Yesterday we took a look at “Stupid AI” on the matter of Ilhan Omar’s marriage to her brother. By email, our friend Brian Ward quoted my question: “How stupid can artificial intelligence get?” Brian commented: “It’s a parameter we’ve not yet identified. But we do know the New York Times can always exceed it.”
Here Brian pointed me to the deep dive into stupidity with New York Times reporters David Sanger and Zolan Kanno-Youngs. They disputed President Trump on the Omar matter in “Two Hours, Scores of Questions, 23,000 Words: Our Interview With President Trump.” Tyler Pager and Katie Rogers also participated in the January 8 Oval Office interview, with Pager posing the first question regarding Omar. This is how it went:
Tyler Pager
Do you think [Ilhan Omar] should lose her, her citizenship?
President Trump
Oh, absolutely.
David E. Sanger
And on what criteria?
President Trump
Well, she married her brother, and she’s a disaster.
Zolan Kanno-Youngs
That lacks evidence.
President Trump
And she’s a troublemaker, and she — all she does is complain, complain, complain.
David E. Sanger
Well, that’s a First Amendment right. Once you are — complain, complain, complain — is —
President Trump
That’s all right, yeah. I think it’s a First — but she comes from a place where she should go back. I think she should go back and fix it. I’d much rather have her go back and fix it. I think she’s a disaster, and I think that she’s got a lot of problems right now. I believe she’s a very dishonest person who’s done a lot of very bad things.
Zolan Kanno-Youngs
To be clear, though —
President Trump
Including the marriage of her brother, which is —
David E. Sanger
Not proven.
President Trump
— unusual. Well, I think it’s been proven. Everything I’ve read has been proven.
Zolan Kanno-Youngs
Completely unfounded, I believe.
President Trump
Boy, I don’t know why you people stick up for this.
I wrote about Omar’s marriage to her brother, most recently, in the Washington Free Beacon column “Yes, Ilhan Omar married her brother.” There you will find evidence supporting the proposition. I have been writing about the subject for 10 years now. In that time, the only evidence I have found contradicting the documentary and other such evidence is Omar’s flat denial. Omar’s denial shouldn’t count for anything in the face of the evidence to the contrary. Her flat denial — and that is all it is, accompanied by accusations of racism — isn’t credible.
I believe that President Trump has been briefed on the evidence and that he knows what he’s talking about: “Everthing I’ve read has been proven.” The Times reporters, not so much. Trump’s comment perfectly encapsulates their willful ignorance: “Boy, I don’t know why you people stick up for this.” We have a pretty good idea why, but Trump puts it politely.
