[In
that story, the Fox News host Tucker Carlson interviewed Ami Horowitz, a
filmmaker who asserts that migrants in Sweden have been associated with a crime
wave. “They oftentimes try to cover up some of these crimes,” Mr. Horowitz
said, arguing that those who try to tell the truth about the situation are
shouted down as racists and xenophobes.]
By Sewell Chan
 |
|
At a campaign-style rally
in Florida on Saturday, President Trump issued
a sharp critique of Europe’s refugee policies, ticking
off a list of places
that have been struck by terrorists. But he also mentioned Sweden,
which has not
been a target of recent terrorist attacks. By THE
ASSOCIATED PRESS. Photo by Susan
Walsh/Associated Press.
Watch in Times Video »
|
LONDON — Swedes reacted with confusion, anger and
ridicule on Sunday to a vague remark by President Trump that suggested that
something terrible had occurred in their country.
During a campaign-style rally on Saturday in
Florida, Mr. Trump issued a sharp if discursive attack on refugee policies in
Europe, ticking off a list of places that have been hit by terrorists.
“You look at what’s happening,” he told his
supporters. “We’ve got to keep our country safe. You look at what’s happening
in Germany, you look at what’s happening last night in Sweden. Sweden, who
would believe this?”
Not the Swedes.
Nothing particularly nefarious happened in
Sweden on Friday — or Saturday, for that matter — and Swedes were left baffled.
“Sweden? Terror attack? What has he been
smoking? Questions abound,” Carl Bildt, a former prime minister and foreign
minister, wrote on Twitter.
As the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet noted,
Twitter users were quick to ridicule Mr. Trump’s remark, with joking references
to the Swedish Chef, the “Muppets” character; Swedish meatballs; and Ikea, the
furniture giant.
Mr. Trump did not state, per se, that a
terrorist attack had taken place in Sweden. But the context of his remarks — he
mentioned Sweden right after he chastised Germany, a destination for refugees
and asylum seekers fleeing war and deprivation — suggested that he thought it
might have.
“Sweden,” Mr. Trump said. “They took in large
numbers. They’re having problems like they never thought possible.”
He then invoked the terrorist attacks that
took place in Paris in 2015 and in Brussels and Nice, France, last year, to
make an argument for tightening scrutiny of travelers and asylum seekers.
“We’ve allowed thousands and thousands of people into our country, and there
was no way to vet those people,” he said. “There was no documentation. There
was no nothing. So we’re going to keep our country safe.”
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a White House
spokeswoman, tried to clarify the president’s remarks Sunday, saying Mr. Trump
did not mean to suggest that a particular attack had happened the night before,
but rather was talking about crime in general in Sweden.
On Sunday, Mr. Trump offered his own
clarification, writing on Twitter, “My statement as to what’s happening in
Sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on @FoxNews concerning
immigrants & Sweden.”
In that story, the Fox News host Tucker
Carlson interviewed Ami Horowitz, a filmmaker who asserts that migrants in
Sweden have been associated with a crime wave. “They oftentimes try to cover up
some of these crimes,” Mr. Horowitz said, arguing that those who try to tell
the truth about the situation are shouted down as racists and xenophobes.
(Mr. Carlson interjected, “The masochism of
the West knows no bounds at all.”)
Mr. Horowitz said, “Sweden had its first
terrorist Islamic attack not that long ago, so they’re now getting a taste of
what we’ve been seeing across Europe already.”
It was not clear what he was referring to. In
2010, a suicide bomber struck central Stockholm, injuring two people. The
bomber, Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly, 28, was an Iraqi-born Swede who had
developed an affinity for Al Qaeda. But that attack occurred long before the
current wave of migrants.
Sweden has a long history of welcoming
refugees — Jews, Iranians, Eritreans, Somalis, Kurds and people from the former
Yugoslavia, among others — but even some of the most tolerant and idealistic
Swedes have raised questions about whether the country can absorb so many
newcomers so quickly.
Henrik Selin, a political scientist and
deputy director of the Swedish Institute, a state agency dedicated to promoting
Sweden globally, said he was puzzled by Mr. Trump’s remarks.
“I do not have a clue what he was referring
to,” he said in a telephone interview. “Obviously, this could be connected to
the fact that there has been a lot of negative reporting about Sweden, since
Sweden has taken in a lot of refugees.”
The country processed 81,000 asylum seekers
in 2014, 163,000 in 2015 and 29,000 last year, with another 25,000 to 45,000
expected this year, according to the Swedish Migration Agency.
Mr. Selin completed a study recently focusing
on negative news reports about Sweden’s acceptance of refugees. It found
numerous exaggerations and distortions, including false reports that Shariah
law was predominant in parts of the country and that some immigrant-heavy
neighborhoods were considered “no-go zones” by the police.
Breitbart News, the right-wing website once
led by Stephen K. Bannon, now Mr. Trump’s senior strategist, has published
numerous stories alleging that migrants have been responsible for a surge in
crime and for a wave of sexual assaults. Swedish officials have said that their
statistics do not justify such sweeping assertions, and that the country has a
high number of sexual assault reports relative to other European countries
because more victims come forward, not because there is more violence.
Mr. Selin said the news reports “were highly
exaggerated and not based in facts,” adding, “Some of the stories were very
popular to spread in social media by people who have the same kind of agenda —
that countries should not receive so many refugees.”
As for the cover-up alleged by Mr. Horowitz,
Mr. Selin said: “That kind of claim has been in the political debate for 15
years now. But nobody has been able to prove there is a cover-up. On the contrary,
the fact is that crime rates are going down.”
He added: “Swedish authorities have nothing
to gain from hiding the truth. We are quite keen to ensure that the debate and
the story about our country is fact-based and nuanced. We are more than happy
to talk about the challenges our country faces as well as the things that are
going well.”
Asked about Mr. Trump’s comment, Anna Kinberg
Batra, the leader of the opposition Moderate Party, said in a statement,
“President Trump has to answer himself for his statements, why he makes them
and based on what facts.”
Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom declined to
comment because, her press secretary, Erik Wirkensjo, said, “it’s hard to say
what Trump is talking about.”
In an essay in the newspaper Dagens Nyheter,
the journalist Martin Gelin speculated that “Trump might have gotten his news
from the countless right-wing media in the United States that have long been
reporting that Sweden is heading for total collapse.”
He added, “Among Trump supporters, there are
common myths that Sweden is in a state of chaos after taking in refugees from
the Middle East.”
Follow Sewell Chan on Twitter @sewellchan.
Christina Anderson contributed reporting from
Stockholm, and Peter Baker from Washington.
