The New York Times reports:
In describing the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Sunday, President Trump used dramatic, even cinematic language to portray the daring American commando raid that brought down the Islamic State leader who, the president said, died “screaming, crying and whimpering.”
Mr. Trump described the video footage he watched from the White House Situation Room as “something really amazing to see.” The experience, the president said, was “as though you were watching a movie.”
But those surveillance feeds could not show what was happening in an underground tunnel, much less detect if Mr. al-Baghdadi was whimpering or crying. Delta Force operators were wearing body cameras, officials said, but those cameras do not broadcast in real time; instead the video in those cameras is configured to be downloaded and reviewed after the operation is complete.
NYT: Mr. Esper did not repeat the “whimpering” and “crying” assertion made by Mr. Trump. “I don’t have those details,” he said.
Me: Sounds like Trump probably made up those details. https://t.co/b6Q2tiTnb5
— Max Boot (@MaxBoot) October 27, 2019
“[F]eeds could not show what was happening in an underground tunnel, much less detect if Mr. al-Baghdadi was whimpering or crying. . . .At the time of Mr. Trump’s remarks, that footage had not been reviewed by senior commanders in the Pentagon or given to the White House.”
— Jennifer Taub (@jentaub) October 28, 2019
I’m glad Al-Baghadi is dead & thank our brave soldiers, but if our special forces were close enough to hear him “crying and whimpering” as Trump said they would all been killed when he detonated his suicide vest.
It’s just one of the many problems with Trump’s “official” story
— Don Winslow (@donwinslow) October 27, 2019
REPORTER: You mentioned that al-Baghdadi was ‘whimpering.’ Could you hear that on your video hookup?
TRUMP: I don’t want to talk about it, but he was screaming, crying, & whimpering. And he was scared out of his mind. Think of James Foley, think of Kayla… he didn’t want to die pic.twitter.com/yAUAMjPgPZ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 27, 2019