Mika Brzezinski sparred with former DNC chair Howard Dean after he said that Clinton's claim that ISIS is using videos of Donald Trump for recruitment purposes is true. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made those remarks during the third Democratic debate, which virtually everyone labeled as false. Nevertheless, when Dean appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, he claimed to have seen it on Twitter. This left Brzezinski visibly confused.
HOWARD DEAN: Mika, there was an interpretation of the remark, which I can understand how people would make–saying there’s a real video that–you know I don’t think ISIS itself has made a video, but it’s all over the Arab world. And ISIS is, in fact, using videos of Donald Trump trashing Muslims to recruit. That is true.JOE SCARBOROUGH: Do we have evidence of that?
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: I’m sorry; where are you getting this?
DEAN: Sure. Just look on Twitter.
BRZEZINSKI: Twitter?
To recap, this is what Hillary Clinton said on December 19:
He [Donald Trump] is becoming ISIS’s best recruiter. They are going to people showing videos of Donald Trump insulting Islam and Muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists.”
As Mika alluded to in her exchange with Dean, there is no video evidence to support this claim. Even the left-leaning PolitiFact rated this remark as false:
Clinton said that ISIS is "going to people showing videos of Donald Trump insulting Islam and Muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists."We were unable to find any evidence to support this. The Clinton campaign did not provide any evidence that this is already happening -- only that it could be happening, or that it may in the future. If ISIS was using Trump for recruitment videos, we would expect a frenzy of media coverage over it.
The Trump campaign has demanded Hillary Clinton apologize for erroneously saying the billionaire businessman is featured in ISIS recruitment videos, which was rejected by her campaign. She stands by the remark.
What is true is that Trump’s statements about Muslims are being used by ISIS recruiters on social media, according to executive director of the SITE Intelligence Group Rita Katz. As she told the Washington Post, “ISIS didn’t feature Trump in a video, but ISIS supporters and recruiters have used Trump’s rhetoric to promote ISIS’ ideas and agenda.” SITE tracks the social media presence of Islamic terrorist groups.
But that’s not the same thing. These are entirely different scenarios. Clinton specifically said that ISIS is showing videos of Trump in order to fill their ranks. That’s incorrect. I’m sure Clinton supporters will say that this was taken out of context, or detail what she meant to say, which seems to be what Dean insinuated during this interview. National Public Radio’s national security editor Phil Ewing seemed to explain what Clinton meant to say, as opposed to what was actually said [emphasis mine]:
Well, it's one of those things you hear about during a campaign that's both true and not true. But the point that Clinton was trying to make here is that when they want to approach Americans or approach people around the world who are Muslim and say this is why you need to take up arms against the United States, they can, from Clinton's position, point to the things Trump has said and say this guy could be president of the United States. He wants to keep all Muslims from coming in to the United States, and that's why you need to join our global jihad against these guys.
Later in the interview with Dean, New York Times political reporter Nick Confessore also noted that ISIS recruiters are using Trump’s words on social media, but noted the lack of video evidence to prove Clinton’s claim.
“Look, if we’re going to slam Carly Fiorina on the Planned Parenthood video. If we’re going to slam Trump on New Jersey, then this is the same thing. Isn’t it?” he said.
“I think I’d respectfully disagree,” said Dean.
During the second GOP debate in September, Fiorina said, “As regards [to] Planned Parenthood, anyone who has watched this videotape, I dare Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama to watch these tapes. Watch a fully formed fetus on the table, it’s heart beating, it’s legs kicking while someone says we have to keep it alive to harvest its brain.”
That wasn’t necessarily accurate either (via FactCheck.org):
We have watched every video released by the Center for Medical Progress. One video — titled “Human Capital — Episode 3” — contains one short clip that does feature a fetus with “its legs kicking” (at the 5:57 mark). But the footage was not shot by the Center for Medical Progress, and there is no indication where the video was taken or for what purpose. The video contains a description of such a scene, as told by interviewee Holly O’Donnell, listed as a former employee of the tissue procurement company StemExpress. We cannot verify whether any or all of her description is accurate.The clip of the fetus shown by the Center for Medical Progress was actually taken from the Grantham Collection and the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, which is credited on the screen.
We have reached out to the Grantham Collection and the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform and asked for any information regarding the origin of this clip, and what it depicts. In a statement emailed to us, Gregg Cunningham, the executive director of the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, said the clip “depicts an intact delivery abortion,” but he declined to identify where it was taken. “[O]ur access agreements forbid the disclosure of any information which might tend to identify the relevant clinics or personnel with whom we work,” he said.
Fiorina is entitled to her opinion on whether Planned Parenthood deserves federal funding. But combining an unsupported anecdote with unrelated footage does not add up to the scene she has repeatedly claims exists on video.
The Trump Jersey claim focuses on the businessman claiming he saw “thousands and thousands of people” celebrating the collapse of the World Trade Center on 9/11. While some people were celebrating this terrorist attack, which is atrocious, thousands were not jumping for glee in New Jersey.
Yet, getting back to Clinton, this pretty much looks like a bald-faced lie.