When Max Karlsson found out that he was going to be in charge of Sweden’s official Twitter account this week, he was looking forward to sharing some of his photography, or riffing about music and technology — nothing too different from how hundreds of others have used the handle since Sweden opened it up to ordinary users in 2011.
“My thought was to speak about the interests and values that I have,” Karlsson, 22, said in a phone interview Monday evening. “And then Trump hit.”
Speaking at a campaign-like rally in Florida on Saturday, President Donald Trump once again claimed that European refugee policies have increased security risks, and he pointed to two countries as examples. “You look at what’s happening in Germany, you look at what’s happening last night in Sweden,” the president said to his supporters. “Sweden, who would believe this?”
Not Sweden, apparently, because nothing serious actually happened on Friday — no terrorist attack, as Trump appeared to imply, and no real security scare. Trump later admitted that he was referring to a recent Fox News story about Sweden’s immigration policies, but that did little to quell the criticism — and ridicule — he has faced online.