Not a ‘one word’ error: Conway repeatedly told elaborate stories about fake ‘Bowling Green massacre’
Trump advisor mentioned non-existent attack three times, weaving complex tale about masterminds training in Mideast before killing ‘innocent soldiers’ in US
Donald Trump’s advisor Kellyanne Conway has claimed she simply misspoke in referring to the non-existent “Bowling Green massacre”, supposedly perpetrated by Iraqi refugees.
But in fact, she has used the term at least three times in media interviews, and even cited an elaborate, tale about the supposed masterminds travelling to the Middle East, training as terrorists, then returning to the US where they killed “innocent soldiers”. None of it ever happened.
The controversy began last week when Conway, defending the US president’s travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries, told MSNBC that two Iraqis who came to the US and had been radicalised “were the masterminds behind the Bowling Green massacre”.
Fact-checkers quickly pointed out that no such massacre took place. Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former president Bill and defeated candidate Hillary, described it as “completely fake” , tweeting: “Please don’t make up attacks.”
Conway, who was Trump’s campaign manager during the election, tweeted the next day that she had “misspoke one word” and made an “ honest mistake ” and had meant to say “Bowling Green terrorists”, referring to two Iraqi citizens from Bowling Green, Kentucky, who had been convicted of trying to send weapons and money to al-Qaeda.