The Propaganda FilesWaPo: Trump campaign 'guts' the GOP's anti-Russia stance on Ukraine
A Washington Post column said the Trump campaign had gutted the Republican platform's anti-Russia stance on Ukraine, and coverage presented the change as an early sign of a Trump-Russia accommodation.
The framing fed the Trump-Russia collusion narrative pushed by Trump's opponents.
What was reported
A Washington Post column said the Trump campaign had gutted the Republican platform's anti-Russia stance on Ukraine, and coverage presented the change as an early sign of a Trump-Russia accommodation.
What actually happened
The campaign did change one amendment, replacing a pledge of lethal defensive weapons with appropriate assistance to Ukraine's military. But the final platform kept all the original tough language on Russia and sanctions and added new pledges, so it was arguably stronger than the draft. Special Counsel Mueller's 2019 report said the evidence did not show the change was made at the behest of Trump or Russia.
The proof
The final 2016 platform text and the Mueller report's finding that the dilution was not shown to be directed by Trump or Russia.
The receipt. Copy this and paste it anywhere:
WaPo: Trump campaign 'guts' the GOP's anti-Russia stance on Ukraine — Unproven. The final 2016 platform text and the Mueller report's finding that the dilution was not shown to be directed by Trump or Russia. Full file: https://www.thepropagandafiles.com/case/wapo-trump-guts-gop-ukraine-platform/
Original reporting
- Josh Rogin's Washington Post column (Kyiv Post reprint; secondary copy)https://archive.kyivpost.com/article/opinion/op-ed/josh-rogin-trump-campaign-guts-gops-anti-russia-stance-on-ukraine-418953.html
- NPR: How the Trump campaign weakened the platform on aid to Ukrainehttps://www.npr.org/2016/08/06/488876597/how-the-trump-campaign-weakened-the-republican-platform-on-aid-to-ukraine
Corrections, findings & records
- Byron York (Daily Herald): What really happened with the GOP platform and Russiahttps://www.dailyherald.com/20171130/opinion/what-really-happened-with-the-gop-platform-and-russia/
- Rolling Stone: Scandals the Mueller report puts to resthttps://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/6-scandals-the-mueller-report-puts-to-rest-824441/
Archived copies
Stories get edited after publication. These open the Internet Archive's earliest saved copy of each original.
- Archived copy: Josh Rogin's Washington Post column (Kyiv Post reprint; secondary copy)https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://archive.kyivpost.com/article/opinion/op-ed/josh-rogin-trump-campaign-guts-gops-anti-russia-stance-on-ukraine-418953.html
- Archived copy: NPR: How the Trump campaign weakened the platform on aid to Ukrainehttps://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.npr.org/2016/08/06/488876597/how-the-trump-campaign-weakened-the-republican-platform-on-aid-to-ukraine