Germany’s dependence on Russian gas noticed by Washington Post, after paper slammed Trump for same prediction
The same outlet called Trump's claim that Germany would need Russian energy 'misleading'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Washington Post took heat for admitting that Germany is suffering energy shortages due to Russia reducing its supply to the nation, after the outlet slammed Trump for predicting it would happen. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo)
The Daily Wire’s Cabot Phillips blasted liberal fact-checkers on Thursday for reporting that Germany and other European countries are suffering from Russia reducing their access to its energy. He reminded his Twitter followers that these outlets previously denied former President Donald Trump’s predictions that this would occur.
On Thursday afternoon, the Daily Wire senior editor posted two images of two different Washington Post headlines side-by-side and pointed out their evident hypocrisy.
The first headline, published in September 2018, claimed, "Trump accused Germany of becoming ‘totally dependent’ on Russian energy at the U.N. The Germans just smirked."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The second headline, from July 11, stated, "Europe braces for gas ‘nightmare’ as pipeline from Russia shuts off."
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The Russians recently reduced energy supply to European nations, resulting in them scrambling to find alternative sources. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
In addition to sharing the screenshots, Phillips wrote, "Shout out to The Washington Post for giving us one of the greatest Shot Chaser moments in recent history." Clearly, he pointed out that the newer headline admitted what the previous headline had been skeptical about in 2018 when said by Trump.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In a subsequent tweet, Phillips wrote, "Germany -- which gets 66% of their gas from Russia -- is now so desperate for energy that they're dimming street lights at night, restricting hot water use, and shutting down swimming pools."
"I wonder if they're still smirking?" he asked.
To further illustrate his point, Phillips shared another image with text from the more recent article. The excerpt read, "Austria, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands announced plans this week to prepare to resurrect old coal plants as gas supplies dwindled. The moves came just days after Moscow reduced natural gas flows to several European countries."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The piece added that the reduced flows have been "alarming leaders who worried about energy reserves ahead of winter."
Phillips provided more explanation, tweeting, "European countries, which outlawed non-green energy over the last three decades, are now resurrecting COAL PLANTS just to survive."
Phillips then linked to his thread from Wednesday, where he called out other "fact-checkers," including progressive outlet NowThis and CNBC, for disputing Trump’s 2018 claim at a U.N. summit that "Germany will become totally dependent on Russian energy if it does not immediately change course."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In 2018 Trump was slammed for claiming that Germany would soon be dependent on Russian energy. It turns out his projection might be accurate. (Credit: WavyPeter / SplashNews.com)
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The NowThis clip that Phillips linked to featured Trump making his statement with comical background music added in to mock the claim. The NowThis clip also prominently featured the German summit attendees’ incredulous reaction to Trump’s statement, while stating, "Germany’s reaction to Trump’s inaccurate claim is priceless."
The video also cited CNBC’s report calling Trump’s claim"not accurate" and "highly misleading."
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Phillips summed it up saying, "Oh, and fact-checkers called Trump's original comment "'not accurate.'"
In a follow-up tweet, Phillips shared a screenshot of an Al-Jazeera English headline which stated, "Germany turns to coal as Russia cuts gas supplies." The editor commented, "What do you know…"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE - A Belarusian worker on duty at a gas compressor station of the Yamal-Europe pipeline near Nesvizh, some 130 km (81 miles) southwest of the capital Minsk, Belarus, Dec. 29, 2006. Officials in Poland and Bulgaria say Russia is suspending their countries’ natural gas deliveries starting on Wednesday. The governments of the two European countries said Tuesday April 26, 2022, that Russian energy giant Gazprom informed them it was halting gas supplies. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits, File)