Section II · SubversionExhibit S-021
Contradiction
NYT questions Trump's China trade figure, then reports a similar one
■ The pieces
- New York Times: Trump Criticizes China as Meeting on North Korea Nears (July 5, 2017)https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/05/world/asia/xi-jinping-kim-jong-un-north-korea-china-icbm.html
- Washington Free Beacon (Alex Griswold): NY Times questions statistic provided by Trump, admits he was right a paragraph later (July 6, 2017)https://freebeacon.com/politics/ny-times-questions-statistic-provided-by-trump-admits-he-was-right-a-paragraph-later/
■ What they show
Trump tweeted that China's trade with North Korea grew almost 40 percent in the first quarter. The Times story wrote that it was not clear where he got the 40 percent figure, then reported later in the article that China's trade with the North grew 37.4 percent in the first three months of the year. The Washington Free Beacon pointed out the juxtaposition.
■ The other side
The article's main subject was the North Korea ICBM test and US-China diplomacy. The 37.4 percent figure was close to, but not the same as, Trump's stated number.
Who it helped: DemocratsQuestioned Trump's figure while reporting a near-identical one.
■ Why it's here
This exhibit is filed under Subversion, not graded as a lie. What subversion means →