Washington Post columnist Philip Rucker takes Donald Trump to task for a sarcastic tweet the president posted on Feb. 9, two days after the Green New Deal was unveiled, that reads:
I think it is very important for the Democrats to press forward with their Green New Deal. It would be great for the so-called ‘Carbon Footprint’ to permanently eliminate all Planes, Cars, Cows, Oil, Gas & the Military — even if no other country would do the same. Brilliant!
Rucker’s beef with Trump is not his sarcastic tone but what he perceives to be a lie:
Trump description of the Green New Deal is false. No one has proposed eliminating cars or plane rights or cows. Here’s a smart explainer by @rizzoTK of what is — and isn’t — in the policy https://t.co/rJDmbvPLtU
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) February 12, 2019
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
“No one has proposed” these things? Is Rucker being disingenuous here or is he truly that naïve? The original FAQ posted to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s website on Feb, 7 and deleted the following day did indeed mention eliminating cow farts and phasing out airline travel in favor of nationwide high-speed rail service. The document mentioned several other absurdities, many of which still remain. Among these is “guaranteeing a job with a family-sustaining wage … to all people of the United States.” To appreciate how utterly nonsensical this goal is, Rucker need only ask himself when in the history of our nation unemployment was at 0%.
But to address the larger question, where does Rucker think these preposterous notions came from if not from AOC and her staff?
As an added irony, several right-wing commentators have noted that Rucker’s paper was one of the news outlets that received a copy of the FAQ.
It's an especially interesting lie coming from the Washington Post, which was sent a copy of the memory-holed FAQ by Rep. Ocasio-Cortez. They were early recipients of the document that called for eliminating cars, planes, and cows. https://t.co/fyChwlrjjh
— John Hayward (@Doc_0) February 12, 2019
