Trump Said He Waits For "The Facts" Before Talking About An Attack, But That's Total BS

The president is quick to speak on incidents when he suspects they are terror attacks committed by Islamic extremists.

During a heated press conference in New York on Tuesday, President Trump defended Confederate monuments while incorrectly blaming much of the deadly violence in Charlottesville over the weekend on "alt-left" protesters.

The president, who was roundly criticized by Republicans and Democrats alike for taking two days to explicitly condemn white supremacists and hate groups after an anti-racist protester was killed in a car attack, said he only hesitated in order to have "the facts."

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"I wanted to make sure, unlike most politicians, that what I said was correct, not make a quick statement," he said.

"It takes a little while to get the facts. You still don't know the facts. It is a very, very important process to me. It is a very important statement. So I don't want to go quickly and just make a statement for the sake of making a political statement," he added.

(Trump did speak on Saturday, although he declined to mention the fatal car attack and said there was violence "on many sides.")

However, Trump routinely comments on violent incidents soon after they occur — especially when he presumably assumes the attackers are Islamic extremists.

1. On June 1, before he announced that the US was withdrawing from the Paris climate accord, Trump made a statement in the Rose Garden about "the terrorist attack in Manila."

"We're closely monitoring the situation and I will continue to give updates if anything happens during this period of time, but it is really very sad as to what is going on throughout the world with terror," Trump said. "Our thoughts and our prayers are with all of those affected."

The president was speaking soon after a gunman opened fire inside the Resort World Casino in the Philippines' capital, before setting the venue ablaze. More than 30 people died in the incident.

But when Trump spoke about Manila, Filipino authorities were still responding to the incident and had not described it as a terror attack. In fact, police later said the perpetrator was a gambling addict with a large amount of debt.

2. Speaking at an April 20 news conference at the White House, Trump commented on an incident unfolding on the Champs-Élysées in Paris less than an hour after it had occurred.

"I just saw it as I was walking in, so that's a terrible thing. And that's a very, very terrible thing that's going on in the world today. But it looks like another terrorist attack," he said.

Four police officers were shot, one fatally, in the Paris incident. The attacker, Karim Cheurfi, was shot dead by authorities.

When Trump spoke, police had not labeled the incident terrorism. It was only later that night that France's then-president, François Hollande, told the public, "We believe the attack is of a terrorist nature."

3. In the chaotic hours after the London Bridge and Borough Market attack on June 3, Trump quickly took to Twitter to begin sharing his thoughts.

He retweeted this Drudge Report post before British police had said anything about the nature of the attack.

Fears of new terror attack after van 'mows down 20 people' on London Bridge...

Before anything was known about the London attackers, he also took the opportunity to promote his travel ban on people from numerous Muslim-majority nations.

We need to be smart, vigilant and tough. We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!

4. When an EgyptAir plane crashed into the Mediterranean in May 2016, killing all 66 on board, Trump soon began tweeting his thoughts.

He quickly speculated that the jet was brought down by terrorism.

Looks like yet another terrorist attack. Airplane departed from Paris. When will we get tough, smart and vigilant? Great hate and sickness!

According to the plane's cockpit voice recorder, which was recovered almost a month later, an attempt was made to put out a fire on the aircraft before it went down.

Officials still have not definitely determined whether the plane crash was an accident or an act of terrorism. A French newspaper reported in May that investigators had not found any explosive residue on the bodies of the 12 French victims.

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