Trump Condemns Barcelona Terror Attack, Then Asks People To Study False Story
WASHINGTON (CBS13/AP) - President Donald Trump is condemning what Spanish authorities say is a deadly terrorist attack in Barcelona.
Trump also says in a statement on Twitter that the U.S. will do "whatever is necessary to help." Trump tells Spain: "Be tough & strong, we love you!"
The White House has said Trump -- who is on a working vacation at his private golf club in New Jersey -- is being updated on developments by chief of staff John Kelly.
The Islamic State group has since claimed responsibility for the attack.
Trump later tweeted that people should "Study what General Pershing of the United States did to terrorists when caught. There was no more Radical Islamic Terror for 35 years!"
The president is referring to the claim that U.S. General John Pershing managed to quell terrorism in the Philippines in the early 1900s by dipping bullets in pig's blood. It's a reading of history that has been loudly debunked, with Snopes rating the claim as "false" and PolitiFact - which notes Trump also used the same Pershing story on the campaign trail - rating it as a "Pants on Fire" lie.
Trump's wife, first lady Melania Trump, tweeted her "thoughts and prayers" to Barcelona before the president.
At least 13 people were killed and at least 50 injured after a van was driven onto a sidewalk and down a pedestrian zone in Barcelona's historic Las Ramblas district.
