It has come to our attention that you have taken to referring to Sweden in your speeches. While we are flattered by your consideration, it looks like there might be a few issues for us to address. To that end, we have composed a fact checking cheat sheet on some of the more persistent debunked rumors about the country.
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1. NO, there have not been any Islamist terrorist attacks in Sweden since the refugee crisis.
During a speech on Saturday, you used Sweden as an example of how badly things can go when a country lets in too many refugees, referring to what happened ”last night in Sweden”. The most recent, and only, Islamist terrorist attack in Sweden happened in December of 2010, before the refugee crisis. Granted, there have been other terrorist attacks since 2010, but the motives have been rooted in white supremacy.
2. NO, there are no ”no go zones” in Sweden.
The right-wing populists that you often use as information sources have a tendency to demonize Swedish integration policy. These sources frequently refer to reports of 53 particularly crime-ridden ”no go zones”. But, President Trump, according to Swedish police, zones of the sort do not exist.
3. NO, Swedish authorities and media do not cover up immigrant crime rates
With reference to a Fox News interview with documentary film maker Ami Horowitz, you have made the claim that refugees are to blame for increased crime rates in Sweden, but that this is being covered up by Swedish authorities and the Swedish media. This claim is impossible to prove as Swedish crime statistics do not record ethnicity. A 2005 study did show that foreign born Swedes were somewhat overrepresented as suspected perpetrators, which might be explained by social reasons.
4. NO, Sweden is not a rape capital
One common allegation made by right-wing populists is that Sweden is in the midst of a rape crisis. This claim has been made on many occasions by website Breitbart, which your chief strategist Steve Bannon used to run. This was also presented as fact in Ami Horowitz’s documentary. While we appreciate that more people are getting involved with women’s rights, we find it important to stick to the truth. It is true that a fairly large number of rapes is reported in Sweden, but the number cannot be compared to other countries’ as legal definitions and women’s likelihood to report rapes vary.
5. NO, Germany is not in Sweden
In your 1987 autobiography, you claimed that your grandfather was from Karlstad, a town in the Swedish region Värmland. This is incorrect, as your grandfather is actually from Kallstadt, Germany, something we know you have also been confronted with in Vanity Fair. While we’re at it, we may as well add that we do not have a ”president”, which you told Vanity Fair, but rather a prime minister.
