President Trump drew comparisons to George Orwell’s 1984 in an attack on the media during a speech at the Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention Tuesday.
In his address to the convention in Kansas City, Trump defended his decision to slap tariffs on the U.S.’s trading partners. As Trump told the crowd that “it’s all working out,” he warned those in the audience against believing what they see in the news.
“What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening,” Trump said.
For some, the quote immediately recalled a line from Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984: “The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
Those on Twitter quickly connected Trump’s words to what Orwell wrote.
It’s not the first time Trump’s speeches has reminded people of something out of an Orwell story. Last week, Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake called Trump’s words at his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki an “Orwellian moment.”
Earlier on Tuesday, the U.S. government announced a $12 billion plan to help farmers affected negatively by Trump’s trade disputes with China. The plan will assist soybean producers located in the Midwest who have been hurt by duties imposed by China on their products in retaliation to Trump’s tariffs.
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