Trump alters Hurricane Dorian graphic to justify his claim that Alabama was at risk

See that black line extending the trajectory of Dorian into Alabama? That appears to be a Sharpie fix by Trump.

File this one under forecast by Sharpie: It appears Donald Trump has broken the law yet again in order to justify his baseless tweet last weekend that Alabama was at risk of being hit by Hurricane Dorian. That tweet was so reckless, in fact, that Alabama’s National Weather Service issued a correction, noting that Alabama would “NOT see any impacts from #Dorian.” But Trump got the last word on Wednesday during one of his indispensable hurricane updates from the Oval Office. He apparently altered an outdated landfall forecast with a Sharpie so it would look like Alabama had originally been at risk. 

The black outlined area on this very outdated @NHC_Atlantic #Dorian graphic that Trump just used in his update was added and not a part of the official forecast. @WhiteHouse pic.twitter.com/XMQmepPyj6

— Kait Parker (@WeatherKait) September 4, 2019

“It was going to hit not only Florida but Georgia—was going toward the Gulf,” Trump explains, “that was what was originally projected, and it took a right turn.”

Yeah, well, falsifying a forecast is illegal, it turns out. Not that Trump is much of a stickler for the law, but here’s U.S. Code, Title: 18, Section: 2074 on False Weather Reports: “Whoever knowingly issues or publishes any counterfeit weather forecast or warning of weather conditions falsely representing such forecast or warning to have been issued or published by the Weather Bureau, United States Signal Service, or other branch of the Government service, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ninety days, or both.”

But whatever you do, don’t leave this post without watching the official White House video below featuring the segment where Trump presents the Sharpie forecast. It’s so low-rent, it boggles the mind that this is an official report from the U.S. president inside the Oval Office.

Wednesday, Sep 4, 2019 · 7:16:19 PM +00:00 · Kerry Eleveld

OMG UPDATE: A reporter just asked Trump whether he altered the map he showed in the Oval Office and he didn’t deny it. “I don't know. I don't know. I don't know," he said. How could this sad episode possibly get more embarrassing?

Wednesday, Sep 4, 2019 · 10:44:49 PM +00:00 · Kerry Eleveld

Another OMG UPDATE: Must. Not. Accept. Defeat.

This was the originally projected path of the Hurricane in its early stages. As you can see, almost all models predicted it to go through Florida also hitting Georgia and Alabama. I accept the Fake News apologies! pic.twitter.com/0uCT0Qvyo6

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 4, 2019

President @realDonaldTrump gives an update on Hurricane #Dorian: pic.twitter.com/CmxAXHY5AO

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 4, 2019