Published 27 July 2024 at 09.54
Foreign. Despite the fact that most media consumers in Sweden are not allowed to vote in the American presidential election, election work is in full swing in Swedish newsrooms. On Saturday, for example, Aftonbladet opened strongly with a fake news story about Donald Trump.
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The newspaper adorned its home page with a headline that Donald Trump issued a “creepy ” promise that suggests he intends to abolish general elections in the United States, much like Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has done in his country.
Aftonbladet's article was a summary of the Washington Post's reporting from an election meeting in Florida that dealt with matters of faith and religion. Aftonbladet wrote:
“He urged his voters to go and vote, but then added:
– In four years you will not have to vote again. We will have such a good time that you will not have to vote, he says according to the Washington Post.”
However, the quote is taken out of context and mistranslated. The Washington Post actually wrote this:
“Former President Donald Trump promised attendees at a rally in Florida organized by Turning Point Action — a conservative group seeking to return him to the White House — that in a second term he would 'reappoint staunchly conservative judges who will protect religious freedom.' . Trump urged participants at the faith-themed event to vote, promising that in four years 'we'll have it so well fixed that you won't have to vote'”.
Thus Trump was referring to to fix support for religious freedom on the US Supreme Court by appointing staunchly conservative justices who will uphold constitutionally protected religious freedom regardless of who wins the next election. It would therefore not be necessary to vote to protect religious freedom in the next election, according to Trump. He was therefore not talking about some “uncanny” abolition of general elections, as Swedish readers will be led to believe when they read Aftonbladet's article.