Headlines misrepresent former US attorney general's comments on Trump candidacy
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on July 31, 2023 at 22:52
- Updated on July 31, 2023 at 22:54
- 3 min read
- By Bill MCCARTHY, AFP USA
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"Former Attorney General Bill Barr Threatens to 'Jump Off Bridge' if Trump Secures GOP 2024 Nomination," says a July 30, 2023 headline from the Gateway Pundit, a popular pro-Trump website that has previously promoted misinformation and conspiracy theories about US elections, Covid-19 vaccines and other topics.
Another headline from the Daily Mail says: "Former AG Bill Barr says he'll jump off a BRIDGE if his old boss Trump wins GOP's 2024 nomination - as 45th president continues to hammer DeSantis in polls."
The articles and screenshots of their headlines circulated across platforms such as Instagram and Twitter, which is being rebranded as "X." Other websites ran similar stories, while conservative commentators such as Sebastian Gorka, a former Trump aide, amplified the claims.
Once a Trump loyalist, Barr has emerged as an unlikely but outspoken critic of the former president since leaving his post as attorney general in December 2020, weeks after he contradicted Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was rife with fraud and stolen for Biden.
But Barr did not say he would jump off a bridge if Trump secures the GOP nomination -- his full remarks show he was using a figure of speech when asked about how he would vote in 2024.
The comment appeared in a July 30 NBC News article (archived here) about how many former members of the Trump administration have not supported his bid to take back the White House.
The news outlet quotes Barr as saying: "I have made clear that I strongly oppose Trump for the nomination and will not endorse Trump."
The report then says: "Asked how he would vote if the general election pits Trump against President Joe Biden, a Democrat, Barr said: 'I'll jump off that bridge when I get to it.'"
The phrase "cross that bridge when one comes to it" is an idiom meaning "to not worry about a possible problem until it actually happens," according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
Beyond Barr, NBC News reported that it had reached out to 44 people who served in key cabinet positions under Trump. Only four have publicly said they support his campaign.
Most of the former officials did not respond or declined to comment, the article says, while others remain noncommittal or have indicated they oppose his candidacy.
Trump continues to dominate Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and other Republican challengers in the polls, despite being embroiled in numerous criminal investigations.
AFP has debunked other misinformation about Barr here and here.
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