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Kellyanne Conway Defended Trump's Travel Ban by Citing a Made-Up Massacre

Conway told MSNBC that the media didn't cover the "Bowling Green massacre"—which is true, because it didn't happen.
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Trump's senior advisor Kellyanne Conway went on MSNBC to defend the president's much-maligned travel ban on Thursday, saying that Obama instated a similar refugee ban following the "Bowling Green massacre."

"I bet it's brand-new information to people that President Obama had a six-month ban on the Iraqi refugee program after two Iraqis came here to this country, were radicalized, and they were the masterminds behind the Bowling Green massacre," Conway said. "It didn't get covered."

She's completely right on that last count—the mainstream media didn't cover the massacre in Bowling Green, Kentucky, because there never was one. The closest thing to reality in Conway's story is that a pair of Iraqi refugees were arrested in Bowling Green back in 2009 for planning to send weapons and funds to terrorists overseas. They never killed anyone in Bowling Green, though—let alone stage a massacre—and didn't seem to have plans to.

Following their arrests, the US government ramped up the vetting process for Iraqi refugees, slowing the influx of refugees, but Obama never instated an outright ban, as Conway claimed.

On Friday morning, Conway tweeted to clarify her remarks, shrugging off the fake massacre reference by saying "honest mistakes abound," but that hasn't stopped her from getting thoroughly roasted on Twitter.