those still capable of being shocked by him) when he expressed outrage at a weekend rally about a supposed terror attack in Sweden.
Some thought he was confusing the Scandinavian country with the Pakistani city of Sehwan in Pakistan where a terror attack killed scores. Turns out he was just channel-surfing and heard Jewish right-wing filmmaker Ami Horowitz being interviewed on FoxNews.
Among other crackpot and Islamophobic causes, Horowitz has taken to slamming Sweden for supposedly coddling Islamic terrorists.
Horowitz spoke in the Fox interview about an attack “not long ago” and derided Sweden for allowing a wave of immigrant-fueled crimes, including a jump in the rape rate.
The attack actually took place in 2010, not anytime recently, and long before the war in Syria sent refugees flooding into Europe. His claim about rising crime is actually contradicted by Swedish statistics — its rape rate rose only after a reclassification of crime descriptions.
Horowitz told the Guardian he was “gratified” that Trump cited him for shining a light on “the increasing problems that Sweden is having with its open door immigration policy to the Muslim world.”
The rest of the world mostly agreed with former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt.
Sweden? Terror attack? What has he been smoking? Questions abound. https://t.co/XWgw8Fz7tj
— Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) February 19, 2017
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30