President Donald Trump once again insisted Friday that he wasn't wrong when he claimed Hurricane Dorian could have slammed into Alabama, pushing the incorrect assertion for a sixth consecutive day and prompting blistering ridicule.
As Dorian continued to cause very real damage in the Carolinas, Trump kept his eye focused on Alabama, which he claimed Sunday was "likely" in for a "much harder" hurricane hit "than anticipated" and then reportedly used a black marker to doctor a projection map to that effect.
"The Fake News Media was fixated on the fact that I properly said, at the beginnings of Hurricane Dorian, that in addition to Florida & other states, Alabama may also be grazed or hit. They went Crazy, hoping against hope that I made a mistake (which I didn't). Check out maps," Trump tweeted.
He even fumed he's owed an apology from the media.
"This nonsense has never happened to another president," he continued. "Four days of corrupt reporting, still without an apology. But there are many things that the Fake News Media has not apologized to me for ... The LameStream Media and their Democrat partner should start playing it straight. It would be so much better for our Country!"
Despite Trump's claims, his own administration's forecasters felt the need to clarify that Alabama was not in Dorian's path after the president tweeted Sunday that the Yellowhammer State should prepare for possible hurricane damage.
"Alabama will NOT see any impacts from #Dorian. We repeat, no impacts from Hurricane #Dorian will be felt across Alabama. The system will remain too far east," the National Weather Service's Birmingham, Ala., office tweeted within 30 minutes of Trump's original post.
But instead of admitting his mistake, Trump spent the coming days doubling, tripling and quadrupling down on his incorrect assertion.
Since the original error, Trump has tweeted out multiple projection maps from three and four days before his Sunday tweet that indicated there was a slim chance Alabama could be slammed by Dorian. But by the time of his Sunday tweet, that was no longer the case.
The president even presented a conspicuously altered projection map from Aug. 29 while talking to reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday, on which a crude line had been drawn in black marker to make it appear as if Alabama was in Dorian's path.
Trump drew the line himself, according to The Washington Post.
The president's Friday demand for an apology poured gasoline on the flames of sarcasm ignited by his critics.
Joe Walsh, the former Republican congressman from Illinois who's mounting a long-shot primary bid against Trump in 2020, promptly began fundraising off of the president's latest outburst.
"Since the guy in the White House is a pathological liar, we customized his favorite marker to give him some advice: 'DON'T LIE,'" Walsh tweeted along with a link to his campaign online store. "Chip in $25 or more, and we'll send you our very own 'DON'T LIE' sharpie."
George Conway, the famously Trump-hating husband of the president's senior counselor, struck a more serious note and questioned whether the man in the Oval Office is losing his marbles.
"After being called out for doctoring a map with a Sharpie and lying about it, you're now lying about what you said and when you said it," Conway tweeted. "If you were mentally balanced, you would have just immediately corrected yourself and moved on. But you aren't, and you can't."
Emily Brandwin, a former CIA agent, suggested Trump is trying to wish Alabama into Dorian's track in order to not have to admit he was wrong.
"Donald, stop trying to make Alabama happen, it's not going to happen," Brandwin tweeted.
Jason Gilbert, a writer on Trevor Noah's "The Daily Show," offered a sardonically dark prediction of the future.
"The year is 2023. Donald Trump has tweeted about Alabama 1,754 days in a row. A recent poll shows 96% of Republicans believe Hurricane Dorian 'either partially or completely destroyed the entirety of Alabama,'" Gilbert posted.
Meanwhile, Brad Parscale, Trump's 2020 campaign manager, appeared to see the Alabama meltdown as an opportunity to comb in some cash.
"Buy the official Trump marker, which is different than every other marker on the market, because this one has the special ability to drive CNN and the rest of the fake news crazy," Parscale tweeted along with a link to the president's campaign merchandise online shop.
