CNN tried to fact-check President Donald Trump’s weekend claim that he received the “Bay of Pigs” award Sunday by reporting that no such award exists.
“For those confused by Trump’s claim he got the ‘highly honored Bay of Pigs Award’: He got an endorsement in 2016 from the Bay of Pigs Veterans Association. It’s not an award,” explained network fact-checker Daniel Dale.
The thing is that it was, according to local news coverage, an unprecedented endorsement from the Bay of Pigs Veterans. So Trump could accurately boast about it. But he often seems to prefer wrongness to even impressive-sounding correctness – no truth too good not to embellish.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) September 13, 2020
The Trump campaign almost immediately corrected Dale by publishing a photo of the president accepting the award.
Here's the award. It's a hand-painted Brigade 2506 shield.
The media will say anything to dismiss President Trump's Hispanic supporters! https://t.co/x5hPMHkP09 pic.twitter.com/pn5dtGvTr2
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) September 13, 2020
Dale doubled-down, calling the award “nonexistent,” which then provoked the Trump campaign to post an official letter from the group confirming the award highlighting their support for the president.
The Trump campaign says the proof that Trump got the (nonexistent) Bay of Pigs Award is that, when he spoke to the Bay of Pigs vets’ association upon accepting their endorsement, they gave him a painting of their brigade shield. https://t.co/TuPQFQ1ylW
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) September 13, 2020
“It was with great satisfaction that we read President Donald J. Trump’s Twitter mentioning the event in which the Veterans Association-Brigade 2506 presented a recognition award, consisting of the emblem used by our patriots during the battle of the Bay of Pigs Invasion, Cuba, 1961,” the group wrote.
“The award was presented to President Trump for the purpose of recognizing his political and social platform, which is in line with the conservative beliefs of our organization and his objectives of ending totalitarian regimes, drug and human trafficking and human rights abuses in our hemisphere and beyond.”
“It is with great satisfaction that we read President Donald J. Trump’s twitter mentioning the event in which the Veterans Association-Brigade 2506 presented a recognition award”
“We strongly support and endorse President Trump” pic.twitter.com/9IyOMTTaKi
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) September 14, 2020
Dale, Democrats, and those in legacy media however have continued to call the president’s claim self-righteously false.
There was an endorsement from a 'Bay of Pigs' group, but there's no such award. https://t.co/9Hlo6o7riZ
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) September 13, 2020
https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1305241579989368832?s=20
“Bay of Pigs Award”!!!!! Oh Donald NO… 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 https://t.co/2jRqWHSKwU
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) September 13, 2020
Dale has also furiously claimed that former Vice President Joe Biden doesn’t want to ban guns, only to be contradicted by the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee to say yes, Biden does want to ban guns.
Oh @ddale8… pic.twitter.com/poY7MlRP7q
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) September 14, 2020
