The news that President Donald Trump's travel ban killed an Iraqi Green Card holder sparked outrage from DNC-approved comediennes, people with Hashtag Resistance in their Twitter bios, and some of the nation's savviest political commentators, hard-nosed reporters, and even harder-nosed fictional TV anchors.
Dear @potus @realdonaldtrump DO U FEEL SHAME? EMPATHY? OR DO U THINK THEY R MADE UP BC U DONT KNOW THOSE "FEELINGS"?https://t.co/Lej1P1eC7o
— Sarah Silverman (@SarahKSilverman) February 1, 2017
Trump's "bad people" elevates this: "Detroit family caught in Iraq travel ban, says mom died waiting to come home" https://t.co/fDbSs6iDcA
— Mark Murray (@mmurraypolitics) February 1, 2017
https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/826616968929222657
A 75-year-old Iraqi woman, a green card holder, died after being turned back due to Trump's travel ban. https://t.co/hIKgjYY19D
— Gregg Carlstrom (@glcarlstrom) February 1, 2017
.@realDonaldTrump What about this 75-year-old who died after being denied boarding. Bad person or bad intentions? https://t.co/i0KJJ7CJfi
— Will McAvoy (@WillMcAvoyACN) February 1, 2017
The revelation that the story was a complete fabrication inspired a rare mea culpa from the crowd that has spent the past three months saying that fake news on social media handed the election to Donald Trump—a narrative that appears to be untrue. MSNBC's Chris Hayes went so far as to delete his initial tweet about the outrage, in order to stop the spread and issued a warning to "Always Stay Skeptical Of Stories That Perfectly Confirm Your Priors."
Man who claimed mom died in Iraq after Trump's ban lied, Imam confirms https://t.co/yZGlXXCmCp
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) February 1, 2017
Deleting previous tweets, since he lied.
Always Stay Skeptical Of Stories That Perfectly Confirm Your Priors (I'm shouting this at myself)
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) February 1, 2017
https://twitter.com/mattdpearce/status/826906305021382656
The initial story about Mike Hager's Trump-induced heartbreak could have easily been fact-checked with a cursory search of the man's name. Before he spokes to a Detroit Fox Affiliate, Hager had given an interview to the Boston Globe from the city's airport. He told the Globe that several family members had been unable to enter the United States from his native Iraq. It was a run-of-the-mill tale that warranted only passive mention at the bottom of a news story.
By the time he landed in Detroit he had a new tale for an eager press. The ban no longer prohibited his family members from returning stateside. Instead it directly killed his mother, despite the fact that she had died days before the executive order. The local news station's story got picked up and aggregated across the web with no apparent need to look into the discrepancy. When the hoax was exposed, Time, Talking Points Memo, and Huffington Post updated the stories on their sites. Only TPM updated its Twitter followers about the new development.
Green card holder dies a day after being prevented from returning home by Trump's order, report says https://t.co/qN1QDTdyqD
— TIME (@TIME) February 1, 2017
Detroit son says his mom died in Iraq after Trump ban kept her from flying home to the U.S. https://t.co/LT3lmyi6YG pic.twitter.com/JvKVP4QFkr
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) February 1, 2017
Detroit man says his ill mother, a green card holder, died due to travel ban https://t.co/N3Rvk3A8V3 pic.twitter.com/QwtDfkV5iN
— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) February 1, 2017
Imam: Detroit man lied, his mom died days before the Trump travel ban was imposed https://t.co/x7avRZdBCw pic.twitter.com/3iQkwzHIkk
— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) February 2, 2017
Other reporters lashed out at readers who questioned their willingness to fall for the story. One Washington Post foreign policy writer received 300 retweets when he shared the initial story, and only 12 for his correction.
75 year-old green card holder died in Iraqi hospital after being blocked from flight and separated from son https://t.co/fZsZDW8ky9 https://t.co/PyJO8jBO0B
— Ishaan Tharoor (@ishaantharoor) February 1, 2017
I shared this story earlier. What a terrible thing to lie about. https://t.co/hHPJPwyRfY
— Ishaan Tharoor (@ishaantharoor) February 1, 2017
He later lashed out at "trolls" who pointed out that he had fallen for a fake news story because of confirmation bias. He attempted to refute them by outlining the priors that the story so perfectly confirmed.
Trolls chortling over Fox Detroit false report:
1) Do you think innocent ppl have not been harmed by the ban?
2) Do you really feel safer?— Ishaan Tharoor (@ishaantharoor) February 1, 2017
Other seasoned newsmen remained in denial about the validity of the story. Former McClatchy D.C. bureau chief Jim Asher urged readers to not "jump to conclusion that this is fake news" because there are "alternative takes."
https://twitter.com/jimasher/status/827012711598981121
https://twitter.com/jimasher/status/827056376312688640
He never acknowledged that mistake and returned to tweeting about "fake facts" Friday. Other journalists also failed to update or correct the false impression they left with followers.
Anyone who supports the #MuslimBan is obligated to read stories like these. Ahem, @realDonaldTrump. https://t.co/uA7j5n4KS1
— Lucas Grindley (@lucasgrindley) February 1, 2017
"They destroyed us. I went with my family, I came back by myself. They destroyed our family." https://t.co/uVKAlTDmeS
— nxthompson (@nxthompson) February 1, 2017
Trump's travel ban has now killed more American residents than terrorists on from all 7 banned nations. https://t.co/bC5kX2omUu
— Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) February 1, 2017
Even those who corrected their work voiced disappointment that the old woman died in vain because she could not serve an anti-trump narrative.
"His mother died just one day after being told she couldn't return to the United States." https://t.co/s2jDuL1RO7
— Joshua Holland (@JoshuaHol) February 1, 2017
Ugh... "Imam: Detroit Man Lied, Mom Died Before Trump Travel Ban Was Imposed" https://t.co/6W4t3EsZoa
— Joshua Holland (@JoshuaHol) February 2, 2017