Donald Trump’s claim about being Man of the Year just got debunked… again.
During a speech at the Detroit Economic Club Thursday, Trump took aim at The New York Times ’s Peter Baker, whom he dubbed an “Obama disciple,” for asserting that the former president had never won any such award.
Trump claimed that Baker “said that uhhh, I would go around saying that ‘I was honored here, years ago as the Man of the Year’ or whatever.”
“And he made the statement that that never took place. That honor never took place. I was never honored here,” Trump said. “Which was quite insulting, actually.”
Last month, when asked about his plan to keep jobs in the U.S., Trump launched into a rant about being “honored as the Man of the Year” by “a group,” and complained that the news media had said it “never happened.” Baker, and others, have noted Trump’s insistence that he won the non-existent award as evidence of his cognitive decline.
“I didn’t remember the specifics of it, it was 18 or 20 years ago, but he said it never took place. Very much like Kamala she said she worked at McDonalds, and she didn’t,” Trump noted.
In an attempt to clear up uncertainty, Trump had his team search for proof of the award. “I asked my people, ‘you gotta find it,’” Trump said. Why not? It’s not like they have anything better to do, like work on fleshing out his “concepts of a plan” health care proposal.
“And guess what? They found it,” Trump said, holding up a printed-out copy of a 2023 article from The Oakland Press . The article, titled “Oakland County GOP to Honor Donald Trump,” was not an original article about the Republican nominee being named Man of the Year, but mentioned the fact that he had previously been awarded the honor by the local Republican party in 2013—not 18 or 20 years ago.
“And it says down here, ‘The county party gave Trump the Man of the Year Award at the dinner’…and he was honored. So here’s your article, right here,” Trump said.
But shortly after Trump’s speech concluded, an editor’s note appeared at the top of the Oakland Press article online.
“A story published in May 2023 online and print editions of the Oakland Press reported that former President Donald Trump was honored with a Man of the Year award at the 2013 county GOP Lincoln Day dinner,” the note read. “A reference in the 2023 story, headlined ‘Oakland County GOP to honor Donald Trump,’ about the 2013 award was incorrect.”
“Trump was the keynote speaker at the 2013 dinner in Novi, which drew a record crowd. He was not honored as Man of the Year. During the 2023 dinner, Trump was honored as the Man of the Decade which was reported in the 2023 story,” the note continued.
“We’re setting the record straight after the former president incorrectly cited the 2013 Man of the Year award during a recent speech to the Detroit Economic Club,” the note added.
So, it appears that Trump’s inane brag was based on a reporting error.
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