It was only a matter of time before Sweden — the politically-correct, socialist realm inhabited by 10 million souls — came into Trump’s crosshairs. “You look at what’s happening last night in Sweden. Sweden, who would believe this? Sweden. They took in large numbers. They’re having problems like they never thought possible”, United States President Donald Trump said in a speech last week.
That something had happened “last night” in the small European country came as news to many in the crowd. He had mentioned Sweden right after citing Brussels, Nice and Paris — which had all been hit by terror attacks. Had there been an attack in the Nordic country? This baffled journalists. And, it puzzled the entire population of Sweden, who were surprised to hear that something terrible had happened in their country — and that it took Trump to give them that information.
Of course, as with the now infamous invented Bowling Green Massacre, whatever happened “last night in Sweden” only took place in the tortured dreams of Team Trump. And, as with Kellyanne Conway’s imaginary Bowling Green massacre, Trump was forced to concede via Twitter the next day that he wasn’t referring to any specific incident, but was speaking only in general terms about the impact of immigration and refugees on Sweden.
And where did Trump get this information about Sweden? The intelligence services? Seasoned diplomats in Stockholm? Academic research? No, it was Fox News.
In addition to the spectacle of a US president setting off speculation as to whether there had been a terrorist attack in another country, citizens in the US were also treated to the news that their commander-in-chief bases public comments with wide-ranging geo-political and diplomatic implications on something he saw on Fox News.
Lost in the avalanche of (often hilarious) memes and tweets ridiculing Trump is the fact that this was another example of the deliberate smearing of Muslim immigrants and refugees by the Trump administration.
In order to rationalise his call for a wide-ranging ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries entering the US, Trump was more-than-willing to suggest that Muslim immigrants to Sweden, the vast majority of whom are honest and law-abiding, contribute nothing other than crime, terrorism and decay. It was the cynical and cowardly misrepresentation of human beings, unable to defend themselves against the enormous media power of a US president, in the service of a domestic political agenda.
But, of all countries, why Sweden?
A few things spring to mind. Most obviously, Sweden represents many of the things that those on the US political right despise: A welfare state rooted in a semblance of collective responsibility; staunch support for reproductive rights; an acceptance of the importance of feminism; a firm belief in environmental responsibility; the notion that paid parental leave (for men and women) and subsidised daycare are short-term costs that give long-term social gains and, a (previously) generous immigration and asylum policy.
Also, Muslim immigrants and refugees have been in Sweden for many years before the influx from Syria. This included large numbers from Iraq: Immigrants and refugees the US, responsible for destroying the country, refused to accept. So, the moral high ground was lost.
It’s not strange, then, that to US conservatives Sweden is a symbol of PC culture gone crazy, and that they will take any chance to tear Sweden down ... even if doing so means alluding to non-existent attacks. Ends and means.
Sweden has many problems, and is far from perfect. The utopian social democratic Sweden that began in the 1960s and 1970s was always part myth. Sweden is (per capita) one of the largest weapons exporters in the world. The welfare model is in decline. The intake of refugees has been drastically reduced. There is racism.
Immigration has led to political strife and social debate, crystallized in the rapid rise of the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats. There is crime in Sweden, with some committed by immigrants (as in any other country). But, the notion forwarded by many media outlets that Sweden is ravaged by violent crime and near collapse is plainly and simply untrue.
Trump is leveraging two things when he suggests Sweden is under attack: A lack of knowledge about the country, and a core of anti-Muslim bigotry.
There is more than a tinge of irony in the president of a country where there are 15,000 homicides per year — of which next to none are committed by refugees — lecturing Sweden about refugees, security and violent crime. But, that discussion is one Trump will never have, as it undermines his emotional “Enemy at the Gates” rhetoric.
Lies like the Bowling Green Massacre and references to the “incident” in Sweden are not about facts or truth. Conway and Trump don’t care if what they say is true. They want to spread fear, because fear enables those in power to take extreme and otherwise unacceptable measures. It damages democracy. More importantly, it damages humanity.
— Guardian News and Media Limited
Christian Christensen is professor of Journalism Studies at Stockholm University. His work focuses on the relationship between technology, journalism and political power.
