Trump mocked, criticized over altered Dorian map showing path to Alabama: ‘Did he draw with a Sharpie?’

Philly.com

President Donald Trump is continuing to focus on his days-old contention that Hurricane Dorian -- which has regained strength to become a Category 3 storm -- once threatened Alabama.

Trump shared several messages on Twitter Thursday morning insisting that “certain models strongly suggested” Alabama would be hit by the hurricane as it made its way through Florida, even as the storm threatens hundreds of thousands of residents in the Carolinas.

Alabama was going to be hit or grazed, and then Hurricane Dorian took a different path (up along the East Coast). The Fake News knows this very well. That’s why they’re the Fake News!

-- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2019

The National Weather Service made it clear last week Dorian posed no threat to Alabama, tweeting out a correction 20 minutes after Trump made his false claim. The White House also posted a photo on its official Flickr account showing Trump being briefed on Aug. 29 with the correct map -- showing no threat to Alabama -- by acting National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration head Neil Jacobs.

During a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Trump touted a forecast map issued a week ago by the National Weather Service. But the map Trump produced for reporters showed the hurricane’s projected path extended by a black marker to include Alabama, which the president insisted was among the states “most likely to be hit harder than anticipated.”

When pressed by reporters whether he altered the map himself with a black Sharpie, Trump didn’t deny it, according to pool reports. Instead, the president simply repeated, “I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know.”

“Just so everyone is clear. This forecast cone was from 5 days ago," Fox News meteorologist Janice Dean tweeted following Trump’s press conference, calling the map Trump showed reporters “inaccurate, misleading and fake.” However, on Fox & Friends, which the president watches regularly, the altered map wasn’t mentioned once Thursday morning.

Just so everyone is clear. This forecast cone was from 5 days ago. Alabama was NEVER in the official cone from the @NHC_Atlantic The sharpie-bubble was drawn by someone else. This map is inaccurate, misleading and fake. pic.twitter.com/PIBvQFKmOH

-- Janice Dean (@JaniceDean) September 4, 2019

#Sharpiegate and other hashtags mocking the president’s map continued to trend on Twitter Thursday. Most featured other boasts Trump has made over the years -- including the size of his hands and the attendance at his 2018 inauguration -- and attempted to prove using black lines.

Trump releases photo to show he’s taller than Obama. pic.twitter.com/U4K7C4MzQI

-- Schooley (@Rschooley) September 4, 2019

Not surprisingly, Trump was mocked by late-night comedians over the altered map. “Not only do we have fake news, we now have fake weather, too,” ABC host Jimmy Kimmel said. Stephen Colbert, host of The Late Show on CBS, joked that Trump was going to “weather jail,” pointing out it’s technically illegal to “knowingly issues or publishes any counterfeit weather forecast.”

“Did he draw … Did he draw with a Sharpie?” The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah asked before breaking down in laughter. “The president of the United States just changed a map with a sharpie to make himself look right. And he thought we wouldn’t notice.”

TONIGHT: Did Trump think he could change the path of the hurricane with a Sharpie and we wouldn’t notice? pic.twitter.com/GFtXIEvYbF

-- The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) September 5, 2019

Comedians weren’t the only ones to call out Trump’s altered map. Gary Szatkowski, a former National Weather Service meteorologist who worked out of the agency’s office in Mount Holly, criticized the president for continuing to focus on days-old information while Hurricane Dorian continues to move in on South Carolina.

Instead of focusing on the current threat from Hurricane Dorian, the President this morning continues to try and justify sending out three day old information regarding the Hurricane and the State of Alabama. pic.twitter.com/2jAWWT6PSI

-- Gary Szatkowski (@GarySzatkowski) September 5, 2019

“Having a President more focused on where the Hurricane wasn’t going as opposed to where it is going seems suboptimal,” former Obama White House communications director and current Pod Save America host Dan Pfeiffer wrote on Twitter.

Dorian is expected to lead to high seas and dangerous winds at the Jersey Shore Friday as it makes its way north over the Atlantic Ocean, but will have little impact farther inland, according to the weather service.

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