The New Republic79%
Trump Says Cyberattack on Minnesota Is Their Fault, Not Iran’s 78%
By Edith Olmsted92%
7/31/2026, 9:55:49 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 25 faulty reasoning types, including Biased Writer Voice, Burden of Proof, and Confirmation Bias, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 39.8% saturation with 129 hits. Analysis detected 974 faulty-reasoning hits from 324 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 64% and a BS Rank of 78% (5,739 of 25,732 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 77.70% of the article peer group.
President Donald Trump baselessly claimed Friday that Minnesota had committed a cyberattack against itself.
Speaking at a Cabinet meeting at Camp David, Trump dismissed officials’ concerns that a cyberattack on municipal water systems in Minnesota was the work of Iranian hackers .
“I don’t think so.
I think I blame it on Minnesota, because they’re grossly incompetent,” Trump said .
“I would blame it on Minnesota and the governor, the corrupt governor of Minnesota,” Trump continued, referring to Governor Tim Walz.
“They like to say, ‘Oh, it’s Iran!’
Iran should be so lucky.
Iran’s got bigger problems than worrying about Minnesota.”
But Trump offered no evidence to support his claim, apparently motivated not by facts, but by sheer pettiness.
Federal and state officials said earlier this week that the cyberattack was probably the work of Iranian hackers, but they have not definitively determined who is responsible.
They also cautioned that the hackers could simply be posing as Iranians in order to escalate the conflict between the two countries, though former intelligence officials said this was unlikely.
If the hackers were hoping to ratchet up the tensions between the U.S. and Iran, they failed by picking a state that Trump has designated as an outlet for his blatant Islamophobia .
As reporters moved to exit the Cabinet meeting, Trump resumed his ranting about Minnesota.
“I think that Minnesota is behind it!”
he declared.
“You know who’s behind it?
Minnesota.
Because they’re grossly incompetent.
I think the governor’s behind it.
I don’t think there was an Iranian cyberattack,” Trump continued.
“I think that Minnesota ought to get its act together.
It’s one of the worst-run states.”
The president teased that his administration was planning “massive future things having to do with corruption” in Minnesota.
The Trump administration has continued to pursue fraud allegations against Minnesota officials in a transparent effort to punish Democrats and antagonize immigrants.
Analysis
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