Trump Takes Credit For Major Accomplishment Based On Info From Random Twitter User, Hilarity Ensues

Judd Legum

Judd Legum Editor-in-Chief, Think Progress

The theory of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign is that he will change the country by the force of his will. He will command Mexico to pay for a beautiful wall on the southern border. Iran will send back American hostages, simply because he told them to. America will be great again.

So Trump must have been pleased when he saw this tweet in his mentions:

 

That user only has 201 followers, but Trump promptly blasted it to his audience of 4.67 million people. Why? @ObfuscateClearly had linked to another tweet which linked to an October 25 article with the headline: “Trump successfully pressures Ford to move Mexican plant to Ohio.”

Trump seized on the issue as a validation of the theory of his candidacy:

This certainly seems like big news. It was published on a site called Prntly, “an offshoot of Printly.com, a printing wholesale company in Manchester New Hampshire,” which bills itself as “the most read political blog in the United States.”

 

How did Prntly get the scoop? The basis for its article was a CNN article from this August noting that Ford was shifting production of some of its pickup trucks from Mexico to Ohio.

Trump launched his campaign on June 16. That would only leave 8 weeks for Ford to absorb Trump’s message, decide to shift production from Mexico to Ohio and then actually retool and start production of trucks.

Actually, the decision dates back to 2011 when John Kasich — a rival of Trump for the GOP nomination — awarded a tax incentive to Ford to keep the plant open:

Ford Motor Co. received a tax incentive that could retain 1,400 jobs and maintain operations at its Ohio Assembly Plant for the next 18 years, according to a deal with the Ohio Tax Credit Authority.

Gov. John R. Kasich will join Ford Vice President of North American Manufacturing Jim Tetreault and Ohio Assembly Plant Manager Alex Maciag at a press conference today at 9:30 a.m.

The announcement, which will take place at Ford Motor Co.’s Ohio Assembly Plant’s administrative Building in Sheffield Lake, will include information about Ford’s investment commitment and future product plans for the plant.

It appeared the tax credits would be part of Ford’s commitment to move its medium truck and frame assembly to Ohio from Mexico, an investment of $128 million.

The United Auto Workers, which represents employees at the plant, said the deal highlighted “the importance of the partnership with our state and local governments in moving production of the F-650 and F-750 from Mexico to our facility.”

Trump currently sits atop the GOP field nationally, a position he has held for 98 straight days.

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This has been reposted from Think Progress.

Judd Legum is Editor-in-Chief of ThinkProgress. Previously, Judd was the Research Director for the Hillary Clinton for President campaign. He also worked at American Progress from 2003 to 2007, when he founded and edited ThinkProgress. Judd holds a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and a B.A. from Pomona College in Public Policy analysis. He is a member of the Maryland Bar and has practiced as an attorney, focusing on civil and criminal trial work. Judd has also appeared frequently on radio and television, including CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and CNBC.

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