President Donald Trump would not back off his controversial comments Sweden had large scale problems with immigration Monday, tweeting the news media was covering up the issue, The New York Times reported.
Trump at a Florida rally Saturday referenced "what's happening last night in Sweden" during his speech, a comment criticized by many, but later cleared up by a White House spokeswoman as Trump "talking about rising crime and recent incidents in general and not referring to a specific incident."
Trump on Twitter later said he was referring to a story broadcast on Fox News concerning immigrants and Sweden. He tweeted Monday:
Trump has come under fire for his comments because he has not provided much context in terms of data.
"This statement created an unnecessary discussion and misunderstanding," Karin Enstrom, the foreign affairs spokeswoman for the opposition Moderate Party, told the Times. "We expect the president of the U.S. to base his statements on facts."
Furthermore, Sweden's crime prevention council last month found no substantial increase in crimes from 2015 – that is the year Sweden grew by 103,662 people, a record mainly due to immigration. There was an increase in assaults and rapes last year, the Times reported, as well as a drop in robberies, drug offenses and thefts.
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