Trump asks Americans to recall non-existent TV outage linked to wind energy
Translated from Serbian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.
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- Donald Trump asked Americans to recall a non-existent widespread TV signal disruption from two years ago, according to CNN.
- The former president frequently criticizes wind energy, making false claims about its reliability, including the fabricated TV outage anecdote.
- The TV outage story, often told humorously, was presented as fact during a recent speech where Trump also criticized the Green New Deal.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump has again asked Americans to remember an event that never happened, this time referencing a supposed widespread television signal disruption two years ago, CNN reported. Trump, known for making unsubstantiated claims, appears to have asked people to recall something he invented.
The fabricated story this time concerned wind energy, a sector Trump has consistently criticized. He has repeatedly made inaccurate assertions about wind power, including a fictional anecdote claiming that in areas relying on wind energy, people cannot watch television when the wind stops blowing. This is factually incorrect, as wind energy is part of a diverse energy mix, and the power grid continues to function, allowing televisions to operate even without wind. Furthermore, battery storage systems can supply energy during periods of low wind.
Trump has often shared this "non-working TV" story in a joking manner, which has sometimes allowed it to bypass fact-checking. However, during a recent speech at the Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in Washington, he presented the anecdote as if it were a real occurrence. He condemned what he called the "Green New Deal scam," stating that "people have been ripped off."
The whole country was ripped off โ I wasn't. I knew what it was from the beginning; I understood it the moment I heard this nonsense.
"The whole country was ripped off โ I wasn't. I knew what it was from the beginning; I understood it the moment I heard this nonsense," Trump said. He recounted the narrative, "They were saying wind energy was a wonderful thing, a wonderful thing, except you couldn't watch television. People wanted to watch the debate โ Donald Trump versus Sleepy Joe Biden. Nobody could watch it because the wind wasn't blowing. Do you remember that? 'Honey, we want to watch the debate tonight.' 'I'm sorry, the wind isn't blowing.'"
The debate Trump referenced, held in June 2024 between him and then-President Joe Biden, was watched by tens of millions of Americans. Nielsen estimates indicated over 51 million people watched it on television alone. This includes viewers in Texas, the state that produced the most wind energy in 2024 and remains a leader in production. Texas is a majority-Republican state and a key victory state for Trump. Biden has advocated for renewable energy, setting a goal for 100% clean electricity by 2035, though the Green New Deal resolution itself was never adopted by Congress or signed by Biden.
They were saying wind energy was a wonderful thing, a wonderful thing, except you couldn't watch television. People wanted to watch the debate โ Donald Trump versus Sleepy Joe Biden. Nobody could watch it because the wind wasn't blowing. Do you remember that? 'Honey, we want to watch the debate tonight.' 'I'm sorry, the wind isn't blowing.'
DistantNews Editorial
Originally published by N1 Serbia in Serbian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.
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